Bhagavad Gita

And I am Ananta of Nâgas, Varuna of sea-dwellers I; and of ancestors Aryaman; Yama of governors am I

And I am Prahlâda of Daityas; of calculators Time am I; and of wild beasts I the imperial beast; and Vainateya of birds

Of purifiers I am the wind; Rama of warriors I; and I am Makara of fishes; of streams the Gangâ am I

Of creations the beginning and the ending, and also the middle am I, O Arjuna. Of sciences the science concerning the ; the speech of orators I

Of letters the letter A I am, and the duality of a compound; I also everlasting Time; I the Supporter, whose face turns everywhere

And all-devouring Death am I, and the origin of all to come; and of feminine qualities, fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, constancy, forgiveness

Of hymns also Brihatsâman; Gâyatrî of metres am I; of months I am Mârgasîrsha; of seasons the flowery

I am the gambling of the cheat, and the splendour of splendid things I; I am victory, I am determination, and the truth of the truthful I

Of the Vṛishnis Vâsudeva am I; of the Pândavas also I am Vyâsa; of poets Ushanâ the Bard

Of rulers I am the sceptre; of those that seek victory I am statesmanship; and of secrets I am also silence; the knowledge of knowers am I

And whatsoever is the seed of all beings, that am I, O Arjuna; nor is there aught, moving or unmoving, that may exist bereft of Me

There is no end of My divine powers, O Parantapa. What has been declared is illustrative of My infinite glory

Whatsoever is glorious, good, beautiful, and mighty, understand thou that to go forth from a fragment of My splendour

But what is the knowledge of all these details to thee, O Arjuna? Having pervaded this whole universe with one fragment of Myself, I remain

}} This word of the supreme Secret concerning the Self, Thou hast spoken out of compassion; by this my delusion is taken away

The production and destruction of beings have been heard by me in detail from Thee, O Lotus-eyed, and also Thy imperishable greatness

O supreme Lord, even as Thou describest Thyself, O best of beings, I desire to see Thy Form omnipotent

If Thou thinkest that by me It can be seen, O Lord, Lord of Yoga, then show me Thine imperishable Self

}} Behold, O Pârtha, a Form of Me, a hundredfold, a thousandfold, various in kind, divine, various in colours and shapes

Behold the Âdityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Ashvins and also the Maruts; behold many marvels never seen ere this, O Bhârata

Here, to-day, behold the whole universe, movable and immovable, standing in one in My body, O Gudâkesha, with aught else thou desirest to see

But verily thou art not able to behold Me with these thine eyes; the divine eye I give unto thee. Behold My sovereign Yoga

}} Having thus spoken, O King, the great Lord of Yoga, Hari, showed to Pârtha His supreme Form as Lord

With many mouths and eyes, with many visions of marvel, with many divine ornaments, with many upraised divine weapons;

Wearing divine necklaces and vestures, anointed with divine unguents, the God all-marvellous, boundless, with face turned everywhere

If the splendour of a thousand suns were to blaze out together in the sky, that might resemble the glory of that Mahâtman

There Pândava beheld the whole universe, divided into manifold parts, standing in one in the body of the Deity of Deities

Then he, Dhananjaya, overwhelmed with astonishment, his hair upstanding, bowed down his head to the Shining One, and with joined palms spake

Within Thy Form, O God, the Gods I see, All grades of beings with distinctive marks; Brahma, the Lord, upon His lotus-throne, The Rishis all, and Serpents, the Divine

With mouths, eyes, arms, breasts multitudinous, I see Thee everywhere, unbounded Form. Beginning, middle, end, nor source of Thee, Infinite Lord, infinite Form, I find;

Shining, a mass of splendour everywhere, With discus, mace, tiara, I behold: Blazing as fire, as sun dazzling the gaze, From all sides in the sky, immeasurable

Lofty beyond all thought, unperishing, Thou treasure-house supreme, all-immanent; Eternal Dharma's changeless Guardian, Thou; As immemorial Man I think of Thee

I see Thy face, as sacrificial fire Blazing, its splendour burneth up the worlds

By Thee alone are filled the earth, the heavens, And all the regions that are stretched between; The triple worlds sink down, O mighty One, Before Thine awful manifested Form

To Thee the troops of Suras enter in, Some with joined palms in awe invoking Thee; Banded Maharshis, Siddhas, cry: "All hail"! Chanting Thy praises with resounding songs

Rudras, Vasus, Sâdhyas and Adityas, Vishvas, the Ashvins, Maruts, Ushmapas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Siddhas, Asuras, In wondering multitudes beholding Thee

Thy mighty Form, with many mouths and eyes, Long armed, with thighs and feet innumerate, Vast-bosomed, set with many fearful teeth, The worlds see terror-struck, as also I

Radiant, Thou touchest heaven, rainbow-hued, With opened mouths and shining vast-orbed eyes. My inmost self is quaking, having seen, My strength is withered, Vishnu, and my peace

Like Time's destroying flames I see Thy teeth, Upstanding, spread within expanded jaws; Nought know I anywhere, no shelter find; Mercy, O God! of all the worlds!

The sons of Dhṛitarâshtra, and with them The multitude of all these kings of earth, Bhîshma, and Drona, Sûta's royal son, And all the noblest warriors of our hosts,

Into Thy gaping mouths they hurrying rush, Tremendous-toothed and terrible to see; Some caught within the gaps between Thy teeth Are seen, their heads to powder crushed and ground

As river-floods impetuously rush, Hurling their waters into ocean's lap, So fling themselves into Thy flaming mouths, In haste, these mighty men, these lords of earth

As moths with quickened speed will headlong fly Into a flaming light, to fall destroyed, So also these, in haste precipitate, Enter within Thy mouths destroyed to fall

On every side, all-swallowing, fiery-tongued, Thou lickest up mankind, devouring all; The glory filleth space: the universe Is burning, Vishnu, with Thy blazing rays

Reveal Thy ; what awful Form art Thou? I worship Thee! Have mercy, God supreme! Thine inner Being I am fain to know; This Thy forth-streaming Life bewilders me

Time am I, laying desolate the world, Made manifest on earth to slay mankind! Not one of all these warriors ranged for strife Escapeth death; thou shalt alone survive

Therefore stand up! win for thyself renown, Conquer thy foes, enjoy the wealth filled realm, By Me they are already overcome, Be thou the outward cause, left-handed one

Drona and Bhîshma and Jayadratha, Karna, and all the other warriors here, Are slain by Me. Destroy them fearlessly. Fight! thou shalt crush thy rivals in the field

}} Having heard these words of Keshava, he who weareth a diadem, with joined palms, quaking and prostrating himself, spake again to Krishna, stammering with fear, casting down his face

Hrishîkesha! in Thy magnificence Rightly the world rejoiceth, hymning Thee; The Râkshasas to every quarter fly In fear; the hosts of Siddhas prostrate fall

How should they otherwise, O loftiest Self! First Cause! Brahmâ Himself less great than Thou. Infinite, God of Gods, home of all worlds, Unperishing, Sat, Asat, supreme!

First of the Gods, most ancient Man Thou art. Supreme receptacle of all that lives; Knower and known, the dwelling-place on high; In Thy vast Form the universe is spread

Thou art Vâyu and Yama, Agni, moon, Varuna, Father, Grandsire of all; Hail, hail to Thee! a thousand times all hail! Hail unto Thee! again, again all hail!

Prostrate in front of Thee, prostrate behind; Prostrate on every side to Thee, O All. In power boundless, measureless in strength, Thou holdest all: then Thou Thyself art All

If, thinking Thee but friend, importunate, O Krishna! or O Yâdava! O friend! I cried, unknowing of Thy majesty, And careless in the fondness of my love;

If jesting I irreverence showed to Thee, At play, reposing, sitting or at meals, Alone, O sinless One, or with my friends, Forgive my error, O Thou boundless One

There is none like to Thee. Who passeth Thee? Pre-eminent Thy power in all the worlds

Therefore I fall before Thee; with my body I worship as it fitting; bless Thou me. As father with the son, as friend with friend, With the beloved as lover, bear with me

I have seen that which none hath seen before, My heart is glad, yet faileth me for fear; Show me, O God, Thine other Form again— Mercy, O God of Gods, home of all worlds—

Diademed, mace and discus in Thy hand. Again I fain would see Thee as before; Put on again Thy four-armed shape, O Lord, O thousand-armed, of forms innumerate

Radiant, all-penetrating, endless, first, That none except thyself hath ever seen

Nor sacrifice, nor Vedas, alms, nor works, Nor sharp austerity, nor study deep, Can win the vision of this Form for man, Foremost of Kurus, thou alone hast seen

Be not bewildered, be thou not afraid, Because thou hast beheld this awful Form; Cast fear away, and let thy heart rejoice; Behold again Mine own familiar shape

}} Vâsudeva, having thus spoken to Arjuna, again manifested His own Form, and consoled the terrified one, the Mahâtman again assuming a gentle form

}} Beholding again Thy gentle human Form, O Janârdana, I am now collected, and am restored to my own nature

}} This Form of Mine beholden by thee is very hard to see. Verily the Shining Ones ever long to behold this form

Nor can I be seen as thou hast seen Me by the Vedas, nor by austerities, nor by alms, or by offerings;

But by devotion to Me alone I may thus be perceived, Arjuna, and known and seen in essence, and entered, O Parantapa

He who doeth actions for Me, whose supreme good I am, My devotee, freed from attachment without hatred of any being, he cometh unto Me, O Pândava

}} Those devotees who ever harmonised worship Thee, and those also who worship the Indestructible, the Unmanifested, of these is the more learned in yoga?

}} They who with mind fixed on Me ever harmonised worship Me, with faith supreme endowed, these, in My opinion, are best in yoga

They who worship the Indestructible, the Ineffable, the unmanifested, Omnipresent, and Unthinkable, the Unchanging, Immutable, Eternal,

Restraining and subduing the senses, regarding everything equally, in the welfare of all rejoicing, these also come unto Me

The difficulty of those whose minds are set on the Unmanifested is greater; for the path of the Unmanifested is hard for the embodied to reach

Those verily who, renouncing all actions in Me and intent on Me, worship meditating on Me, with whole-hearted yoga,

These I speedily lift up from the ocean of death and existence, O Pârtha, their minds being fixed on Me

Place thy mind in me, into Me let thy Reason enter; then without doubt thou shalt abide in Me hereafter

And if thou art not able firmly to fix thy mind on Me, then by the yoga of practice seek to reach Me, O Dhananjaya

If also thou art not equal to constant practice, be intent on My service; performing actions for My sake, thou shalt attain perfection

If even to do this thou hast not strength, then, taking refuge in union with Me, renounce all fruit of action with the self controlled

Better indeed is wisdom than constant-practice; than wisdom, meditation is better; than meditation, renunciation of the fruit of action; on renunciation follows peace

He who beareth no ill-will to any being, friendly and compassionate, without attachment and egoism, balanced in pleasure and pain, and forgiving,

Ever content, harmonious, with the self-controlled, resolute, with mind and Reason dedicated to Me, he, My devotee, is dear to Me

He from whom the world doth not shrink away, who doth not shrink away from the world, freed from the anxieties of joy, anger, and fear, he is dear to me

He who wants nothing, is pure, expert, passionless, untroubled, renouncing every undertaking, he, My devotee, is dear to Me

He who neither loveth nor hateth, nor grieveth, nor desireth, renouncing good and evil, full of devotion, he is dear to Me

}} Alike to foe and friend, and also in fame and ignominy, alike in cold and heat, pleasures and pains, destitute of attachment,

Taking equally praise and reproach, silent, wholly content with what cometh, homeless, firm in mind, full of devotion, that man is dear to Me

They verily who partake of this life-giving wisdom as taught herein, endued with faith, I their supreme Object, devotees, they are surpassingly dear to Me

}} Matter and Spirit, even the Field and the Knower of the Field, wisdom and that which ought to be known, these I fain would learn, O Keshava

}} This body, son of Kuntî, is called the Field; that which knoweth it is called the Knower of the Field by the Sages

}} Understand Me as the Knower of the Field in all Fields, O Bhârata. Wisdom as to the Field and the Knower of the Field, that in My opinion is the wisdom

}} What that Field is and of what nature, how modified, and whence it is, and what He is and what His powers, hear that now briefly from Me

}} Rishis have sung in manifold ways, in many various chants, and in decisive Brahma-sûtra verses full of reasonings

}} The great Elements, Individuality, Reason, and also the unmanifested, the ten senses and the one, and the five pastures of the senses;

}} Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, combination, intelligence, firmness; these, briefly described, constitute the Field and its modifications

}} Humility, unpretentiousness, harmlessness, forgiveness, rectitude, service of the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control

}} Dispassion towards the objects of the senses, and also absence of egoism, insight into the pain and evil of birth, death, old age and sickness,

}} Unattachment, absence of self-identification with son, wife or home, and constant balance of mind in wished-for and unwished-for events,

}} Unflinching devotion to Me by yoga, without other objects, resort to sequestered places, absence of enjoyment in the company of men,