The Bhagavad Gita

¹Dhritarâshtra said: On the holy plain, on the field of Kuru, gathered together, eager for battle, what did they, O Sanjaya, my people and the Pândavas?

²Sanjaya said: Having seen arrayed the army of the Pândavas, the Prince Duryodhana approached his teacher, and spake these words:

³"Behold this mighty host of the sons of Pându, O teacher, arrayed by the son of Drupada, thy wise disciple.

⁴Heroes are these, mighty bowmen, to Bhîma and Arjuna equal in battle: Yuyudhâna, Virâta, and Drupada of the great car.

⁵Drishtaketu, Chekitâna and the valiant King of Kâshi, Purujit and Kuntibhoja, and Shaivya, bull among men;

⁶Yudhâmanyu the strong, and Uttamaujas the brave; Saubhadra and the Draupadeyas, all of great cars.

⁷Know further all those who are our chiefs, O best of the twice-born, the leaders of my army; these I name to thee for thy information:

⁸Thou, Lord, and Bhîshma, and Karna and Kripa, conquering in battle; Ashvatthâmâ, Vikarna, and Saumadatti also;

⁹And many others, heroes, for my sake renouncing their lives, with divers weapons and missiles, and all well-skilled in war.

¹⁰Yet insufficient seems this army of ours, though marshalled by Bhîshma, while that army of theirs seems sufficient, though marshalled by Bhîma;

¹¹Therefore in the rank and file let all, standing firmly in their respective divisions, guard Bhîshma, even all ye generals.

¹²To enhearten him, the Ancient of the Kurus, the Grandsire, the glorious, blew his conch, sounding on high a lion's roar.

¹³Then conches and kettledrums, tabors and drums and cowhorns, suddenly blared forth, and the sound was tumultuous.

¹⁴Then, stationed in their great war-chariot, yoked to white horses, Mâdhava and the son of Pându blew their divine conches.

¹⁵Pânchajanya by Hrishîkesha, and Devadatta by Dhananjaya. Vrikodara of terrible deeds blew his mighty conch, Paundra;

¹⁶The King Yudhishthira, the son of Kuntî, blew Anantavijaya; Nakula and Sahadeva, Sughosha and Manipushpaka.

¹⁷And Kâshya, of the great bow and Shikhandî, the mighty car-warrior, Drishtadyumna and Virâta and Sâtyaki, the unconquered.

¹⁸Drupada and the Draupadeyas, O Lord of earth, and Saubhadra, the mighty-armed, on all sides their several conches blew.

¹⁹That tumultuous uproar rent the hearts of the sons of Dhritarâshtra, filling the earth and sky with sound.

²⁰Then, beholding the sons of Dhritarâshtra standing arrayed, and flight of missiles about to begin, he whose crest is an ape, the son of Pându, took up his bow,

²¹And spake this word to Hrishîkesha, O Lord of Earth: Arjuna said: In the midst, between the two armies, stay my chariot, O Achyuta,

²²That I may behold these standing, longing for battle, with whom I must strive in this outbreaking war,

²³And gaze on those here gathered together ready to fight, desirous of pleasing in battle the evil-minded son of Dhritarâshtra.

²⁴Sanjaya said: Thus addressed by Gudâkesha, Hrishîkesha, O Bhârata, having stayed that best of chariots in the midst, between the two armies,

²⁵Over against Bhîshma, Drona and all the rulers of the world, said: "O Pârtha, behold these Kurus gathered together."

²⁶Then saw Pârtha standing there, uncles and grandfathers, teachers, mother's brothers, cousins, sons and grandsons, comrades,

²⁷Fathers-in-law and benefactors also in both armies; seeing all these kinsmen thus standing arrayed, Kaunteya,

²⁸कृपया परयाऽऽविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत् । Deeply moved to pity, thus uttered in sadness: Arjuna said: Seeing these my kinsmen, O Krishna, arrayed, eager to fight,

²⁹My limbs fail and my mouth is parched, my body quivers, and my hair stands on end,

³⁰Gândîva slips from my hand, and my skin burns all over, I am not able to stand, my mind is whirling,

³¹And I see adverse omens, O Keshava. Nor do I foresee any advantage from slaying kinsmen in battle.

³²For I desire not victory, O Krishna, nor kingdom, nor pleasures; what is kingdom to us, O Govinda, what enjoyment or even life?

³³Those for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments and pleasures, they stand here in battle, abandoning life and riches—

³⁴Teachers, fathers, sons, as well as grandfathers, mother's brothers, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other relatives.

³⁵These I do not wish to kill, though myself slain, O Madhusûdana, even for the sake of the kingship of the three worlds; how then for earth?

³⁶Slaying these sons of Dhritarâshtra, what pleasure can be ours, O Janârdana? Killing these desperadoes, sin will but take hold of us.

³⁷Therefore we should not kill the sons of Dhritarâshtra, our relatives; for how, killing our kinsmen, may we be happy, O Mâdhava?

³⁸Although these, with intelligence overpowered by greed, see no guilt in the destruction of a family, no crime in hostility to friends,

³⁹Why should not we learn to turn away from such a sin, O Janârdana, who see the evils in the destruction of a family?

⁴⁰In the destruction of a family the immemorial family traditions perish; in the perishing of tradition, lawlessness overcomes the whole family;

⁴¹Owing to predominance of lawlessness, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt; women corrupted, O Vârshneya, there ariseth caste confusion;

⁴²This confusion draggeth to hell the slayers of the family, and the family; for their ancestors fall, deprived of rice-balls and libations.

⁴³By these caste-confusing misdeeds of the slayers of the family, the everlasting caste customs and family customs are abolished.

⁴⁴The abode of the men whose family customs are extinguished, O Janârdana, is everlastingly in hell. Thus have we heard.

⁴⁵Alas! in committing a great sin are we engaged, we who are endeavouring to kill our kindred from greed of the pleasures of kingship.

⁴⁶If the sons of Dhritarâshtra, weapon in hand, should slay me, unresisting, unarmed, in the battle, that would for me be the better.

⁴⁷Sanjaya said: Having thus spoken on the battle-field, Arjuna sank down on the seat of the chariot, casting away his bow and arrow, his mind overborne by grief.

¹Sanjaya said: To him thus with pity overcome, with smarting brimming eyes, despondent, Madhusûdana spake these words:

²The Blessed Lord said: Whence hath this dejection befallen thee in this perilous strait, ignoble, heaven-closing, infamous, O Arjuna?

³Yield not to impotence, O Partha! it doth not befit thee. Shake off this paltry faint-heartedness! Stand up, Parantapa!

⁴Arjuna said: How, O Madhusûdana, shall I attack Bhîshma and Drona with arrows in battle, they who are worthy of reverence, O slayer of foes?

⁵Better in this world to eat even the beggar's crust than to slay these most noble Gurus. Slaying these Gurus, our well-wishers, I should taste of blood-besprinkled feasts.

⁶Nor know I which for us be the better, that we conquer them or they conquer us—these, whom having slain we should not care to live, even these arrayed against us, the sons of Dhritarâshtra.

⁷My heart is weighed down with the vice of faintness; my mind is confused as to duty. I ask thee which may be the better—that tell me decisively. I am thy disciple, suppliant to Thee; teach me.

⁸For I see not that it would drive away this anguish that withers up my senses, if I should attain unrivalled monarchy on earth, or even the sovereignty of the Shining Ones.

⁹Sanjaya said: Gudâkesha, conqueror of his foes, having thus addressed Hrishîkesha and said to Govinda, "I will not fight!", became silent.

¹⁰Then Hrishîkesha, smiling, as it were, O Bhârata, spake these words to him, despondent, in the midst of the two armies:

¹¹The Blessed Lord said: Thou grievest for those that should not be griev ed for, yet speakest words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.

¹²Nor at any time verily was I not, nor thou, nor these princes of men, nor verily shall we ever cease to be, hereafter.

¹³As the dweller in the body experienceth in the body childhood, youth, old age, so passeth he on to another body; the steadfast one grieveth not thereat.

¹⁴The contacts of matter, O son of Kuntî, giving cold and heat, pleasure and pain, they come and go, impermanent; endure them bravely, O Bhârata.

¹⁵The man whom these torment not, O chief of men, balanced in pain and pleasure, steadfast, he is fitted for immortality.

¹⁶The unreal hath no being; the real never ceaseth to be; the truth about both hath been perceived by the seers of the essence of things.

¹⁷Know That to be indestructible by whom all this is pervaded. Nor can any work the destruction of that imperishable One.

¹⁸These bodies of the embodied One, who is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, are known as finite. Therefore fight, O Bhârata.

¹⁹He who regardeth this as a slayer, and he who thinketh he is slain, both of them are ignorant. He slayeth not, nor is he slain.

²⁰He is not born, nor doth he die; nor having been, ceaseth he any more to be; unborn, perpetual, eternal and ancient, he is not slain when the body is slaughtered.

²¹Who knoweth him indestructible, perpetual, unborn, undiminishing, how can that man slay, O Pârtha, or cause to be slain?

²²As a man, casting off worn-out garments, taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, casting off worn-out bodies, entereth into others that are new.

²³Weapons cleave him not, nor fire burneth him, nor waters wet him, nor wind drieth him away.

²⁴Uncleavable he, incombustible he, and indeed neither to be wetted nor dried away; perpetual, all-pervasive, stable, immovable, ancient.

²⁵Unmanifest, unthinkable, immutable, he is called; therefore knowing him as such, thou shouldst not grieve.

²⁶Or if thou thinkest of him as being constantly born and constantly dying, even then, O mighty-armed, thou shouldst not grieve.

²⁷For certain is death for the born, and certain is birth for the dead; therefore over the inevitable thou shouldst not grieve.

²⁸Beings are unmanifest in their origin, manifest in their midmost state, O Bhârata, unmanifest likewise are they in dissolution. What room then for lamentation?

²⁹As marvellous one regardeth him; as marvellous another speaketh thereof; as marvellous another heareth thereof; yet having heard none indeed understandeth.

³⁰This dweller in the body of everyone is ever invulnerable, O Bhârata; therefore thou shouldst not grieve for any creature.

³¹Further, looking to thine own duty thou shouldst not tremble; for there is nothing more welcome to a Kshattriya than righteous war.

³²Happy the Kshattriyas, O Pârtha, who obtain such a fight, offered unsought as an open door to heaven.

³³But if thou wilt not carry on this righteous warfare, then casting away thine own duty and thine honour, thou wilt incur sin.

³⁴Men will recount thy perpetual dishonour, and, to one highly esteemed, dishonour exceedeth death.

³⁵The great car-warriors will think thee fled from the battle from fear, and thou, that wast highly thought of by them, wilt be lightly held.

³⁶Many unseemly words will be spoken by thine enemies, slandering thy strength; what more painful than that?

³⁷Slain, thou wilt obtain heaven; victorious, thou wilt enjoy the earth; therefore stand up, O son of Kuntî, resolute to fight.

³⁸Taking as equal pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, gird thee for the battle; thus thou shalt not incur sin.

³⁹This teaching set forth to thee is in accordance with the Sâñkhya; hear it now according to the Yoga, imbued with which teaching, O Pârtha, thou shalt cast away the bonds of action.

⁴⁰In this there is no loss of effort, nor is there transgression. Even a little of this knowledge protects from great fear.

⁴¹The determinate Reason is but one-pointed, O joy of the Kurus; many-branched and endless are the thoughts of the irresolute.

⁴²Flowery speech is uttered by the foolish, rejoicing in the letter of the Vedas, O Pârtha, saying: "There is naught but this";

⁴³With desire for self, with heaven for goal, they offer birth as the fruit of action, and prescribe many and various ceremonies for the attainment of pleasure and lordship.

⁴⁴For them who cling to pleasure and lordship, whose minds are captivated by such teaching, is not designed this determinate Reason, on contemplation steadily bent.

⁴⁵The Vedas deal with the three attributes; be thou above these three attributes, O Arjuna; beyond the pairs of opposites, ever steadfast in purity, careless of possessions, full of the Self.

⁴⁶All the Vedas are as useful to an enlightened Brâhmana as is a tank in a place covered all over with water.

⁴⁷Thy business is with the action only, never with its fruits; so let not the fruit of action be thy motive, nor be thou to inaction attached.

⁴⁸Perform action, O Dhananjaya, dwelling in union with the divine, renouncing attachments and balanced evenly in success and failure: equilibrium is called yoga.

⁴⁹Far lower than the Yoga of Discrimination is action, O Dhananjaya. Take thou refuge in the Pure Reason; pitiable are they who work for fruit.

⁵⁰United to the Pure Reason one abandoneth here both good and evil deeds; therefore cleave thou to yoga; yoga is skill in action.

⁵¹The Sages, united to the Pure Reason, renounce the fruit which action yieldeth, and, liberated from the bonds of birth, they go to the blissful seat.

⁵²When thy mind shall escape from this tangle of delusion, then thou shalt rise to indifference as to what has been heard and shall be heard.

⁵³When thy mind, bewildered by the Scriptures, shall stand immovable, fixed in contemplation, then shalt thou attain unto yoga.

⁵⁴Arjuna said: What the mark, of him who is stable of mind, steadfast in contemplation, O Keshava? How doth the stable-minded talk, how doth he sit, how walk?

⁵⁵The Blessed Lord said: When a man abandoneth, O Pârtha, all the desires of the heart, and is satisfied in the Self by the Self, then is he called stable in mind.

⁵⁶He whose mind is free from anxiety amid pains, indifferent amid pleasures, loosed from passion, fear and anger, is called a sage of stable mind.

⁵⁷He who on every side is without attachments, whatever hap of fair and foul, who neither likes nor dislikes, of such a one the understanding is well poised.

⁵⁸When, again, as a tortoise draws in on all sides its limbs, he withdraws his senses from the objects of sense, then is his understanding well poised.

⁵⁹The objects of sense, but not the relish for them, turn away from an abstemious dweller in the body; and even relish turneth away from him after the Supreme is seen.

⁶⁰O son of Kuntî, the excited senses of even a wise man, though he be striving, impetuously carry away his mind.

⁶¹Having restrained them all, he should sit harmonised, I his supreme goal; for, whose senses are mastered, of him the understanding is well poised.

⁶²Man, musing on the objects of sense, conceiveth an attachment to these; from attachment ariseth desire; from desire anger cometh forth;

⁶³From anger proceedeth delusion; from delusion confused memory; from confused memory the destruction of Reason; from destruction of Reason he perishes.

⁶⁴But the disciplined self, moving among sense-objects with senses free from attraction and repulsion, mastered by the Self, goeth to peace.

⁶⁵In that Peace the extinction of all pains ariseth for him, for of him whose heart is peaceful the Reason soon attaineth equilibrium.

⁶⁶There is no Pure Reason for the non-harmonised, nor for the non-harmonised is there concentration; for him without concentration there is no peace, and for the unpeaceful how can there be happiness?

⁶⁷Such of the roving senses as the mind yieldeth to, that hurries away the understanding, just as the gale hurries away a ship upon the waters.

⁶⁸Therefore, O mighty-armed, whose senses are all completely restrained from the objects of sense, of him the understanding is well poised.

⁶⁹That which is the night of all beings, for the disciplined man is the time of waking; when other beings are waking, then is it night for the sage who seeth.

⁷⁰He attaineth Peace, into whom all desires flow as rivers flow into the ocean, which is filled with water, but remaineth unmoved—not he who desireth desires.

⁷¹Whoso forsaketh all desires and goeth onwards free from yearnings, selfless and without egoism—he goeth to Peace.

⁷²This is the Eternal state, O son of Prithâ. Having attained thereto, none is bewildered. Who, even at the death-hour, is established therein, he goeth to the Nirvâna of the Eternal.

¹Arjuna said: If it be thought by Thee that knowledge is superior to action, O Janârdana, why dost Thou, O Keshava, enjoin on me this terrible action?

²With these perplexing words Thou only confusest my understanding; therefore tell me with certainty the one way by which I may reach bliss.

³The Blessed Lord said: In this world there is a twofold path, as I before said, O sinless one: that of yoga by knowledge, of the Sâñkhyas; and that of yoga by action, of the Yogis.

⁴Man winneth not freedom from action by abstaining from activity, nor by mere renunciation doth he rise to perfection.

⁵Nor can anyone, even for an instant, remain really actionless; for helplessly is everyone driven to action by the qualities born of nature.

⁶Who sitteth, controlling the organs of action, but dwelling in his mind on the objects of the senses, that bewildered man is called a hypocrite.

⁷But who, controlling the senses by the mind, O Arjuna, with the organs of action without attachment, performeth yoga by action, he is worthy.

⁸Perform thou right action, for, action is superior to inaction, and, inactive, even the maintenance of thy body would not be possible.

⁹The world is bound by action, unless performed for the sake of sacrifice; for that sake, free from attachment, O son of Kuntî, perform thou action.

¹⁰Having in ancient times emanated mankind together with sacrifice, the Lord of emanation said: "By this shall ye propagate; be this to you the giver of desire;

¹¹"With this nourish ye the Shining Ones, and may the Shining Ones nourish you; thus nourishing one another ye shall reap the supremest good.

¹²"For, nourished by sacrifice, the Shining Ones shall bestow on you the enjoyments you desire." A thief verily is he who enjoyeth what is given by Them without returning Them aught.

¹³The righteous, who eat the remains of the sacrifice, are freed from all sins; but the impious, who dress food for their own sakes, they verily eat sin.

¹⁴From food creatures become; from rain is the production of food; rain proceedeth from sacrifice; sacrifice ariseth out of action.

¹⁵Know thou that from Brahma action groweth, and Brahma from the Imperishable cometh. Therefore the Eternal, the all-permeating, is ever present in sacrifice.

¹⁶He who on earth doth not follow the wheel thus revolving, sinful of life and rejoicing in the senses, he, O son of Pritha, liveth in vain.

¹⁷But the man who rejoiceth in the Self, with the Self is satisfied, and is content in the Self, for him verily there is nothing to do;

¹⁸For him there is no interest in things done, in this world, nor any in things not done, nor doth any object of his depend on any being.

¹⁹Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform action which is duty, for, by performing action without attachment, man verily reacheth the Supreme.

²⁰Janaka and others indeed attained to perfection by action: then having an eye to the welfare of he world also, thou shouldst perform action.

²¹Whatsoever a great man doeth, that other men also do; the standard he setteth up, by that the people go.

²²There is nothing in the three worlds, O Pârtha, that should be done by Me, nor anything unattained that might be attained; yet I mingle in action.

²³For if I mingled not ever in action unwearied, men all around would follow My path, O son of Prithâ.

²⁴These worlds would fall into ruin, if I did not perform action; I should be the author of confusion of castes, and should destroy these creatures.

²⁵As the ignorant act from attachment to action, O Bhârata, so should the wise act without attachment, desiring the welfare of the world.

²⁶Let no wise man unsettle the mind of ignorant people attached to action; but acting in harmony with Me let him render all action attractive.

²⁷All actions are wrought by the quali ties of nature only. The self, deluded by egoism, thinketh: "I am the doer."

²⁸But he, O mighty-armed, who knoweth the essence of the divisions of the qualities and functions, holding that "the qualities move amid the qualities," is not attached.

²⁹Those deluded by the qualities of nature are attached to the functions of the qualities. The man of perfect knowledge should not unsettle the foolish whose knowledge is imperfect.

³⁰Surrendering all actions to Me, with thy thoughts resting on the supreme Self, from hope and egoism freed, and of mental fever cured, engage in battle.

³¹Who abide ever in this teaching of Mine full of faith and free from caviling, they too are released from actions.

³²Who carp at My teaching and act not thereon, senseless, deluded in all knowledge, know thou these mindless ones as fated to be destroyed.

³³Even the man of knowledge behaves in conformity with his own nature; beings follow nature; what shall restraint avail?

³⁴Affection and aversion for the objects of sense abide in the senses; let none come under the dominion of these two; they are obstructors of the path.

³⁵Better one's own duty, though destitute of merit, than the duty of another, well discharged. Better death in the discharge of one's own duty; the duty of another is full of danger.

³⁶Arjuna said: But dragged on by what does a man commit sin, reluctantly indeed, O Varshneya, as it were by force constrained?

³⁷The Blessed Lord said: It is desire, it is wrath, begotten by the quality of motion; all-consuming, all-polluting, know thou this as our foe here on earth.

³⁸As a flame is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an embryo is wrapped by the amnion, so This is enveloped by it.

³⁹Enveloped is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise in the form of desire, which is insatiable as a flame.

⁴⁰The senses, the mind and the Reason are said to be its seat; by these enveloping wisdom, it bewilders the dweller in the body.

⁴¹Therefore, O best of the Bhâratas, mastering first the senses, do thou slay this thing of sin, destructive of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴²It is said that the senses are great; greater than the senses is the mind: greater than the mind is the Reason; but what is greater than the Reason, is He.

⁴³Thus understanding Him as greater than the Reason, restraining the self by the Self, slay thou, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome.

¹The Blessed Lord said: This imperishable yoga I declared to Vivasvân; Vivasvân taught it to Manu; Manu to Ikshvâku told it.

²This, handed on down the line, the King-Sages knew. This yoga by great efflux of time decayed in the world, O Parantapa.

³This same ancient yoga hath been to-day declared to thee by Me, for thou art My devotee and My friend; it is the supreme Secret.

⁴Arjuna said: Later was Thy birth, earlier the birth of Vivasvân; how then am I to understand that Thou declaredst it in the beginning?

⁵The Blessed Lord said: Many births have been left behind by Me and by thee, O Arjuna. I know them all, but thou knowest not thine, O Parantapa.

⁶Though unborn, the imperishable Self, and also the Lord of all beings, brooding over nature which is Mine own, yet I am born through My own Power.

⁷Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O Bhârata, and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I Myself come forth;

⁸For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age.

⁹He who thus knoweth My divine birth and action, in its essence, having abandoned the body, cometh not to birth again, but cometh unto Me, O Arjuna.

¹⁰Freed from passion, fear and anger, filled with Me, taking refuge in Me, purified in the fire of wisdom, many have entered into My Being.

¹¹However men approach Me, even so do I welcome them, for the path men take from every side is Mine, O Pârtha.

¹²They who long after success in action on earth worship the Shining Ones; for in brief space verily, in this world of men, success is born of action.

¹³The four castes were emanated by Me, by the different distribution of qualities and actions; know Me to be the author of them, though the actionless and inexhaustible.

¹⁴Nor do actions affect Me, nor is the fruit of action desired by Me. He who thus knoweth Me is not bound by actions.

¹⁵Having thus known, our forefathers, ever seeking liberation, performed action; therefore do thou also perform action, as did our forefathers in the olden time.

¹⁶"What is action, what inaction"? Even the wise are herein perplexed. Therefore I will declare to thee the action by knowing which thou shalt be loosed from evil.

¹⁷It is needful to discriminate action, to discriminate unlawful action, and to discriminate inaction; mysterious is the path of action.

¹⁸He who seeth inaction in action, and action in inaction, he is wise among men, he is harmonious, even while performing all action.

¹⁹Whose works are all free from the moulding of desire, whose actions are burned up by the fire of wisdom, him the wise have called a Sage.

²⁰Having abandoned attachment to the fruit of action, always content, nowhere seeking refuge, he is not doing anything, although doing actions.

²¹Hoping for naught, his mind and self controlled, having abandoned all greed, performing action by the body alone, he doth not commit sin.

²²Content with whatsoever he obtaineth without effort, free from the pairs of opposites, without envy, balanced in success and failure, though acting he is not bound.

²³Of one with attachment dead, harmonious, with his thoughts established in wisdom, his works sacrifices, all action melts away.

²⁴The Eternal the oblation, the Eternal the clarified butter, are offered in the Eternal the fire by the Eternal; unto the Eternal verily shall he go who in his action meditateth wholly upon the Eternal.

²⁵Some Yogis offer up sacrifice to the Shining Ones; others sacrifice only by pouring sacrifice into the fire of the Eternal;

²⁶Some pour as sacrifice hearing and the other senses into the fires of restraint; some pour sound and the other objects of sense into the fires of the senses as sacrifice;

²⁷Others again into the wisdom-kindled fire of union attained by self-control, pour as sacrifice all the functions of the senses and the functions of life;

²⁸Yet others the sacrifice of wealth, the sacrifice of austerity, the sacrifice of yoga, the sacrifice of silent reading and wisdom, men concentrated and of effectual vows;

²⁹Yet others pour as sacrifice the outgoing breath in the incoming, and the incoming in the outgoing, restraining the flow of the outgoing and incoming breaths, solely absorbed in the control of breathing.

³⁰Others regular in food, pour as sacrifice their life-breaths in life-breaths. All these are knowers of sacrifice, and by sacrifice have destroyed their sins.

³¹The eaters of the life-giving remains of sacrifice go to the changeless Eternal. This world is not for the non-sacrificer, much less the other, O best of the Kurus.

³²Many and various sacrifices are thus spread out before the Eternal. Know thou that all these are born of action, and thus knowing thou shalt be free.

³³Better than the sacrifice of any objects is the sacrifice of wisdom, O Parantapa. All actions in their entirety, O Pârtha, culminate in wisdom.

³⁴Learn thou this by discipleship, by investiga tion, and by service. The wise, the seers of the essence of things, will instruct thee in wisdom.

³⁵And having known this, thou shalt not again fall into this confusion, O Pândava; for by this thou wilt see all beings without exception in the Self, and thus in Me.

³⁶Even if thou art the most sinful of all sinners, yet shalt thou cross over all sin by the raft of wisdom.

³⁷As the burning fire reduces fuel to ashes, O Arjuna, so doth the fire of wisdom reduce all actions to ashes.

³⁸Verily there is no purifier in this world like wisdom; he that is perfected in yoga finds it in the Self in due season.

³⁹The man who is full of faith obtaineth wisdom, and he also who hath mastery over his senses; and, having obtained wisdom, he goeth swiftly to the supreme Peace.

⁴⁰But the ignorant, faithless, doubting self goeth to destruction; nor this world, nor that beyond, nor happiness, is there for the doubting self.

⁴¹He who hath renounced actions by yoga, who hath cloven asunder doubt by wisdom, who is ruled by the Self, actions do not bind him, O Dhananjaya.

⁴²Therefore, with the sword of the wisdom of the Self cleaving asunder this ignorance-born doubt dwelling in thy heart, be established in yoga. Stand up, O Bhârata.

¹Arjuna said: Renunciation of actions Thou praisest, O Krishna, and then also yoga. Of the two which one is the better? That tell me conclusively.

²The Blessed Lord said: Renunciation and yoga by action both lead to the highest bliss; of the two, yoga by action is verily better than renunciation of action.

³He should be known as a perpetual ascetic, who neither hateth nor desireth; free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed, he is easily set free from bondage.

⁴Children, not sages, speak of the Sânkhya and the Yoga as different; he who is duly established in one obtaineth the fruits of both.

⁵That place which is gained by the Sânkhyas is reached by the Yogîs also. He seeth, who seeth that the Sânkhya and the Yoga are one.

⁶But without yoga, O mighty-armed, renunciation is hard to attain to; the yoga-harmonised Muni swiftly goeth to the Eternal.

⁷He who is harmonised by yoga, the self purified, Self -ruled, the senses subdued, whose Self is the Self of all beings, although acting he is not affected.

⁸"I do not anything," should think the harmonised one, who knoweth the essence of things; seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing.

⁹Speaking, giving, grasping, opening and closing the eyes, he holdeth: "The senses move among the objects of the senses."

¹⁰He who acteth, placing all actions in the Eternal, abandoning attachment, is unaffected by sin as a lotus leaf by the waters.

¹¹Yogis, having abandoned attachment, perform action only by the body, by the mind, by the Reason, and even by the senses, for the purification of the self.

¹²The harmonised man, having abandoned the fruit of action, attaineth to the eternal Peace; the non-harmonised, impelled by desire, attached to fruit, are bound.

¹³Mentally renouncing all actions, the sovereign dweller in the body resteth serenely in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing to act.

¹⁴The Lord of the world produceth not the idea of agency, nor actions, nor the union together of action and its fruit; nature, however, manifesteth.

¹⁵The Lord accepteth neither the evil-doing nor yet the well-doing of any. Wisdom is enveloped by unwisdom; therewith mortals are deluded.

¹⁶Verily, in whom unwisdom is destroyed by the wisdom of the Self, in them wisdom, shining as the sun, reveals the Supreme.

¹⁷Thinking on That, merged in That, established in That, solely devoted to That, they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by wisdom.

¹⁸Sages look equally on a Brâhmana adorned with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, and even a dog and an outcaste.

¹⁹Even here on earth everything is overcome by those whose mind remains balanced; the Eternal is incorruptible and balanced; therefore they are established in the Eternal.

²⁰With Reason firm, unperplexed, the knower of the Eternal established in the Eternal, neither rejoiceth on obtaining what is pleasant, nor sorroweth on obtaining what is unpleasant.

²¹He, whose self is unattached to external contacts and findeth joy in the Self, having the self harmonised with the Eternal by yoga, enjoys imperishable bliss.

²²The delights that are contact-born, they are verily wombs of pain, for they have beginning and ending, O Kaunteya; not in them may rejoice the wise.

²³He who is able to endure here on earth, ere he be liberated from the body, the force born from desire and passion, he is harmonised, he is a happy man.

²⁴He who is happy within, who rejoiceth within, who is illuminated within, that Yogî, becoming the Eternal, goeth to the Peace of the Eternal.

²⁵Rishis, their sins destroyed, their duality removed, their selves controlled, intent upon the welfare of all beings, obtain the Peace of the Eternal.

²⁶The Peace of the Eternal lies near to those who know themselves, who are disjoined from desire and passion, subdued in nature, of subdued thoughts.

²⁷Having external contacts excluded, and with gaze fixed between the eyebrows; having made equal the outgoing and ingoing breaths moving within the nostrils;

²⁸With senses, mind, and Reason ever controlled, solely pursuing liberation, the Sage, having for ever cast away desire, fear and passion, verily is liberated.

²⁹Having known Me, as the Enjoyer of sacrifice and of austerity, the mighty Ruler of all the worlds, and the Lover of all beings, he goeth to Peace.

¹The Blessed Lord said: He that performeth such action as his duty, independently of the fruit of action, he is an ascetic, he is a Yogî, not he that is without fire, and without rites.

²That which is called renunciation, know thou that as yoga, O Pândava; nor doth any one become a Yogî with the formative will unrenounced.

³For a Sage who is seeking Yoga, action is called the means; for the same Sage, when he is enthroned in yoga, serenity is called the means.

⁴When a man feeleth no attachment either for the objects of sense or for actions, renouncing the formative will, then, he is said to be enthroned in yoga.

⁵Let him raise the self by the Self and not let the self become depressed; for verily is the Self the friend of the self, and also the Self the self's enemy;

⁶The Self is the friend of the self of him in whom the self by the Self is vanquished; but to the unsubdued self the Self verily becometh hostile as an enemy.

⁷The higher Self of him who is Self -controlled and peaceful is uniform in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as well as in honour and dishonour.

⁸The Yogî who is satisfied with wisdom and knowledge, unwavering, whose senses are sub dued, to whom a lump of earth, a stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonised.

⁹He who regards impartially lovers, friends, and foes, strangers, neutrals, foreigners and relatives, also the righteous and unrighteous, he excelleth.

¹⁰Let the Yogî constantly engage himself in yoga, remaining in a secret place by himself, with thought and self subdued, free from hope and greed.

¹¹In a pure place, established on a fixed seat of his own, neither very much raised nor very low, made of a cloth, a black antelope skin, and kusha grass, one over the other;

¹²There, having made the mind one-pointed, with thought and the functions of the senses subdued, steady on his seat, he should practise yoga for the purification of the self.

¹³Holding the body, head and neck erect, immovably steady, looking fixedly at the point of the nose, with unseeing gaze,

¹⁴The self serene, fearless, firm in the vow of the Brahmachâri, the mind controlled, thinking on Me, harmonised, let him sit aspiring after Me.

¹⁵The Yogî ever united thus with the Self, with the mind controlled, goeth to Peace, to the supreme Bliss that abideth in Me.

¹⁶Verily yoga is not for him who eateth too much, nor who abstaineth to excess, nor who is too much addicted to sleep, nor even to wakefulness, O Arjuna.

¹⁷Yoga killeth out all pain for him who is regulated in eating and amusement, regulated in performing actions, regulated in sleeping and waking.

¹⁸When his subdued thought is fixed on the Self, free from longing after all desirable things, then it is said, "he is harmonised."

¹⁹As a lamp in a windless place flickereth not, to such is likened the Yogî of subdued thought, absorbed in the yoga of the Self.

²⁰That in which the mind finds rest, quieted by the practice of yoga: that in which he, seeing the Self by the Self, in the Self is satisfied;

²¹That in which he findeth the supreme delight which the Reason can grasp beyond the senses, wherein established he moveth not from the Reality;

²²Which, having obtained, he thinketh there is no greater gain beyond it; wherein, established, he is not shaken even by heavy sorrow;

²³That should be known by the name of yoga, this disconnection from the union with pain. This yoga must be clung to with a firm conviction and with undesponding mind.

²⁴Abandoning without reserve all desires born of the imagination, by the mind curbing in the aggregate of the senses on every side,

²⁵Little by little let him gain tranquillity, by means of Reason controlled by steadiness; having made the mind abide in the Self, let him not think of anything.

²⁶As often as the wavering and unsteady mind goeth forth, so often reining it in, let him bring it under the control of the Self.

²⁷Supreme joy is for this Yogi whose mind is peaceful, whose passion-nature is calmed, who is sinless and of the nature of the Eternal.

²⁸The Yogî who thus, ever harmonising the self, hath put away sin, he easily enjoyeth the infinite bliss of contact with the Eternal.

²⁹The self, harmonised by yoga, seeth the Self abiding in all beings, all beings in the Self; everywhere he seeth the same.

³⁰He who seeth Me everywhere, and seeth everything in Me, of him will I never lose hold, and he shall never lose hold of Me.

³¹He who, established in unity, worshippeth Me abiding in all beings, that Yogi liveth in Me, whatever his mode of living.

³²He who, through the likeness of the Self, O Arjuna, seeth equality in everything, whether pleasant or painful, he is considered a perfect Yogî.

³³This yoga which Thou hast declared to be by equanimity, O Madhusûdana, I see not a stable foundation for it, owing to restlessness;

³⁴For the mind is verily restless, O Krishna; it is impetuous, strong and difficult to bend. I deem it as hard to curb as the wind.

³⁵The Blessed Lord said: Without doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is hard to curb and restless; but it may be curbed by constant practice and by dispassion.

³⁶Yoga is hard to attain, methinks, by a self that is uncontrolled; but by the Self -controlled it is attainable by properly directed energy.

³⁷Arjuna said: He who is unsubdued but who possesseth faith, with the mind wandering away from yoga, failing to attain perfection in yoga, what path doth he tread, O Krishna?

³⁸Fallen from both, is he destroyed like a rent cloud, unsteadfast, O mighty-armed, deluded in the path of the Eternal?

³⁹Deign, O Krishna, to completely dispel this doubt of mine; for there is none to be found save Thyself able to destroy this doubt.

⁴⁰The Blessed Lord said: O son of Prithâ, neither in this world nor in the life to come is there destruction for him; never doth any who worketh righteousness, O beloved, tread the path of woe.

⁴¹Having attained to the worlds of the pure-doing, and having dwelt there for immemorial years, he who fell from yoga is reborn in a pure and blessed house;

⁴²Or he may even be born into a family of wise Yogîs; but such a birth as that is most difficult to obtain in this world.

⁴³There he recovereth the characteristics belonging to this former body, and with these he again laboureth for perfection, O joy of the Kurus.

⁴⁴By that former practice he is irresistibly swept away. Only wishing to know yoga, even the seeker after yoga goeth beyond the Brâhmic world;

⁴⁵But the Yogî, labouring with assiduity, purified from sin, fully perfected through manifold births, he reacheth the supreme goal.

⁴⁶The Yogî is greater than the ascetics; he is thought to be greater than even the wise; the Yogî is greater than the men of action; therefore become thou a Yogî, O Arjuna!

⁴⁷And among all Yogîs, he who, full of faith, with the inner Self abiding in Me, adoreth Me, he is considered by Me to be the most completely harmonised.

¹The Blessed Lord said: With the mind clinging to me, O Pârtha, performing yoga, refuged in Me, how thou shalt without doubt know Me to the uttermost, that hear thou.

²I will declare to thee this knowledge and wisdom in its completeness, which, having known, there is nothing more here needeth to be known.

³Among thousands of men scarce one striveth for perfection; of the successful strivers scarce one knoweth Me in essence.

⁴Earth, water, fire, air, ether, Mind, and Reason also and Egoism—these are the eightfold division of My nature.

⁵This the inferior. Know My other nature, the higher, the life-element, O mighty-armed, by which the universe is upheld.

⁶Know this to be the womb of all beings. I am the source of the forthgoing of the whole universe and likewise the place of its dissolving.

⁷There is naught whatsoever higher than I, O Dhananjaya. All this is threaded on Me, as rows of pearls on a string.

⁸I the sapidity in waters, O son of Kuntî, I the radiance in moon and sun; the Word of Power in all the Vedas, sound in ether, and virility in men;

⁹The pure fragrance of earths and the bril liance in fire am I; the life in all beings am I, and the austerity in ascetics.

¹⁰Know Me, O Pârtha! as the eternal seed of all beings. I am the Reason of the Reason -endowed, the splendour of splendid things am I.

¹¹And I the strength of the strong, devoid of desire and passion. In beings I am desire not contrary to duty, O Lord of the Bharatas.

¹²The natures that are harmonious, active, slothful, these know as from Me; not I in them, but they in me.

¹³All this world, deluded by these natures made by the three qualities, knoweth not Me, above these, imperishable.

¹⁴This divine illusion of Mine, caused by the qualities, is hard to pierce; they who come to Me, they cross over this illusion.

¹⁵The evil-doing, the deluded, the vilest men, they come not to Me, they whose wisdom is destroyed by illusion, who have embraced the nature of demons.

¹⁶Fourfold in division are the righteous ones who worship me, O Arjuna; the suffering, the seeker for knowledge, the self-interested and the wise, O Lord of the Bhâratas.

¹⁷Of these the wise, constantly harmonised, worshipping the One, is the best; I am supremely dear to the wise, and he is dear to Me.

¹⁸Noble are all these, but I hold the wise as verily Myself; he, Self united, is fixed on Me, the highest Path.

¹⁹At the close of many births the man full of wisdom cometh unto Me; "Vâsudeva is all." saith he, the Mahâtmâ, very difficult to find.

²⁰They whose wisdom hath been rent away by desires go forth to other Shining Ones, resorting to various external observances, according to their own natures.

²¹Any devotee who seeketh to worship with faith any such aspect, I verily bestow the unswerving faith of that man.

²²He endowed with that faith, seeketh the worship of such a one, and from him he obtaineth his desires, I verily decreeing the benefits;

²³Finite indeed the fruit that belongeth to those who are of small intelligence. To the Shining Ones go the worshippers of the Shining Ones, but my devotees come unto Me.

²⁴Those devoid of Reason think of Me, the unmanifest, as having manifestation, knowing not My supreme nature, imperishable, most excellent.

²⁵Nor am I of all discovered, enveloped in My creation-illusion. This deluded world knoweth Me not, the unborn, the imperishable.

²⁶I know the beings that are past, that are present, that are to come, O Arjuna, but no one knoweth Me.

²⁷By the delusion of the pairs of opposites, sprung from attraction and repulsion, O Bhârata, all beings walk this universe wholly deluded, O Parantapa.

²⁸But those men of pure deeds, in whom sin is come to an end, they, freed from the delusive pairs of opposites, worship Me, steadfast in vows.

²⁹They who, refuged in Me, strive for liberation from birth and death, they know the Eternal, the whole Self -knowledge, and all action.

³⁰They who know Me as the knowledge of the elements, as that of the Shining Ones, and as that of the Sacrifice, they harmonised in mind, know Me verily even in the time of forthgoing.

¹Arjuna said: What is that Eternal, what Self -knowledge, what Action, O Purushottama? And what is declared to be the knowledge of the Elements, what is called the knowledge of the Shining Ones?

²What is the knowledge of Sacrifice in this body, and how, O, Madhusûdana? And how, at the time of forthgoing art Thou known by the Self -controlled?

³The Blessed Lord said: The indestructible, the supreme is the Eternal; His essential nature is called Self -knowledge; the emanation that causes the birth of beings is named Action;

⁴Knowledge of the Elements concerns My perishable nature, and knowledge of the Shining Ones concerns the life-giving energy; the knowledge of Sacrifice tells of Me, as wearing the body, O best of living beings.

⁵And he who, casting off the body, goeth forth thinking upon Me only at the time of the end, he entereth into My being: there is no doubt of that.

⁶Whosoever at the end abandoneth the body, thinking upon any being, to that being only he goeth, O Kaunteya, ever to that conformed in nature.

⁷Therefore at all times think upon Me only and fight. With mind and Reason set on Me, without doubt thou shalt come to Me.

⁸With the mind not wandering after aught else, harmonised by continual practice, constantly meditating, O Pârtha, one goeth to the Spirit supreme, divine.

⁹He who thinketh upon the Ancient, the Omniscient, the All-Ruler, minuter than the minute, the supporter of all, of form unimaginable, refulgent as the sun beyond the darkness,

¹⁰In the time of forthgoing, with unshaken mind, fixed in devotion, by the power of yoga drawing together his life-breath in the centre of the two eyebrows, he goeth to this Spirit, supreme, divine.

¹¹That which is declared indestructible by the Veda-knowers, that which the controlled and passion-free enter, that desiring which Brahmacharya is performed, that path I will declare to thee with brevity.

¹²All the gates closed, the mind confined in the heart, the life-breath fixed in his own head, concentrated by yoga,

¹³"Aum!" the one syllabled Eternal, reciting, thinking upon Me, he who goeth forth, abandoning the body, he goeth on the highest path.

¹⁴He who constantly thinketh upon Me, not thinking ever of another, of him I am easily reached, O Pârtha, of this ever-harmonised Yogî.

¹⁵Having come to Me, these Mahâtmâs come not again to birth, the place of pain, non-eternal; they have gone to the highest bliss.

¹⁶The worlds, beginning with the world of Brahmâ, they come and go, O Arjuna; but he who cometh unto Me, O Kaunteya, he knoweth birth no more.

¹⁷The people who know the day of Brahmâ, a thousand ages in duration, and the night a thousand ages in ending, they know day and night.

¹⁸From the unmanifested all the manifested stream forth at the coming of day; at the coming of night they dissolve, even in That called the unmanifested.

¹⁹This multitude of beings, going forth repeatedly, is dissolved at the coming of night: by ordination, O Pârtha, it streams forth at the coming of day.

²⁰Therefore verily there existeth, higher than that unmanifested, another unmanifested, eternal, which in the destroying of all beings, is not destroyed.

²¹That unmanifested, "the Indestructible," It is called; It is named the highest Path. They who reach It return not. That is My supreme abode.

²²He, the highest Spirit, O Pârtha, may be reached by unswerving devotion to Him alone, in whom all beings abide, by whom all This is pervaded.

²³That time wherein going forth Yogîs return not, and also that wherein going forth they return, that time shall I declare to thee, O prince of the Bhâratas.

²⁴Fire, light, day-time, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern path—then, going forth, the men who know the Eternal go to the Eternal.

²⁵Smoke, night-time, the dark fortnight also, the six months of the southern path—then the Yogî, obtaining the moonlight, returneth.

²⁶Light and darkness, these are thought to be the world's everlasting paths; by the one he goeth who returneth not, by the other he who returneth again.

²⁷Knowing these paths, O Pârtha, the Yogi is nowise perplexed. Therefore in all times be firm in yoga, O Arjuna.

²⁸The fruit of meritorious deeds, attached in the Vedas to sacrifices, to austerities, and also to almsgiving, the Yogî passeth all these by having known this, and goeth to the supreme and ancient Seat.

¹The Blessed Lord said: To thee, the uncarping, verily shall I declare this profoundest Secret, wisdom with knowledge combined, which, having known, thou shalt be freed from evil.

²Kingly Science, kingly Secret, supreme Purifier, this; intuitional, according to righteousness, very easy to perform, imperishable.

³Men without faith in this knowledge, O Parantapa, not reaching Me, return to the paths of this world of death.

⁴By Me all this world is pervaded in My unmanifested aspect; all beings have root in Me, I am not rooted in them.

⁵Nor have beings root in Me; behold My sovereign Yoga! The support of beings, yet not rooted in beings, My Self their efficient cause.

⁶As the mighty air everywhere moving is rooted in the Ether, so all beings rest rooted in Me—thus know thou.

⁷All beings, O Kaunteya, enter my lower nature at the end of a world-age; at the beginning of a world-age again I emanate them.

⁸Hidden in Nature, which is mine own, I emanate again and again all this multitude of beings, helpless, by the force of Nature.

⁹Nor do these works bind me, O Dhananjaya, enthroned on high unattached to actions.

¹⁰Under Me as supervisor, Nature sends forth the moving and unmoving: because of this, O Kaunteya, the universe revolves.

¹¹The foolish disregard Me, when clad in human semblance, ignorant of My supreme nature, the great Lord of beings;

¹²Empty of hope, empty of deeds, empty of wisdom, senseless, partaking of the deceitful, brutal and demoniacal nature.

¹³Verily the Mahâtmâs, O Partha, partaking of My divine nature, worship with unwavering mind, having known Me, the imperishable source of beings.

¹⁴Always magnifying Me, strenuous, firm in vows, prostrating themselves before Me, they worship Me with devotion ever harmonised.

¹⁵Others also, sacrificing with the sacrifice of wisdom, worship Me as the One and the Manifold everywhere present.

¹⁶I the ablation; I the sacrifice; I the ancestral offering; I the fire-giving herb; the mantram I; I also the butter; I the fire; the burnt-offering I;

¹⁷I the Father of this universe, the Mother, the Supporter, the Grandsire, the Holy one to be known, the Word of Power, and also the Rik, Sâma, and Yajur,

¹⁸The Path, Husband, Lord, Witness, Abode, Shelter, Lover, Origin, Dissolution, Foundation, house, Seed imperishable.

¹⁹I give heat; I hold back and send forth the rain; immortality and also death, being and non-being am I, Arjuna.

²⁰The knowers of the three, the Soma-drinkers, the purified from sin, worshipping Me with sacrifice, pray of Me the way to heaven; they, ascending to the holy world of the Ruler of the Shining Ones, eat in heaven the divine feasts of the Shining Ones.

²¹They, having enjoyed the spacious heaven-world, their holiness withered, come back to this world of death. Following the virtues enjoined by the three, desiring desires, they obtain the transitory.

²²To those men who worship Me alone thinking of no other, to those ever harmonious, I bring full security.

²³Even the devotees of other Shining Ones, who worship full of faith, they also worship Me, O son of Kuntî, though contrary to the ancient rule.

²⁴I am indeed the enjoyer of all sacrifices and also the Lord, but they know Me not in Essence, and hence they fall.

²⁵They who worship the Shining Ones go to the Shining Ones; to the Ancestors go the Ancestor-worshippers; to the Elements go those who sacrifice to Elementals; but My worshippers come unto Me.

²⁶He who offereth to Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, water, that I accept from the striving self, offered as it is with devotion.

²⁷Whatsoever thou doest, whatsoever thou eatest, whatsoever thou offerest, whatsoever thou givest, whatsoever thou doest of austerity, O Kaunteya, do thou that as an offering unto Me.

²⁸Thus shalt thou be liberated from the bonds of action, yielding good and evil fruits; thyself harmonised by the yoga of renunciation, thou shalt come unto Me when set free.

²⁹The same am I to all beings; there is none hateful to Me nor dear. They verily who worship Me with devotion, they are in Me, and I also in them.

³⁰Even if the most sinful worship Me, with un divided heart, he too must be accounted righteous, for he hath rightly resolved;

³¹Speedily he becometh dutiful and goeth to eternal peace; O Kaunteya, know thou for certain that My devotee perisheth never.

³²They who take refuge with Me, O Partha, though of the womb of sin, women, Vaishyas, even Shûdras, they also tread the highest path.

³³How much rather then holy Brâhmanas and devoted royal saints; having obtained this transient joyless world, worship thou Me.

³⁴On Me fix thy mind, be devoted to Me; sacrifice to Me; prostrate thyself before Me; harmonised thus in the Self, thou shalt come unto Me, having Me as thy supreme goal.

¹The Blessed Lord said: Again, O mighty-armed, hear thou My supreme word, that, desiring thy welfare, I will declare to thee who art beloved.

²The multitude of the Shining Ones, or the great Rishis, know not my forthcoming, for I am the beginning of all the Shining Ones and the great Rishis.

³He who knoweth Me, unborn, beginningless, the great Lord of the world, he among mortals without delusion, is liberated from all sin.

⁴Reason, wisdom, non-illusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, pleasure, pain, existence, non-existence, fear, and also courage

⁵Harmlessness, equanimity, content, austerity, almsgiving, fame and obloquy are the various characteristics of beings issuing from Me.

⁶The seven great Rishis, the ancient Four, and also the Manus, were born of My nature, and mind; of them this race was generated.

⁷He who knows in essence that sovereignty and yoga of Mine, he is harmonised by unfaltering yoga; there is no doubt thereof.

⁸I am the Generator of all; all evolves from Me; understanding thus, the wise adore Me in rapt emotion.

⁹Mindful of Me, their life hidden in Me, illumining each other, ever conversing about Me, they are content and joyful.

¹⁰To these, ever harmonious, worshipping in love, I give the yoga of discrimination by which they come unto Me.

¹¹Out of pure compassion for them, dwelling within their Self, I destroy the ignorance-born darkness by the shining lamp of wisdom.

¹²Arjuna said: Thou art the supreme Eternal, the supreme Abode, the supreme Purity, eternal divine man, primeval Deity, unborn, the Lord!

¹³All the Rishis have thus acclaimed Thee, as also the divine Rishi, Nârada; so Asita, Devala, and Vyâsa; and now Thou Thyself tellest it me.

¹⁴All this I believe true that Thou sayest to me, O Keshava. Thy manifestation, O Blessed Lord, neither Shining Ones nor Dânavas comprehend.

¹⁵Thyself indeed knowest Thyself by Thyself, O Purushottama; Source of beings, Lord of beings, Shining One of Shining Ones, Ruler of the world!

¹⁶Deign to tell without reserve of Thine own divine glories, by which glories Thou remainest, pervading these worlds.

¹⁷How may I know thee, O Yogi, by constant meditation? In what, in what aspects art Thou to be thought of by me, O blessed Lord?

¹⁸In detail tell me again of Thy yoga and glory, O Janardana; for me there is never satiety in hearing thy life-giving words.

¹⁹The Blessed Lord said: Blessed be thou! I will declare to thee My divine glory by its chief characteristics, O best of the Kurus; there is no end to details of Me.

²⁰I, O Gudakesha, am the Self, seated in the heart of all beings; I am the beginning, the middle, and also the end of all beings.

²¹Of the Adityas I am Vishnu; of radiances the glorious sun; I am Marîchi of the Maruts; of the asterisms the Moon am I.

²²Of the Vedas I am the Sâma-Veda; I am Vâsava of the Shining Ones; and of the senses I am the mind; I am of living beings the intelligence.

²³And of the Rudras Shañkara am I; Vittesha of the Yakshas and Râkshasas; and of the Vasus I am Pâvaka; Meru of high mountains am I.

²⁴And know Me, O Pârtha, of household priests the chief, Brihaspati: of generals I am Skanda; of lakes I am the ocean.

²⁵Of the great Rishis Bhṛigu; of speech I am the one syllable; of sacrifices I am the sacrifice of silent repetitions; of immovable things the Himâlaya.

²⁶Asvattha of all tree; and of divine Rishis Nârada; of Gandharvas Chitraratha; of the perfected the Muni Kapila.

²⁷Uchchaishravas of horses know me, nectar-born; Airâvata of lordly elephants, and of men the Monarch.

²⁸Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; of cows I am Kâmadhuk; I am Kandarpa of the progenitors; of serpents Vâsuki am I.

²⁹And I am Ananta of Nâgas, Varuna of sea-dwellers I; and of ancestors Aryaman; Yama of governors am I.

³⁰And I am Prahlâda of Daityas; of calculators Time am I; and of wild beasts I the imperial beast; and Vainateya of birds.

³¹Of purifiers I am the wind; Rama of warriors I; and I am Makara of fishes; of streams the Gangâ am I.

³²Of creations the beginning and the ending, and also the middle am I, O Arjuna. Of sciences the science concerning the Self; the speech of orators I.

³³Of letters the letter A I am, and the duality of a compound; I also everlasting Time; I the Supporter, whose face turns everywhere.

³⁴And all-devouring Death am I, and the origin of all to come; and of feminine qualities, fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, constancy, forgiveness.

³⁵Of hymns also Brihatsâman; Gâyatrî of metres am I; of months I am Mârgasîrsha; of seasons the flowery.

³⁶I am the gambling of the cheat, and the splendour of splendid things I; I am victory, I am determination, and the truth of the truthful I.

³⁷Of the Vṛishnis Vâsudeva am I; of the Pândavas Dhananjaya; of the Sages also I am Vyâsa; of poets Ushanâ the Bard.

³⁸Of rulers I am the sceptre; of those that seek victory I am statesmanship; and of secrets I am also silence; the knowledge of knowers am I.

³⁹And whatsoever is the seed of all beings, that am I, O Arjuna; nor is there aught, moving or unmoving, that may exist bereft of Me.

⁴⁰There is no end of My divine powers, O Parantapa. What has been declared is illustrative of My infinite glory.

⁴¹Whatsoever is glorious, good, beautiful, and mighty, understand thou that to go forth from a fragment of My splendour.

⁴²But what is the knowledge of all these details to thee, O Arjuna? Having pervaded this whole universe with one fragment of Myself, I remain.

¹Arjuna said: This word of the supreme Secret concerning the Self, Thou hast spoken out of compassion; by this my delusion is taken away.

²The production and destruction of beings have been heard by me in detail from Thee, O Lotus-eyed, and also Thy imperishable greatness.

³O supreme Lord, even as Thou describest Thyself, O best of beings, I desire to see Thy Form omnipotent.

⁴If Thou thinkest that by me It can be seen, O Lord, Lord of Yoga, then show me Thine imperishable Self.

⁵The Blessed Lord said: Behold, O Pârtha, a Form of Me, a hundredfold, a thousandfold, various in kind, divine, various in colours and shapes.

⁶Behold the Âdityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Ashvins and also the Maruts; behold many marvels never seen ere this, O Bhârata.

⁷Here, to-day, behold the whole universe, movable and immovable, standing in one in My body, O Gudâkesha, with aught else thou desirest to see.

⁸But verily thou art not able to behold Me with these thine eyes; the divine eye I give unto thee. Behold My sovereign Yoga.

⁹Sanjaya said: Having thus spoken, O King, the great Lord of Yoga, Hari, showed to Pârtha His supreme Form as Lord.

¹⁰With many mouths and eyes, with many visions of marvel, with many divine ornaments, with many upraised divine weapons;

¹¹Wearing divine necklaces and vestures, anointed with divine unguents, the God all-marvellous, boundless, with face turned everywhere.

¹²If the splendour of a thousand suns were to blaze out together in the sky, that might resemble the glory of that Mahâtman.

¹³There Pândava beheld the whole universe, divided into manifold parts, standing in one in the body of the Deity of Deities.

¹⁴Then he, Dhananjaya, overwhelmed with astonishment, his hair upstanding, bowed down his head to the Shining One, and with joined palms spake.

¹⁵Arjuna said: Within Thy Form, O God, the Gods I see, All grades of beings with distinctive marks; Brahma, the Lord, upon His lotus-throne, The Rishis all, and Serpents, the Divine.

¹⁶With mouths, eyes, arms, breasts multitudinous, I see Thee everywhere, unbounded Form. Beginning, middle, end, nor source of Thee, Infinite Lord, infinite Form, I find;

¹⁷Shining, a mass of splendour everywhere, With discus, mace, tiara, I behold: Blazing as fire, as sun dazzling the gaze, From all sides in the sky, immeasurable.

¹⁸Lofty beyond all thought, unperishing, Thou treasure-house supreme, all-immanent; Eternal Dharma's changeless Guardian, Thou; As immemorial Man I think of Thee.

¹⁹Nor source, nor midst, nor end; infinite force, Unnumbered arms, the sun and moon Thine eyes I see Thy face, as sacrificial fire Blazing, its splendour burneth up the worlds.

²⁰By Thee alone are filled the earth, the heavens, And all the regions that are stretched between; The triple worlds sink down, O mighty One, Before Thine awful manifested Form.

²¹To Thee the troops of Suras enter in, Some with joined palms in awe invoking Thee; Banded Maharshis, Siddhas, cry: "All hail"! Chanting Thy praises with resounding songs.

²²Rudras, Vasus, Sâdhyas and Adityas, Vishvas, the Ashvins, Maruts, Ushmapas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Siddhas, Asuras, In wondering multitudes beholding Thee.

²³Thy mighty Form, with many mouths and eyes, Long armed, with thighs and feet innumerate, Vast-bosomed, set with many fearful teeth, The worlds see terror-struck, as also I.

²⁴Radiant, Thou touchest heaven, rainbow-hued, With opened mouths and shining vast-orbed eyes. My inmost self is quaking, having seen, My strength is withered, Vishnu, and my peace.

²⁵Like Time's destroying flames I see Thy teeth, Upstanding, spread within expanded jaws; Nought know I anywhere, no shelter find; Mercy, O God! re of all the worlds!

²⁶The sons of Dhṛitarâshtra, and with them The multitude of all these kings of earth, Bhîshma, and Drona, Sûta's royal son, And all the noblest warriors of our hosts,

²⁷Into Thy gaping mouths they hurrying rush, Tremendous-toothed and terrible to see; Some caught within the gaps between Thy teeth Are seen, their heads to powder crushed and ground.

²⁸As river-floods impetuously rush, Hurling their waters into ocean's lap, So fling themselves into Thy flaming mouths, In haste, these mighty men, these lords of earth.

²⁹As moths with quickened speed will headlong fly Into a flaming light, to fall destroyed, So also these, in haste precipitate, Enter within Thy mouths destroyed to fall.

³⁰On every side, all-swallowing, fiery-tongued, Thou lickest up mankind, devouring all; The glory filleth space: the universe Is burning, Vishnu, with Thy blazing rays.

³¹Reveal Thy Self; what awful Form art Thou? I worship Thee! Have mercy, God supreme! Thine inner Being I am fain to know; This Thy forth-streaming Life bewilders me.

³²Time am I, laying desolate the world, Made manifest on earth to slay mankind! Not one of all these warriors ranged for strife Escapeth death; thou shalt alone survive.

³³Therefore stand up! win for thyself renown, Conquer thy foes, enjoy the wealth filled realm, By Me they are already overcome, Be thou the outward cause, left-handed one.

³⁴Drona and Bhîshma and Jayadratha, Karna, and all the other warriors here, Are slain by Me. Destroy them fearlessly. Fight! thou shalt crush thy rivals in the field.

³⁵Sanjaya said: Having heard these words of Keshava, he who weareth a diadem, with joined palms, quaking and prostrating himself, spake again to Krishna, stammering with fear, casting down his face.

³⁶Arjuna said: Hrishîkesha! in Thy magnificence Rightly the world rejoiceth, hymning Thee; The Râkshasas to every quarter fly In fear; the hosts of Siddhas prostrate fall.

³⁷How should they otherwise, O loftiest Self! First Cause! Brahmâ Himself less great than Thou. Infinite, God of Gods, home of all worlds, Unperishing, Sat, Asat, That supreme!

³⁸First of the Gods, most ancient Man Thou art. Supreme receptacle of all that lives; Knower and known, the dwelling-place on high; In Thy vast Form the universe is spread.

³⁹Thou art Vâyu and Yama, Agni, moon, Varuna, Father, Grandsire of all; Hail, hail to Thee! a thousand times all hail! Hail unto Thee! again, again all hail!

⁴⁰Prostrate in front of Thee, prostrate behind; Prostrate on every side to Thee, O All. In power boundless, measureless in strength, Thou holdest all: then Thou Thyself art All.

⁴¹If, thinking Thee but friend, importunate, O Krishna! or O Yâdava! O friend! I cried, unknowing of Thy majesty, And careless in the fondness of my love;

⁴²If jesting I irreverence showed to Thee, At play, reposing, sitting or at meals, Alone, O sinless One, or with my friends, Forgive my error, O Thou boundless One.

⁴³Father of worlds, of all that moves and stands, Worthier of reverence than the Guru's self, There is none like to Thee. Who passeth Thee? Pre-eminent Thy power in all the worlds.

⁴⁴Therefore I fall before Thee; with my body I worship as it fitting; bless Thou me. As father with the son, as friend with friend, With the beloved as lover, bear with me.

⁴⁵I have seen that which none hath seen before, My heart is glad, yet faileth me for fear; Show me, O God, Thine other Form again— Mercy, O God of Gods, home of all worlds—

⁴⁶Diademed, mace and discus in Thy hand. Again I fain would see Thee as before; Put on again Thy four-armed shape, O Lord, O thousand-armed, of forms innumerate.

⁴⁷The Blessed Lord said: Arjuna, by My favour thou hast seen, This loftiest Form by yoga's self revealed! Radiant, all-penetrating, endless, first, That none except thyself hath ever seen.

⁴⁸Nor sacrifice, nor Vedas, alms, nor works, Nor sharp austerity, nor study deep, Can win the vision of this Form for man, Foremost of Kurus, thou alone hast seen.

⁴⁹Be not bewildered, be thou not afraid, Because thou hast beheld this awful Form; Cast fear away, and let thy heart rejoice; Behold again Mine own familiar shape.

⁵⁰Sanjaya said: Vâsudeva, having thus spoken to Arjuna, again manifested His own Form, and consoled the terrified one, the Mahâtman again assuming a gentle form.

⁵¹Arjuna said: Beholding again Thy gentle human Form, O Janârdana, I am now collected, and am restored to my own nature.

⁵²The Blessed Lord said: This Form of Mine beholden by thee is very hard to see. Verily the Shining Ones ever long to behold this form.

⁵³Nor can I be seen as thou hast seen Me by the Vedas, nor by austerities, nor by alms, or by offerings;

⁵⁴But by devotion to Me alone I may thus be perceived, Arjuna, and known and seen in essence, and entered, O Parantapa.

⁵⁵He who doeth actions for Me, whose supreme good I am, My devotee, freed from attachment without hatred of any being, he cometh unto Me, O Pândava.

¹Arjuna said: Those devotees who ever harmonised worship Thee, and those also who worship the Indestructible, the Unmanifested, whether of these is the more learned in yoga?

²The Blessed Lord said: They who with mind fixed on Me ever harmonised worship Me, with faith supreme endowed, these, in My opinion, are best in yoga.

³They who worship the Indestructible, the Ineffable, the unmanifested, Omnipresent, and Unthinkable, the Unchanging, Immutable, Eternal,

⁴Restraining and subduing the senses, regarding everything equally, in the welfare of all rejoicing, these also come unto Me.

⁵The difficulty of those whose minds are set on the Unmanifested is greater; for the path of the Unmanifested is hard for the embodied to reach.

⁶Those verily who, renouncing all actions in Me and intent on Me, worship meditating on Me, with whole-hearted yoga,

⁷These I speedily lift up from the ocean of death and existence, O Pârtha, their minds being fixed on Me.

⁸Place thy mind in me, into Me let thy Reason enter; then without doubt thou shalt abide in Me hereafter.

⁹And if thou art not able firmly to fix thy mind on Me, then by the yoga of practice seek to reach Me, O Dhananjaya.

¹⁰If also thou art not equal to constant practice, be intent on My service; performing actions for My sake, thou shalt attain perfection.

¹¹If even to do this thou hast not strength, then, taking refuge in union with Me, renounce all fruit of action with the self controlled.

¹²Better indeed is wisdom than constant-practice; than wisdom, meditation is better; than meditation, renunciation of the fruit of action; on renunciation follows peace.

¹³He who beareth no ill-will to any being, friendly and compassionate, without attachment and egoism, balanced in pleasure and pain, and forgiving,

¹⁴Ever content, harmonious, with the self-controlled, resolute, with mind and Reason dedicated to Me, he, My devotee, is dear to Me.

¹⁵He from whom the world doth not shrink away, who doth not shrink away from the world, freed from the anxieties of joy, anger, and fear, he is dear to me.

¹⁶He who wants nothing, is pure, expert, passionless, untroubled, renouncing every undertaking, he, My devotee, is dear to Me.

¹⁷He who neither loveth nor hateth, nor grieveth, nor desireth, renouncing good and evil, full of devotion, he is dear to Me.

¹⁸Alike to foe and friend, and also in fame and ignominy, alike in cold and heat, pleasures and pains, destitute of attachment,

¹⁹Taking equally praise and reproach, silent, wholly content with what cometh, homeless, firm in mind, full of devotion, that man is dear to Me.

²⁰They verily who partake of this life-giving wisdom as taught herein, endued with faith, I their supreme Object, devotees, they are surpassingly dear to Me.

¹Arjuna said: Matter and Spirit, even the Field and the Knower of the Field, wisdom and that which ought to be known, these I fain would learn, O Keshava.

²The Blessed Lord said: This body, son of Kuntî, is called the Field; that which knoweth it is called the Knower of the Field by the Sages.

³Understand Me as the Knower of the Field in all Fields, O Bhârata. Wisdom as to the Field and the Knower of the Field, that in My opinion is the wisdom.

⁴What that Field is and of what nature, how modified, and whence it is, and what He is and what His powers, hear that now briefly from Me.

⁵Rishis have sung in manifold ways, in many various chants, and in decisive Brahma-sûtra verses full of reasonings.

⁶The great Elements, Individuality, Reason, and also the unmanifested, the ten senses and the one, and the five pastures of the senses;

⁷Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, combination, intelligence, firmness; these, briefly described, constitute the Field and its modifications.

⁸Humility, unpretentiousness, harmlessness, forgiveness, rectitude, service of the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control.

⁹Dispassion towards the objects of the senses, and also absence of egoism, insight into the pain and evil of birth, death, old age and sickness,

¹⁰Unattachment, absence of self-identification with son, wife or home, and constant balance of mind in wished-for and unwished-for events,

¹¹Unflinching devotion to Me by yoga, without other objects, resort to sequestered places, absence of enjoyment in the company of men,

¹²Constancy in the wisdom of the Self, understanding of the object of essential wisdom; that is declared to be the Wisdom; all against it is ignorance.

¹³I will declare that which ought to be known, that which being known immortality is enjoyed—the beginningless supreme Eternal, called neither being nor non-being.

¹⁴Everywhere That hath hands and feet, everywhere eyes, heads, and mouths; all-hearing, He dwelleth in the world, enveloping all,

¹⁵Shining with all sense-faculties without any senses; unattached supporting everything and free from qualities enjoying qualities;

¹⁶Without and within all beings, immovable and also movable; by reason of His subtlety imperceptible; at hand and far away is That.

¹⁷Not divided amid beings, and yet seated distributively; that is to be known as the supporter of beings; He devours and He generates.

¹⁸That, the Light of all lights, is said to be beyond darkness; Wisdom, the Object of Wisdom, by Wisdom to be reached, seated in the hearts of all.

¹⁹Thus the Field, Wisdom and the Object of Wisdom, have been briefly told. My devotee, thus knowing, enters into My Being.

²⁰Know thou that Matter and Spirit are both without beginning; and know thou also that modifications and qualities are all Matter -born.

²¹Matter is called the cause of the generation of causes and effects; Spirit is called the cause of the enjoyment of pleasure and pain.

²²Spirit seated in Matter useth the qualities born of Matter; attachment to the qualities is the cause of his births in good and evil wombs.

²³Supervisor and permitter, supporter, enjoyer, the great Lord, and also the supreme Self; thus is styled in this body the supreme Spirit.

²⁴He who thus knoweth Spirit and Matter with its qualities, in whatsoever condition he may be, he shall not be born again.

²⁵Some by meditation behold the Self in the self by the Self; others by the Sânkhya Yoga, and others by the Yoga of Action;

²⁶Others also, ignorant of this, having heard of it from others, worship; and these also cross beyond death, adhering to what they had heard.

²⁷Whatsoever creature is born immobile or mobile, know thou, O best of the Bhâratas, that it is from the union between the Field and the Knower of the Field.

²⁸Seated equally in all beings, the supreme Lord, unperishing within the perishing—he who thus seeth, he seeth.

²⁹Seeing indeed everywhere the same Lord equally dwelling, he doth not destroy the Self, and thus treads the highest Path.

³⁰He who seeth that Matter verily performeth all actions, and that the Self is actionless, he seeth.

³¹When he perceiveth the diversified existence of beings as rooted in One, and spreading forth from it, then he reacheth the Eternal

³²Being beginningless and without qualities, the imperishable supreme Self, though seated in the body, O Kaunteya, worketh not nor is affected.

³³As the omnipresent ether is not affected, by reason of its subtlety, so seated everywhere in the body the Self is not affected.

³⁴As the one sun illumineth the whole earth, so the Lord of the Field illumineth the whole Field, O Bhârata.

³⁵They who by the eyes of Wisdom perceive this difference between the Field and the Knower of the Field, and the liberation of beings from Matter they go to the Supreme.

¹The Blessed Lord said: I will again proclaim that supreme Wisdom, of all wisdom the best, which having known, all the Sages have gone hence to the supreme Perfection.

²Having taken refuge in this Wisdom and being assimilated to My own nature, they are not re-born even in the emanation of a universe, nor are disquieted in the dissolution.

³My womb is the great Eternal; in that I place the germ; thence cometh the birth of all beings, O Bhârata.

⁴In whatsoever wombs mortals are produced, O Kaunteya, the great Eternal is their womb, I their generating father.

⁵Harmony, Motion, Inertia, such are the qualities, Matter -born; they bind fast in the body, O great-armed one, the indestructible dweller in the body.

⁶Of these Harmony from its stainlessness, luminous and healthy, bindeth by the attachment to bliss and the attachment to wisdom, O sinless one.

⁷Motion, the passion nature, know thou, is the source of attachment and thirst for life, O Kaunteya, that bindeth the dweller in the body by the attachment to action.

⁸But Inertia, know thou, born of unwisdom, is the deluder of all dwellers in the body; that bindeth by heedlessness, indolence and sloth, O Bharata.

⁹Harmony attacheth to bliss, Motion to action O Bharata. Inertia, verily, having shrouded wisdom, attacheth on the contrary to heedlessness.

¹⁰Now Harmony prevaileth, having overpowered Motion and Inertia, O Bhârata; now Motion, having overpowered Harmony and Inertia; and now Inertia, having overpowered Harmony and Motion.

¹¹When the wisdom-light streameth forth from all the gates of the body, then it may be known that Harmony is increasing.

¹²Greed, outgoing energy, undertaking of actions, restlessness, desire—these are born of the increase of Motion, O best of the Bhâratas.

¹³Darkness, stagnation and heedlessness and also delusion—these are born of the increase of Inertia, O joy of the Kurus.

¹⁴If Harmony verily prevaileth when the embodied goeth to dissolution, then he goeth forth to the spotless worlds of the great Sages.

¹⁵Having gone to dissolution in Motion, he is born among those attached to action; if dissolved in Inertia, he is born in the wombs of the senseless.

¹⁶It is said the fruit of a good action is harmonious and spotless; verily the fruit of Motion is pain, and the fruit of Inertia unwisdom

¹⁷From Harmony wisdom is born, and also greed from Motion; heedlessness and delusion are of Inertia and also unwisdom.

¹⁸They rise upwards who are settled in Harmony; the Active dwell in the mid-most place: the Inert go downwards, enveloped in the vilest

¹⁹When the Seer perceiveth no agent other than the qualities, and knoweth That which is higher than the qualities, he entereth into My Nature.

²⁰When the dweller in the body hath crossed over these three qualities, whence all bodies have been produced, liberated from birth, death, old age and sorrow, he drinketh the nectar of immortality.

²¹Arjuna said: What are the marks of him who hath crossed over the three qualities, O Lord? How acteth he, and how doth he go beyond these three qualities?

²²The Blessed Lord said: He, O Pândava, who hateth not radiance, nor outgoing energy, nor even delusion, when present, nor longeth after them, absent;

²³He who, seated as a neutral, is unshaken by the qualities; who, saying, "The qualities revolve," standeth apart immovable.

²⁴Balanced in pleasure and pain, self-reliant, to whom a lump of earth, a rock and gold are alike, the same to loved and unloved, firm, the same in censure and in praise,

²⁵The same in honour and ignominy, the same to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings—he is said to have crossed over the qualities.

²⁶And he who serveth Me exclusively by the Yoga of devotion, he, crossing beyond the qualities, he is fit to become the Eternal.

²⁷For I am the abode of the Eternal, and of the indestructible nectar of immortality, of immemorial righteousness, and of unending bliss.

¹The Blessed Lord said: With roots above, branches below, the Asvattha is said to be indestructible; the leaves of it are hymns; he who knoweth it is a Veda-knower.

²Downwards and upwards spread the branches of it, nourished by the qualities; the objects of the senses its buds; and its roots grow downwards, the bonds of action in the world of men.

³Nor here may be acquired knowledge of its form, nor its end, nor its origin, nor its rooting-place; this strongly rooted Asvattha having been cut down by the unswerving weapon of non-attachment,

⁴That path beyond may be sought, treading which there is no return. I go indeed to that Primal Man, whence the ancient energy forth-streamed.

⁵Without pride and delusion, victorious over the vice of attachment, dwelling constantly in the Self, desire pacified, liberated from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, they tread, undeluded, that indestructible path.

⁶Nor doth the sun lighten there, nor moon, nor fire; having gone thither they return not; that is My supreme abode.

⁷A portion of Mine own Self, transformed in the world of life into an immortal Spirit, draweth round itself the senses of which the mind is the sixth, veiled in matter.

⁸When the Lord acquireth a body and when He abandoneth it, He seizeth these and goeth with them, as the wind takes fragrances from their retreats

⁹Enshrined in the ear, the eye, the touch, the taste and the smell, and in the mind also, He enjoyeth the objects of the senses

¹⁰The deluded do not perceive (Him) when He departeth or stayeth or enjoyeth, swayed by the qualities; the wisdom-eyed perceive.

¹¹Yogîs also, struggling, perceive Him, established in the Self; but though struggling, the unintelligent perceive Him not, their selves untrained.

¹²That splendour issuing from the sun that enlighteneth the whole world, that which is in the moon and in fire, that splendour know as from Me.

¹³Permeating the soil, I support beings by my vital energy, and having become the delicious Soma I nourish all plants.

¹⁴I, having become the Fire of Life, take possession of the bodies of breathing things, and united with the life-breaths, I digest the four kinds of food.

¹⁵And I am seated in the hearts of all, and from Me memory and wisdom and their absence. And that which is to be known in all the Vedas am I; and I indeed the Veda-knower and the author of the Vedanta.

¹⁶There are two Energies in this world, the destructible and the indestructible; the destructible is all beings, the unchanging is called the indestructible.

¹⁷The highest Energy is verily Another, declared as the Supreme Self, He who, pervading all, sustaineth the three worlds, the indestructible Lord.

¹⁸Since I excel the destructible, and am more excellent also than the indestructible, in the world and in the Veda I am proclaimed the Supreme Spirit.

¹⁹He who undeluded knoweth Me thus as the Supreme Spirit, he, all-knowing, worshippeth Me with his whole being, O Bhârata.

²⁰Thus by Me this most secret teaching hath been told O sinless one. This known, he hath become illuminated and hath finished his work, O Bhârata.

¹The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, cleanness of life, steadfastness in the Yoga of wisdom, almsgiving, self-restraint and sacrifice and study of the Scriptures, austerity and straightforwardness,

²Harmlessness, truth, absence of wrath, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion to living beings, uncovetousness, mildness, modesty, absence of fickleness,

³Vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of envy and pride—these are his who is born with the divine properties, O Bhârata.

⁴Hypocrisy, arrogance and conceit, wrath and also harshness and unwisdom are his who is born, O Pârtha, with demoniacal properties.

⁵The divine properties are deemed to be for liberation, the demoniacal for bondage. Grieve not, thou art born with divine properties, O Pândava.

⁶Twofold is the animal creation in this world, the divine and the demoniacal: the divine hath been described at length: hear from Me, O Pârtha, the demoniacal.

⁷Demoniacal men know neither right energy nor right abstinence; nor purity, nor even propriety, nor truth is in them.

⁸"The universe is without truth, without basis," they say, "without a God; brought about by mutual union, and caused by lust and nothing else."

⁹Holding this view, these ruined selves of small understanding, of fierce deeds, come forth as enemies for the destruction of the world.

¹⁰Surrendering themselves to insatiable desires, possessed with vanity, conceit and arrogance, holding evil ideas through delusion, they engage in action with impure resolves.

¹¹Giving themselves over to unmeasured thought whose end is death, regarding the gratification of desires as the highest, feeling sure that this is all,

¹²Held in bondage by a hundred ties of expectation, given over to lust and anger, they strive to obtain by unlawful means hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyments.

¹³"This to-day by me hath been won, that purpose I shall gain; this wealth is mine already, and also this shall be mine in future.

¹⁴"I have slain this enemy, and others also I shall slay. I am the Lord, I am the enjoyer, I am perfect, powerful, happy;

¹⁵"I am wealthy, well-born; what other is there that is like unto me? I will sacrifice, I will give alms, I will rejoice." Thus deluded by unwisdom,

¹⁶Bewildered by numerous thoughts, enmeshed in the web of delusion, addicted to the gratification of desire, they fall downwards into a foul hell.

¹⁷Self-glorifying, stubborn, filled with the pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform lip-sacrifices for ostentation, contrary to scriptural ordinance.

¹⁸Given over to egoism, power, insolence, lust and wrath, these malicious ones hate Me in the bodies of others and in their own.

¹⁹These haters, evil, pitiless, vilest among men in the world, I ever throw down into demoniacal wombs.

²⁰Cast into demoniacal wombs, deluded birth after birth, attaining not to Me, O Kaunteya, they sink into the lowest depths.

²¹Triple is the gate of this hell, destructive of the self—lust, wrath, and greed; therefore let man renounce these three.

²²A man liberated from these three gates of darkness, O son of Kunti, accomplisheth his own welfare, and thus reacheth the highest goal.

²³He who, having cast aside the ordinances of the Scriptures, followeth the promptings of desire, attaineth not to perfection, nor happiness, nor the highest goal.

²⁴Therefore let the Scriptures be thy authority, in determining what ought to be done, or what ought not to be done. Knowing what hath been declared by the ordinances of the Scriptures, thou oughtest to work in this world.

¹Arjuna said: Those that sacrifice full of faith, but casting aside the ordinances of the Scriptures, what is verily their condition, O Krishna? Is it one of Purity, Passion, or Darkness?

²The Blessed Lord said: Threefold is by nature the inborn faith of the embodied—pure, passionate, and dark. Hear thou of these.

³The faith of each is shaped to his own nature, O Bhârata. The man consists of his faith; that which his faith is, he is even that.

⁴Pure men worship the Gods; the passionate the gnomes and giants; the others, the dark folk, worship ghosts and troops of nature-spirits.

⁵The men who perform severe austerities, unenjoined by the Scriptures, wedded to vanity and egoism, impelled by the force of their desires and passions,

⁶Unintelligent, tormenting the aggregated elements forming the body, and Me also, seated in the inner body, know these demoniacal in their resolves.

⁷The food also which is dear to each is threefold, as also sacrifice, austerity and almsgiving. Hear thou the distinction of these.

⁸The foods that augment vitality, energy, vigour, health, joy and cheerfulness, delicious, bland, substantial and agreeable, are dear to the pure.

⁹The passionate desire foods that are bitter, sour, saline, over-hot, pungent, dry and burning and which produce pain, grief and sickness.

¹⁰That which is stale and flat, putrid and corrupt, leavings also and unclean, is the food dear to the dark.

¹¹The sacrifice which is offered by men without desire for fruit, as enjoined by the ordinances, under the firm belief that sacrifice is a duty, that is pure.

¹²The sacrifice offered with a view verily to fruit, and also indeed for self-glorification, O best of the Bhâratas; know thou that to be of passion.

¹³The sacrifice contrary to the ordinances, without distributing food, devoid of words of power and without gifts, empty of faith, is said to be of darkness.

¹⁴Worship given to the Gods, to the twice-born, to the teachers and to the wise, purity, straightforwardness, continence and harmlessness, are called the austerity of the body.

¹⁵Speech causing no annoyance, truthful, pleasant and beneficial, the practice of the study of the Scriptures, are called the austerity of speech.

¹⁶Mental happiness, equilibrium, silence, self-control, purity of nature—these are called the austerity of the mind.

¹⁷This threefold austerity, performed by men with the utmost faith, without desire for fruit, harmonised, is said to be pure.

¹⁸The austerity which is practised with the object of gaining respect, honour and worship, and for ostentation, is said to be of passion, unstable and fleeting.

¹⁹That austerity done under a deluded understanding, with self-torture, or with the object of destroying another, that is declared of darkness.

²⁰That alms given to one who does nothing in return, believing that a gift ought to be made in a fit place and time to a worthy person, that alms is accounted pure.

²¹That given with a view to receiving in return, or looking for fruit again, or grudgingly, that alms is accounted of passion.

²²That alms given at unfit place and time, and to unworthy persons, disrespectfully and contemptuously, that is declared of darkness.

²³" Aum Tat Sat," this has been considered to be the threefold designation of the Eternal. By that were ordained of old Brâhmanas, Vedas and sacrifices.

²⁴Therefore with the pronunciation of " Aum " the acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity as laid down in the ordinances are always commenced by the knowers of the Eternal.

²⁵With the pronunciation of " Tat " and without aiming at fruit are performed the various acts of sacrifice, austerity and gift, by those desiring liberation.

²⁶" Sat " is used in the sense of reality and goodness; likewise, O Pârtha, the word " Sat " is used in the sense of a good work.

²⁷Steadfastness in sacrifice, austerity and gift is also called " Sat ", and action for the sake of the Supreme is also named " Sat."

²⁸Whatsoever is wrought without faith, oblation, gift, austerity, or other deed, "Asat" it is called, O Pârtha; it is nought, here or hereafter.

¹Arjuna said: I desire, O mighty-armed, to know severally the essence of renunciation, O Hrishîkesha, and of relinquishment, O Keshinishûdana.

²The Blessed Lord said: Sages have known as renunciation the renouncing of works with desire; the relinquishing of the fruit of all actions is called relinquishment by the wise.

³"Action should be relinquished as an evil," declare some thoughtful men; "acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be relinquished," say others.

⁴Hear my conclusions as to that relinquishment, O best of the Bhâratas; since relinquishment, O tiger of men, has been explained as threefold.

⁵Acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be relinquished, but should be performed; sacrifice, gift and also austerity are the purifiers of the intelligent.

⁶But even these actions should be done leaving aside attachment and fruit, O Pârtha; that is my certain and best belief.

⁷Verily renunciation of actions that are prescribed is not proper; the relinquishment thereof from delusion is said to be of darkness.

⁸He who relinquisheth an action from fear of physical suffering, saying "Painful," thus performing a passionate relinquishment, obtaineth not the fruit of relinquishment.

⁹He who performeth a prescribed action, saying, "it ought to be done," O Arjuna, relinquishing attachment and also fruit, that relinquishment is regarded as pure.

¹⁰The relinquisher pervaded by purity, intelligent and with doubts cut away, hateth not unpleasurable action nor is attached to pleasurable.

¹¹Nor indeed can embodied beings completely relinquish action; verily he who relinquisheth the fruit of action, he is said to be a relinquisher.

¹²Good, evil and mixed—threefold is the fruit of action hereafter for the non-relinquisher; but there is none ever for the renouncer.

¹³These five causes, O mighty-armed, learn of Me as declared in the Sâñkhya system for the accomplishment of all actions:

¹⁴The body, the actor, the various organs, the diverse kinds of energies, and the presiding deities also, the fifth.

¹⁵Whatever action a man performeth by his body, speech and mind, whether right or the reverse, these five are the cause thereof.

¹⁶That being so, he verily who—owing to untrained Reason—looketh on his Self, which is isolated, as the actor, he of perverted intelligence, seeth not.

¹⁷He who is free from the egoistic notion, whose Reason is not affected, though he slay these peoples, he slayeth not, nor is bound.

¹⁸Knowledge, the knowable and the knower, the threefold impulse to action; the organ, the action, the actor, the threefold constituents of action.

¹⁹Knowledge, action and actor in the category of qualities are also said to be severally threefold, from the difference of qualities; hear thou duly these also.

²⁰That by which one indestructible Being is seen in all beings, inseparate in the separated, know thou that knowledge as pure.

²¹But that knowledge which regardeth the several manifold existences in all beings as separate, that knowledge know thou as of passion;

²²While that which clingeth to each one thing as if it were the whole, without reason, without grasping the reality, narrow, that is declared to be dark.

²³An action which is ordained, done by one undesirous of fruit, devoid of attachment, without love or hate, that is called pure.

²⁴But that action that is done by one longing for desires, or again with egoism, or with much effort, that is declared to be passionate.

²⁵The action undertaken from delusion, without regard to capacity and consequences—loss and injury to others—that is declared to be dark.

²⁶Liberated from attachment, not egoistic, endued with firmness and confidence, unchanged by success or failure, that actor is called pure.

²⁷Impassioned, desiring to obtain the fruit of actions, greedy, harmful, impure, moved by joy and sorrow, such an actor is pronounced passionate.

²⁸Discordant, vulgar, stubborn, cheating, malicious, indolent, despairful, procrastinating, that actor is called dark.

²⁹The division of Reason and of firmness also, threefold according to the qualities, hear thou related, unreservedly and severally, O Dhananjaya.

³⁰That which knoweth energy and abstinence, what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation, that Reason is pure, O Pârtha.

³¹That by which one understandeth away Right and Wrong and also what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, that Reason, O Pârtha, is passionate.

³²That which, enwrapped in darkness, thinketh wrong to be right and seeth all things subverted, that Reason, O Pârtha, is of darkness.

³³The unwavering firmness by which, through Yoga, one restraineth the activity of the mind, of the life breaths and of the sense-organs, that firmness, O Pârtha, is pure.

³⁴But the firmness, O Arjuna, by which, from attachment desirous of fruit, one holdeth fast duty, desire and wealth, that firmness, O Pârtha, is passionate.

³⁵That by which one from stupidity doth not abandon sleep, fear, grief, despair, and also vanity, that firmness, O Pârtha, is dark.

³⁶And now the threefold kinds of pleasure hear thou from Me, O bull of the Bhâratas. That in which one by practice rejoiceth, and which putteth an end to pain;

³⁷Which at first is as venom but in the end is as nectar; that pleasure is said to be pure, born of the blissful knowledge of the Self.

³⁸That which from the union of the senses with their objects at first is as nectar, but in the end is like venom, that pleasure is accounted passionate.

³⁹That pleasure which both at first and afterwards is delusive of the self, arising from sleep, indolence and heedlessness, that is declared dark.

⁴⁰There is not an entity, either on the earth or again in heaven among the Shining Ones, that is liberated from these three qualities, born of Matter.

⁴¹Of Brâhmanas, Kshattriyas, Vaishyas and Shûdras, O Parantapa, the duties have been distributed, according to the qualities born of their own natures.

⁴²Serenity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness and also uprightness, wisdom, knowledge, belief in God, are the Brâhmana duty, born of his own nature.

⁴³Prowess, splendour, firmness, dexterity, and also not flying from battle, generosity, the nature of a ruler, are the Kshattriya duty, born of his own nature.

⁴⁴Ploughing, protection of kine, and trade are the Vaishya duty, born of his own nature. Action of the nature of service is the Shûdra duty, born of his own nature.

⁴⁵Man reacheth perfection by each being intent on his own duty. Listen thou how perfection is won by him who is intent on his own duty.

⁴⁶He from whom is the emanation of beings, by Whom all This is pervaded, by worshipping Him in his own duty a man winneth perfection.

⁴⁷Better is one's own duty though destitute of merits than the well-executed duty of another. He who doeth the duty laid down by his own nature incurreth not sin.

⁴⁸Congenital duty, O son of Kunti, though defective, ought not to be abandoned. All undertakings indeed are clouded by defects as fire by smoke.

⁴⁹He whose Reason is everywhere unattached, the self-subdued, dead to desires, he goeth by renunciation to the supreme perfection of freedom from obligation.

⁵⁰How he who hath attained perfection obtaineth the Eternal, that highest state of wisdom, learn thou from Me only succinctly, O Kaunteya.

⁵¹United to this Reason, purified, controlling the self by firmness, having abandoned sound and the other objects of the senses, having laid aside passion and malice,

⁵²Dwelling in solitude, abstemious, speech, body and mind subdued, constantly fixed in meditation and yoga, taking refuge in dispassion,

⁵³Having cast aside egoism, violence, arrogance, desire, wrath, covetousness, selfless and peaceful—he is fit to become the Eternal.

⁵⁴Becoming the Eternal, serene in the Self, he neither grieveth nor desireth; the same to all beings, he obtaineth supreme devotion unto Me.

⁵⁵By devotion he knoweth Me in essence, who and what I am; having thus known Me in essence he forthwith entereth into the Supreme.

⁵⁶Though ever performing all actions, taking refuge in Me, by My grace he obtaineth the eternal indestructible abode.

⁵⁷Renouncing mentally all works in Me, intent on Me, resorting to the yoga of discrimination, have thy thought ever on Me.

⁵⁸Thinking on Me, thou shalt overcome all obstacles by My grace: but if from egoism thou wilt not listen, thou shalt be destroyed utterly.

⁵⁹Entrenched in egoism, thou thinkest, "I will not fight;" to no purpose thy determination; nature will constrain thee.

⁶⁰O son of Kuntî, bound by thine own duty born of thine own nature, that which from delusion thou desirest not to do, even that helplessly thou shalt perform.

⁶¹The Lord dwelleth in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, by His illusive Power causing all beings to revolve, as though mounted on a potter's wheel.

⁶²Flee unto Him for shelter with all thy being, O Bhârata; by His grace thou shalt obtain supreme peace, the everlasting dwelling-place.

⁶³Thus hath wisdom, more secret than secrecy itself, been declared unto thee by Me; having reflected on it fully, then act thou as thou listest.

⁶⁴Listen thou again to My supreme word, most secret of all; beloved art thou of Me, and steadfast of heart, therefore will I speak for thy benefit.

⁶⁵Merge thy mind in Me, be my devotee, sacrifice to Me, prostrate thyself before Me, thou shalt come even to Me. I pledge thee My troth; thou art dear to Me.

⁶⁶Abandoning all duties come unto Me alone for shelter; sorrow not, I will liberate thee from all sins.

⁶⁷Never is this to be spoken by thee to anyone who is without asceticism, nor without devotion, nor to one who desireth not to listen, nor yet to him who speaketh evil of Me.

⁶⁸He who shall declare this supreme secret among My devotees, having shown the highest devotion for Me, without doubt he shall come to Me.

⁶⁹Nor is there any among men who performeth dearer service to Me than he, nor any other shall be more beloved by Me on earth than he.

⁷⁰And he who shall study this sacred dialogue of ours, by him I shall be worshipped with the sacrifice of wisdom. Such is My mind.

⁷¹The man also who, full of faith, merely heareth it unreviling, even he, freed from evil, obtaineth the radiant worlds of the righteous.

⁷²Hath this been heard, O son of Prithâ, with one-pointed mind? Has thy delusion, caused by unwisdom, been destroyed, O Dhananjaya?

⁷³Arjuna said: Destroyed is my delusion. I have gained knowledge through Thy grace, O Immutable one. I am firm, my doubts have fled away. I will do according to Thy word.

⁷⁴Sanjaya said: I heard this marvellous dialogue of Vâsudeva, and of the great-souled Partha, causing my hair to stand on end.

⁷⁵By the favour of Vyâsa I listened to this secret and supreme yoga from the Lord of Yoga, Krishna Himself, speaking before mine eyes.

⁷⁶O King, remembering, remembering this marvellous and holy dialogue between Keshava and Arjuna, I rejoice again and again.

⁷⁷Remembering, remembering, also that most marvellous form of Hari, great is my wonder, O King. I rejoice, again and again.

⁷⁸Wherever is Krishna, Yoga's Lord, wherever is Pârtha, the archer, assured are there prosperity, victory and happiness. So I think.