Bhagavad Gita

}} What the mark, of him who is stable of mind, steadfast in contemplation, O Keshava? How doth the stable-minded talk, how doth he sit, how walk?

}} When a man abandoneth, O Pârtha, all the desires of the heart, and is satisfied in the by the , then is he called stable in mind

He whose mind of stable mind

He who on every side is without attachments, whatever hap of fair and foul, who neither likes nor dislikes, of such a one the understanding is well poised

When, again, as a tortoise draws in on all sides its limbs, he withdraws his senses from the objects of sense, then is his understanding well poised

The objects of sense, but not the relish for them, turn away from an abstemious dweller in the body; and even relish turneth away from him after the Supreme is seen

O son of Kuntî, the excited senses of even a wise man, though he be striving, impetuously carry away his mind

Having restrained them all, he should sit harmonised, I his supreme goal; for, whose senses are mastered, of him the understanding is well poised

Man, musing on the objects of sense, conceiveth an attachment to these; from attachment ariseth desire; from desire anger cometh forth;

From anger proceedeth delusion; from delusion confused memory; from confused memory the destruction of Reason; from destruction of Reason he perishes

}} But the disciplined self, moving among sense-objects with senses free from attraction and repulsion, mastered by the Self, goeth to peace

In that Peace the extinction of all pains ariseth for him, for of him whose heart is peaceful the Reason soon attaineth equilibrium

There is no Pure Reason for the non-harmonised, nor for the non-harmonised is there concentration; for him without concentration there is no peace, and for the unpeaceful how can there be happiness?

Such of the roving senses as the mind yieldeth to, that hurries away the understanding, just as the gale hurries away a ship upon the waters

Therefore, O mighty-armed, whose senses are all completely restrained from the objects of sense, of him the understanding is well poised

That which is the night of all beings, for the disciplined man is the time of waking; when other beings are waking, then is it night for the sage who seeth

}} He attaineth Peace, into whom all desires flow as rivers flow into the ocean, which is filled with water, but remaineth unmoved—not he who desireth desires

Whoso forsaketh all desires and goeth onwards free from yearnings, selfless and without egoism—he goeth to Peace

This is the state, O son of Prithâ. Having attained thereto, none is bewildered. Who, even at the death-hour, is established therein, he goeth to the Nirvâna of the

}} If it be thought by Thee that knowledge is superior to action, O Janârdana, why dost Thou, O Keshava, enjoin on me this terrible action?

With these perplexing words Thou only confusest my understanding; therefore tell me with certainty the one way by which I may reach bliss

}} In this world there is a twofold path, as I before said, O sinless one: that of yoga by knowledge, of the Sâñkhyas; and that of yoga by action, of the Yogis

Man winneth not freedom from action by abstaining from activity, nor by mere renunciation doth he rise to perfection

Nor can anyone, even for an instant, remain really actionless; for helplessly is everyone driven to action by the qualities born of nature

Who sitteth, controlling the organs of action, but dwelling in his mind on the objects of the senses, that bewildered man is called a hypocrite

But who, controlling the senses by the mind, he is worthy

}} Perform thou right action, for, action is superior to inaction, and, inactive, even the maintenance of thy body would not be possible

The world is bound by action, unless performed for the sake of sacrifice; for that sake, free from attachment, O son of Kuntî, perform thou action

Having in ancient times emanated mankind together with sacrifice, the Lord of emanation said: "By this shall ye propagate; be this to you the giver of desire;

"With this nourish ye the Shining Ones, and may the Shining Ones nourish you; thus nourishing one another ye shall reap the supremest good

"For, nourished by sacrifice, the Shining Ones shall bestow on you the enjoyments you desire." A thief verily is he who enjoyeth what is given by Them without returning Them aught

The righteous, who eat the remains of the sacrifice, are freed from all sins; but the impious, who dress food for their own sakes, they verily eat sin

From food creatures become; from rain is the production of food; rain proceedeth from sacrifice; sacrifice ariseth out of action

Know thou that from Brahma action groweth, and Brahma from the Imperishable cometh. Therefore the , the all-permeating, is ever present in sacrifice

He who on earth doth not follow the wheel thus revolving, sinful of life and rejoicing in the senses, he, O son of Pritha, liveth in vain

But the man who rejoiceth in the , with the is satisfied, and is content in the , for him verily there is nothing to do;

For him there is no interest in things done, in this world, nor any in things not done, nor doth any object of his depend on any being

Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform action which is duty, for, by performing action without attachment, man verily reacheth the Supreme

Janaka and others indeed attained to perfection by action: then having an eye to the welfare of world also, thou shouldst perform action

Whatsoever a great man doeth, that other men also do; the standard he setteth up, by that the people go

There is nothing in the three worlds, O Pârtha, that should be done by Me, nor anything unattained that might be attained; yet I mingle in action

For if I mingled not ever in action unwearied, men all around would follow My path, O son of Prithâ

These worlds would fall into ruin, if I did not perform action; I should be the author of confusion of castes, and should destroy these creatures

As the ignorant act from attachment to action, O Bhârata, so should the wise act without attachment, desiring the welfare of the world

Let no wise man unsettle the mind of ignorant people attached to action; but acting in harmony with Me let him render all action attractive

All actions are wrought by the quali- ties of nature only. The self, deluded by egoism, thinketh: "I am the doer."

But he, O mighty-armed, who knoweth the essence of the divisions of the qualities and functions, holding that "the qualities move amid the qualities," is not attached

Those deluded by the qualities of nature are attached to the functions of the qualities. The man of perfect knowledge should not unsettle the foolish whose knowledge is imperfect

Surrendering all actions to Me, with thy thoughts resting on the supreme , from hope and egoism freed, and of mental fever cured, engage in battle

Who abide ever in this teaching of Mine full of faith and free from caviling, they too are released from actions

Who carp at My teaching and act not thereon, senseless, deluded in all knowledge, know thou these mindless ones as fated to be destroyed

Even the man of knowledge behaves in conformity with his own nature; beings follow nature; what shall restraint avail?

Affection and aversion for the objects of sense abide in the senses; let none come under the dominion of these two; they are obstructors of the path

Better one's own duty, though destitute of merit, than the duty of another, well discharged. Better death in the discharge of one's own duty; the duty of another is full of danger

}} But dragged on by what does a man commit sin, reluctantly indeed, O Varshneya, as it were by force constrained?

}} It is desire, it is wrath, begotten by the quality of motion; all-consuming, all-polluting, know thou this as our foe here on earth

As a flame is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an embryo is wrapped by the amnion, so This is enveloped by it

Enveloped is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise in the form of desire, which is insatiable as a flame

The senses, the mind and the Reason are said to be its seat; by these enveloping wisdom, it bewilders the dweller in the body

Therefore, O best of the Bhâratas, mastering first the senses, do thou slay this thing of sin, destructive of wisdom and knowledge

It is said that the senses are great; greater than the senses is the mind

}} Thus understanding Him as greater than the Reason, restraining the self by the , slay thou, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome

}} This imperishable yoga I declared to Vivasvân; Vivasvân taught it to Manu; Manu to Ikshvâku told it

This, handed on down the line, the King-Sages knew. This yoga by great efflux of time decayed in the world, O Parantapa

This same ancient yoga hath been to-day declared to thee by Me, for thou art My devotee and My friend; it is the supreme Secret

}} Later was Thy birth, earlier the birth of Vivasvân; how then am I to understand that Thou declaredst it in the beginning?

}} Many births have been left behind by Me and by thee, O Arjuna. I know them all, but thou knowest not thine, O Parantapa

}} Though unborn, the imperishable , and also the Lord of all beings, brooding over nature which is Mine own, yet I am born through My own Power

Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O Bhârata, and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I Myself come forth;

For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age

}} He who thus knoweth My divine birth and action, in its essence, having abandoned the body, cometh not to birth again, but cometh unto Me, O Arjuna

Freed from passion, fear and anger, filled with Me, taking refuge in Me, purified in the fire of wisdom, many have entered into My Being

However men approach Me, even so do I welcome them, for the path men take from every side is Mine, O Pârtha

They who long after success in action on earth worship the Shining Ones; for in brief space verily, in this world of men, success is born of action

The four castes were emanated by Me, by the different distribution of qualities and actions; know Me to be the author of them, though the actionless and inexhaustible

Nor do actions affect Me, nor is the fruit of action desired by Me. He who thus knoweth Me is not bound by actions

Having thus known, our forefathers, ever seeking liberation, performed action; therefore do thou also perform action, as did our forefathers in the olden time

"What is action, what inaction"? Even the wise are herein perplexed. Therefore I will declare to thee the action by knowing which thou shalt be loosed from evil

It is needful to discriminate action, to discriminate unlawful action, and to discriminate inaction; mysterious is the path of action

He who seeth inaction in action, and action in inaction, he is wise among men, he is harmonious, even while performing all action

Whose works are all free from the moulding of desire, whose actions are burned up by the fire of wisdom, him the wise have called a Sage

Having abandoned attachment to the fruit of action, always content, nowhere seeking refuge, he is not doing anything, although doing actions

Hoping for naught, his mind and self controlled, having abandoned all greed, performing action by the body alone, he doth not commit sin

}} Content with whatsoever he obtaineth without effort, free from the pairs of opposites, without envy, balanced in success and failure, though acting he is not bound

Of one with attachment dead, harmonious, with his thoughts established in wisdom, his works sacrifices, all action melts away

The the oblation, the the clarified butter, are offered in the the fire by the ; unto the verily shall he go who in his action meditateth wholly upon the

Some Yogis offer up sacrifice to the Shining Ones; others sacrifice only by pouring sacrifice into the fire of the ;

Some pour as sacrifice hearing and the other senses into the fires of restraint; some pour sound and the other objects of sense into the fires of the senses as sacrifice;

Others again into the wisdom-kindled fire of union attained by self-control, pour as sacrifice all the functions of the senses and the functions of life;

Yet others the sacrifice of wealth, the sacrifice of austerity, the sacrifice of yoga, the sacrifice of silent reading and wisdom, men concentrated and of effectual vows;

}} Yet others pour as sacrifice the outgoing breath in the incoming, and the incoming in the outgoing, restraining the flow of the outgoing and incoming breaths, solely absorbed in the control of breathing

Others regular in food, pour as sacrifice their life-breaths in life-breaths. All these are knowers of sacrifice, and by sacrifice have destroyed their sins

The eaters of the life-giving remains of sacrifice go to the changeless . This world is not for the non-sacrificer, much less the other, O best of the Kurus

Many and various sacrifices are thus spread out before the . Know thou that all these are born of action, and thus knowing thou shalt be free

Better than the sacrifice of any objects is the sacrifice of wisdom, O Parantapa. All actions in their entirety, O Pârtha, culminate in wisdom

Learn thou this by discipleship, by investiga- tion, and by service. The wise, the seers of the essence of things, will instruct thee in wisdom

And having known this, thou shalt not again fall into this confusion, O Pândava; for by this thou wilt see all beings without exception in the , and thus in Me

Even if thou art the most sinful of all sinners, yet shalt thou cross over all sin by the raft of wisdom

As the burning fire reduces fuel to ashes, O Arjuna, so doth the fire of wisdom reduce all actions to ashes

Verily there is no purifier in this world like wisdom; he that is perfected in yoga finds it in the in due season