Bhagwad Gita in Verse

Translated by P. R. Ramachander

See Bhagavad Gita for an overview.

Chapter 1: Arjuna’s state of grief

Drutharashtra, the blind and Pandu were brothers. Drutharashtra being elder was the king. He had 100 sons(kauravas). Pandu had five sons(Pandavas). The great epic Mahabharatha is the story of the rivalry between the Kauravas and Pandavas. After all possible methods have been tried to reconcile their conflict, a decision of war is arrived at. This war takes place in Kuru Kshethra(The land of the Kurus). Since Drutharashtra is blind, he cannot see,. His mentor and progenitor Veda Vyasa, gives the power to see everything that happens in the battle field to one Sanjaya (literally correspondent) and report it to Drutharashtra. Bhagwad Gita starts at this point.

Arjuna whose chariot is being driven by Lord Krishna is aghast, when he realizes that to win the war he has to kill all the members of his family as well as his teachers. He feels that this is not the right thing to do. Chapter I of Bhagwad Gita ends with Arjuna expressing his inability to continue with the war. Seventeen chapters follow in which, Lord Krishna, convinces him that he must fight. During these teaching and discussion, all aspects of Indian philosophy are concisely presented.

Drutharashtra asked

Oh Sanjaya, what are my sons and Pandavas who are eager to fight, Doing, in the holy battle field of Kursukshethra., 1

Sanjaya replied

After seeing the pandavas aligned in the battle field, The king Duryodhana approached his teacher and asked? 2

I am seeing the great army of the sons of Pandu, my teacher, Well arranged by the son of Drupada, who is your great disciple., 3

I am seeing among them great warriors like Bheema and Arjuna, And also great warriors like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupadha., 4

Yuyudhana

Sathyaki, the cousin of Krishna

Virata

The king of Virata country

Drupada

The father of Draupadi

Among them also are great heroes like Drushta Kethu, Chekithana The king of Kasi And Puru jit Kunthi bhoja and the great king Shaibhya., 5

Drushta Kethu

Son of Shishupala

Chekithana

A warrior from Vrushni clan

Purujit Kuntibhoja

Brother of Kunti

Shaibhya

Father in law of Yudhishtra

The very powerful Yudhamanyu and the great warriorUthamoujas. And sons of Darupadi and Subadhra, all of whom are great warriors., 6

Yudhamanyu and Uthamoujas

Two panchala warriors

Our army also has great warriors and I am listing them, Oh great twice born, for your understanding., 7

You, Bheeshma. Karna, Krupa who is a war winner, Aswathama, Vikarna and Soumadathi are among them., 8

Krupa

Another teacher, who is brother in law of Drona

Vikarna

Brother of Duryodhana

Soumadathi

Son of Soma datha

There are many more warriors, who are prepared to sacrifice, Their lives for my sake and they are well armed and experts in war., 9

The strength of our army lead by Bheeshma is beyond measure, As against their limited strength, which is protected by Bhima., 10

(Can also mean The strength of our army lead by Bheeshma is not sufficient, As against their needed strength, which is protected by Bhima., 10)

And so please prepare your army and hold it in readiness, And all of you at any cost protect the great Bheeshma., 11

Then the old man of the Kuru clan, the great Bheeshma, Blew his conch like a roar of lion to reassure Him., 12

All of a sudden several conches, drums, cymbals and gongs, Blew in unison, and that sound echoed and reechoed and became great., 13.

Then Arjuna and Krishna sitting on a great chariot, Drawn by white horses, blew their divine conches also., 14

Lord Krishna blew his conch called Pancha janya, Arjuna blew his Devadatha And the Bhima with fire in his stomach blew his conch poundram., 15

The king Yudhishtra, who is the son of Kunthi, blew his conch Anantha Vijaya, Nakula his conch Sugosha and Sahadeva his conch Mani pushpaka., 16

The great archer Kashyapa, the great charioteer Shikandi, Drushtadhyumna, Virata, Sathyaki who has never faced defeat., 17 The king Drupada, sons of Daraupadi, the great son of Subadhra, Blew their conches separately again and again., 18

That sound shattered the hearts of the sons of Drutharashtra, And also echoed and reechoed in the earth and the sky., 19

Seeing these state of affairs of the sons of Drutharashtra, The hero with a monkey in his flag realizing that the time was ready for war, Held his bow aloft and Oh king, told like this to Krishna., 20

Arjuna said

Please position this chariot in the middle of armies, oh Krishna, So that I can see all those who have come ready for this battle, Summoned by the evil minded sons of Drutharashtra, And who have wished for this war and decide on all those Whom I should fight,when the war commences., 21-23

Sanjaya told

The lord Krishna, when told like this by Arjuna, Took and placed the chariot in the middle of the armies, And told him,”Please see the great warriors, Of the Kuru clan lead by Bheeshma and Drona.” 24-25

After seeing his in-laws, friends in the two armies, And also his grand father, his teacher, uncles, brothers, Sons and grand sons, Arjuna was overcome with compassion, And getting in to the clutches of sorrow, told the following words., 26

Arjuna told

I am seeing my people here, Krishna, who are ready for the war, My body becomes weak, my face becomes dry, My body is entirely covered with sweat, my hairs stand erect, My bow Gandiva is getting out of my grip, My whole body burns and I am not able to even to stand erect. My life seems to be leaving me and my mind gets upset., 27-30

I am seeing bad omens, Krishna which are counter productive, I do not see anything which will lead me to fame, By killing all these people who are my own people., 31

I do not desire victory Krishna, or country or pleasure, What is the use in having this country Govinda, And what is the use in having a pleasure filled life? For what is the point in having a country or even life,after, Killing teachers fathers, sons, grand father, Uncles, in laws, grand sons, brother in laws and all relatives. Even if they want to kill me. Oh killer of Madhu, And even if I am going to be the king of the three worlds, I am not interested in killing them for this trifle of land., 32-35

What happiness will I ever get by killing these sons of Drutharashtra, For even though they deserve to be killed,only sin will get attached to me., 36

Oh Krishna, though the sons of Drutharashtra deserve to be killed, Since they, are our relations, how can we get pleasure out of such an action? Though I am seeing that they do not realize in their mind, The sin of destroying a family and treachery to their friends, How can we who realize the sin which results in destruction of family, Not know that we have to withdraw from committing such a sin? 37-38

When families are killed, the just life of the society perishes, And by the loss of just life, injustice tends to grow aloft., 39

When injustice occupies the land , good women loose their virtue, And when they loose their virtue, there is mixture of the castes., 40

The mixture of castes leads the families and Those who destroy them to hell, for their ancestors Will not be worshipped with rice balls and water., 41

Because of the sins of those who destroy families, And those who lead to such a mixture of castes, The just duties of the castes as also the families cease to exist., 42-43

Oh Krishna, I have heard that those who destroy, The just duties of families, live forever in the portals of hell., 44

Alas! we are just getting prepared to do a very great sin, By killing our own people for the sake of ruling over a country., 45

If the armed sons of Drutharashtra kill me, who am not armed, That would lead me to lot of useful pleasure., 46

Sanjaya told

After telling thus Arjuna became extremely sad, Divested himself of his arms and sat in his chariot.

Thus ends the first chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “Arjuna’s state of grief.”

Chapter 2: The way of the discriminative logic

(In this chapter Lord Krishna tries to clear the fuddled mind of Arjuna using discriminative logic. He tells him that he is not killing anything, because the soul cannot be killed. After establishing this he tells him, that he can command (order about) only his own actions but is helpless in getting the results that he desires.)

Sanjaya told

To him who is completely weakened by compassion, Who was with eyes filled with copious tears, And who was imprisoned by worries, Lord Sri Krishna, the killer of Madhu, told thus., 1

The Lord told

Oh Arjuna who is faced with a dangerous situation. How come this inglorious thought came in to you, Which is ungentlemanly, which bars your way heaven, And which would become a blot to your fame., 2

Oh Arjuna, do not go in this path of thought which is fit to the unmanly, And cast away this minor weakness of mind and raise up to fight., 3

Arjuna told

Oh killer of Madhu, who is fit for worship, How can I kill Bheeshma and Drona, Who are fit to be worshipped by me, By shooting several arrows at them., 4

It would rather give fame to eat alms got as charity, Than to kill such teachers who are very great people, For I would be forced to enjoy the pleasures, Which are soaked in the blood of these great ones., 5

I do not know whether it is better for us to win over the enemy, Or the enemies to attain a victory over us, but I know, That against me are arraigned the sons of Drutharashtra, By killing whom, I will not have any wish to live further., 6

My conduct has lost its sharpness due to ignorance, And due to that I am not able to know, what is my rightful action, And so please tell me which path would lead to me to fame, For I am your student and have surrendered to you., 7

Even if I get a country with no enemies, and one with riches, Or even if I get the kingship of the great heaven, I do not see any way that would drive away, My blasting sorrow which wilts my sense organs., 8

Sanjaya told

Arjuna who can kill his enemies, Told Lord Krishna who is beyond meditation, That he would not participate in the war, And simply sat there, in a continued silence., 9

Oh Drutharashtra, the king of entire India. Then Sri Krishna smilingly told as follows to Arjuna, Who sat grieving in the middle of the two armies., 10

The Lord told

You are sorrowing for those who do not merit such sorrow, And also talking and arguing like a very learned man, In spite of the fact that wise men do not sorrow, Over people who are alive or those people who are no more., 11

There was never a time, when I was not there, There was no time when you or these kings were not there, And in future also there will be never a time, When we both and these kings will not be there., 12

Clearly understanding the fact that, All individuals with this body, will attain, States of childhood, youth and old age, And after death the soul will reach another body. Brave(learned?) men never get worried., 13

Oh Arjuna, we are able to feel the heat or cold, Or pass through the state of joy and sorrow, Due the interaction of sense organs with these feelings, Oh Bharatha, learn to tolerate and understand them, As they are unstable and appear and then vanish., 14

Oh king among men, that wise man, Who is not affected by these feelings, Who considers pain and pleasure alike, Would become suitable for immortality., 15

Philosophers and wise men know that, “That which is not there,does not exist, For it would never start to exist, And that which is there would, Never cease to exist and be forever.” 16

Please know that, that which fills all this Universe is the one that never dies, And that never undergoes change, And none can cause destruction to it., 17

You start fighting in this battle, Arjuna, For the soul,which is perennial and stable, Is beyond destruction and beyond proper understanding, And is said to occupy this very perishable body., 18

He who thinks that he is killing this soul, And he who considers that the soul has died, Are both ignorant, for this soul, Can kill nobody, nor anybody can kill it., 19

This soul is never born nor ever dies, It never comes to existence and later vanishes, And this soul which is permanent, perennial and old, Never dies when the body dies., 20

Hey Arjuna,how can he who knows this soul as, That which cannot be wounded, perennial and never ever is born, Ever kill some one or get some one else killed., 21

Like a man leaving out old worn out cloths, And start wearing new cloths when necessary, This soul leaves the body which becomes useless, And moves on to newer bodies., 22

This soul cannot be hurt by arrows, It can never be burnt by fire, It can never be made wet, And it can never be dried by any wind., 23

This soul can never be cut not burnt, It can never be made wet nor dried, This is perennial, goes everywhere, And is stable, immobile and ancient., 24

This soul can never be seen, is beyond thought, Beyond actions and the one which cannot be separated, And once you realize this perennial truth, You do not have the right to sorrow for it., 25

Oh great warrior, If you are under the impression, That this soul is one which is daily born and dying daily, Even then, you do not have the right to sorrow for it., 26

For all that is born, certainly dies, And all that dies is born again, And so,on a matter which cannot be corrected, You do not have the right to sorrow. ., 27

What is the point in showing sorrow, For that which was unclear before birth, Clear in the central period of time, And again becoming unclear after death? 28

Some view it with awe, others talk about it with awe, Some others hear about it with awe, But there is none among them, Who clearly knows anything about it., 29

This soul which daily lives inside the body, Can never be killed at anytime, Arjuna, So you do not have to sorrow about. The death of any being in this world., 30

Even viewing it from the aspect, Of just action as applicable to you,

You need not have to worry about it, Because for one belonging to the kingly race, There is nothing which brings more fame than war., 31

This war which came in an accidental fashion, Actually keeps the doors of heaven open, And is available only to those lucky of the kingly clan, Who participate whole heartedly in this war., 32

If you are not going to fight, This war as per the holy tenets, Then your fame and dharma would die, And you would be engulfed in sin., 33

Instead of talking about your fame, All beings would talk about your ill fame, And such talk of ill fame is, Worse than the state of death., 34

All great heroes would think, That you have ran away from the war out of fear, And all of them having good opinion about you, Will think of you in a very debased manner., 35

Your enemies would berate your heroism, And start talking words which should not be uttered, And what is there more sorrowful than hearing those words? 36

Oh Arjuna, if you are killed in this war, Certainly you will reach heaven, And if you are victorious you will, Taste the kingship of a kingdom, And so get up and start fighting., 37

Get engaged in this war, Keeping pain and pleasure equally, And loss and profit equally, And then only you will not, Suffer the results of sin., 38

I was till now talking to you about, The discriminative system of philosophy, And now I am going to talk to you, About the path of action, knowing which. You can get freed from the ties of duties., 39

There is no waste of efforts in this, And contra effects will never result, Even a slight practice of this type of action, Protects you from greatest fears known., 40

Hey son of Kuru clan, there is only one, Type of this wisdom which is fixed in goal, But the brains of those who are wavering,, Have no definite goal and travels in many ways., 41

Oh Arjuna, these ignorant men, Find pleasure in the flowery words of Veda, And will ever argue with pride, That there is nothing greater., 42

They will tell you, those actions, Results of actions and repeated births, Are meant for experiencing joy, And they would drown themselves in desires., 43

They will tell you words which are similar, To the fruit less flowering tree, And since they travel behind desires, Will not have time for any meditation., 44

(This sloka could also mean: These people attached to enjoyment and position, Are without wisdom and would never get, In their mind stable thoughts and directions., 44)

Oh Arjuna, Vedas deal with the three aspects of action, But you have to become one above, the three states of action, Win over the plurality of thoughts and have a mind, Not wandering behind earning and upkeep of wealth Become happy in yourself and enjoy the bliss of the soul., 45

To the wise man,Vedas are only as useful, As the little spools of water which are contained, In the limitless water which is filled everywhere., 46

You have only ownership of your actions, But you do not have anything to do with what results, So please do not do any action with, Interest in the results but please, Forever never decide on doing no action., 47

Oh Arjuna, when done bereft of any attachment, With equal emphasis given to gains and losses,. If you are able to perform actions, Then it is called the state of ‘yoga’., 48

Oh Arjuna, action laced with wisdom, But not attached to the results of such action, Is far above action done with desire to its fruits, And so take recourse to such an action, For those who desire for results from actions are miserable., 49

He who is wise leaves out of this life, Actions which are good and those which are bad, And so make attempts for attaining such a state of yoga, For yoga indicates skill in doing duties., 50

The learned one, who is wise, leaves out the fruits of actions, Cuts off the ties imposed by birth and death, And they certainly reach the state of no sorrow., 51

Oh Arjuna, When your wisdom crosses The confused knowledge of illusion, That the body that we see is really the soul, You would start going away from the knowledge, Which you know and are going to know., 52

When your wisdom which is tossed here and there, Hearing the multi wisdom of the Vedic words, Becomes stable in the knowledge of the soul, Then you would reach the stage of perennial yoga., 53

Arjuna asks

What are the properties of the stable minded, Who is in the state of pure meditation, Oh Kesava, What does he talk and converse about? Does he sit and walk like other men? 54

The God answered

The stable minded is the one, who has, Forsaken all desires and fluttering of the mind, Oh Arjuna, And becomes contended and happy, With his soul seeking pleasure only from the soul., 55

He would not get worried because of sorrows, Would never get happiness from pleasures, Would not have fear, anger and avarice, And would be called the sage who is stable., 56

The one who is not attached to everything that he sees, And reaching the state bereft of good or bad, Without loving or hating such states, Is the one who is called the stable minded., 57

Like a turtle withdrawing all his Limbs from all sides in to his shell, When one is able to withdraw in to himself, His sense organs from the sensual pleasures, His wisdom is that which is stable., 58

The pull of the sense organs go away From one who lives without any food, But in him,the desire for such pleasures remains, Till he sees and attains the divine state 59

Oh Son of Kunthi, Is it not true that even in a, Man who is wise, trying to control his senses The sense organs, which are tumultuous, Pull his mind, with force in to some other way., 60

The man with a stable mind controls, All the sense organs properly, And considers me as the supreme, And would live with peace., 61

He who thinks constantly of a thing, Develops attachment to such a thing, And from such an attachment desire develops, And from desire is born the anger., 62

From anger is born the great illusion, The great illusion leads to bewilderment,, Which leads to destruction of wisdom, Which in turn leads to the total destruction., 63

But he who does not have likes or dislikes, Who enjoys everything using the senses Which are under his full control, And who follows freedom with restraint, Attains the state of clear headedness., 64

This clear headedness brings to an end, All the sorrows that he ever has, And due to this, he within a short time, Is able to establish his stable wisdom., 65

He who does not attain the state, Of stable wisdom, does not have, Capability to take correct decisions, Nor does he have thought of the ultimate, And he who does not think of the ultimate, Does not ever have peace of mind, And how can pleasure, ever come to him? 66

This is because the mind which follows, The ever wavering pull of senses, Would also drive his mind, Like the wind driving a boat., 67

So, oh great hero, he whose senses, Completely control their hankering, Is the one who is steadily intelligent., 68

The sage who has complete control of his mind, Is awake during the night of all beings, When their mind is dark with ignorance; And that time when all beings are awake, Is the night for the sage who sees the truth., 69

Similar to the rivers traveling and merging, In to the ocean which is always full and stable, He in whom desires merge within him, Is the one who attains peace and, The one who chases desires is not peaceful., 70

He who forsakes all desires, And remains without any attachment, Without thinking of “Me “and “mine”, Reaches the state of peace., 71

Oh Arjuna, this is the state of union with the divine, Any one who reaches this will not drown in desires, He would stand steadfastly till the end of his life, And would attain the salvation, merging with the divine., 72

Thus ends the second chapter of Bhgawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The way of the discriminative logic.”

Chapter 3: The way of action.

(The Lord explains to Arjuna that every one has to do his duty. But if he does it without attachment to the results, he achieves his objective. He also explains that becoming slave to the senses and carrying out actions to satisfy them, is wrong.)

Arjuna asked

Hey God, if you feel that, wisdom is superior to action, Why are you pushing me to do this savage war? 1

You seem to enchant my brain by your conflicting words, Please tell me decisively that, by which I will get fame., 2

The Lord replied

Oh sinless one, in the times ancient, I had taught Two distinct ways of paths to follow, The path of wisdom for the discriminatory and The path of action to those performers of action., 3

The being does not become, one bereft of action, Just because he does not begin an action, And by renunciation of everything, He does not reach the divine perfect state., 4

None can remain for even for a fraction of time, Without doing any action whatsoever, For by fundamental laws of nature, One is forced to indulge in some action or other., 5

He who claims control of the senses of action, But mentally is a slave to the objects of these senses, Is living in delusion and is a pretender., 6

Oh Arjuna, on the other hand, The one who controls his senses, And is able to do action without attachment, Excels and is deemed as great., 7

Because action at any time is better than inaction, You continue to perform the action entrusted to you, For in the state of inaction you may not, Be able to even move your body., 8

Except a sacrificial worship of the ultimate, All other actions carried out, Are those which lead to a bondage, And so Arjuna, do the duties in a proper manner, Sacrificing it to god and without attachment., 9

During times of yore, Lord Brahma, Created man along with sacrificial worship and told him, “You would grow with sacrifices and multiply, For this would give you all that you want. “ 10

Worship gods with sacrifice and let gods entertain you with this, And you would gain great good by this mutual support., 11

Gods who are worshipped by sacrifices, Would grant you all that you want, And enjoying,what they have given to you, Without giving them something, back to them is indeed a theft., 12

The saints who do sacrificial worship and live, With whatever is left after the worship with them, Do get rid of all the sins committed by them, While those sinners who only cook for their eating only, Do live eating always their sins., 13

All beings are born out of food, All food is born out of rain, All rain is born out of sacrifices, And all sacrifices are born out of actions., 14

All actions are born out of Vedas, All Vedas are born out of perennial God, And so the Vedas which are spread every where, Is based always on sacrificial worship., 15

Oh Arjuna, he who does not follow, This rotating wheel of evolution, Worships pleasures of sense organs, And wastes his life in sin., 16

But that man who finds enjoyment in soul, Gets contended with the soul, And gets pleasures only from the soul, Does not have any actions left to be done., 17 Such a one, does not get anything by doing any action, Nor does he loose anything by not doing it, And he would not find anything to depend or desire, In all things and in all events., 18

So perform all actions that should be done, In a very proper way, without attachment, For the man who does actions without attachment, Attains a state of the supreme divine., 19

Don’t you know that great ones like Janaka, Attained the top divine state by performing action, Also you should become the one to do your duties. For putting the world in right track and guide them. Because ordinary people follow , The actions done by great and special people, And they also follow all their ideas, Of what is considered as great., 20- 21

Oh Arjuna, I do not have even an iota of work, That I should do in all these three worlds, Also there is nothing that I need to attain, Or left to be attained, but still I always work., 22

Oh Arjuna, if I fail to keep myself busy, Without rest by doing work, it is for sure, Those men would follow me in all my ways., 23

If I do not do my work, this world, Would totally perish and I would become, Responsible for mixing of communities, And consequent destruction of all people., 24

Oh Arjuna, the wise man should do his duties, Without attachment for the sake of the upkeep of the world, In a fashion similar to the ordinary people, Who do their duties with attachment., 25

He should not create confusion, Among the non wise and lead them, By doing all his actions properly, And make such people follow his path., 26

All actions in this world are done, Due to innate property of nature, And only the self centered one, Who is ignorant thinks that he does it., 27

But, oh great warrior, he who knows, The differentiation and function of the senses, Would understand that these senses, Would act through sense objects, And would never get attached to them., 28

Those who are deceived by the natural instincts, Think that they do the work and are responsible for it, And the man who is completely wise, Should not upset these ignorant souls., 29

Dedicate all the work you do to me, And understanding that you are the soul, Do actions without desire and attachment, And undertake this war in the state of peace., 30

Those men who follow this advice of mine, With sincerity devoid of jealousy, Would be freed from the bondage of duties., 31

But those men who find fault with this advice of mine, And do not follow it and get drowned in ignorance, Would waste their life as they are not wise., 32

Even if a man is wise., he still would, Follow the dictates of nature, for, All our thoughts flow from innate nature, And how can restraint help greatly? 33

In case of every organ of the senses, Likes and dislikes are in built, And so one should never be controlled by them, For, definitely these are his great enemies., 34

Duties faultily done according to our innate nature are always better than, Well and properly executed duties as done or taught by others, For even death by doing our own duty is to be preferred, As the travel in the path charted by others is dangerous., 35

Arjuna asked

Oh Lord of Vrushnis, then why are the men, Being forced without willingness to do sinful actions? 36

The Lord replied

Please know as your enemies are your acts of passion, Acts of fury, acts done for the sake of self, Acts of great food consumption and, Acts creating other greatly sinful actions., 37

Similar to fire being hidden by smoke, The mirror being hidden because of dirt, And the foetus is being hidden by womb, Desire keeps wisdom in hiding., 38

The wisdom of man is hidden, By the fire of his desire, Which is his constant enemy, And has the shape of passion, And can never ever be satiated., 39

It is generally believed that desire, Lives in the mind and sense organs, And because of this, it hides wisdom, And enchants the soul, which lives in the body., 40

Oh greatest among the Bharathas, please, Keep under control your sense organs, And then destroy this sinful passion, which, Kills the knowledge and realization., 41

People say sense organs are great, But Mind is greater than sense organs, Wisdom is greater than the mind, And that which is beyond wisdom is the soul., 42

Oh great warrior, thus understanding, That which is beyond wisdom, Controls the mind and the senses, And by having a stable mind, Destroy desire, which is but, An enemy which can never be conquered., 43

Thus ends the third chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The way of action.”

Chapter 4: The state of action, wisdom and renunciation

(Here the path of action and the path of wisdom are compared. It is concluded that wisdom is like a boat which helps us to cross the ocean of sin.)

The Lord told

He taught it to Manu his son, and Manu told it to Ikshuvaku., 1

Kingly sages inherited this knowledge, Oh, tormentor of enemies, but this great knowledge, Eventually disappeared from the world., 2

Since you are my friend as well as my devotee, This old knowledge is being told by me to you today, Even though this knowledge is a great secret., 3

Arjuna asked

How can I accept this in my mind, When I know that you were born, Much later than the sun god, And you claim to have taught him this? 4

The Lord replied

Oh Arjuna, the tormentor of enemies, I know that I and you have passed through, Several births and deaths so far, And also know, you do not know about it., 5

Though I am birth less and deathless, And also the god of all the beings that are born, I have full control on my innate nature, And appear similar to this form, by use of illusion., 6

Oh Bharatha, whenever the righteousness suffers, And wickedness raises its head, Then I create myself by my own illusion, And appear from time to time to save Dharma., 7

I come in to this world, myself from eons to eons, For protecting the righteous, And for destroying the wicked., And also to establish righteousness., 8

Oh Arjuna, he, who knows correctly, The fact of my divine births and duties, Would not have one more birth after his death, But would come directly to me and attain me., 9

Many of those who do not have desire, fear and anger Many of those who have become mine, And many of those who have surrendered to me, Become purified by the sacred flame of knowledge, And eventually would come and attain me., 10

I bless my devotees in the way, In which they choose to worship me, And Oh Arjuna, in whichever way they choose, It is my way in all respects entirely., 11

Desiring for good rapid results of action done, In this world they worship the gods, For in the man’s world the results, Of action are received very rapidly., 12

I propounded the four fold differences in men According to their inborn nature and choice of action, Though I am the one who is the author, Understand me as stable and the one who is not the doer., 13

He who knows that actions, Do not get attached to me, And that I do not have, Any attachment towards results of actions, Is never chained or tied by any action., 14

Understanding this great tenet, Our forefathers who wanted salvation, Did do several such actions, And so carry out actions like those of your ancestors., 15

Even greatly wise people are befuddled, In classifying action from inaction, And I will tell you about that action, Which would make you free from bad things., 16

Lots have to be learned about actions that has to be done, Lots have to be learned about action which should not be done, Lots have to be learned about inaction, And so it is difficult to charter the path of this differentiation., 17

That man indeed is greatly intelligent, Who sees inaction in action, And action in inaction, And he being a greatly Wise man, Would do all his actions with a peaceful mind., 18

That man whose actions are devoid, Of sensory gratification and determination Is the one in whom the fire of his wisdom, Has burnt his actions and is declared as ‘learned’, By those who have very great wisdom., 19

He forsakes interest in results of his actions, And is always satisfied with his life, And also does not depend on any one, And is seen to indulge in concentrated action, But is perceived as one who does not do anything., 20

He is without any desires and controls his mind and body, He forsakes ownership of all assets and only does, Those actions which are absolutely necessary , And never suffers any bad effects at any time., 21

He becomes happy with anything that he gets accidentally, He is the one who has crossed the state of duality, He is without jealousy, has same emotions towards victory and defeat, And he does not get tied up by his action in spite of doing it., 22

He is always without attachment, free from everything, And concentrates his mind on wisdom only, And his actions done with the spirit of sacrifice, Vanish because they are completely dissolved., 23

The act of sacrifice is God, The material that is being sacrificed is God, This material is being sacrificed in fire which is god, This sacrifice that is being performed is by God, And so the one who attains the Samadhi, By performing actions, attains God., 24

Some yogis perform sacrifices to please gods, And others sacrifice their soul in the fire of ultimate God, And conduct the sacrifices using ultimate God., 25

Yet others sacrifice their organs of hearing, In the fire of self control and yet others, Sacrifice their organs of speech, In the fire of sense organs., 26

Others sacrifice activities of all sense organs, And all activities of the soul, In the fire of self control, Burning them by the aid of the light of wisdom., 27

There are yet others who sacrifice money, Or penance or yoga or recitation of Vedas, Others who take up austere vows, With unflagging and unflinching devotion., 28

There are others who sacrifice outgoing breath, In the incoming breath or incoming breath, In out going breath and others who, Stop inhaling and exhaling and hold their breath., 29

Some others control their food and sacrifice, Breath in to breath and all these people, Who know what is a sacrifice, Are purified by the methods adopted by them., 30

Oh great one among the kurus, those who eat, The remnants of food offered in sacrifices attain, The perennial godhead and there is no world, For those who do not perform sacrifices., 31

There are several methods of sacrifices, Spread before us by the great Vedas, Please understand that they are a part of our actions, And understanding this gets you freedom from chains of life., 32

Oh tormentor of enemies, understand that, The sacrifices of wisdom is superior to those of wealth, For, hey Arjuna, Wisdom fulfills the entire gamut of actions And eventually ends up in the earning of divine knowledge., 33

Please learn and understand this, With humility, with enquiry and with service, From those wise men who have realized the truth, Who will instruct you in this type of wisdom., 34

Oh Pandava, Once you understand this wisdom, You would not be troubled by illusions of this sort, And because of that you would see all beings, Of the world within me and within you., 35

Even if you are the greatest sinner possible, Among all the sinners of the world, You would cross all the sins of yours, With the help of this boat of wisdom., 36

Similar to the fact that a raging fire, Turns in to ashes all the wood that is on its way, The fire of wisdom would turn, All your actions in to ashes., 37

In this world there is no greater, Purifier than the wisdom that one has, And over time the one who learns yogas, Becomes an ace and automatically gets it., 38

He who is in search of wisdom, He who controls all his sense organs, And he who learns everything with sincerity, Attains the state of great wisdom, And after attaining that state soon, he attains great peace., 39

He who is not wise, he who does not believe, And he who always doubts everything. Will eventually perish and This world does not exist for them who doubts, And also the other worlds and pleasure, Does not exist for them for ever., 40

Oh Arjuna, the one who destroys actions by yoga, The one who breaks doubts using his wisdom, And the one who stands self possessed, Are not stopped by duties or actions., 41

And so cut this doubt about the soul, Born out of ignorance with, The sword of wisdom and, Be stable in the state of yoga., 42

Thus ends the fourth chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The state of action, wisdom and renunciation.”

Chapter 5: The renunciation of action

(Arjuna wants clarification as to the need for practice of action, when one is mot interested in its results.Lord Krishna tells him that no body can remain without doing any action ands also that the ultimate self does not participate in the performance of action. He reemphasizes the importance of renouncing results of action.)

Arjuna asked

You praise renunciation of action, As well as the practice of the path of action, Please take a decision yourself, And tell me which of them is better? 1

The Lord answered

Renunciation as well as path of action, Will both take you to the higher state in life, But among them path of positive action, Is better than renunciation of action., 2

The one who does not hate or desire is a hermit, And so the one who gets freedom from, Plurality of action, easily gets freedom, From the ties of day to day life., 3

Ignorant children would say that knowledge, Is very different from action with renouncement, But the learned would not agree with them, For any one who concentrates on any of these, Would get the results from what he chose., 4

That state which is attained by discriminative logic, Is also attained by the practice of positive action, He who sees discriminative logic and positive action, As the same is the one who really sees., 5

Oh heroic one, renunciation of action is very difficult, Without first performing selfless positive action, And it is also true that one who is wedded to action, Attains the ultimate more quickly and speedily., 6

He who is engaged in selfless action, Who has a very clean and clear mind, Who has won over the hankerings of the body, Who has total control over his senses, And who sees himself in all beings, Is not tainted by action even if he does it., 7

The man who is a true practitioner, Of the path of selfless action, Feels that he is not doing any action, Even during the time he sees, he hears, He touches, he smells, he eats, He walks, he sleeps or even when he breaths., 8

When one talks or leaves what he holds, Or holds on tightly, or opens his eyes, Or closes his eyes, he determines, That these are because senses are Performing the job towards the sense objects, And not because he has done any of them., 9

He who does all his actions, sacrificing them, To the godhead and without any desires, Is not affected by it, similar to the fact, That lotus leaf does not become wet because of water., 10

The learned and wise men forsake all attachment, And carry out actions with body or mind or brain, Or senses without the sense of the feeling of “I”, For purifying their mind and soul., 11

He who does positive action, leaves out, The fruits of his action and attains, Mental stability and peace by practice of such action, But the one who does actions for achieving results, Is bound by the expectations of the results that he wishes., 12

The one who has mastered control over his senses, Does renunciation of all actions and exists peacefully, And happily in the city with nine holes, Doing nothing and getting done nothing., 13

The God was never an actor, nor did he create persons, Nor did he create actions, nor unification of actions with results, And all these are controlled only by universal ignorance 14

The god does not receive the sins of any one, Nor does he accept good deeds done by people, And this knowledge is hidden by ignorance, And because of it, beings get under delusion 15

In those whom ignorance is destroyed, Due to the knowledge of the soul, Their wisdom shines like a bright sun, And throws light on the highest being., 16

Those whose mind is set on God, Those who think God is their soul, Those who remain in the concept of God, And those who consider God as their refuge, Attain the state of no return, With their sins being winnowed off by wisdom., 17

The learned view with equanimity, The humble or a wise Brahmin, Or a cow, or an elephant or a dog, Or the one who eats a dog., 18

Those whose mind stands with equanimity, Have won over re birth here in this world itself, For the ultimate truth is equal and faultless, And due to that they stay with the ultimate truth., 19

He who realizes the ultimate truth, Would have a very stable mind, Would be devoid of any desires, Would attain the life he likes, Would not get elated with joy, Or get sorry when he gets what he dislikes., 20

He who does not have attachment, To the pleasure provided by the external, Realizes the pleasure given by the soul, And with his mind standing with ultimate truth, He realizes the bliss, which never decays., 21

Oh son of Kunthi, those pleasures from the external, Are really the birthplace of all sorrows, For they have a beginning and an end, And so the wise man will not derive joy from them., 22

He who has strength to control emotions, Caused due to passion and anger, Even before he leaves his own body, Is the one who is steadfast in yoga, And he is the only human being who enjoys., 23

He who has well being within him, He who has joy within himself, He who is enlightened within himself, That Yogi is the Brhamam even when he is alive, And would get salvation by becoming absolutely free., 24

Those sages within whom, sins erode, Within whom doubts fade away, Within whom senses are under control, And who wants only to do well to all others, Would get salvation with absolute freedom., 25

Those sages who get freedom from desire and anger, Who have mind which is peaceful and contended, And who are able to realize their souls, Would get salvation within this and in other worlds., 26

He who is able to keep, external pleasures outside, Concentrate his gaze in between the eyebrows, Keep the airs of inhalation and exhalation equally within his nose, Controls his mind, senses and thought completely, Desires nothing except the true and ultimate salvation, Is bereft of desire, fear and anger always, And tries to engage himself in meditation, Is always free from everything., 27-28

Thus ends the fifth chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The renunciation of action.”

Chapter 6: The art of meditation

(In this chapter Lord Krishna tells about the techniques of yoga and meditation and tells him that, it is a superior method)

The Lord Krishna told

He who carries out all his duties, Without depending on the outcome, And not the one who has forsaken fire, Or the one who does not do any action, Is a great yogi or one who has renounced., 1

Oh Pandava,understand the word yoga, As indicative of renunciation also, For no one can become a great yogi, Without relinquishing the fruits of actions from his mind., 2

For the sage who wants to climb up, The ladder of Yoga, action is a must, And only for the one who has attained yoga, Inaction is said to be the means to retain it., 3

When surely there is no desire, To those things hankered by senses, When there is no thinking for fruit of actions, He would have renounced everything, And would be called a great yogi., 4

One should elevate oneself by one’s self, One should not ever lower oneself, And surely self alone is one’s friend, And self alone is one’s enemy., 5

He who has attained victory over self, For him self is a very great friend, And for the one who has not won over the self, Self is a very great enemy., 6

For him who has won over his self, Who is eternally peaceful within him self Heat and cold are very much alike, And so are sorrows and happiness And honour and dishonour and he would, Be always blessed with presence of the divine., 7

That yogi who becomes satiated, By wisdom and his experiences, Is immobile, a victor over his senses, And would consider mud, stone and gold, As one and the same and equal., 8

He becomes very special and great, If he has the same relation with, Good people, friends, enemies, People who are neutral or middle, People who hate or people who love, And even people who are really bad., 9

That yogi should concentrate his mind, Sitting alone with control over mind and body, With no desires, with no wealth or assets, And try to meditate and keep his mind stable., 10

He should choose a very clean place, Which does not move, which is neither high nor low, And spread skin and cloth over Durba grass, And sit there concentrating his mind., 11

Sitting on that seat,with concentration of mind, And controlling the works of mind and senses, He should practice yoga for cleaning his mind., 12

Keeping his body, head and neck straight, Adopting the position of no movement, Becoming stable, without seeing here and there, Concentrating vision on the tip of his nose, With mind fully not roaming here and there, Without fear, observing self continence, Controlling his mind, thinking of only me, He should have me as his supreme goal., 13-14

That practitioner of yoga, who concentrates, With a controlled mind attains that peace, Which is at the end of salvation, And which is situated in me., 15

Oh Arjuna. Yoga is not there, For the one who eats too much, Or the one who eats nothing at all. It also is not there for the one, Who loves to sleep and to him, Who does not sleep at all., 16

To him who is moderate in his, Food habits, walks, action, Sleep and wakefulness, Yoga helps to wipe away sorrow., 17

He is said to have attained yoga, When his self controlled mind, Remains always fixed in the self, And is free of all desires and joys., 18

The wise men compare the non flickering, Lamp kept in a windless place, To the controlled mind of the yogi, Practicing yoga within his self., 19

One should know that, that is called yoga, When the mind which is controlled, By practice of concentration, gets settled, In which the self seeks the self and realizes the self, And gets happiness in the self itself, In which that state of bliss is realized, Which is limitless, known only to the intellect, Which is beyond the reach of senses, In which one establishes himself, And never moves down from it, Which position once attained, Makes one feel that no other gain, Is better than that state, And which position once attained, Makes one feel that no great sorrow is worth worrying about. This type of yoga which is worth practicing, Should be learnt with strong mind and perseverance., 20-23

After controlling all desires which are born, Out of the working of the mind, fully, After preventing the sense organs, From all sides,by use of the mind, And using the wisdom along with courage, You have to get peace slowly and surely. You should make the mind position itself in the self, And should not think of anything at all., 24-25

When the listless and unstable, Mind wanders hither and thither, It should be brought under control, By using the self alone., 26

To the yogi with a peaceful mind, Whose active pride has subdued, Who is sinless and who has, Become God himself, Undiluted bliss surely reaches 27

This yogi who is free from a tainted mind, Who can control his mind always, Attains the infinite bliss of union with the ultimate., 28

This man who is always absorbed in yoga, Has a mind which sees the same Brahman, In all the things that he sees, And realizes that Brahman is made of all things., 29

He who sees me everywhere, Sees everything within me, Is always able to see me, And I am able to see him always., 30

He who worships me, who am in all beings, In the spirit of being single entity, is a yogi, And wherever he is and whatever he does, He always lives with me., 31

I believe that, he is best among yogis, Oh Arjuna, Who sees other’s pleasure and pain, In the same way, as if it occurs to himself., 32

Arjuna asked

Oh killer of Madhu, because my mind is in turmoil, I am not able to understand this state, Where everything is observed as equal and same, And which is also permanent and stable., 33

Oh Krishna, Is not the mind always unstable, Turbulent, restless, leading to pain And something that cannot be controlled? I think controlling it is,as difficult as controlling wind., 34

The Lord replied

Oh Arjuna, there is no doubt that, Mind is restless and difficult to control, But Oh son of Kunthi, it can be controlled, By practice and detachment., 35

I believe that to him who cannot control his mind, The practice of Yoga is extremely difficult to attain, But if you practice with willingness and control, It can be attained by practice of proper methods 36

Arjuna said

Oh Lord Krishna, The one who has deep faith, But lacks will to put in sufficient effort, Slips away during the practice of Yoga, And since he cannot get the fruits of yoga, What does he eventually attain? 37

Oh God, who is a great hero, does he who fails. Not fall from both ways that he tries to the ultimate, And like a split and scattered cloud vanish? 38

Oh Lord Krishna, I do not find any one, Capable of completely answering, This question of mine except yourself, For is it not difficult to find people to solve problems? 39

The Lord replied

And is also not destroyed after this life, Oh son, any one who does only good, Would never ever attain a bad state., 40

The one who slips and fails in the path of yoga, Would reach the land meant for people with good deeds, Live there happily for several years, And is born in a house of the pure and prosperous., 41

Or he is born in the clan of wise Yogis, And such a birth is indeed rare in the world., 42

There he attains the use of the wisdom, Which was there in his previous body, And son of Kurus, striving more than before, He attains a state higher than earlier., 43

Though he does not understand The practices of his previous birth, He gets surely attracted to them, And even one who tries to understand yoga, Crosses the limit of the performer of Vedic rites 44

But that yogi who practices steadfastly. Gets the sins removed from him, And gets better and better attainment, In succeeding births and, Slowly reaches the greatest possible state., 45

Yogis are greater than sages, Also greater than the learned, Also greater than the performer of actions, And so it is believed, he is great, And so become a yogi, Oh Arjuna., 46

I have concluded firmly that the one, Who salutes me with sincerity and, With his mind absorbed in me, Is the greatest among yogis., 47

Thus ends the sixth chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The art of meditation.”

Chapter 7: Knowledge and Realization

(In this chapter Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, how he can be searched and researched by intelligence.)

The Lord Said

Oh Arjuna, by listening to me With your mind fixed in me, With your mind depending on me, After learning yoga well, You would know me completely, And without any doubt, in your mind., 1

I would teach you fully that knowledge, Together with realization and experience, After learning which there would be, Nothing left to learn in this world., 2

One in thousand men try to become, Learned in the knowledge of perfection, And only one of those learned men, Really know me in reality., 3

My nature is split in to, The eight fold division of, Earth, water, fire, air, ether, Mind, wisdom and pride., 4

But this is only my baser nature, And different from this, Oh Arjuna, Is my higher form, which is in the form of soul, By which this entire world is sustained., 5

Please understand that all things, Are born to these two forms of living and non living, And I am the origin and source of destruction, To the entire world, consisting of these two forms., 6

Oh Arjuna,There is nothing, Higher or bigger than me, For like the beads strung on a thread, Everything else is strung on me., 7

Oh Son of Kunthi, I am the taste of water, The light of the Sun and the moon, The letter “Om” of the Vedas, The manhood in all men, And the sound of the sky., 8

I am the earthy scent of mud, And the glowing light of fire. I am the soul of all the living, And the austerity of the sages., 9

Oh Arjuna, understand me as the seed, Which is primeval of everything that you see, As the wisdom of the wise and, And the prowess of the heroic., 10

Oh greatest among the Bharata clan, I exist among the strong ones as, The power without desire and attachment, And as the desire not opposed to just duty, Among all beings that roam., 11

Please know that that the serene, Active and base states are born out of me, But please do understand that I am, Not in them but they are in me., 12

In the form of these three states, The entire world exists in delusion, And does not understand me, Who is stable and outside of these three states., 13

This divine illusion of mine, Which is based on these three states, Is extremely difficult to surmount, And those who surrender themselves to me, Easily cross this divine illusion of mine., 14

Those ignorant people drowned in the mire of sin, And those wicked souls, who have lost, Their wisdom due to this deep delusion, And those with the attitude of demons, Do not take refuge in me or worship me., 15

Oh Arjuna, those who are distressed greatly, Those who are in search of wisdom, Those who are searching for wealth, And also the wise man, are the four people, Who always worship me., 16

Among them the wise man who is, Daily in contact with me and who has devotion, To the single entity is the best. For it is for definite that I am very dear to him, And he indeed is very dear to me., 17

Though all of them are great, I am of the opinion that, Among them the wise man is the best. He being constantly in my communion, Always tries to reach me, As there are no other higher aims., 18

After several births, this wise man, Realizing that everything is the universal godhead, Reaches me and such a person is rare indeed., 19

There are others who are swayed, By particular desires that attract them, Who are ignorant, follow particular rites, For praying to particular deities., 20

To the person who wants to be a devotee, For whichever god he addresses with faith, I make his faith extremely unflinching., 21

He with type of stable faith, Worships the God of his choice, With great willingness and, Gets fulfilled those desires, Given to him by me., 22

But for them, who are of lesser wisdom, That type of benefit would be temporary, For those who worship demigods attain them only, And those of my devotees always attain me., 23

Those ignorant ones do not understand, My divine form which never changes, Which does not have any thing above it, And think that I have attained a form, While I am never born and have no form., 24

I am not understood, by many people, Because I am hidden by the divine illusion, And this world which has lost its wisdom, Does not understand me who am birth less, As well as the one who undergoes no change., 25

Oh Arjuna, I understand clearly the past, The present and the future happenings, But no one understands and knows me., 26

Oh Terror to his enemies, Oh Arjuna, Even as soon they are born, all beings, Are born with the twin delusions, Of desire and aversion., 27

But those who do good deeds, Get rid of the effect of bad actions, And get freedom from these twin ties of desire, And would firmly worship me with devotion., 28

Those who try to surrender to me, For getting rid of death and old age, Would know about the ultimate truth, And all about the science of the embodied self, And also the dynamic action in full., 29

Those who know me with the concerns, Of beings, gods and sacrifices Fix that idea in their deep mind, And know about me even at their death., 30

Thus ends the seventh chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “Knowledge and Realization.”

Chapter 8: Non decaying ultimate spirit

(Several words indicated by the Lord in the last chapter are explained in this chapter. This chapter also describes the two types of death, one in which there is rebirth and another in which there is no rebirth.)

Arjuna asked

Hey greatest among men, what is that Brahmam? What is Adhyathmam? What is karma? What does Adhibhootha indicate in reality, Which is really called Adhidaivatham? 1

Hey killer of Madhu, Who is Adhiyagna in this body? How is it? And how does a man at his death bed, Who has restrained himself, know about and realize you? 2

The lord answered

The highest imperishable entity is Brahman, Its existence as the embodied soul is Adhyathmam, That sacrifice which leads to origin and development, Of all beings and events is called Karma., 3

The perishable body is called Adhibhootham, The cosmic being who activates is Adhidaivam, And Oh best among all beings, I myself am, Called Adhiyagna of this body., 4

He who lives in this perishable body, Even when the end is very near, If he has memory of mine deeply within him, Without any doubt reaches me., 5

Oh Son of Kunthi, he attains that, Which had always occupied his mind Or that which occupies his mind, At the time of the parting of the soul., 6

So always keep thinking of me, And also fight in the war and, If you always keep your mind and brain, On me, you will surely attain me., 7

Oh Arjuna. He who thinks of the Supreme Being, With constant practice of yoga, Which does not stray from thoughts to thoughts, Attains him without any doubt., 8

He,who meditates at the time of the parting of the soul, On Him,who knows everything that is to be known, Who is ancient, who is ruler of everything, Who is smaller than the atom, who is the sustainer of all, Who has a form transcending thought, who is resplendent like the sun And who is beyond darkness of ignorance with devotion and stable mind, And fixes the life breath between his eye brows, Using the great power and strength of yoga Would definitely reach that Supreme Being., 9-10

I would tell you now in brief, About that imperishable being, Which is described as non perishable, By those with deep knowledge of Vedas, And which is sought as a refuge by those aspirants, Who have left out all desires, And lead a life of abstinence, With a deep desire of attaining that. Being., 11

He who closes all doors to his senses, Parks his mind in his heart, Fixes the breath of life in his head, And enters the state of yoga, Chanting the letter “Om”, Which is the single letter Brahman, And leaves his body, With my thought in his mind, Attains the highest ever state., 12-13

Oh Arjuna, My access is very easy, For him,who daily without any break, Thinks about me only and does not, Think of any thing else and who, Leads a life of a yogi with constant regularity., 14

Those great souls who have attained, The highest state of salvation, Reach me and do not take, The transient and sad rebirth., 15

Oh Arjuna,all the worlds including, The word of Brahma, provide you Temporary shelter which is not permanent. Oh son of Kunthi, but once they reach me, They are never born again., 16

Those men who know Brahma’s day, As lasting for one thousand yugas, And his night lasting for one thousand yugas, Are the only one who knows the day and night., 17

When the day comes,all beings, Become separate and come out of, The state of absence of clarity, And when the night comes they merge back., 18

All the crowd of living and the non living beings, Come to existence, several times during the day, And during night they disappear and are absorbed, And when again the day comes, they come out helplessly., 19

Besides this unclear, and indiscernible beings, There is another unclear and indiscernible entity, Which is perennial and that entity, Is stable and never gets destroyed., 20

That unclear entity which never gets destroyed, Is referred to as the highest supreme goal, And attaining that goal, one never returns, And this is my supreme state., 21

Oh Arjuna, that in which every other thing, Can exist inside, and that great supreme being, Who pervades in every known place, Can be easily attained by devotion, Which is single pointed and perpetual., 22

Oh Arjuna, please hear from me, About that period of times in which, Yogis who depart, return or not return? 23

Those who die in the light caused by fire, During day time, during the waxing period of moon, During northern solstice and are the devotees of Brahmam, Would eventually attain the Brahmam., 24

Those who die when there is smoke, Or during night, during the waning phase of moon, And during the southern solstice and are, Well versed in yoga, attain the moon, And return back to earth., 25

It is for sure that, these bright and dark paths, Are considered to be two eternal paths, By one path they do not return back, And by the other they return back., 26

Oh Arjuna, the yogi who understands these paths, Is never, ever disappointed and so be always, Becomes endowed by being an expert in yoga., 27

The Yogi attains all the good things, Assured by practice of the Vedic chant, By performing fire sacrifices, By ascetism and by charity, Because of his clear understanding of the above., 28

Thus ends the eighth chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “Non decaying ultimate spirit”

Chapter 9: The active knowledge which is the secret

(Lord Krishna points out that people with specific targets attain only them and the one who does all actions surrendering to the supreme spirit, reaches him and merges with him.)

The Lord said

I would tell you, who is bereft of jealousy, That knowledge, which is extremely secret, Which is full of real reasoning, And which frees you from the curse of ignorance., 1

This is the king of all knowledge, Greatest among secrets, holy, Pure, one which can be experienced, Very easy to follow, which is imperishable, And which does not swerve from the just path., 2

Oh devotee of the supreme, those men, Who are not interested in this dharma, Do not attain me and reenter the path, Of the ordinary world after their death., 3

This entire world is fully occupied, By me, who am not visible to any one, And all the materials here are within me, But I am not within them always., 4

Also none of the beings are within me, For please see my divine glory, And realize that my soul sustains other beings, Protects them but I am not within them., 5

Like the immeasurable air that wanders, All over,but is contained within the sky, Understand that all beings are contained within me., 6

Oh son of Kunthi, all beings at the end of the cycle, Merge within my nature completely and, I give rise to them again at the beginning of the new cycle., 7

These beings which are in the control of my nature, Become completely dependent on my nature, and, I give rise to them again at the beginning of the new cycle., 8

Oh Arjuna , these activities do not tie me up, Because I am not attached to any activity, And remain as if I am not interested in them., 9

Due to my supervision, Nature, Gives birth to movable and immovable things, Oh son of Kunthi, due to this, All of them revolve between states of existence., 10

Not understanding me, who am lord of all beings, And not understanding my exalted nature, Fools disregard me, when I take the human form., 11

These ignorant people with vain desires, With vain jobs, which are being done by them, With vain wisdom and with shattered knowledge, Would adopt deceptive demoniac forms., 12

But the great souls of this world, Obey my godliness and without any doubts, Worship me,who am at the beginning, And at the end of all beings and things., 13

They always worship me with firm discipline, With stable efforts and great devotion, And serve me with steadfast love towards me., 14

Others worship me as the unified one, Through the clear knowledge of my form, And yet others worship me, who has faces all over, As unified or as having separate forms., 15

I am the rituals, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering to the manes, I am the medicine, I am the chants, I am the ghee, I am the fire, And I am also the sacrificial offering in the fire., 16

I am the father and mother of this world, I look after it, I am its grandpa, further, I am the one to be understood, I am purity, I am the letter “Om”, And I am the Rik, Yajur and Sama Vedas., 17

I am the goal, I am the sustainer, I am the Lord, I am the witness, I am the abode, I am the refuge, I am the friend, I am the source, I am the destroyer, I am the support, I am the repository and the eternal seed., 18

Oh Arjuna, I give rise to heat, I restrain and let loose the rain, I am the death as well as immortality, I am the existence and non existence., 19

Those who learn the three Vedas, Worship me with fire sacrifices, Get purified of their sins, by drinking Soma, And request for going to the heaven. Their good deeds take them to the land of Indra, And they enjoy the same pleasures as, Merited by the holy devas., 20

They enjoy that extensive heaven, And once the effect of their, Good deeds is completely eroded, Come back to this land of humans, Thus, those that follow the path of the Vedas, Who are infatuated by pleasure, Spend their lives in going and coming., 21

I look after the welfare of those, Stable minded and great devotees, Who do not think of anything except me, And worship me through meditation., 22

Oh Son of Kunthi, even those individuals, Who worship other gods with steadfast devotion, They really worship me, not following the right path., 23

For, am I not him who takes the fruit, Of all sacrifices and also the, God who grants blessings as a result of them? But they do not realize me properly, And return back to this mortal world., 24

While the people who worship devas, attain them Those who worship the manes attain them, Those who worship evil spirits attain them, And those who worship me attain me., 25

If someone offers me with clean mind and great devotion, Either a leaf or flower or fruits or water, I happily accept that which is offered by him., 26

Oh son of Kunthi, whatever you do, Be it eating or worshipping or giving in charity, Or doing meditation with austerity, Do it after, offering it to me., 27

By doing like this you would get freedom, From the bonds of good and evil action, And after getting freedom, you would, Come to me with a heart of renunciation., 28

I am in equal measure in all beings, As I do not hate anybody nor love anybody, But those who worship me with great devotion, Are within me and I am within them., 29

Even if a man with evil habits, worships me, Without any other aim or desire, I would consider him as a good man, For he has taken the right decision., 30

He would become a righteous soul soon, And reach the stable and peaceful state, And so, Oh son of Kunthi, proclaim to this world, That a devotee of mine never perishes., 31

Oh Arjuna, It is a fact that, Women, businessmen, workers, And people of other lower birth, Once they surrender to me, Reach me, the highest supreme goal., 32

When this is a fact, is it necessary, To tell again, about the Brahmins with good deeds, And great sages of royal nature? So having reached this unpleasant and temporary world, Worship only me with devotion and sacrifice., 33

Please become, one who thinks of me, One who is my devotee, one who worships me, And one who always salutes me. For if you consider me as your divine goal, Single mindedly, you would attain me., 34

Thus ends the ninth chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The active knowledge which is the secret.”

Chapter 10: The manifestations of God

(Though god is, everywhere and in everything, his manifestations stand out, in some persons/things. Lord Krishna gives a brief list of such persons/things where his manifestation stand out.)

The Lord said

Oh mighty armed one, please again, Hear my pleasant words, Which are being told to you, With a desire to do you good., 1

My greatness is not fully realized by devas, Nor sages even though I am the primal cause, Of all the devas and all the sages., 2

He among men, who knows me, As the one without beginning, One without birth and the, God of all the worlds, is the one, Who is really wise and is bereft of sins., 3

Intelligence, wisdom, freedom from delusion, Patience, truthfulness, control over senses, Tranquility, happiness, sorrow, birth, death, Fear, freedom from fear, non violence, Balance in thought, contentment, austerity, Charity, fame, notoriety, and other such properties, Are born out of me in to all beings., 4-5

Those ancestors of the present day beings, Like the seven sages, four sons of Brahma, And all the Manus are strong persons like me, And were born out of my mind., 6

There is no doubt that those who know, This glory and power of mine, attain The unshakable state of yoga., 7

The men who are wise realize, That I am the source of everything, And everything acts through my power, And see me everywhere and in everything, And constantly worship me., 8

They become happy and satisfied, Keeping their thoughts on me, Keeping their soul directed to me, And teaching each other about me., 9

I give that divine wisdom which will, Help them to reach and attain me, To those who are very stable, And who serve me with love and devotion., 10

For blessing them, I live in their heart, And light the lamp of divine wisdom in them, And drive away the darkness caused by ignorance., 11

Arjuna asked

You are the divine Brahmam, And the sacred place of attainment, And all great sages including Narada, Asitha, Devala and Vyasa call you, As the first god and eternal being, Who is divine and the birth less one, And you are also saying the same thing., 12-13

Oh Kesava, I realize fully, That whatever you tell me is the truth, But I know that neither the devas nor asuras, Know anything about your divine form., 14

Oh greatest among all beings, Oh creator of everything, Oh Lord of everything in this world, Oh the great god of all gods, Oh ruler of all this earth, I know that you alone know yourself., 15

So I think that it is only proper, To request you to tell me those manifestations, Through which you pervade this entire world., 16

Oh great yogi, be pleased to tell me, How I should concentrate and think about you, And fully understand you? Please tell me in what all objects, I should think and meditate about you., 17

Oh Janardhana please tell me in detail once more, About your yogic power and your manifestations, For I am still not satisfied by the nectar, Which I have been drinking by my ears, so far., 18

The Lord replied

Well, oh greatest among the Kuru clan, I would tell you about my manifestations, Which are important, for if I tell them on detail, Such a narration will never end., 19

Oh Arjuna, I am the soul, That resides in the heart of all beings, And I am the beginning, middle and end, Of all the beings that is known., 20

Of the sons of Adithi, I am Lord Vishnu, Among the shining objects, I am the Sun God, Among the Marut sons of Dithi, I am Marichi, And among the stars, I am the moon., 21

Among the Vedas, I am the Sama Veda, Among the devas, I am Indra, Among the senses, I am the mind, And within the animal, I am their brain., 22

Among the eleven Rudras, I am Lord Shiva, Among the Yakshas, I am Kubhera, Among the eight Vasus, I am the Fire God, Among the peaks, I am the divine Meru., 23

Among the priests, I am the Brahaspathi, Among the commanders, I am Lord Subramanya, And among the water bodies, I am the sea., 24

Among the great sages, I am Bhrugu, Among the words, I am the letter “Om”, Among the sacrifices, I am the sacrifice of chanting, And among the immovable, I am the Himalayas., 25

Among the trees, I am the holy banyan tree, Among the deva sages, I am Narada, Among the gandharwas, I am Chithra Ratha, And among the perfect souls, I am the sage Kapila., 26

Among the horses, I am Uchaisravas, Born along with nectar, from the ocean of milk, Among the great elephants, I am Iravatha, And among men, know me as their king., 27

Among the weapons, I am the Vajrayudha, Among the cows, I am the wish giving Kama Dhenu, Among those who create, I am the god of love, And among serpents, I am Vasuki., 28

Among the many hooded snakes, I am Adhi Sesha, Among beings living in water, I am Varuna, Among the manes, I am Aryama, And among those who punish, I am Lord Yama., 29

Among the sons of Dithi, I am Prahladha, Among the calculators, I am time, Among the animals, I am the lion, And among the birds, I am the eagle., 30

Among those who move fast, I am the wind, Among the armed beings, I am Lord Rama, Among the fishes, I am the shark, And among the rivers, I am the Ganga., 31

Oh Arjuna, among those created beings, I am their beginning, middle and end, Among knowledge, I am the science of the soul, And among those who argue, I am, That argument which searches for the truth., 32

Among the alphabets, I am the first letter “Aa’, And among compound words, I am, The two word combination with equal emphasis on both, I am the also the deathless time, and I am, The one with faces everywhere, who protects., 33

I am the death that steals everything, I am the originator of everything that is created, Among the women, I am goddess Lakshmi and Saraswathi, And I am also the goddess of fame, memory, Stability, Wisdom and patience., 34

Among the songs of the Veda, I am the great Sama, Among the meters, I am Gayathri, Among the months, I am November-December, And among the seasons, I am the flowering spring., 35

Among those who cheat, I am gambling, I am the strength of those who are strong, I am the victory, I am the steadfast effort, And I am the goodness of the good., 36

Among the clan of Vrushnis, I am Krishna, Among the Pandavas, I am Arjuna, Among the great sages, I am Vyasa, And among the poets I am Shukra., 37

In the hands of those who punish, I am the rod, Among those who want to win, I am justice, In matters which are secret, I am silence, And among the wise, I am the wisdom., 38

Oh Arjuna, among all matters, I am that which is their root, If you ask me, whether there are, Any moving or not moving things, In which I am not there, the answer is no., 39

Oh tormentor of his enemies, there is no limit, To my manifestations proving divinity, And what has been told above, Is but in brief, the chronicle of my manifestations., 40

Anything which proves my manifestation, Or looks like having the sign of glory, Or exists as the greatly great power, It has to be understood as, A part of my power which has materialized., 41

But Arjuna.,What advantage would you get, By the knowledge of these and please understand, That I am firmly supporting all the worlds, Using a small portion of my divine power., 42

Thus ends the tenth chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The manifestations of God”

Chapter 11: Seeing of the universal form

(Lord Krishna shows his universal form to Arjuna. Seeing that fearful form of the Lord, Arjuna is made to realize that all his enemies have already been killed and he is but an instrument in the hands of God.)

Arjuna asked

The words you told with an aim to bless me, Are very secret and clearly explain the science of the soul, And those words have removed my delusion., 1

Oh lotus eyed one, have I not heard from you, In detail about birth and death of all beings, And also I heard about your perennial greatness., 2

Oh greatest God, I have realized you fully, The way that you chose to explain to me, But Oh greatest Lord, I also desire, To see your great form in reality., 3

Oh Lord, if you think that I am fit to see that, Oh God of all yogas, please be kind enough, To show me that non perishable form., 4

The Lord said

Oh Arjuna, please see my divine form, Which is of different kinds, which is, Of different hues and shapes and, Which are in hundreds and thousands., 5

Please see in me the adithyas, Vasus, Rudras, Aswini devas and Maruths, Please also see my never before seen forms., 6

Oh Arjuna, now please see together The entire stable and unstable world, And also all that you wanted to see, in me., 7

But you would not be able to see me, Using the normal eyes that you have, And I am giving you a divine sight, Which would help you understand my godliness., 8

Sanjaya told

Oh king, after telling these words, Lord Hari who is the lord of all yoga, Showed Arjuna his divine godly form., 9

That form had many faces and eyes, Many greatly surprising sights, Wearing many heavenly ornaments, And armed with many divine weapons., 10

That form wore several celestial garlands and apparels, Anointed with divine sandal paste and greatly wonderful, Resplendent, limitless and having faces on all sides., 11

If by chance one thousand suns, Adore the sky with their shine, Then that great being’s light, Would be some what equal to it., 12

Then that son of Pandu saw in the body, Of the great god of gods, The entire world with all its divisions., 13

After this, that Arjuna filled with wonder, And all his hairs of the body standing erect, Started telling like this, after saluting Him., 14

Arjuna said

Oh God of gods, I am seeing in your body, All devas, similarly hosts of other beings, Lord Brahma sitting on the lotus, All sages and all celestial serpents., 15

Oh God of the universe, Oh God with universal form, I see your limitless form with many hands, many bellies, Many mouths and many eyes, wherever I turn, And I am not able to see your end, beginning or middle., 16

I am seeing everywhere all around, Your immeasurable form , wearing a crown, Holding a mace and the holy wheel, And which shines in all directions, Which is a ball of light blinding my eyes, Which appears like a fire burning bright, And which is resplendent like the Sun., 17

I believe, that you are imperishable, A divine form, a thing to be known, The resting place of this universe, A person who never decays and Always preserves the great tenets of eternal religion, And that you are the primeval being., 18

I am seeing you as one without, Beginning, middle and end, As one with limitless powers, With innumerable hands, With Sun and moon as your eyes, With the raging fire as your mouth, And one who heats the world by his light., 19

Oh great being, is it not true that the space Between the sky and the earth is filled, Completely by your great form? All directions and all the three worlds, Are extremely afraid and trembling, Seeing this wonderful and terrible form of yours., 20

Very many Gods are entering within you, Very many of them, who are frightened, Are praising you, with saluted hands, While bands of great sages and perfect souls, Are uttering the words, “Let there be peace”, And are also singing your praise., 21

You are being seen with sense of awe. By Rudras, Vasus, Sadhyas, Viswedevas, Aswini devas, maruths The manes who take vapour as food, Gandharwas, Yakshas, Asuras, And hosts of perfect beings., 22

Oh great warrior, all the world and also me, Are trembling with fear seeing your great form, With several mouths, several faces, several eyes, Several shoulders, thighs and feet, And several bellies , several teeth and tusk., 23

Oh Vishnu, seeing your form which touches the sky, Which is resplendent, which is multi coloured, Which has open mouths and which has broad eyes spitting fire, I am having a trembling heart and am not able to, Have even traces of courage and peace., 24

Oh Lord of all devas, seeing your mouth, With tusks and resembling the fire at deluge, I am benumbed and not able to see any directions. And also I am not able to attain mental peace, And so be pleased with me, Oh abode of the universe., 25

All the sons of Drutharashtra, along with, Hoards of kings who rule the world, And also Bheeshma, Drona ,Karna, the son of a charioteer, And also many of our own warrior chiefs, Are rushing in to your very fearful jaws with teeth, And some of them are seen with smashed heads, Caught in between the spaces between your teeth., 26-27

Similar to the rushing of the currents of water, To the great ocean, these human warriors, Are entering your mouth, which has flames all around., 28

Similar to the moths rushing towards the flaming light, Towards their destruction, the beings the world, Are also speedily rushing in to your mouth to die., 29

Hey Vishnu, You are swallowing the world, By your mouth which is full of flames, And also licking them from all sides, And your fierce rays which glow, Is filling the world with radiance and burning it., 30

Oh fierce looking God, please tell me who you are? And let my salutations become yours and oh great deva, Please show mercy on me as I am interested, In knowing about you who is primeval, As I have not really understood you properly., 31

The Lord replied

I am the terrible time that destroys people, And am here to destroy the world and even without you, All those enemy soldiers who are assembled here, Would not live for any more time., 32

So you please get up, win over the enemies, And gain fame as well as enjoy the benefits, Of the great kingdom which is filled with wealth, Please also understand hat I have already killed them, And also understand that you are only an apparent, Reason for killing them, Oh Arjuna., 33

Please kill Drona, Bheeshma, Jayadratha, Karna and all other great warriors, Who have been already killed by me, Don’t be afraid and become sad but fight., 34

Sanjaya told

Hearing these words of Lord Kesava, Arjuna trembled and saluted him, And with great fear again saluted him, And with a faltering voice asked., 35

Arjuna asked

It is only proper that the world becomes extremely joyous, And becomes attracted by the singing your praise, And the rakshasas get frightened and run everywhere And all the host of perfected beings are saluting you., 36

Oh great being, Oh endless one, Oh God of Devas, Oh abode of the world, why would they not, Salute you, for you never ever decay, You are the distinct, you are the indistinct, And also that which is beyond both of them., 37

Oh Lord with endless form. Oh primeval God, Oh ancient God, you are the supreme repository, To this great universe, you know everything, You are that which is knowable, and also, The highest abode and pervade everywhere., 38

You are the wind, you are the god of death, You are the fire, you are God of rain, You are the moon, you are the creator, You are the great grand sire and to you, I salute again, again and again, And also thousands of salutations to you., 39

Oh God who is everything, salutations to you, From the front and from behind and from all sides, You are of limitless prowess and of limitless valour, And you pervade in everything, And you also become everything., 40

Without realizing, the greatness of yours, And without knowing, this great form of yours, Because of my ignorance, and affection to you, I might have impertinently called you, “Hey you Krishna”, “hey you Yadhava,” And “hey my pal” and so Oh my lord Krishna, I beseech you, who is immeasurable, To pardon me for those insulting words, Told,when we were playing, when we were lying down, While we were eating, while we were sitting together, While we were alone or while we were in company 41-42

Oh God, who is the unrivalled power, You are the father of this world, Which is movable and immovable, You are the Lord fit to be worshipped, You are greater than the greatest being, And there is none in three worlds equal to you, And so how can there be any one greater than you? 43

Oh God therefore I prostrate before you, Lying down on the ground before you, And beg to you, who is the worshipful lord, “Please pardon all my mistakes and errors, Similar to the father pardoning his son, Similar to a friend pardoning his friend, And similar to the lover pardoning his sweetheart. “ 44

Oh God, having seen that which I have not seen, I am elated and happy with joy and also, My mind is confused due to fear, And so please show me your normal form, Oh God, abode of the world, please be kind., 45

I want to see you wearing the crown, Holding the mace and the wheel, And Oh God with thousand arms, Please become one with only four arms., 46

The Lord said

Oh Arjuna, having been pleased by you, I have shown this universal resplendent form, Which is beyond limits, which is primeval, Using my divine power and this form, Has not been seen by anybody other than you., 47

Oh great warrior of the clan of Kurus, I cannot be seen by studies of Vedas, Or sacrifices or by charity or by rituals, Or by doing austere penances, in this form, By any one in this mortal world, other than you., 48

Please do not get afraid or deluded by seeing, This fearful form of mine and get rid of your fear, Become happy and see that form of mine, Which used to be seen by you before., 49

Sanjaya told

The Lord after saying this to Arjuna, Appeared before him, in his normal form, And that great one cheered up, The frightened Arjuna assuming, His normal pleasant form., 50

Arjuna said

Oh Lord Krishna, after seeing this human form, Of yours, I have become self composed, And have gone back to my normal self., 51

The Lord said

All the gods are ever desirous of seeing, That rare form which was seen by you now But have not been able to see it like you., 52

I cannot be seen in that form, In which you have seen me now, By either the Vedas or austerities Or charity or fire sacrifices., 53

Oh scorcher of his enemies, please know, That I can be seen or known or conversed to In this great form by undivided concentrated devotion., 54

Oh Pandava, he attains me at the end, Who considers me as the supreme goal, Who is only devoted to me with out attachment, And who bears no ill will against any being., 55

Thus ends the eleventh chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “Seeing of the universal form”

Chapter 12: The path of devotion

(This chapter describes in detail about “devotion to God”. It clearly says the idol worship is inferior to the worship of the supreme formless entity. A very universal definition of “devotion to god” is also given)

Arjuna asked

Among your devotees, who worship, You with a stable mind and with devotion, And those who worship the imperishable, Which cannot be known to the senses, Who is the better one, Oh God? 1

The Lord said

I consider those devotees who with a stable mind, And with great sense of devotion worshipping me, As those who know the concept of devotion, well., 2

In spite of that, those devotees of the imperishable, Which is beyond words, which cannot be seen by the eye, Which is beyond the reach of mind, which is everywhere, Which is without change, which is stable and eternal, And which can never be destroyed by anything, And who worship me, coupled with equanimity, Controlling their senses well, and also pray for the welfare of everyone, Surely and definitely reach me, without any doubt 3-4

They find it hard to meditate on the abstract, For the way to the abstract is difficult, For those, who have attachment to this body., 5

But for those, who renounce all actions in me, Believing me as their greatest goal, And do not depend on any other method, But meditate on me and worship me, And have their mind fixed in me, Would get freed from this sea life with death, And Oh Arjuna, I redeem them and protect them., 6-7

If you always keep your mind in me, And let your intellect rest in me, There is never any doubt at any time, That you would live in me, after that., 8

Oh Arjuna, but if you do not have, The capacity to keep your mind firmly in me, Then you can attain me by steady practice of Yoga., 9

If you are not even able to practice yoga, Do all actions of yours dedicated to me, And such actions also would lead you to perfection., 10

In case where, even this cannot be done, Then with deep sense of humility and A mind, only thinking of surrender to me, Be pleased to renounce the fruit of all your actions., 11

Knowledge is superior to yogic practice, Meditation is superior to mere knowledge, Renunciation is far superior to meditation, For Renunciation speedily takes you to peace., 12

That great devotee is very dear to me, Who does not hate anybody else, Whose mind is filled with friendliness, Who is also a store of mercy, Who does never claim anything as his, Who is completely devoid of pride, Who feels pain and pleasure as equal, Who is always filled with joy, Who is the one who likes yoga, Whose decisions are always firm, And who dedicates his mind and intellect to me., 13-14

That great devotee is very dear to me, Who never puts the world in to trouble, Who is never tormented by the world, And who is free from elation, jealousy, fear and anxiety., 15

That great devotee is very dear to me, Who does not want anything, who is pure, Who is clever, who is extremely indifferent, Who is never troubled and does not start. Any action aiming at fruits of such action., 16

That great devotee is very dear to me, Who never rejoices, who never hates, Who never grieves, who never wants, And who has renounced all good and bad., 17

That great devotee is very dear to me, Who is alike to friend and foe, Who behaves similarly in honour and dishonour, Who is alike in heat and cold, Who is alike in pain and pleasure, Who is free from any attachment, Who likes,alike praise and censure, Who is silent, who is satisfied with anything, Who is without a home and who is stable., 18-19

All those great devotees, who practice this method, Which is perennial and is as per Dharma, According to the above said method and with faith, Are those who consider me as their supreme goal, And are extremely dear to me., 20

Thus ends the twelfth chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The path of devotion.”

Chapter 13: Discrimination between arena and the performer

(The difference between the physical,body which performs actions and the ultimate spirit, which makes it act but never gets involved in the nature of action is clearly brought out here.)

The Lord Told

Oh Son of Kunthi, those with knowledge tell, That this body is called the Kshethra (Field/arena), And he who knows this is called the Kshethagna (Farmer/performer) 1

(In one of the translations by Sri Swaroopananda there is one extra verse. It is

Arjuna asks

I desire to learn Oh lord, The difference between Nature and the Holy Spirit, And also that between the field and the performer, And also knowledge and the knower, in its entirety)

Oh Arjuna, understand that in all kshetras, I am the Kshethragna and I am of the opinion, That knowledge about Kshethra and Ksethragna<the performer</ref>, Is the only real and true knowledge., 2

I would tell you in brief, what is Kshethra, What is it like, what its modifications are, Wherefrom it arose, who is the Kshethragna, And what powers are that of the Kshethragna? 3

This has been sung differently by great sages, This truth has been separately sung by the Vedas, And also has been explained by words, Which are causal and indicative of the Brahman., 4

In brief Kshethra is the five great elements, And egoism, intellect, that truth which is not clear, The ten sense organs, the mind, five sense objects, Desire, aversion, happiness, misery, the body, Intellect and patience, along with their modifications., 5-6

Humility, lack of snobbishness, non violence, Patience, honesty, service to the teacher, Cleanliness, steadiness, self control, Non attachment to the sense organs, Lack of egoism, seeing misery in, Birth, death, old age and sickness, Non attachment towards son, wife and family, Being even minded, stable equanimity when, Likes and dislikes are presented, Unswerving devotion to me through yoga, Attachment to clean places of solitude, Dislike for crowd, Constant unfaltering, Action towards getting divine knowledge, And research for finding the true knowledge, Are all called divine knowledge, And all others are termed as ignorance., 7-11

I will now tell you about that, Which should be achieved and, When achieved leads to deathlessness. For that is the highest, birth less Brahman, Which is neither a being nor a non being., 12

It has arms and legs everywhere, It has eyes, head and mouth everywhere, And it has ears everywhere and exists, Pervading everything in the world., 13

Though it exists in the actions of sense organs, It is completely bereft of all sense organs, Though it is unattached to anything, It sustains everything, though it is without properties, It is the prime protector of all properties, Though it is outside of all beings, it is also inside, Though it is moving, it is also not moving, And being subtle, it is difficult to understand, And though it is far away, it is very near., 14-15

Though it is an undivided in beings, It appears as if it is divided and, It is known as the creator, Maintainer and destroyer of beings., 16

It is described as the light of lights, And is also mentioned as beyond darkness, And it exists in the heart of every being, As the knowledge, that is to be known, And as that one which can be attained by knowledge., 17

Thus has been told in brief, the properties, Of Kshethra, knowledge and the knowable. Knowing which properly, my devotee, Becomes fit to attain my being., 18

Know that, the principles of, Nature and purusha are beginning less, And also understand that the differing, Properties and shapes are born out of nature., 19

The nature is the creator of all effects and causes, And the Purusha is said to be the cause of joy and sorrow., 20

In reality Purusha resides in nature and Experiences the properties of nature, And the reason for his birth in good and bad forms, Is because of his attachment to those properties., 21

The Purusha is the overseer, he who permits, He who nourishes, the consumer, the lord of lords, And also supreme soul and is different from this body., 22

He who realizes the Purusha and Nature, Along with these properties, Whatever may be his mode of life, Is surely, never born again., 23

Some people are able to see the soul, Within themselves by meditation, Some see it by the path of knowledge, And others see it through the path of action., 24

Others though they do realize it in these ways, Serve and worship, by hearing it from someone, And they also definitely by their devotion, Cross the state of life and death., 25

Oh Arjuna, please understand that all that exists, Whether they are animate or inanimate, Have come, in to being because of, Interaction between arena and the performer., 26

He who is able to see that great God, Who exists equally in all things and, As Imperishable in all perishable objects,sees me., 27

Seeing that God who abides Equally everywhere, he reaches The higher self by, not denying the real self., 28

He only sees, who sees that, Only nature does all the actions of the world, And knows that the soul is inactive., 29

When he realizes in his mind, That the diversity of beings, Ultimately belong to one source, And they also emanate from one source, He himself becomes the ultimate Brahman., 30

Oh son of Kunthi, the supreme self, Which is indestructible and without beginning, And which is bereft of any properties, Does not act, even if it is in the body, Nor is it attached to anything., 31

Similar to the sky, which is subtle, Never gets contaminated by anything, This supreme self which is located, In every body, never gets affected by the body., 32

Just like one Sun is lighting everywhere, This one real soul illuminates all bodies, Oh Arjuna 33

Those who perceive the difference between, The nature and the Supreme Purusha, And see through their eye of knowledge, That all beings that are born merge in nature, Reach and merge with the supreme Self., 34

Thus ends the thirteenth chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “Discrimination between arena and the performer”

Chapter 14: The three quality states

(Every individual is the mixture of goodness, emotion and delusion. His personality is determined by which of these predominates and is noticed. To merge with the infinite and attain immortality, one has to transcend these three quality states.)

The Lord said

I would tell you again about that knowledge, Which is the highest among all knowledge, Knowing which the sages attain supreme salvation., 1

Those who follow this knowledge, And have attained my supreme nature, Are not born at time of the creation, And also never die at the time of deluge., 2

Oh descendent of Bharatha, the great nature, Is my place of creation and I place the germ in that, And from that are created all beings and things., 3

Oh Arjuna, in whichever wombs, whatever is born, For all of them mother is the great nature, And I am the seed giving father., 4

Oh great warrior, the three qualities, Which are called as Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas, Are born of nature and bind tightly that Nature, Which is changeless, in to this body., 5

Oh sinless one, of them the quality of Sathwa, Is resplendent because of its nature of purity, And its freedom from evil and it binds the embodied self, By its attachment, to happiness and knowledge., 6

Oh Arjuna, on the other hand the quality of Rajas, Is of the form of emotion and creates in the self, The sources of desire and attachment, And binds the embodied self by, attachment to action., 7

Oh Arjuna, The quality of Thamas is created by ignorance, And creates in all embodied beings, delusion, And binds it, using sleep, laziness and madness., 8

Oh Arjuna quality of Sathwa leads you to happiness, Quality of Rajas to work with attachment, And the quality of Thamas, weakens wisdom, And leads you to the sense of delusion., 9

Oh Arjuna, Sathwa tries to rise you up, Overpowering Rajas and Thamas, Rajas overpowers Sathwa and Thamas, And Thamas overpowers Sathwa and Rajas., 10

When you see the sparkling light of wisdom, Manifesting through all sense openings, This should make you realize that, The quality of Sathwa predominates., 11

Oh Arjuna when the quality of Rajas predominates, You would see greed, restlessness, activity, Lack of peace, attachment and desire., 12

Oh son of Kurus, When Thamas predominates, Ignorance, laziness, inadvertence and delusion, Come up to the fore and are noticed., 13

If the embodied self attains death, When quality of Sathwa predominates, He would reach the divine worlds, Meant for pure and great beings., 14

If the embodied self attains death, When the quality of Rajas predominates, He is born among those who are attached to work, And when Thamas predominates, He is born among irrational people., 15

They say that virtuous actions lead To the quality of Sathwa and purity, The result of quality of Rajas is sorrow, And the result of quality of Thamas is ignorance., 16

While wisdom is born out of quality of Sathwa, Greed is born out of the quality of Rajas, And ignorance, delusion and inadvertence, Are only born out of the quality of Thamas., 17

While those with quality of Sathwa go to higher spheres, Those with the quality of Rajas are in middle spheres, And those with the baser quality of Thamas, Travel to the lower spheres., 18

When the one who sees,does not see, Another one who does action other than qualities and, Realizes that which is beyond the states of qualities, He eventually attains my being., 19

He crosses these three qualities, Which made the embodied self, And attains that great state and Travels beyond birth, death and old age, And attains the state of immortality., 20

Arjuna asked

How do we recognize the one, Who has transcended these three qualities? How does he behave and, How does he cross these qualities?., 21

The God said

Oh Pandava, the transcended one does not hate, The light of the mind due to Sathwa, The state of activity due to Rajas, The state of delusion due to Thamas, When these properties come up, And he does not feel sorry when they cease., 22

He who appears indifferent and unconcerned,, Who is not rocked by these three qualities, Who is stable in knowing that only qualities function, Who is steady and stable, Who considers pain and pleasure alike, Who abides within his own self, Who considers stone and gold is of equal worth, Who considers “like” and “dislike” as same, Who is courageous in his stability, Who considers praise and blame as similar, Who considers honour and dishonour as equal, Who has same attitude towards friend and foe, And renounces all actions started by him, Is called the one beyond the effect of qualities., 23-25

The one who serves me with stable devotion, Easily crosses the effect of qualities, And becomes suitable for becoming the supreme being, For am I not the embodiment of that Brahmam, And also the gateway for immutable immortality, And matchless and absolute joy., 26-27

Thus ends the fourteenth chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The three quality states.”

Chapter 15: The knowledge of Supreme Being

(The entanglement with the day to day life is compared to a Banyan tree which starts growing from the top (brahmam/Supreme godhead) and grows and spreads down in this material world. The only method to put an end to this perennial entanglement is to cut the stem of this tree, by detachment.It is also mentioned that a soul taking a new body, brings the memories from the old body, it leaves. The nature of the imperishable Supreme Being is explained.)

The Lord Said

People talk about the endless banyan tree, With its roots above and branches below, And whose leaves are the Vedas, And he, who knows this, knows the Vedas., 1

Its branches which are nurtured by the three qualities, Grow both below and above, with the senses as its shoots, And its roots which are stretched below, Produce actions in this human world., 2

Thus its form is not experienced here, As it has no beginning nor end and nor existence, And this well entrenched banyan tree should be, Cut by a strong sense of detachment, And then, one should search and travel, By that way by which, those who travel never return, Determining within oneself, that he seeks, Refuge in that primeval being, From whom this entire eternal process was started., 3-4

Bereft of pride and delusion, Without the curse of attachment, Devoted fully to spiritual pursuits, Fully getting rid of the desires, Getting freedom from joy and sorrow, And fully getting rid of ignorance, They attain that deathless goal., 5

That place where one goes, but never returns, Is the place of my supreme state, Neither sun nor moon nor fire can illuminate it., 6

That part of me,which is in the embodied soul, Appears in this world, draws in to it the six senses, And finds a place in this state of nature., 7

Once this soul leaves a body and takes another, It draws these six senses from the body he leaves, And take them along with it to the new body he assumes Similar to a breeze carrying scents with itself., 8

He enjoys all sense objects using fully, Using the ears, eyes, organs of touch, smell, And the mind, all of which he makes as his, And enjoys all the sense objects., 9

Whether he is the one who leaves, Or the one who is in stable state Or the one who enjoys these senses, He is not seen by the ignorant ones, But is seen by those with eyes of knowledge., 10

Those yogis who make lots of effort, In trying to see him within them, see him, But the ignorant ones in spite of effort,do not see him., 11

Please understand that light, Which resides in the sun, And lights the entire universe And which illuminates the moon, And which illuminates fire as that of mine., 12

By my power I enter within the earth, And I support all its beings, And I nourish all herbs, By becoming the watery moon., 13

Becoming the digestive fire of all beings, And uniting myself with the exhaled and inhaled breath, I digest all the four types of food which is consumed., 14

I am the one,who is in the hearts of all beings, I am the memory, knowledge and forgetfulness, I am the one which is taught about by the Vedas, And I am the one who knows Vedas and made philosophy., 15

There are two classes of beings in this world. The perishable and imperishable beings, Perishable beings are all the beings who exist, And that supreme immutable being alone is not perishable., 16

Different from these two groups is, He who enters in all the three worlds, And sustains it after entering in to it, And who is completely immutable, And is commonly called Lord or supreme self., 17

Because I am beyond the perishable, And even greater than the imperishable, I am called as the highest Supreme Being, By all the world as well as Vedas., 18

Oh Arjuna, he who without any delusion, Understands me as the Supreme Being, Becomes knower of all and, Would see everything as me and worship me., 19

Oh sinless one, I have taught you now, This knowledge which is extremely secret, And knowing this one, one becomes wise, And becomes one who does, what should be done., 20

Thus ends the fifteenth chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The knowledge of Supreme being.”

Chapter 16: Division of divine and demonic attributes

(All being are classified in to divine and demonic. The Lord tells Arjuna how to identify these two classes.)

The Lord said

Fearlessness, clean mind, steadfastness in yoga, Charity, self control, sacrifice, learning of Vedas, Austerity, honesty, non violence, truth, Absence of anger, renunciation, peace, Not telling slanders, pity towards all beings, Be desire less for others property, gentle nature, Modesty, firmness of mind, courage, Forgiving nature, not getting impatient, Purity, absence of deceit and humility, Are the nature of those born with divine state, Oh Arjuna., 1-3

On the other hand Oh Arjuna, deceit, arrogance, Self praise, anger and also harsh words and ignorance, Are the nature of those born with those Demonic state., 4

Divine state is deemed to lead to salvation, And demonic state leads to attachment, And Oh Arjuna, please do not be sad, For you are born with the divine state., 5

Oh Arjuna, two types of beings exist in this world, And they are divine beings and demonic beings, And I had told you in detail about the divine ones, And please hear from me now about the demonic., 6

The demonic beings do not understand about, Actions that should be done and those that should be avoided, And with them there is no cleanliness, truth and good behaviour., 7

Their world is full of lies, unstable, without God, Created by interaction between each other, Which is based only on lust and passion., 8

These ruined souls holding to path of materialism, Loose their souls, doing horrible deeds, And are enemies of this world and are born, With an aim to destroy this world., 9

Holding on to their desires which cannot be satiated, Filled with hypocrisy, egoism and arrogance, They hold on to bad thoughts, because of delusion, And observe unclean resolves and jobs., 10

Held in the net of thoughts which are perennial, And end with only their death, they would think, That passion is the greatest of their aims, And are convinced that it is the only ultimate thing, And also tied tightly with hundreds of bonds and desires, Becoming slaves to their passions and anger, And they would search for the tainted wealth, To fulfill their cravings of passion., 11-12

They being under the illusion of ignorance, Would think thoughts like,”This was attained by me, I am going to get fulfilled of this desire, I am having this, I am going to further get this, That enemy was killed by me, I am going to kill others, I am the God, I would be enjoy pleasures, I would achieve results in my actions, I am strong, I would run after pleasures, I am rich, I belong to a noble family, There is none who are equal to me, I would do fire sacrifice, I would be charitable “ And many similar thoughts and would get befuddled, Get deep in to lair of passion, become deeply attached, To the pleasures which are brought about by the senses, And would fall in the deep dirty hell., 13-16

They praise themselves, Do not respect the holy ones, Are filled with vanity, Haughty due to possession of wealth, And perform sacrifices for names sake Not following the proper path., 17

They would be egoistic, strong, Proud, passionate and angry, And hate me who am in them and others, And laugh at people who conduct sacrifices., 18

They are inimical, cruel, base humans, And sinners and I make them to be born, Every time in this world among, Those with demonical properties., 19

Oh Arjuna, these fools take several, Births among people with demonical properties, Do not seek me and reach still baser levels every time., 20

The three gates for traveling to the hell, Are lust, anger and greed and, These three are to be shunned always., 21

Oh Arjuna, that man who avoids these, Three dark paths to hell and follows, What would bring good to himself, Goes towards the supreme goal and reaches it., 22

He who does not follow the ways of scriptures, But does work under the impulse of desire, Does not attain perfection, happiness or supreme goal., 23

So the only guide for you to decide, What should or should not be done, Are the laws formulated by the scriptures, And you should now understand and follow them., 24

Thus ends the sixteenth chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “Division of divine and demonic attributes.”

Chapter 17: Three kinds of faith

(The three quality states taught in Chapter 14 is further elucidated in this chapter)

Arjuna said

Oh lord please tell me about those, Who set aside the laws of scriptures, And perform sacrifices with faith, Is it Sathvic, Rajasic or Thamasic? 1

The Lord replied

That faith which naturally occurs in every being, Is classified in to three classes, Which are Sathwa, Rajhas and Thamas, And please hear about them., 2

Oh Arjuna, each person’s faith, Would be according to his personality, And one ’s self is personification of his faith, And so every one is classified according to his faith., 3

The person of Sathwa faith worships Gods, The person of Rajhasa faith worship Yakshas and Rakshasas, And the person of Thamasa faith worships devils and ghosts., 4

Those fools who perform severe austerities, Not enjoined in the scriptures having, Given themselves to egotism and pride, With desire, attachment and tenacity, And torture the senses of the body, As well as me, who is within it, Are to be understood as the ones, Who are traveling in the demonic way., 5-6

Please understand that the people, Who follow each of these three divisions, Have separate food habits, perform, Different type of sacrifices austerities and charity, So please hear it from me, about them., 7

The people of the Sathwa faith like the food, That increases span of life, wisdom, strength, Health, pleasure and taste and which are, Juicy, starchy, nourishing and agreeable., 8

The people of the Rajhasa faith prefer the food, Which are bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, Dry and acidic and which would lead to, Sorrow, pain, grief and diseases., 9

The people of the thamasa faith prefer the food, That is stale, tasteless, which has turned sour, Which is old, remnant from what other people ate, And that which is not suitable as offering to the God., 10

That sacrifice done by people not desiring anything, Done as the performance of their enjoined duty, And done according to scriptures with a stable mind, Is the one which is performed in the Sathvic way., 11

That sacrifice done with an aim at something, With ostentation and pride, Oh Arjuna, Is the one which is performed in Rajhasic way., 12

That sacrifice done not according to rules, Without free distribution of food, Which is performed without holy chants, And without suitable gifts to the priests, Is the one which is performed in the Thamasic way., 13

Worship of Gods, the twice born, teacher, And the wise and observing purity, Honesty and also non violence, Is termed as the physical austerity., 14

Talking of words that does not hurt, Talking that which is truth, that which is dear, That which causes good and Recitation of the Veda that one has learnt, Is termed as the vocal austerity., 15

Clarity of the mind, kind thoughts, Silence, humility and pure aims in life, Is termed as the mental austerity., 16

These three types of austerities, Practiced with great devotion with, No desire for the fruits of such action, And with great stability of thought, Is termed as Sathwika by great ones., 17

That austerity done with pride, And with the aim to gain, Respect, honour and adoration, Is unstable and not permanent, And is termed as Rajasika type of actions., 18

That austerity performed with foolish desire, And practiced with self torture or, With the aim of causing harm to others, Is termed as the Thamasic type of action., 19

That charity done with no expectation, Of return, done at the proper place, At the proper time and given to the one, Who has not done anything for us, Is termed as the charity of the Sathvic type., 20

That charity given with pain in the heart, Expecting some thing in return, Or expecting some blessing in return, Is termed as the charity of the Rajhasic type., 21

That charity given after insulting some body, Given at the wrong place in the wrong time, To the unworthy persons without any regard for him, Is termed as the charity of the Thamasic type., 22

The Brahman is denoted By “Om”, “Thath”, and “Sath,” And by these were fashioned, The Brahmins, Vedas and the fire sacrifices., 23

Because of that,the followers of Veda, Always start the sacrifices, charities, And austerities, which are carried out by them, According to Vedas, with the chant of “Om”., 24

And the seekers of salvation, Who do not bother about the results, Start the sacrifices, charities, And austerities with word “”Thath”., 25

Oh Arjuna, the word “sath” denotes, The fact of existence and goodness, And is also used to denote, Anything that is auspicious., 26

Being steady and stable in, Sacrifices, austerities and charity, Is denoted by the word “sath”, And it would also denote, All actions carried out for these., 27

Sacrifices, charities and austerities, Done without faith in them is, Termed as the negative of “sath”, And would not be of any use, In this world or in attaining salvation., 28

Thus ends the seventeenth chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “Three kinds of faith.”

Chapter 18: The way to renunciation and relinquishment

Arjuna asked

Oh Krishna, oh great warrior, Oh killer of Kesi, I would like to understand distinctly, The true import of renunciation and relinquishment., 1

The Lord said

The great sages have termed giving up actions, Those lead to fulfillment of desires as renunciation, And the learned told that completely abandoning, The fruits of all actions as the act of relinquishment., 2

Some scholars have told that actions, Should be given up as being evil, And others are of the opinion, That sacrifices, charity and austerity, Should never be relinquished., 3

Oh great one of Bharatha clan, Oh greatest among men, Please hear my decision, Regarding relinquishment, Which is of three types., 4

Sacrifices, charity and austerity, Should never be relinquished, For they indeed should be performed, Since they sanctify the wise., 5

I am of the firm opinion that, These acts as well as others, Which are similar to them, Should be performed but giving up, Attachment and the fruits thereof., 6

It is not proper to renounce, Obligatory daily duties, for, Forsaking such work, Has been classified as Thamasic., 7

If some one, leaves out his duties, Considering them as a bother, And leading to trouble, He is doing a relinquishment, Which is Rajasic and will not, Obtain the fruits of renunciation., 8

Oh Arjuna, doing ones daily duties, Without attachment and without, Any attachment to fruits from it, Is termed as Sathwic relinquishment., 9

That man who relinquishes, endued, With wisdom and without doubt in his mind, Does not hate disagreeable duties And also does not prefer agreeable duties., 10

Any being with a body can at no time, Relinquish all actions, but he can, Relinquish attachment to its fruits, And he is called as the one who relinquishes., 11

Those who do not relinquish the fruits of attachment, After death undergo agreeable, disagreeable and mixed, Results for action performed by them but such a result, Never occurs to the one who relinquishes., 12

Oh mighty armed one, learn from me, The five causes for carrying out the work, Which has been declared in that wisdom, Which is the end of all action., 13

They are the body, which is the seat of action, The agent, who carries out the actions, The different organs of sense gratification and wisdom. The highly varied type of actions that are being carried out, And fifthly, the God who is presiding over them., 14

When a man does any action by his body, Or words or mind, justly or unjustly, They are caused by these five only., 15

Such being the case, the one with bad understanding, Who looks upon the soul as the agent of all action, Is of perverted mind and does not realize the truth 16

But the one who does not feel that he does it, And whose self is not attached to what he does, Does not kill any beings even if he kills them., 17

He who tries to gain knowledge, the knowledge itself, And what he understands are the, Three reasons for carrying out any actions, And the action, the doer and the reason for the action, Are the three bases for all such actions., 18

The knowledge, the action and the doer, Have been mentioned as three separate forms, In the science of the study of properties , And be pleased to hear about them also., 19

That wisdom by which one sees, The same undivided and perennial object, In all the objects of varied forms and hues that he sees, Is termed as the Sathwic wisdom., 20

That wisdom which makes one sees, Different and distinct beings. In the different bodies of different types, Is termed as the Rajhasic wisdom., 21

That wisdom which is irrational, And not based on truth which, Leads one to believe any chosen single object, Is the only thing and is the whole, Is termed as Thamasic wisdom., 22

That action performed without, Attachment to the fruits thereof, Which is ordained as the one that needs to be done, And done without attachment or repulsion, Is termed as the action which is Sathwic., 23

That action performed with, A view to attain the fruits thereof, Which is performed with conceit, And done after much effort and trouble, Is termed as the action which is Rajhasic., 24

That action performed without any thought, About the good or results of such action, The problems it is likely to cause to others, Done without gauging ones capacity to do it, And done in the state of delusion, Is termed as the action which is Thamasic., 25

That doer who is unattached, not egoistic, Endued with pep and vigour in doing action, And who is unaffected by success of failure, Is termed as the doer who is Sathwic., 26

That doer who is attached, looks forward, To the fruits of the actions performed, And is violent, greedy and not clean, And is elated or dejected by the results of the action, Is termed as the doer who is Rajhasic., 27

That doer who does not have a stable mind, Who is vulgar, arrogant and a cheat, Who is lazy and only does bad actions, Who is not confidant about himself, And who keeps on stalling for long, Is termed as the doer who is Thamasic., 28

Oh Arjuna, now please here from me, Completely and individually The three fold distinction between, The intelligence and courage., 29

Oh Arjuna, that intellect which is aware, Of what is renunciation, Right and wrong action, Fear and fearlessness and Bondage and liberation, Is termed as Sathwika intellect., 30

Oh Arjuna that intellect which knows and, Which views in a distorted way. Just action and wrong action, Dharma and Adharma, Is termed as Rajhasic intellect., 31

Oh Partha, that intellect,which is darkness, And regards Adharma as Dharma, And also views everything in a perverted way, Is termed as the Thamasic intellect., 32

Oh Arjuna, that courage which regulates Functions of the mind, the senses and self, In an unswerving fashion by Yoga, Is termed as the Sathwic courage., 33

Oh Arjuna,that courage which regulates, Dharma, desire and wealth to achieve,, The desire to the fruits of action, that one performs, Is termed as the Rajhasic courage., 34

Oh Arjuna, that courage which does not, Make a stupid man give up sleep, fear. Grief, worry, and the feeling of conceit, Is termed as Thamasic courage., 35

Oh courageous one, of the Bharatha clan, Now hear from me about the three fold definition, Of happiness, which one enjoys by getting used to it, And by which one gets to the end of sorrow., 36

That happiness which is like poison at first, And becomes like a nectar in due time, Which is born out of the intellect, Which in turn is born out of self realization, Is termed as Sathvika happiness., 37

That happiness which arises due to senses, Which is like nectar at the beginning, And slowly turns in to poison, Is termed as the Rajhasika happiness., 38

That happiness arising from sleep, laziness, Miscomprehension and results in delusion, Is termed as the Thamasic happiness., 39

There are no beings in earth or heaven, Who are devoid of these three types of qualities, Which are born out of the nature., 40

Oh scorcher of enemies, these duties are distributed, Among the Brahmins, kings, merchants and workers, According to the qualities,which are natural to them., 41

The qualities which are natural to the Brahmins are, Control of mind and the senses, austerity, Purity, forgiving nature, uprightness, knowledge, Quality of searching and belief in the life after death., 42

The qualities which are natural to the kingly class are, Bravery, boldness, fortitude, Cunning in the war, Generosity and feeling that they can achieve., 43

Interest in cultivation, cattle rearing and trade. Are the qualities natural to the merchant class, And actions which are service to others, Is the quality natural to the working class., 44

The man who is busy with his duty, Attains the perfection which is the highest, And please here from me how while doing his duty. He manages to attain that perfection., 45

He who pervades everywhere, Helps in the evolution of all beings, And the one who worships him. By doing his duty, attains perfection., 46

It is better to perform one’s dharma, In a manner considered as imperfect, Than performing another man’s dharma, In a manner that is considered perfect, For one who does his duty, attracts no bad effects., 47

Oh son of Kunti, One should not, Relinquish one’s own Dharma, Even if it is imperfect, for all. Actions are imperfect in some way, And are unclear like fire covered with smoke., 48

With unattached intellect, subdued heart, And not having any desire at all, And by renunciation, one attains, Freedom from action and Supreme perfection., 49

Oh son of Kunti, learn from me now, How by reaching such supreme perfection, One attains the everlasting goal, Which is the supreme consummation., 50

He is fit to attain the everlasting goal, Who has pure intellect, has fortitude, Has controlled his body and senses, Subdued sound and other senses, Has abandoned hatred and attraction, Has retired to a very lonely spot, Eats little, has controlled body, speech and mind, Is engaged in meditation and Yoga, Is dispassionate, has forsaken egoism, Pride, power, lust, wealth and property, Is peaceful and is free from me and mine., 51-53

Attaining the supreme goal, He becomes peaceful, Neither desires nor grieves, And is same to everyone, And has great devotion to me., 54

By devotion he really understands me, As to who and what I am, And having thus known me, He enters and merges with me., 55

Even after doing all actions. But by taking refuge in me, By my grace, he will attain, My feet which is eternal and stable., 56

Mentally surrender all actions to me, Have me as your highest goal, Resort to the path of intellect And fix your mind on me always., 57

By fixing your mind on me, You would get my grace, And overcome all roadblocks, But because of conceit, If you would not follow what I say, You would certainly perish., 58

If you depend only on your pride, If you decide not to fight this war, That decision is in vain, For your nature would oppress you., 59

Oh son of Kunti, you are already bound, By your own nature, and if by delusion., You decide not to fight in this war, You will be forced to do it, in spite of yourself., 60

Oh Arjuna, God lives in the mind of everyone, And causes all of them to revolve like a robot., 61

Oh Arjuna, take refuge on that God with sincerity, And you will attain the supreme peace of his eternal abode., 62

This great wisdom, which is the secret of the secrets, Has been told by me to you and now do according to your desire., 63

Please hear again my advice, Which is the greatest of all, For you are dearly beloved to me, And you know that I would speak, Only that which is for your good, Let your mind be full of me, Let you be fully devoted to me, Surrender and bow down to me, And then I will reach you, And I promise you this, As you are very dear to me., 64-65

Give up all Dharma and take refuge in me alone, And grieve not, for I would liberate you from all sins., 66

All these should not be told by you, To one who lacks devotion and austerity, Nor to one who does not serve me, And nor to one who despises me., 67

He who will teach this to my devotes, With devotion to me, would reach me at the end, And no one will be doing dearer service than him to me, And no one will be dearer than him to me., 68-69

And I believe steadfastly that the one, Who reads this conversation between us, Would have be worshipped me, By performing the wisdom sacrifice., 70

The one who just hears this with attention, And free from malice, would be liberated, And attain the holy world of the righteous., 71

Oh Arjuna, have you heard what I told you, With an attentive mind and has your ignorance, Caused the great net of delusion to be destroyed? 72

Arjuna told

My delusion is completely destroyed, And by your grace, I have regained my wisdom, And Oh Achyutha, since my doubts are gone, I will be firm and do as you told me., 73

Sanjaya told

Thus I have heard the wonderful conversation, Between Lord Krishna and the great Arjuna, Causing my hairs to stand at an end 74

By the blessing of Sage Vyasa, I have heard, This most secret and supreme Yoga, Which was being taught by Lord Krishna, Who himself is the supreme lord of Yoga., 75

Oh king, remembering and recalling, This wonderful conversation between, Lord Kesava and Lord Arjuna, I am rejoicing and rejoicing again., 76

Oh King, when I recall and recall, That wonderful form of Lord Vishnu, I rejoice again and again., 77

My firm conviction is that, wherever there is Krishna, Who is the Lord of Yoga and wherever there is Arjuna, The great wielder of the bow, there is prosperity and victory., 78

Thus ends the eighteenth chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Which is the essence of all Upanishads, Which is the science of the eternal and yoga, And the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, Which is called “The way to renunciation and relinquishment.”

References

1. Swami Swaroopananda (1909) Srimad Bhagawad Gita, Advaitha As hram, Calcutta
2. Anna (1965), Srimad Bhagwad Gita (tamil translation), Sri Ramakrishna Mutt, Madras
3. Bhakthivedanta Prabhu Pada (1971) Bhagwad Gita as it is, Bhakthi Vedantha Book Trust
4. Swami Vireshwarananda (1948) Srimad Bhagawad Gita,, Sri Ramakrishna Mutt, Madras
5. Sri Chandra Shekhara Pillai (1994) Jnaneswari in Malyalam, Jnanesawari geetha pracharana prathishtan, Kahnakad, Kerala
6. Edwin Arnold (1885) The Song Celestial, Roberts brothers, Boston
7. Alladi Mahadeva Sastry, Bhagwad Gita
8. Ramanand Prasad, Bhagwad Gita, International Gita society
9. Sri Purohit Swami, Bhagwad Gita
10. American / International Gita society, Bhagwad Gita
11. William Quan Judge (1969) Essays on the Gita
12. C.Subrahmanya Bharathiar Bhagawad Gita, A commentary in Tamil, Kavitha Publication, Madras
13. Srinivas Fine arts(2006) Bhagawad Gita
14. Sri Shivanada Saraswathi The Bhagwad Gita
15. Swami Chinamayanada, Bhagwad Gita, Chinmaya mission, Bombay
16. Jayaram V., Bhagwad Gita
17. Bhattathiri.M.P., Bhagwad Gita and Management

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, P.R.Ramachander

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