श्रीभगवान्
In plain words
The Blessed Lord said: Sannyāsa and Karma-yoga both lead to the highest good, but of the two, Karma-yoga is superior to karma-sannyāsa.
Word for word
Renunciation and karma-yoga both [are] bringers of the highest good; but of the two, karma-yoga excels renunciation of action.
The commentators
Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
स्वाभिप्रायम् आचक्षाणो निर्णयाय श्रीभगवानुवाच —
संन्यासः कर्मणां परित्यागः कर्मयोगश्च तेषामनुष्ठानं तौ उभौ अपि निःश्रेयसकरौ मोक्षं कुर्वाते ज्ञानोत्पत्तिहेतुत्वेन । उभौ यद्यपि निःश्रेयसकरौ, तथापि तयोस्तु निःश्रेयसहेत्वोः कर्मसंन्यासात् केवलात् कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते इति कर्मयोगं स्तौति ॥ २ ॥
In plain words
Stating plainly what he himself means, so the question is settled, the Blessed Lord said:
Saṃnyāsa means dropping actions. Karma-yoga means doing those very same actions. Both roads end at the highest good, and both reach mokṣa the same way: by making knowledge dawn. Yet even granting that both are causes of liberation, between the two, karma-yoga is the better — better than bare renunciation of action standing on its own. And so the Lord praises karma-yoga here.
Close to the Sanskrit
Declaring his own intent, for the sake of settling the matter, the Blessed Lord said —
Saṃnyāsa is the abandonment of actions; and karma-yoga is the performance of those same actions. Those two, both of them, are producers of the highest good: they bring about liberation by being the cause of the arising of knowledge. Although both are producers of the highest good, still, of those two causes of the highest good, karma-yoga is distinguished as superior to renunciation of action taken alone — thus He praises karma-yoga.