Chapter3- Ślokā 7
yastv-indriyāṇi manasā niyamyārabhate’rjuna |
karmendriyaiḥ karma-yogam asaktasya sa viśiṣyate || 7 ||
Arjuna- O Arjuna!; yaḥ tu- one who; manasā- with his mind (which is inclined towards the soul); indriyāṇi niyamya- parks the indriyās in the activities prescribed for them in the sāstrās by directing them towards these activities; asaktaḥ- without attachment to their rewards; karmendriyaiḥ- with the senses of action which are willing to dwell in karmaas; karma-yogam ārabhate- one who starts performing karma yoga; saḥ- he; viśiṣyate- achieves much more that steadfastness in jnana yoga.
Purport
Without the practice of karma yoga, one who directly begins performing jñāna yoga was condemned by Krishna in the previous slokaas. HE glorified the performed of karma yoga in this sloka.
Krishna says, "O Arjuna, One whose soul oriented mind parks his senses in the activities prescribed for them in the sastraas by directing them towards those activities, without attachment to their rewards with the senses of action which are willing to dwell in karmaas, one who starts performing karma yoga achieves even more that steadfastness in jnana yoga."
yastu- (the person who...) The 'tu' here brings out that the person talked about here is different from the person talked about in the previous slokaas.
indriyāṇi niyamya (One who parks his senses in the activities prescribed in the sāstrās for both himself and his senses, by directing them towards these activities...)
Since both the senses and the conscious being who owns them have been accustomed to activity, it is easy to direct the senses towards activities prescribed for them in the sāstrās. The prefix 'ni' in 'niyamya' conveys this.
In the sloka na kaścit kṣaṇam-api b.g 3.5 krishna established the point that it is difficult for a person to become steadfast in jnana yoga as he is accustomed to activity since a very long time. Here, for the same reason Krishna declares that it is easier for him to perform karma yoga.
Q: What is the way he can direct his senses towards regulated activity prescribed in the sastras?
A: The answer is manasā. Krishna says that the mind which wants to realise the soul serves as the means to direct his senses.
Q: Isn't it the forbidden activities from the sastraas that he is habituated to perform since a long time? Will it not be easier to be inclined towards these on the strength of the habitual tendency in them since time immemorial?
A: Since he is a qualified person desirous of realising the soul, since he is aware that performing forbidden actions is opposed to the realisation of the soul and also since he is not attached to the rewards of the actions as described by Krishna with the word 'asaktaḥ', he is able to gain victory over this beginning less habitual tendency or vaasana and to give up the performance of forbidden actions. The doubt is thus cleared.
Therefore it is apt to state the meaning of the word 'manasā' as ' with a mind which is striving to realise the soul'.
karmendriyaiḥ karma-yogam ārabhate In this way one who is not attached to the rewards of the senses begins performing karma yoga as this is a pre-requisite for karma yoga. This has been explained by grouping the words as 'asaktaḥ yaḥ ārabhate' instead of grouping as 'yaḥ ārabhate asaktaḥ sa viśiṣyate'.
niyamya asaktaḥ karma-yogam ārabhate Without attachment towards other activities, directing the senses towards actions prescribed in the sastraas is what karma yoga is.
sa viśiṣyate (He is distinguished from the person spoken about in the previous sloka) Since the earlier person jumps to jnana yoga without even starting karma yoga, there are chances that he will slip i.e he will not not be able to achieve the means and its goal. The person spoken about here begins with karma yoga there is no chance of him failing to achieve the means and the goal. Hence he is distinguished from the previous person. He is great.