SRIMAD BHAGAVAD-GITA The Hidden Treasure of the Sweet Absolute Editor: The dearmost disciple and associate of The King of Spitirual Teachers Of Vaishnava Ontology Vaishnava-siddhantacharya-samrat Jagad-guru Prabhupada Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaja Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya-varya Sarva-sastra-siddhanta-vit Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Deva Goswami Maharaja Rendered into English by Tridandi Bhiksu Sripad Sagar Maharaj Assisted by Sripad Nimai Sundar Brahmachari and Sripad Jagadananda Adhikari
Invocation Meditation on Sri Gita O Bhagavad-gita, sung by the Supreme Lord Himself, You are the bestower of the enlightenment of Arjuna. You have been interwoven within the scripture Mahabharata by Srila Vedavyasa, the writer of the Puranas. In eighteen chapters, You are the rain of ever-flowing nectar, and the almighty potency of the Supreme Lord which delivers the whole material world of suffering. O Mother, I keep You in my heart forever.
Obeisances unto Srila Vyasadeva O master of great, formidable intelligence, Srila Vyasadeva, whose eyes resemble the long petals of a blooming lotus flower, and who lit the lamp of knowledge which was filled with the oil of the Mahabharata – I offer my respectful obeisances unto you. Obeisances unto the Lord as the chariot-driver of Arjuna I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, who fulfills all the desires of His surrendered devotees. He holds a driving-rod in one hand while the other is poised in the gesture of instruction, and He is the extractor of the nectar of the Gita.
The glory of the Gita The crest-jewels of the Vedas, the Upanisads, are like a cow, and the milker of the cow is Lord Sri Krsna, the son of Nanda Maharaj. Arjuna is the calf, the nectar of the Gita is the milk, and the virtuous devotees are the drinkers and enjoyers of that milk. Obeisances unto Lord Sri Krsna I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krsna, who is the son of Vasudeva, the vanquisher of demons like Kamsa and Canura, the expander of the divine ecstasy of mother Devaki, the Supreme God of all gods, and the guru of the whole universe.
The battlefield represented as a river The river, of which one bank is Bhisma and the other is Dronacarya; Jayadratha is the water, the sons of Gandhari are the blue lotus flower, and Salya is the crocodile; Krpa is the current, and Karna is the everchanging rising and ebbing tide; Asvatthama, Vikarna and company are the fearful sharks, and Duryodhana is the whirlpool – Sri Kesava is the fisherman of such a river of battle, which was crossed over by the Pandava brothers.
The Mahabharata as a lotus flower The words of Sri Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasadeva, the son of Parasara Muni, are a pure lotus flower. The meaning of the Gita is the farreaching fragrance of that lotus, and the various narrations are its stamens. The revelations of harikatha, narrations about the Supreme Lord, are the river. In this world, the pure devotees are the bees who are constantly absorbed in drinking the nectar of the lotus flower. May that Mahabharata lotus, which is the vanquisher of all evils in this age of Kali, graciously bestow auspiciousness upon us.
Obeisances unto the Supreme Lord I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord whose glories are praised with celestial prayers by Lord Brahma, Lord Varuna, Lord Indra, Lord Rudra, and the Maruts, and whose glories are recited by the knowers of the Sama-veda; whose glories are sung by all the Vedas, along with their six subsidiary divisions and the Upanisads; who is seen within the hearts of the yogis absorbed in meditational trance, and whose infinite glories cannot be known, either by the gods or the demons. (Bhag. 12. 3. 1) Before reciting or studying the scriptures, one must offer respectful obeisances unto the Lord’s incarnations Nara-Narayana Rsi of Badarikasrama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, the goddess of speech Saraswati, and the writer of the scriptures, Srila Vyasadeva. Preface The Srimad Bhagavad-gita is unique in its wide publication and extensive circulation. Along with the commentaries of former great saints as well as modern scholars, this classic appears in various languages, both in India and other countries.
The commentaries of the great Vaisnava acaryas such as Srimat Ramanuja, Srimat Madhvamuni, and Sri Sridhara Swamipada deserve special mention, while among the proponents of jnana-marga, or the scholastic path, the commentaries of Srimat Sankaracarya and Sri Madhusudana Saraswati are prominent. The commentaries of Sriyuta Bala Gangadhara Tilak and Sri Aurobindo favor the school of karma-yoga, or the path of action, and are also familiar to modern scholars.
Furthermore, great thinkers of both Orient and Occident have ardently sung the glories of Sri Gita, being inspired by the ideals of its teaching. But fortunate persons of fine theistic intellect will experience the acintya-bhedabheda-siddhanta, or axiom of inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference illustriously promulgated by the authentic followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Gaudiya Acaryas Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti and Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana as eminently faithful to exclusive devotion to the Supreme Lord.
The learned and faithful devotees are also inspired within the core of their hearts by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s Bengali commentary on Sri Gita, realizing it to be an all-harmonious treasure of divine love for Lord Sri Krsna (Krsna-prema), which is the fifth and ultimate goal of life, transcendental to religiosity, economy, sense enjoyment, and liberation. In the introduction to the present edition my worshipful divine master, Sri Gurupadapadma Om Visnupada Paramahaµsa Parivrajakacarya Sri Srimad Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj has beautifully revealed to the readers the deep, internal devotional realization in his rendition.
Among the numerous editions of Sri Gita presently available, few can be said to faithfully nurture pure devotion in accordance with the perfect conclusions of parampara, or bona fide descending disciplic succession. Therefore, our current endeavor has been justified. We shall consider ourselves blessed if our thoughtful readers will take the vital and all-auspicious essence of this sincere attempt to heart. Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip Introduction vande sri-guru-gaurangau, radha-govinda-sundarau sa-gunau giyate catha, ita-gudhartha-gauravam Bowing down to the holy feet of Sri Guru, Sri Gauranga, and Sri Sri Radha Govindasundara, all accompanied by Their associates, I shall sing the great glory of the hidden treasure of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. The Srimad Bhagavad-gita is well-known by the learned. Therefore, some explanation of the procedure adopted by this edition’s editor must initially be given. The editor belongs to the school of thought descending in disciplic line from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We will therefore distinguish that the present edition is based on the ommentaries on Sri Gita as given by the preeminent, exalted Sri Gaudiya Vaisnava Acaryas, Sri Visvanatha, Sri Baladeva, and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. By the manifest grace of our worshipful spiritual master, Om Visnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada, and from hints given by the aforementioned great pure devotees, some new light has been shed herein, unfolding deeper meanings throughout the text. The devotional reader will appreciate this distinction particularly in noting the purport of the four verses (10. -11) which were explained by Sri Visvanathapada to be the four essential verses (catuh-sloki) of the book. Generally, Sri Gita is known as an excellent study of the science of religion. The language of Sri Gita is simple and sweet; its mood is grave, extensive, and fundamental; its thought is brief, distinct, and impartial; and its logic is sound and natural. The prologue, epilogue, exposition, review, analysis, synthesis, and art of presentation of Sri Gita is unprecendented and charming to the extreme. Sri Gita is activation for the lazy, courage for the coward, hope for the hopeless, and new life for the dying.
Sri Gita unifies and sustains all ranks, whether revolutionist, occultist, optimist, renunciationist, liberationist, or full-fledged theist. From the atheist of grossly crude vision to the most elevated saint the essential conceptions of all classes of philosophers are dealt with in clear and forceful logic. The fruitive worker, the learned, and the yoga practitioner (karmi, jnani, and yogi) and the devotee of the Lord will find herein a comprehensive and illuminating exposition on the substance of their respective philosophies, and thus the book is highly esteemed by all.
The essential teachings of the Vedas and Upanisads of the Aryans is directly explained, and upon a little closer scrutiny, the gist of various non-Aryan doctrines may also be detected in the text. Within the purport of Sri Gita we find that the purification of consciousness through wisdom arises from materially unmotivated performance of scripturally enjoined duties, resulting in self-knowledge absolute existential knowledge, or divine realization.
In full maturity, this pure, spotless perception culminates in the quest for loving service in pure cognition, in the divine ecstatic realm. In the analysis of sambandha-jnana, or knowledge of divine relationship, Sri Gita has revealed that the nature of the most original truth is a transcendental all-conscious personality. In the analysis of prayojana, or the supreme objective, internal inspiration of pure love in pursuit of the Supreme Absolute Reality has been mentioned as the perfectional attainment.
And in the analysis of abhidheya, or the method of attaining the desired goal, the first stage has been revealed as offering all one’s actions to the Supreme Lord, followed by the cultivation of internal self-knowledge, which arises according to one’s progressive realization of the Lord. Finally, by giving up all other endeavors, one surrenders exclusively unto the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna. In other words by taking shelter of pure unalloyed faith, one is situated in one’s perfected divine identity and engages in divine loving service to the Lord, which is the ultimate goal of all devotional practices.
Sri Gita has clearly distinguished and delineated the characteristics of the nondevotional paths based on action (karma) and knowledge (jnana) and their corresponding achievable objectives of sense enjoyment (kama) and liberation (moksa). Therefore, the intelligent can note that by the statement, yo yac chraddhah sa eva sah, “One is identified by his particular faith”, Sri Gita has drawn an objective comparison of different paths and their goals, thus disarming and exposing those who create confusion by supporting the concoction that the many paths and goals are “all one”.
In this respect, the following verses (6. 46-47) deserve special attention: tapasvibhyo ‘dhiko yogi, jnanibhyo ‘pi mato ‘dhikah karmibhyas cadhiko yogi, tasmad yogi bhavarjuna yoginam api sarvesam, mad-gatenantaratmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam, sa me yuktatamo matah Tyaga or renunciation has been completely condemned, and its futility has been emphatically asserted. This proclamation shows the conclusive, intrinsic gift of Sri Gita. Karma-yoga, r offering one’s actions to the Supreme Lord without provincial interest, is preferred above karma-tyaga, or renunciation of action and finally, full selfsurrender to the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, with every action dedicated by divine inspiration in his loving service is the ultimate and supreme teaching of Sri Gita, one will find it to be the king of all scriptures as the bestower of the highest devotion. In its full-fledged nature, this devotion is the most supreme love divine, love for the all-attractive Supreme Personality Sri Krsna, Reality the Beautiful.
Sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja – the grand, vibrant, and resounding clarion call of Sri Gita has proclaimed the glories of life’s superexcellent objective. Hidden, more hidden, and the most hidden treasures have been given, from the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord (sankirtana) up to spontaneous devotion (bhava-seva) in the life of total dedication to the cultivation of Krsna consciousness with exclusive surrender.
This is the consistent and unanimous conclusion of the pure parampara, or descending spiritual succession, as corroborated by the genuine followers of the lotus footsteps of Sri Caitanyacandra, the original Supreme Lord, who descends to deliver the fallen souls of Kali-yuga, this iron age of quarrel and strife. May this edition be an offering unto Lord Sri Krsna. Swami B. R. Sridhar Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Nabadwip Chapter One
Observing the Armies Sainya-darsana 1) Dhrtarastra said: O Sanjaya, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, after assembling for battle at the holy place of Kuruksetra? 2) Sanjaya said: Looking over the Pandavas’ soldiers and armies arrayed in military formation, King Duryodhana approached Dronacarya and spoke as follows: 3) O master, please observe the great armies of the Pandavas, arrayed in military formation by your intelligent disciple, Dhrstadyumna. -6) Among these soldiers are the expert bowmen Bhima and Arjuna, as well as others who are equally expert, such as Satyaki, King Virata, the great fighter Drupada, Dhrstaketu, Cekitana, the mighty hero Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, the noble King Saibya, valiant Yudhamanyu, heroic Uttamauja, Abhimanyu, and the sons of Draupadi all of whom are certainly great warriors. 7) O best of the twice-born, please also be informed of the great heroes and leaders of our armies. I shall now fully describe them for your consideration. -9) Besides your worthy self, who are always victorious in battle, and Bhisma, Karna, Krpacarya, Asvatthama, Vikarna, Saumadatti (Bhurisrava), and Jayadratha, there are many other heroes who are expert in the art of warfare; they are all armed with various weapons and are determined to lay down their very lives for me. 10) Our army, headed by Bhisma, is inadequate, whereas the army of the Pandavas, protected by Bhima, is competent. 11) Therefore, remaining in your respective divisions at the strategic points of the formation, please cooperate to protect Grandfather Bhisma. 2) Then, with a war-cry like the roar of a lion, Bhisma, the mighty grandsire of the Kurus, loudly blew his conchshell to encourage Duryodhana. 13) At once, conchshells, kettledrums, hand-drums, bugles, and other instruments were suddenly sounded, producing a tumultuous vibration. 14) On the other side, Lord Sri Krsna and Arjuna, in a grand chariot drawn by white horses, resounded their divine conchshells. 15) Hrsikesa sounded His conchshell, Pancajanya; Dhananjaya sounded his, the Devadatta; and Bhimasena, the performer of mighty tasks, blew the great conchshell named Paundra. 6) King Yudhisthira, the son of Kunti, blew the Anantavijaya, while Nakula and Sahadeva sounded the conchshells named Sughosa and Manipuspaka respectively. 17, 18) O lord of the earth, the expert bowman Kasiraja, the great warrior Sikhandi, Dhrstadyumna, King Virata, the unconquerable Satyaki, King Drupada, the sons of Draupadi and the mighty son of Subhadra, Abhimanyu all sounded their respective conchshells. 19) The tremendous sound of those conchshells, resounding throughout the land and heavens, pierced the hearts of the sons of Dhrtarastra. 0) O King, at that time, Dhananjaya (Arjuna), mounted on a chariot decorated with the flag of Hanuman, was ready to release his weapons. Seeing Duryodhana and his company poised for battle, he picked up his bow and spoke to Sri Krsna as follows: 21-23) Arjuna said: O Krsna, please place my chariot between the two armies, so I may observe the warriors with whom I must contend on this battlefield, and who have come to fight for the satisfaction of the wicked Duryodhana. 4-25) Sanjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, after the vigilant Arjuna spoke these words, Sri Krsna (the Lord of all senses) maneuvered the grand chariot between both armies, in front of Bhisma, Drona, and all the emperors. The Lord then said: O Partha, behold the Kauravas assembled here for battle. 26) There, within both armies, Arjuna could actually see fatherly elders, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, fathers-in-law, friends, and other well-wishers. 7) Thus, seeing his own kinsmen present on the battlefield, the son of Kunti, Arjuna, griefstricken and overwhelmed with great compassion, spoke the following words: 28) Arjuna said: O Krsna! Seeing my own relatives all standing before me eager for warfare, my limbs are being sapped of their strength and my mouth feels parched. 29) My whole body is trembling and bristling. I am losing grip of my bow Gandiva, and my skin is burning. 30) O Kesava! I cannot contain myself any longer. My mind is bewildered, and I see only hostile signs fraught with evil. 1) Nor do I see any good in killing my own relatives in this battle. O Krsna, I have no desire for victory, kingdom, or happiness. 32-34) O Govinda, of what value is our kingdom? What is the purpose of happiness and enjoyment, if those for whom we desire all this – teachers, fatherly elders, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other relatives have today arrived for battle, ready to sacrifice their very lives and possessions? Therefore, O Madhusudana, even if they want to take my life, I do not wish to kill them. 5) O Janardana, even if we gain sovereignty over the three worlds, not to speak of ruling over the earth, what happiness shall we obtain by killing Duryodhana and company? 36) Only sin will befall us if we slay our teachers and guardians, even if they be our aggressors. We cannot take the lives of our own relatives, the sons of Dhrtarastra. O Madhava, how can we be happy by killing our own kinsmen? 37-38) Although these men, their hearts afflicted by greed, cannot see the grave sin of fighting with friends and killing family embers, why, O Janardana, should we not refrain from this heinous act, being in full knowledge of the grave consequences? 39) With the decline of the dynasty, the religious traditions of the family are curtailed. When religious practices are thus disrupted, the entire remaining dynasty is overwhelmed by irreligion. 40) O Krsna, descendant of the Vrsni dynasty, when the family is thus predominated by irreligion, the women of the family become depraved, and from adultery, unwanted and unvirtuous progeny is born. 41) Undesirable progeny forces both the family and its destroyers into a hellish condition.
The same fate befalls the ancestors of that family, because the regular offerings of food and water to those ancestors are discontinued. 42) The heinous acts of such destroyers of the dynasty cause the outbreak of mongrelized progeny. By those acts, ageless family tradition and noble high lineage are utterly devastated. 43) O Janardana, we have heard that persons whose familial, social, and religious traditions are disrupted dwell always in hell. 44) Alas! What a grave sin we have decided to commit. Driven by our greed for trifling royal happiness, we are about to kill our own kinsmen. 5) If unarmed and unresisting, I were to be killed on this battlefield by the armed sons of Dhrtarastra, then that would be much more auspicious for me. 46) Sanjaya said: Having thus spoken on the battlefield, Arjuna cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his heart overwhelmed with lamentation. Chapter Two The Constitution of the Soul Sankhya-yoga 1) Sanjaya said: The Supreme Lord, Madhusudana, then spoke the following words unto griefstricken Arjuna, who was overwhelmed with compassion and whose sorrowful eyes were brimming with tears. ) The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna, why has such illusion overcome you at this critical moment? This is unbefitting a noble man (Aryan). It is an obstacle to the attainment of heaven, and a destroyer of good name and fame. 3) O son of Kunti, give up this cowardice, for it does not become you. O great hero, cast off this petty weakness of heart, and arise for battle! 4) Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, killer of the enemy, how can I counterattack, shooting arrows at my grandsire Bhisma and teacher Drona, who are worthy of my worship? 5) It is better to live in this world by begging, without taking the lives of our great, noble elders and teachers.
Otherwise, by killing them we shall only live in this world to enjoy their wealth and properties tainted with their blood. 6) We cannot understand which will be better for us victory or defeat because those sons of Dhrtarastra, whom if we killed we should not care to live, now stand before us on the battlefront. 7) Now I am bewildered. What is my real duty? Overwhelmed by apprehension for the fall of our dynasty, I am begging You to please tell me clearly which course of action is most beneficial for me. I am Your surrendered disciple. Kindly instruct me. ) Even if we obtain an unrivaled, expanding empire on Earth and supremacy over the kingdom of heaven, I cannot find anything to allay this sadness which is leaving me senseless. 9) Sanjaya said: In this way, the chastiser of the enemy, the intensely alert Arjuna, addressed Krsna who is the Lord of the senses of all beings. Then he declared, “Govinda, I will not fight”, and fell silent. 10) O Bharata, thereafter Sri Hrsikesa, in the midst of both armies, smilingly addressed the griefstricken Arjuna as follows: 11) The Lord said: O Arjuna, you are mourning for that which is unworthy of grief, and yet speaking words of wisdom.
But the wise lament neither for the living nor the dead. 12) Never was there a time when I, you, or all these kings did not exist. As we are at present, so have we been in the past, and shall continue to be in the future. 13) As the embodied living being gradually passes in this body from childhood to youth to old age, so also that soul attains yet another boy at death. The learned are not deluded by such a transformation. 14) O son of Kunti, only the engagement of the senses with their objects gives rise to the sensations for cold, heat, pleasure, and pain. But these effects are temporary they come and go.
Therefore, O Bharata, you are to endure them. 15) O noblest of men, a person of steady intelligence, equipoised in pleasure and pain, undisturbed by sensual experiences, is certainly eligible for liberation. 16) Of the changeable, such as the body, there is no everlasting existence; of the everlasting soul, there is no transformation or destruction. Seers of the truth have thus distinguished and analyzed the nature of both eternal reality and temporary illusion. 17) Know that the soul who pervades the entire body is imperishable. He is unchangeable and everlasting, and no one can destroy him. 8) Only these physical bodies of the eternal, indestructible, and immeasurable soul are subject to destruction. Therefore, fight, O Bharata, and do not give up your natural religious principles. 19) Those who think that the living being is a slayer, and those who think that he is slain, are both ignorant of the true nature of the soul – the soul neither slays nor is slain. 20) The soul is never born and he never dies, nor does he repeatedly come into being and undergo expansion, because he is unborn and eternal. He is inexhaustible ever-youthful yet ancient.
Although the body is subject to birth and death, the soul is never destroyed. 21) O Partha, how can a person who knows the soul to be constant, indestructible, birthless, and inexhaustible, kill anyone or cause anyone to be killed? 22) As a person accepts new dress, rejecting that which is old and worn, so also the soul continues to accept a new body, giving up the old and useless one. 23) Weapons cannot pierce the soul, and fire cannot burn him. He can neither be moistened with water, nor dried by the air. 24-25) The soul is indivisible and cannot be burned, moistened, or dried up.
He is everlasting, constant, unchangeable, and everexistent. Nothing can obstruct his passage. This soul is imperceptible, inconceivable, and unaffected by the sixfold mutations (birth, existence, growth, maturity, diminution, and destruction). Therefore, knowing the soul in this way, you can no longer lament. 26-27) And, O best of warriors, even if you think that the soul is perpetually subject to birth and death, you still have no reason to lament. For one who is born, death is certain, and for one who dies, he must be reborn to undergo the reactions of his past actions.
Therefore, you should not lament over the inevitable. 28) O Bharata, when all living entities are unmanifest before birth, manifest between birth and death, and again unmanifest at death, why lament for them? (This conclusion is not corroborated by saintly authorities; but if it is accepted for the sake of argument, your duty is still to fight to uphold your natural religious principles. ) 29) Some see the soul as astonishing, some describe him as astonishing, some hear of him as astonishing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all. 0) O Bharata, the soul dwelling within the bodies of all living beings is eternal and cannot be slain. Therefore, you should not lament for anybody. 31) Moreover, considering your svadharma, you have no reason to waver, since no action is more beneficial for a ksatriya than fighting for religious justice. Commentary: Svadharma, or the natural duty of the living entity, is of two types, according to the condition of either his bondage or liberation. In the liberated state, svadharma is devoid of the superfluous color or impetus which is found in the svadharma of material bondage.
Actually, pure sva-dharma, suddha svadharma, is the liberated soul’s absorption in engaging his every attempt for the divine pleasure of the Supreme Lord. On the other hand, the soul in material bondage accepts various birth throughout 8,400,000 species of life according to the fruits of his past actions, until by dint of pious or virtuous actions he obtains a human birth; then, according to his particular nature and movements he adopts a position in daivavarnasrama, the God-centered, graded socio-religious system, as a favorable means of attaining pure svadharma of the liberated state.
Thus, the practice of this favorable means is also known as svadharma in a general way. In other words, as smoke-covered fire is still known as fire regardless of its covering, similarly, although the original suddha svadharma of the soul may appear to be slightly covered, it is nonetheless counted as svadharma, within the consideration of the God-centered socio-religious system of varnasrama-dharma. 32) O Partha, such a battle, present of its own accord like the open gates of heaven, can be gained only by the most fortunate warriors. 3) In fact, if you choose not to engage in this war of religious justice, your religious principles will be lost, fame will desert you, and sin will overcome you. 34) People will speak of your infamy for all time to come, and for the renowned, infamy is worse than death. 35) Those great warriors who have highly honored you will ridicule you, considering that you were afraid to fight. 36) Your enemies will scorn your abilities with many insulting words. What could be more painful? 37) O Kaunteya, if you are killed, you will attain heaven, and if you are victorious, you will enjoy the Earth.
Therefore, being confident of your success, arise for battle! 38) Knowing pleasure and pain, gain and loss, and victory and defeat to be one and the same – fight. You will be unaffected by sin. 39) I have just explained to you the wisdom of the conception of reality. Now hear of the conception of devotional service, or bhakti-yoga. O Partha, by buddhi-yoga, engaging your intelligence in devotion, you will be able to completely cut the bondage of action. Commentary: “It will be shown herein that buddhi-yoga is a singular path.
When this buddhi-yoga is seen to be limited by the ideal of action, it is known as karma-yoga; when it extends beyond karma up to the utmost limit of knowledge, it is known as jnana-yoga, or sankhya-yoga; and when, transcending the limitations of both jnana and karma, it touches bhakti, or devotion, it is then known as bhaktiyoga, or perfectly pure and complete buddhi-yoga. ” Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura 40) Even a small beginning in this devotional service cannot go in vain, nor can any loss be suffered. The most insignificant practice of such devotional service saves one from the all-devouring fear of repeated birth and death in this world.
Commentary: enerally, maha-bhaya is taken as the all-devouring fear of repeated birth and death in this world of exploitation. But mahabhaya also refers to sayujya-mukti, the liberation of merging into the impersonal nondifferentiated consciousness of Brahmaloka, Viraja, or samadhi. Renunciation leads to sayujya-mukti, the fullstop of birth and death, but not a life in the positive plane. It takes one to a permanent burial in Brahmaloka. The demon of mukti will devour one wholesale, and therefore it is even more dangerous than this ordinary worldly life of action and reaction.
Mukti means a strike in the organic system, so it must be avoided. To either abuse duties in a factory or to declare a strike by cessation of duties are both abnormal. Bhukti, exploitation, and mukti, renunciation, are both fearsome ghosts. Therefore, maha-bhaya means the great apprehension fo falling prey to both the ghost of exploitation leading to repeated birth and death, as well as the ghost of committing suicide by merging into the impersonalism of incarceration in Brahmaloka fear of both bhogabhumi, the plane of exploitation, and tyaga-bhumi, the plane of renunciation.
It is stated in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu: bhukti-mukti sprha yavat, pisaci hrdi vartate tavad bhakti-sukhasyatra, katham abhyudayo bhavet “As long as the two ghosts of exploitation and renunciation remain haunting the heart, the ecstasy of devotion to Krsna will never awaken there. ” (B. r. s. 1. 2. 22) anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama “The highest devotion is that which pleases exclusively the Supreme Lord, Krsna, and it is devoid of any desire apart from His service.
It is not covered by the action of daily or customary duties (karma), nor by the knowledge that searches for the impersonal nondifferentiated aspect of the Absolute (jnana), nor by the meditational attempt to become one with the Lord (yoga). ” (B. r. s. 1. 1. 9) Only the Supreme Lord is abhaya, beyond apprehension. Therefore only participation in His service can free one from the ghosts of exploitation and renunciation, bhukti and mukti. If we subtract bhukti and mukti, then only positive bhakti, devotion, is the remainder. Therefore without bhakti everything is maha-bhaya, great danger. 1) O descendant of the Kuru dynasty, intelligence engaged in exclusive devotion unto Me is one-pointed and firmly situated in Me, since I am its only goal. But the intelligence of those who avoid exclusive devotion to Me is splayed and characterized by endless desires because of its absorption in innumerable sense objects. 42-44) O Partha, those lascivious and ignorant persons who have no knowledge that the chief purpose of the Vedas is the attainment of the Supreme Truth, are always concerned with interpretations of its indirect, trivial aspects. They say “There is nothing worth knowing beyond this. Desirous of enjoying the fruits of their actions and seeking the attainment of heaven, those fools are attracted by the apparently enchanting (but ultimately poisonous) words of the karma-kanda section of the Vedas, wherein many processes of sacrifice and other rituals are described which yield wealth, sense enjoyment, good birth, and the fruits of one’s actions. Deluded by these flowery words and enamored by worldly pleasures and opulence, the intelligence of such indiscriminate persons does not attain the resolute determination of exclusive and uninterrupted dedication to the Supreme Lord. 5) O Arjuna, when defining nondevotional paths based on action and knowledge, the Vedas deal with the three modes of material nature. Foolish men, whose intelligence is covered by exploitation and renunciation, engage themselves in the cultivation of action and knowledge. Thus, they remain in ignorance of the principal object aimed at by the Vedas, which is transcendence beyond the three modes of material nature. But Arjuna, you be free from duality, live in the association of My eternal devotees, and give up all pursuits for gain and preservation.
Then by buddhi-yoga, dedicating your intelligence to Me, reach that plane which is free from material qualities, and situate yourself in that transcendence which is the object of the Vedas. In other words, withdrawing yourself from the cultivation of action and knowledge, engage exclusively in the path of devotion as commanded by the Vedas. 46) All the purposes served by several tiny ponds can at once be served better by a large lake. Similarly, the results obtained by worshiping various demigods through respective Vedic prayers may at once be surpassed by exclusive devotion unto Me.
Such devotion is the one and only direction of the Vedas. A self-realized person who is thus in full knowledge of the essence of the Vedas, fulfills all necessities by exclusively worshiping the Supreme Lord in devotion. 47) I shall now describe niskama karma-yoga the path of selfless action. You have a right to perform your natural prescribed duties, but your are not entitled to any fruits of that action. You should neither act with desire to enjoy the fruits of your work, nor, as a result, should you be attached to neglecting your duties. 8) O Dhananjaya, after giving up desire for the fruits of action, situate yourself on the path of devotion (bhakti-yoga). Equally disposed to success and failure, carry out the duties prescribed according to your nature. To remain equipoised in either succes or failure of the outcome of action is certainly known as yoga. 49) O Dhananjaya, fruitive action is extremly abominable in comparison to buddhi-yoga, or equilibrium in selfless action. Those who crave the fruits of their actions are misers – they are mpoverished, being full of desires. Therefore, take shelter of the intelligence of which selfless action is the aim and objective. 50) A person who is not motivated by desire to enjoy the fruits of his actions rids himself of both good and bad deeds within this very life. Engage, therefore, in the path of selfless action, since such buddhi-yoga, or equilibrium in selfless action, is certainly the art of action. 51) Wise men of steady intelligence liberate themselves from the bondage of birth by renouncing the fruits born of action.
Thus, they enter into that state of divine tranquillity which is attainable only by the devotees. Chapter Three The Path of Action Karma-yoga 1) Arjuna said: O Janardana, O Kesava, if You consider that resolute and determined spiritual intelligence (vyavasayatmika buddhi) is better than action in goodness and passion, then why do You engage me in the violent activity of warfare? 2) My intelligence is confused by Your words. They appear to be ambiguous, sometimes supporting action and sometimes supporting knowledge. So please instruct me which of these two paths is most beneficial for me. ) The Supreme Lord replied: I have already described the two types of faith to be found in this world. I have established that the learned who are aware of the conscious world, and those who are mainly active in the mundane plane, both engage in the (rudimentary) practice of the path of devotion (sadhana bhaktiyoga) by respectively following the path of knowledge and the path of selfless action offered to the Lord. Actually, the staircase leading to the land of dedication is one, while only faith is twofold, according to the steps attained by the aspirants. ) Without performing scripturally enjoined duties, one cannot attain knowledge leading to freedom from action and reaction. How can a person of impure heart obtain perfection by abandoning his prescribed duties? 5) No one can remain without acting even for a moment. Everyone is forced to act helplessly, stimulated by the modes of material nature. Therefore, it is improper for a person of impure consciousness to reject the purificatory duties prescribed by the scriptures. 6) One who externally restrains his hands, legs, and other senses of action, but whose mind dwells in sense objects, is a fool.
Know him as a hypocrite. 7) O Arjuna, one in married life who has controlled his senses by the mind, and who, without attachment, has begun to perform karma-yoga, through his working senses, is far superior to such a hypocrite. 8) Perform your ablutions, worship, and other daily duties. Since even bodily sustenance is not possible without action, it is better for an unqualified person to perform his duty rather than renounce it. By giving up fruitive action and regularly performing your daily obligatory duties, your heart will be gradually purified.
Then, surpassing the plane of renunciation, you will attain pure devotion, beyond the mundane plane. 9) Selfless duty performed as an offering to the Supreme Lord is called yajna, or sacrifice. O Arjuna, all action performed for any other purpose is the cause of bondage in this world of repeated birth and death. Therefore, remaining unattached to the fruits of action, perform all your duties in the spirit of such sacrifice. Such action is the means of entering the path of devotion, and with the awakening of true perception of the Lord, it will enable you to ttain to pure, unalloyed devotion, free from all material qualities (nirguna-bhakti). 10) In the beginning of creation, Lord Brahma created the populace along with sacrifices for the Supreme Lord Visnu. Brahma instructed thus: “Taking shelter of this religious principle of sacrifice, prosper and flourish. May this sacrifice fulfill all your desires. ” 11) “Propitiate the demigods by this sacrifice and those gods, thus pleased, may satisfy you by bestowing all your desired success.
In this way, through mutual goodwill, you will be the gainer of great auspiciousness. 12) The demigods, who are integral parts of My external manifestation, certainly award all your necessities, being satisfied with the performance of sacrifice. By the grace of the demigods, who are all under My shelter, there is sufficient rain, sunlight, and other elements to provide ample food commodities. He who selfishly enjoys these gifts without offering them to the gods (generally by the five great sacrifices), incurs all the sins of a thief. 3) Virtuous souls are liberated from all sins arising from the five different kinds of violence towards all living entities, by accepting the remnants of foodstuffs from the five great sacrifices offered to the universal demigods. But miscreants who prepare food for their own gratification simply partake of sin. 14) From food, living beings arise, and from rains, food is produced. From the performance of sacrifice, rainfall ensues, and sacrifice is born of action. 15) Action arises from the Vedas, and the Vedas originate in Aksara, the Infallible One.
Therefore, the allpervading, infallible Supreme Lord, is eternally situated within the acts of sacrifice offered unto Him. 16) O Arjuna, a man in either the stage of action or knowledge who does not follow this causal cyclic system which is directly established by the Supreme Lord, certainly leads a sinful life. Such a compulsive sense-enjoyer maintains his life in vain. 17) But there is no duty to fulfill for one who delights within the self, rejoices in the self alone, and is fully self-satisfied within. He works only for the bare necessities of bodily sustenance. 8) In this world, a self-realized person who rejoices in the soul does not accrue piety by the performance of actions, nor does he incur sin by abstaining from duties. Amongst all living entities, from the highest life-forms of the planet of Lord Brahma down to the world of immobile organisms, he never depends on anyone for any personal demand whatsoever. 19) Therefore, giving up all attachment to the fruits of action, always perform your prescribed activites as a matter of duty. By the continual performance of action without attachment, a living being attains liberation.
And true liberation is the state of exclusive devotion, attained in the ultimate maturity of selfless action. 20) King Janaka and other learned personalities attained to perfection in devotion by performing their prescribed duties. Therefore, it is proper that you perform your duty for the instruction of the masses. 21) The general masses imitate the ways of great men. They follow whatever the great personality accepts as the right conclusion. 22) O Arjuna, I, the Supreme Lord, have no duty whatsoever in the three worlds, since there is nothing unobtained or necessary to be obtained by Me; and yet, personally, I am active. 3) O Arjuna, if I ever avoid activity then all men, following in My footsteps, will give up their duties. 24) If I do not perform duties, then, following My example, all the inhabitants of these worlds will renounce their duties and thereby come to ruination. Thus I will be the cause of social turmoil due to unvirtuous population, and in this way, I will be responsible for spoiling posterity. 25) O Arjuna, as ignorant, attached persons work, the wise must also work, but without attachment, in order to protect the svadharma or religious principles of those who are competant to follow the path of action.
The difference is not in the actions of these two classes of men, but in their respective attitudes of attachment and indifference. 26) The scholarly proponents of the path of knowledge must not confuse ignorant, attached men by deviating them with the advice, “Leave aside action, and cultivate knowledge. ” Rather, controlling their own minds, the learned should perform all the various duties without desiring the results, and in this way, subsequently engage the common section in action. 27) All the various activities are in every way carried out by the (senses activated by the) modes of material nature.
But a man deluded by identifying himself with his body and its extensions thinks, “I alone am accomplishing this. ” 28) However, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one who is in full knowledge of the classification of the material modes of goodness, passion, and ignorance, and their respective functions pertaining to the demigods, the senses, and the sense objects he does not falsely and egotistically assert himself as a performer of action, knowing well that the senses (ear, skin, eye, tongue, and nose) allotted by the controlling deities are simply engaging with their respective desirable sense objects (sound, touch, form, taste, and smell). 9) A person influenced by the modes of material nature is like a man possessed by a ghost. Completely captivated, he is addicted to sensual enjoyment of the various sense objects. One in perfect wisdom should not agitate such ignorant, dull-brained (and unqualified) persons by revealing philosophical truths to them. Rather, they should instruct them in the performance of action devoid of desire for sense enjoyment, because such action nullifies the enchantment of the modes of nature. 30) Surrender all your activities unto Me with this understanding: “All my actions are under the control of the indwelling Lord. In such consciousness, free from all sense of possessiveness and lamentation take recourse to battle (as your svadharma, natural duty). 31) Faithful and unbegrudging men who constantly practice this yoga path of selfless action as favored by Me, attain liberation from the bondage of action – even though they are active. 32) However those, who, out of envy, do not follow these teachings of Mine, are devoid of all good sense. Know such men as completely ignorant and doomed to ruination. 33) Even a learned person tends to act according to his nature, that is, his inherent evil inclinations.
Therefore, the result of the living beings’ endeavor to act in this way is to become enslaved by such inclinations. Then, they can no longer be disciplined by fear of either scriptural or lawful punishments. 34) Although the senses are inevitably attracted to and repulsed by their various respective objects, do not be subjugated by these whims they are the greatest enemy of the candidate for selfrealization. (Devotional attachment and detachment are not indicated herein. ) 35) It is better to carry out one’s own duties a little imperfectly rather than faultlessly perform another’s duties.
Know that even death is auspicious in the discharge of one’s duties appropriate to his natural position in the ordained socio-religious system, because to pursue another’s path is perilous. Commentary: Pure devotion unto Adhoksaja, the Lord who is beyond sensual purview, is the eternal superexcellent natural function of the soul. Therefore, even if such a function externally appears abominable, it is always far superior to conduct that is good in the estimation of mundane morality, which is always prejudiced by the material modes of goodness, passion, and ignorance.
In the company of true saints, the progressive practice of cultivation in such pure devotion is the bestower of the ultimate merit, even if death occurs. Since ignorance-based intuition to perform unpredictable, spurious ‘good’ practices remains within dvitiyabhinivesa, or absorption in any object other than the Supreme Lord, such practices are bhayavah they simply lead to fear. bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syadisad apetasya viparyayo ‘smrtih tan mayayato budha abhajet tam bhaktyaikayesam guru-devatatma (Bhag. 11. 2. 7) “Because persons who are averse to the devotional service of the Supreme Lord have forgotten their own internal identities (as servants of the Lord) due to the action of maya, the deluding potency of the Lord, they remain within the false ego of considering the body as the self. When the attention is absorbed in mundane objects to the exclusion of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, one experiences fear on account of the body, family, friends, possessions, and so on. Therefore, a person of fine intelligence will worship the Lord with exclusive devotion, knowing the genuine guru to be non-different from the Lord as His most beloved servant. 36) Arjuna inquired: O descendant of the Vrsnis, by whom is the living being compelled to commit sinful activities, even against his own will? 37) The Supreme Lord replied: Certainly it is lust, born of the mode of passion, which induces a person to commit sin. Lust is the basis of the desire for sense enjoyment, and in different situations that lust becomes transformed into anger. It is utterly insatiable and extremely malicious. Know this lust alone to be the greatest enemy of the living being in this world. 8) As fire is thinly veiled by smoke, as a mirror is thickly covered with dust, and as the embryo remains completely enclosed within the womb, similarly, this lust covers the consciousness of the living being in three degrees of intensity, according to the three modes of material nature goodness, passion, and ignorance respectively. 39) O Arjuna, this lust with its underlying nescience is the perpetual enemy of the man of knowledge. Like fire which is never satisfied (by offerings of clarified butter), it covers a man’s good sense of judgement. 0) It is said that the senses, the mind, and the intelligence are the favorite haunts of this terrible enemy known as lust. Covering the good sense of the living being, lust beguiles him through these channels, and hurls him down into the quagmire of gross materialism. 41) Therefore, O noblest of the Bharatas, by first bringing your own senses under control, openly deal the death blow to this lust, the embodiment of sin which ruins both jnana (discriminative knowledge of the self and non-self, as delineated in the scriptures) and vijnana (subsequent realization in divine consciousness). 2) The learned proclaime that the senses are superior to inert objects, the mind is superior to the senses, and the faculty of resolute intelligence is superior to the mind. And he who is superior to the intelligence is the soul himself. 43) O mighty Arjuna! Knowing the soul to be thus perfectly distinct from the intelligence, steady the mind with resolute intelligence and destroy the indomitable enemy, lust. Chapter Four The Path of Divine Knowledge Jnana-yoga 1) The Supreme Lord said: Previously, I imparted to Surya this changeless path of knowledge, which is achieved by selfless action.
Surya, the presiding deity of the sun, delivered it to his son Vaivasvata Manu, exactly as he had heard it from Me. Thereafter, Manu instructed the same knowledge to his son Iksvaku. 2) O conqueror of the enemy, in this way, the saintly kings such as Nimi, Janaka, and others, learned this path of knowledge through the divine succession. Presently, after the passage of a long period of time, this teaching has been almost completely lost. 3) Now, I shall deliver that eternal teaching to you.
Because you are My devotee and friend, this supreme, hidden path is today revealed by Me to you. 4) Arjuna said: Vivasvan, the Sungod, was born in ancient times, and You were born only recently. Therefore, how is it to be believed, that You previously instructed these teachings to him? 5) The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna, chastiser of the enemy, both you and I have passed through many births previously. Due to My position as the supreme controller, I am able to remember all those births, whereas you, a living being of finite consciousness, cannot. ) Although My eternal form is transcendental to birth and death, and I am the controller of all beings, I appear within the world in My original form, by My own sweet will, extending My internal potency of yoga-maya. 7) O Bharata, whenever there is a decline of religion and an uprising of irreligion, I personally appear, like a being born in this world. 8) I appear in every age to deliver the saintly devotees, to vanquish sinful miscreants, and to firmly establish true religion. 9) O Arjuna, one who actually perceives My supramundane birth and activities enacted by My sweet will, does not undergo rebirth.
After giving up his present body, he attains Me. Having become subservient to My divine pleasure (hladini-sakti) in the form of My revealed divine potency, such a soul achieves eternal devotional service unto Me. 10) Freed from worldly infatuation, fear, and anger, many persons have taken refuge in Me, absorbing their hearts in hearing about Me, singing My divine glories, and remembering Me. Having become thoroughly purified by knowledge of Me and by penance endured for My sake, they attained divine love for Me. 11) As a person takes refuge in Me, I accordingly respond to him.
Being the ultimate goal of all philosophies and doctrines, I am the objective to be attained by all. Certainly, O Partha, all men follow My various paths. 12) Worldly persons desiring easy success in material life worship Indra and other demigods. Such worship quickly yields the fruit of its endeavor in this world, such as the attainment of heaven. 13) I alone have created in human society the fourfold divisions of varna (brahmana etc. ) according to the appropriate gradation to material qualities (goodness, etc. ) and duties (sense control, etc. In the entire world, there is no other creator apart from Me. Nonetheless, although I am the creator of the natural gradation of human society (varna-dharma), you should know Me as the nondoer since I am aloof, transcendental to the modes of material nature, and unchangable. 14) I am never implicated by the law of karma which I have created to fulfill the destinies of the living beings, nor do I ever aspire for the results of action. (Since I am the Supreme Lord replete with all six opulences in full, the paltry fruits of worldly actions are totally insignificant to Me. One who appreciates this conception of My singular independence from the actions of the beings of this world, and who can thus understand My unchangable existence such a person is never bound by any action. By practicing pure devotional service, he surely comes to Me. 15) Knowing this basic principle, liberationists of previous times renounced all fruitive action, and without provincial interest performed all their activities as an offering unto Me. Likewise, you should adopt this yoga path of selfless action as did the great saintly persons of yore. 6) Even very learned men are baffled in ascertaining the nature of action and inaction. Some cannot comprehend action, while others cannot comprehend inaction. Hence, I shall now teach you about such action and inaction, knowing which you will attain liberation from the evil world. 17) Action prescribed by the Vedas, action prohibited by the scriptures, and the renunciation of action should be understood. The performance of duties is known as action (karma); the performance of prohibited actions is sinful (vikarma); and the nonperformance of action, or renunciation of action, is known as inaction (akarma).
It is extremely difficult to realize the internal principle of karma, vikarma, and akarma. 18) One who realizes that the selfless action performed by the man of pure knowledge is never subject to bondage and is therefore in fact inaction whereas the abnegation practiced by renunciate of impure heart is the ill-fated cause of bondage he is, among men, the intelligent yogi and factual executor of all works. 19) One whose every action is devoid of fruitive desire, and who burns all prescribed and prohibited actions in the fire of pure knowledge, is described by the conscientious as a man of true wisdom. 0) Giving up attachment to the fruits of action, fully content in the eternal bliss within, and indifferent to the security of mundane acquisition and preservation such a person does not do anything at all, although he is fully engaged. That is, he is never bound by the fruits of his actions. 21) Having renounced all aspirations for fruitive enjoyment and all excessive endeavors for mundane acquisition, keeping his mind and body subjugated by the (developed) intelligence, if such a person even engages in spurious action for his minimal bodily sustenance, no sinful or pious reaction whatsoever is incurred by him. 2) Content with whatever is readily available, and never overwhelmed by duality based on pleasure and pain or attachment and hatred, such a person wards off envy. He is equipoised, being neither elated nor dejected in success or failure. Therefore, he is never bound by any action. 23) All actions are perfectly dissipated when performed in the spirit of sacrifice by the detached, liberated, and enlightened soul. (The actions of the worker on the path of selfless action do not lead to the consequence of apurva as postulated by the karmamimamsaka section. Commentary: According to their ethical but atheistic ideology, the karma-mimamsaka philosophers (mundane rationalists) claim that pious actions produce an unseen, subtle potency known as apurva, which must fructivy at the appropiate time after death. Their conception that this fruit can later be shared by others is meant to show the eternality of karma, or action, but it neglects the presence of the Supreme Autocrat. So the statement of Sri Krsna, samagram praviliyate, “All actions are dissipated”, should not be misinterpreted to mean that the actions of liberated souls will cause some remote worldly consequence, or apurva.
Rather, the Lord clearly points out that the pure actions offered to Him by the pure, selfless karma-yogi do not cause any subsequent reaction to be either enjoyed or suffered by others in this mundane plane. 24) According to the basic principles of sacrifice, the sacrificial spoon, ladle, and other paraphernalia, the various offerings with clarified butter, the sacrificial fire, the priest who performs the sacrifice, and the act of offering the sacrifice and its reward all are of the nature of Brahman, the Absolute.
A person who, with this understanding is constantly absorbed in divine action with onepointed attention, certainly attains to the divine plane of the Absolute. 25) Other karma-yogis perform sacrifice in the worship of demigods such as Indra and Varuna. Other jnana-yogis, simply by vibrating the pranava mantra, Omkara, offer the individual soul (as the sacrificial clarified butter) unto the Supersoul (as the sacrificial fire). 26) Strict celibates offers their senses of hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling into the sacrificial fire of mental control.
Householders engaged in their natural duties (svadharma) offer for sacrifice the sense objects of sound, touch, form, taste, and smell into the fire of the senses. 27) The monist yogis (headed by the Patanjala school) who aspire to attain to the state of withdrawal of the soul from sense objects (pratyagatma), offer all the senses and their functions of hearing, seeing, etc. , as well as all ten vital life-currents and their functions into the fire of self-purification ignited by knowledge. 8) Some persons are inclined to perform sacrifice by giving articles in charity, some by strict penances headed by candrayana, some by adopting the eightfold mystic yoga practice, and yet others, through recitation and study of the Vedic scriptures. All of these persons are very diligent in their practices and adopt strict vows. 29) Others practice breath-control. Stopping the right nostril and inhaling through the left, they bring the ascending air into union with the descending; closing the left nostril and exhaling through he right, they similarly offer the descending air into the ascending; and lastly, stopping both nostrils, they check both ascending and descending airs. Yet other aspirants of sensecontrol offer all the senses into the life-air by reducing their food intake. 30) All these persons know well the principles of sacrifice. Having purified themselves from sins by their performance of sacrifice, they enjoy its remnants in the form of sense pleasure, wealth, and yogic perfections. And in the end they reach the aforementioned eternal plane of the Absolute. 1) O Arjuna, foremost of the Kurus, a person who never performs sacrifice cannot even attain the meager pleasures of this world; how then will it be possible for him to attain to other worlds, such as heaven? 32) All these varieties of sacrifice are mentioned either in the Vedas or allied scriptures. They all arise from vocal, mental, and bodily actions, and therefore their origin is action. When you can conceive of the principle of action (karma) in this way you will be able to attain liberation from its bondage. 33) O Arjuna, subduer of the enemy, of those various sacrifices, the sacrifice of knowledge as entioned, brahmagnav apare … is far superior to the sacrifice of various articles, indicated by brahmarpanam brahma havih … , because all action ultimately culminates in knowledge. 34) You will be able to attain all this knowledge by satisfying the enlightened spiritual master with prostrate obeisances, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. Great souls who are most expert in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realization of the Supreme Absolute Truth will teach you that divine knowledge. 35) O Pandava, after receiving that knowledge of the truth as imparted by the guru, you will no longer be deluded.
You will be able to realize that all species of life, whether man, bird, or beast, are common in their individual identities of spirit soul, or jivatma. Their comparative mundane gradations are only due to external attributes, and they are all situated within Me as effect, Myself being the supreme cause. 36) Even if you have led the most abominable sinful life, you will cross the ocean of all miseries by boarding the ship of knowledge. 37) As a blazing fire reduces the wood and everything else within it to ashes, O Arjuna, so also does the fire of knowledge burn up all action. 8) Among the aforementioned practices of sacrifice, austerity, and yoga, there is nothing as pure as divine knowledge. After a long time, a person who has achieved perfection in his practice on the path of selfless action realizes such knowledge spontaneously within his heart. 39) After internal purification through nonfruitive action, genuine knowledge arises. Such knowledge is attained by the intelligent, sense-controlled theist who accepts this scriptural purport, and who with sublime faith remains devoted to the path of selfless action.
He swiftly attains the profound tranquillity of eradicating the vicious cycle of recurring birth and death. 40) One who is a fool devoid of scriptural knowledge, just like an ignorant animal; or who, in spite of possessing knowledge of the scriptures is devoid of faith in their substance, due to being distracted by many diverse philosophies; or who possesses some faith, yet thinks, “Will I succeed or not? ” any person whose heart is seized by doubt in this way can never achieve actual good fortune. Such a doubting soul does not attain happiness either in this life or the next, since the anxiety of uncertainty vanquishes his peace. 1) O Dhananjaya, after renouncing all actions by following the path of selfless action, one who destroys all doubts by following the path of divine knowledge and realizes his internal divine nature, can certainly never be implicated by any action. 42) Therefore, O Bharata, with the sword of divine knowledge, slash to shreds all these doubts in your heart, which are born of ignorance alone. Take refuge in selfless duty, and arise for battle. Chapter Five The Path of Divine Harmony Karma-sannyasa-yoga 1) Arjuna said: O Krsna, after instructing me in renunciation of action.
You are again advocating the path of selfless action. Therefore, please give me a clear understanding which of the two is most beneficial for me. 2) The Supreme Lord said: Both renunciation of action and the path of selfless action are greatly beneficial. Yet, of the two, you will have to understand that the application of selfless action is superior. 3) It should be known that one who is free from the duality of attraction and hatred, and who neither desires nor abhors the fruits of action, remains a renunciate even though he engages in activities.
Because, O mighty-armed Arjuna, such a person very easily attains liberation from this mundane plane of bondage. 4) The learned do not support the opinion of the childishly foolish mundane rationalists (known as karma-mimamsakas) who hold that the path of renunciation (sankhya-yoga) and the path of action (karma-yoga) are separate. One who carefully follows either of these paths will achieve the same result. 5) The goal achieved by the renunciation of action is also reached by the performance of selfless action.
One who by careful analysis knows both these paths to be one and the same, certainly knows their true meaning. 6) O mighty hero, to the exclusion of selfless action, mere renunciation of action is the cause of sorrow. But the wise man who engages in selfless action attains to the Absolute very swiftly. 7) Engaged in yoga in this way are three types of learned householders (jnani-grhastha): one of pure intelligence, one of controlled mind, and one of controlled senses. By their comparative practices, the former should be known as superior to the latter.
All are the embodiment of goodwill for every living being. Although fully active, they are never implicated by action. 8-9) Although such a karma-yogi who is a knower of intrinsic truth performs all the activities of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing, speaking, expelling waste matter, accepting things, blinking the eyes, and so on, he realizes: “My sense organs eyes, ears, skin, nose, and tongue are engaged with their respective objects of form, sound, touch, scent, and taste. ” In this way he constantly perceives, “I do not perform any action at all. 10) As a lotus leaf is not moistened although it remains on the water, one who selflessly offers all his actions to the Supreme Lord, remains unaffected by sinful or pious reactions. 11) For the sake of purification of the mind, karma-yogis give up all attachment to the fruits of action and perform their activities with body, mind, and intelligence. Otherwise, they may act through their senses only, with an attitude of disinterest. 12) The pure, materially unmotivated (niskama) karma-yogi, giving up attachment to the fruits of his action, attains constant peace, or liberation from reactionary work.
But the ambitious (sakama) karmi, the fruit-hunter, is
