Arjuna wishes to know the true nature of what the word 'renunciation' (sannyasa) means, and likewise the true nature of what the word 'relinquishment' (tyaga) means, and to know them separately, each marked off from the other. He addresses the Lord as Hrishikesha and as the slayer of Keshin, for a certain demon named Keshin had taken the disguise of a horse and was destroyed by the Lord Vasudeva. The words 'renunciation' and 'relinquishment' had been used here and there in the earlier chapters without their sense being precisely settled. So, when Arjuna asked for that to be settled, the Blessed Lord spoke.

Arjuna spoke. Relinquishment and renunciation are enjoined as means to liberation, in such texts as 'not by action, not by offspring, nor by wealth, but by relinquishment some have reached immortality', and 'the men of restraint, of pure being, who have well determined the meaning by the knowledge of the Vedanta, through the discipline of renunciation, they, in the worlds of Brahman, at the time of the supreme end, all, set utterly free, are released'. Of this renunciation and this relinquishment I wish to know the truth, the real nature, separately. This is the intent: are these two words, 'renunciation' and 'relinquishment', of separate meaning, or are they of one and the same meaning? If of separate meaning, then I wish to know their own forms, each apart; and if of one meaning, even so its own form must be told. Now, to determine whether these two have a single own form, and whether it is of such a kind, showing the disagreement of disputants, the Blessed Lord spoke.

This is a brief sub-gloss. For a fuller reading of this verse, see Madhusūdana, Śaṅkara, or Rāmānuja above.

Salutation to Him who is full of endless qualities. In this chapter Krishna, gathering up in brief the whole means spoken of before, rounds off the matter.