Bhagavad Gita
(The Song Celestial)
Translated by
Sir Edwin Arnold
Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24 -1DL
Bhagavad Gita
(The Song Celestial)
Translated by
Sir Edwin Arnold
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 clamour; 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
clangour 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
"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
bright car, 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
honoured 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.
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,
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 --
O 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 honoured ancestors
Fall from their
place of peace, being bereft
Of
funeral-cakes and the wan death-water.
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.
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 -- O thou Chief! --
Both
worshipful, both honourable 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 honourable
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 valour
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," and free
From that sad
righteousness which calculates;
Self-ruled,
Arjuna! simple, satisfied.
Look! like as
when a tank pours water forth
To suit all
needs, so do these Brahmans draw
Text 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! Labour! Make thine acts
Thy piety,
casting all self aside,
Contemning gain
and merit; equable
In good or
evil: equability
Is Yog, is
piety!
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 righthearted 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
dejected, 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 paths
Shown to this
world; two schools of wisdom. First
The Sankhya's,
which doth save in way of works
Prescribed 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 nature's 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 honourable.
Do thine allotted task!
Work is more
excellent than idleness;
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 thee grace. Those meats ye
The gods will
grant to Labour, 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. 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 quahties.
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.
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, 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.
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 --
I 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,
Succouring 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. 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.
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 no
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." 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 --
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," 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
Its beams of
dawn. Him meditating still,
Him seeking,
with Him blended, stayed on Him,
The souls
illuminated take that road
Which hath no
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.
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 Brahma, 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 drawn
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 ENDETH
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 faith,
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.
The sovereign
soul
Of him who
lives self-governed and at peace
Is centred 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, 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 Yogin, so
devoted, so controlled,
Comes to the
peace beyond, -- My peace, the peace
Of high
Nirvana!
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! I 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,
Waking 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, harboured
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 tranquillised,
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 Yog
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 as 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 of 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 that 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 splendour
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,
Which 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.
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!"
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 favour 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
birth 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.
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 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 way -- 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 Brahma'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!
. . . . .
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.
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
splendour 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 new-born
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
harvests 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
feed 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 to
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
favour! 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
high way 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 ENDETH
CHAPTER IX OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,
Entitled
"Rajavidyarajaguhyayog,"
Or "The
Book of Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery."
CHAPTER X
Krishna. Hear
farther 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 honour, and
sweet harmlessness, 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 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.
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 Amrit of such words!
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; of hills Himila'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 Amritwave 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, Dwandwa 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;
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 splendour
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-eyed!
-- 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!
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! 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! to God, so saying,
Stood, to
Pritha's Son displaying
All the
splendour, 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
every subtle essence
Of all heavenly
odours; shedding
Blinding
brilliance; overspreading --
Boundless,
beautiful -- all spaces
With His
all-regarding faces;
So He showed!
If there should rise
Suddenly within
the skies
Sunburst of a
thousand suns
Flooding earth
with beams undeemed-of,
Then might be
that Holy One's
Majesty and
radiance dreamed of!
So did Pandu's
Son behold
All this
universe enfold
All its huge
diversity
Into one vast
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 shine 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-wielding, 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
blazing, glowing, 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 Virtue's
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
glories rolled
From Thy great
eyes; Thy visage, beaming tender
Throughout the
stars and skies,
Doth to warm
life surprise
Thy Universe.
The worlds are filled with wonder
Of Thy
perfections! Space
Star-sprinkled,
and void place
From pole to
pole of the Blue, 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 dulcet
harmony,
Sounding the
praise of Thee;
While countless
companies take up the story,
Rudras, who ride
the storms,
Th' Adityas'
shining forms,
Vasus and
Sadhyas, Viswas, Ushmapas;
Maruts, and
those great Twins
The heavenly,
fair, Aswins,
Gandharvas,
Rakshasas, Siddhas, and Asuras, --
These see Thee,
and revere
In
sudden-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 splendour!
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 by 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!
Now 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
both these armies torn and riven!
Between Thy
jaws they lie
Mangled full
bloodily,
Ground into
dust and death! Like streams down-driven
With helpless
haste, which go
In headlong
furious flow
Straight to the
gulfing deeps of th' unfilled ocean,
So to that
flaming cave
Those 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 those multitudes, wild flying!
Thou, that hast
fashioned men,
Devourest them
again,
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!
O Mightiest
Lord! rehearse
Why hast Thou
face so fierce?
Whence doth
this aspect horrible proceed?
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 stands
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
show thus gallantly; My instrument art thou!
Strike,
strong-armed Prince, at Drona! at Bhishma strike! deal death
On Karna,
Jyadratha; stay all their 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,
Trembling 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-Claimer,
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!
Vayu Thou art,
and He who keeps the prison
Of Narak, Yama
dark;
And Agni's
shining spark;
Varuna's waves
are Thy waves. Moon and starlight
Are Thine!
Prajapati
Art Thou, and
'tis to Thee
They knelt in
worshipping the old world's far light,
The first of
mortal men.
Again, Thou
God! again
A thousand
thousand times be magnified!
Honour and
worship be --
Glory and
praise, -- to Thee
Namo, Namaste,
cried on every side;
Cried here,
above, below,
Uttered when
Thou dost go,
Uttered where
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?
Should 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
anadem,
Thou that
sustainest all things! Undismayed
Let me once
more behold
The form I
loved of old,
Thou of the
thousand arms and countless eyes!
This frightened
heart is fain
To see restored
again
My Charioteer,
in 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 majestic, manifold,
Which none save
thou in all the years had favour to behold;
For not by
Vedas cometh this, nor sacrifice, nor alms,
Nor works well-done,
nor penance long, nor prayers, nor chanted
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
"Viswarupadarsanam,"
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,
Those 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 such as bend their minds
To reach th'
Unmanifest. That viewless path
Shall scarce be
trod by man bearing the flesh!
But whereso any
doeth all his deeds
Renouncing self
for 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! I seek
To reach Me,
worshipping with steadfast will;
And, if thou
canst not worship steadfastly,
Work for Me,
toil in works pleasing to Me!
For he that laboureth
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 labour go,
Renouncing hope
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 benign,
Compassionate,
from arrogance exempt,
Exempt from
love of self, unchangeable
By good or ill;
patient, contented, 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,
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 or 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,
Drinking the
blessed Amrit of my Being!
HERE ENDETH
CHAPTER XII OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,
Entitled
"Bhaktiyog,"
Or "The
Book of the Religion of Faith."
CHAPTER XIII
Arjuna. Now
would I hear, O gracious Kesava!
Of Life which
seems, and Soul beyond, which sees,
And what it is
we know -- or think to know.
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!
I am Kshetrajna.
I am what surveys!
Only that
knowledge knows which knows the known
By the knower!
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!
. . . . .
The elements,
the conscious life, the mind,
The unseen
vital force, the nine strange gates
Of the body,
and 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!
Humbleness,
truthfulness, and harmlessness,
Patience and
honour, reverence for the wise.
Purity,
constancy, control of self,
Contempt of
sense-delights, self-sacrifice,
Perception of
the certitude of ill
In birth,
death, age, 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; endeavours 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, nor 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 in
the senses He hath given,
Yet beyond
sense He is; sustaining all,
Yet dwells He
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.
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 Life,
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 practise by
Acting, yet not
the agent; 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 it 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,
Those wise ones
go the way which leads to Life!
HERE ENDETH
CHAPTER XIII OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,
Entitled
"Kshetrakshetrajnavibhagayog,"
Or "The
Book of Religion by 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 such 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, begot
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 ardour, 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 habitude
Of Impulse, it
shall pass 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;
And gloom,
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
rules beyond the Qualities,
Then is he come
nigh unto Me!
The Soul,
Thus passing
forth from the Three Qualities --
Whereby 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 wishful
when they are not: he who sits
A sojourner and
stranger in their midst
Unruffled,
standing off, saying -- serene --
When troubles
break, "These be 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 honour or
dishonour; 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 ENDETH
CHAPTER XIV OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,
Entitled
"Gunatrayavibhagayog,"
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 above, --
The ever-holy
tree. Yea! for its leaves
Are green and
waving hymns which whisper Truth!
Who knows the
Aswattha, knows Veds, and all.
Its branches
shoot to heaven and sink to earth,
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,
Leap to quick
life at kiss 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-life 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,
-- not Dusk, nor Dawn, nor Noon --
Which they who
once behold return no more;
They have
attained My rest, life's Utmost boon!
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.-beds. 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 perceive
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 suns
Which lighten
all the world: from Me the moons
Draw silvery
beams, and fire fierce loveliness.
I penetrate the
clay, and lend all shapes
Their living
force; I glide into the plant --
Root, leaf, and
bloom -- to make the woodlands 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 by all
meats.
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
He,
The Highest,
holding all, whose Name is LORD,
The Eternal,
Sovereign, First! Who fills all worlds,
Sustaining
them. And -- dwelling thus beyond
Divided Being
and Undivided -- I
Am called of
men and Vedas, Life 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 ENDETH
CHAPTER XV OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,
Entitled
"Purushottamapraptiyog,"
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
Prince! 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.
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.
. . . . .
HERE ENDETH
CHAPTER XVI OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,
Entitled
"Daivasarasaupadwibhagayog,"
Or "The
Book of the Separateness of the Divine and Undivine."
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 worshipper, 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 Rakshasas
Or Yakshas; and
the men of Darkness pray
To Pretas and
to Bhutas. 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,
Savourless,
filthy, which the foul will eat,
A feast of
rottenness, meet for the lips
Of such as love
the "Darkness."
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!
HERE ENDETH
CHAPTER XVII OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,
Entitled
"Sraddhatrayavibhagayog,"
Or "The
Book of Religion by the Threefold 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 aloof
from act; yet, who abstains
From profit of
his acts is abstinent.
The fruit of
labours, in the fives 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
self-seeking, 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 valour, 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 work --
Of 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
others' 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, forgoing 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 nought --
Such 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 succour, Prince!
So -- only so,
Arjuna! -- shalt thou gain --
By 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! 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! 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, speech --
Teaching in the
faith to bring
Truth to them,
and offering
Of all honour
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 favour, 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 splendour, 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
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,"
THE
BHAGAVAD-GITA.
THE END
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Preface
Theosophy and the Masters General Principles
The Earth Chain Body and Astral Body Kama – Desire
Manas Of Reincarnation Reincarnation Continued
Karma Kama Loka
Devachan
Cycles
Arguments Supporting Reincarnation
Differentiation Of Species Missing Links
Psychic Laws, Forces, and Phenomena
Psychic Phenomena and Spiritualism
Quick Explanations with
Links to More Detailed Info
What is Theosophy ? Theosophy Defined (More Detail)
Three Fundamental Propositions Key Concepts of Theosophy
Cosmogenesis Anthropogenesis Root Races
Ascended Masters After Death States
The Seven Principles of Man Karma
Reincarnation Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical
Society
History of the Theosophical
Society
Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical
Society in Wales
The Three Objectives of the
Theosophical Society
Explanation of the Theosophical
Society Emblem
The Theosophical Order of
Service (TOS)
Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
Index of
Searchable
Full Text
Versions of
Definitive
Theosophical
Works
H P Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine
Isis Unveiled by H P Blavatsky
H P Blavatsky’s Esoteric Glossary
Mahatma Letters to A P Sinnett 1 - 25
A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom
(Selection of Articles by H P Blavatsky)
The Secret Doctrine – Volume 3
A compilation of H P Blavatsky’s
writings published after her death
Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries
The Early Teachings of The Masters
A Collection of Fugitive Fragments
Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy
Mystical,
Philosophical, Theosophical, Historical
and Scientific
Essays Selected from "The Theosophist"
Edited by George Robert Stow Mead
From Talks on the Path of Occultism - Vol. II
In the Twilight”
Series of Articles
The In the
Twilight” series appeared during
1898 in The
Theosophical Review and
from 1909-1913
in The Theosophist.
compiled from
information supplied by
her relatives
and friends and edited by A P Sinnett
Letters and
Talks on Theosophy and the Theosophical Life
Obras
Teosoficas En Espanol
Theosophische
Schriften Auf Deutsch
An Outstanding
Introduction to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man? Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation Karma
Try
these if you are looking for a local
Theosophy
Group or Centre
UK Listing of Theosophical Groups
Cardiff
Theosophical Society in Wales
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24 -1DL