Date: c 400 BCE
Translation: Sir Edwin Date Arnold:
Introductory Note
During the centuries in which Buddhism was establishing itself in the east of
India, the older Brahmanism in the west was undergoing the changes which resulted in the
Hinduism which is now the prevailing religion of India. The main ancient sources of
information with regard to these Hindu beliefs and practises are the two great epics, the
"Ramayana" and the Maha Bharata. The former is a highly artificial production
based on legend and ascribed to one man, Valmiki. The latter, a "huge conglomeration
of stirring adventure, legend, myth, history, and superstition," is a composite
production, begun probably as early as the fourth or fifth century before Christ, and
completed by the end of the sixth century of our era. It represents many strata of
religious belief.
The Bhagavad-Gita," of which a translation is here given, occurs as an episode
in the Maha-Bharata, and is regarded as one of the gems of Hindu literature. The poem is a
dialogue between Prince Arjuna, the brother of King Yudhisthira, and Vishnu, the Supreme
God, incarnated as Krishna, and wearing the disguise of a charioteer. The conversation
takes place in a war-chariot, stationed between the armies of the Kauravas and Pandavas,
who are about to engage in battle.
To the Western reader much of the discussion seems childish and illogical; but
these elements are mingled with passages of undeniable sublimity. Many of the more
puzzling inconsistencies are due to interpolations by later re-writers. "It is,"
says Hopkins, "a medley of beliefs as to the relation of spirit and matter, and other
secondary matters; it is uncertain in its tone in regard to the comparative efficacy of
action and inaction, and in regard to the practical man's means of salvation; but it is at
one with itself in its fundamental thesis, that all things are each a part of one Lord,
that men and gods are but manifestations of the One Divine Spirit."
Chapter I
Dhritirashtra:
Ranged thus for battle on the sacred plain On Kurukshetra - say, Sanjaya! say What
wrought my people, and the Pandavas?
Sanjaya:
When he beheld the host of Pandavas Raja Duryodhana to Drona drew, And spake these
words: "Ah, Guru! see this line, How vast it is of Pandu fighting-men, Embattled by
the son of Drupada, Thy scholar in the war! Therein stand ranked Chiefs like Arjuna, like
to Bhima chiefs, Benders of bows; Virata, Yuyudhan, Drupada, eminent upon his car,
Dhrishtaket, Chekitan, Kasi's stout lord, Purujit, Kuntibhoj, and Saivya, With Yudhamanyu,
and Uttamauj Subhadra's child; and Drupadi's; - all famed! All mounted on their shining
chariots! On our side, too, - thou best of Brahmans! see Excellent chiefs, commanders of
my line, Whose names I joy to count: thyself the first, Then Bhishma, Karna, Kripa fierce
in fight, Vikarna, Aswatthaman; next to these Strong Saumadatti, with full many more
Valiant and tried, ready this day to die For me their king, each with his weapon grasped,
Each skilful in the field. Weakest - meseems Our battle shows where Bhishma holds command,
And Bhima, fronting him, something too strong! Have care our captains nigh to Bhishma's
ranks Prepare what help they may! Now, blow my shell!"
Then, at the signal of the aged king, With blare to wake the blood, rolling around Like
to a lion's roar, the trumpeter Blew the great Conch; and, at the noise of it, Trumpets
and drums, cymbals and gongs and horns Burst into sudden clamor; as the blasts Of loosened
tempest, such the tumult seemed! Then might be seen, upon their car of gold Yoked with
white steeds, blowing their battle-shells, Krishna the God, Arjuna at his side: Krishna,
with knotted locks, blew his great conch Carved of the "Giant's bone;" Arjuna
blew Indra's loud gift; Bhima the terrible Wolf-bellied Bhima - blew a long reed-conch;
And Yudhisthira, Kunti's blameless son, Winded a mighty shell, "Victory's
Voice;" And Nakula blew shrill upon his conch Named the "Sweet-sounding,"
Sahadev on his Called "Gem-bedecked," and Kasi's Prince on his. Sikhandi on his
car, Dhrishtadyumn, Virata, Satyaki the Unsubdued, Drupada, with his sons, (O Lord of
Earth!) Long-armed Subhadra's children, all blew loud, So that the clangor shook their
foemen's hearts, With quaking earth and thundering heav'n. Then 'twas
Beholding Dhritirashtra's battle set, Weapons unsheathing, bows drawn forth, the war
Instant to break - Arjun, whose ensign-badge Was Hanuman the monkey, spake this thing To
Krishna the Divine, his charioteer: "Drive, Dauntless One! to yonder open ground
Betwixt the armies; I would see more nigh These who will fight with us, those we must slay
To-day, in war's arbitrament; for, sure, On bloodshed all are bent who throng this plain,
Obeying Dhritirashtra's sinful son."
Thus, by Arjuna prayed (O Bharata!) Between the hosts that heavenly Charioteer Drove
the brightfcar, reining its milk-white steeds Where Bhishma led, and Drona, and their
Lords. "See!" spake he to Arjuna, "where they stand, Thy kindred of the
Kurus:" and the Prince Marked on each hand the kinsmen of his house, Grandsires and
sires, uncles and brothers and sons, Cousins and sons-in-law and nephews, mixed With
friends and honored elders; some this side, Some that side ranged: and, seeing those
opposed, Such kith grown enemies - Arjuna's heart Melted with pity, while he uttered this:
Arjuna:
Krishna! as I behold, come here to shed Their common blood, yon concourse of our kin,
My members fail, my tongue dries in my mouth, A shudder thrills my body, and my hair
Bristles with horror; from my weak hand slips Gandiv, the goodly bow; a fever burns My
skin to parching; hardly may I stand; The life within me seems to swim and faint; Nothing
do I foresee save woe and wail! It is not good, O Keshav! nought of good Can spring from
mutual slaughter! Lo, I hate Triumph and domination, wealth and ease, Thus sadly won! Aho!
what victory Can bring delight, Govinda! what rich spoils Could profit; what rule
recompense; what span Of life itself seem sweet, bought with such blood? Seeing that these
stand here, ready to die, For whose sake life was fair, and pleasure pleased, And power
grew precious: - grandsires, sires, and sons. Brothers, and fathers-in-law, and
sons-in-law, Elders and friends! Shall I deal death on these Even though they seek to slay
us? Not one blow, O Madhusudan! will I strike to gain The rule of all Three Worlds; then,
how much less To seize an earthly kingdom! Killing these Must breed but anguish, Krishna!
If they be Guilty, we shall grow guilty by their deaths; Their sins will light on us, if
we shall slay Those sons of Dhritirashtra, and our kin; What peace could come of that, O
Madhava? For if indeed, blinded by lust and wrath, These cannot see, or will not see, the
sin Of kingly lines o'erthrown and kinsmen slain, How should not we, who see, shun such a
crime We who perceive the guilt and feel the shame Oh, thou Delight of Men, Janardana? By
overthrow of houses perisheth Their sweet continuous household piety, And - rites
neglected, piety extinct Enters impiety upon that home; Its women grow unwomaned, whence
there spring Mad passions, and the mingling-up of castes, Sending a Hell-ward road that
family, And whoso wrought its doom by wicked wrath. Nay, and the souls of honored
ancestors Fall from their place of peace, being bereft Of funeral-cakes and the wan
death-water.1 So teach our holy hymns. Thus, if we slay Kinsfolk and friends
for love of earthly power, Ahovat! what an evil fault it were! Better I deem it, if my
kinsmen strike, To face them weaponless, and bare my breast To shaft and spear, than
answer blow with blow.
[Footnote 1: Some repetitionary lines are here omitted.]
So speaking, in the face of those two hosts, Arjuna sank upon his chariot-seat, And let
fall bow and arrows, sick at heart.
Here endeth Chapter I. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Arjun-Vishad," or
"The Book of the Distress of Arjuna."
Chapter II
Sanjaya:
Him, filled with such compassion and such grief, With eyes tear-dimmed, despondent, in
stern words The Driver, Madhusudan, thus addressed:
Krishna:
How hath this weakness taken thee? Whence springs The inglorious trouble, shameful to
the brave, Barring the path of virtue? Nay, Arjun! Forbid thyself to feebleness! it mars
Thy warrior-name! cast off the coward-fit! Wake! Be thyself! Arise, Scourge of thy foes!
Arjuna:
How can I, in the battle, shoot with shafts On Bhishma, or on Drona-oh, thou Chief!
Both worshipful, both honorable men?
Better to live on beggar's bread With those we love alive, Than taste their blood in
rich feasts spread, And guiltily survive! Ah! were it worse - who knows? - to be Victor or
vanquished here, When those confront us angrily Whose death leaves living drear? In pity
lost, by doubtings tossed, My thoughts - distracted - turn To Thee, the Guide I reverence
most, That I may counsel learn: I know not what would heal the grief Burned into soul and
sense, If I were earth's unchallenged chief A god - and these gone thence!
Sanjaya:
So spake Arjuna to the Lord of Hearts, And sighing, "I will not fight!" held
silence then. To whom, with tender smile (O Bharata!) While the Prince wept despairing
'twixt those hosts, Krishna made answer in divinest verse:
Krishna:
Thou grievest where no grief should be! thou speak'st Words lacking wisdom! for the
wise in heart Mourn not for those that live, nor those that die. Nor I, nor thou, nor any
one of these, Ever was not, nor ever will not be, For ever and for ever afterwards. All,
that doth live, lives always! To man's frame As there come infancy and youth and age, So
come there raisings-up and layings-down Of other and of other life-abodes, Which the wise
know, and fear not. This that irks Thy sense-life, thrilling to the elements Bringing thee
heat and cold, sorrows and joys, 'Tis brief and mutable! Bear with it, Prince! As the wise
bear. The soul which is not moved, The soul that with a strong and constant calm Takes
sorrow and takes joy indifferently, Lives in the life undying! That which is Can never
cease to be; that which is not Will not exist. To see this truth of both Is theirs who
part essence from accident, Substance from shadow. Indestructible, Learn thou! the Life
is, spreading life through all; It cannot anywhere, by any means, Be anywise diminished,
stayed, or changed. But for these fleeting frames which it informs With spirit deathless,
endless, infinite, They perish. Let them perish, Prince! and fight! He who shall say,
"Lo! I have slain a man!" He who shall think, "Lo! I am slain!" those
both Know naught! Life cannot slay. Life is not slain! Never the spirit was born; the
spirit shall cease to be never; Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams!
Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit for ever; Death hath not
touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems!
Who knoweth it exhaustless, self-sustained, Immortal, indestructible, - shall such Say,
"I have killed a man, or caused to kill?"
Nay, but as when one layeth His worn-out robes away, And, taking new ones, sayeth,
"These will I wear to-day!" So putteth by the spirit Lightly its garb of flesh,
And passeth to inherit A residence afresh.
I say to thee weapons reach not the Life, Flame burns it not, waters cannot o'erwhelm,
Nor dry winds wither it. Impenetrable, Unentered, unassailed, unharmed, untouched,
Immortal, all-arriving, stable, sure, Invisible, ineffable, by word And thought
uncompassed, ever all itself, Thus is the Soul declared! How wilt thou, then, Knowing it
so, - grieve when thou shouldst not grieve? How, if thou hearest that the man new-dead Is,
like the man new-born, still living man One same, existent Spirit - wilt thou weep? The
end of birth is death; the end of death Is birth: this is ordained! and mournest thou,
Chief of the stalwart arm! for what befalls Which could not otherwise befall? The birth Of
living things comes unperceived; the death Comes unperceived; between them, beings
perceive: What is there sorrowful herein dear Prince? Wonderful, wistful, to contemplate!
Difficult, doubtful, to speak upon! Strange and great for tongue to relate, Mystical
hearing for every one! Nor wotteth man this, what a marvel it is, When seeing, and saying,
and hearing are done!
This Life within all living things, my Prince! Hides beyond harm; scorn thou to suffer,
then, For that which cannot suffer. Do thy part! Be mindful of thy name, and tremble not!
Nought better can betide a martial soul Than lawful war; happy the warrior To whom comes
joy of battle - comes, as now, Glorious and fair, unsought; opening for him A gateway unto
Heav'n. But, if thou shunn'st This honorable field - a Kshattriya If, knowing thy duty and
thy task, thou bidd'st Duty and task go by - that shall be sin! And those to come shall
speak thee infamy From age to age; but infamy is worse For men of noble blood to bear than
death! The chiefs upon their battle-chariots Will deem 'twas fear that drove thee from the
fray. Of those who held thee mighty-souled the scorn Thou must abide, while all thine
enemies Will scatter bitter speech of thee, to mock The valor which thou hadst; what fate
could fall More grievously than this? Either - being killed Thou wilt win Swarga's safety,
or - alive And victor - thou wilt reign an earthly king. Therefore, arise, thou Son of
Kunti! brace Thine arm for conflict, nerve thy heart to meet As things alike to thee -
pleasure or pain, Profit or ruin, victory or defeat: So minded, gird thee to the fight,
for so Thou shalt not sin!
Thus far I speak to thee As from the "Sankhya" - unspiritually Hear now the
deeper teaching of the Yog, Which holding, understanding, thou shalt burst Thy Karmabandh,
the bondage of wrought deeds. Here shall no end be hindered, no hope marred No loss be
feared: faith - yea, a little faith Shall save thee from the anguish of thy dread. Here,
Glory of the Kurus! shines one rule One steadfast rule - while shifting souls have laws
Many and hard. Specious, but wrongful deem The speech of those ill-taught ones who extol
The letter of their Vedas, saying, "This Is all we have, or need;" being weak at
heart With wants, seekers of Heaven: which comes - they say As "fruit of good deeds
done;" promising men Much profit in new births for works of faith; In various rites
abounding; following whereon Large merit shall accrue towards wealth and power; Albeit,
who wealth and power do most desire Least fixity of soul have such, least hold On heavenly
meditation. Much these teach, From Veds, concerning the "three qualities;" But
thou, be free of the "three qualities," Free of the "pairs of
opposites."1 and free From that sad righteousness which calculates;
Self-ruled, Arjuna! simple, satisfied!2 Look! like as when a tank pours water
forth To suit all needs, so do these Brahmans draw Texts for all wants from tank of Holy
Writ. But thou, want not! ask not! Find full reward Of doing right in right! Let right
deeds be Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them. And live in action! Labor! Make
thine acts Thy piety, casting all self aside, Contemning gain and merit; equable In good
or evil: equability Is Yog, is piety!
[Footnote 1: Technical phrases of Vedic religion.]
[Footnote 2: The whole of this passage is highly involved and difficult to render.]
Yet, the right act Is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind. Seek refuge in thy
soul; have there thy heaven! Scorn them that follow virtue for her gifts! The mind of pure
devotion - even here Casts equally aside good deeds and bad, Passing above them. Unto pure
devotion Devote thyself: with perfect meditation Comes perfect act, and the right-hearted
rise More certainly because they seek no gain Forth from the bands of body, step by step,
To highest seats of bliss. When thy firm soul Hath shaken off those tangled oracles Which
ignorantly guide, then shall it soar To high neglect of what's denied or said, This way or
that way, in doctrinal writ. Troubled no longer by the priestly lore Safe shall it live,
and sure; steadfastly bent On meditation. This is Yog - and Peace!
Arjuna:
What is his mark who hath that steadfast heart, Confirmed in holy meditation? How Know
we his speech, Kesava? Sits he, moves he Like other men?
Krishna:
When one, O Pritha's Son! Abandoning desires which shake the mind Finds in his soul
full comfort for his soul, He hath attained the Yog - that man is such! In sorrows not
rejected, and in joys Not overjoyed; dwelling outside the stress Of passion, fear, and
anger; fixed in calms Of lofty contemplation: such an one Is Muni, is the Sage, the true
Recluse! He, who to none and nowhere overbound By ties of flesh, takes evil things and
good Neither desponding nor exulting, such Bears wisdom's plainest mark! He who shall
draw, As the wise tortoise draws its four feet safe Under its shield, his five frail
senses back Under the spirit's buckler from the world Which else assails them, such an
one, my Prince! Hath wisdom's mark! Things that solicit sense Hold off from the
self-governed; nay, it comes, The appetites of him who lives beyond Depart, - aroused no
more. Yet may it chance O Son of Kunti! that a governed mind Shall some time feel the
sense-storms sweep, and wrest Strong self-control by the roots. Let him regain His
kingdom! let him conquer this, and sit On Me intent. That man alone is wise Who keeps the
mastery of himself! If one Ponders on objects of the sense, there springs Attraction, from
attraction grows desire, Desire flames to fierce passion, passion breeds Recklessness;
then the memory - all betrayed Lets noble purpose go, and saps the mind, Till purpose,
mind, and man are all undone. But, if one deals with objects of the sense Not loving and
not hating, making them Serve his free soul, which rests serenely lord, Lo, such a man
comes to tranquillity; And out of that tranquillity shall rise The end and healing of his
earthly pains, Since the will governed sets the soul at peace. The soul of the ungoverned
is not his, Nor hath he knowledge of himself; which lacked, How grows serenity? and,
wanting that, Whence shall he hope for happiness? The mind
That gives itself to follow shows of sense Seeth its helm of wisdom rent away, And,
like a ship in waves of whirlwind, drives To wreck and death. Only with him, great Prince!
Whose senses are not swayed by things of sense Only with him who holds his mastery, Shows
wisdom perfect. What is midnight-gloom To unenlightened souls shines wakeful day To his
clear gaze; what seems as wakeful day Is known for night, thick night of ignorance, To his
true-seeing eyes. Such is the Saint!
And like the ocean, day by day receiving Floods from all lands, which never overflows;
Its boundary-line not leaping, and not leaving, Fed by the rivers, but unswelled by those;
So is the perfect one! to his soul's ocean The world of sense pours streams of
witchery; They leave him as they find, without commotion, Taking their tribute, but
remaining sea.
Yea! whoso, shaking off the yoke of flesh, Lives lord, not servant, of his lusts; set
free From pride, from passion, from the sin of "Self," Toucheth tranquillity! O
Pritha's son! That is the state of Brahm! There rests no dread When that last step is
reached! Live where he will, Die when he may, such passeth from all 'plaining, To blest
Nirvana, with the Gods, attaining.
Here endeth Chapter II. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Sankhya-Yog," or
"The Book of Doctrines"
Chapter III
Arjuna:
Thou whom all mortals praise, Janardana! If meditation be a nobler thing Than action,
wherefore, then, great Kesava! Dost thou impel me to this dreadful fight? Now am I by thy
doubtful speech disturbed! Tell me one thing, and tell me certainly; By what road shall I
find the better end?
Krishna:
I told thee, blameless Lord! there be two paths Shown to this world; two schools of
wisdom. First The Sankhya's, which doth save in way of works Prescribed1 by
reason; next, the Yog, which bids Attain by meditation, spiritually: Yet these are one! No
man shall 'scape from act By shunning action; nay, and none shall come By mere
renouncements unto perfectness. Nay, and no jot of time, at any time, Rests any
actionless; his natures' law Compels him, even unwilling, into act; [For thought is act in
fancy]. He who sits Suppressing all the instruments of flesh, Yet in his idle heart
thinking on them, Plays the inept and guilty hypocrite: But he who, with strong body
serving mind, Gives up his mortal powers to worthy work, Not seeking gain, Arjuna! such an
one Is honorable. Do thine allotted task! Work is more excellent than idleness;
[Footnote 1: I feel convinced sankhyanan and yoginan must be transposed here in sense.]
The body's life proceeds not, lacking work. There is a task of holiness to do, Unlike
world-binding toil, which bindeth not The faithful soul; such earthly duty do Free from
desire, and thou shalt well perform Thy heavenly purpose. Spake Prajapati In the
beginning, when all men were made, And, with mankind, the sacrifice - "Do this! Work!
sacrifice! Increase and multiply With sacrifice! This shall be Kamaduk, Your 'Cow of
Plenty,' giving back her milk Of all abundance. Worship the gods thereby; The gods shall
yield ye grace. Those meats ye crave The gods will grant to Labor, when it pays Tithes in
the altar-flame. But if one eats Fruits of the earth, rendering to kindly Heaven No gift
of toil, that thief steals from his world."
Who eat of food after their sacrifice Are quit of fault, but they that spread a feast
All for themselves, eat sin and drink of sin. By food the living live; food comes of rain,
And rain comes by the pious sacrifice, And sacrifice is paid with tithes of toil; Thus
action is of Brahma, who is One, The Only, All-pervading; at all times Present in
sacrifice. He that abstains To help the rolling wheels of this great world, Glutting his
idle sense, lives a lost life, Shameful and vain. Existing for himself, Self-concentrated,
serving self alone, No part hath he in aught; nothing achieved, Nought wrought or
unwrought toucheth him; no hope Of help for all the living things of earth Depends from
him.2 Therefore, thy task prescribed With spirit unattached gladly perform,
Since in performance of plain duty man Mounts to his highest bliss. By works alone Janak,
and ancient saints reached blessedness! Moreover, for the upholding of thy kind, Action
thou should'st embrace. What the wise choose The unwise people take; what best men do The
multitude will follow. Look on me, Thou Son of Pritha! in the three wide worlds I am not
bound to any toil, no height Awaits to scale, no gift remains to gain, Yet I act here!
and, if I acted not Earnest and watchful - those that look to me For guidance, sinking
back to sloth again Because I slumbered, would decline from good, And I should break
earth's order and commit Her offspring unto ruin, Bharata! Even as the unknowing toil,
wedded to sense, So let the enlightened toil, sense-freed, but set To bring the world
deliverance, and its bliss; Not sowing in those simple, busy hearts Seed of despair. Yea!
let each play his part In all he finds to do, with unyoked soul. All things are everywhere
by Nature wrought In interaction of the qualities. The fool, cheated by self, thinks,
"This I did" And "That I wrought;" but - ah, thou strong-armed Prince!
A better-lessoned mind, knowing the play Of visible things within the world of sense, And
how the qualities must qualify, Standeth aloof even from his acts. Th' untaught Live mixed
with them, knowing not Nature's way, Of highest aims unwitting, slow and dull. Those make
thou not to stumble, having the light; But all thy dues discharging, for My sake, With
meditation centred inwardly, Seeking no profit, satisfied, serene, Heedless of issue -
fight! They who shall keep My ordinance thus, the wise and willing hearts, Have quittance
from all issue of their acts; But those who disregard my ordinance, Thinking they know,
know nought, and fall to loss, Confused and foolish. 'Sooth, the instructed one Doth of
his kind, following what fits him most; And lower creatures of their kind; in vain
Contending 'gainst the law. Needs must it be The objects of the sense will stir the sense
To like and dislike, yet th' enlightened man Yields not to these, knowing them enemies.
Finally, this is better, that one do His own task as he may, even though he fail, Than
take tasks not his own, though they seem good To die performing duty is no ill; But who
seeks other roads shall wander still.
[Footnote 2: I am doubtful of accuracy here.]
Arjuna:
Yet tell me, Teacher! by what force doth man Go to his ill, unwilling; as if one Pushed
him that evil path?
Krishna:
Kama it is! Passion it is! born of the Darknesses, Which pusheth him. Mighty of
appetite, Sinful, and strong is this! - man's enemy! As smoke blots the white fire, as
clinging rust Mars the bright mirror, as the womb surrounds The babe unborn, so is the
world of things Foiled, soiled, enclosed in this desire of flesh. The wise fall, caught in
it; the unresting foe It is of wisdom, wearing countless forms, Fair but deceitful, subtle
as a flame. Sense, mind, and reason - these, O Kunti's son!
Are booty for it; in its play with these It maddens man, beguiling, blinding him.
Therefore, thou noblest child of Bharata! Govern thy heart! Constrain th' entangled sense!
Resist the false, soft sinfulness which saps Knowledge and judgment! Yea, the world is
strong, But what discerns it stronger, and the mind Strongest; and high o'er all the
ruling Soul. Wherefore, perceiving Him who reigns supreme, Put forth full force of Soul in
thy own soul! Fight! vanquish foes and doubts, dear Hero! slay What haunts thee in fond
shapes, and would betray!
Here endeth Chapter III. of the Bhagavad-Gita entitled "Karma-Yog," or
"The Book of Virtue in Work"
Chapter IV
Krishna:
This deathless Yoga, this deep union, I taught Vivaswata,1 the Lord of
Light; Vivaswata to Manu gave it; he To Ikshwaku; so passed it down the line Of all my
royal Rishis. Then, with years, The truth grew dim and perished, noble Prince! Now once
again to thee it is declared This ancient lore, this mystery supreme Seeing I find thee
votary and friend.
[Footnote 1: A name of the sun.]
Arjuna:
Thy birth, dear Lord, was in these later days, And bright Vivaswata's preceded time!
How shall I comprehend this thing thou sayest, "From the beginning it was I who
taught?"
Krishna:
Manifold the renewals of my birth Have been Arjuna! and of thy births too! But mine I
know, and thine thou knowest not, O slayer of thy Foes! Albeit I be Unborn, undying,
indestructible, The Lord of all things living; not the less By Maya, by my magic which I
stamp On floating Nature-forms, the primal vast In come, and go, and come. When
Righteousness Declines, O Bharata! when Wickedness Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and
take Visible shape, and move a man with men, Succoring the good, thrusting the evil back,
And setting Virtue on her seat again. Who knows the truth touching my births on earth And
my divine work, when he quits the flesh Puts on its load no more, falls no more down To
earthly birth; to Me he comes, dear Prince!
Many there be who come! from fear set free, From anger, from desire; keeping their
hearts Fixed upon me - my Faithful - purified By sacred flame of Knowledge. Such as these
Mix with my being. Whoso worship me, Them I exalt; but all men everywhere Shall fall into
my path; albeit, those souls Which seek reward for works, make sacrifice Now, to the lower
gods, I say to thee Here have they their reward. But I am He Made the Four Castes, and
portioned them a place After their qualities and gifts, Yea, I Created, the Reposeful; I
that live Immortally, made all those mortal births: For works soil not my essence, being
works Wrought uninvolved.2 Who knows me acting thus Unchained by action, action
binds not him; And, so perceiving, all those saints of old Worked, seeking for
deliverance. Work thou As, in the days gone by, thy fathers did.
[Footnote 2: Without desire of fruit.]
Thou sayst, perplexed, It hath been asked before By singers and by sages, "What is
act, And what inaction?" I will teach thee this, And, knowing, thou shalt learn which
work doth save. Needs must one rightly meditate those three Doing, - not doing, - and
undoing. Here Thorny and dark the path is! He who sees How action may be rest, rest action
- he Is wisest 'mid his kind; he hath the truth! He doeth well, acting or resting. Freed
In all his works from prickings of desire, Burned clean in act by the white fire of truth,
The wise call that man wise; and such an one, Renouncing fruit of deeds, always content,
Always self-satisfying, if he works, Doth nothing that shall stain his separate soul,
Which - quit of fear and hope - subduing self Rejecting outward impulse - yielding up To
body's need nothing save body, dwells Sinless amid all sin, with equal calm Taking what
may befall, by grief unmoved, Unmoved by joy, unenvyingly; the same In good and evil
fortunes; nowise bound By bond of deeds. Nay, but of such an one, Whose crave is gone,
whose soul is liberate, Whose heart is set on truth - of such an one What work he does is
work of sacrifice, Which passeth purely into ash and smoke Consumed upon the altar! All's
then God! The sacrifice is Brahm, the ghee and grain Are Brahm, the fire is Brahm, the
flesh it eats Is Brahm, and unto Brahm attaineth he Who, in such office, meditates on
Brahm. Some votaries there be who serve the gods With flesh and altar-smoke; but other
some Who, lighting subtler fires, make purer rite With will of worship. Of the which be
they Who, in white flame of continence, consume Joys of the sense, delights of eye and
ear, Foregoing tender speech and sound of song: And they who, kindling fires with torch of
Truth, Burn on a hidden altar-stone the bliss Of youth and love, renouncing happiness: And
they who lay for offering there their wealth, Their penance, meditation, piety, Their
steadfast reading of the scrolls, their lore Painfully gained with long austerities: And
they who, making silent sacrifice, Draw in their breath to feed the flame of thought, And
breathe it forth to waft the heart on high, Governing the ventage of each entering air
Lest one sigh pass which helpeth not the soul: And they who, day by day denying needs, Lay
life itself upon the altar-flame, Burning the body wan. Lo! all these keep The rite of
offering, as if they slew Victims; and all thereby efface much sin Yea! and who feed on
the immortal food Left of such sacrifice, to Brahma pass To The Unending. But for him that
makes No sacrifice, he hath nor part nor lot Even in the present world. How should he
share Another, O thou Glory of thy Line.
In sight of Brahma all these offerings Are spread and are accepted! Comprehend That all
proceed by act; for knowing this, Thou shalt be quit of doubt. The sacrifice Which
Knowledge pays is better than great gifts Offered by wealth, since gifts' worth - O my
Prince! Lies in the mind which gives, the will that serves: And these are gained by
reverence, by strong search, By humble heed of those who see the Truth And teach it.
Knowing Truth, thy heart no more Will ache with error, for the Truth shall show All things
subdued to thee, as thou to Me. Moreover, Son of Pandu! wert thou worst Of all
wrong-doers, this fair ship of Truth Should bear thee safe and dry across the sea Of thy
transgressions. As the kindled flame Feeds on the fuel till it sinks to ash, So unto ash,
Arjuna! unto nought The flame of Knowledge wastes works' dross away! There is not purifier
like thereto In all this world, and he who seeketh it Shall find it - being grown perfect
- in himself. Believing, he receives it when the soul Masters itself, and cleaves to
Truth, and comes Possessing knowledge - to the higher peace, The uttermost repose. But
those untaught, And those without full faith, and those who fear Are shent; no peace is
here or other where, No hope, nor happiness for whoso doubts. He that, being
self-contained, hath vanquished doubt, Disparting self from service, soul from works,
Enlightened and emancipate, my Prince! Works fetter him no more! Cut then atwain With
sword of wisdom, Son of Bharata! This doubt that binds thy heart-beats! cleave the bond
Born of thy ignorance! Be bold and wise! Give thyself to the field with me! Arise!
Here endeth Chapter IV. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Jnana-Yog," or
"The Book of the Religion of Knowledge"
Chapter V
Arjuna:
Yet, Krishna! at the one time thou dost laud Surcease of works, and, at another time,
Service through work. Of these twain plainly tell Which is the better way?
Krishna:
To cease from works Is well, and to do works in holiness Is well; and both conduct to
bliss supreme; But of these twain the better way is his Who working piously refraineth
not.
That is the true Renouncer, firm and fixed, Who - seeking nought, rejecting nought -
dwells proof Against the "opposites."1 O valiant Prince! In doing,
such breaks lightly from all deed: 'Tis the new scholar talks as they were two, This
Sankhya and this Yoga: wise men know Who husbands one plucks golden fruit of both! The
region of high rest which Sankhyans reach Yogins attain. Who sees these twain as one Sees
with clear eyes! Yet such abstraction, Chief! Is hard to win without much holiness. Whoso
is fixed in holiness, self-ruled, Pure-hearted, lord of senses and of self, Lost in the
common life of all which lives A "Yogayukt" - he is a Saint who wends
Straightway to Brahm. Such an one is not touched By taint of deeds. "Nought of myself
I do!" Thus will he think - who holds the truth of truths
[Footnote 1: That is, "joy and sorrow, success and failure, heat and cold,"
&c.]
In seeing, hearing, touching, smelling; when He eats, or goes, or breathes; slumbers or
talks, Holds fast or loosens, opes his eyes or shuts; Always assured "This is the
sense-world plays With senses." He that acts in thought of Brahm, Detaching end from
act, with act content, The world of sense can no more stain his soul Than waters mar th'
enamelled lotus-leaf. With life, with heart, with mind, - nay, with the help Of all five
senses - letting selfhood go Yogins toil ever towards their souls' release. Such votaries,
renouncing fruit of deeds, Gain endless peace: the unvowed, the passion-bound, Seeking a
fruit from works, are fastened down. The embodied sage, withdrawn within his soul, At
every act sits godlike in "the town Which hath nine gateways,"2 neither doing aught Nor causing any deed. This world's Lord makes Neither the work, nor
passion for the work, Nor lust for fruit of work; the man's own self Pushes to these! The
Master of this World Takes on himself the good or evil deeds Of no man - dwelling beyond!
Mankind errs here By folly, darkening knowledge. But, for whom that darkness of the soul
is chased by light, Splendid and clear shines manifest the Truth As if a Sun of Wisdom
sprang to shed It beams of dawn. Him meditating still, Him seeking, with Him blended,
stayed on Him, The souls illuminated take that road Which hath not turning back - their
sins flung off By strength of faith. [Who will may have this Light; Who hath it sees.] To
him who wisely sees, The Brahman with his scrolls and sanctities, The cow, the elephant,
the unclean dog, The Outcast gorging dog's meat, are all one.
[Footnote 2: i. e., the body.]
The world is overcome - aye! even here! By such as fix their faith on Unity. The
sinless Brahma dwells in Unity, And they in Brahma. Be not over-glad Attaining joy, and be
not over-sad Encountering grief, but, stayed on Brahman, still Constant let each abide!
The sage whose soul Holds off from outer contacts, in himself Finds bliss; to Brahma
joined by piety, His spirit tastes eternal peace. The joys Springing from sense-life are
but quickening wombs Which breed sure griefs: those joys begin and end! The wise mind
takes no pleasure, Kunti's Son! In such as those! But if a man shall learn, Even while he
lives and bears his body's chain, To master lust and anger, he is blest! He is the Yukta;
he hath happiness, Contentment, light, within: his life is merged In Brahma's life; he
doth Nirvana touch! Thus go the Rishis unto rest, who dwell With sins effaced, with doubts
at end, with hearts Governed and calm. Glad in all good they live, Nigh to the peace of
God; and all those live Who pass their days exempt from greed and wrath, Subduing self and
senses, knowing the Soul!
The Saint who shuts outside his placid soul All touch of sense, letting no contact
through; Whose quiet eyes gaze straight from fixed brows, Whose outward breath and inward
breath are dawn Equal and slow through nostrils still and close; That one - with organs,
heart, and mind constrained, Bent on deliverance, having put away Passion, and fear, and
rage; - hath, even now, Obtained deliverance, ever and ever freed. Yea; for he knows Me
Who am He that heeds The sacrifice and worship, God revealed; And He who heeds not, being
Lord of Worlds, Lover of all that lives, God unrevealed, Wherein who will shall find
surety and shield!
Here ends Chapter V. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Karmasanyasayog,: or
"The Book of Religion by Renouncing Fruit of Works"
Chapter VI
Krishna
Therefore, who doeth work rightful to do, Not seeking gain from work, that man, O
Prince! Is Sanyasi and Yogi - both in one! And he is neither who lights not the flame Of
sacrifice, nor setteth hand to task.
Regard as true Renouncer him that makes Worship by work, for who renounceth not Works
not as Yogin. So is that well said "By works the votary doth rise to saint, And
saintship is the ceasing from all works;" Because the perfect Yogin acts - but acts
Unmoved by passions and unbound by deeds, Setting result aside.
Let each man raise The Self by Soul, not trample down his Self, Since Soul that is
Self's friend may grow Self's foe. Soul is Self's friend when Self doth rule o'er Self But
self turns enemy if Soul's own self Hates Self as not itself.1
[Footnote 1: The Sanskit has this play on the double meaning of Atman.]
The sovereign soul Of him who lives self-governed and at peace Is centered in itself,
taking alike Pleasure and pain; heat, cold; glory and shame. He is the Yogi, he is Yukta,
glad With joy of light and truth; dwelling apart Upon a peak, with senses subjugate
Whereto the clod, the rock, the glistering gold Show all as one. By this sign is he known
Being of equal grace to comrades, friends, Chance-comers, strangers, lovers, enemies,
Aliens and kinsmen; loving all alike, Evil or good.
Sequestered should he sit, Steadfastly meditating, solitary, His thoughts controlled,
his passions laid away, Quit of belongings. In a fair, still spot Having his fixed abode,
- not too much raised, Nor yet too low, - let him abide, his goods A cloth, a deerskin,
and the Kusa-grass. There, setting hard his mind upon The One, Restraining heart and
senses, silent, calm, Let him accomplish Yoga, and achieve Pureness of soul, holding
immovable Body and neck and head, his gaze absorbed Upon his nose-end,2 rapt
from all around, Tranquil in spirit, free of fear, intent Upon his Brahmacharya vow,
devout, Musing on Me, lost in the thought of Me. That Yojin, so devoted, so controlled,
Comes to the peace beyond, - My peace, the peace Of high Nirvana!
[Footnote 2: So in original.]
But for earthly needs Religion is not his who too much fasts Or too much feasts, nor
his who sleeps away An idle mind; nor his who wears to waste His strength in vigils. Nay,
Arjuna! call That the true piety which most removes Earth-aches and ills, where one is
moderate In eating and in resting, and in sport; Measured in wish and act; sleeping
betimes, Walking betimes for duty.
When the man, So living, centres on his soul the thought Straitly restrained -
untouched internally By stress of sense - then is he Yukta. See! Steadfast a lamp burns
sheltered from the wind; Such is the likeness of the Yogi's mind Shut from sense-storms
and burning bright to Heaven. When mind broods placid, soothed with holy wont; When Self
contemplates self, and in itself Hath comfort; when it knows the nameless joy Beyond all
scope of sense, revealed to soul Only to soul! and, knowing, wavers not, True to the
farther Truth; when, holding this, It deems no other treasure comparable, But, harbored
there, cannot be stirred or shook By any gravest grief, call that state "peace,"
That happy severance Yoga, call that man The perfect Yogin!
Steadfastly the will Must toil thereto, till efforts end in ease, And thought has
passed from thinking. Shaking off All longings bred by dreams of fame and gain, Shutting
the doorways of the senses close With watchful ward; so, step by step, it comes To gift of
peace assured and heart assuaged, When the mind dwells self-wrapped, and the soul broods
Cumberless. But, as often as the heart Breaks - wild and wavering - from control, so oft
Let him re-curb it, let him rein it back To the soul's governance! for perfect bliss Grows
only in the bosom tranquillized, The spirit passionless, purged from offence, Vowed to the
Infinite. He who thus vows His soul to the Supreme Soul quitting sin, Passes unhindered to
the endless bliss Of unity with Brahma. He so vowed, So blended, sees the Life-Soul
resident In all things living, and all living things In that Life-Soul contained. And
whoso thus Discerneth Me in all, and all in Me, I never let him go; nor looseneth he Hold
upon Me; but, dwell he where he may, Whate'er his life, in Me he dwells and lives Because
he knows and worships Me, Who dwell In all which lives, and cleaves to Me in all. Arjuna!
if a man sees everywhere Taught by his own similitude - one Life, One Essence in the Evil
and the Good, Hold him a Yogi, yea! well-perfected!
Arjuna:
Slayer of Madhu! yet again, this Yog, This Peace, derived from equanimity, Made known
by thee - I see no fixity Therein, no rest, because the heart of men Is unfixed, Krishna!
rash, tumultuous, Wilful and strong. It were all one, I think, To hold the wayward wind,
as tame man's heart.
Krishna:
Hero long-armed! beyond denial, hard Man's heart is to restrain, and wavering; Yet may
it grow restrained by habit, Prince! By wont of self-command. This Yog, I say, Cometh not
lightly to th' ungoverned ones; But he who will be master of himself Shall win it, if he
stoutly strive thereto.
Arjuna:
And what road goeth he who, having faith, Fails, Krishna! in the striving; falling back
From holiness, missing the perfect rule? Is he not lost, straying from Brahma's light,
Like the vain cloud, which floats 'twixt earth and Heaven When lightning splits it, and it
vanisheth? Fain would I hear thee answer me herein, Since Krishna! none save thou can
clear the doubt.
Krishna:
He is not lost, thou Son of Pritha! No! Nor earth, nor heaven is forfeit, even for him,
Because no heart that holds one right desire Treadeth the road of loss! He who should
fail, Desiring righteousness, cometh at death Unto the Region of the Just; dwells there
Measureless years, and being born anew, Beginneth life again in some fair home Amid the
mild and happy. It may chance He doth descend into a Yogin house On Virtue's breast; but
that is rare! Such birth Is hard to be obtained on this earth, Chief! So hath he back
again what heights of heart He did achieve, and so he strives anew To perfectness, with
better hope, dear Prince! For by the old desire he is drawn on Unwittingly; and only to
desire The purity of Yoga is to pass Beyond the Sabdabrahm, the spoken Ved. But, being
Yogi, striving strong and long, Purged from transgressions, perfected by births Following
on births, he plants his feet at last Upon the farther path. Such an one ranks Above
ascetics, higher than the wise, Beyond achievers of vast deeds! Be thou Yogi, Arjuna! And
of such believe, Truest and best is he who worships Me With inmost soul, stayed on My
Mystery!
Here endeth Chapter VI. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Atmasanyamayog," or
"The Book of Religion by Self-Restraint"
Chapter VII
Krishna:
Learn now, dear Prince! how, if thy soul be set Ever on Me - still exercising Yog,
Still making Me thy Refuge - thou shalt come Most surely unto perfect hold of Me. I will
declare to thee that utmost lore, Whole and particular, which, when thou knowest Leaveth
no more to know here in this world.
Of many thousand mortals, one, perchance, Striveth for Truth; and of those few that
strive Nay, and rise high - one only - here and there Knoweth Me, as I am, the very Truth.
Earth, water, flame, air, ether, life, and mind, And individuality - those eight Make
up the showing of Me, Manifest.
These be my lower Nature; learn the higher, Whereby, thou Valiant One! this Universe
Is, by its principle of life, produced; Whereby the worlds of visible things are born As
from a Yoni. Know! I am the womb: I make and I unmake this Universe: Than me there is no
other Master, Prince! No other Maker! All these hang on me As hangs a row of pearls upon
its string. I am the fresh taste of the water; I The silver of the moon, the gold o' the
sun, The word of worship in the Veds, the thrill That passeth in the ether, and the
strength Of man's shed seed. I am the good sweet smell Of the moistened earth, I am the
fire's red light. The vital air moving in all which moves. The holiness of hallowed souls,
the root Undying, whence hath sprung whatever is; The wisdom of the wise, the intellect Of
the informed, the greatness of the great, The splendor of the splendid. Kunti's Son! These
am I, free from passion and desire; Yet am I right desire in all who yearn, Chief of the
Bharatas! for all those moods, Soothfast, or passionate, or ignorant, Whihh Nature frames,
deduce from me; but all Are merged in me - not I in them! The world Deceived by those
three qualities of being Wotteth not Me Who am outside them all, Above them all, Eternal!
Hard it is To pierce that veil divine of various shows Which hideth Me; yet they who
worship Me Pierce it and pass beyond.
I am not known To evil-doers, nor to foolish ones, Nor to the base and churlish; nor to
those Whose mind is cheated by the show of things, Nor those that take the way of Asuras.1
[Footnote 1: Beings of low and devilish nature.]
Four sorts of mortals know me: he who weeps, Arjuna! and the man who yearns to know;
And he who toils to help; and he who sits Certain of me, enlightened.
Of these four, O Prince of India! highest, nearest, best That last is, the devout soul,
wise, intent Upon "The One." Dear, above all, am I To him; and he is dearest
unto me!
All four are good, and seek me; but mine own, The true of heart, the faithful - stayed
on me, Taking me as their utmost blessedness, They are not "mine," but I - even
I myself! At end of many births to Me they come! Yet hard the wise Mahatma is to find,
That man who sayeth, "All is Vasudev!"2
[Footnote 2: Krishna.]
There be those, too, whose knowledge, turned aside By this desire or that, gives them
to serve Some lower gods, with various rites, constrained By that which mouldeth them.
Unto all such Worship what shrine they will, what shapes, in faith 'Tis I who give them
faith! I am content! The heart thus asking favor from its God, Darkened but ardent, hath
the end it craves, The lesser blessing - but 'tis I who give! Yet soon is withered what
small fruit they reap Those men of little minds, who worship so, Go where they worship,
passing with their gods. But Mine come unto me! Blind are the eyes Which deem th'
Unmanifested manifest, Not comprehending Me in my true Self! Imperishable, viewless,
undeclared, Hidden behind my magic veil of shows, I am not seen by all; I am not known
Unborn and changeless - to the idle world. But I, Arjuna! know all things which were, And
all which are, and all which are to be, Albeit not one among them knoweth Me!
By passion for the "pairs of opposites," By those twain snares of Like and
Dislike, Prince! All creatures live bewildered, save some few Who, quit of sins, holy in
act, informed, Freed from the "opposites," and fixed in faith, Cleave unto Me.
Who cleave, who seek in Me Refuge from birth3 and death, those have the
Truth! Those know Me Brahma; know Me Soul of Souls, The Adhyatman; know Karma, my work;
Know I am Adhibhuta, Lord of Life, And Adhidaiva, Lord of all the Gods, And Adhiyajna,
Lord of Sacrifice; Worship Me well, with hearts of love and faith, And find and hold Me in
the hour of death.
[Footnote 3: I read here janma, "birth;" not jara, "age."]
Here endeth Chapter VII. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Vijnanayog," or
"The Book of Religion by Discernment"
Chapter VIII
Arjuna:
Who is that Brahma? What that Soul of Souls, The Adhyatman? What, Thou Best of All! Thy
work, the Karma? Tell me what it is Thou namest Adhibhuta? What again Means Adhidaiva?
Yea, and how it comes Thou canst be Adhiyajna in thy flesh? Slayer of Madhu! Further, make
me know How good men find thee in the hour of death?
Krishna:
I Brahma am! the One Eternal God, And Adhyatman is My Being's name, The Soul of Souls!
What goeth forth from Me, Causing all life to live, is Karma called: And, Manifested in
divided forms, I am the Adhibhuta, Lord of Lives; And Adhidaiva, Lord of all the Gods,
Because I am Purusha, who begets. And Adhiyajna, Lord of Sacrifice, I - speaking with thee
in this body here Am, thou embodied one! (for all the shrines Flame unto Me!) And, at the
hour of death, He that hath meditated Me alone, In putting off his flesh, comes forth to
Me, Enters into My Being - doubt thou not! But, if he meditated otherwise At hour of
death, in putting off the flesh, He goes to what he looked for, Kunti's Son! Because the
Soul is fashioned to its like.
Have Me, then, in thy heart always! and fight! Thou too, when heart and mind are fixed
on Me, Shalt surely come to Me! All come who cleave With never-wavering will of firmest
faith, Owning none other Gods: all come to Me, The Uttermost, Purusha, Holiest!
Whoso hath known Me, Lord of sage and singer, Ancient of days; of all the Three Worlds
Stay, Boundless, - but unto every atom Bringer Of that which quickens it: whoso, I say,
Hath known My form, which passeth mortal knowing; Seen my effulgence - which no eye
hath seen Than the sun's burning gold more brightly glowing, Dispersing darkness, - unto
him hath been
Right life! And, in the hour when life is ending, With mind set fast and trustful
piety, Drawing still breath beneath calm brows unbending, In happy peace that faithful one
doth die,
In glad peace passeth to Purusha's heaven, The place which they who read the Vedas name
Aksharam, "Ultimate;" whereto have striven Saints and ascetics - their road is
the same.
That way - the highest was - goes he who shuts The gates of all his senses, locks
desire Safe in his heart, centres the vital airs Upon his parting thought, steadfastly
set; And, murmuring Om, the sacred syllable Emblem of Brahm - dies, meditating Me.
For who, none other Gods regarding, looks Ever to Me, easily am I gained By such a
Yogi; and, attaining Me, They fall not - those Mahatmas - back to birth, To life, which is
the place of pain, which ends, But take the way of utmost blessedness.
The worlds, Arjuna! - even Brahman's world Roll back again from Death to Life's unrest;
But they, O Kunti's Son! that reach to Me, Taste birth no more. If ye know Brahma's Day
Which is a thousand Yugas; if ye know The thousand Yugas making Brahma's Night, Then know
ye Day and Night as He doth know! When that vast Dawn doth break, th' Invisible Is brought
anew into the Visible; When that deep Night doth darken, all which is Fades back again to
Him Who sent it forth; Yea! this vast company of living things Again and yet again
produced - expires At Brahma's Nightfall; and, at Brahma's Dawn, Riseth, without its will,
to life new-born. But - higher, deeper, innermost - abides Another Life, not like the life
of sense, Escaping sight, unchanging. This endures When all created things have passed
away: This is that Life named the Unmanifest, The Infinite! the All! the Uttermost.
Thither arriving none return. That Life Is Mine, and I am there! And, Prince! by faith
Which wanders not, there is a way to come Thither. I, the Purusha, I Who spread The
Universe around me - in Whom dwell All living Things - may so be reached and seen! . . . .
. . . . . . .1 Richer than holy fruit on Vedas growing, Greater than gifts,
better than prayer or fast, Such wisdom is! The Yogi, this way knowing, Comes to the
Utmost Perfect Peace at last.
[Footnote 1: I have discarded ten lines of Sanskrit text here as an undoubted
interpolation by some Vedantist.]
Here endeth Chapter VIII. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled
"Aksharaparabrahmayog," or "The Book of Religion by Devotion to the One
Supreme God"
Chapter IX
Krishna:
Now will I open unto thee - whose heart Rejects not - that last lore,
deepest-concealed, That farthest secret of My Heavens and Earths, Which but to know shall
set thee free from ills, A Royal lore! a Kingly mystery! Yea! for the soul such light as
purgeth it From every sin; a light of holiness With inmost splendor shining; plain to see;
Easy to walk by, inexhaustible!
They that receive not this, failing in faith To grasp the greater wisdom, reach not Me,
Destroyer of thy foes! They sink anew Into the realm of Flesh, where all things change!
By Me the whole vast Universe of things Is spread abroad; - by Me, the Unmanifest! In
Me are all existences contained; Not I in them!
Yet they are not contained, Those visible things! Receive and strive to embrace The
mystery majestical! My Being Creating all, sustaining all - still dwells Outside of all!
See! as the shoreless airs Move in the measureless space, but are not space, [And space
were space without the moving airs]; So all things are in Me, but are not I.
At closing of each Kalpa, Indian Prince! All things which be back to My Being come: At
the beginning of each Kalpa, all Issue newborn from Me.
By Energy And help of Prakriti, my outer Self, Again, and yet again, I make go forth
The realms of visible things - without their will All of them - by the power of Prakriti.
Yet these great makings, Prince! involve Me not, Enchain Me not! I sit apart from them,
Other, and Higher, and Free; nowise attached!
Thus doth the stuff of worlds, moulded by Me, Bring forth all that which is, moving or
still, Living or lifeless! Thus the worlds go on!
The minds untaught mistake Me, veiled in form; Naught see they of My secret Presence,
nought Of My hid Nature, ruling all which lives. Vain hopes pursuing, vain deeds doing;
fed On vainest knowledge, senselessly they seek An evil way, the way of brutes and fiends.
But My Mahatmas, those of noble soul Who tread the path celestial, worship Me With hearts
unwandering, - knowing Me the Source, Th' Eternal Source, of Life. Unendingly They glorify
Me; seek Me; keep their vows Of reverence and love, with changeless faith Adoring Me. Yea,
and those too adore, Who, offering sacrifice of wakened hearts, Have sense of one
pervading Spirit's stress, One Force in every place, though manifold! I am the Sacrifice!
I am the Prayer! I am the Funeral-Cake set for the dead!
I am the healing herb! I am the ghee, The Mantra, and the flame, and that which burns!
I am - of all this boundless Universe The Father, Mother, Ancestor, and Guard! The end of
Learning! That which purifies In lustral water! I am Om! I am Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda,
Yajur-Ved; The Way, the Fosterer, the Lord, the Judge, The Witness; the Abode, the
Refuge-House, The Friend, the Fountain and the Sea of Life Which sends, and swallows up;
Treasure of Worlds And Treasure-Chamber! Seed and Seed-Sower, Whence endless harvest
spring! Sun's heat is mine; Heaven's rain is mine to grant or to withhold; Death am I, and
Immortal Life I am. Arjuna!, Sat and Asat, Visible Life, And Life Invisible!
Yea! those who learn The threefold Veds, who drink the Soma-wine, Purge sins, pay
sacrifice - from Me they earn Passage to Swarga; where the meats divine
Of great gods fed them in high Indra's heaven. Yet they, when that prodigious joy is
o'er, Paradise spent, and wage for merits given, Come to the world of death and change
once more.
They had their recompense! they stored their treasure, Following the threefold
Scripture and its writ; Who seeketh such gaineth the fleeting pleasure Of joy which comes
and goes! I grant them it!
But to those blessed ones who worship Me, Turning not otherwhere, with minds set fast,
I bring assurance of full bliss beyond.
Nay, and of hearts which follow other gods In simple faith, their prayers arise to me,
O Kunti's Son! though they pray wrongfully: For I am the Receiver and the Lord Of every
sacrifice, which these know not Rightfully; so they fall to earth again! Who follow gods
go to their gods; who vow Their souls Pitris go to Pitris; minds To evil Bhuts given o'er
sink to the Bhuts; And whoso loveth Me cometh to Me. Whoso shall offer Me in faith and
love A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water poured forth, That offering I accept, lovingly made
With pious will. Whate'er thou doest, Prince! Eating or sacrificing, giving gifts, Praying
or fasting, let it all be done For Me, as Mine. So shalt thou free thyself From
Karmabandh, the chain which holdeth men To good and evil issue, so shalt come Safe unto Me
- when thou art quit of flesh By faith and abdication joined to Me!
I am alike for all! I know not hate, I know not favor! What is made is Mine! But them
that worship Me with love, I love; They are in Me, and I in them!
Nay, Prince! If one of evil life turn in his thought Straightly to Me, count him amidst
the good; He hath the highway chosen; he shall grow Righteous ere long; he shall attain
that peace Which changes not. Thou Prince of India! Be certain none can perish, trusting
Me! O Pritha's Son! whoso will turn to Me, Though they be born from the very womb of Sin,
Woman or man; sprung of the Vaisya caste Or lowly disregarded Sudra, - all Plant foot upon
the highest path; how then The holy Brahmans and My Royal Saints? Ah! ye who into this ill
world are come Fleeting and false - set your faith fast on Me! Fix heart and thought on
Me! Adore Me! Bring Offerings to Me! Make Me prostrations! Make Me your supremest joy!
and, undivided, Unto My rest your spirits shall be guided.
Here ends Chapter IX. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Rajavidyarajaguhyayog,"
or "The Book of Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery"
Chapter X
Krishna:1
[Footnote 1: The Sanskrit poem here rises to an elevation of style and manner which I
have endeavored to mark by change of metre.]
Hear father yet thou Long-Armed Lord! these latest words I say Uttered to bring thee
bliss and peace, who lovest Me alway Not the great company of gods nor kingly Rishis know
My Nature, who have made the gods and Rishis long ago; He only knoweth - only he is free
of sin, and wise, Who seeth Me, Lord of the Worlds, with faith-enlightened eyes, Unborn,
undying, unbegun. Whatever Natures be To mortal men distributed, those natures spring from
Me! Intellect, skill, enlightenment, endurance, self-control, Truthfulness, equability,
and grief or joy of soul, And birth and death, and fearfulness, and fearlessness, and
shame, And honor, and sweet harmlessness,2 and peace which is the same Whate'er
befalls, and mirth, and tears, and piety, and thrift, And wish to give, and will to help,
- all cometh of My gift! The Seven Chief Saints, the Elders Four, the Lordly Manus set
Sharing My work - to rule the worlds, these too did I beget; And Rishis, Pitris, Manus,
all, by the one thought of My mind; Thence did arise, to fill this world, the races of
mankind; Wherefrom who comprehends My Reign of mystic Majesty That truth of truths - is
thenceforth linked in faultless faith to Me: Yea! knowing Me the source of all, by Me all
creatures wrought, The wise in spirit cleave to Me, into My Being brought; Hearts fixed on
Me; breaths breathed to Me; praising Me, each to each, So have they happiness and peace,
with pious thought and speech; And unto these - thus serving well, thus loving ceaselessly
I give a mind of perfect mood, whereby they draw to Me; And, all for love of them, within
their darkened souls I dwell, And, with bright rays of wisdom's lamp, their ignorance
dispel.
[Footnote 2: Ahinsa.]
Arjuna:
Yes! Thou art Parabrahm! The High Abode! The Great Purification! Thou art God Eternal,
All-creating, Holy, First, Without beginning! Lord of Lords and Gods! Declared by all the
Saints - by Narada, Vyasa, Asita, and Devalas; And here Thyself declaring unto me! What
Thou hast said now know I to be truth, O Kesava! that neither gods nor men Nor demons
comprehend Thy mystery Made manifest, Divinest! Thou Thyself Thyself alone dost know,
Maker Supreme! Master of all the living! Lord of Gods! King of the Universe! To Thee alone
Belongs to tell the heavenly excellence Of those perfections wherewith Thou dost fill
These worlds of Thine; Pervading, Immanent! How shall I learn, Supremest Mystery! To know
Thee, though I muse continually? Under what form of Thine unnumbered forms Mayst Thou be
grasped? Ah! yet again recount, Clear and complete, Thy great appearances, The secrets of
Thy Majesty and Might, Thou High Delight of Men! Never enough Can mine ears drink the
Amrit3 of such words!
[Footnote 3: The nectar of immortality.]
Krishna:
Hanta! So be it! Kuru Prince! I will to thee unfold Some portions of My Majesty, whose
powers are manifold! I am the Spirit seated deep in every creature's heart; From Me they
come; by Me they live; at My word they depart! Vishnu of the Adityas I am, those Lords of
Light; Maritchi of the Maruts, the Kings of Storm and Blight; By day I gleam, the golden
Sun of burning cloudless Noon; By Night, amid the asterisms I glide, the dappled Moon! Of
Vedas I am Sama-Ved, of gods in Indra's Heaven Vasava; of the faculties to living beings
given The mind which apprehends and thinks; of Rudras Sankara; Of Yakshas and of
Rakshasas, Vittesh; and Pavaka Of Vasus, and of mountain-peaks Meru; Vrihaspati Know Me
'mid planetary Powers; 'mid Warriors heavenly Skanda; of all the water-floods the Sea
which drinketh each, And Bhrigu of the holy Saints, and Om of sacred speech; Of prayers
the prayer ye whisper;4 of hills Himala's snow, And Aswattha, the fig-tree, of
all the trees that grow; Of the Devarshis, Narada; and Chitrarath of them That sing in
Heaven, and Kapila of Munis, and the gem Of flying steeds, Uchchaisravas, from Amrit-wave
which burst; Of elephants Airavata; of males the Best and First; Of weapons Heav'n's hot
thunderbolt; of cows white Kamadhuk, From whose great milky udder-teats all hearts'
desires are strook; Vasuki of the serpent-tribes, round Mandara entwined; And
thousand-fanged Ananta, on whose broad coils reclined Leans Vishnu; and of water-things
Varuna; Aryam Of Pitris, and, of those that judge, Yama the Judge I am; Of Daityas dread
Prahlada; of what metes days and years, Time's self I am; of woodland-beasts - buffaloes,
deers, and bears The lordly-painted tiger; of birds the vast Garud, The whirlwind 'mid the
winds; 'mid chiefs Rama with blood imbrued, Makar 'mid fishes of the sea, and Ganges 'mid
the streams; Yea! First, and Last, and Centre of all which is or seems I am, Arjuna!
Wisdom Supreme of what is wise, Words on the uttering lips I am, and eyesight of the eyes,
And "A" of written characters, Dwandwa5 of knitted speech, And
Endless Life, and boundless Love, whose power sustaineth each; And bitter Death which
seizes all, and joyous sudden Birth, Which brings to light all beings that are to be on
earth;
[Footnote 4: Called "The Jap."]
[Footnote 5: The compound form of Sanskrit words.]
And of the viewless virtues, Fame, Fortune, Song am I, And Memory, and Patience; and
Craft, and Constancy: Of Vedic hymns the Vrihatsam, of metres Gayatri, Of months the
Margasirsha, of all the seasons three The flower-wreathed Spring; in dicer's-play the
conquering Double-Eight; The splendor of the splendid, and the greatness of the great,
Victory I am, and Action! and the goodness of the good, And Vasudev of Vrishni's race, and
of this Pandu brood Thyself! - Yea, my Arjuna! thyself; for thou art Mine! Of poets Usana,
of saints Vyasa, sage divine; The policy of conquerors, the potency of kings, The great
unbroken silence in learning's secret things; The lore of all the learned, the seed of all
which springs. Living or lifeless, still or stirred, whatever beings be, None of them is
in all the worlds, but it exists by Me! Nor tongue can tell, Arjuna! nor end of telling
come Of these My boundless glories, whereof I teach thee some; For wheresoe'er is wondrous
work, and majesty, and might, From Me hath all proceeded. Receive thou this aright! Yet
how shouldst thou receive, O Prince! the vastness of this word? I, who am all, and made it
all, abide its separate Lord!
Here endeth Chapter X. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Vibhuti Yog," or
"The Book of Religion by the Heavenly Perfections"
Chapter XI
Arjuna:
This, for my soul's peace, have I heard from Thee, The unfolding of the Mystery Supreme
Named Adhyatman; comprehending which, My darkness is dispelled; for now I know O
Lotus-eyed1 - whence is the birth of men, And whence their death, and what the
majesties Of thine immortal rule. Fain would I see, As thou Thyself declar'st it,
Sovereign Lord! The likeness of that glory of Thy Form Wholly revealed. O Thou Divinest
One! If this can be, if I may bear the sight, Make Thyself visible, Lord of all prayers!
Show me Thy very self, the Eternal God!
[Footnote 1: "Kamalapatraksha."]
Krishna:
Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for thee Those hundred thousand thousand
shapes that clothe my Mystery: I show thee all my semblances, infinite, rich, divine, My
changeful hues, my countless forms. See! in this face of mine, Adityas, Vasus, Rudras
Aswins, and Maruts; see Wonders unnumbered, Indian Prince! revealed to none save thee.
Behold! this is the Universe! - Look! what is live and dead I gather all in one - in Me!
Gaze, as thy lips have said, On God Eternal, Very God! See Me! see what thou prayest!
. . . . . . . Thou canst not! - nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest Therefore I give
thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light! And, look! This is My glory, unveiled to
mortal sight!
Sanjaya:
Then, O King! the God, so saying, Stood, to Pritha's Son displaying All the splendor,
wonder, dread Of His vast Almighty-head. Out of countless eyes beholding, Out of countless
mouths commanding, Countless mystic forms enfolding In one Form: supremely standing
Countless radiant glories wearing, Countless heavenly weapons bearing, Crowned with
garlands of star-clusters, Robed in garb of woven lustres, Breathing from His perfect
Presence Breaths of all delicious essence Of all sweetest odors; shedding Blinding
brilliance, overspreading Boundless, beautiful - all spaces From His all-regarding faces;
So He showed! If there should rise Suddenly within the skies Sunburst of a thousand suns
Flooding earth with rays undeemed-of, Then might be that Holy One's Majesty and glory
dreamed of!
So did Pandu's Son behold All this universe enfold All its huge diversity Into one
great shape, and be Visible, and viewed, and blended In one Body - subtle, splendid,
Nameless - th' All-comprehending God of Gods, The never-Ending Deity!
But, sore amazed, Thrilled, o'erfilled, dazzled, and dazed, Arjuna knelt, and bowed his
head, And clasped his palms, and cried, and said:
Arjuna:
Yea! I have seen! I see! Lord! all is wrapped in Thee! The gods are in Thy glorious
frame! the creatures Of earth, and heaven, and hell In Thy Divine form dwell, And in Thy
countenance show all the features
Of Brahma, sitting lone Upon His lotus-throne; Of saints and sages, and the serpent
races Ananta, Vasuki. Yea! mightiest Lord! I see Thy thousand thousand arms, and breasts,
and faces,
And eyes, - on every side Perfect, diversified; And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere
beginning, Nowhere a centre! Shifts Wherever soul's gaze lifts Thy central Self,
all-willing, and all-winning!
Infinite King! I see The anadem on Thee, The club, the shell, the discus; see Thee
burning In beams insufferable, Lighting earth, heaven, and hell With brilliance blinding,
glorious, flashing, turning
Darkness to dazzling day, Look I whichever way. Ah, Lord! I worship Thee, the
Undivided, The Uttermost of thought, The Treasure-Palace wrought To hold the wealth of the
worlds; the shield provided
To shelter Virtues' laws; The Fount whence Life's stream draws All waters of all rivers
of all being: The One Unborn, Unending: Unchanging and unblending! With might and majesty,
past thought, past seeing!
Silver of moon and gold Of sun are glances rolled From Thy great eyes; Thy visage
beaming tender Over the stars and skies, Doth to warm life surprise Thy Universe. The
worlds are filled with wonder
Of Thy perfections! Space Star-Prinkled, and the place From pole to pole of the
heavens, from bound to bound, Hath Thee in every spot, Thee, Thee! - Where Thou art not O
Holy, Marvellous Form! is nowhere found!
O Mystic, Awful One! At sight of Thee, made known, The Three Worlds quake; the lower
gods draw nigh Thee; They fold their palms, and bow Body, and breast, and brow, And,
whispering worship, laud and magnify Thee!
Rishis and Siddhas cry "Hail! Highest Majesty!" From sage and singer breaks
the hymn of glory In holy melody, Sounding the praise of Thee, While countless companies
take up the story,
Rudras, who rides the storms, Th' Adityas' shining forms, Vasus and Sadhyas, Viswas,
Ushmapas, Maruts, and those great Twins, The heavenly, fair, Aswins, Gandharvas,
Rakshasas, Siddhas, Asuras,
These see Thee, and revere In silence-stricken fear; Yea! the Worlds, - seeing Thee
with form stupendous, With faces manifold, With eyes which all behold, Unnumbered eyes,
vast arms, members tremendous,
Flanks, lit with sun and star, Feet planted near and far, Tushes of terror, mouths
wrathful and tender; The Three wide Worlds before Thee Adore, as I adore Thee, Quake, as I
quake, to witness so much splendor!
I mark Thee strike the skies With front in wondrous wise Huge, rainbow-painted,
glittering; and thy mouth Opened, and orbs which see All things, whatever be, In all Thy
worlds, east, west, and north and south.
O Eyes of God! O Head! My strength of soul is fled, Gone is heart's force, rebuked is
mind's desire! When I behold Thee so, With awful brows a-glow, With burning glance, and
lips lighted with fire,
Fierce as those flames which shall Consume, at close of all, Earth, Heaven! Ah me! I
see no Earth and Heaven! Thee, Lord of Lords! I see, Thee only - only Thee! Ah! let Thy
mercy unto me be given!
Thou Refuge of the World! Lo! to the cavern hurled Of Thy wide-opened throat, and lips
white-tushed, I see our noblest ones, Great Dhritarashtra's sons, Bhishma, Drona, and
Karna, caught and crushed!
The Kings and Chiefs drawn in, That gaping gorge within; The best of all both armies
torn and riven! Between Thy jaws they lie Mangled fell bloodily, Ground into dust and
death! Like streams down driven
With helpless haste, which go In headlong furious flow Straight to the gulfing maw of
th' unfilled ocean, So to that flaming cave These heroes great and brave Pour, in unending
streams, with helpless motion!
Like moths which in the night Flutter towards a light, Drawn to their fiery doom,
flying and dying, So to their death still throng, Blind, dazzled, borne along Ceaselessly,
all these multitudes, wild flying!
Thou, that hast fashioned men, Devourest them agen, One with another, great and small,
alike! The creatures whom Thou mak'st, With flaming jaws Thou tak'st, Lapping them up!
Lord God! Thy terrors strike
From end to end of earth, Filling life full, from birth To death, with deadly, burning,
lurid dread! Ah, Vishnu! make me know Why is Thy visage so? Who art Thou, feasting thus
upon Thy dead?
Who? awful Deity! I bow myself to Thee, Namostu Te Devavara! Prasid!2 O
Mightiest Lord! rehearse Why hast Thou face so fierce? Whence did this aspect horrible
proceed?
[Footnote 2: "Hail to Thee, God of Gods! Be favorable!"]
Krishna:
Thou seest Me as Time who kills, Time who brings all to doom, The Slayer Time, Ancient
of Days, come hither to consume; Excepting thee, of all these hosts of hostile chiefs
arrayed, There shines not one shall leave alive the battlefield! Dismayed No longer be!
Arise! obtain renown! destroy thy foes! Fight for the kingdom waiting thee when thou hast
vanquished those. By Me they fall - not thee! the stroke of death is dealt them now, Even
as they stand thus gallantly; My instrument art thou! Strike, strong-armed Prince! at
Drona! at Bhishma strike! deal death To Karna, Jyadratha; stay all this warlike breath!
'Tis I who bid them perish! Thou wilt but slay the slain. Fight! they must fall, and thou
must live, victor upon this plain!
Sanjaya:
Hearing mighty Keshav's word, Tremblingly that helmed Lord Clasped his lifted palms,
and - praying Grace of Krishna - stood there, saying, With bowed brow and accents broken,
These words, timorously spoken:
Arjuna:
Worthily, Lord of Might! The whole world hath delight In Thy surpassing power, obeying
Thee; The Rakshasas, in dread At sight of Thee, are sped To all four quarters; and the
company
Of Siddhas sound Thy name. How should they not proclaim Thy Majesties, Divinest,
Mightiest? Thou Brahm, than Brahma greater! Thou Infinite Creator! Thou God of gods,
Life's Dwelling-place and Rest!
Thou, of all souls the Soul! The Comprehending Whole! Of Being formed, and formless
Being the Framer; O Utmost One! O Lord! Older than eld, Who stored The worlds with wealth
of life. O Treasure-claimed.
Who wottest all, and art Wisdom Thyself! O Part In all, and all, for all from Thee have
risen! Numberless now I see The aspects are of Thee! Vayu3 Thou art, and He who
keeps the prison
[Footnote 3: The wind.]
Of Narak, Yama dark, And Agni's shining spark. Varuna's waves are Thy waves. Moon and
star-light. Are Thine! Prajapati Art Thou, and 'tis to Thee Men kneel in worshipping the
old world's far light,
The first of mortal men. Again, Thou God! again A thousand thousand times be magnified!
Honor and worship be Glory and praise, - to Thee Namo, Namaste, cried on every side.
Cried here, above, below, Uttered when Thou dost go, Uttered when Thou dost come! Namo!
we call. Namostu! God adored! Namostu! Nameless Lord! Hail to Thee! Praise to Thee! Thou
One in all.
For Thou art All! Yea, Thou! Ah! if in anger now Thou shouldst remember I did think
Thee Friend, Speaking with easy speech, As men use each to each; Did call Thee
"Krishna," "Prince," nor comprehend
Thy hidden majesty, The might, the awe of Thee; Did, in my heedlessness, or in my love,
On journey, or in jest, Or when we lay at rest, Sitting at council, straying in the grove,
Alone, or in the throng, Do Thee, most Holy wrong, Be Thy grace granted for that
witless sin! For Thou art now I know, Father of all below, Of all above, of all the worlds
within,
Guru of Gurus, more To reverence and adore Than all which is adorable and high! How, in
the wide worlds three Should any equal be? Shall any other share Thy majesty?
Therefore, with body bent And reverent intent, I praise, and serve, and seek Thee,
asking grace. As father to a son, As friend to friend, as one Who loveth to his lover,
turn Thy face
In gentleness on me! Good is it I did see This unknown marvel of Thy Form! But fear
Mingles with joy! Retake, Dear Lord! for pity's sake Thine earthly shape, which earthly
eyes may bear!
Be merciful, and show The visage that I know; Let me regard Thee, as of yore, arrayed
With disc and forehead-gem, With mace and anedem, Thou who sustainest all things!
Undismayed
Let me once more behold The form I loved of old, Thou of the thousand arms and
countless eyes! My frightened heart is fain To see restored again The Charioteer, my
Krishna's kind disguise.
Krishna:
Yea! thou hast seen, Arjuna! because I loved thee well, The secret countenance of Me,
revealed by mystic spell, Shining, and wonderful, and vast, majestic, manifold, Which none
save thou in all the years had favor to behold: For not by Vedas cometh this, nor
sacrifice, nor alms, Nor works well-done, nor penance long, nor prayers nor chaunted
psalms, That mortal eyes should bear to view the Immortal Soul unclad, Prince of the
Kurus! This was kept for thee alone! Be glad! Let no more trouble shake thy heart because
thine eyes have seen My terror with My glory. As I before have been So will I be again for
thee; with lightened heart behold! Once more I am thy Krishna, the form thou knew'st of
old!
Sanjaya:
These words to Arjuna spake Vasudev, and straight did take Back again the semblance
dear Of the well-loved charioteer; Peace and joy it did restore When the Prince beheld
once more Mighty Brahma's form and face Clothed in Krishna's gentle grace.
Arjuna:
Now that I see come back, Janardana! This friendly human frame, my mind can think Calm
thoughts once more; my heart beats still again!
Krishna:
Yea! it was wonderful and terrible To view me as thou didst, dear Prince! The gods
Dread and desire continually to view! Yet not by Vedas, nor from sacrifice, Nor penance,
nor gift-giving, nor with prayer Shall any so behold, as thou hast seen! Only by fullest
service, perfect faith, And uttermost surrender am I known And seen, and entered into,
Indian Prince!
Who doeth all for Me; who findeth Me In all; adoreth always; loveth all Which I have
made, and Me, for Love's sole end, That man, Arjuna! unto Me doth wend.
Here endeth Chapter XI. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Viswarupdarsanam," or
"The Book of the Manifesting of the One and Manifold"
Chapter XII
Arjuna:
Lord! of the men who serve Thee - true in heart As God revealed; and of the men who
serve, Worshipping Thee Unrevealed, Unbodied, far, Which take the better way of faith and
life?
Krishna:
Whoever serve Me - as I show Myself Constantly true, in full devotion fixed, These hold
I very holy. But who serve Worshipping Me The One, The Invisible, The Unrevealed, Unnamed,
Unthinkable, Uttermost, All-pervading, Highest, Sure Who thus adore Me, mastering their
sense, Of one set mind to all, glad in all good, These blessed souls come unto Me.
Yet, hard The travail is for whoso bend their minds To reach th' Unmanifest. That
viewless path Shall scarce be trod by man bearing his flesh! But whereso any doeth all his
deeds, Renouncing self in Me, full of Me, fixed To serve only the Highest, night and day
Musing on Me - him will I swiftly lift Forth from life's ocean of distress and death Whose
soul clings fast to Me. Cling thou to Me! Clasp Me with heart and mind! so shalt thou
dwell Surely with Me on high. But if thy thought Droops from such height; if thou be'st
weak to set Body and soul upon Me constantly, Despair not! give Me lower service! seek To
read Me, worshipping with steadfast will; And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly, Work
for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me! For he that laboreth right for love of Me Shall
finally attain! But, if in this Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! find Refuge
in Me! let fruits of labor go, Renouncing all for Me, with lowliest heart, So shalt thou
come; for, though to know is more Than diligence, yet worship better is Than knowing, and
renouncing better still Near to renunciation - very near Dwelleth Eternal Peace!
Who hateth nought Of all which lives, living himself being, Compassionate, from
arrogance exempt, Exempt from love of self, unchangeable By good or ill; patient,
contended, firm In faith, mastering himself, true to his word, Seeking Me, heart and soul;
vowed unto Me, That man I love! Who troubleth not his kind, And is not troubled by them;
clear of wrath, Living too high for gladness, grief, or fear, That man I love! Who,
dwelling quiet-eyed,1 Stainless, serene, well-balanced, unperplexed, Working
with Me, yet from all works detached, That man I love! Who, fixed in faith on Me, Dotes
upon none, scorns none; rejoices not, And grieves not, letting good and evil hap Light
when it will, and when it will depart, That man I love! Who, unto friend and foe Keeping
an equal heart, with equal mind Bears shame and glory, with an equal peace Takes heat and
cold, pleasure and pain; abides Quit of desires, hears praise or calumny In passionless
restraint, unmoved by each, Linked by no ties to earth, steadfast in Me, That man I love!
But most of all I love Those happy ones to whom 'tis life to live In single fervid faith
and love unseeing, Eating the blessed Amrit of my Being!
[Footnote 1: "Not peering about," - anapeksha.]
Here endeth Chapter XII. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Bhakityogo," or
"The Book of the Religion of Faith"
Chapter XIII
Arjuna:
Now would I hear, O gracious Kesava!1 Of Life which seems, and Soul beyond,
which sees, And what it is we know - or seem to know.
[Footnote 1: The Calcutta edition of the Mahabharata has these opening lines.]
Krishna:
Yea! Son of Kunti! for this flesh ye see Is Kshetra, is the field where Life disports;
And that which views and knows it is the Soul, Kshetrajna. In all "fields," thou
Indian prince! Iam Kshetrajna. I am what surveys! Only that knowledge knows which knows
the known By the knower!2 What it is, that "field" of life, What
qualities it hath, and whence it is, And why it changeth, and the faculty That wotteth it,
the mightiness of this, And how it wotteth - hear these things from Me! . . . . . . . .3 The elements, the conscious life, the mind, The unseen vital force, the nine great gates
Of the body, or the five domains of sense, Desire, dislike, pleasure and pain, and thought
Deep-woven, and persistency of being; These all are wrought on matter by the Soul!
[Footnote 2: This is the nearest possible version of Kshetrakshetrajnayojnanan yat
tagjnan matan mama.]
[Footnote 3: I omit two lines of the Sanskrit here, evidently interpolated by some
Vedantist.]
Humbleness, truthfulness, and harmlessness, Patience and honor, reverence for the wise,
Purity, constancy, control of self, Contempt of sense-delights, self-sacrifice, Perception
of the certitude of ill In birth, death, aye, disease, suffering, and sin; Detachment,
lightly holding unto home, Children, and wife, and all that bindeth men; An ever-tranquil
heart in fortunes good And fortunes evil, with a will set firm To worship Me - Me only!
ceasing not; Loving all solitudes, and shunning noise Of foolish crowds; endeavors
resolute To reach perception of the Utmost Soul, And grace to understand what gain it were
So to attain, - this is true Wisdom, Prince! And what is otherwise is ignorance!
Now will I speak of knowledge best to know That Truth which giveth man Amrit to drink,
The Truth of Him, the Para-Brahm, the All, The Uncreated; not Asat, not Sat, Not Form, nor
the Unformed; yet both, and more; Whose hands are everywhere, and everywhere Planted His
feet, and everywhere His eyes Beholding, and His ears in every place Hearing, and all His
faces everywhere Enlightening and encompassing His worlds. Glorified by the senses He hath
given, Yet beyond sense He is; sustaining all, He dwelleth unattached; of forms and modes
Master, yet neither form nor mode hath He; He is within all beings - and without
Motionless, yet still moving; not discerned For subtlety of instant presence; close To
all, to each, yet measurelessly far! Not manifold, and yet subsisting still In all which
lives; for ever to be known As the Sustainer, yet, at the End of Times, He maketh all to
end - and re-creates.
The Light of Lights He is, in the heart of the Dark Shining eternally. Wisdom He is And
Wisdom's way, and Guide of all the wise, Planted in every heart.
So have I told Of Life's stuff, and the moulding, and the lore To comprehend. Whoso,
adoring Me, Perceiveth this, shall surely come to Me!
Know thou that Nature and the Spirit both Have no beginning! Know that qualities And
changes of them are by Nature wrought; That Nature puts to work the acting frame, But
Spirit doth inform it, and so cause Feeling of pain and pleasure. Spirit, linked To
moulded matter, entereth into bond With qualities by Nature framed, and, thus Married to
matter, breeds the birth again In good or evil yonis.4
[Footnote 4: Wombs.]
Yet is this Yea! in its bodily prison! - Spirit pure, Spirit supreme; surveying,
governing, Guarding, possessing; Lord and Master still Purusha, Ultimate, One Soul with
Me.
Whoso thus knows himself, and knows his soul Purusha, working through the qualities
With Nature's modes, the light hath come for him! Whatever flesh he bears, never again
Shall he take on its load. Some few there be By meditation find the Soul in Self
Self-schooled; and some by long philosophy And holy life reach thither; some by works.
Some, never so attaining, hear of light From other lips, and seize, and cleave to it
Worshipping; yea! and those - to teaching true Overpass Death!
Wherever, Indian Prince! Life is - of moving things, or things unmoved, Plant or still
seed - know, what is there hath grown By bond of Matter and of Spirit: Know He sees indeed
who sees in all alike The living, lordly Soul; the Soul Supreme, Imperishable amid the
Perishing: For, whoso thus beholds, in every place, In every form, the same, one, Living
Lord, Doth no more wrongfulness unto himself, But goes the highest road which brings to
bliss. Seeing, he sees, indeed, who sees that works Are Nature's wont, for Soul to use,
not love, Acting, yet not the actor; sees the mass Of separate living things - each of its
kind Issue from One, and blend again to One: Then hath he Brahma, he attains!
O Prince! That Ultimate, High Spirit, Uncreate, Unqualified, even when it entereth
flesh Taketh no stain of acts, worketh in nought! Like to th' ethereal air, pervading all,
Which, for sheer subtlety, avoideth taint, The subtle Soul sits everywhere, unstained:
Like to the light of the all-piercing sun [Which is not changed by aught is shines upon,]
The Soul's light shineth pure in every place; And they who, by such eye of wisdom see How
matter, and what deals with it, divide; And how the Spirit and the flesh have strife,
These wise ones go the way which leads to Life!
Here ends Chapter XIII. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled
"Kshetrakshetrajnavibhagayogo," or "The Book by Religion of Separation of
Matter and Spirit"
Chapter XIV
Krishna:
Yet farther will I open unto thee This wisdom of all wisdoms, uttermost, The which
possessing, all My saints have passed To perfectness. On these high verities Reliant,
rising into fellowship With Me, they are not born again at birth Of Kalpas, nor at Pralyas
suffer change!
This Universe the Womb is where I plant Seed of all lives! Thence, Prince of India
comes Birth to all beings! Whoso, Kunti's Son! Mothers each mortal form, Brahma conceives,
And I am He that fathers, sending seed!
Sattwan, Rajas, and Tamas, so are named, The qualities of Nature,
"Soothfastness," "Passion," and "Ignorance." These three
bind down The changeless Spirit in the changeful flesh. Whereof sweet
"Soothfastness" - by purity Living unsullied and enlightened - binds The sinless
Soul to happiness and truth; And Passion, being kin to appetite, And breeding impulse and
propensity, Binds the embodied Soul, O Kunti's Son! By tie of works. But Ignorance, the
child Of Darkness, blinding mortal men, binds down Their souls to stupor, sloth, and
drowsiness. Yea, Prince, of India! Soothfastness binds souls In pleasant wise to flesh;
and Passion binds By toilsome strain; but Ignorance, which blots The beams of wisdom,
binds the soul to sloth Passion and Ignorance, once overcome, Leave Soothfastness, O
Bharata! Where this With Ignorance are absent, Passion rules; And Ignorance in hearts not
good nor quick. When at all gateways of the Body shines The Lamp of Knowledge, then may
one see well Soothfastness settled in that city reigns; Where longing is, and ardor, and
unrest, Impulse to strive and gain, and avarice, Those spring from
Passion-Prince!-engrained; and where Darkness and dulness, sloth and stupor are, 'Tis
Ignorance hath caused them, Kuru Chief!
Moreover, when a soul departeth, fixed In Soothfastness, it goeth to the place Perfect
and pure - of those that know all Truth If it departeth in set hebetude Of impulse, it
shall go into the world Of spirits tied to works; and, if it dies In hardened Ignorance,
that blinded soul Is born anew in some unlighted womb.
The fruit of Soothfastness is true and sweet; The fruit of lusts is pain and toil; the
fruit Of Ignorance is deeper darkness. Yea! For Light brings light, and Passion ache to
have. Blindness, bewilderments, and ignorance Grow forth from Ignorance. Those of the
first Rise ever higher; those of the second mode Take a mid place; the darkened souls sink
back To lower deeps, loaded with witlessness!
When, watching life, the living man perceives The only actors are the Qualities, And
knows what lives beyond the Qualities, Then is he come nigh unto Me!
The Soul, Thus passing forth from the Three Qualities Whereof arise all bodies -
overcomes Birth, Death, Sorrow, and Age; and drinketh deep The undying wine of Amrit.
Arjuna:
Oh, my Lord!
Which be the signs to know him that hath gone Past the Three Modes? How liveth he? What
way Leadeth him safe beyond the threefold modes?
Krishna:
He who with equanimity surveys Lustre of goodness, strife of passion, sloth Of
ignorance, not angry if they are, Not angry when they are not: he who sits A sojourner and
stranger in their midst Unruffled, standing off, saying - serene When troubles break,
"These are the Qualities!" He unto whom - self-centred-grief and joy Sound as
one word; to whose deep-seeing eyes The clod, the marble, and the gold are one; Whose
equal heart holds the same gentleness For lovely and unlovely things, firm-set,
Well-pleased in praise and dispraise; satisfied With honor or dishonor; unto friends And
unto foes alike in tolerance, Detached from undertakings, - he is named Surmounter of the
Qualities!
And such With single, fervent faith adoring Me, Passing beyond the Qualities, conforms
To Brahma, and attains Me!
For I am That whereof Brahma is the likeness! Mine The Amrit is; and Immortality Is
mine; and mine perfect Felicity!
Here ends Chapter XIV. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Gunatrayavibhagayogo,"
or "The Book of Religion by Separation from the Qualities"
Chapter XV
Krishna:
Men call the Aswattha, - the Banyan-tree, Which hath its boughs beneath, its roots on
high, The ever-holy tree. Yea! for its leaves Are green and waving hymns which whisper
Truth! Who knoweth well the Aswattha, knows all.
Its branches shoot to heaven and sink to earth,1 Even as the deeds of men,
which take their birth From qualities: its silver sprays and blooms, And all the eager
verdure of its girth,
[Footnote 1: I do not consider these verses - which are somewhat freely rendered here -
"an attack on the authority of the Vedas," but a beautiful lyrical episode, a
new "Parable of the fig-tree."]
Leap to quick life at touch of sun and air, As men's lives quicken to the temptings
fair Of wooing sense: its hanging rootlets seek The soil beneath, helping to hold it
there,
As actions wrought amid this world of men Bind them by ever-tightening bonds again. If
ye knew well the teaching of the Tree, What its shape saith; and whence it springs; and,
then
How it must end, and all the ills of it, The axe of sharp Detachment ye would whet, And
cleave the clinging snaky roots, and lay This Aswattha of sense-like low, - to set
New growths upspringing to that happier sky, Which they who reach shall have no day to
die, Nor fade away, nor fall - to Him, I mean, Father and First, Who made the mystery
Of old Creation; for to Him come they From passion and from dreams who break away; Who
part the bonds constraining them to flesh, And, - Him, the Highest, worshipping alway
No longer grow at mercy of what breeze Of summer pleasure stirs the sleeping trees,
What blast of tempest tears them, bough and stem To the eternal world pass such as these!
Another Sun gleams there! another Moon! Another Light, - a Light which none shall lack
Whose eyes once see; for those return no more They have attained My Uttermost Abode!
When, in this world of manifested life, The undying Spirit, setting forth from Me,
Taketh on form, it draweth to itself From Being's storehouse, - which containeth all,
Senses and intellect. The Sovereign Soul
Thus entering the flesh, or quitting it, Gathers these up, as the wind gathers scents,
Blowing above the flower-banks. Ear and Eye, And Touch and Taste, and Smelling, these it
takes, Yea, and a sentient mind; - linking itself To sense-things so,
The unenlightened ones Mark not that Spirit when he goes or comes, Nor when he takes
his pleasure in the form, Conjoined with qualities; but those see plain Who have the eyes
to see. Holy souls see which strive thereto. Enlightened, they behold that Spirit in
themselves; but foolish ones, Even though they strive, discern not, having hearts
Unkindled, ill- informed!
Know, too, from Me Shineth the gathered glory of the sun Which lightens all the world:
from Me the moon Draws silvery beams, and fire fierce loveliness. I penetrate the clay,
and lend all shapes Their living force; I glide into the plant Its root, leaf, bloom - to
make the woodland green With springing sap. Becoming vital warmth, I glow in glad,
respiring frames, and pass With outward and with inward breath to feed The body with all
meats2
[Footnote 2: I omit a verse here, evidently interpolated.]
For in this world Being is twofold: the Divided, one; The Undivided, one. All things
that live Are "the Divided." That which sits apart, "The Undivided."
Higher still is One, The Highest, holding all whose Name is Lord, The Eternal,
Sovereign, First! Who fills all worlds, Sustaining them. And - dwelling thus beyond
Divided Life and Undivided - I Am called of men and Vedas, God Supreme, The Purushottama.
Who knows Me thus, With mind unclouded, knoweth all, dear Prince! And with his whole
soul ever worshippeth Me.
Now is the sacred secret Mystery Declared to thee! Who comprehendeth this Hath wisdom!
He is quit of works in bliss!
Here ends Chapter XV. of the Bhagavad-Gita entitled "Purushottamapraptiyogo,"
or "The Book of Religion by attaining the Supreme"
Chapter XVI
Krishna:
Fearlessness, singleness of soul, the will Always to strive for wisdom; opened hand And
governed appetites; and piety And love of lonely study; humbleness, Uprightness, heed to
injure nought which lives, Truthfulness, slowness unto wrath, a mind That lightly letteth
go what others prize; And equanimity, and charity Which spieth no man's faults; and
tenderness Towards all that suffer; a contented heart, Fluttered by no desires; a bearing
mild, Modest, and grave, with manhood nobly mixed With patience, fortitude, and purity; An
unrevengeful spirit, never given To rate itself too high; - such be the signs, O Indian
Price! of him whose feet are set On that fair path which leads to heavenly birth!
Deceitfulness, and arrogance, and pride, Quickness to anger, harsh and evil speech, And
ignorance, to its own darkness blind, These be the signs, My Prince! of him whose birth Is
fated for the regions of the vile.1
[Footnote 1: "Of the Asuras," lit.]
The Heavenly Birth brings to deliverance, So should'st thou know! The birth with Asuras
Brings into bondage. Be thou joyous, Prince Whose lot is set apart for heavenly Birth.
Two stamps there are marked on all living men, Divine and Undivine; I spake to thee By
what marks thou shouldst know the Heavenly Man, Hear from me now of the Unheavenly!
They comprehend not, the Unheavenly, How souls go forth from Me; nor how they come Back
unto Me: nor is there Truth in these, Nor purity, nor rule of Life. "This world Hath
not a Law, nor Order, nor a Lord," So say they: "nor hath risen up by Cause
Following on Cause, in perfect purposing, But is none other than a House of Lust."
And, this thing thinking, all those ruined ones Of little wit, dark-minded - give
themselves To evil deeds, the curses of their kind. Surrendered to desires insatiable,
Full of deceitfulness, folly, and pride, In blindness cleaving to their errors, caught
Into the sinful course, they trust this lie As it were true - this lie which leads to
death Finding in Pleasure all the good which is, And crying "Here it finisheth!"
Ensnared In nooses of a hundred idle hopes, Slaves to their passion and their wrath,
they buy Wealth with base deeds, to glut hot appetites; "Thus much, to-day,"
they say, "we gained! thereby Such and such wish of heart shall have its fill; And
this is ours! and th' other shall be ours! To-day we slew a foe, and we will slay Our
other enemy to-morrow! Look! Are we not lords? Make we not goodly cheer? Is not our
fortune famous, brave, and great? Rich are we, proudly born! What other men Live like to
us? Kill, then, for sacrifice!
Cast largesse, and be merry!" So they speak Darkened by ignorance; and so they
fall Tossed to and fro with projects, tricked, and bound In net of black delusion, lost in
lusts Down to foul Naraka. Conceited, fond, Stubborn and proud, dead-drunken with the wine
Of wealth, and reckless, all their offerings Have but a show of reverence, being not made
In piety of ancient faith. Thus vowed To self-hood, force, insolence, feasting, wrath,
These My blasphemers, in the forms they wear And in the forms they breed, my foemen are,
Hateful and hating; cruel, evil, vile, Lowest and least of men, whom I cast down Again,
and yet again, at end of lives, Into some devilish womb, whence - birth by birth The
devilish wombs re-spawn them, all beguiled; And, till they find and worship Me, sweet
Prince! Tread they that Nether Road.
The Doors of Hell Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass, The door of Lust, the door
of Wrath, the door Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three! He who shall turn aside from
entering All those three gates of Narak, wendeth straight To find his peace, and comes to
Swarga's gate. . . . . . . . . . . .2 Here endeth Chapter XIV. of the
Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Daivasarasaupadwibhagayog," or "The Book of the
Separateness of the Divine and Undivine"
[Footnote 2: I omit the ten concluding shlokas, with Mr. Davies.]
Chapter XVII
Arjuna:
If men forsake the holy ordinance, Heedless of Shastras, yet keep faith at heart And
worship, what shall be the state of those, Great Krishna! Sattwan, Rajas, Tamas? Say!
Krishna:
Threefold the faith is of mankind, and springs From those three qualities, - becoming
"true," Or "passion-stained," or "dark," as thou shalt hear!
The faith of each believer, Indian Prince! Conforms itself to what he truly is. Where
thou shalt see a worshiper, that one To what he worships lives assimilate, [Such as the
shrine, so is the votary,] The "soothfast" souls adore true gods; the souls
Obeying Rajas worship Rakshasas1 Or Yakshas; and the men of Darkness pray To
Pretas and to Bhutas.2 Yea, and those Who practise bitter penance, not enjoined
By rightful rule - penance which hath its root In self-sufficient, proud hypocrisies Those
men, passion-beset, violent, wild, Torturing - the witless ones - My elements Shut in fair
company within their flesh, (Nay, Me myself, present within the flesh!) Know them to
devils devoted, not to Heaven! For like as foods are threefold for mankind In nourishing,
so is there threefold way Of worship, abstinence, and almsgiving! Hear this of Me! there
is a food which brings Force, substance, strength, and health, and joy to live, Being
well-seasoned, cordial comforting, The "Soothfast" meat. And there be foods
which bring Aches and unrests, and burning blood, and grief, Being too biting, heating,
salt, and sharp, And therefore craved by too strong appetite And there is foul food-kept
from over-night,3 Savorless, filthy, which the foul will eat, A feast of
rottenness, meet for the lips Of such as love the "Darkness."
[Footnote 1: Rakshasas and Yakshas are unembodied but capricious beings of great power,
gifts, and beauty, sometimes also of benignity.]
[Footnote 2: These are spirits of evil, wandering ghosts.]
[Footnote 3: Yatayaman, food which has remained after the watches of the night. In
India this would probably "go bad."]
Thus with rites; A sacrifice not for rewardment made, Offered in rightful wise, when he
who vows Sayeth, with heart devout, "This I should do!" Is "Soothfast"
rite. But sacrifice for gain, Offered for good repute, be sure that this, O Best of
Bharatas! is Rajas-rite, With stamp of "passion." And a sacrifice Offered
against the laws, with no due dole Of food-giving, with no accompaniment Of hallowed hymn,
nor largesse to the priests, In faithless celebration, call it vile. The deed of
"Darkness!" - lost!
Worship of gods Meriting worship; lowly reverence Of Twice-borns, Teachers, Elders;
Purity, Rectitude, and the Brahmacharya's vow, And not to injure any helpless thing, These
make a true religiousness of Act.
Words causing no man woe, words ever true, Gentle and pleasing words, and those ye say
In murmured reading of a Sacred Writ, These make the true religiousness of Speech.
Serenity of soul, benignity, Sway of the silent Spirit, constant stress To sanctify the
Nature, - these things make Good rite, and true religiousness of Mind.
Such threefold faith, in highest piety Kept, with no hope of gain, by hearts devote, Is
perfect work of Sattwan, true belief.
Religion shown in act of proud display To win good entertainment, worship, fame, Such -
say I - is of Rajas, rash and vain.
Religion followed by a witless will To torture self, or come at power to hurt Another,
- 'tis of Tamas, dark and ill.
The gift lovingly given, when one shall say "Now must I gladly give!" when he
who takes Can render nothing back; made in due place, Due time, and to a meet recipient,
Is gift of Sattwan, fair and profitable.
The gift selfishly given, where to receive Is hoped again, or when some end is sought,
Or where the gift is proffered with a grudge, This is of Rajas, stained with impulse, ill.
The gift churlishly flung, at evil time, In wrongful place, to base recipient, Made in
disdain or harsh unkindliness, Is gift of Tamas, dark; it doth not bless!4
[Footnote 4: I omit the concluding shlokas, as of very doubtful authenticity.]
Here endeth Chapter XVII. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled
"Sraddhatrayavibhagayog," or "The Book of Religion by the Three-fold Kinds
of Faith"
Chapter XVIII
Arjuna:
Fain would I better know, Thou Glorious One! The very truth - Heart's Lord! - of
Sannyas, Abstention; and Renunciation, Lord! Tyaga; and what separates these twain!
Krishna:
The poets rightly teach that Sannyas Is the foregoing of all acts which spring Out of
desire; and their wisest say Tyaga is renouncing fruit of acts.
There be among the saints some who have held All action sinful, and to be renounced;
And some who answer "Nay! the goodly acts As worship, penance, alms - must be
performed!" Hear now My sentence, Best of Bharatas!
'Tis well set forth, O Chaser of thy Foes! Renunciation is of threefold form, And
Worship, Penance, Alms, not to be stayed; Nay, to be gladly done; for all those three Are
purifying waters for true souls!
Yet must be practised even those high works In yielding up attachment, and all fruit
Produced by works. This is My judgment, Prince! This My insuperable and fixed decree!
Abstaining from a work by right prescribed Never is meet! So to abstain doth spring
From "Darkness," and Delusion teacheth it. Abstaining from a work grievous to
flesh, When one saith "'Tis unpleasing!" this is null! Such an one acts from
"passion;" nought of gain Wins his Renunciation! But, Arjun! Abstaining from
attachment to the work, Abstaining from rewardment in the work, While yet one doeth it
full faithfully, Saying, "'Tis right to do!" that is "true" act And
abstinence! Who doeth duties so, Unvexed if his work fail, if it succeed Unflattered, in
his own heart justified, Quit of debates and doubts, his is "true" act: For,
being in the body, none may stand Wholly aliof from act: yet, who abstains From profit of
his acts is abstinent.
The fruit of labors, in the lives to come, Is threefold for all men, - Desirable, And
Undesirable, and mixed of both; But no fruit is at all where no work was.
Hear from me, Long-armed Lord! the makings five Which go to every act, in Sankhya
taught As necessary. First the force; and then The agent; next, the various instruments;
Fourth, the especial effort; fifth, the God. What work soever any mortal doth Of body,
mind, or speech, evil or good, By these five doth he that. Which being thus, Whoso, for
lack of knowledge, seeth himself As the sole actor, knoweth nought at all And seeth
nought. Therefore, I say, if one Holding aloof from self-with unstained mind Should slay
all yonder host, being bid to slay, He doth not slay; he is not bound thereby!
Knowledge, the thing known, and the mind which knows, These make the threefold
starting-ground of act. The act, the actor, and the instrument, These make the threefold
total of the deed. But knowledge, agent, act, are differenced By three dividing qualities.
Hear now Which be the qualities dividing them.
There is "true" Knowledge. Learn thou it is this! To see one changeless Life
in all the Lives, And in the Separate, One Inseparable. There is imperfect Knowledge: that
which sees The separate existences apart, And, being separated, holds them real. There is
false Knowledge: that which blindly clings To one as if 'twere all, seeking no Cause,
Deprived of light, narrow, and dull, and "dark."
There is "right" Action: that which - being enjoined Is wrought without
attachment, passionlessly, For duty, not for love, nor hate, nor gain. There is
"vain" Action: that which men pursue Aching to satisfy desires, impelled By
sense of self, with all-absorbing stress: This is of Rajas-passionate and vain. There is
"dark" Action: when one doth a thing Heedless of issues, heedless of the hurt Or
wrong for others, heedless if he harm His own soul - 'tis of Tamas, black and bad!
There is the "rightful" doer. He who acts Free from selfseeking, humble,
resolute, Steadfast, in good or evil hap the same, Content to do aright - he
"truly" acts. There is th' "impassioned" doer. He that works From
impulse seeking profit, rude and bold To overcome, unchastened; slave by turns Of sorrow
and of joy: of Rajas he! And there be evil doers; loose of heart, Low-minded, stubborn,
fraudulent, remiss, Dull, slow, despondent-children of the "dark."
Hear, too, of Intellect and Steadfastness The threefold separation, Conqueror-Prince!
How these are set apart by Qualities.
Good is the Intellect which comprehends The coming forth and going back of life, What
must be done, and what must not be done, What should be feared, and what should not be
feared, What binds and what emancipates the soul: That is of Sattwan, Prince! of
"soothfastness." Marred is the Intellect which, knowing right And knowing wrong,
and what is well to do And what must not be done, yet understands Nought with firm mind,
nor as the calm truth is: This is of Rajas, Prince! and "passionate!" Evil is
Intellect which, wrapped in gloom, Looks upon wrong as right, and sees all things
Contrariwise of Truth. O Pritha's Son! That is of Tamas, "dark" and desperate!
Good is the steadfastness whereby a man Masters his beats of heart, his very breath Of
life, the action of his senses; fixed In never-shaken faith and piety: That is of Sattwan,
Prince! "soothfast" and fair! Stained is the steadfastness whereby a man Holds
to his duty, purpose, effort, end, For life's sake, and the love of goods to gain, Arjuna!
'tis of Rajas, passion-stamped! Sad is the steadfastness wherewith the fool Cleaves to his
sloth, his sorrow, and his fears, His folly and despair. This-Pritha's Son! Is born of
Tamas, "dark" and miserable!
Hear further, Chief of Bharatas! from Me The threefold kinds of Pleasure which there
be.
Good Pleasure is the pleasure that endures, Banishing pain for aye; bitter at first As
poison to the soul, but afterward Sweet as the taste of Amrit. Drink of that! It springeth
in the Spirit's deep content. And painful Pleasure springeth from the bond Between the
senses and the sense-world. Sweet As Amrit is its first taste, but its last Bitter as
poison. 'Tis of Rajas, Prince! And foul and "dark" the Pleasure is which springs
From sloth and sin and foolishness; at first And at the last, and all the way of life The
soul bewildering. 'Tis of Tamas, Prince!
For nothing lives on earth, nor 'midst the gods In utmost heaven, but hath its being
bound With these three Qualities, by Nature framed.
The work of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, And Sudras, O thou Slayer of thy Foes! Is
fixed by reason of the Qualities Planted in each:
A Brahman's virtues, Prince! Born of his nature, are serenity, Self-mastery, religion,
purity, Patience, uprightness, learning, and to know The truth of things which be. A
Kshatriya's pride, Born of his nature, lives in valor, fire, Constancy, skilfulness,
spirit in fight, And open-handedness and noble mien, As of a lord of men. A Vaisya's task,
Born with his nature, is to till the ground, Tend cattle, venture trade. A Sudra's state,
Suiting his nature, is to minister.
Whoso performeth - diligent, content The work allotted him, whate'er it be, Lays hold
of perfectness! Hear how a man Findeth perfection, being so content: He findeth it
through, worship-wrought by workOf Him that is the Source of all which lives, Of Him by
Whom the universe was stretched.
Better thine own work is, though done with fault, Than doing other's work, ev'n
excellently. He shall not fall in sin who fronts the task Set him by Nature's hand! Let no
man leave His natural duty, Prince! though it bear blame! For every work hath blame, as
every flame Is wrapped in smoke! Only that man attains Perfect surcease of work whose work
was wrought With mind unfettered, soul wholly subdued, Desires for ever dead, results
renounced.
Learn from me, Son of Kunti! also this, How one, attaining perfect peace, attains
Brahm, the supreme, the highest height of all!
Devoted-with a heart grown pure, restrained In lordly self-control, foregoing wiles Of
song and senses, freed from love and hate, Dwelling 'mid solitudes, in diet spare, With
body, speech, and will tamed to obey, Ever to holy meditation vowed, From passions
liberate, quit of the Self, Of arrogance, impatience, anger, pride; Freed from
surroundings, quiet, lacking noughtSuch an one grows to oneness with the Brahm; Such an
one, growing one with Brahm, serene, Sorrows no more, desires no more; his soul, Equally
loving all that lives, loves well Me, Who have made them, and attains to Me.
By this same love and worship doth he know Me as I am, how high and wonderful, And
knowing, straightway enters into Me. And whatsoever deeds he doeth-fixed In Me, as in his
refuge - he hath won For ever and for ever by My grace Th' Eternal Rest! So win thou! In
thy thoughts Do all thou dost for Me! Renounce for Me! Sacrifice heart and mind and will
to Me! Live in the faith of Me! In faith of Me All dangers thou shalt vanquish, by My
grace, But, trusting to thyself and heeding not, Thou can'st but perish! If this day thou
say'st Relying on thyself, "I will not fight!" Vain will the purpose prove! thy
qualities Would spur thee to the war. What thou dost shun, Misled by fair illusions, thou
wouldst seek Against thy will, when the task comes to thee Waking the promptings in thy
nature set. There lives a Master in the hearts of men Maketh their deeds, by subtle
pulling-strings, Dance to what tune He will. With all thy soul Trust Him, and take Him for
thy succor, Prince! So-only so, Arjuna!-shall thou gainBy grace of Him-the uttermost
repose, The Eternal Place!
Thus hath been opened thee This Truth of Truths, the Mystery more hid Than any secret
mystery. Meditate! And-as thou wilt-then act!
Nay! but once more Take My last word, My utmost meaning have! Precious thou art to Me;
right well-beloved! Listen! I tell thee for thy comfort this. Give Me thy heart! adore Me!
serve Me! cling In faith and love and reverence to Me! So shalt thou come to Me! I promise
true, For thou art sweet to Me!
And let go those Rites and writ duties! Fly to Me alone! Make Me thy single refuge! I
will free Thy soul from all its sins! Be of good cheer!
[Hide, the holy Krishna saith, This from him that hath no faith, Him that worships not,
nor seeks Wisdom's teaching when she speaks: Hide it from all men who mock; But, wherever,
'mid the flock Of My lovers, one shall teach This divinest, wisest, speechTeaching in the
faith to bring Truth to them, and offering Of all honor unto Me Unto Brahma cometh he!
Nay, and nowhere shall ye find Any man of all mankind Doing dearer deed for Me; Nor shall
any dearer be In My earth. Yea, furthermore, Whoso reads this converse o'er Held by Us
upon the plain, Pondering piously and fain, He hath paid Me sacrifice! (Krishna speaketh
in this wise!) Yea, and whoso, full of faith, Heareth wisely what it saith, Heareth
meekly, - when he dies, Surely shall his spirit rise To those regions where the Blest,
Free of flesh, in joyance rest.] Hath this been heard by thee, O Indian Prince! With mind
intent? hath all the ignorance Which bred thy trouble - vanished, My Arjun?
Arjuna:
Trouble and ignorance are gone! the Light Hath come unto me, by Thy favor, Lord! Now am
I fixed! my doubt is fled away! According to Thy word, so will I do!
Sanjaya:
Thus gathered I the gracious speech of Krishna, O my King! Thus have I told, with heart
a-thrill, this wise and wondrous thing By great Vyasa's learning writ, how Krishna's self
made known The Yoga, being Yoga's Lord. So is the high truth shown! And aye, when I
remember, O Lord my King, again Arjuna and the God in talk, and all this holy strain,
Great is my gladness: when I muse that splendor, passing speech, Of Hari, visible and
plain, there is no tongue to reach My marvel and my love and bliss. O Archer-Prince! all
hail! O Krishna, Lord of Yoga! surely there shall not fail Blessing, and victory, and
power, for Thy most mighty sake, Where this song comes of Arjun, and how with God he
spake.
Here ends, with Chapter XVIII. entitled "Mokshasanyasayog," or "The Book
of Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation,"