Bhagavad-Gita

The BHAGAVAD-GITA is contained in Book 6 of the great Hindu epic, MAHABHARATA, probably the longest poem in all of literature. The GITA was written between the fifth century BC and the second century CE and is attributed to Vyasa. According to Aurobindo, who studied Vyasa's writings, nothing disproves his authorship.

The MAHABHARATA tells the story of a civil war in ancient India between the sons of Kuru (Kauruvas) and the sons of Pandu (Pandavas) over a kingdom the Pandavas believe was stolen from them by the cheating of the Kauruvas. Every attempt by the Pandava brothers to regain their kingdom without war has failed.

The BHAGAVAD-GITA is primarily a dialog between Arjuna, the third Pandava brother, and his charioteer, Krishna. Remaining neutral, Krishna allowed one side to use his vassals in battle, while the other side could have him as a charioteer although he would not fight himself. The old blind King Dhritarashtra declined a great sage's offer to give him sight for the battle, because he did not want to see the bloodshed. Instead the great sage gave Sanjaya the ability to perceive at a distance everything that was going on, and he describes the events for the King.

In the GITA Krishna, who is the uncle and friend of the Pandavas, gives Arjuna teachings on yoga, which means union and implies union with God. Krishna is considered by Hindus to be an incarnation of the god Vishnu, the preserver.

In the first chapter of the GITA, some of the heroes of the two armies are mentioned by King Duryodhana, the oldest Kaurava brother, first the Pandavas: the son of Drupada, Bhima, Arjuna, Yuyudhana, Virata, Drupada, Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, the King of Kashi, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, Shaibya, Yudhamanyu, Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra, and the sons of Draupadi; then the Kauravas: Bhishma, Karna, Kripa, Ashvatthaman, Vikarna, Saumadatti, and Drona. When they blow their conch-horns, Arjuna's brothers are named: Bhima, Yudhishthira, Nakula, and Sahadeva.

Throughout the text various epithets or nicknames are used for Krishna and Arjuna. Krishna is called: Madhava (descendant of Madhu), Hrishikesha (bristling-haired), Keshava (handsome-haired), Govinda (chief of herdsmen), slayer of Madhu (a demon), Janardana (agitator of humans), Varshneya (clansman of the Vrishnis), Vasudeva (son of Vasudeva), Hari, and slayer of Keshin (a demon). Arjuna is called: son of Pandu, Gudakesha (thick-haired), Partha (son of Pritha, Kunti's original name), Kaunteya (son of Kunti), Bharata (ancient name of India, used for other characters as well), Bharata bull, wealth winner, foe scorcher, great-armed one, blameless one, tiger spirit, and Kuru's joy or best of Kurus (Kuru being a common ancestor of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas). Gandiva is the name of Arjuna's bow.

Bhagavad-Gita
The Lord's Song

1 The sorrow of Arjuna

Dhritarashtra said,
"In the field of duty in the field of Kuru,
gathered together to fight,
what did mine and Pandu's sons do, Sanjaya?"

Sanjaya said,
"Seeing the Pandava army arrayed,
King Duryodhana then approaching his teacher
said this speech:
'Look, master, at the Pandava's great army
arrayed by the son of Drupada, your intelligent student.
Here are heroes, great archers
equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna;
Yuyudhana and Virata and Drupada of the great chariot;
Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana and the valiant King of Kashi,
Purujit and Kuntibhoja and Shaibya, a human bull;
bold Yudhamanyu and valiant Uttamauja;
the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi;
all having great chariots.

"'Ours who are distinguished know them,
best of the twice-born,
the leaders of my army,
by proper names I tell them to you:
yourself and Bhishma and Karna
and Kripa, victorious in battle,
Ashvatthaman and Vikarna and Saumadatti also;
and many other heroes risking lives for my sake,
armed with various weapons, all skilled in battle.

"'Inadequate is that force of ours guarded by Bhishma,
but adequate is this force of theirs guarded by Bhima.
So in all designated formations
make sure you all protect Bhishma.'

"Cheering him up, the aged Kuru grandsire,
roaring loudly like a lion,
blew his conch horn powerfully.
Then conch horns and kettledrums, tabors, drums, horns
suddenly sounded this tumultuous uproar.
Then standing in the great chariot yoked with white horses,
Madhava and the son of Pandu blew their divine conch horns:
Hrishikesha his Panchajanya, wealth winner his Devadatta;
wolf-bellied Bhima blew Paundra, his great conch horn;
King Yudhishthira blew Anantavijaya;
Nakula and Sahadeva blew Sughosha and Manipushpaka;
and Kashya, top archer, and Shikhandi, of the great chariot,
Dhrishtadyumna and Virata and invincible Satyaki,
Drupada and the sons of Draupadi,
all together, O Lord of the earth,
and strong-armed Saubhadra,
each blew their own conch horns.
This noise burst the hearts of the sons of Dhritarashtra,
and the tumult caused the sky and earth to resound.

"Then seeing the sons of Dhritarashtra in battle order,
in the ensuing clash of weapons
the monkey-bannered son of Pandu raising his bow
then said this speech to Hrishikesha, Lord of the earth:
'Position my chariot between the two armies, changeless one,
so that I may see these who are formed and eager to fight.
With whom must I fight in undertaking this bash?
I see these who are ready to fight
wishing to serve in war
the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.'

"Thus Hrishikesha addressed by Gudakesha, O Bharata,
having positioned the best chariot between the two armies,
in front of Bhishma, Drona, and all the rulers of the earth,
said, 'Partha, look at these Kurus assembled here.'

"There Partha saw positioned fathers and grandfathers,
teachers, uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends as well,
fathers-in-law and even companions in both armies also.
Regarding all these relatives arrayed, this Kaunteya,
filled with deep pity despondently said this:
'Seeing this, my own people, Krishna, approaching to fight,
my limbs sink, and my mouth dries up,
and trembling in my body and bristling hair occur.
Gandiva slips from my hand, and my skin burns;
and I am not able to stand, and my mind wanders;
and I see contrary omens, Keshava;
and I do not foresee good fortune
in killing my own people in battle.

"'I do not want victory, Krishna,
nor kingdom nor pleasures.
What is kingdom to us, Govinda?
What is enjoyment or life?
Those for whose sake we want kingdom, enjoyment and pleasure
are these positioned for battle, abandoning life and riches,
teachers, fathers, sons, and also grandfathers, uncles,
fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kin.

"'These I do not wish to kill,
even though they are killing, slayer of Madhu,
even for the sovereignty of the three worlds,
how then for the earth?
Striking down the sons of Dhritarashtra,
what joy could be ours, Janardana?
Evil should cling to us for killing these attackers.
Therefore we should not kill
the sons of Dhritarashtra, our relatives.
How could we ever be happy killing our own people, Madhava?

"'Even if these whose thoughts are overpowered by greed
see no wrong in causing the destruction of family,
injury to friends and crime,
why is it not understood by us to turn away from this evil,
the family-destruction wrong, by discernment, Janardana?
In family destruction the ancient family duties vanish;
in losing duty lawlessness also overcomes the whole family.
From the overcoming of lawlessness, Krishna,
the women of the family are corrupted;
in the spoiling of the women, Varshneya,
is born the intermixture of caste.
The intermixture of the family destroyers and the family
leads to hell;
their ancestors fall, deprived of rice-ball and water rites.
By wrongs of the family destroyers
producing caste intermixture
race duties and eternal family duties are abolished.
Of family-duty-abolishing men dwelling indefinitely in hell
we have often heard.

"'Oh alas! What great evil are we resolved to do,
which through greed for royal pleasures
we are prepared to kill our own people.
If the sons of Dhritarashtra should kill in battle,
unresisting, unarmed, that would be greater happiness to me.'

"Thus speaking on the battlefield,
Arjuna sat down on the chariot seat,
throwing down bow and arrow,
his mind overcome by sorrow."

2 The Yoga of Knowledge

Sanjaya said,
"To him thus overcome by pity,
whose eyes were filled with tears and downcast, despairing,
the slayer of Madhu said this speech:

"The blessed Lord said,
'How has this timidity in difficulty come upon you,
not proper for an Aryan, not leading to heaven,
causing disgrace, Arjuna?
You should never be a coward, Partha!
this is not fitting in you.
Abandon base faintheartedness, stand up, foe scorcher!'

"Arjuna said,
'How shall I in battle, slayer of Madhu,
with arrows fight against Bhishma and Drona,
the two venerable enemies, slayer of foes?
Instead of killing noble gurus
it is better to live by begging in this world;
having killed gurus desiring gain here on earth
I should enjoy pleasures smeared with blood.
Nor do we know which of these two is more important for us,
whether we should conquer or if they should conquer us,
those standing before us, the sons of Dhritarashtra,
whom having killed, we should not want to live.

"'Weak pity discouraging my being,
I, uncertain in thought as to duty, ask you
which should be better for certain, tell it to me.
I am your student fallen at your feet; correct me!
I do not see what would remove this sorrow of mine,
which dries up the senses,
even if obtaining unrivaled prosperity on earth,
royal power or even the sovereignty of the gods.'"

Sanjaya said,
"Thus having spoken to Hrishikesha,
Gudakesha, foe scorcher, saying,
'I shall not fight' to Govinda, became silent.

"Hrishikesha smiling, so to speak, Bharata,
between the two armies said to the dejected this speech:

"The blessed Lord said,
'You grieve for those who should not be grieved for;
yet you speak wise words.
Neither for the dead nor those not dead do the wise grieve.
Never was there a time when I did not exist
nor you nor these lords of men.
Neither will there be a time when we shall not exist;
we all exist from now on.
As the soul experiences in this body
childhood, youth, and old age,
so also it acquires another body;
the sage in this is not deluded.

"'Material sensations, Kaunteya,
causing cold, heat, pleasure, pain,
coming and going are impermanent;
you must endure them, Bharata.
The person whom these do not trouble, powerful person,
pain and pleasure being equal to the sage,
he is ready for immortality.

"'The existence of the unreal is not found;
the non-existence of the real is not found.
The certainty of both of these has been seen
by the seers of essence.
Know that indestructible essence
by which all this is pervaded.
No one is able to cause the destruction of the imperishable.
These bodies have an end;
it is said of the indestructible, infinite soul
that it is eternal.
Therefore, fight, Bharata!

"'Whoever believes this the killer
and whoever thinks this the killed,
they both do not understand;
this does not kill and is not killed.
Neither is it born nor does it die at any time,
nor having been, will this again not be.
Unborn, eternal, perpetual this ancient being
is not killed with the killing of the body.

"'Whoever knows this, the indestructible,
the eternal, the unborn, the imperishable,
how does this person, Partha, cause the killing of anyone?
Whom does one kill?
As a person abandoning worn-out clothes takes new ones,
so abandoning worn-out bodies the soul enters new ones.
Weapons do not cut this nor does fire burn this,
and waters cannot wet this nor can wind dry it.
Not pierced this, not burned this, not wetted nor dried,
eternal, all-pervading, stable,
immovable is this everlasting.
Unmanifest this, it is said.

"'Therefore knowing this you should not mourn.
And if you think this is eternally born or eternally dying,
even then, you mighty armed, you should not mourn this.
Death is certain for the born,
and birth is certain for the dead.
Therefore you should not mourn over the inevitable.

"'Beings have unmanifest beginnings,
manifest middles, Bharata, unmanifest ends again.
What complaint is there?
Marvelously someone sees this,
and marvelously another thus tells,
and marvelously another hears this,
but even having heard no one knows this.
This embodied soul is eternally inviolable
in the body of all, Bharata.
Therefore you should not mourn for any being.

"'So looking at your duty you should not waver,
for there is no greater duty than battle for the kshatriya.
And by good fortune gaining the open door of heaven,
happy kshatriyas, Partha, encounter such a battle.
Now if you will not undertake this combat duty,
then having avoided your duty and glory, you will incur evil.
And also people will relate your perpetual dishonor,
and for the esteemed, dishonor is worse than dying.
The great warriors will think
you withdraw from battle out of fear,
and having been thought much of
among those you will be held lightly.
And enemies will say of you many words not to be spoken,
deriding your strength.
What is more painful than that?

"'Either killed you will attain heaven,
or conquering you will enjoy the earth.
Therefore stand up, Kaunteya, resolved to the battle.
Making pleasure and pain the same,
gain and loss, victory and defeat,
then engage in battle.
Thus you will not incur evil.

"'This intuition described for you in Sankhya philosophy,
learn this in yoga;
unified by intuition, Partha,
you shall avoid the bondage of action.
There is no lost effort here; no setback occurs.
Even a little of this discipline protects from great fear.

"'Self-determined intuition is one here, Kuru's joy,
but intuitions of the irresolute many-branched, so endless.
This flowery speech which the ignorant proclaim,
delighting in the letter of the scripture, Partha,
saying there is nothing else,
minds desiring the highest heaven,
offering birth as the fruit of action,
performing many special rituals,
aimed toward enjoyment and power,
attached to enjoyment and power,
whose thoughts are stolen away by this,
to those,
self-determined intuition in meditation is not granted.

"'The scriptures categorize three qualities.
Be without the three qualities, Arjuna,
without opposites, eternally staying in goodness,
without possessiveness, soul-established.
As much use as in a well in water overflowing everywhere,
so much are all the scriptures to an enlightened brahman.

"'In action alone is your claim,
never to its fruits at all.
Never should the fruit of action be your motive;
never let there be attachment in your inactivity.
Staying in yoga do your actions,
letting go of attachment, wealth-winner.
Seek refuge in intuition.
Pitiful are those motivated by fruit.
Unified intuition here lets go of both good and bad deeds.

"'Therefore unify yourself with yoga;
yoga is skilled in actions.
Letting go of the fruit of action,
the intelligent of unified intuition,
liberated from the bondage of birth,
go the way free from misery.
When your intuition passes beyond the confusion of delusion,
you will become indifferent to what you hear
and to what has been heard in scripture.
Disregarding scripture, when in meditation
your immovable intuition will stand unmoving,
then you will attain union.'

"Arjuna said,
'What is the definition of one who is
steady in wisdom, steady in meditation, Keshava?
How should one steady in thought speak?
How should one sit? How should one move?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'When one gives up all desires emerging in the mind, Partha,
satisfied in the soul by the soul,
then one is said to be steady in wisdom.

"'Whoever in pain is free of mental anxiety,
in pleasure is free of desire,
departing from passion, fear, and anger,
steady in thought, is called a sage.

"'Whoever is without attachment in all things,
accepting this or that, pleasant or unpleasant,
neither liking nor disliking,
the wisdom of this one is established.

"'And when this one withdraws,
like a tortoise all its limbs,
the senses from the objects of sense,
the wisdom of this one is established.

"'Objects turn away from the embodied one who is fasting,
except flavor;
even flavor turns away from the one seeing the supreme.
Kaunteya, tormenting senses forcibly carry away the mind
even of the striving person of learning.
Restraining all these,
one should sit unified with me in the supreme;
whose senses are in control,
the wisdom of this one is established.

"'From a person's contemplating objects
is born attachment to them;
from attachment is born desire;
from desire is born anger;
from anger comes delusion;
from delusion, memory wandering;
from memory wandering, loss of intuition;
from loss of intuition, one perishes.

"'Lust and aversion eliminated,
but engaging objects with the senses,
the self-governing by self-control attains tranquillity.
In tranquillity is born cessation of all one's pains.
Having clear thoughts, quickly the intuition becomes steady.

"'There is no intuition for the undisciplined,
and for the undisciplined no concentration,
and without concentration no peace.
Without peace, where is happiness?
When the mind is led by the wandering of the senses,
then it carries away wisdom
like the wind a ship on the water.

"'Therefore, mighty-armed, the one whose senses
are completely withdrawn from the objects of sense,
the wisdom of this one is established.
What is night to all beings
in this the restrained is awake;
what beings are awake in
that is the night of the seeing sage.
Just as waters dissolve in the ocean, filled, unmoved, still,
so too all desires dissolve in the one who attains peace,
not in the desirer of desires.
The person who, giving up all desires,
lives free from longing, without possessiveness,
without egotism, this one attains peace.
This is a holy state, Partha.
No one attaining this is deluded.
Steady in this even at the time of death,
one reaches holy nirvana.'

3 The Yoga of Action

"Arjuna said,
'If your intuition idea is better than action, Janardana,
then why do you urge me into this terrible action, Keshava?
With equivocal speech you confuse my intuition.
This one thing tell me without doubt:
by which I should attain what is better.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'In this world a two-fold basis
was previously taught by me, blameless one:
the knowledge yoga of the Sankhyas
and the action yoga of the yogis.
Not by abstention from actions
does a person attain freedom from action,
and not by renunciation alone
does one approach perfection.
No one even for an instant can ever stay actionless.
Everyone must perform action unwillingly
by the qualities born of nature.

"'Whoever sits, restraining the powers of action
with the mind remembering sense objects,
this deluded self is called a hypocrite.
But whoever, controlling the senses with the mind, Arjuna,
engages by the powers of action in action yoga,
unattached, this one is distinguished.

"'You do controlled action.
Action is better than inaction.
Even your body maintenance
could not be accomplished without action.
Aside from action for the purpose of sacrifice
this world is bound by action.
Perform action for this purpose, Kaunteya,
free from attachment.

"'Having sent forth creatures along with sacrifices,
the Creator anciently said, "By this bring forth;
may this be the milk of your desires."
May you cherish by this the gods;
may the gods cherish you;
cherishing each other, you will attain the supreme good.
Cherished by sacrifice,
the gods will give to you wished-for enjoyments.

"'Whoever enjoys these without offering gifts to them
is just a thief.
The good who partake of the rest of the sacrifice
are released from all evils,
but the wicked who cook for their own sake enjoy impurity.

"'Creatures come from food;
food is produced from rain;
rain comes from sacrifice;
sacrifice is produced by action.
Know that God-produced action
originates in imperishable God.
Therefore all-pervading God
eternally remains in the sacrifice.

"'Thus whoever does not turn the revolving wheel here,
who is malicious, sense-delighted,
this one lives vainly, Partha.
The person who is self-pleased and self-satisfied
and self-content, this one's task is not found.
Whoever has no purpose in what is done or not done,
has no need of purpose in anyone.

"'Therefore without being attached
always perform the action to be done.
Practicing action without being attached,
a person attains the supreme.
By action Janaka and others attained perfection.
You also observing what the world needs should act.

"'Whatever the best do, that others do also.
This sets a standard that the world follows.
Partha, there is nothing for me to do in the three worlds,
nothing unattained to be attained;
yet I engage in action.
If I should not engage in tireless action at all,
people everywhere would follow my path, Partha.
If I should not perform action,
these worlds would be ruined;
I should be a maker of confusion,
and I should destroy these creatures.

"'As the unwise act attached to action, Bharata,
so the wise should act unattached,
intending to maintain the world.
One should not cause the mental breakdown
of the action-attached ignorant.
The wise, practicing union, should encourage all actions.

"'All actions being performed by the qualities of nature,
the ego-deluded self thinks that the "I" is the doer.
But knowing the truth, great-armed one,
of the two roles of quality and action,
"qualities work in qualities,"
thus thinking one is not attached.
Those deluded by the qualities of nature
are attached to qualified actions.
The knower of the whole should not disturb
fools who are ignorant of the whole.

"'Entrusting all actions to me,
meditating on the supreme soul,
being free from desire, free from possession,
fight, cured of fever.
People who constantly practice this doctrine of mine,
trusting, not complaining,
they also are liberated from actions.

"'But those who, complaining about this,
do not practice my doctrine,
confusing all knowledge,
know them to be lost, thoughtless.

"'Even the wise act according to their own nature.
Creatures follow nature.
What will constraint accomplish?
Like-dislike situated in sense and the object of sense,
one should not come under the power of these two adversaries.
Better one's own imperfect duty
than another's duty well performed.
Death in one's own duty is better.
Another's duty brings fear.'

"Arjuna said,
'Then by what compulsion does a person commit harm,
even unwillingly, Varshneya,
as if commanded by force?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'This is desire, this is anger,
born of the emotional quality.
Voracious and greatly injurious,
know this to be the enemy here.
As fire is obscured by smoke, and a mirror by dust,
as the embryo is enveloped by the amnion,
so this is covered by it.
Knowledge is covered by this eternal enemy of knowers,
in the form of desire, Kaunteya,
which is an insatiable fire.
The senses, mind, and intuition are said to be its seat.
With these it confuses knowledge, covering the embodied.
Therefore you, at first restraining the senses,
Bharata bull, kill this harmful thing
that destroys intelligent knowledge.

"'The senses, they say, are high.
Higher than the senses is the mind,
but higher than the mind is the intuition,
but higher than the intuition is this.
Thus intuiting what is higher than the intuition,
sustaining the soul with the soul,
kill the adversary, great-armed one,
the desire-form difficult to approach.'

4 The Yoga of Wisdom

"The blessed Lord said,
'This imperishable yoga I declared to Vivasvat.
Vivasvat communicated it to Manu,
and Manu told it to Ikshvaku.
Thus received by royal succession,
the royal sages knew this.
In the long time here this yoga was lost, foe scorcher.
This same ancient yoga is declared by me to you today,
since you are my devoted friend.
This is the supreme mystery.'

"Arjuna said,
'Later was your birth, earlier the birth of Vivasvat.
How should I understand
that you declared this so in the beginning?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Many of my births have passed away,
and yours too, Arjuna.
I know them all; you do not know, foe scorcher.
Though being a birthless imperishable soul,
though being Lord of beings,
controlling my own nature,
I come into being by the magic of my soul.

"'Whenever a decrease of justice occurs, Bharata,
and an uprising of injustice,
then I give forth my soul.
For the protection of the good
and for the destruction of the evil-doers,
for the purpose of establishing justice
I am born from age to age.

"'Whoever truly knows my divine birth and action,
having left the body does not go to rebirth;
this one comes to me, Arjuna.
Passion, fear, and anger gone,
absorbed in me, relying on me,
many purified by disciplined knowledge
have attained my existence.
Whoever approaches me, I love them.
People everywhere follow my path, Partha.

"'Wanting successful actions, they worship gods here.
Quickly in the human world successful action comes.
Four castes were brought forth by me
according to the distribution of the action qualities.
Although I did this,
know me as the imperishable non-doer.
Actions do not affect me, not desiring their fruit.
Thus whoever understands me is not bound by actions.
Thus knowing, action done by the ancients
was also for the seeking of liberation.
Therefore you do actions
as they were done earlier by the ancients.

"'What is action? What is inaction?
Even the poets were confused about this.
I shall explain to you this action,
which knowing you will be liberated from evil.
Being enlightened about action and also wrong action,
and being enlightened about inaction,
the way of action is profound.
Whoever perceives inaction in action and action in inaction
is enlightened among people;
this one does all action united.
The one whose every undertaking
is without desirous intention
has consumed actions in the fire of knowledge;
this one the enlightened call learned.

"'Having abandoned attachment to the fruit of action,
always satisfied, independent even while engaging in action,
one does not do anything.
Hoping for nothing with soul-controlled consciousness,
abandoning every possession,
performing action with the body alone,
one incurs no guilt.
Content with spontaneous gain, transcending duality,
free from envy, indifferent to success and failure,
even when acting one is not bound.

"'With attachment gone, liberated,
thought established in knowledge,
action undertaken as a sacrifice is completely dissolved.
God is the offering; God is the gift
poured out into the fire of God by God.
God is attained by one who contemplates the action of God.

"'Some yogis practice sacrifice to the divine;
others offer sacrifice in the fire of God by sacrifice.
Some offer hearing and other senses
in the fires of restraint;
others offer sound and other sense objects
in the fires of the senses.
Others offer all sense actions and all breath actions
in the yoga fire of self-restraint kindled by knowledge.
Material sacrifices, discipline sacrifices,
yoga sacrifices are thus some;
self-study of knowledge sacrifices
and ascetics are of sharpened vows.

"'Some offer inhalation into exhalation,
also exhalation into inhalation,
restraining the breathing paths
intent on controlling the breath.
Others regulating food offer inhalations into inhalations.
All these knowing sacrifice by sacrifice destroy wrongs.
Those eating the sacred food left from the sacrifice
go to God eternal.

"'Not even this world is for those not sacrificing,
how then the other, best of Kurus?
Thus sacrifices of many kinds
are spread out in the mouth of God.
Know them all to come from action;
knowing this you shall be released.

"'Better than the sacrifice of material possessions
is the knowledge sacrifice, foe scorcher.
All action, without exception, Partha,
is completely comprehended in knowledge.
Know this: by respect, inquiry, service,
knowers who perceive the truth will teach you knowledge,
which knowing you shall not fall again into delusion,
son of Pandu; by this you shall see
every being in the soul, then in me.

"'Even if you are the most evil of all the evil-doers,
by the boat of knowledge you shall cross over all wickedness.
As wood kindled by fire is burned to ashes, Arjuna,
the fire of knowledge burns all actions to ashes also.
No purifier equal to knowledge is found in the world.
The self perfected in union in time finds that in the soul.

"'The trusting gains that knowledge which is supreme;
controlling the senses, gaining knowledge,
one attains supreme peace without delay.
The ignorant and untrusting and self-doubting are lost.
Neither this world nor that beyond nor happiness
is for the self-doubting.

"'Union renouncing action, knowledge severing doubt,
soul composed, no actions bind, wealth winner.
Therefore severing ignorance-produced doubt in the heart
with the knowledge sword of the soul,
establish union and rise, Bharata.'

5. The Yoga of Renunciation

"Arjuna said,
'Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions and also yoga.
Which one of these two is better?
Tell me this definitely.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Both renunciation and action yoga lead to the best,
but of the two, action yoga surpasses renunciation of action.
Whoever is indifferent to dualities, great-armed one,
is easily released from bondage.
Sankhya and yoga are separate,
maintain the foolish, not the wise.
Whoever practices even one correctly
finds the fruit of both.
That state attained by the Sankhyas
is also reached by the yogis.
Whoever sees Sankhya and yoga as one, sees.
But renunciation, great-armed one,
is difficult to attain without union.
The wise united in yoga quickly attain God.

"'United in yoga the purified soul
self-controlled, controlling senses,
the soul being the soul of all beings,
even while acting is not affected.
"I am doing nothing at all," thinks the united truth knower,
seeing, hearing, touching, smelling,
eating, walking, sleeping, breathing,
talking, releasing, holding, opening eyes and closing eyes,
believing that the senses operate in the sense objects.

"'Whoever acts putting actions in God,
abandoning attachment, is not affected by evil,
like a lotus leaf by water.
With the body, mind, intuition, and even the senses alone,
yogis perform action, abandoning attachment,
for self-purification.
United, abandoning the fruit of action,
one attains complete peace.
Disunited by desirous action,
attached to the fruit, one is bound.

"'Renouncing all actions with the mind,
the embodied sits happily, master in the city of nine gates,
neither acting nor causing action.
The Lord creates neither agency nor actions of the world
nor the union of action with fruit,
but nature proceeds.
The omnipresent does not take anyone's evil or goodness.

"'Knowledge being concealed by ignorance,
people are deluded by this.
But those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of soul,
like the sun, their knowledge illuminates this supreme.
Those intuiting that, thinking that, established in that,
devoted to that, go not again to rebirth,
knowledge shaking off wrongs.

"'The wise look equally on a brahman
endowed with cultivated learning,
on a cow, an elephant, a dog, or an outcaste.
Here birth is conquered by those
whose mind is established in equanimity.
Guiltless and impartial is God;
therefore they are established in God.

"'One should not rejoice obtaining the pleasant
nor be sad obtaining the unpleasant.
Firm intuition unconfused knowing God
is established in God.
The soul unattached to external contacts
finds happiness in the soul.
This soul united to God by yoga
enjoys imperishable happiness.
Delights born of contact are wombs of pain,
having a beginning and an end, Kaunteya.
The enlightened one is not content in them.

"'Whoever is able to endure here
before release from the body
the agitation originating from desire and anger
is united; this is a happy person.
Whoever has inner happiness, inner joy,
and thus inner light,
this yogi attains the nirvana of God, oneness with God.
Seers attain the nirvana of God, sins wiped out,
dualities dissolved, self-controlled,
rejoicing in the welfare of all beings.
Rid of desire and anger, thoughts restrained, souls known,
the ascetics' nirvana of God lies near.

"'Making external contacts excluded
and the gaze in between the two eyebrows,
making inhalation and exhalation equal,
moving within the nose,
with controlled senses, mind, and intuition,
the sage seeking ultimate liberation,
rid of desire, fear, and anger is forever liberated.
Knowing me, the enjoyer of sacrifice disciplines,
great Lord of all the world, friend of all beings,
one reaches peace.'

6. The Yoga of Meditation

"The blessed Lord said,
'Not depending on the fruit of action to be done
whoever performs action is the renouncer and yogi,
not the one without the fire and without action.
Thus what they call renunciation
know this to be yoga, son of Pandu.
Without renouncing motive, no one becomes a yogi.

"'It is said that action is the method
of the sage wishing to ascend to union;
it is said that serenity is the method
of the one who has ascended to union.
When he is not attached to sense objects nor to actions,
renouncing all motivation,
then he is said to have ascended to union.

"'One should uplift the self by the soul;
one should not lower the soul.
The self is the friend of the soul;
the self is the enemy of the soul.
The self is a friend of the soul
whose self is mastered by the soul,
but the self of the non-soul
might become hostile like an enemy.

"'The highest self of the self-mastered, the peaceful,
is steadfast in cold, heat, pleasure, or pain,
as well as in honor or dishonor.
Content in the wisdom of self-knowledge, immutable,
having mastered sense, united thus,
one is said to be a yogi,
to whom a clod, a stone, and gold are the same.
Detached from companions, allies, foes,
neutral toward enemies and friends, also the good and evil,
impartial intuition is distinguished.

"'The yogi should unite constantly with the soul,
situated in solitude, one self-controlled consciousness
without wanting, without possessing.
In a clear place establishing the firm seat of the soul,
neither too high nor too low,
covered with cloth, antelope skin, and kusha grass,
there making the mind single,
consciousness and sense activity controlled,
sitting on the seat
one should practice union for self-purification.
Keeping even the unmoving body, head, and neck steady,
concentrating the eyes on the tip of the nose,
and not looking around,
the self calmed, fear banished, staying in chastity,
controlling the mind, conscious of me,
united, one should sit devoted to me.
Thus always united with the soul,
the yogi of disciplined mind
attains peace, supreme nirvana, founded with me.

"'Yoga is neither eating too much nor not eating at all,
and neither the habit of sleeping too much
nor that of keeping awake, Arjuna.
Food and recreation disciplined,
disciplined in the actions of behavior,
disciplined in sleep and waking,
yoga becomes the ending of sorrow.

"'When conscious control is established in the soul,
free from the longing of all desire,
then one is said to be thus united.
As a lamp in a windless state does not flicker,
the analogy is remembered of the yogi
of conscious control united in the yoga of the soul.
Where consciousness rests curbed by the practice of yoga,
and where by the soul seeing the soul
in the soul one is content.
One knows this perpetual happiness,
which is intuitively perceived beyond the senses,
and established there does not deviate from that truth;
and which having gained, one thinks no other gain
better than this in which is established
one who is not disturbed even by heavy sorrow.
Let it be known that
this dissolution of union with sorrow is called yoga.

"'This yoga is to be practiced
with determination without discouraged thought.
Abandoning without exception all desires born of motivation,
completely mastering the senses with the mind,
one should gradually with firm intuitive perception
quiet the mind, the soul making it stand still.
One should not think of anything at all.
Whenever the unsteady moving mind wanders here and there,
mastering this, one should direct the will in the soul.
Supreme happiness comes to this peaceful mind of the yogi,
emotion pacified, God-realized, sinless.
Thus always uniting the soul, the yogi freed from evil
easily reaches the endless happiness of God-contact.

"'The soul united in yoga observes the soul in all beings
and all beings in the soul, everywhere the same revelation.
Whoever sees me everywhere and sees everything in me,
I am not lost to this one, and this one is not lost to me.
Whoever is established in oneness honors me in all beings;
moving in any way also this yogi lives in me.
Whoever sees by soul analogy everywhere the same, Arjuna,
whether happiness or sorrow,
this one is thought a supreme yogi.'

"Arjuna said,
'This yoga which is explained by you with equanimity,
slayer of Madhu, I do not see standing steady
because of instability.
Unstable is the mind, Krishna, impetuous, strong, rigid;
I think holding it back, like the wind, is difficult.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Without doubt, great-armed one,
the restless mind is hard to control,
but by practice, Kaunteya, and by detachment
it is controlled.
Undisciplined by the self, union is hard to achieve,
thus is my opinion;
but by self-controlled effort
one is able to reach it by this means.'

"Arjuna said,
'The uncontrolled one, endowed with faith,
the mind straying from union, not attaining perfect union,
walks what road, Krishna?
Failing both is one not lost like a disappearing cloud,
unsupported, great-armed one, confused on the path of God?
Krishna, you can resolve entirely this doubt of mine;
other than you there exists no solver of this doubt.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Partha, neither here nor above is found the ruin of this;
dear son, no one doing good goes to misfortune.
Reaching the worlds of the good doers,
staying endless years in the house of the radiant glorious
the one fallen from union is born again.
Or one may be born in a family of wise yogis;
such a birth is difficult to obtain in this world.
There this same intuitive union
one receives from a previous embodiment,
and one strives from there again toward perfection, Kuru joy.
By this previous practice one is irresistibly carried on;
wishing to know also of union one transcends divine sound.
But through persevering mental control
the yogi cleansed of guilt, perfected through many births,
then goes to the supreme goal.

"'The yogi is superior to the ascetics,
is also thought to be superior to the knowledgeable,
and the yogi is superior to the active.
Therefore, be a yogi, Arjuna.
Of all these yogis, the one going to me
with inner soul full of faith, who loves me,
this one is thought by me to be most united.'

7. The Yoga of Wise Understanding

"The blessed Lord said,
'The mind absorbed in me, Partha,
practicing union relying on me,
without doubt how you shall know me completely: hear that.
I shall tell you without omission
this knowledge with discrimination, which having understood
nothing more remains here to be known.
Of thousands of people hardly anyone strives for perfection;
of those striving, even of the perfected,
hardly anyone knows me truly.

"'Earth, waters, fire, wind,
space, mind, intuition, and ego,
thus is this divided nature of mine eightfold.
This here is the lower, but know my other highest nature,
the life-being, great-armed one,
by which this universe is sustained.
Understand this to be the womb of all beings.
I am the origin of the entire universe, also its dissolution.
There is nothing whatever higher than me, wealth winner.
On me all this is strung like pearls on a thread.

"'I am the flavor in the waters, Kaunteya;
I am the radiance of the moon and sun,
the sacred word in all the Vedas,
the sound in the air, the virility in men,
and the pure fragrance on the earth;
and I am the brilliance in flame,
the life in all beings,
and I am the austerity in ascetics.

"'Know me as the primeval seed of all beings, Partha.
I am the intuition of the intelligent;
the brilliance of the brilliant am I.
And I am the strength of the strong,
freed from desire and passion;
I am the desire in beings
that is not contrary to duty, Bharata bull.

"'And the good states, the active and the slow
which come from me, know them thus:
I am not in them, but they are in me.
Because of these states formed by the three qualities
all this deluded universe does not recognize me
as higher than these and eternal.

"'Divine indeed is this quality-produced illusion
that is difficult to penetrate;
they attain me who transcend this illusion.
Deluded evil doers, the lowest people, do not attain me,
their knowledge robbed by illusion,
attached to demonic existence.

"'Four kinds of benevolent people worship me, Arjuna:
the suffering, those wanting knowledge,
those wanting success, and the wise, Bharata bull.
Of them the wise, eternally united,
devoted to the One, is the best.
I am extremely fond of the wise, and this one is fond of me.
All these are noble, but the wise is considered my soul.
Staying in this soul union with me is the supreme goal.

"'At the end of many births the wise attains me.
Vasudeva is thus all to this great soul who is hard to find.
Those whose knowledge is taken away by various desires
attain other gods, practicing various disciplines,
constrained by their own nature.
Whoever wants to worship with faith
any form one is devoted to,
on that one I bestow this unswerving faith.
United by this faith one is eager for this propitiation,
and receives from there the desires ordained by me.
But this fault of the short-sighted is temporary.

"'Those unenlightened think of me, the unmanifest,
as fallen into manifestation,
unaware of my highest being, eternal and supreme.
I am not visible to all; enveloped in yoga illusion,
this deluded world does not recognize me, unborn and eternal.
I know the past and present and future beings, Arjuna,
but no one knows me.
By the duality delusion arising from like-dislike, Bharata,
all beings fall into confusion at birth, scorcher of foes.

"'But of those in whom evil has come to an end,
whose actions are pure, they liberated from duality delusion
are devoted to me with firm vows.
Those who strive for release from old age and death,
taking refuge in me, know this God fully,
the oversoul, and action without exception.
They who know me as Lord of being, divine Lord
as well as Lord of sacrifice, and also at the time of death,
know me with united consciousness.'

8. The Yoga of Imperishable God

"Arjuna said,
'What is this God? What is this oversoul?
What is action, best person?
And what is Lord of being declared to be?
What is divine Lord said to be?
How and who is the Lord of sacrifice
here in this body, slayer of Madhu?
And how at the time of death
are you known by the self-controlled?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Imperishable God is supreme;
the oversoul is said to be its own essence,
which originates the essence of being;
action is known as creative power.
The realm of being is the perishable essence,
and the divine realm is Spirit.
I am Lord of sacrifice here in the body, best embodied one.
And at the last hour whoever dies remembering me,
releasing the body, goes to my essence.
There is no doubt about this.
Moreover whatever essence is remembered at the end
when one abandons the body, one goes to that, Kaunteya,
always becoming that essence.
Therefore at all times remember me and fight.
The intuitive mind fixed on me, you will surely come to me.

"'Practicing yoga by uniting, by consciousness,
by not going toward anything else,
one goes to supreme divine Spirit, Partha, meditating.
Whoever meditates on the ancient poet, the ruler,
smaller than an atom, supporter of all,
unimaginable form, the color of the sun beyond darkness,
at the time of death with unmoving mind,
with devotion and united with the strength of yoga,
causing the breath to enter correctly between the eyebrows,
one approaches this supreme divine Spirit,
which the knowers of the Vedas call imperishable,
which the ascetics free of passion enter,
which wanting they follow the way to chastity;
this path I shall explain to you briefly.

"'Controlling all doors
and shutting up the mind in the heart,
placing in the head the breath of the soul,
established in yoga concentration,
chanting thus AUM, the one syllable, God, remembering me,
whoever dies, abandoning the body, goes to the supreme goal.
Having undivided consciousness perpetually,
whoever remembers me always,
for this one I am easy to reach,
Partha, for the yogi who is always united.
Coming to me, the great souls gone to supreme perfection
do not incur rebirth, the impermanent home of suffering.
Up to the God realm, worlds are successive rebirths, Arjuna;
but approaching me, Kaunteya, rebirth is not found.

"'As extending a thousand ages they know a day of God,
a night ending a thousand ages, those knowing day and night.
From the unmanifest all manifestations originate at daybreak;
at nightfall they are dissolved there
into what is known as unmanifest.
This multitude of beings becoming, existing, is dissolved
at nightfall without will, Partha;
it comes into existence at daybreak.

"'But higher than this unmanifest
is another ancient unmanifest essence
which in the perishing of all beings does not perish.
Thus the eternal unmanifest is called the supreme goal,
which attaining they do not return.
This is my supreme abode.
This supreme Spirit, Partha, is to be attained
by undivided devotion, within which beings exist,
by which all this universe is pervaded.

"'But where in time
dying yogis go to non-return and return,
of this time I shall speak, Bharata bull.
Fire, light, day, waxing moon,
six months of spring and summer:
dying then the God-knowers go to God.
Smoke, night, thus the waning moon,
six months of autumn and winter:
there attaining moonlight, the yogi returns.
These two light and dark paths
are thought to be eternal for the universe.
By one one goes to non-return;
by the other one returns again.
Knowing these two paths, Partha,
the yogi is not confused at all.

"'Therefore at all times be united in yoga, Arjuna.
The meritorious fruit which is ordained in the Vedas,
in sacrifices, in austerities, and in charity,
the yogi transcends this; knowing all this
he attains the supreme state and realm.'

9. The Yoga of Royal Knowledge and Mystery

"The blessed Lord said,
'Now I shall explain the greatest secret
to you, the uncomplaining: knowledge combined with wisdom,
knowing which you will be liberated from evil.
Ruling knowledge, a ruling secret is this highest purifier,
directly intelligible, correct,
easy to practice, imperishable.
Persons without faith in this doctrine, scorcher of foes,
not attaining me are born again
into the path of death and reincarnation.

"'By my unmanifest form this whole universe is pervaded.
All beings are situated in me, and not I situated in them.
And beings are not situated in me.
Look at my majestic yoga, sustaining beings
and not staying in beings, my soul becoming beings.
As the great omnipresent wind is eternally staying in space,
so all beings stay in me.
Consider this.

"'All beings, Kaunteya,
go to my nature at the end of an era;
at the beginning of an era I send them forth again.
Embracing my own nature I send forth again and again
this whole powerless multitude of beings
by the power of nature.
And these actions do not bind me, wealth winner,
sitting indifferently unattached to these actions.
With me as supervisor nature produces
the animate and inanimate;
by this cause, Kaunteya, the universe revolves.

"'The deluded despise me, the assumed human form,
not knowing my higher essence, the great Lord of beings.
Vain hopes, vain actions, vain thoughtless knowledge
resort to fiendish and demonic deluded nature.

"'But great souls resorting to me, the divine nature,
their undivided minds are devoted to knowing
the imperishable source of being.
Always glorifying me and striving with firm resolve
and honoring me with devotion, they worship ever united.

"'And by the knowledge sacrifice also
others sacrificing worship me,
by oneness, by multiplicity, diversely, omnisciently.
I am the ritual; I am the sacrifice; offering am I;
I am the medicinal herb; the mantra am I;
I am clarified butter; I am fire; I am the oblation.

"'I am the father of this universe, mother, supporter,
grandfather, what is to be known, purifier, sacred AUM,
the Rig, Sama, and Yajur Vedas,
the goal, sustainer, Lord, witness, home, refuge, friend,
the origin, dissolution, state, treasury, seed eternal.
I radiate heat; I withhold and send forth rain;
immortality and death, and truth and untruth am I, Arjuna.

"'Knowers of the three Vedas,
soma drinkers cleansed of evil,
worshipping me with sacrifices seek the way to heaven.
They, attaining the pure world of the gods,
enjoy the heavenly divine pleasures in heaven.
They, enjoying this vast heaven world,
in exhausted merit enter the mortal world.
Thus following the triple duty
desiring desires they obtain the going and coming.
The people of undivided contemplation who worship me,
I lead their constant uniting to security.

"'Even those devoted to other gods
who sacrifice accompanied by faith
they also sacrifice to me, Kaunteya, outside the rules.
For I am the enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices,
but they do not recognize me in truth;
therefore they fall.
Those devoted to the gods go to the gods;
to the ancestors go those devoted to the ancestors.
To the spirits go those sacrificing to the spirits;
those sacrificing to me go also to me.

"'Whoever offers to me with devotion
a leaf, flower, fruit, water,
that devotion offered from a pure soul I accept.
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer,
whatever you give, whatever austerity you practice, Kaunteya,
do it as an offering to me.
Thus you will be released from good and evil fruits,
from the bonds of action;
the soul united in the yoga of renunciation,
liberated, you shall come to me.

"'I am the same in all beings;
there is none disliked or favored by me.
But whoever loves me with devotion,
they are in me, and I am also in them.
Even if an evil doer loves me with undivided devotion,
this one is to be considered good;
for this one is correctly resolved.
Quickly the soul becomes right; it enters perpetual peace.

"'Kaunteya, be aware.
No devotee of mine is lost.
Relying on me, Partha, even if they should be
women of evil wombs, merchants, even servants,
they also reach the supreme goal.
How much more then holy teachers, devoted ruling seers!
Having obtained this impermanent unhappy world, love me.
With the mind on me, be devoted to me;
sacrificing to me, honor me;
thus uniting the soul with me as the supreme aim
you will come to me.'

10. The Yoga of Manifestation

"The blessed Lord said,
'Again, great-armed one, hear my supreme word,
which I shall tell to you, the beloved,
with desire for your welfare.
Neither the many gods nor the great seers know my origin,
for I am the source of the divine ones
and the great seers in every way.
Whoever knows me, unborn and without beginning,
the great Lord of the world,
this one undeluded among mortals is released from all evils.

"'Intuition, knowledge, non-delusion, patience, truth,
control, equanimity, happiness, sorrow,
being, non-being, and fear and fearlessness,
nonviolence, impartiality, contentment, austerity, charity,
fame, disrepute, the manifold essences of being
come to be from me alone.
The seven great seers of old, the four Manus also,
are my mental essences,
whose creatures are born in the world.

"'Whoever knows in truth this manifest power and my union,
by unwavering yoga is united; of this there is no doubt.
I am the origin of everything; from me everything proceeds.
Thinking thus, the wise honor me endowed with essence.
Those conscious of me, their vitality focused on me,
enlightening each other and always speaking of me,
they are content and pleased.
To those worshippers constantly united affectionately,
I give this intuitive union by which they come to me.
Out of compassion for them,
I staying in the soul essence,
destroy the darkness born of ignorance
with the illuminating lamp of knowledge.'

"Arjuna said,
'Supreme God, supreme domain, purifier supreme, Lord,
eternal divine Spirit, primal God, unborn, omnipresent,
thus all seers call you,
the divine seer Narada, Asita Devala, Vyasa,
and yourself, you tell me.
I think all this is right which you say to me, Keshava,
for neither the gods nor the demons
know your manifestation, blessed one.
You know the soul by your soul alone, highest Spirit,
essence of being, Lord of beings,
God of gods, ruler of the universe.
You can tell completely the divine soul manifestations
by which manifestation you stay pervading these worlds.

"'How may I know you, yogi, always meditating?
And in what various essences
are you conceived by me, blessed one?
Explain further in detail
the union and manifestation of the soul, Janardana,
for to me there is no satiation of hearing immortality.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Listen, for I shall explain to you
the main soul manifestations, best of Kurus;
there is no end to my expansion.

"'I am the soul, Gudakesha,
staying in the heart of all beings,
and I am the beginning and the middle and the end of beings.
Of the Adityas, I am Vishnu;
of the lights, the radiant sun;
I am Marici of the Maruts;
of the mighty ones, I am the moon.
Of the Vedas, I am the Sama Veda;
of the gods, I am Vasava;
and of the senses, I am the mind;
of beings, I am the consciousness.
And of the Rudras, I am Shankara,
Vittesha of the Yakshas and Rakshasas;
and of the Vasus, I am fire;
I am Meru of the mountains.
And of the household priests, Partha,
know me to be the chief, Brihaspati;
of the army commanders, I am Skanda;
of the lakes, I am the ocean.
Of the great seers, I am Bhrigu;
of words, I am the one syllable;
of sacrifices, I am the prayer,
of immovable things, the Himalaya,
the sacred fig tree of all trees
and of the divine seers, Narada,
of the Gandharvas, Chitraratha,
of the perfected, the sage Kapila.
Uchchaihshravas of the horses,
know me to be born of nectar,
Airavata of the lordly elephants,
and of people, the Lord of people.
Of weapons, I am the thunderbolt;
of cows, I am the cow of plenty;
and I am the generating desire god;
of snakes, I am Vasuki,
and I am Ananta of the cobras;
I am Varuna of the water creatures,
and of the ancestors, I am Aryaman.
I am Yama of the governors,
and I am Prahlada of the Daityas;
I am time of the calculators,
and of the beasts I am king of beasts;
and I am Vainateya of the birds.
I am the wind of the purifiers;
I am Rama of the warriors,
and of sea monsters, I am Makara;
of rivers, I am the daughter of Jahnu.

"'Of creations, I am the beginning
and the end and also the middle, Arjuna;
oversoul science of the sciences,
I am the dialectic of those who debate.
Of letters, I am the letter A
and the dual of the compounds;
I am imperishable time;
I am the establisher facing all directions,
and I am all-destroying death
and the origin of things that come to be.
Fame, prosperity, and speech of the feminine words,
memory, intelligence, courage, patience,
also the Brihat Saman of the chants,
I am the gayatri of the meters;
of months, I am Sagittarius, of seasons, the spring.
I am gambling of the cheats;
I am the splendor of the splendid ones;
I am victory; I am determination;
I am the goodness of the good ones.
Of the Vishnis, I am Vasudeva,
of the sons of Pandu, wealth winner,
of the sages, I am also Vyasa,
of the poets, the poet Ushanas.
I am the clout of the rulers;
I am the guidance of those seeking victory;
and I am also the silence of secrets;
I am the knowledge of those that know.
And that which is the seed of all beings, I am that, Arjuna;
there is no being, animate or inanimate,
that could exist without me.
There is no end to my divine manifestations, foe scorcher;
but this extent of the manifestation
declared by me is illustrative.

"'Whatever manifest goodness, glorious and powerful,
you understand that
that originates from a fraction of my splendor.
However, what is this extensive knowledge to you, Arjuna?
I support this whole stable universe with one fraction.'

11. Vision of the Universal Form

"Arjuna said,
'As a favor to me, the word has been spoken by you
which is the supreme secret known as the oversoul.
By this my delusion has departed,
for the origin and dissolution of beings
have been heard in detail by me from you,
lotus-petal-eyed, and also imperishable greatness.
So this, as you say, is the soul, supreme Lord.
I wish to see your lordly form, highest Spirit.
If you think that it is possible for me to see this, Lord,
then, yoga Lord, reveal to me your imperishable soul.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Look, Partha, at my hundreds of forms, or thousands,
diverse, divine, of various colors and shapes.
Look at the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras,
the two Asvins, the Maruts, also;
look at many wonders previously unseen, Bharata.
Look at the whole universe standing as one here now
everything animate and inanimate in my body, Gudakesha,
and whatever else you wish to see.
But you are not able to see me with your own eye.
I give you a divine eye; look at my majestic union.'"

Sanjaya said,
"Saying this then, king, the great yoga Lord, Hari,
revealed to Partha the supreme majestic form,
many faces, many marvelous aspects,
many divine ornaments, many raised divine weapons,
wearing divine garlands and garments,
divine perfumed ointment, made of all marvels,
the divine, infinite, omniscient.
If there should be in the sky a thousand suns risen at once,
such brightness as this
would be like the brilliance of this great soul.
There standing as one the whole universe,
divided in many ways,
the son of Pandu then was seeing
in the body of the god of gods.
Then the amazed wealth winner, his hair standing on end,
bowing with the head to the god reverently, spoke.

"Arjuna said,
'I see divinities in your body, divine one,
also all kinds of beings assembled,
the Lord God on the lotus seat
and all seers and divine serpents,
many arms, bellies, faces, eyes;
I see you everywhere, infinite form;
not the end nor the middle nor yet the beginning of you
do I see, cosmic Lord, cosmic form.
With crown, mace, and disk,
a massive radiance shining everywhere I see you,
though it is hard to look completely at
the blazing fire of shining sun immeasurable.

"'You are the supreme imperishable to be known;
you are the supreme haven of all;
you are the immortal protector of eternal justice;
you are the ancient Spirit of my thought.
Without beginning, middle, or end, infinite power,
innumerable arms, eyes of moon and sun,
I see you, a face of blazing fire
burning all this universe with its brilliance,
for here between heaven and earth is pervaded
by you alone and all directions.

"'Seeing this marvelous mighty form of yours
the three worlds trembled, great soul,
for yonder companies of gods enter you,
some terrified they praise reverently.
Thus saying, "Hail!" the companies of perfected great seers
praise you with resounding hymns.
The Rudras, Adityas, Vasus, and the Sadhyas,
Vishvas, the two Asvins, the Maruts, and Ushmapas,
the companies of Gandharvas, Yakshas, Asuras, Siddhas
see you and are all amazed.
Seeing your great form of many faces, great-armed one,
many arms, thighs, feet, many bellies, many terrible teeth,
the worlds are trembling, and so am I.

"'For seeing you touching the sky,
a blazing many-colored open mouth, fiery enormous eyes,
my inner self trembling I find no courage nor calm, Vishnu.
And seeing your mouths of terrible teeth
like the fires of destructive time,
I do not know directions, and I do not find refuge.

"'Have mercy, divine Lord, universal home!
And yonder to you all the sons of Dhritarashtra,
along with the ruling companies, Bhishma, Drona, Suta's son,
thus there together with our chief warriors also,
enter speedily your faces of fearful terrible teeth,
some are seen clinging in between teeth with crushed heads.
As the many rushing waters of rivers flow toward the sea,
so those heroes of the human world enter your flaming faces.
As moths accelerating to destruction enter a blazing flame,
so too worlds accelerating to destruction enter your faces.
You lick swallowing from every side all the worlds
with flaming mouths, filling all the universe with splendor,
your fierce radiance consumes it, Vishnu.

"'Tell me who you are, the terrible form.
Honor be to you, most divine one! Have mercy!
I wish to understand you, the primal one.
I do not comprehend your work.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'I am time, powerful destroyer of worlds
working here to annihilate worlds.
Even without you, all the warriors
who are deployed in the opposing armies will not exist.
Therefore stand up, obtain glory!
Conquering the enemies, enjoy prosperous kingship.
By me these have already been struck down;
Be the mere instrument, left-handed one.
Drona and Bhishma and Jayadratha and Karna
as also other warrior heroes killed by me, slay.
Do not hesitate; fight!
You will conquer the adversaries in battle.'"

Sanjaya said,
"Hearing this speech of Keshava,
the crowned one, trembling reverently, bowing again,
spoke to Krishna falteringly, bowing low, frightened.

"Arjuna said,
'Properly, Hrishikesha, the universe rejoices
and is delighted by your fame.
Frightened demons flee in all directions,
and companies of perfected ones will give homage.
And why should they not give homage to you, great soul?
to the original creator, a greater teacher even than God,
the infinite divine Lord, universal home,
you, the imperishable, being, nonbeing, which is beyond that.
You are the ancient primal divine Spirit,
supreme heaven of this universe;
you are the knower to be known and the supreme state.
The universe is pervaded by you, infinite form.
You are Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, the moon,
the Lord of creatures, and the great grandfather.

"'Hail, hail to you; may it be a thousand times!
Further and also again hail, hail to you!
Hail from in front, moreover hail to you from behind!
May it be to you on all sides, the all.
Infinite valor, boundless strength,
you fulfill all; therefore you are all.

"'Thinking, impetuously thus a friend who said,
"Oh Krishna, oh Yadava, oh friend,"
out of ignorance of your greatness this was said by me
from negligence or even with affection,
and as if for a jest you are not respected at play,
while in bed, seated, dining, alone, or even before others,
unshaken one, I ask your pardon for this, boundless one.

"'You are father of the world,
of the animate and inanimate,
and you are its revered and venerable teacher.
There is nothing like you, how then any even greater
in the three worlds, incomparable power?

"'Therefore bowing, prostrating the body,
I ask your mercy, honored Lord;
as a father of a son, as a friend of a friend,
a lover to a lover, you are able to be patient, Lord.
I am excited seeing what was unseen before,
and my mind trembled with fear.

"'Reveal to me that form, Lord;
have mercy, divine Lord, universal home!
I wish to see you with crown, mace, and disk;
become the four-armed form, thousand-armed one of all forms.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'By my grace to you, Arjuna,
this supreme form is revealed from soul union,
made of universal, infinite, original brilliance of mine
which no one other than you has seen before.
Not by Vedic sacrifice study nor by gifts
and not by ritual acts nor by severe austerities
can I be seen in such a form in the human world
except by you, Kuru hero.
You should not tremble nor be confused,
seeing this so awful form of mine;
fear gone away, your mind is cheerful again;
look at this form of mine.'"

Sanjaya said,
"Saying this to Arjuna,
Vasudeva thus revealed his own form once more
and consoled this frightened one,
becoming again the gentle, handsome great soul.

"Arjuna said,
'Seeing this human form of yours, gentle Janardana,
now I am composed with thoughts returned to normal.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Hard to see is this form which you have seen;
even gods are always wishing for the revelation of this form.
Not by the Vedas, not by discipline, not by charity,
and not by ritual can I be seen in such a way
as you have seen me,
but by unswerving love I can in such a way, Arjuna,
be known, seen, and truly reached, foe scorcher.
Whoever does my work, intent on me, loving me,
attachment let go, free from hostility to any being,
comes to me, son of Pandu.'

12. The Yoga of Devotion

"Arjuna said,
'Of the constantly united who worship you with love
and those with the imperishable unmanifest,
which has the best knowledge of union?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'The mind focused on me, those who worship me
eternally united, endowed with supreme faith,
they are thought to be most united with me.

"'But those who worship the imperishable, ineffable,
unmanifest, omnipresent and inconceivable,
unchanging, immovable, constant,
controlling the senses, the same intuition everywhere,
they attain me, rejoicing in the welfare of all beings.
The exertion is great for those whose consciousness
is set on the unmanifest, for the goal of the unmanifest
is reached with difficulty by the embodied.

"'But those renouncing in me all actions,
intent on me with undistracted union,
who meditating worship me,
I soon become their deliverer
from the ocean of the death cycle, Partha,
whose consciousness has entered into me.

"'Keep the mind on me; let the intuition enter into me;
then no doubt you will live in me hereafter.
If you are not able to keep consciousness steadily on me,
then by yoga practice seek to attain me, wealth winner.
If you are unable even in practice,
become intent on my work;
doing actions for my sake also, you will attain perfection.
If you are even unable to do this,
then resorting to my union,
renouncing all the fruits of action, act self-restrained.
For knowledge is better than practice;
meditation is superior to knowledge;
renunciation of the fruit of action
is better than meditation;
from renunciation peace follows.

"'A non-hater of all beings, friendly and compassionate,
free of "mine," free of ego,
indifferent to pain and pleasure, patient,
the yogi who is always satisfied, self-restrained,
firmly resolved with mind and intuition focused on me,
who is devoted to me, this one is my beloved.

"'Whomever the world does not trouble
and who does not trouble the world,
who is liberated from the anxieties of joy, anger, and fear,
this one also is my beloved.

"'Whoever is impartial, pure,
capable, detached, untroubled,
who renouncing all undertakings is devoted to me,
this one is my beloved.

"'Whoever does not rejoice nor hate nor grieve nor crave,
renouncing good and bad, who is full of love,
this one is my beloved.

"'The same toward enemy and friend
and thus in honor and disgrace,
the same in cold, heat, pleasure, pain,
freed from attachment,
alike in blame or praise, quiet,
satisfied with anything whatever,
homeless, steady-minded,
the person full of love is my beloved.
Those who worship this immortal justice previously spoken
endowed with faith, intent on me, devoted,
they transcendentally are my beloved.'

13. Distinguishing the Field and the Knower

"Arjuna said,
'Nature and Spirit, the field and the knower of the field,
this I wish to know: knowledge and what is known, Keshava.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'This body, Kaunteya, is called the field;
this one who knows it,
the knowers of that declare the knower of the field.
And also know me as the field knower in all fields, Bharata,
knowledge of the field and the field knower,
which is thought by me to be true knowledge.

"'What that field is and of what kind
and of what modifications and from where
and who this one is and what its power is,
hear that briefly from me.
Chanted many times by the seers in various sacred hymns
and distinctly in God's scriptures,
with undeniable reasons,
the great elements, ego, intuition, and the unmanifest,
the senses ten and one, and the five objects of the senses,
desire, aversion, pleasure, pain,
combination, consciousness, firmness,
this in brief is the field described with modifications.

"'Non-pride, non-deceit, nonviolence, patience, honesty,
service of the teacher, integrity, stability, self-control,
in the objects of sense detached, and non-ego;
insight into the pain and evil
of birth, death, old age, disease;
non-attachment, non-clinging to son, wife, home, et cetera,
and constant equanimity in wanted and unwanted events;
and unswerving love to me by exclusive union,
resorting to a secluded place, dissatisfied in a crowd,
constant oversoul knowledge,
observing the purpose of true knowledge:
this knowledge is explained thus;
ignorance is what is contrary to this.

"'What is to be known that I shall explain,
knowing which, one attains immortality;
this beginningless supreme God
is said to be neither being nor non-being.
Everywhere having hands and feet,
everywhere eyes, heads, faces,
everywhere in the world ears,
this stands all pervading,
the appearance of all sense qualities, freed from all senses,
unattached and yet all supporting,
free of the qualities and enjoyer of the qualities.

"'Outside and inside of beings inanimate and animate,
because of its subtlety this is unknown;
also far away and nearby is this.
Also undivided and as if staying divided in beings,
also supporting beings this is to be known,
the devourer and the creator.
This is even the light of lights,
said to be beyond darkness---
the knowledge to be known, the goal of knowledge
situated in the heart of all.
Thus the field and the knowledge to be known are described.

"'My devotee, understanding this, approaches my essence.
Know nature and Spirit, both also beginningless,
and know the modifications and qualities coming from nature.
Concerning the doer, the doing, and the instrument,
nature is said to be the cause.
Spirit is said to be the cause
in the experiencing of pleasure and pain,
for Spirit situated in nature
experiences the qualities born of nature.
Attachment to the qualities is the instrument
of its birth in good and evil wombs.

"'The supreme Spirit in this body is also said to be
the observer, allower, supporter, experiencer,
the great Lord and the supreme soul.
Whoever thus knows Spirit and nature
together with the qualities,
even in any stage of existence,
this one is not born again.

"'Some perceive the soul through meditation
by the soul in the soul,
others by Sankhya yoga, and others by action yoga;
yet others, not knowing this, worship hearing it from others,
and they also transcend death following the scripture.
Since any being, stable or moving,
is born from the union of the field and the field knower,
know that, Bharata bull.

"'Whoever perceives the same supreme Lord
situated in all beings, not perishing in their perishings,
this one perceives;
for perceiving the same Lord established everywhere,
one does not hurt the soul with the soul.
Then one goes to the supreme goal.

"'And whoever perceives actions
completely performed by nature,
the soul thus the non-doer, this one perceives.
When one discerns various states of being situated in one
and spreading out from that, then one attains God.

"'Because this imperishable supreme soul
dwelling in the body
is beginningless and free of qualities also, Kaunteya,
it does not act nor is it stained.
As omnipresent space from its subtlety is not stained,
so the soul situated in the body is not ever stained.

"'As the one sun illumines this entire world,
so the Lord of the field illumines the entire field, Bharata.
Those who know by the eye of knowledge
this distinction between the field and the field knower
and the liberation of being from nature
go to the supreme.'

14. Distinguishing the Three Qualities

"The blessed Lord said,
'I shall explain the supreme knowledge,
best of the sciences, knowing which
all the sages have gone from here to supreme perfection.
Having recourse to this knowledge,
arrived at my state of identity,
even at creation they are not born
and at dissolution they do not tremble.

"'My womb is great God; in it I put the seed.
The origin of all beings comes from there, Bharata.
In all wombs, Kaunteya, forms come to be
of which God is the great womb.
I am the seed-sowing father.

"'Goodness, emotion, darkness---
thus the qualities born of nature
bind, great-armed one, in the body
the imperishable embodied one.

"'Of these, goodness, free from impurity, illuminating,
healthy, binds by attachment to happiness
and by attachment to knowledge, sinless one.

"'Know that emotion whose soul is passion
is born of thirsty attachment.
This binds down the embodied one, Kaunteya,
by attachment to action.

"'But know that darkness is born of ignorance,
confusing all embodied ones.
This binds down by negligence, laziness, sleep, Bharata.

"'Goodness causes attachment to happiness,
emotion to action, Bharata,
but obscuring knowledge, darkness
even in negligence causes attachment.
Prevailing over emotion and darkness,
goodness comes to be, Bharata,
emotion over goodness and darkness,
likewise darkness over goodness and emotion.

"'When the light of knowledge is born
in all the doors in this body,
then it may be known
that goodness has thus grown powerful indeed.
Greed, exertion, undertaking of actions, unrest, lust,
these are produced when emotion is in power, Bharata bull.
Lack of light and lack of exertion, negligence and confusion,
these are produced when darkness is in power, Kuru joy.

"'But with goodness in power,
when the embodied one goes at dissolution,
then one arrives at the stainless worlds
of the knowers of the highest.
Going to dissolution in emotion,
one is born among those attached to action;
likewise dissolving in darkness,
one is born in wombs of the deluded.

"'Of action well done they say
the fruit is good without impurity,
but the fruit of emotion is pain,
the fruit of darkness ignorance.

"'From goodness springs knowledge
and from emotion greed;
negligent confusion comes from darkness, as does ignorance.

"'Those staying good go upward;
the emotional remain in the middle;
the lowest quality state, the dark, go downward.

"'When the observer perceives
no doer other than the qualities
and knows the highest, this one attains my essence.
Transcending these three qualities coming to be in the body,
the embodied, released from birth, death, old age, pain,
attains immortality.'

"Arjuna said,
'By what characteristics does the one transcending
these three qualities come to be, Lord?
What is the conduct?
And how does one transcend these three qualities?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Illumination and progress and delusion, son of Pandu,
one neither hates their occurrence
nor longs for their absence.
Whoever is seated impartially
is not disturbed by the qualities;
the qualities operate thus;
whoever stands firm does not waver;
the same in pain and pleasure, self-reliant,
the same to a clod, a stone, gold,
equal to the loved and the unloved, constant,
equal to blame and praise,
in honor and dishonor equal,
equal toward friend and enemy,
renouncing all undertakings,
this one is said to be quality-transcending.
And whoever serves me with unswerving devotional union,
transcending these qualities
this one is fit for God realization.
For I am the foundation of God,
of the immortal and of the imperishable
and of everlasting justice and of absolute happiness.'

15. The Yoga of the Highest Spirit

"The blessed Lord said,
'High the root, low the branch,
they say the ashvattha tree is eternal;
its leaves are sacred hymns.
Whoever knows this is a Veda knower.
Below and above its branches spread,
nourished by qualities sprouting sense objects,
and below the roots stretch forth
engendering action in the human world.
Its form is not perceived here in this way
nor the end nor the beginning nor the maintenance.
This ashvattha tree with fully grown root
being cut down by the strong ax of detachment,
then that place is to be sought,
having gone to which they do not return again;
and I take refuge in that primal Spirit
from where ancient progress flowed.

"'Without arrogant delusions,
with evil attachments conquered,
the eternal oversouls, with desires turned away,
released from dualities known as pleasure-pain,
go unconfused to that imperishable place.
The sun does not illumine nor the moon nor fire
that place going to which they do not return;
that is my supreme home.
My primeval part becoming alive in the world of the living
draws existing in nature the senses,
of which the mind is the sixth.

"'When the Lord acquires a body,
and also when the Lord departs,
taking these the wind blows scents as if from the source.
Presiding over hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell,
and mind, this one enjoys the objects of the senses.

"'Whether it is departing, staying, or enjoying,
those confused by the accompanying qualities do not perceive;
those with the eye of knowledge do perceive.
And striving yogis perceive this one existing in the soul,
while striving undisciplined thoughtless souls
do not perceive this one.

"'That brilliant sunshine which lights the entire universe,
the brilliance which is in the moon and in fire,
know that to be mine.
And entering the earth I maintain creatures with energy,
and I nourish all plants becoming the flavor-souled nectar.
Becoming digestive fire entering the body of the breathing
uniting with the breath I digest the fourfold food.
And I am seated in the hearts of all;
from me are memory, knowledge, and reasoning;
and I am recognized by all the Vedas;
I am the Vedanta maker and the Veda knower.

"'There are these two spirits in the world,
perishable and imperishable,
and all creatures are perishable;
the imperishable is called unchanging.

"'But the highest spirit is another,
called the supreme soul, who,
entering the three worlds as the undying Lord,
supports them.
Since I transcend the perishable
and am higher than the imperishable,
therefore I am celebrated in the world and in the Veda
as the highest spirit.
Whoever thus unconfused knows me as the highest spirit,
this omniscient one worships me
with the whole being, Bharata.
So this most secret doctrine explained by me, blameless one,
intuiting this, one should be enlightened
and accomplished, Bharata.'

16. Distinguishing the Divine and the Demonic

"The blessed Lord said,
'Fearlessness, purity of heart,
perseverance in knowledge of union,
charity and restraint and sacrifice,
spiritual study, austerity, straightforwardness,
nonviolence, truth, no anger, renunciation, peace,
no slander, compassion for creatures, no greed,
kindness, modesty, no fickleness,
vigor, patience, courage, purity,
no hatred, and no excessive pride
are the endowment of the one born to the divine, Bharata.

"'Hypocrisy, arrogance and conceit,
anger and harshness, and ignorance
are the endowment of the one born to the demonic, Partha.

"'The divine endowment is for liberation,
for bondage the demonic, it is thought.
Do not grieve.
To the divine endowment you are born, son of Pandu.
Two created beings are in this world,
the divine and the demonic.

"'The divine has been described in detail;
hear from me about the demonic, Partha.
Progress and cessation demonic people do not understand;
neither purity nor good conduct nor truth is found in them.
Untruthful, they are unstable.
The universe, they say, is godless,
not by a succession created.
What else but desire caused it?
Holding this view lost souls of little intelligence
and evil actions come forth as enemies
for the destruction of the world.

"'Attached to insatiable desire,
accompanied by hypocrisy, arrogance, and lust,
out of confusion accepting false notions,
they proceed with impure purposes,
and clinging to immeasurable anxiety ending in death,
with gratification of desire their highest aim,
convinced that this is all,
bound by a hundred expectations,
devoted to desire and anger,
they wish for the gratification of desires
by the unjust means of hoards of wealth.

"'"This today was acquired by me;
this wish I shall obtain;
this is it; and this shall be my property also.
That enemy was slain by me;
and I shall kill others also.
I am the Lord; I am the enjoyer;
I am perfect, powerful, happy.
I am wealthy, aristocratic.
Who else is there like me?
I shall sacrifice, give, be merry."

Thus are those deluded by ignorance.
Led astray by more than one thought,
wrapped in a net of delusion,
attached to the gratification of desires,
they fall into an unclean hell.

"'Conceited souls, stubborn,
full of the pride and intoxication of wealth,
they sacrifice in the name of sacrifices with hypocrisy,
not in the sacred manner.
Clinging to the ego, force, insolence, desire, and anger,
the envious hate me in the soul of others' bodies.
Those hating, cruel, vicious wretches I throw continually
into the cycles of reincarnation in demonic wombs.
Entering a demonic womb, the deluded in birth after birth
not attaining me, Kaunteya, go then to the worst path.

"'This threefold gate of hell is destructive of the soul:
desire, anger, and greed.
Therefore one should renounce this threesome.
Released from these three dark gates, Kaunteya,
the best person practices for the soul,
then goes to the supreme goal.

"'Whoever, discarding scriptural knowledge,
follows willful desire does not attain perfection
nor happiness nor the supreme goal.
Therefore scripture is your authority
for determining what is to be done or not to be done.
Knowing what is said in scripture you should do work here.'

17. Distinguishing Three Kinds of Faith

"Arjuna said,
'Those who, discarding scriptural knowledge,
sacrifice filled with faith,
what is their position, Krishna?
Is it goodness, emotion, or darkness?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Triple is the faith of the embodied;
it is essentially goodness, emotion, and darkness.

"'Thus hear of this.
The faith of each becomes according to the form of goodness.
This Spirit is made of faith.
Whoever has the faith which this is is this.
The good sacrifice to the gods,
the emotional to spirits and demons,
and others, the men of darkness,
sacrifice to the dead and ghosts.

"'People who undergo terrible austerities
not ordained by scripture,
joined with egotistical hypocrisy
along with desire, rage, and force,
torturing the organs within the body,
and unconscious of me inside within their body,
know them to be demonic in their resolves.

"'But food also preferred by each becomes triple,
as sacrifice, austerity, and charity.
Hear this distinction of these.
Promoting life, goodness, strength, health,
happiness, and satisfaction,
flavorful, juicy, substantial, and hearty foods
are liked by the good.
Pungent, sour, salty, hot, spicy, dry, burnt foods
are wanted by the emotional,
causing pain, misery, and sickness.
Spoiled, tasteless, putrid, stale,
and what is rejected as well as the unclean
is the food liked by the ignorant.

"'Scripture-ordained sacrifice which is offered
by those not desiring the fruit,
offering thus with the mind focused, this is good.
But having in view the fruit and also hypocritical purpose,
Bharata, know this sacrifice which is offered is emotional.
Scripture discarded, food unoffered, sacred words discarded,
no price paid, devoid of faith,
they regard as ignorant sacrifice.

"'Revering the divine,
the twice-born, the teacher, the wise,
purity, virtue, continence, and nonviolence
is called the austerity of the body.
Non-disturbing speech, true, pleasant, beneficial,
and which practices reciting sacred texts
is called speech-making austerity.
Mental clarity, kindness, silence, self-control,
purity of being, this is called mental austerity.

"'This triple austerity practiced with the highest faith
by people united by not desiring fruit, they regard as good.
And austerity which is done with hypocrisy
for the sake of honor, respect, and reverence here on earth,
this is said to be emotional, insecure, impermanent.
Austerity which is done with torture of self
with a deluded notion
or for the purpose of destroying another,
this is said to be dark.

"'The gift which is given as being given,
to one who does no favor,
at the proper place and time and to a worthy person,
this gift is considered good.
But that which is given for the sake of reward
or again with a view to the fruit or unwillingly,
that gift is considered emotional.
That gift which is given
in the wrong place and time to the unworthy
disrespectfully and with contempt is said to be dark.

"'"AUM tat sat" is considered the triple symbol of God.
By this the priests and the Vedas and the sacrifices
were anciently ordained.
Therefore acts of sacrifice, charity, and austerity
always begin by uttering AUM
as proclaimed in the precepts of the expounders of God.
Saying tat without interest in the fruit,
acts of sacrifice, austerity, and various charities
are done by those desirous of liberation.
In meaning truth and in meaning goodness this sat is used.
In praise, also in action the sound sat is used, Partha.
In sacrifice, austerity and charity
steadiness is also called sat,
and action related to this is likewise designated sat.

"'An offering given or an austerity practiced and done
which is without faith is said to be false, Partha,
and that is nothing to us here or hereafter.'

18. The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation

"Arjuna said,
'Great-armed one, I wish to know the truth
of renunciation and of relinquishment, Hrishikesha,
individually, slayer of Keshin.

"The blessed Lord said,
'The renouncing of desired actions
the sages know as renunciation;
relinquishment of the fruit of all action
the clear-sighted say is relinquishment.
Some thinkers say that action is to be relinquished as wrong,
and others that action by sacrifice, charity, and austerity
is not to be thus relinquished.

"'Hear my conclusion in this matter of relinquishment,
best Bharata, for relinquishment, tiger spirit,
is described as threefold.
Action by sacrifice, charity, and austerity
is not to be relinquished;
that sacrifice, charity, and austerity
are the purifiers of the thinkers.
But these actions are to be done
relinquishing attachment and the fruits.
This, Partha, is definitely my final opinion,
for renunciation of required action is not proper;
the confused relinquishing of this is declared dark.
Whoever relinquishes action which is troublesome
out of fear of physical suffering,
doing emotional relinquishment
would not obtain the fruit of that relinquishment.
Action which is to be done is done in a disciplined way,
Arjuna, relinquishing attachment and the fruit;
this relinquishment is thought of as good.

"'Filled with goodness, intelligent, doubt eliminated,
the relinquisher, does not hate disagreeable action
nor is attached to the agreeable,
for embodied beings can not relinquish actions entirely.
But whoever is a relinquisher of the fruit of action,
this one is called thus a relinquisher.
Triple is the fruit of action for the dying relinquishers:
unwanted, wanted, and mixed;
but for the renouncers there is none whatever.

"'Great-armed one, learn from me these five factors
proclaimed in Sankhya doctrine for success in all actions:
the basis, also the actor,
and the instrument of various kinds,
and many separate movements,
and the divine as the fifth.
Whatever action a person undertakes
with body, speech, and mind,
whether right or wrong, these are its five factors.

"'But in this reality,
whoever sees the soul as the only actor
out of incomplete understanding, this fool does not see.
The one whose condition is not egoistic,
whose intuition is not affected,
even though killing these people,
this one does not kill and is not bound.

"'Knowledge, the known, and the knower
are the threefold action incentives;
the instrument, the action, and the actor
are the threefold constituents of action.
Knowledge, action, and the actor are said to be threefold,
determined by the qualities in the qualities-doctrine.

"'Hear about these also.
Learn that good knowledge by which one sees in all creatures
one imperishable essence undivided in the divided.
But the knowledge which regards as separate
the different beings of various kinds in all creatures
learn that knowledge is emotional.
But that which is attached
to one thing to be done as if it were all,
without reason, without true purpose, and insignificant,
is said to be dark.

"'Action which is controlled, free of attachment,
done without liking or disliking, wishing to obtain no fruit,
that is called good.
But action which is done wishing to obtain desire
with self-interest or again with much effort,
that is said to be emotional.
Action which is undertaken out of confusion
disregarding the consequence, loss, harm, and capability,
that is called dark.

"'Liberated from attachment, not egotistical,
accompanied by courage and resolution,
unperturbed in success or failure,
the actor is called good.
Passionate, wishing to obtain the fruit of action, greedy,
violent-natured, impure, accompanied by joy and sorrow,
the actor is proclaimed to be emotional.
Undisciplined, vulgar, stubborn, deceitful, dishonest,
lazy, depressed, and procrastinating,
the actor is called dark.

"'Hear the distinction of the intuition and the will
according to the threefold qualities
explained completely and distinctly, wealth winner.

"'Intuition which knows action and withdrawal,
what is to be done and what is not to be done,
what is to be feared and what is not to be feared,
bondage and liberation,
this, Partha, is good.
Intuition which distinguishes incorrectly right and wrong,
what is to be done and what is not to be done,
this, Partha, is emotional.
Intuition which thinks wrong is right,
covered by darkness, and perverted in every aim,
this, Partha, is dark.

"'The will by which one holds steady
the mind, breath, and sense functions with unbroken union,
this, Partha, is good.
But the will by which one holds to duty, desire, and wealth
with firmness, Arjuna, with attachment to desired fruits,
this, Partha, is emotional.
The will by which the stupid does not abandon
sleep, fear, sorrow, depression, and pride,
this, Partha, is dark.

"'But now hear from me, Bharata bull,
the threefold happiness one enjoys through practice
and in which one comes to the end of suffering.
That which in the beginning is like poison
but in maturity resembles nectar,
that happiness is declared good,
born from the clarity of soul intuition.
That which in the beginning
from contact between sense objects and sense resembles nectar
but in maturity is like poison,
this happiness is considered emotional.
And happiness which in the beginning and in consequence
is confusing for the soul,
arising from sleep, laziness, and negligence,
that is said to be dark.

"'There is nothing,
either on earth or even in heaven among the gods,
no being, which can be freed
by these three qualities born of nature.

"'The actions of the priests,
rulers, merchants, and servants,
foe scorcher, are distributed by the qualities
arising from their nature.
Calmness, control, austerity, purity, patience and sincerity,
knowledge, discernment, and piety
are priestly action born of their essence.
Valor, vigor, courage, skill in battle and also not fleeing,
charity, and leadership
are the action born of the ruler essence.
Cultivation, cow-herding, and trade
are the action born of the merchant essence.
Service-type action is born of the servant essence.

"'Satisfied in one's own repeated action
a person attains success.
How one content in one's own action
finds perfection, hear that.
By worshipping with one's own action
that from whom is the origin of all creatures,
by whom all this is pervaded,
a human finds perfection.

"'Better one's own duty of less quality
than another's duty well done;
performing action ordained by one's own essence
one does not incur guilt.
One should not relinquish inborn action,
Kaunteya, even though deficient,
for all undertakings are veiled with deficiency
like fire with smoke.
Unattached intuition everywhere, soul conquered,
longing disappeared, actionless perfection,
one goes by renunciation to the supreme.

"'Learn from me briefly, Kaunteya,
how having attained perfection
one also attains God,
which is the highest state of knowledge.
United with cleansed intuition,
controlling the self with will,
and relinquishing, starting with sound, sense objects,
and rejecting passion and hatred,
living isolated, eating lightly,
controlling speech, body, and mind,
constantly intent on union meditation,
relying on detachment,
releasing ego, force, pride, desire, anger, possessiveness;
unselfish, peaceful, one is fit for oneness with God.

"'Becoming God, soul serene,
one does not grieve nor desire,
the same among all creatures,
one attains supreme devotion to me.
By devotion to me one realizes who and what I am in truth;
then knowing me in truth one enters immediately.
Performing all actions always trusting in me,
one attains by my grace the imperishable eternal home.
Surrendering consciously all actions in me, intent on me,
constantly be conscious of me relying on intuitive union.

"'Conscious of me,
you will transcend all difficulties through my grace;
but if through egotism you will not listen, you will perish.
If, relying on egotism, you think, "I will not fight,"
vain is this resolve; your nature will compel you.
Bound by your own essential karma, Kaunteya,
what you do not wish to do out of confusion
you will perform that even against your will.

"'The Lord stands in the heart region
of all creatures, Arjuna,
causing to move all creatures mounted mechanically by magic.
Go to that shelter with your whole essence, Bharata.
From that grace you will attain supreme peace
and the eternal state.
Thus knowledge more secret than the secret
has been explained to you by me.
Reflecting on this completely, do whatever you wish.

"'Hear from me again the most secret supreme word.
You are surely loved by me;
therefore I shall speak for your benefit.
Become mentally me, devoted to me, sacrificing to me;
revere me, and you will come to me truly;
I promise you; you are my beloved.
Giving up all duties, take shelter in me alone.
I shall liberate you from all evils; do not grieve.

"'This is not to be told by you
to one who neglects austerity
nor to one who neglects devotion
nor to one who does not want to listen
nor to one who speaks ill of me.

"'Whoever shall explain
this supreme secret to my devotees,
performing the highest devotion to me,
will come to me without doubt.
And no one among humanity is pleasing me more than this one,
and no other is more beloved by me on earth.
And whoever shall study this sacred dialogue of us two,
by this one with this knowledge sacrifice I may be loved;
such is my thought.

"'Also whoever may hear with faith and not scoffing,
this person, also liberated,
should attain the happy worlds of pure actions.
Has this been heard by you, Partha,
with one-pointed thought?
Has it destroyed your ignorant delusion, wealth winner?'

"Arjuna said,
'Delusion is lost, recognition gained,
through your grace by me, unchanging one.
I stand with doubt dispelled.
I shall do your word.'"

Sanjaya said,
"Thus from Vasudeva and Partha, the great soul,
I heard this marvelous dialog,
causing my hair to stand on end.
Through the grace of Vyasa
I heard this secret supreme yoga
from the Lord of yoga, Krishna,
speaking himself before my eyes.

"O King, remembering again and again
this marvelous and holy dialog of Keshava and Arjuna,
I rejoice over and over.
And remembering again and again
that most marvelous form of Hari,
my amazement is great, King,
and I rejoice again and again.
My thought is that wherever is the Lord of yoga, Krishna,
and wherever is Partha, the archer,
there is splendor, victory, well-being, and eternal wisdom."

Bhagavad-Gita

Sanderson Beck

Part of Wisdom of India and China | Index: Beck

Copyright 1996, 2002 by Sanderson Beck