Kṛṣṇa equates the path of work with the path of renunciation. He tells Arjuna that what is commonly called ‘Sannyāsa’ is actually the same as ‘Yoga’. There is no difference in their core principle: both require the giving up of ‘Sankalpa’, the selfish imagination and desire for one’s own pleasure. “No one can become a yogī unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification.” This is the fundamental requirement. Whether you are following the path of knowledge or the path of action, the ‘knot’ that must be cut is the same—the desire to be the center of the world. Without this internal sacrifice, any external practice is just a hollow ritual. Kṛṣṇa is showing that the ‘active’ life and the ‘quiet’ life meet at this point of selflessness. Arjuna’s problem is not the war; it is his ‘sankalpa’—his personal ideas about what will make him happy or sad. By surrendering his personal agenda, he enters the state of yoga, regardless of his occupation.