Subject: BHAGAVAD-GITA (THE LORD'S SONG)
From: "Saved by Windows Internet Explorer 8"
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2011 10:14:14 -0700

BECK index
WISDOM OF CHINA AND
INDIA Contents

Introduction to the Gita

The BHAGAVAD-GITA is contained in Book 6 of the great Hindu epic,
MAHABHARATA, probably the longest poem in all of literature. The GITA was
written between the fifth century BC and the second century CE and is attributed
to Vyasa. According to Aurobindo, who studied Vyasa's writings, nothing
disproves his authorship.

The MAHABHARATA tells the story of a civil war
in ancient India between the sons of Kuru (Kauruvas) and the sons of Pandu
(Pandavas) over a kingdom the Pandavas believe was stolen from them by the
cheating of the Kauruvas. Every attempt by the Pandava brothers to regain their
kingdom without war has failed.

The BHAGAVAD-GITA is primarily a dialog
between Arjuna, the third Pandava brother, and his charioteer, Krishna.
Remaining neutral, Krishna allowed one side to use his vassals in battle, while
the other side could have him as a charioteer although he would not fight
himself. The old blind King Dhritarashtra declined a great sage's offer to give
him sight for the battle, because he did not want to see the bloodshed. Instead
the great sage gave Sanjaya the ability to perceive at a distance everything
that was going on, and he describes the events for the King.

In the GITA
Krishna, who is the uncle and friend of the Pandavas, gives Arjuna teachings on
yoga, which means union and implies union with God. Krishna is considered by
Hindus to be an incarnation of the god Vishnu, the preserver.

In the
first chapter of the GITA, some of the heroes of the two armies are mentioned by
King Duryodhana, the oldest Kaurava brother, first the Pandavas: the son of
Drupada, Bhima, Arjuna, Yuyudhana, Virata, Drupada, Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, the
King of Kashi, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, Shaibya, Yudhamanyu, Uttamauja, the son of
Subhadra, and the sons of Draupadi; then the Kauravas: Bhishma, Karna, Kripa,
Ashvatthaman, Vikarna, Saumadatti, and Drona. When they blow their conch-horns,
Arjuna's brothers are named: Bhima, Yudhishthira, Nakula, and
Sahadeva.

Throughout the text various epithets or nicknames are used for
Krishna and Arjuna. Krishna is called: Madhava (descendant of Madhu),
Hrishikesha (bristling-haired), Keshava (handsome-haired), Govinda (chief of
herdsmen), slayer of Madhu (a demon), Janardana (agitator of humans), Varshneya
(clansman of the Vrishnis), Vasudeva (son of Vasudeva), Hari, and slayer of
Keshin (a demon). Arjuna is called: son of Pandu, Gudakesha (thick-haired),
Partha (son of Pritha, Kunti's original name), Kaunteya (son of Kunti), Bharata
(ancient name of India, used for other characters as well), Bharata bull, wealth
winner, foe scorcher, great-armed one, blameless one, tiger spirit, and Kuru's
joy or best of Kurus (Kuru being a common ancestor of both the Pandavas and the
Kauravas). Gandiva is the name of Arjuna's bow.

This has been published in the WISDOM BIBLE as
a book. For ordering information, please click here. This text
is also available as spoken by Sanderson Beck on CD.

BHAGAVAD-GITA
THE LORD'S SONG

English version by Sanderson Beck

1. The Sorrow of Arjuna

2. The Yoga of
Knowledge
3. The Yoga
of Action
4. The Yoga
of Wisdom
5. The Yoga
of Renunciation
6.
The Yoga of Meditation
7. The Yoga of Wise
Understanding
8. The
Yoga of Imperishable God
9. The Yoga of Royal Knowledge
and Mystery

10. The Yoga of
Manifestation

11. Vision of the
Universal Form
12.
The Yoga of Devotion
13. Distinguishing the Field
and the Knower
14.
Distinguishing the Three Qualities
15. The Yoga of the Highest
Spirit
16. Distinguishing the Divine
and the Demonic
17.
Distinguishing Three Kinds of Faith
18. The Yoga of Liberation by
Renunciation

1
Dhritarashtra said,
"In the field of duty in the field
of Kuru,
gathered together to fight,
what did mine and Pandu's sons do,
Sanjaya?"

Sanjaya said,
"Seeing the Pandava army arrayed,
King
Duryodhana then approaching his teacher
said this speech:
'Look, master,
at the Pandava's great army
arrayed by the son of Drupada, your intelligent
student.
Here are heroes, great archers
equal in battle to Bhima and
Arjuna;
Yuyudhana and Virata and Drupada of the great
chariot;
Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana and the valiant King of Kashi,
Purujit
and Kuntibhoja and Shaibya, a human bull;
bold Yudhamanyu and valiant
Uttamauja;
the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi;
all having great
chariots.

"'Ours who are distinguished know them,
best of the
twice-born,
the leaders of my army,
by proper names I tell them to
you:
yourself and Bhishma and Karna
and Kripa, victorious in
battle,
Ashvatthaman and Vikarna and Saumadatti also;
and many other
heroes risking lives for my sake,
armed with various weapons, all skilled in
battle.

"'Inadequate is that force of ours guarded by Bhishma,
but
adequate is this force of theirs guarded by Bhima.
So in all designated
formations
make sure you all protect Bhishma.'

"Cheering him up, the
aged Kuru grandsire,
roaring loudly like a lion,
blew his conch horn
powerfully.
Then conch horns and kettledrums, tabors, drums,
horns
suddenly sounded this tumultuous uproar.
Then standing in the great
chariot yoked with white horses,
Madhava and the son of Pandu blew their
divine conch horns:
Hrishikesha his Panchajanya, wealth winner his
Devadatta;
wolf-bellied Bhima blew Paundra, his great conch horn;
King
Yudhishthira blew Anantavijaya;
Nakula and Sahadeva blew Sughosha and
Manipushpaka;
and Kashya, top archer, and Shikhandi, of the great
chariot,
Dhrishtadyumna and Virata and invincible Satyaki,
Drupada and the
sons of Draupadi,
all together, O Lord of the earth,
and strong-armed
Saubhadra,
each blew their own conch horns.
This noise burst the hearts of
the sons of Dhritarashtra,
and the tumult caused the sky and earth to
resound.

"Then seeing the sons of Dhritarashtra in battle order,
in
the ensuing clash of weapons
the monkey-bannered son of Pandu raising his
bow
then said this speech to Hrishikesha, Lord of the earth:
'Position my
chariot between the two armies, changeless one,
so that I may see these who
are formed and eager to fight.
With whom must I fight in undertaking this
bash?
I see these who are ready to fight
wishing to serve in war
the
evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.'

"Thus Hrishikesha addressed by
Gudakesha, O Bharata,
having positioned the best chariot between the two
armies,
in front of Bhishma, Drona, and all the rulers of the earth,
said,
'Partha, look at these Kurus assembled here.'

"There Partha saw
positioned fathers and grandfathers,
teachers, uncles, brothers, sons,
grandsons, friends as well,
fathers-in-law and even companions in both armies
also.
Regarding all these relatives arrayed, this Kaunteya,
filled with
deep pity despondently said this:
'Seeing this, my own people, Krishna,
approaching to fight,
my limbs sink, and my mouth dries up,
and trembling
in my body and bristling hair occur.
Gandiva slips from my hand, and my skin
burns;
and I am not able to stand, and my mind wanders;
and I see contrary
omens, Keshava;
and I do not foresee good fortune
in killing my own people
in battle.

"'I do not want victory, Krishna,
nor kingdom nor
pleasures.
What is kingdom to us, Govinda?
What is enjoyment or
life?
Those for whose sake we want kingdom, enjoyment and pleasure
are
these positioned for battle, abandoning life and riches,
teachers, fathers,
sons, and also grandfathers, uncles,
fathers-in-law, grandsons,
brothers-in-law, and other kin.

"'These I do not wish to kill,
even
though they are killing, slayer of Madhu,
even for the sovereignty of the
three worlds,
how then for the earth?
Striking down the sons of
Dhritarashtra,
what joy could be ours, Janardana?
Evil should cling to us
for killing these attackers.
Therefore we should not kill
the sons of
Dhritarashtra, our relatives.
How could we ever be happy killing our own
people, Madhava?

"'Even if these whose thoughts are overpowered by
greed
see no wrong in causing the destruction of family,
injury to friends
and crime,
why is it not understood by us to turn away from this evil,
the
family-destruction wrong, by discernment, Janardana?
In family destruction
the ancient family duties vanish;
in losing duty lawlessness also overcomes
the whole family.
From the overcoming of lawlessness, Krishna,
the women
of the family are corrupted;
in the spoiling of the women, Varshneya,
is
born the intermixture of caste.
The intermixture of the family destroyers and
the family
leads to hell;
their ancestors fall, deprived of rice-ball and
water rites.
By wrongs of the family destroyers
producing caste
intermixture
race duties and eternal family duties are abolished.
Of
family-duty-abolishing men dwelling indefinitely in hell
we have often
heard.

"'Oh alas! What great evil are we resolved to do,
which through
greed for royal pleasures
we are prepared to kill our own people.
If the
sons of Dhritarashtra should kill in battle,
unresisting, unarmed, that would
be greater happiness to me.'

"Thus speaking on the battlefield,
Arjuna
sat down on the chariot seat,
throwing down bow and arrow,
his mind
overcome by sorrow."

2
Sanjaya said,
"To him thus
overcome by pity,
whose eyes were filled with tears and downcast,
despairing,
the slayer of Madhu said this speech:

"The blessed Lord
said,
'How has this timidity in difficulty come upon you,
not proper for
an Aryan, not leading to heaven,
causing disgrace, Arjuna?
You should
never be a coward, Partha!
this is not fitting in you.
Abandon base
faintheartedness, stand up, foe scorcher!'

"Arjuna said,
'How shall I
in battle, slayer of Madhu,
with arrows fight against Bhishma and
Drona,
the two venerable enemies, slayer of foes?
Instead of killing noble
gurus
it is better to live by begging in this world;
having killed gurus
desiring gain here on earth
I should enjoy pleasures smeared with
blood.
Nor do we know which of these two is more important for us,
whether
we should conquer or if they should conquer us,
those standing before us, the
sons of Dhritarashtra,
whom having killed, we should not want to
live.

"'Weak pity discouraging my being,
I, uncertain in thought as to
duty, ask you
which should be better for certain, tell it to me.
I am your
student fallen at your feet; correct me!
I do not see what would remove this
sorrow of mine,
which dries up the senses,
even if obtaining unrivaled
prosperity on earth,
royal power or even the sovereignty of the
gods.'"

Sanjaya said,
"Thus having spoken to
Hrishikesha,
Gudakesha, foe scorcher, saying,
'I shall not fight' to
Govinda, became silent.

"Hrishikesha smiling, so to speak,
Bharata,
between the two armies said to the dejected this speech:

"The
blessed Lord said,
'You grieve for those who should not be grieved
for;
yet you speak wise words.
Neither for the dead nor those not dead do
the wise grieve.
Never was there a time when I did not exist
nor you nor
these lords of men.
Neither will there be a time when we shall not
exist;
we all exist from now on.
As the soul experiences in this
body
childhood, youth, and old age,
so also it acquires another
body;
the sage in this is not deluded.

"'Material sensations,
Kaunteya,
causing cold, heat, pleasure, pain,
coming and going are
impermanent;
you must endure them, Bharata.
The person whom these do not
trouble, powerful person,
pain and pleasure being equal to the sage,
he is
ready for immortality.

"'The existence of the unreal is not found;
the
non-existence of the real is not found.
The certainty of both of these has
been seen
by the seers of essence.
Know that indestructible essence
by
which all this is pervaded.
No one is able to cause the destruction of the
imperishable.
These bodies have an end;
it is said of the indestructible,
infinite soul
that it is eternal.
Therefore, fight,
Bharata!

"'Whoever believes this the killer
and whoever thinks this
the killed,
they both do not understand;
this does not kill and is not
killed.
Neither is it born nor does it die at any time,
nor having been,
will this again not be.
Unborn, eternal, perpetual this ancient being
is
not killed with the killing of the body.

"'Whoever knows this, the
indestructible,
the eternal, the unborn, the imperishable,
how does this
person, Partha, cause the killing of anyone?
Whom does one kill?
As a
person abandoning worn-out clothes takes new ones,
so abandoning worn-out
bodies the soul enters new ones.
Weapons do not cut this nor does fire burn
this,
and waters cannot wet this nor can wind dry it.
Not pierced this,
not burned this, not wetted nor dried,
eternal, all-pervading,
stable,
immovable is this everlasting.
Unmanifest this, it is
said.

"'Therefore knowing this you should not mourn.
And if you think
this is eternally born or eternally dying,
even then, you mighty armed, you
should not mourn this.
Death is certain for the born,
and birth is certain
for the dead.
Therefore you should not mourn over the
inevitable.

"'Beings have unmanifest beginnings,
manifest middles,
Bharata, unmanifest ends again.
What complaint is there?
Marvelously
someone sees this,
and marvelously another thus tells,
and marvelously
another hears this,
but even having heard no one knows this.
This embodied
soul is eternally inviolable
in the body of all, Bharata.
Therefore you
should not mourn for any being.

"'So looking at your duty you should not
waver,
for there is no greater duty than battle for the
kshatriya.
And by good fortune gaining the open door of
heaven,
happy kshatriyas, Partha, encounter such a battle.
Now if
you will not undertake this combat duty,
then having avoided your duty and
glory, you will incur evil.
And also people will relate your perpetual
dishonor,
and for the esteemed, dishonor is worse than dying.
The great
warriors will think
you withdraw from battle out of fear,
and having been
thought much of
among those you will be held lightly.
And enemies will say
of you many words not to be spoken,
deriding your strength.
What is more
painful than that?

"'Either killed you will attain heaven,
or
conquering you will enjoy the earth.
Therefore stand up, Kaunteya, resolved
to the battle.
Making pleasure and pain the same,
gain and loss, victory
and defeat,
then engage in battle.
Thus you will not incur
evil.

"'This intuition described for you in Sankhya philosophy,
learn
this in yoga;
unified by intuition, Partha,
you shall avoid the bondage of
action.
There is no lost effort here; no setback occurs.
Even a little of
this discipline protects from great fear.

"'Self-determined intuition is
one here, Kuru's joy,
but intuitions of the irresolute many-branched, so
endless.
This flowery speech which the ignorant proclaim,
delighting in
the letter of the scripture, Partha,
saying there is nothing else,
minds
desiring the highest heaven,
offering birth as the fruit of
action,
performing many special rituals,
aimed toward enjoyment and
power,
attached to enjoyment and power,
whose thoughts are stolen away by
this,
to those,
self-determined intuition in meditation is not
granted.

"'The scriptures categorize three qualities.
Be without the
three qualities, Arjuna,
without opposites, eternally staying in
goodness,
without possessiveness, soul-established.
As much use as in a
well in water overflowing everywhere,
so much are all the scriptures to an
enlightened brahman.

"'In action alone is your claim,
never to
its fruits at all.
Never should the fruit of action be your motive;
never
let there be attachment in your inactivity.
Staying in yoga do your
actions,
letting go of attachment, wealth-winner.
Seek refuge in
intuition.
Pitiful are those motivated by fruit.
Unified intuition here
lets go of both good and bad deeds.

"'Therefore unify yourself with
yoga;
yoga is skilled in actions.
Letting go of the fruit of
action,
the intelligent of unified intuition,
liberated from the bondage
of birth,
go the way free from misery.
When your intuition passes beyond
the confusion of delusion,
you will become indifferent to what you
hear
and to what has been heard in scripture.
Disregarding scripture, when
in meditation
your immovable intuition will stand unmoving,
then you will
attain union.'

"Arjuna said,
'What is the definition of one who
is
steady in wisdom, steady in meditation, Keshava?
How should one steady
in thought speak?
How should one sit? How should one move?'

"The
blessed Lord said,
'When one gives up all desires emerging in the mind,
Partha,
satisfied in the soul by the soul,
then one is said to be steady
in wisdom.

"'Whoever in pain is free of mental anxiety,
in pleasure is
free of desire,
departing from passion, fear, and anger,
steady in
thought, is called a sage.

"'Whoever is without attachment in all
things,
accepting this or that, pleasant or unpleasant,
neither liking nor
disliking,
the wisdom of this one is established.

"'And when this one
withdraws,
like a tortoise all its limbs,
the senses from the objects of
sense,
the wisdom of this one is established.

"'Objects turn away from
the embodied one who is fasting,
except flavor;
even flavor turns away
from the one seeing the supreme.
Kaunteya, tormenting senses forcibly carry
away the mind
even of the striving person of learning.
Restraining all
these,
one should sit unified with me in the supreme;
whose senses are in
control,
the wisdom of this one is established.

"'From a person's
contemplating objects
is born attachment to them;
from attachment is born
desire;
from desire is born anger;
from anger comes delusion;
from
delusion, memory wandering;
from memory wandering, loss of intuition;
from
loss of intuition, one perishes.

"'Lust and aversion eliminated,
but
engaging objects with the senses,
the self-governing by self-control attains
tranquillity.
In tranquillity is born cessation of all one's pains.
Having
clear thoughts, quickly the intuition becomes steady.

"'There is no
intuition for the undisciplined,
and for the undisciplined no
concentration,
and without concentration no peace.
Without peace, where is
happiness?
When the mind is led by the wandering of the senses,
then it
carries away wisdom
like the wind a ship on the water.

"'Therefore,
mighty-armed, the one whose senses
are completely withdrawn from the objects
of sense,
the wisdom of this one is established.
What is night to all
beings
in this the restrained is awake;
what beings are awake in
that
is the night of the seeing sage.
Just as waters dissolve in the ocean,
filled, unmoved, still,
so too all desires dissolve in the one who attains
peace,
not in the desirer of desires.
The person who, giving up all
desires,
lives free from longing, without possessiveness,
without egotism,
this one attains peace.
This is a holy state, Partha.
No one attaining
this is deluded.
Steady in this even at the time of death,
one reaches
holy nirvana.'

3
"Arjuna said,
'If your intuition
idea is better than action, Janardana,
then why do you urge me into this
terrible action, Keshava?
With equivocal speech you confuse my
intuition.
This one thing tell me without doubt:
by which I should attain
what is better.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'In this world a two-fold
basis
was previously taught by me, blameless one:
the knowledge yoga of
the Sankhyas
and the action yoga of the yogis.
Not by abstention from
actions
does a person attain freedom from action,
and not by renunciation
alone
does one approach perfection.
No one even for an instant can ever
stay actionless.
Everyone must perform action unwillingly
by the qualities
born of nature.

"'Whoever sits, restraining the powers of action
with
the mind remembering sense objects,
this deluded self is called a
hypocrite.
But whoever, controlling the senses with the mind,
Arjuna,
engages by the powers of action in action yoga,
unattached, this
one is distinguished.

"'You do controlled action.
Action is better
than inaction.
Even your body maintenance
could not be accomplished
without action.
Aside from action for the purpose of sacrifice
this world
is bound by action.
Perform action for this purpose, Kaunteya,
free from
attachment.

"'Having sent forth creatures along with sacrifices,
the
Creator anciently said, "By this bring forth;
may this be the milk of your
desires."
May you cherish by this the gods;
may the gods cherish
you;
cherishing each other, you will attain the supreme good.
Cherished by
sacrifice,
the gods will give to you wished-for enjoyments.

"'Whoever
enjoys these without offering gifts to them
is just a thief.
The good who
partake of the rest of the sacrifice
are released from all evils,
but the
wicked who cook for their own sake enjoy impurity.

"'Creatures come from
food;
food is produced from rain;
rain comes from sacrifice;
sacrifice
is produced by action.
Know that God-produced action
originates in
imperishable God.
Therefore all-pervading God
eternally remains in the
sacrifice.

"'Thus whoever does not turn the revolving wheel here,
who
is malicious, sense-delighted,
this one lives vainly, Partha.
The person
who is self-pleased and self-satisfied
and self-content, this one's task is
not found.
Whoever has no purpose in what is done or not done,
has no need
of purpose in anyone.

"'Therefore without being attached
always
perform the action to be done.
Practicing action without being attached,
a
person attains the supreme.
By action Janaka and others attained
perfection.
You also observing what the world needs should
act.

"'Whatever the best do, that others do also.
This sets a standard
that the world follows.
Partha, there is nothing for me to do in the three
worlds,
nothing unattained to be attained;
yet I engage in action.
If I
should not engage in tireless action at all,
people everywhere would follow
my path, Partha.
If I should not perform action,
these worlds would be
ruined;
I should be a maker of confusion,
and I should destroy these
creatures.

"'As the unwise act attached to action, Bharata,
so the
wise should act unattached,
intending to maintain the world.
One should
not cause the mental breakdown
of the action-attached ignorant.
The wise,
practicing union, should encourage all actions.

"'All actions being
performed by the qualities of nature,
the ego-deluded self thinks that the
"I" is the doer.
But knowing the truth, great-armed one,
of the two roles
of quality and action,
"qualities work in qualities,"
thus thinking one is
not attached.
Those deluded by the qualities of nature
are attached to
qualified actions.
The knower of the whole should not disturb
fools who
are ignorant of the whole.

"'Entrusting all actions to me,
meditating
on the supreme soul,
being free from desire, free from possession,
fight,
cured of fever.
People who constantly practice this doctrine of
mine,
trusting, not complaining,
they also are liberated from
actions.

"'But those who, complaining about this,
do not practice my
doctrine,
confusing all knowledge,
know them to be lost,
thoughtless.

"'Even the wise act according to their own
nature.
Creatures follow nature.
What will constraint
accomplish?
Like-dislike situated in sense and the object of sense,
one
should not come under the power of these two adversaries.
Better one's own
imperfect duty
than another's duty well performed.
Death in one's own duty
is better.
Another's duty brings fear.'

"Arjuna said,
'Then by what
compulsion does a person commit harm,
even unwillingly, Varshneya,
as if
commanded by force?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'This is desire, this is
anger,
born of the emotional quality.
Voracious and greatly
injurious,
know this to be the enemy here.
As fire is obscured by smoke,
and a mirror by dust,
as the embryo is enveloped by the amnion,
so this is
covered by it.
Knowledge is covered by this eternal enemy of knowers,
in
the form of desire, Kaunteya,
which is an insatiable fire.
The senses,
mind, and intuition are said to be its seat.
With these it confuses
knowledge, covering the embodied.
Therefore you, at first restraining the
senses,
Bharata bull, kill this harmful thing
that destroys intelligent
knowledge.

"'The senses, they say, are high.
Higher than the senses is
the mind,
but higher than the mind is the intuition,
but higher than the
intuition is this.
Thus intuiting what is higher than the
intuition,
sustaining the soul with the soul,
kill the adversary,
great-armed one,
the desire-form difficult to approach.'

4
"The blessed Lord said,
'This imperishable yoga I
declared to Vivasvat.
Vivasvat communicated it to Manu,
and Manu told it
to Ikshvaku.
Thus received by royal succession,
the royal sages knew
this.
In the long time here this yoga was lost, foe scorcher.
This same
ancient yoga is declared by me to you today,
since you are my devoted
friend.
This is the supreme mystery.'

"Arjuna said,
'Later was your
birth, earlier the birth of Vivasvat.
How should I understand
that you
declared this so in the beginning?'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Many of
my births have passed away,
and yours too, Arjuna.
I know them all; you do
not know, foe scorcher.
Though being a birthless imperishable soul,
though
being Lord of beings,
controlling my own nature,
I come into being by the
magic of my soul.

"'Whenever a decrease of justice occurs,
Bharata,
and an uprising of injustice,
then I give forth my soul.
For
the protection of the good
and for the destruction of the evil-doers,
for
the purpose of establishing justice
I am born from age to
age.

"'Whoever truly knows my divine birth and action,
having left the
body does not go to rebirth;
this one comes to me, Arjuna.
Passion, fear,
and anger gone,
absorbed in me, relying on me,
many purified by
disciplined knowledge
have attained my existence.
Whoever approaches me, I
love them.
People everywhere follow my path, Partha.

"'Wanting
successful actions, they worship gods here.
Quickly in the human world
successful action comes.
Four castes were brought forth by me
according to
the distribution of the action qualities.
Although I did this,
know me as
the imperishable non-doer.
Actions do not affect me, not desiring their
fruit.
Thus whoever understands me is not bound by actions.
Thus knowing,
action done by the ancients
was also for the seeking of
liberation.
Therefore you do actions
as they were done earlier by the
ancients.

"'What is action? What is inaction?
Even the poets were
confused about this.
I shall explain to you this action,
which knowing you
will be liberated from evil.
Being enlightened about action and also wrong
action,
and being enlightened about inaction,
the way of action is
profound.
Whoever perceives inaction in action and action in inaction
is
enlightened among people;
this one does all action united.
The one whose
every undertaking
is without desirous intention
has consumed actions in
the fire of knowledge;
this one the enlightened call learned.

"'Having
abandoned attachment to the fruit of action,
always satisfied, independent
even while engaging in action,
one does not do anything.
Hoping for
nothing with soul-controlled consciousness,
abandoning every
possession,
performing action with the body alone,
one incurs no
guilt.
Content with spontaneous gain, transcending duality,
free from
envy, indifferent to success and failure,
even when acting one is not
bound.

"'With attachment gone, liberated,
thought established in
knowledge,
action undertaken as a sacrifice is completely dissolved.
God
is the offering; God is the gift
poured out into the fire of God by
God.
God is attained by one who contemplates the action of God.

"'Some
yogis practice sacrifice to the divine;
others offer sacrifice in the fire of
God by sacrifice.
Some offer hearing and other senses
in the fires of
restraint;
others offer sound and other sense objects
in the fires of the
senses.
Others offer all sense actions and all breath actions
in the yoga
fire of self-restraint kindled by knowledge.
Material sacrifices, discipline
sacrifices,
yoga sacrifices are thus some;
self-study of knowledge
sacrifices
and ascetics are of sharpened vows.

"'Some offer inhalation
into exhalation,
also exhalation into inhalation,
restraining the
breathing paths
intent on controlling the breath.
Others regulating food
offer inhalations into inhalations.
All these knowing sacrifice by sacrifice
destroy wrongs.
Those eating the sacred food left from the sacrifice
go to
God eternal.

"'Not even this world is for those not sacrificing,
how
then the other, best of Kurus?
Thus sacrifices of many kinds
are spread
out in the mouth of God.
Know them all to come from action;
knowing this
you shall be released.

"'Better than the sacrifice of material
possessions
is the knowledge sacrifice, foe scorcher.
All action, without
exception, Partha,
is completely comprehended in knowledge.
Know this: by
respect, inquiry, service,
knowers who perceive the truth will teach you
knowledge,
which knowing you shall not fall again into delusion,
son of
Pandu; by this you shall see
every being in the soul, then in
me.

"'Even if you are the most evil of all the evil-doers,
by the boat
of knowledge you shall cross over all wickedness.
As wood kindled by fire is
burned to ashes, Arjuna,
the fire of knowledge burns all actions to ashes
also.
No purifier equal to knowledge is found in the world.
The self
perfected in union in time finds that in the soul.

"'The trusting gains
that knowledge which is supreme;
controlling the senses, gaining
knowledge,
one attains supreme peace without delay.
The ignorant and
untrusting and self-doubting are lost.
Neither this world nor that beyond nor
happiness
is for the self-doubting.

"'Union renouncing action,
knowledge severing doubt,
soul composed, no actions bind, wealth
winner.
Therefore severing ignorance-produced doubt in the heart
with the
knowledge sword of the soul,
establish union and rise, Bharata.'

5
"Arjuna said,
'Krishna, you praise renunciation of
actions and also yoga.
Which one of these two is better?
Tell me this
definitely.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Both renunciation and action
yoga lead to the best,
but of the two, action yoga surpasses renunciation of
action.
Whoever is indifferent to dualities, great-armed one,
is easily
released from bondage.
Sankhya and yoga are separate,
maintain the
foolish, not the wise.
Whoever practices even one correctly
finds the
fruit of both.
That state attained by the Sankhyas
is also reached by the
yogis.
Whoever sees Sankhya and yoga as one, sees.
But renunciation,
great-armed one,
is difficult to attain without union.
The wise united in
yoga quickly attain God.

"'United in yoga the purified
soul
self-controlled, controlling senses,
the soul being the soul of all
beings,
even while acting is not affected.
"I am doing nothing at all,"
thinks the united truth knower,
seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling,
eating, walking, sleeping, breathing,
talking, releasing,
holding, opening eyes and closing eyes,
believing that the senses operate in
the sense objects.

"'Whoever acts putting actions in God,
abandoning
attachment, is not affected by evil,
like a lotus leaf by water.
With the
body, mind, intuition, and even the senses alone,
yogis perform action,
abandoning attachment,
for self-purification.
United, abandoning the fruit
of action,
one attains complete peace.
Disunited by desirous
action,
attached to the fruit, one is bound.

"'Renouncing all actions
with the mind,
the embodied sits happily, master in the city of nine
gates,
neither acting nor causing action.
The Lord creates neither agency
nor actions of the world
nor the union of action with fruit,
but nature
proceeds.
The omnipresent does not take anyone's evil or
goodness.

"'Knowledge being concealed by ignorance,
people are deluded
by this.
But those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of soul,
like
the sun, their knowledge illuminates this supreme.
Those intuiting that,
thinking that, established in that,
devoted to that, go not again to
rebirth,
knowledge shaking off wrongs.

"'The wise look equally on a
brahman
endowed with cultivated learning,
on a cow, an elephant, a
dog, or an outcaste.
Here birth is conquered by those
whose mind is
established in equanimity.
Guiltless and impartial is God;
therefore they
are established in God.

"'One should not rejoice obtaining the
pleasant
nor be sad obtaining the unpleasant.
Firm intuition unconfused
knowing God
is established in God.
The soul unattached to external
contacts
finds happiness in the soul.
This soul united to God by
yoga
enjoys imperishable happiness.
Delights born of contact are wombs of
pain,
having a beginning and an end, Kaunteya.
The enlightened one is not
content in them.

"'Whoever is able to endure here
before release from
the body
the agitation originating from desire and anger
is united; this
is a happy person.
Whoever has inner happiness, inner joy,
and thus inner
light,
this yogi attains the nirvana of God, oneness with God.
Seers
attain the nirvana of God, sins wiped out,
dualities dissolved,
self-controlled,
rejoicing in the welfare of all beings.
Rid of desire and
anger, thoughts restrained, souls known,
the ascetics' nirvana of God lies
near.

"'Making external contacts excluded
and the gaze in between the
two eyebrows,
making inhalation and exhalation equal,
moving within the
nose,
with controlled senses, mind, and intuition,
the sage seeking
ultimate liberation,
rid of desire, fear, and anger is forever
liberated.
Knowing me, the enjoyer of sacrifice disciplines,
great Lord of
all the world, friend of all beings,
one reaches peace.'

6
"The blessed Lord said,
'Not depending on the fruit of
action to be done
whoever performs action is the renouncer and yogi,
not
the one without the fire and without action.
Thus what they call
renunciation
know this to be yoga, son of Pandu.
Without renouncing
motive, no one becomes a yogi.

"'It is said that action is the
method
of the sage wishing to ascend to union;
it is said that serenity is
the method
of the one who has ascended to union.
When he is not attached
to sense objects nor to actions,
renouncing all motivation,
then he is
said to have ascended to union.

"'One should uplift the self by the
soul;
one should not lower the soul.
The self is the friend of the
soul;
the self is the enemy of the soul.
The self is a friend of the
soul
whose self is mastered by the soul,
but the self of the
non-soul
might become hostile like an enemy.

"'The highest self of the
self-mastered, the peaceful,
is steadfast in cold, heat, pleasure, or
pain,
as well as in honor or dishonor.
Content in the wisdom of
self-knowledge, immutable,
having mastered sense, united thus,
one is said
to be a yogi,
to whom a clod, a stone, and gold are the same.
Detached
from companions, allies, foes,
neutral toward enemies and friends, also the
good and evil,
impartial intuition is distinguished.

"'The yogi should
unite constantly with the soul,
situated in solitude, one self-controlled
consciousness
without wanting, without possessing.
In a clear place
establishing the firm seat of the soul,
neither too high nor too
low,
covered with cloth, antelope skin, and kusha grass,
there making the
mind single,
consciousness and sense activity controlled,
sitting on the
seat
one should practice union for self-purification.
Keeping even the
unmoving body, head, and neck steady,
concentrating the eyes on the tip of
the nose,
and not looking around,
the self calmed, fear banished, staying
in chastity,
controlling the mind, conscious of me,
united, one should sit
devoted to me.
Thus always united with the soul,
the yogi of disciplined
mind
attains peace, supreme nirvana, founded with me.

"'Yoga is
neither eating too much nor not eating at all,
and neither the habit of
sleeping too much
nor that of keeping awake, Arjuna.
Food and recreation
disciplined,
disciplined in the actions of behavior,
disciplined in sleep
and waking,
yoga becomes the ending of sorrow.

"'When conscious
control is established in the soul,
free from the longing of all
desire,
then one is said to be thus united.
As a lamp in a windless state
does not flicker,
the analogy is remembered of the yogi
of conscious
control united in the yoga of the soul.
Where consciousness rests curbed by
the practice of yoga,
and where by the soul seeing the soul
in the soul
one is content.
One knows this perpetual happiness,
which is intuitively
perceived beyond the senses,
and established there does not deviate from that
truth;
and which having gained, one thinks no other gain
better than this
in which is established
one who is not disturbed even by heavy sorrow.
Let
it be known that
this dissolution of union with sorrow is called
yoga.

"'This yoga is to be practiced
with determination without
discouraged thought.
Abandoning without exception all desires born of
motivation,
completely mastering the senses with the mind,
one should
gradually with firm intuitive perception
quiet the mind, the soul making it
stand still.
One should not think of anything at all.
Whenever the
unsteady moving mind wanders here and there,
mastering this, one should
direct the will in the soul.
Supreme happiness comes to this peaceful mind of
the yogi,
emotion pacified, God-realized, sinless.
Thus always uniting the
soul, the yogi freed from evil
easily reaches the endless happiness of
God-contact.

"'The soul united in yoga observes the soul in all
beings
and all beings in the soul, everywhere the same revelation.
Whoever
sees me everywhere and sees everything in me,
I am not lost to this one, and
this one is not lost to me.
Whoever is established in oneness honors me in
all beings;
moving in any way also this yogi lives in me.
Whoever sees by
soul analogy everywhere the same, Arjuna,
whether happiness or
sorrow,
this one is thought a supreme yogi.'

"Arjuna said,
'This
yoga which is explained by you with equanimity,
slayer of Madhu, I do not see
standing steady
because of instability.
Unstable is the mind, Krishna,
impetuous, strong, rigid;
I think holding it back, like the wind, is
difficult.'

"The blessed Lord said,
'Without doubt, great-armed
one,
the restless mind is hard to control,
but by practice, Kaunteya, and
by detachment
it is controlled.
Undisciplined by the self, union is hard
to achieve,
thus is my opinion;
but by self-controlled effort
one is
able to reach it by this means.'

"Arjuna said,
'The uncontrolled one,
endowed with faith,
the mind straying from union, not attaining perfect
union,
walks what road, Krishna?
Failing both is one not lost like a
disappearing cloud,
unsupported, great-armed one, confused on the path of
God?
Krishna, you can resolve entirely this doubt of mine;
other than you
there exists no solver of this doubt.'

"The blessed Lord
said,
'Partha, neither here nor above is found the ruin of this;
dear son,
no one doing good goes to misfortune.
Reaching the worlds of the good
doers,
staying endless years in the house of the radiant glorious
the one
fallen from union is born again.
Or one may be born in a family of wise
yogis;
such a birth is difficult to obtain in this world.
There this same
intuitive union
one receives from a previous embodiment,
and one strives
from there again toward perfection, Kuru joy.
By this previous practice one
is irresistibly carried on;
wishing to know also of union one transcends
divine sound.
But through persevering mental control
the yogi cleansed of
guilt, perfected through many births,
then goes to the supreme
goal.

"'The yogi is superior to the ascetics,
is also thought to be
superior to the knowledgeable,
and the yogi is superior to the
active.
Therefore, be a yogi, Arjuna.
Of all these yogis, the one going to
me
with inner soul full of faith, who loves me,
this one is thought by me
to be most united.'

7
"The blessed Lord said,
'The
mind absorbed in me, Partha,
practicing union relying on me,
without doubt
how you shall know me completely: hear that.
I shall tell you without
omission
this knowledge with discrimination, which having
understood
nothing more remains here to be known.
Of thousands of people
hardly anyone strives for perfection;
of those striving, even of the
perfected,
hardly anyone knows me truly.

"'Earth, waters, fire,
wind,
space, mind, intuition, and ego,
thus is this divided nature of mine
eightfold.
This here is the lower, but know my other highest nature,
the
life-being, great-armed one,
by which this universe is
sustained.
Understand this to be the womb of all beings.
I am the origin
of the entire universe, also its dissolution.
There is nothing whatever
higher than me, wealth winner.
On me all this is strung like pearls on a
thread.

"'I am the flavor in the waters, Kaunteya;
I am the radiance
of the moon and sun,
the sacred word in all the Vedas,
the sound in
the air, the virility in men,
and the pure fragrance on the earth;
and I
am the brilliance in flame,
the life in all beings,
and I am the austerity
in ascetics.

"'Know me as the primeval seed of all beings, Partha.
I
am the intuition of the intelligent;
the brilliance of the brilliant am
I.
And I am the strength of the strong,
freed from desire and
passion;
I am the desire in beings
that is not contrary to duty, Bharata
bull.

"'And the good states, the active and the slow
which come from
me, know them thus:
I am not in them, but they are in me.
Because of these
states formed by the three qualities
all this deluded universe does not
recognize me
as higher than these and eternal.

"'Divine indeed is this
quality-produced illusion
that is difficult to penetrate;
they attain me
who transcend this illusion.
Deluded evil doers, the lowest people, do not
attain me,
their knowledge robbed by illusion,
attached to demonic
existence.

"'Four kinds of benevolent people worship me, Arjuna:
the
suffering, those wanting knowledge,
those wanting success, and the wise,
Bharata bull.
Of them the wise, eternally united,
devoted to the One, is
the best.
I am extremely fond of the wise, and this one is fond of me.
All
these are noble, but the wise is considered my soul.
Staying in this soul
union with me is the supreme goal.

"'At the end of many births the wise
attains me.
Vasudeva is thus all to this great soul who is hard to
find.
Those whose knowledge is taken away by various desires
attain other
gods, practicing various disciplines,
constrained by their own
nature.
Whoever wants to worship with faith
any form one is devoted
to,
on that one I bestow this unswerving faith.
United by this faith one
is eager for this propitiation,
and receives from there the desires ordained
by me.
But this fault of the short-sighted is temporary.

"'Those
unenlightened think of me, the unmanifest,
as fallen into
manifestation,
unaware of my highest being, eternal and supreme.
I am not
visible to all; enveloped in yoga illusion,
this deluded world does not
recognize me, unborn and eternal.
I know the past and present and future
beings, Arjuna,
but no one knows me.
By the duality delusion arising from
like-dislike, Bharata,
all beings fall into confusion at birth, scorcher of
foes.

"'But of those in whom evil has come to an end,
whose actions
are pure, they liberated from duality delusion
are devoted to me with firm
vows.
Those who strive for release from old age and death,
taking refuge
in me, know this God fully,
the oversoul, and action without
exception.
They who know me as Lord of being, divine Lord
as well as Lord
of sacrifice, and also at the time of death,
know me with united
consciousness.'

8
"Arjuna said,
'What is this God?
What is this oversoul?
What is action, best person?
And what is Lord of
being declared to be?
What is divine Lord said to be?
How and who is the
Lord of sacrifice
here in this body, slayer of Madhu?
And how at the time
of death
are you known by the self-controlled?'

"The blessed Lord
said,
'Imperishable God is supreme;
the oversoul is said to be its own
essence,
which originates the essence of being;
action is known as
creative power.
The realm of being is the perishable essence,
and the
divine realm is Spirit.
I am Lord of sacrifice here in the body, best
embodied one.
And at the last hour whoever dies remembering me,
releasing
the body, goes to my essence.
There is no doubt about this.
Moreover
whatever essence is remembered at the end
when one abandons the body, one
goes to that, Kaunteya,
always becoming that essence.
Therefore at all
times remember me and fight.
The intuitive mind fixed on me, you will surely
come to me.

"'Practicing yoga by uniting, by consciousness,
by not
going toward anything else,
one goes to supreme divine Spirit, Partha,
meditating.
Whoever meditates on the ancient poet, the ruler,
smaller than
an atom, supporter of all,
unimaginable form, the color of the sun beyond
darkness,
at the time of death with unmoving mind,
with devotion and
united with the strength of yoga,
causing the breath to enter correctly
between the eyebrows,
one approaches this supreme divine Spirit,
which the
knowers of the Vedas call imperishable,
which the ascetics free of
passion enter,
which wanting they follow the way to chastity;
this path I
shall explain to you briefly.

"'Controlling all doors
and shutting up
the mind in the heart,
placing in the head the breath of the
soul,
established in yoga concentration,
chanting thus AUM, the one
syllable, God, remembering me,
whoever dies, abandoning the body, goes to the
supreme goal.
Having undivided consciousness perpetually,
whoever
remembers me always,
for this one I am easy to reach,
Partha, for the yogi
who is always united.
Coming to me, the great souls gone to supreme
perfection
do not incur rebirth, the impermanent home of suffering.
Up to
the God realm, worlds are successive rebirths, Arjuna;
but approaching me,
Kaunteya, rebirth is not found.

"'As extending a thousand ages they know
a day of God,
a night ending a thousand ages, those knowing day and
night.
From the unmanifest all manifestations originate at daybreak;
at
nightfall they are dissolved there
into what is known as unmanifest.
This
multitude of beings becoming, existing, is dissolved
at nightfall without
will, Partha;
it comes into existence at daybreak.

"'But higher than
this unmanifest
is another ancient unmanifest essence
which in the
perishing of all beings does not perish.
Thus the eternal unmanifest is
called the supreme goal,
which attaining they do not return.
This is my
supreme abode.
This supreme Spirit, Partha, is to be attained
by undivided
devotion, within which beings exist,
by which all this universe is
pervaded.

"'But where in time
dying yogis go to non-return and
return,
of this time I shall speak, Bharata bull.
Fire, light, day, waxing
moon,
six months of spring and summer:
dying then the God-knowers go to
God.
Smoke, night, thus the waning moon,
six months of autumn and
winter:
there attaining moonlight, the yogi returns.
These two light and
dark paths
are thought to be eternal for the universe.
By one one goes to
non-return;
by the other one returns again.
Knowing these two paths,
Partha,
the yogi is not confused at all.

"'Therefore at all times be
united in yoga, Arjuna.
The meritorious fruit which is ordained in the
Vedas,
in sacrifices, in austerities, and in charity,
the yogi
transcends this; knowing all this
he attains the supreme state and
realm.'

9
"The blessed Lord said,
'Now I shall
explain the greatest secret
to you, the uncomplaining: knowledge combined
with wisdom,
knowing which you will be liberated from evil.
Ruling
knowledge, a ruling secret is this highest purifier,
directly intelligible,
correct,
easy to practice, imperishable.
Persons without faith in this
doctrine, scorcher of foes,
not attaining me are born again
into the path
of death and reincarnation.

"'By my unmanifest form this whole universe
is pervaded.
All beings are situated in me, and not I situated in
them.
And beings are not situated in me.
Look at my majestic yoga,
sustaining beings
and not staying in beings, my soul becoming beings.
As
the great omnipresent wind is eternally staying in space,
so all beings stay
in me.
Consider this.

"'All beings, Kaunteya,
go to my nature at
the end of an era;
at the beginning of an era I send them forth
again.
Embracing my own nature I send forth again and again
this whole
powerless multitude of beings
by the power of nature.
And these actions do
not bind me, wealth winner,
sitting indifferently unattached to these
actions.
With me as supervisor nature produces
the animate and
inanimate;
by this cause, Kaunteya, the universe revolves.

"'The
deluded despise me, the assumed human form,
not knowing my higher essence,
the great Lord of beings.
Vain hopes, vain actions, vain thoughtless
knowledge
resort to fiendish and demonic deluded nature.

"'But great
souls resorting to me, the divine nature,
their undivided minds are devoted
to knowing
the imperishable source of being.
Always glorifying me and
striving with firm resolve
and honoring me with devotion, they worship ever
united.

"'And by the knowledge sacrifice also
others sacrificing
worship me,
by oneness, by multiplicity, diversely, omnisciently.
I am the
ritual; I am the sacrifice; offering am I;
I am the medicinal herb; the
mantra am I;
I am clarified butter; I am fire; I am the oblation.

"'I
am the father of this universe, mother, supporter,
grandfather, what is to be
known, purifier, sacred AUM,
the Rig, Sama, and Yajur
Vedas,
the goal, sustainer, Lord, witness, home, refuge, friend,
the
origin, dissolution, state, treasury, seed eternal.
I radiate heat; I
withhold and send forth rain;
immortality and death, and truth and untruth am
I, Arjuna.

"'Knowers of the three Vedas,
soma drinkers cleansed
of evil,
worshipping me with sacrifices seek the way to heaven.
They,
attaining the pure world of the gods,
enjoy the heavenly divine pleasures in
heaven.
They, enjoying this vast heaven world,
in exhausted merit enter
the mortal world.
Thus following the triple duty
desiring desires they
obtain the going and coming.
The people of undivided contemplation who
worship me,
I lead their constant uniting to security.

"'Even those
devoted to other gods
who sacrifice accompanied by faith
they also
sacrifice to me, Kaunteya, outside the rules.
For I am the enjoyer and Lord
of all sacrifices,
but they do not recognize me in truth;
therefore they
fall.
Those devoted to the gods go to the gods;
to the ancestors go those
devoted to the ancestors.
To the spirits go those sacrificing to the
spirits;
those sacrificing to me go also to me.

"'Whoever offers to me
with devotion
a leaf, flower, fruit, water,
that devotion offered from a
pure soul I accept.
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you
offer,
whatever you give, whatever austerity you practice, Kaunteya,
do it
as an offering to me.
Thus you will be released from good and evil
fruits,
from the bonds of action;
the soul united in the yoga of
renunciation,
liberated, you shall come to me.

"'I am the same in all
beings;
there is none disliked or favored by me.
But whoever loves me with
devotion,
they are in me, and I am also in them.
Even if an evil doer
loves me with undivided devotion,
this one is to be considered good;
for
this one is correctly resolved.
Quickly the soul becomes right; it enters
perpetual peace.

"'Kaunteya, be aware.
No devotee of mine is
lost.
Relying on me, Partha, even if they should be
women of evil wombs,
merchants, even servants,
they also reach the supreme goal.
How much more
then holy teachers, devoted ruling seers!
Having obtained this impermanent
unhappy world, love me.
With the mind on me, be devoted to me;
sacrificing
to me, honor me;
thus uniting the soul with me as the supreme aim
you will
come to me.'

This has been published in the WISDOM BIBLE as
a book. For ordering information, please click here. This text
is also available as spoken by Sanderson Beck on CD.

10. The Yoga of
Manifestation
11. Vision of the Universal
Form
12. The Yoga of
Devotion
13.
Distinguishing the Field and the Knower
14. Distinguishing the Three
Qualities
15. The Yoga of the Highest
Spirit
16. Distinguishing the Divine and
the Demonic
17.
Distinguishing Three Kinds of Faith
18. The Yoga of Liberation by
Renunciation

WISDOM OF CHINA
AND INDIA Contents
Hindu Philosophy ETHICS OF
CIVILIZATION

BECK
index