Bhagavad Gita

The man who is full of faith obtaineth wisdom, and he also who hath mastery over his senses; and, having obtained wisdom, he goeth swiftly to the supreme Peace

But the ignorant, faithless, doubting self goeth to destruction; nor this world, nor that beyond, nor happiness, is there for the doubting self

He who hath renounced actions by yoga, who hath cloven asunder doubt by wisdom, who is ruled by the , actions do not bind him, O Dhananjaya

Therefore, with the sword of the wisdom of the cleaving asunder this ignorance-born doubt dwelling in thy heart, be established in yoga. Stand up, O Bhârata

}} Renunciation of actions Thou praisest, O Krishna, and then also yoga. Of the two which one is the better? That tell me conclusively

}} Renunciation and yoga by action both lead to the highest bliss; of the two, yoga by action is verily better than renunciation of action

He should be known as a perpetual ascetic, who neither hateth nor desireth; free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed, he is easily set free from bondage

Children, not sages, speak of the Sânkhya and the Yoga as different; he who is duly established in one obtaineth the fruits of both

That place which is gained by the Sânkhyas is reached by the Yogîs also. He seeth, who seeth that the Sânkhya and the Yoga are one

But without yoga, O mighty-armed, renunciation is hard to attain to; the yoga-harmonised Muni swiftly goeth to the

He who is harmonised by yoga, the self purified, -ruled, the senses subdued, whose is the of all beings, although acting he is not affected

}} "I do not anything," should think the harmonised one, who knoweth the essence of things; seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing

Speaking, giving, grasping, opening and closing the eyes, he holdeth: "The senses move among the objects of the senses."

He who acteth, placing all actions in the , abandoning attachment, is unaffected by sin as a lotus leaf by the waters

, having abandoned attachment, perform action only by the body, by the mind, by the Reason, and even by the senses, for the purification of the self

The harmonised man, having abandoned the fruit of action, attaineth to the eternal Peace; the non-harmonised, impelled by desire, attached to fruit, are bound

Mentally renouncing all actions, the sovereign dweller in the body resteth serenely in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing to act

The Lord of the world produceth not the idea of agency, nor actions, nor the union together of action and its fruit; nature, however, manifesteth

The Lord accepteth neither the evil-doing nor yet the well-doing of any. Wisdom is enveloped by unwisdom; therewith mortals are deluded

Verily, in whom unwisdom is destroyed by the wisdom of the , in them wisdom, shining as the sun, reveals the Supreme

Thinking on , merged in , established in , solely devoted to , they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by wisdom

Sages look equally on a Brâhmana adorned with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, and even a dog and an outcaste

Even here on earth everything is overcome by those whose mind remains balanced; the is incorruptible and balanced; therefore they are established in the

With Reason firm, unperplexed, the knower of the established in the , neither rejoiceth on obtaining what is pleasant, nor sorroweth on obtaining what is unpleasant

He, whose self is unattached to external contacts and findeth joy in the , having the self harmonised with the by yoga, enjoys imperishable bliss

The delights that are contact-born, they are verily wombs of pain, for they have beginning and ending, O Kaunteya; not in them may rejoice the wise

He who is able to endure here on earth, ere he be liberated from the body, the force born from desire and passion, he is harmonised, he is a happy man

He who is happy within, who rejoiceth within, who is illuminated within, that Yogî, becoming the , goeth to the Peace of the

Rishis, their sins destroyed, their duality removed, their selves controlled, intent upon the welfare of all beings, obtain the Peace of the

The Peace of the lies near to those who know themselves, who are disjoined from desire and passion, subdued in nature, of subdued thoughts

Having external contacts excluded, and with gaze fixed between the eyebrows; having made equal the outgoing and ingoing breaths moving within the nostrils;

With senses, mind, and Reason ever controlled, solely pursuing liberation, the Sage, having for ever cast away desire, fear and passion, verily is liberated

Having known Me, as the Enjoyer of sacrifice and of austerity, the mighty Ruler of all the worlds, and the Lover of all beings, he goeth to Peace

}} He that performeth such action as his duty, independently of the fruit of action, he is an ascetic, he is a Yogî, not he that is without fire, and without rites

That which is called renunciation, know thou that as yoga, O Pândava; nor doth any one become a Yogî with the formative will unrenounced

For a Sage who is seeking Yoga, action is called the means; for the same Sage, when he is enthroned in yoga, serenity is called the means

When a man feeleth no attachment either for the objects of sense or for actions, renouncing the formative will, then, he is said to be enthroned in yoga

Let him raise the self by the and not let the self become depressed; for verily is the the friend of the self, and also the the self's enemy;

The is the friend of the self of him in whom the self by the is vanquished; but to the unsubdued self the verily becometh hostile as an enemy

The higher Self of him who is -controlled and peaceful is uniform in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as well as in honour and dishonour

The Yogî who is satisfied with wisdom and knowledge, unwavering, whose senses are sub- dued, to whom a lump of earth, a stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonised

He who regards impartially lovers, friends, and foes, strangers, neutrals, foreigners and relatives, also the righteous and unrighteous, he excelleth

Let the Yogî constantly engage himself in yoga, remaining in a secret place by himself, with thought and self subdued, free from hope and greed

}} In a pure place, established on a fixed seat of his own, neither very much raised nor very low, made of a cloth, a black antelope skin, and kusha grass, one over the other;

There, having made the mind one-pointed, with thought and the functions of the senses subdued, steady on his seat, he should practise yoga for the purification of the self

Holding the body, head and neck erect, immovably steady, looking fixedly at the point of the nose, with unseeing gaze,

The self serene, fearless, firm in the vow of the Brahmachâri, the mind controlled, thinking on Me, harmonised, let him sit aspiring after Me

The Yogî ever united thus with the , with the mind that abideth in Me

Verily yoga is not for him who eateth too much, nor who abstaineth to excess, nor who is too much addicted to sleep, nor even to wakefulness, O Arjuna

Yoga killeth out all pain for him who is regulated in eating and amusement, regulated in performing actions, regulated in sleeping and waking

When his subdued thought is fixed on the , free from longing after all desirable things, then it is said, "he is harmonised."

As a lamp in a windless place flickereth not, to such is likened the Yogî of subdued thought, absorbed in the yoga of the

That in which the mind finds rest, quieted by the practice of yoga: that in which he, seeing the by the , in the is satisfied;

That in which he findeth the supreme delight which the Reason can grasp beyond the senses, wherein established he moveth not from the Reality;

Which, having obtained, he thinketh there is no greater gain beyond it; wherein, established, he is not shaken even by heavy sorrow;

That should be known by the name of yoga, this disconnection from the union with pain. This yoga must be clung to with a firm conviction and with undesponding mind

Abandoning without reserve all desires born of the imagination, by the mind curbing in the aggregate of the senses on every side,

Little by little let him gain tranquillity, by means of Reason controlled by steadiness; having made the mind abide in the , let him not think of anything

As often as the wavering and unsteady mind goeth forth, so often reining it in, let him bring it under the control of the

Supreme joy is for this Yogi whose mind is peaceful, whose passion-nature is calmed, who is sinless and of the nature of the

The Yogî who thus, ever harmonising the self, hath put away sin, he easily enjoyeth the infinite bliss of contact with the

The self, harmonised by yoga, seeth the abiding in all beings, all beings in the ; everywhere he seeth the same

He who seeth Me everywhere, and seeth everything in Me, of him will I never lose hold, and he shall never lose hold of Me

He who, established in unity, worshippeth Me abiding in all beings, that Yogi liveth in Me, whatever his mode of living

He who, through the likeness of the , O Arjuna, seeth equality in everything, whether pleasant or painful, he is considered a perfect Yogî

}} which Thou hast declared to be by equanimity, O Madhusûdana, I see not a stable foundation for it, owing to restlessness;

For the mind is verily restless, O Krishna; it is impetuous, strong and difficult to bend. I deem it as hard to curb as the wind

}} Without doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is hard to curb and restless; but it may be curbed by constant practice and by dispassion

Yoga is hard to attain, methinks, by a self that is uncontrolled; but by the -controlled it is attainable by properly directed energy

}} He who is unsubdued but who possesseth faith, with the mind wandering away from yoga, failing to attain perfection in yoga, what path doth he tread, O Krishna?

Fallen from both, is he destroyed like a rent cloud, unsteadfast, O mighty-armed, deluded in the path of the ?

Deign, O Krishna, to completely dispel this doubt of mine; for there is none to be found save Thyself able to destroy this doubt

}} O son of Prithâ, neither in this world nor in the life to come is there destruction for him; never doth any who worketh righteousness, O beloved, tread the path of woe

Having attained to the worlds of the pure-doing, and having dwelt there for immemorial years, he who fell from yoga is reborn in a pure and blessed house;

Or he may even be born into a family of wise Yogîs; but such a birth as that is most difficult to obtain in this world

There he recovereth the characteristics belonging to this former body, and with these he again laboureth for perfection, O joy of the Kurus

By that former practice he is irresistibly swept away. Only wishing to know yoga, even the seeker after yoga goeth beyond the Brâhmic world;

But the Yogî, labouring with assiduity, purified from sin, fully perfected through manifold births, he reacheth the supreme goal

The Yogî is greater than the ascetics; he is thought to be greater than even the wise; the Yogî is greater than the men of action; therefore become thou a Yogî, O Arjuna!

And among all Yogîs, he who, full of faith, with the inner abiding in Me, adoreth Me, he is considered by Me to be the most completely harmonised

}} With the mind clinging to me, O Pârtha, performing yoga, refuged in Me, how thou shalt without doubt know Me to the uttermost, that hear thou

I will declare to thee this knowledge and wisdom in its completeness, which, having known, there is nothing more here needeth to be known

Among thousands of men scarce one striveth for perfection; of the successful strivers scarce one knoweth Me in essence

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, Mind, and Reason also and Egoism—these are the eightfold division of My nature

This the inferior. Know My other nature, the higher, the life-element, O mighty-armed, by which the universe is upheld

Know this to be the womb of all beings. I am the source of the forthgoing of the whole universe and likewise the place of its dissolving

There is naught whatsoever higher than I, O Dhananjaya. All this is threaded on Me, as rows of pearls on a string

I the sapidity in waters, O son of Kuntî, I the radiance in moon and sun; the Word of Power in all the Vedas, sound in ether, and virility in men;

The pure fragrance of earths and the bril- liance in fire am I; the life in all beings am I, and the austerity in ascetics

Know Me, O Pârtha! as the eternal seed of all beings. I am the Reason of the Reason-endowed, the splendour of splendid things am I

And I the strength of the strong, devoid of desire and passion. In beings I am desire not contrary to duty, O Lord of the Bharatas

The natures that are harmonious, active, slothful, these know as from Me; not I in them, but they in me

All this world, deluded by these natures made by the three qualities, knoweth not Me, above these, imperishable

This divine illusion of Mine, caused by the qualities, is hard to pierce; they who come to Me, they cross over this illusion

The evil-doing, the deluded, the vilest men, they come not to Me, they whose wisdom is destroyed by illusion,

Fourfold in division are the righteous ones who worship me, O Arjuna; the suffering, the seeker for knowledge, the self-interested and the wise, O Lord of the Bhâratas

Of these the wise, constantly harmonised, worshipping the One, is the best; I am supremely dear to the wise, and he is dear to Me

Noble are all these, but I hold the wise as verily Myself; he, united, is fixed on Me, the highest Path

}} At the close of many births the man full of wisdom cometh unto Me; "Vâsudeva is all." saith he, the Mahâtmâ, very difficult to find

They whose wisdom hath been rent away by desires go forth to other Shining Ones, resorting to various external observances, according to their own natures