संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ।तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते॥
sannyāsaḥ karma-yogaś ca niḥśreyasa-karāvubhautayos tu karma-sannyāsāt karma-yogo viśiṣyate
Word by word
The verse says
Krishna said: Both setting action down and the practice of action lead to the highest good. But of the two, the practice of action is better than setting action down.
In plain words
A straight answer, which is rare.
Both work. One is better.
He does not say the other is wrong, and he does not explain yet. The reason arrives four verses later.
Where you've felt this · at work
Your friend hates his job and has two ways out. He can resign and work out what he wants, or he can stay and change how he does it. Both can end well. He also has a mortgage and two children, and only one of those roads has ground under it on Monday morning.
Going deeper
The ranking is practical rather than moral, and the reason is availability.
Setting action down requires a standing place you may not have yet. The practice of action can be started this afternoon, from wherever you are, with whatever is already in front of you.
That is why the Gita keeps choosing it. Not because withdrawal is corrupt — Chapter 5 will praise the genuine renouncer warmly — but because it is a door that is often locked, and the other one is not.
Notice too what is not said. Krishna does not claim the two produce different results. He has just granted that both reach the same place.
What he is ranking is the road, not the destination. That distinction matters for a reader deciding what to do, because it means nothing is being given up by taking the more ordinary route.