The Bhagavad Gita

Dhritarashtra said

Sanjaya! Desiring to fight, what did my people and the Pandavas do, assembled at Kurukshetra, the abode of dharma?

Sanjaya said

Then, seeing the army of the Pandavas in battle formation, King Duryodhana approaching his teacher, (Drona), spoke these words.

Acharya! Please look at this great army of the sons of Pandu, formed and led by your brilliant disciple (Dhrishtadyumna), the son of Drupada.

Here are unrivaled experts, equal to Bhima and Arjuna in battle, great archers (each one of them) - Satyaki, the king of Virata, and King Drupada, a man of great valor…

...Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, the valiant king of Kashi, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Shaibya, the most exalted among men…

...the powerful Yudhamanyu, Uttamaujas, a warrior of great strength, the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu), and sons of Draupadi, all valorous warriors.

Whereas, the learned among the twice-born (brahmanas)! Please take note of those who are important among ourselves, the leaders of my army. I mention them in order to introduce them to you.

Your honor, Bhishma, Karna, Kripa, who is always victorious in war, Ashvatthama, Vikarna, Saumadatti, son of Somadatta (Bhurishrava), and Jayadratha...

...and many other warriors, all experts in warfare, armed with many kinds of weapons, who are determined to give up their lives for my sake (are present on our side).

Our army (being larger), well protected by Bhishma, cannot be overwhelmed, whereas the army of these people in front of us, even though protected by Bhima, can be overwhelmed.

Stationed in your respective positions, in all the divisions of the army, all of you should indeed protect Bhishma in particular.

Bhishma, the grandfather of the Kuru family, known for his valor, loudly let out a lion’s roar and blew his conch in order to make Duryodhana happy.

Then, suddenly, conches, kettledrums, tabors, trumpets and cow-horns were blasted forth and the sound was indeed earth shaking.

Then, Krishna and Arjuna, seated in the great chariot drawn by white horses, blew their divine conches.

Krishna (blew) the Panchajanya and Arjuna the Devadatta, Bhima, the man of fierce deeds and one with the stomach of a wolf, blew his huge conch, Paundra.

King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew Anantavijaya and Nakula and Sahadeva blew Sughosha and Manipushpaka respectively.

Prithvipate (Dhritarashtra)! The king of Kashi, an expert archer, Shikandi of great valor, Dhrishtadyumna and Virata, and the unsurpassed Satyaki…

King Drupada, the sons of Draupadi and the mighty armed son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu), all blew their own conches.

That terrible sound, reverberating throughout the earth and sky, pierced the very hearts of the sons of Dhritarashtra.

Then, with the battle ready to begin, Mahipate! seeing the sons of Dhritarashtra assembled (on the battlefield), (Arjuna) who had Hanuman on his banner, lifting his bow, said these words to Krishna.

Arjuna said

Place my chariot, Achyuta! Between the two armies...

...so that I can view these people who have assembled here desirous of fighting, (and also view) with whom I should fight at the onset of this war.

I wish to see those who have gathered here with the intention of fighting, who want to carry out in the war what is pleasing to the son of Dhritarashtra (Duryodhana), the one whose thinking is distorted.

Sanjaya said

Bharata (Dhritarashtra)! Commanded thus by Gudakesha (Arjuna), Lord Hrishikesha (Krishna) placed the great chariot in the middle of the two armies...

...right in front of Bhishma, Drona and all the rulers and spoke thus: Partha! Please look at these Kauravas who have gathered here.

There, Arjuna saw paternal elders, grandfathers, teachers, uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, fathers-in-law and well-wishers too, assembled in the two armies.

Seeing clearly all the assembled relatives, Kaunteya was seized by deep compassion, said this, sorrowfully.

Arjuna said

Krishna! Looking at these people, who are my own people, well stationed in battle positions and desirous to fight, my limbs are losing all their strength...

...my mouth is drying up, my body is trembling, and the hair (on my body) is standing on its end.

The bow, Gandiva, is slipping from my hand and (my) skin also is burning. I am not able to stand up and my mind is totally confused as it were.

Keshava! I see bad omens and I do not see any good in killing one’s own people in this battle.

Krishna! I want neither victory, nor the kingdom, nor comforts. Govinda! What is the use of a kingdom or of pleasures, or of life itself to us?

Those for whose sake (alone) the kingdom, objects of enjoyments and pleasures were desired by us, have assembled in (this) battle, having given up their wealth and their lives.

These are (our) teachers, paternal uncles, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, in-laws, grandsons, cousins, friends and relatives.

Madhusudana! Even for the sake of ruling over the three worlds, much less for this kingdom on earth, I do not desire to kill these (people), even if they are going to kill me.

Janardana! What kind of satisfaction would be there for us by destroying these sons of Dhritarashtra? Sin alone would come to us by destroying these wrongdoers.

Therefore, we should not kill our own relatives, the sons of Dhritarashtra. Destroying our own people, Madhava! How would we be happy?

Although these people, whose minds are overpowered by greed, do not see the defect in destruction of (one’s) family and the sins of betraying one’s friends, Janardana!...

...how come it is not considered by us, who know that sin is born of the destruction of the family, to withdraw from this sin?

When the family is destroyed, the ancient dharma of the family perish. When the dharma is lost, will not adharma overwhelm the entire family?

Krishna! Due to the increase of adharma, the women in the family will be given to improper ways. Varshneya! When the women become corrupt, confusion is born in the society.

Confusion, indeed, leads the family and the destroyers of the family to the world of pain. Their ancestors, denied of their post death rituals, indeed fall.

By these wrong actions of those who destroy the family, creating confusion in the society, the perennial dharmas pursued by the community and the family are destroyed.

We have heard, Janardana! that a life in the world of pain is inevitable for those people who destroy the dharma of the family.

Alas! Ready to kill our own people due to greed for a kingdom and its pleasures, we are determined to commit a grave sin.

It will be better for me if the sons of Dhritarashtra, with weapons in hand, were to kill me, who is unarmed and who does not retaliate, in the battle.

Sanjaya said

having spoken in this manner in the middle of the battlefield, Arjuna, whose mind was completely overcome by sorrow, sat down on the seat of the chariot casting aside his bow and arrows.

Sanjaya said

To him - who was thus sad and overwhelmed by compassion, whose eyes were filled with tears and showed distress - Madhusudana spoke these words.

Shri Bhagavan said

Arjuna! In such crisis from where has this despair come upon you? It is unbecoming of an upright man and does not add to (your) fame. Nor does it lead you to heaven.

Partha! Do not yield to unmanliness. This does not befit you. Parantapa! Give up this lowly weakness of heart and get up.

Arjuna said

Madhusudana! Arisudana (the destroyer of foes)! How will I, in this battle, fight with arrows against Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship?

It would be better indeed to eat food collected from others here in this world than to kill these most revered teachers. If I kill them, the pleasures I would experience in this world will be stained with (their) blood.

And, we do not know which of the two will be better for us - that we should conquer them or that they should conquer us. The sons of Dhritarashtra, after slaying whom we will indeed not like to live, stand facing us (to be killed).

Overcome by faint-heartedness, confused about my duty, I ask you: Please tell me that which is truly better for me. I am your student (shishya). Please teach me, who has taken refuge in you.

Indeed, I do not see anything that would remove the sorrow that dries up my senses, even if I were to obtain an unrivaled and prosperous kingdom on earth and sovereignty over the denizens of heaven.

Sanjaya said

having spoken to Hrishikesha in this manner, Gudakesha, Parantapa, said, ‘I shall not fight’. Speaking thus to Govinda, he became silent.

Bharata (Dhritarashtra)! To him who was sad in the midst of both armies, Hrishikesha, as though smiling, said these words.

Shri Bhagavan said

You grieve for those who are not to be grieved for. Yet you speak words of wisdom. The wise do not grieve for those who are gone and who are not yet gone.

There was never a time when I did not exist, neither you nor these kings. Nor will any of us cease to exist in the future.

Just as, for the jiva, the indweller of this body, there is childhood, youth and old age, similar is the gaining of another body. With reference to that, a wise person does not come to grief.

Kaunteya! the contacts of the sense organs with the sensory world which give rise to cold and heat, pleasure and pain, which have the nature of coming and going, are not constant. Endure them, Bharata!

Purusharshabha! The person whom these (sukha and dukha) do not affect, who is the same in pleasure and pain, and who is discriminative, is indeed fit for gaining liberation.

For the unreal (mithya), there is never any being. For the real, there is never any non-being. The ultimate truth of both (the real and the unreal) is seen by the knowers of the truth.

Know that, by which the entire world is pervaded, to be indeed indestructible. No one can bring about the destruction of that which does not change.

These bodies of the embodied one (the self), which is not subject to change and destruction, and which is not available as an object of knowledge, are said to be subject to end. Therefore Bharata! (get up and) fight.

The one who thinks this (self) to be a killer and the one who thinks of it as the killed, both do not know. This (self) does not kill; nor is it killed.

This (self) is never born; nor does it die. It is not that, having been, it ceases to exist again. It is unborn, eternal, undergoes no change whatsoever, and is ever new. When the body is destroyed, the self is not destroyed.

Partha! The one who knows this (self) to be indestructible, timeless, unborn, and not subject to decline, how and whom does that person kill? Whom does he cause to kill?

Just as a person gives up old clothes and takes up new ones, so does the self, the one who dwells in the body, give up old bodies and takes others, which are new.

Weapons do not slay this (self); nor does fire burn it. Water does not wet (or drown) nor does wind dry it.

This self cannot be slain, burned, drowned, or dried. It is changeless, all pervading, stable, immovable and eternal.

This (self) is said to be unmanifest, not an object of thought, and not subject to change. Therefore, knowing this, you ought not to grieve.

And if you take this (atman) to have constant birth and death, even then, Mahabaho! you ought not to grieve (for the atman) in this manner.

For that which is born, death is certain and for that which is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, you ought not to grieve over that which cannot be altered.

Bharata! All beings are unmanifest in the beginning, manifest in the middle, and (again) unmanifest in the end. What indeed is there to grieve about?

One looks upon the self as a wonder (ashcharya). Similarly, another speaks of it as a wonder and another hears it as a wonder. Still another, even after hearing about this (self) does not understand it at all.

Bharata! This atman, the indweller of the bodies of all beings, is ever indestructible. Therefore, you ought not to grieve for all these people.

Also, from the standpoint of your own duty, you cannot waver. For there is nothing greater to a kshatriya than a battle for the cause of dharma.

Partha! Only lucky kshatriyas get this kind of a battle, which has come by chance and which is an open gate to heaven.

But, if you refuse to engage in this war that is in keeping with dharma, then, forfeiting your own duty and honor, you will gain only sin.

Also, people will speak of your unending infamy. For the honored, dishonor is surely worse than death.

The great warriors will consider you as having retreated from the battle due to fear. And you, having been so highly esteemed by them, will fall in their esteem.

And belittling your prowess, your enemies will say many unutterable things about you. Is there anything more painful than that?

Destroyed, you will gain heaven; victorious, you will enjoy this world. Therefore, Kaunteya! Get up, having resolved to fight.

Taking pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat to be the same, prepare for battle. Thus, you will gain no sin.

The wisdom with reference to self-knowledge has so far been told to you. Now Partha! Listen also to the wisdom of yoga, endowed with which you will get rid of the bondage of action.

In this, there is no waste of effort, nor are the opposite results produced. Even very little of this karma yoga protects one from great fear.

With reference to this (moksha), Kurunandana!, there is a single, well-ascertained understanding. The notions of those who lack discrimination are many-branched and innumerable indeed.

Partha! The non-discriminating people, who remain engrossed in karma enjoined by the veda (and its results), who argue that there is nothing other than this...

...who are full of desires with heaven as their highest goal, utter these flowery words that talk of many special rituals meant for the attainment of pleasures and power and of results in the form of (better) births.

For those who pursue pleasure and pain exclusively, whose minds are robbed away by these (flowery words), well-ascertained understanding does not take place in their mind.

The subject matter of the vedas is related to the three variable qualities. Arjuna! Be the one who if free from the hold of these three-fold qualities, from (the sorrow of) the pair of opposites; the one who is ever established in sattva-guna, who is free from the anxieties of acquiring and protecting, and who is a master of oneself.

For the brahmana who knows the self, all the vedas are of only so much use as a small reservoir is when there is flood everywhere.

Your choice is in action only, never in the results thereof. Do not think you are the author of the results of action. Let your attachment not be to inaction.

Remaining steadfast in yoga, Dhananjaya! perform actions abandoning attachment and remaining the same to success and failure. This evenness of mind is called yoga.

Actions (based on desire) is, therefore, far inferior to those performed with the proper attitude of karma-yoga. Seek refuge in this buddhi-yoga (of proper attitude), Dhananjaya! Those who perform actions only for the results are misers.

One who is endowed with the sameness of mind, gives up both punya and papa here, in this world. Therefore, commit yourself to karma-yoga. Karma-yoga is discretion in action.

The wise, endowed with the attitude of karma-yoga, having given up the results of action, free from the bondage of birth, indeed accomplish the end that is free from all afflictions.

When your intellect crosses over the impurity of delusion, then you shall gain a dispassion towards what has been heard and what is yet to be heard.

When your mind is no longer distracted by the vedas (which present various means and ends to be gained) it will remain steady, firmly established in the self. Then you will gain self-knowledge.

Arjuna said

Keshava! What is the description of a person of firm wisdom (sthita-prajna), one whose mind abides in the self? How does such a person, whose mind is not shaken by anything, speak, sit, and walk?

Shri Bhagavan said

When a person gives up all the desires as they appear in the mind, happy in oneself with oneself alone, Partha! That person is said to be one of ascertained knowledge (sthitaprajna).

The one who is not affected by adversities, who is without yearning for pleasures, and is free from longing, fear and anger (vita-raga-bhaya-krodha), is said to be a wise person whose knowledge stays (unshaken).

The one who is unattached in all situations, who neither rejoices on gaining the pleasant not hates the unpleasant, his knowledge is well established.

When, like the turtle that withdraws its limbs, this person is able to completely withdraw the sense organs from their objects, his knowledge is steady.

For the one who does not feed the senses, the senses come back to oneself, with the longing remaining behind. Having seen Brahman (when the self is known) even the longing goes away.

Indeed, the powerful senses forcefully take the mind away, Kaunteya! Of even the person who makes effort, who sees clearly.

May the one who is endowed with discrimination, keeping all the sense organs in one’s hands, sit in contemplation of me. For the one who has all the sense organs under control, the knowledge is well established.

In the person who dwells upon objects, an attachment is born with reference to them. From attachment is born desire and from desire, anger is born...

...From anger comes delusion and from delusion comes loss of memory. Because of the loss of memory, the mind becomes incapacitated, and when the mind is incapacitated, the person is destroyed.

Whereas, one whose mind is controlled, moving in the world of objects with the sense objects that are under his or her control, free from likes and dislikes, attains tranquility.

For the person whose mind is tranquil, destruction of all pain and sorrow happens. The knowledge of the one whose mind is tranquil soon becomes well-established.

For the one who is not tranquil, there is no knowledge. For the one who is not tranquil, there is no contemplation also. For the one who is not contemplative, there is no peace. For the one who has no peace, how can there be happiness?

The mind that follows the wandering senses indeed robs the person of his knowledge, just as the wind carries away a small boat on the waters.

Therefore, Mahabaho! the knowledge of one whose senses are completely withdrawn (mastered) from their respective objects is steady.

In that which is night for all beings, the one who is wise, who has mastery over oneself, is awake. That in which beings are awake, is night for the wise person who sees.

Just as water flows into the ocean that is brimful and still, so too, the wise person into whom all objects enter gains peace, (remains unchanged) whereas, the desirer of objects does not gain peace.

Having given up all binding desires, the person who moves around, devoid of longing, without the sense of limited ‘I’ and ‘mine’, gains peace.

Partha! This is (what is meant by) one’s being in Brahman. Having gained this, one is not deluded. Remaining therein, even at the end of one’s life, one gains liberation.

Arjuna said

Janardana! If in your contention knowledge is better than action, why then do you impel me into this gruesome action, Keshava?

With words that are seemingly contradictory, you seem to confuse my mind. Deciding for good, which is better; tell me the one thing by which I shall gain liberation.

Shri Bhagavan said

Anagha (the sinless one)! The two-fold committed lifestyles of this world, was told by Me in the beginning - the pursuit of knowledge for the renunciates and the pursuit of karma-yoga for those who pursue activity.

A person does not gain the state of actionlessness by non-performance of actions. Nor does the person attain success (liberation) out of mere renunciation, sannyasa.

Indeed, no one ever remains for even a second without performing action because everyone is forced to perform action by the (three) gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas) born of prakriti.

The one who, controlling the organs of action, sits with the mind remembering those sense objects, is deluded (vimudhatma) and is called a person of false conduct (mithyacharah).

Whereas Arjuna! The one who, controlling the sense organs with the mind, remaining unattached, takes to the yoga of action (karma-yoga) with the organs of action, is far superior.

Do action that is to be done because action is superior to inaction. Even the maintenance of your body would be impossible by inaction.

A person is bound by karma if it is not done as a yajna (i.e., as an offering to ishvara). For this reason, Kaunteya! being one free from attachment, perform action for the sake of that (yajna).

In the beginning, the creator, having created having created human beings along with yajna, said: “by this (yajna) shall you multiply. May this (yajna) be a wish-fulfilling cow (ishta-kamadhuk) for you.

Propitiate the deities with this (yajna). May those deities propitiate you. Propitiating one another, you shall gain the highest good (moksha).

The deities, propitiated by yajna, will give you desirable objects. One who enjoys objects given by them without offering to them in return is indeed a thief.

Those who eat, having first offered the food to the Lord, are released from impurities, whereas those sinful people who cook only for themselves eat papa (sin).

Living beings are born of food; food is born of rain; rain is born of yajna (punya); and yajna (punya) is born of action.

May you understand karma (ritual, prayer, etc.) to be born of the veda and the veda to be born of the imperishable Ishvara. Therefore, the all-pervasive Brahma (the veda) abides always in yajna.

A person who does not follow here in this life, this cosmic wheel that is already set in motion, in this manner, and lives in sin given only to the pleasures of the senses (indriyarama), lives wastefully, Partha!

Whereas, for the person who is delighted in the self, who is satisfied with the self, contented in the self alone, (for him) there is nothing to be done.

For that person (who revels in the self), there is indeed no purpose here in this world for doing or not doing action. Nor does such a person depend on any being for any action whatsoever (na-arthavyapashraya).

Therefore, always perform well the action that is to be done without attachment because, by performing action without attachment, a person attains the highest.

Indeed, by action alone, Janaka and others gained liberation. Also, by merely seeing the desirability of protecting the people from falling into unbecoming ways, you ought to perform action.

Whatsoever an important person does, that alone the other people do. Whatever that person sets as proper, the world of people follows that.

Partha! For me there is nothing to be done. In the three worlds, there is nothing to be gained by me, which is not yet gained. Yet, I remain engaged in action.

For, should I never engage myself in action, without being lazy, Partha! people would follow my example in every way.

If I were not to perform action, these people would perish. I would be the author of confusion (in the society) and I would destroy these beings.

Bharata! Just as the unwise, who are attached to the results, perform action, so too would the wise perform action, (but) without attachment, desirous of doing (chikirshu) that which is for the protection of the people (lokasamgraha).

The one who knows (the atman) should not create any disturbance in the understanding of the ignorant who are attached to the results of action. The wise person, steadfast in the knowledge, himself performing all the actions well, should encourage (the ignorant) into performing (all actions).

Actions are performed in various ways impelled by the gunas of prakriti, the body, mind, and senses. Deluded by the I-notion, one thinks, ‘I am the doer’.

Whereas, Mahabaho! the knower of the truth of the gunas and actions is not bound, knowing that the gunas express themselves in gunas (body-mind-sense complex).

Those who are deluded by the modifications of the prakriti become bound in terms of the body-mind-sense complex (gunas) and actions. One who knows (the self) should not disturb those who do not know (the self), who are not discriminative.

Renouncing all actions unto me, with a mind that is discriminating, devoid of expectations with reference to the future and any sense of ‘mine-ness’, without any anger or frustration whatsoever, fight (act).

Those people who constantly follow this teaching of mine, without finding fault with the teaching or the teacher (anasuya), they too are freed from the hold of the karma-phalas. (They gain moksha.)

Whereas those who, being critical of this (teaching) without reason, do not follow my vision, who are deluded in all realms of knowledge, and devoid of discrimination, know them as lost.

Even a wise person acts in keeping with his or her nature. Because all beings follow their own nature, of what use is control?

There are longing and aversion (potential) in every sense object. May one not come under the spell of these two because they are one’s enemies.

Better is one’s own imperfectly performed dharma than the perfectly performed dharma of another. Death in one’s own dharma is better. The dharma of another is fraught with fear.

Arjuna said

Varshneya! Impelled by what, does a person commit sin, as though pushed by some force even though not desiring to?

Shri Bhagavan said

This desire, this anger, born of the guna rajas, is a glutton and a great sinner. Know that to be the enemy here in this world.

Just as the fire is covered by clouds of smoke, just as a mirror is covered by dust, and just as a fetus is covered by the womb, so too, this (knowledge) is covered by that (binding desire).

Knowledge is covered by the insatiable fire of desire, the constant enemy of the wise, Kaunteya!

It’s location (adhishthana) is said to be the senses, mind, and intellect. With these it (kama) deludes the person by covering his (or her) wisdom.

Therefore, Bharatarshabha (the foremost in the clan of Bharata)! controlling the senses at the outset, destroy indeed this sinner, the destroyer of knowledge and wisdom.

They say that the sense organs are superior (to the body); the mind is superior to the sense organs; the intellect is superior to the mind. Whereas the one who is superior to the intellect is he (the atman).

Mahabaho! Knowing that which is superior to the intellect in this way, having made the mind steady with buddhi, destroy the enemy, that is in the form of (binding) desire, that which is so difficult to understand.

Shri Bhagavan said

I taught this imperishable yoga to Vivasvan, Vivasvan taught it to Manu, (and) Manu taught it to Ikshvaku.

...Handed down from generation to generation in this way, the kings who were sages knew it. (But) with the long lapse of time, Parantapa (the scorcher of foes)! this yoga has declined in the world.

Today, the same ancient yoga has been told to you by me because you are my devotee and my friend. This is indeed a profound secret.

Arjun said

Your birth was not so long ago; (whereas) Vivasvan’s birth was a long time ago. How am I to know that you told this (to Vivasvan) in the beginning?

Shri Bhagavan said

Many births have passed for me and for you too, I know them all (whereas) you, Parantapa! do not know.

Even though, being one who is unborn, one whose knowledge does not wane, and also being the lord of all living beings, still, wielding my own prakriti, I, ‘as though’ come into being by my own creative power.

Bharata! whenever there is a decline in right living and an increase in wrong living (everywhere), I bring myself into being (assume a physical body).

For the protection of those who are committed to dharma and the destruction (conversion) of those who follow adharma, and for the establishment of dharma, I come into being in every yuga.

The one who knows in reality my divine birth and action in this way, Arjuna! Giving up the body, that person is not born again. He attains me.

Free from craving, fear and anger, totally resolved in me, taking refuge in me, purified by the discipline of knowledge many have come back to my nature.

Those who worship me in whatever way, I bless them in the same way. Partha! People follow my path in all ways.

Desiring the results of actions here (in this world), they worship (different) deities. For, in the human world, result born of action comes very quickly.

The four-fold grouping (of people), a division based on duties and qualities, was created by me. Even though I am its author, know me to be a non-doer, ever changeless.

Actions do not affect me. There is no longing with reference to the result of action for me. The one who knows me clearly in this way is not bound by actions.

Knowing (me) in this manner, even seekers of ancient times performed actions. Therefore, perform action indeed as even it was done by those who came before in the ancient past.

Even the seers (scholars) are confused with reference to what is action (and) what is actionlessness. I shall tell you about action, knowing which you will be released from what is inauspicious (samsara).

Action (enjoined by the scriptures) is to be known. Forbidden action and actionlessness must also be known. (This is) because the nature of karma is difficult (to understand).

The one who sees actionless in action and action in actionlessness is wise among human beings. That person is a yogi, who has done everything that has to be done (kritsna-karma-krit).

The one for whom all undertakings are free from (binding) desire and will (kama-sankalpa-varjitah), whose actions are burned by the fire of knowledge (jnana-agni-dagdha-karmanam), the sages call him as wise.

Giving up the deep attachment to the results of action, always contented, being not dependent on anything, he (or she) does not do anything even though fully engaged in action.

The person who is free from expectations, whose body, mind and senses have been mastered (yatachittatman), who has given up all possessions, doing only action that sustains the body, does not incur sin.

The one who is happy with whatever comes by chance, who is unaffected by the opposites, free from jealousy, and even minded with reference to success and failure, is not bound even though performing action.

The karma of one who is free from attachment, who is liberated, whose mind is rooted in self-knowledge, who performs for the sake of daily yajna, resolves totally.

The means of offering is Brahman. The oblation is Brahman, offered by Brahman into the fire, which is Brahman. Brahman indeed is to be reached by him who sees everything as Brahman.

Karma-yogis perform only those rituals that invoke the deities, while others (sannyasis) offer themselves by themselves unto the fire (knowledge) of Brahman.

Others offer (their) organs of hearing and other senses into the fire of self-mastery, (while still) others offer sound and other sense objects into the fire of the senses.

Others offer all the activities of the senses and the organs of action unto the fire of self-mastery lighted by knowledge.

So too, there are those who share (their) wealth, those who follow prayerful disciplines, those who practice yoga, and those of firm vows and efforts who pursue recitation of their own Veda and self-knowledge.

So too, others who are committed to the practice of pranayama (breath control), stopping the flow of inhalation and exhalation (prana-apana-gati-ruddhva), offer the outgoing breath into the incoming breath.

Others, who regulate their food intake, offer their desire to eat (more) unto the digestive fires. All these (people) who observe religious disciplines (become), without exception, those for whom the impurities of the mind have been destroyed by yajna (yajna-kshapita-kalmasah).

Kuru-sattam! Those who partake of the nectar (the result) that is left over after the yajna, reach the eternal Brahman. For the one, who does not perform yajna, nothing (is gained) in this world. How, then, (can anything be gained) in any other (world)?

In this manner, many and varied religious disciplines are very elaborately mentioned in the words of the Veda. Understand them all to be born of karma (and therefore, anatma). Knowing thus, you will be liberated.

Parantapa! This discipline of knowledge is superior to religious disciplines performed with materials. Partha! All actions in its entirety get resolved in knowledge.

Understand that (which is to be known) by prostrating (the wise), by asking proper questions, (and) by serving (them). Those wise persons, who have the vision of the truth, will teach you (this) knowledge.

Gaining this knowledge (which was taught by them) Pandava! You will not again be deluded in this manner (and) by this (knowledge) you will see all beings in yourself and in me.

Even if you are the worst sinner among all sinners, you will cross all the sins with ease by the mere raft of knowledge.

Just as a well-lighted fire reduces wood to ashes, so too, Arjuna! the fire of knowledge reduces all actions (results of actions) to ashes.

In this world, there is no purifier equivalent to knowledge. One who has in time attained preparedness through karma yoga (yoga-samsiddhah) naturally gains that (knowledge) in the mind.

One who has faith (shraddha, in the shastra and in the words of the teacher), who is committed to that (knowledge) and who is master of one’s senses gains the knowledge. Having gained the knowledge one immediately gains absolute peace.

One who has no discrimination, and who has no faith (in the shastra and the teacher), and one who has a doubting mind, perishes. Because for the one with a doubting mind, this world is not there, nor the world beyond, nor happiness.

Dhananjaya! Actions do not bind the one who has renounced action through yoga, whose doubts have been completely severed by knowledge, the one who is together.

Therefore Bharata! slaying with the sword of knowledge this doubt about the self, which is born of ignorance, which is rooted in the mind, get up (and) take to yoga (karma-yoga).

Arjuna said

Krishna! You praise renunciation of action and also karma-yoga. Tell me definitely that which is the better of the two.

Shri Bhagavan said

Both renunciation (of action) and performance of action as yoga lead to liberation. But, of these two, the performance of action as yoga is better than renunciation of action.

The one who neither hates nor longs (for anything) should be known as always a renunciate, Mahabaho! One who is free from the opposites (likes and dislikes) is indeed effortlessly released from bondage.

Children (those who do not know) (but) not the wise, argue that knowledge and karma-yoga are different. The person who follows even one (of the two) properly, gains the result of both.

The end (moksha) that is gained by the sannyasins is also reached by the karma-yogins. The one who sees knowledge and karma-yoga as one, that person (alone) sees (the truth).

Renunciation of action, Mahabaho! is difficult to accomplish without karma-yoga. Whereas, one who is committed to a life of karma-yoga and is capable of reasoning, gains Brahman quickly.

One whose mind is purified by being committed to a life of karma-yoga, who has mastered the body and sense organs, and who knows oneself to be the self in all beings, (such a person) is not affected even while doing (actions).

The one who is together, who knows the truth, thinks, ‘I do not do anything at all’, even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing…

...talking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing the eyes, (the person) knowing (full well that) the organs are engaged in their objects.

The one who performs actions, giving up attachment, offering (one’s actions) unto Brahman, is not affected by sin, just as the leaf of a lotus (does not get wet) by water.

Giving up attachment, karma-yogis perform action purely (without being impelled by likes and dislikes) with the body, mind, intellect, and also by the senses, for the purification of the mind.

The one who is endowed with (karma-yoga), giving up the result of action, gains a composure born of a commitment to a life of karma-yoga. (Whereas) the one who is not committed to a life of karma-yoga, led by desire, is bound, (being) attached to the result (of action).

The indweller of the physical body, the one who is self-controlled, having renounced all actions mentally (by knowledge), remains happily in the nine-gated city (the body) neither performing action, nor causing (others) to act.

Atma creates neither doership nor action for any person nor the connection with the results of action. But one’s own nature leads to action.

The atma takes neither papa nor punya of anyone. Knowledge is covered by ignorance and due to that (ignorance) people are deluded.

Whereas for those whose ignorance of the self is destroyed by knowledge, the knowledge reveals (the self as) that Brahman, like the sun (reveals objects previously covered in darkness).

Those whose intellect is awake to that (Brahman), for whom the self is that (Brahman), who are committed only to that (Brahman), for whom the ultimate end is that (Brahman which is already accomplished), whose impurities have been destroyed by knowledge - they attain a state from which there is no return.

Wise people are indeed those who see the same (Brahman) (sam-darshinah), in a brahmana who is endowed with knowledge and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, in a dog, and (even) in a dog eater.

The cycle of birth and death (samsara) is won over here itself (in this life) by those whose mind is rooted in that which is the same in everything (that is in Brahman). Since Brahman, that is free from any defect, is (always) the same, they (the wise people) abide in Brahman.

The one who knows Brahman (brahmavit), who is established in Brahman, whose knowledge is firm (sthira-buddhih), and who is free from delusion (asammudhah), would not rejoice over gaining that which is desirable nor would he resent gaining that which is not likeable.

The one whose mind is not attached to the external (sense) objects, gains (limited) happiness in oneself, whereas, if the mind is endowed with the knowledge of Brahman (brahma-yoga-yukta-atma), he gains that happiness that does not wane.

Because those enjoyments that are born of contact (between the sense objects and desirable objects) are the sources of pain alone (dukha-yonayah eva), and have a beginning and an end, Kaunteya! the wise person does not revel in them.

The one who is able to master the force (vega) born of anger and desire (kama-krodha-udbhavam) here (in this world) before release from the body (prak-sharira-vimokshanat) is a karma-yogi. He (or she) indeed is a happy person.

The one whose fulfillment is in oneself (antah-sukhah), the one who revels in oneself (antar-aramah), the one whose mind is awake to oneself (antar-jyotih), that wise person alone, whose self is Brahman (brahma-bhutah), gains the freedom which is Brahman (brahma-nirvanam).

Sages whose impurities have been destroyed (kshina-kalmasah), whose doubts have been resolved (chinna-dvaidhah), who have self-mastery (atmanah) (and) who are happily engaged in the good of all beings (sarva-bhuta-hite ratah), gain liberation.

For the sannyasis (yatinam) who are free from anger and desire (kama-krodha-viyuktah), whose mind is under control (yata-chetasam), (and) who know the self (viditatmanam), there is liberation, both here and in the hereafter.

Keeping the external objects external, and the eyes between the two eyebrows (and closed), keeping the exhalation and inhalation that move in the nostrils equal (rhythmic)...

...the contemplative person, who has mastered his (or her) organs of action, senses, mind, and intellect, for whom moksha is the ultimate end, who is free from desire, fear, and anger, (that person) is always liberated indeed.

Knowing me as the sustainers of rituals and disciplines, the lord of all the worlds, friend of all beings, he (or she) gains peace (liberation).

Shri Bhagavan said

The one who performs action that is to be done, not driven by ends in view, he is a sannyasin and a yogi as well, and not just the sannyasi who has renounced all fire rituals and who does not perform any other action.

What they say as renunciation, know that to be karma-yoga, Pandava! because, anyone who has not given up desires (for limited results like heaven, etc.) does not become a karma-yogi.

For the discriminating person who is desirous of attaining (arurukshoh muneh) (the contemplative disposition of the) yoga (of meditation), karma-yoga is said to be the means. For the person who has (already) attained (yoga-arudhasya) (this) yoga, total renunciation alone is said to be the means.

When one is attached neither to sense objects nor to actions, then that person is said to be one who has attained liberation (yoga-arudha), one who has renounced the cause of all desires (sarva-sankalpa-sannyasi).

May one lift oneself by oneself, may one not destroy oneself. For, the self alone is one’s benefactor (and) the self alone is one’s enemy.

For that (self) who has mastered oneself by oneself, the self alone is a friend of oneself. Whereas, for the self who has not mastered oneself, the self alone would remain in the status of an enemy, like an enemy.

For the one who has mastery over oneself, whose mind is tranquil with reference to heat and cold, pleasure and pain, and praise and criticism, the mind is always in a state of composure.

One whose mind is content in the knowledge of the self, who remains unchanged, who has mastered the sense organs and organs of action, for whom a clump of earth, a stone, and gold are the same, this composed person is referred to as a yogi.

The one whose vision is the same with reference to a benefactor, a friend, an enemy, an acquaintance, an arbitrator, a person who evokes dislike, a relative, good people and even towards sinners, he (or she) is the most exalted.

May the meditator, whose body and mind are relaxed, who is free from longing and possessions, remaining alone in a quiet place, constantly unite his (or her) mind (with the object of meditation).

Having arranged one’s seat (made of) a piece of soft cloth, a skin, and a grass mat layered (in reverse) order, in a clean place, firm, not too high (and) not too low…

..sitting there on the seat, making one’s mind one pointed (absorbed in the object of meditation), may the one who has mastered the mind (yata-chitta-indriya-kriya) and senses practice meditation for the purification of the mind.

Holding oneself firm without moving, keeping the body, head and neck in one straight line, (as though) looking at the tip of one’s nose (for eye position) and not looking in all directions…

...being the one whose mind is tranquil (prashanta-atma), who is free from fear (vigata-bhih), established in one’s commitment to the life of a brahmachari, may (that) meditator sit thinking of me (mat-chittah), having me as the ultimate goal (mat-parah), while withdrawing the mind from everything else (samyamya).

Always connecting the mind in this manner, the meditator, the one whose mind is mastered, gains the peace, which is centered on me (which is in the form of an absorption of me) (mat-samstham), which is the ultimate liberation.

Meditation is not for one who eats too much (atyashnat) or does not eat at all (anashnat); nor indeed Arjuna! (it is) for one who sleeps too much (ati-svapnashilasya) or is always awake (jagratah).

For the one who is moderate in eating and other activities, who is mindful in all activities, (and) to one’s sleeping and waking hours, (for such a person) meditation becomes the destroyer of sorrow.

When the mind has gained a certain composure (and) remains in the self alone, when one is free from longing for all the objects (of desire), then (the person) is said (to be) one who is accomplished.

A lamp, protected from the wind, does not tremble. This illustration is cited for the composed mind of the meditator who practices contemplation of the self.

When the mind, mastered by the practice of meditation, abides (in atma) and when, seeing oneself by oneself alone, one rejoices in oneself…

…(and when) one recognizes this absolute happiness, which is known by the intellect, which is beyond sense perception and when, being rooted (therein) one never moves away from the truth of oneself…

...and, having gained which, one does not think there is any other better gain than that, established in which, one is not affected even by a great sorrow (sorrowful event)...

...may one know that dissociation from association with sorrow (dukha-samyoga-viyoga), to be what is called as yoga. That yoga should be pursued with clarity of purpose (nishchayena) with a mind that is not discouraged (anirvinna-chetasa).

Giving up totally all desires, which are born of thought, completely withdrawing the group of sense organs and organs of action by the mind alone…

...with the intellect endowed with perseverance, may one slowly resolve the mind (in atma). Making the mind abide in the self, may one not think of anything else.

For whatever reason the unsteady mind, always in a state of flux, goes away, bringing it back from that, with reference to the self alone, may one bring (the mind) into one’s own hands.

Indeed, the most happiness reaches this meditator whose mind is tranquil, whose impurities have all resolved, whose life is free from all defects, who has become Brahman (through knowledge).

The meditator, free from the conflicts born of adharma, always uniting the mind with the object of contemplation in this manner, easily gains absolute happiness (born of) contact with (recognition of) Brahman.

One whose mind is resolved by this contemplation (yoga-yukta-atma), who has the vision of sameness everywhere (sarvatra sam-darshanah), sees the self abiding in all beings (sarva-bhutastham-atmanam) and all beings in the self (sarva-bhutani-atmani).

The one who sees me in all beings and sees all beings in me, for him (or her) I am not remote and he (or she) is not remote from me.

The one who gains (the vision), having recognized the oneness of me abiding in all beings, that yogi abides in me whatever he (or she) does.

One who, taking oneself as an example (basis) in all situations, sees either pleasure or pain as the same, that yogi, Arjuna! is regarded as the most exalted.

Arjuna said

Madhusudana! This yoga that you have talked about as sameness, I do not see its steady vision due to agitation (of the mind).

In fact, Krishna! The mind is ‘agitation’, a strong, well-rooted tyrant. I think of it as impossible to control as the wind.

Shri Bhagavan said

No doubt, Mahabaho! the mind is agitated and difficult to master. But, Kaunteya! it is mastered by practice (abhyasa) and objectivity (vairagya).

Yoga is difficult to gain (dushprapa) for the one by whom the mind is not mastered (asamyata-atma). This is my vision. Whereas it can be gained by the one whose mind is mastered, who makes effort with the proper means (that is, practice and objectivity).

Arjuna said

The one who is endowed with faith in the shastra (but) whose effort is inadequate, and whose mind wanders away from yoga, having not gained success in yoga, Krishna! to which end does he (or she) go?

Deluded in the path (knowledge) of Brahman, is one who has fallen from both, being without any support, not destroyed, Mahabaho! like a cloudlet torn asunder?

Krishna! You should eliminate this doubt of mine totally. For other than you there is no one who can be the remover of this doubt.

Shri Bhagavan said

Indeed, Partha! there is no destruction for him (or her), neither here nor in the hereafter, because anyone who performs good actions never reaches a bad end.

Having gained the worlds belonging to those who do good actions (and) having lived (there) for countless years, the one who did not succeed in yoga is born in the home of the wealthy (and cultured) people who are committed to dharma.

Or he is indeed born into the family of wise yogins. A birth such as this is indeed very difficult to gain in this world.

There, he gains a connection through the intellect with that which existed in his previous body and strives for further success (in yoga) than that (gained previously), Kurunandana!

By this previous practice alone, he is necessarily led (to yoga). Even as the one who is desirous of the knowledge of yoga he goes beyond the Veda (the karma-kanda of the Veda).

Whereas the yogi who makes an effort by means of the will is cleansed of all impurities gathered in many births (in the past). Then, he (or she) gains the ultimate end.

A yogi is considered superior to those who live a life of meditation, superior even to the scholars, and superior to those who perform action. Therefore, Arjuna! be a yogi.

The one who has shraddha, who with a mind absorbed in me, contemplates upon me, he is the most exalted among all yogis. (This is) my vision.

Shri Bhagavan said

Partha! With a mind committed to me by taking to yoga, and having surrendered to me, please listen to the way in which you will know me totally, without any doubt.

I will teach you without any omission, this knowledge, along with immediate knowledge (savijnanam), knowing which there remains nothing else to be known.

Among thousands of people, a rare person makes effort for moksha. Even among those seekers making effort, (only) a rare person comes to know me in reality.

Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and indeed the sense of doership (ahankara) - thus this prakriti of mine is divided in an eight-fold way.

Mahabaho! This is (my) lower (prakriti) (apara). Whereas, please understand the one other than this, my higher prakriti (my very nature) (para), which is the essential nature of the individual, by which this world is sustained.

Understand that all beings and elements have their cause in this two-fold prakriti. (Therefore,) I am the one from whom this entire world comes; so too, I am the one into whom everything resolves.

Dhananjaya! There is no other cause superior to me. All this is woven (has its being) in me, like the beads in a string.

Kaunteya! I am the taste (basic taste) in the water; I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am OM in all the Vedas; I am sound in space; and I am the strength in human beings.

I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the brilliance and heat in the fire. I am the very life in all beings and the ascetic disciplines and their results in the ascetics.

Partha! Understand me as the one who is the eternal seed in all beings, I am the intellect of those who have the capacity to discriminate; I am the brilliance in the brilliant.

Bharatarshabha!In the strong I am the strength that is free from desire and attachment. In all beings, I am the desire that is not opposed to dharma.

These beings and things which are indeed born from sattva, rajas and tamas, may you know them to be born from me alone. They are in me but I am not in them.

This entire world delude by these things, which are the modifications of the three qualities, does not know me who is changeless and distinct from these (modifications of the gunas).

Indeed this maya, which belongs to me, (the Lord), which is the modification of the three gunas, is difficult to cross. Those who seek only me, they cross this maya.

Those who do wrong actions, who are deluded, who are the lowest among men, do not seek me. Robbed of their discrimination by maya, they have resorted to the condition of those who revel in sense pursuits.

Bharatarshabha! People given to good actions (sukritinah), who worship me are four-fold - the distressed (artah), the seeker of security and pleasure (artharti), the one who desires to know (me) (jijnasu), and the one who knows (me) (jnani).

Among these, the jnani, always united (to me), his devotion resolved in oneness, is distinguished because I am very much dear to him and he is also dear to me.

All these are indeed exalted, but the jnani, the wise person, is myself alone. This is my vision. Because he, the one whose mind is absorbed in me (yukta-atma), has indeed reached me, the end beyond which there is no other end (anuttamam gatim).

At the end of many births, the one who has gained the knowledge ‘Vasudeva is everything’, reaches me. That wise person is very rare.

Those people whose discrimination is robbed away by their own particular desires, driven by their own dispositions, worship other deities following what is stipulated.

Whoever be the devotee and in whichever form (of a deity) he wishes to worship with faith, indeed, I make that faith firm for him.

He who, endowed with that faith, engages in worship of that (deity), gains from that (deity he has worshiped) those objects of desire that are definitely ordained by me alone.

But, for those of limited discrimination, that result is finite. The worshipers of the deities go to the deities; the worshipers of me go to me indeed.

Those who lack discrimination, not knowing my limitless, changeless nature beyond which there is nothing greater, look upon me, who is formless, as one endowed with a manifest form.

Completely covered by yoga-maya (yoga-maya-samavrita), I am not recognized by everyone. This deluded person does not know me clearly as the one who is unborn (ajam) and changeless (avyayam).

Arjuna! I know all beings that have gone before, that exist now and that will exist in the future. But no one knows me.

Bharata, Parantapa! All beings, due to delusion of the opposites arising from desire and aversion, go into a state of total delusion in this creation.

But people of good actions (punya-karmanam-jananam), for whom papa has come to an end, being released from the delusion of the opposites (dvandva-moha-nirmukta) and firm in their commitment (dridha-vratah), they seek/reach me (mam-bhajanti).

Having taken refuge in me (mam-asritya), those who make effort for freedom from old age and death (jara-marana-mokshaya), they know that Brahman wholly as themselves (kritsnam-adhyatmam) and they also know karma in its entirety.

Those who know me as centered on the physical world, the devatas (sadhibhuta-adhidaivam) and the rituals (sadhiyajnam), whose minds are absorbed in me (yukta-chetasah), even at the end of their life, they know me.

Arjuna said

Purushottama! What is that Brahman? What is centered on the self? What is karma? What is spoken of as centered on beings? And what is said to be centered on Gods?...

...Madhusudana! How and who is that which is centered on ritual here in this body? At the time of death, how are you known by those whose minds are steady?

Shri Bhagavan said

Brahman is limitless (paramam) and not subject to change (aksharam). Its manifestation (svabhava), centered on the body (adhyatmam) is called the jiva. What is known as karma is an offering, which causes the production of bodies for the beings.

Deha-bhritam-vara (the most exalted one among the embodied)! What is centered on beings (adhibhutam) is that which is subject to decline (kshara-bhava). What is centered on the devatas (adhi-daivatam) is hiranyagarbha. Here in the body, I alone am what is centered on ritual (adhi-yajna).

At the time of death, the one who departs giving up the body, remembering me alone, he gains my nature. Regarding this, there is no doubt.

Kaunteya! At the time of death, remembering whatever thing one gives up the physical body, having thought about it always, one reaches that alone.

Therefore, remember me at all times and fight. Being one whose mind and intellect are offered unto me, you will reach me alone. There is no doubt (in this).

Partha! Reflecting in keeping with the teaching, with a mind endowed with the practice of yoga that does not stray to anything else, he reaches the limitless self-effulgent person.

The one who contemplates upon the being who is omniscient (kavim), the most ancient (puranam), who is the ruler (anushasitaram), who is subtler than the subtlest (anoh-aniyamsam), ordainer of all (sarvasya-dhataram), whose form cannot be conceived of (achintya-rupam), who is effulgent like the sun (aditya-varnam), who is beyond ignorance (and knowledge) (tamasah-parastat), (he reaches the limitless self-effulgent person).

At the time of death (prayana-kale), with a steady mind (achalena-manasa), endowed with devotion (bhaktya-yukta) and the strength gathered by yoga (yoga-balena), placing the breath properly between the brows, he indeed reaches that limitless effulgent person.

I will tell you briefly about that end, which does not decline, about which the knowers of Veda talk about, which the renunciates, free from desire, enter, and desiring which people follow a life-style of study and discipline.

Closing all the gates of perception (sense organs), withdrawing the mind into the heart, placing one’s breath at the top of one’s head, being the one who remains holding (one’s breath) by yoga...

...chanting the single syllable OM, which is Brahman, giving up the body, the one who departs remembering me, goes to the most exalted end.

Partha! The one who has a mind that sees no other, who remembers me constantly, for a length of time, for that yogi who is always united with me, I am easily gained.

Having reached me, the wise men do not gain another birth, which is the abode of misery and is finite; they have reached the ultimate success.

Arjuna! All the worlds (where beings exist) up to the world of Brahmaji are subject to return. However, having reached me, Kaunteya! there is no rebirth.

Those people who know about the day and the night, know that a day of Brahmaji consists of one thousand yugas and a nigh (of Brahmaji) measuring one thousand yugas.

At the beginning of the day (aharagame), all things that are manifest (sarvah-vyaktayah) arise from the unmanifest (avyaktat). At the beginning of the night (ratri-agame), they resolve (praliyante) in that alone which is called unmanifest.

Partha! The same group of beings indeed (which), having repeatedly come into being, necessarily dissolves when the night (of Brahmaji) comes. When the day comes, it necessarily arises.

But, distinct from that unmanifest is another manifest, which is existent and eternal. That is not destroyed when all beings are destroyed.

The unmanifest that was spoken of as the one that is not subject to destruction, is the highest end, they say. That abode of mine, gaining which (people) do not return, is the highest.

That purusha who is the limitless, Partha! can be gained by devotion in which there is no other. (He is) the one in which all beings have their being, the one by whom all this is pervaded.

Bharatarshabha! I will tell you what is the time (route) (yatra-kale) of no return (anavrittim) and also the time (route) of return (avrittim) by which the departed yogis go.

Departing there (through that path) in which the deity of fire, the deity of light, the deity of the day, the deity of the bright fortnight (of the waxing moon), the deity of the six months of the northern solstice (the sun’s travel towards the north) are present, the meditators of Brahman go to brahma-loka.

The yogi, (traveling by the route) where the presiding deity of clouds, the deity of night, the deity of the dark fortnight (of the waning moon), and the deity of the six months of the southern solstice (the sun’s travel towards the south) (are present), having gained the world of the moon, returns.

As is well known in the shastra, these two paths of the world, the bright and the dark, are considered eternal. By the one (path), one goes to a place of no return, by the other, one returns again.

Knowing these two paths, Partha! a yogi is not deluded. Therefore, Arjuna! At all times may you be united to yoga (yoga-yukta).

The yogi knowing this (the answers to Arjuna’s questions here), goes beyond all things taught by the shastra with reference to the result of good actions, which abides in the (study of the) Veda, the rituals, disciplines, and charities. And he reaches the primal cause (of creation), which is the highest state.

Shri Bhagavan said

Now, I will clearly explain to you (who are) without calumny, this most secret knowledge together with immediate knowledge, knowing which you will be released from all that is inauspicious.

This is the king of all knowledge, the king of secrets, the greatest purifier, directly appreciated, not opposed to dharma, easy to accomplish and imperishable.

Parantapa! Those people who have no faith in this self-knowledge, not gaining me, they return to/remain in the road of samsara, which is fraught with death.

This entire world is pervaded by me whose form cannot be objectified (avyakta-murtina). All beings have their being in me (matsthani) and I am not based in them.

And the beings do not exist in me; look at this aishvara, connection of mine to the jagat (yogam-aishvaram). My self is the creator of the beings, the sustainer of the beings and yet is not residing in the beings.

Just as the vast air, which goes everywhere, always exists in space, similarly, may you understand that all beings exist in me.

All beings, Kaunteya! go to my prakriti at the dissolution of the cycle of creation (kalpakshaye). Again, at the beginning of the cycle (kalpa-adau), I create them.

Keeping my own prakriti under control, again and again I create this entire group of beings necessarily, by the force of prakriti.

Dhananjaya! These karmas do not bind me (na nibadhnanati), who is seated as though indifferent (udasinavad asinam), who is unconnected (asaktam) with reference to these karmas.

With me as the presiding presence, the prakriti creates (the world of) the movables and immovables. Because of this reason, Kaunteya! the world undergoes changes.

The deluded fail to recognize me, the one who obtains in the human body, not knowing my limitless nature as the Lord of all beings.

Devoid of discrimination, those of vain hopes, of fruitless actions and useless knowledge, indeed, resort to the deluding disposition of raksha and of asura.

Partha! Those of noble heart, on the other hand, who are given to a spiritual disposition, knowing me as the imperishable cause of all beings and elements and being totally committed to me, seek me.

Those who are always appreciating me and making the necessary efforts, whose commitment is firm and who remain surrendered to me with devotion, who are always united to me (with a prayerful heart), seek me.

There are others too worshiping me with the ritual of knowledge (jnana-yajnena). In many ways (bahuda) they worship me as the one who is many faceted (vishvatomukham), as one (ekatvena) and as distinct (prithaktvena).

I am the ritual (kratuh); I am the worship (yajna); I am the food that is offered (svadha); I am food in general (aushadham); I am the chants (mantrah); I alone am the ghee (ajyam); I am the fire (in the ritual) (agnih); I am the oblation (hutam).

I am the father of this world, I am the mother, I am the one who sustains it, and I am the grandfather (the uncaused cause). I am what is to be known, I am the purifier, I am the Omkara, and I am the Rig, Sama, and Yajur Vedas.

I am the result of all actions, the one who nourishes, the Lord, the witness. I am the abode, the refuge and I am the helpful by my very nature. I am the one from whom the whole creation has come, into whom everything is resolved, and in whom everything has its being, in whom everything is placed and the imperishable cause.

I heat up the world and I withhold and release the rain. I am immortal and I am also death. I am cause and effect (sat-asat), Arjuna!

The knowers of the three Vedas, who perform the ritual in which Soma is offered and thereby being purified of their papas, having propitiated me with rituals, they pray to go to heaven. Gaining the world of Indra, which is a result of their punya, they enjoy the heavenly pleasures of the celestials in heaven.

These people, having enjoyed that vast heaven, enter the world of mortals when their punya is exhausted. In this manner, following the rituals in the three Vedas, those who are desirous of various ends gain the condition of (repeated) going and coming, samsara.

Those people who (see themselves as) non-separate from me (ananyah), recognizing me (chintayantah-mam), gain me (paryupasate). For those who are always one with me, I take care of what they want to acquire and protect (yoga-kshema).

Kaunteya! Even those devotees who worship other devatas with shraddha, worship me only (but) backed by ignorance.

I am indeed the recipient of all rituals and the only Lord. But they do not know me in reality. Therefore, they fall away.

Those who are committed to the gods reach the world of the gods. Those who are committed to the manes reach the plane of the manes. Those who worship the spirits go to the realm of the spirits. Whereas, those who worship me, reach me.

He who offers me with devotion - a leaf, a flower, a fruit, water - I receive that offering imbued with the devotion of the person whose mind is pure.

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever ritual you perform, whatever you give, whatever religious discipline you follow, Kaunteya! please do it as an offering to me (mad-arpanam).

In this way you will be released from the bondage of karma, which is in the form of desirable and undesirable results. Being one whose mind is endowed with renunciation and karma-yoga (sannyasa-yoga-yukta-atma), you will come to me liberated.

I am the same in all beings. There is no one I dislike nor do I have a favorite. But those who seek me with devotion exist in me and I (exist) in them.

Even if someone of highly improper conduct seeks me without a sense of separation, he is to be considered a good person because he is one whose understanding is clear.

Quickly he becomes one whose mind is in conformity with dharma (dharmatma) and gains eternal peace. May you know for certain, Kaunteya! my devotee never gets destroyed.

Indeed, Partha! even those who are born in families given to improper conduct, and so too, women, vaishyas, and shudras, taking refuge in me, they also gain the ultimate end.

Then what to talk of brahmanas who have fortunate births and are devoted, so too, the sage-kings (kshatriyas)? Having gained this world, which is non-eternal and of little happiness, may you seek me.

May you become one whose mind is committed to me, who is devoted to me, who offers rituals unto me, and may you surrender to me. Having yourself prepared in this way and being one for whom I am the ultimate end, you will reach me, the self alone.

Shri Bhagavan said

Indeed, Mahabaho! for your benefit, listen again to my words revealing the limitless, which I will tell you, who is pleased (by my words).

The whole host of gods (suraganah) do not know my glory of coming into being as this world, nor do the sages because I am the cause of all the gods and sages.

The one who knows me as unborn (not an effect), beginningless (not a cause), and the limitless Lord of the world, he among the mortals, being no longer deluded, is released from all papas.

The capacity to understand, knowledge, freedom from delusion, accommodation, truthfulness, restraint in behavior, mastery over the ways of thinking, pleasure, pain, creation, destruction, fear, and fearlessness, and further…

...not hurting, equanimity, contentment, religious discipline, charity, fame, ill-fame - these different dispositions (and things) of living beings - are all from me alone.

The seven rishis of yore as well as the four manus who have their minds resolved in me, are born of my mind, and of whom are all these living beings in the world.

The one who knows, in reality, this glory of mine and my connection with that, he is endowed with unshaken vision. There is no doubt about this.

I am the creator of everything and because of me everything is sustained. Thus knowing, the wise men endowed with vision, gain me.

Those whose minds are in me (mat-chittah), whose living is resolved in me (madgata-pranah), teaching one another (bodhayanta-parasparam) and always talking about me (kathayantah-mam), they are (ever) satisfied (tushyanti) and they revel (ramanti) (always).

For them who are always committed to me (satatayuktanam), seeking me with love, I give that vision whereby they reach me.

For them alone, out of compassion, I, obtaining in the thought of (their) mind, destroy the delusion born of ignorance by the shining lamp of knowledge.

Arjuna said

Bhavan (revered one)! You are limitless Brahman, the light of all lights, the most purifying...

...All the sages, including Narada, the sage among gods, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa talk of you as the eternal being, not of this world, the cause of all the gods, unborn and all-pervasive. And indeed, you yourself tell me so.

All this, which you have told me, Keshava! I consider true. Indeed, neither the celestials nor the rakshasas know your manifestation (they do not know what you are), Bhagavan!

You (yourself) know yourself with your own mind, Purushottama! The creator of all beings! The ruler of all beings! The Lord of the gods! The Lord of creation!

You indeed are capable of telling in full the extraordinary glories of yourself, the glories buy which you remain pervading these worlds.

The greatest of the yogis! Ever contemplating, how can I know you? In which forms are you to be meditated upon by me, O Lord!

Please describe (to me) again in detail the wonder and the glory of yourself, Janardana! because I, the listener of this nectar, have no satisfaction.

Shri Bhagavan said

Well now Kurushreshtha! I will tell you my divine glories in keeping with their prominence; because there is no end to a detailed description of my glories

Gudakesha! I am the self that resides in the hearts of all beings and I am the cause of the creation, sustenance and resolution of all beings/things.

Among the adityas I am Vishnu; among the luminaries I am the sun, the one who has rays; among the maruts I am marichi, and among the luminaries seen at night, I am the moon.

Among the Vedas I am Samaveda; among the gods I am Indra; among the means of knowledge I am the mind; and of the embodied beings I am the faculty of cognition.

Among the rudras, I am Shankara; I am Kubera among the yakshas and the rakshas; among the vasus I am fire, and among the snow-peaked mountains (shikharis) I am Meru.

Partha! May you know me to be Brihaspati, the chief, among the priests. Among the commanders-in-chief I am Skanda, and among the water reservoirs I am ocean.

Among the sages I am Bhrigu; among the words I am the single syllable OM; among the rituals I am the ritual of Japa, and among the mountains (sthavara), the Himalayas.

I am the sacred ficus tree among all the trees; among the celestial sages I am Narada; among the gandharvas I am Chitraratha, and among the siddhas I am the sage Kapila.

Among the horses may you know me as Uchchaihshravas, and among the elephants as Airavata, (both) born of the churning for nectar, and I am the king among men.

Among the weapons I am Vajra; among the cows I am Kamadhenu. I am Kandarpa (Manmatha), the god of love, who is the cause for progeny. Among the poisonous snakes I am Vasuki.

I am Ananta among the many-headed snakes, Varuna among the gods of water, Aryama among the manes, and among those who enforce discipline I am Yama.

I am Prahlada among the asuras who are born of Diti. Among things that reckon I am the Time; among the wild animals I am the Lion, and I am Garuda among the birds.

Among the purifiers, I am Air; I am Rama among those who bear weapons; among the fish I am shark, and among the rivers I am Jahnavi (Ganga).

Arjuna! I am indeed the beginning, the middle, and the end of the creations. Among the disciplines of knowledge, I am the knowledge of the self. Of those who discuss, I am the discussion leading to the truth (vada).

Among the letters I am ‘a’, and I am the dvandva among the compounds. I am indeed the perennially eternal time. I am the giver (of karma-phala) who is all-pervasive.

I am death that takes away everything, and I am the cause of prosperity of those yet to be. Among the feminine words I am fame, wealth, speech, memory, intelligence, fortitude and equanimity.

So too, I am the Brihatsama among the samas; Gayatri among the meters; among the months, Margashirsha, and among the seasons, the Spring.

I am the game of dice among things that deceive; of the brilliant I am the brilliance. I am the victory (of the victorious). I am the clarity in thinking (of those who have that clarity). Of those whose nature is predominantly sattva, I am that sattva-guna (contemplative disposition).

Among the Yadavas, I am Vasudeva (Krishna); among the Pandavas, I am Arjuna; among the seers I am Vyasa, and among the sages, the preceptor Ushana.

I am the discipline of those who enforce discipline. I am justice of those who want success and I am silence among the secrets. Of those who have knowledge, I am that knowledge.

Arjuna! I am also that which is the cause of all things. There is no mobile/sentient or immobile/insentient thing that can exist without me.

There is no end to my extraordinary glories, Parantapa! But this detailed narration of glories was told by me taking into account a few important ones.

Whatever existent thing there is, which has glory, which is endowed with any form of wealth, or that which is mighty, every one of that, may you know, is born of a fraction of my glory.

On the other hand, by this (incomplete) knowledge of many and varied things what is accomplished for you, Arjuna? (May you know that fully) I remain pervading this entire world with just one part (of me).

Arjuna said

As a result of the words taught by you (Lord!) in order to bless me with the greatest secret known as (knowledge) centered on the self, this delusion of mine is gone.

Indeed the creation and dissolution of things (and beings) have been heard in detail by me from you, Kamalapatraksha (Krishna)! and also (your) perennial glory (was heard).

Just as you have been telling about yourself, Parameshvara! in the same manner I long to see the form of yours as the Lord (te rupam aishvaram), Purushottama!

If you think it is possible for me Prabhu! to see that (form of yours), then, Yogeshvara! you please show me your perennially eternal self.

Shri Bhagavan said

See, Partha! hundreds and thousands of my forms of many varieties, effulgent and of many colors and shapes.

Bharata! See the adityas, vasus, rudras, two ashvins as well as the maruts. See (also) many (other) wondrous (forms) never seen before.

Today, here, in my body, please see the entire world, movable and immovable, in one place, and anything else, Gudakesha! which you may wish to see.

But it is not possible for you to see me merely with your own eyes alone. I will give you a divine eye. Please see my wondrous power.

Sanjaya said

Having spoken thus, Rajan! Then, Maha-yogeshvara, whose grace destroys all papas, showed to Aruna his wondrous, all inclusive form.

That form consisted of countless mouths and eyes, countless wondrous objects, countless celestial ornaments, and countless extraordinary weapons in a raised state (for use).

Wearing celestial garlands and garments, anointed with special sandal paste, it was all wonder, effulgent, was endless, and was one that spanned all the directions.

If one thousand effulgent suns should simultaneously rise in the sky, that (effulgence) would be equal to the effulgence of that great Lord (tasya mahatmanah bhasha).

Then, there in the body of the Lord of all gods, Pandava saw the entire world remaining in a single form (but) distinctly divided in a manifold way.

Then, overwhelmed with awe, with his hair standing on end, Dhananjaya, saluting the Lord with his head, hands folded together, said.

Arjuna said

In your body, Deva (O Lord)! I see all the celestial as well as hosts of different types of beings, the Lord Brahma (residing in brahma-loka), seated on the lotus, and all the rishis and celestial snakes.

I see you having countless arms, stomachs, mouths, and eyes; from every quarter (you have) endless forms. I see that you have no end, no middle, and again no beginning Vishveshvara (Lord of creation)! Vishvarupa (Lord of the cosmic form)!

I see you as one who has a crown, a mace and a disc, as a mass of brilliance with light on all sides and (therefore,) difficult to see from every angle, as one who is having the brilliance of a conflagration and the blazing sun, and as one who is not knowable as a limited object.

It is my appreciation that you are imperishable, limitless, the one who is to be known; you are the ultimate basis (cause) of this world; you are not subject to change; you are the protector of the perennially eternal laws; you are eternal, and you are the complete being.

I see you as one who has no beginning, middle or end, with limitless power and endless arms, and the moon and the sun for your eyes, and a mouth like the blazing fire, who heats/energizes this world by his own light.

Indeed, this (space) between heaven and earth and all the quarters are pervaded by you as one (form). Mahatman! Seeing this wondrous, frightening form of yours, the three worlds would tremble.

Indeed, these hosts of good people are entering into you. Some who are frightened pray with hands folded. The group of rishis and siddhas (yogis), having said, ‘Let there be well-being’, worship you with praises full of meaning.

The rudras, the adityas, the vasus, the sadhyas, the vishve-devas, the ashvins, the maruts, the ushmapas, and the host of gandharvas, yakshas, asuras and siddhas are looking at you being struck with great wonder indeed.

Mahabaho! Seeing your immeasurable form of many mouths and eyes, of many arms, thighs, feet, and stomachs, and of many protruding teeth, the people are afraid and so am I.

Indeed, seeing you (your form) as one touching the heavens, effulgent, of numerous forms, open mouthed and with large brilliant eyes, O Lord Vishnu! I, whose mind is deeply disturbed, do not find courage or composure.

Indeed, seeing your mouths, which have protruding canines and are equivalent to the fire of dissolution, I do not know the directions and I have no peace. Be pleased, Devesha (Lord of all gods)! Jagannivasa (Lord in whom the world exists)!

And all these sons of Dhritarashtra, along with hosts of kings, as well as Bhishma, Drona and that charioteer’s son (Karna), along with our most important fighters...

...hurriedly enter your frightening mouths with projecting canines. Some are seen sticking between the teeth with their heads crushed.

Just as many torrents of rivers flow towards the ocean alone, so too, these heroes in the world of men enter your flaming mouths.

Just as moths enter a glowing fire at full speed for their destruction, so too, indeed, people also enter your mouths with great speed for their destruction

Completely swallowing all the people with your effulgent, flaming mouths, you lick again and again. Filling up the entire world with brilliance, your fierce flames burn, O Lord Vishnu!

Salutations to you deva-vara (O exalted among all gods)! Please tell (me), for my sake, who you are, having this (terrible) form? Be gracious. I wish to know you, the cause, because I do not understand at all your actions.

Shri Bhagavan said

I am time, the destroyer of people, the one who is all over, whose activity is to make people age and die here. Even without you, all these warriors who have assembled in the opposing armies will cease to exist.

Therefore, may you get up and gain fame. Conquering the enemies, enjoy the prosperous kingdom. These (people) have already been destroyed by me. May you be merely an instrument, Savyasachin!

May you destroy Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, and Karna as well as other heroic warriors who are (already) destroyed by me. Do not hesitate; fight. You will conquer the enemies in battle.

Sanjaya said

Hearing these words of Keshava, Kiriti (the crowned one), with folded hands and trembling, saluting Lord Krishna, overwhelmed with fear and saluting (repeatedly), spoke again in a faltering voice.

Arjuna said

It is proper, Hrishikesha! that by singing your praises the world rejoices and is devoted (to you), the frightened rakshas run in all directions and all the hosts of siddhas salute (you).

Mahatman! Ananta! Devesha! Jagannivasa! Why will they not salute you who is greater (than other gods), who is the primal creator of even Brahma? You are that eternal, limitless (vastu), which is both cause and effect.

You are the first among gods, the one who was there even before, the one who fills up everything. You are the ultimate place of resolution of this world; you are the knower and also what is to be known and you are the ultimate abode. The world is pervaded by you, Anantarupa!

You are the Lord of air (vayuh), Lord of death (yamah), Lord of fire (agnih), Lord of water (varunah), presiding deity of the moon (shashankah), Prajapati, and the ultimate great grandfather, the Creator (prajapatimahah). One thousand repeated salutations to you. Again and again indeed, repeated salutations to you.

Salutations to you in the front (in the east), salutations to you in the back (in the west), indeed (salutations) to you in all directions, Sarva (the one who is everything)! You are the one of infinite strength and immeasurable prowess and you completely pervade everything. Therefore, you are everything.

Ignorant of this glory of yours, thinking of you as a (mere) friend, whatever that was said lightly by me, as ‘O Krishna!, O Yadava!, O Friend!’ out of carelessness or out of intimacy, and further…

...out of jest you have been slighted, Achyuta! while walking, lying down, sitting and eating, alone or even in public. For (all) that, may I ask pardon of you, the one who cannot be known?

Apratima-prabhava (O Lord whose glories are unparalleled)! You are the father of this world of sentient beings and insentient objects and you are the most worshipful of it (and its) first teacher. Even in the three worlds, there is no one equal to you, how can there be another who is superior?

Therefore, saluting and properly laying down my body, I seek the blessing of you who are the worshipful Lord. Deva (O Lord)! You should forgive (my mistakes) as a father would (the mistakes) of a son, as a friend of a friend, and as a beloved of (his) beloved.

Deva! Seeing what was not seen hereto, I am happy; and (yet) my mind is afflicted with fear also. Please show me only that (original) form. Be pleased, Devesha (O Lord of the gods)! Jagannivasa!

So too, I wish to see you as one with a crown, a mace and a disc in hand. Sahasrabaho! Vishvamurte! May you become that form alone, which has four hands.

Shri Bhagavan said

Arjuna! By me who is pleased, this cosmic form was shown to you through my power, a form which is limitless, full of brilliance, includes everything and is without end. That (form) of mine was never before seen by anyone other than you.

Not by the study of the Vedas and rituals, not by charity, not by performing rituals, nor by severe austerities can I, in this form, be seen, in the world of men, by anyone other than you, Kurupravira!

May you not have fear and may you not be confused seeing this frightening form of mine. Being free from fear and pleased again, may you see that (particular) form of mine.

Sanjaya said

Having thus spoken to Arjuna in this way, Vasudeva, again showed his form and consoled him, who was frightened, having once more become the Lord with the pleasing form.

Arjuna said

Seeing this pleasing human form of yours, Janardana! now I have become cheerful and restored to (my) original nature.

Shri Bhagavan said

You have seen this form of mine, which is very difficult to see. Even the gods always (remain) desirous of seeing this form.

I cannot be seen in this form by (study of) the Vedas, not by ascetic practices, nor by charity, nor by worship. You are the one who has seen me in this way.

Whereas, Parantapa! with devotion, in which there is no other, it is possible that I can be known and seen in this form, and in reality can be entered into.

The one who does all the actions for my sake, for whom I am paramount. Who is devoted to me, free from attachment and free from enmity towards all beings, comes to me, Pandava.

Arjuna said

In this manner, (there are) those devotees who, abidingly committed, meditate upon you and also (there are) those that seek you as one who is not subject to decline and not available for objectification. Who among them are the greatest knowers of yoga?

Shri Bhagavan said

Endowed with unflinching faith, their minds committed to me, being ever united (with me), those who meditate upon me are considered by me as the most exalted.

However, those who contemplate upon that which is not subject to decline, indefinable, not available for objectification, all-pervasive, not an object of thought, which abides in maya, does not move and is eternal…

...those who have complete mastery over the group of sense organs, who are always equal minded and take delight in the welfare of all beings, gain me.

Greater is the affliction for those whose minds are committed to what cannot be objectified, for, an end which cannot be objectified is reached with difficulty by those who are identified with the body.

However, those who worship me, keeping me as the ultimate end, giving up all actions unto me, meditating upon me with a commitment in which there is indeed no other…

...for them, whose minds are absorbed in me, Partha! before long I become the liberator from the ocean of samsara that is fraught with death.

In me alone may you place the mind; in me may you place the intellect. Thereafter, there is no doubt that you will abide in me alone.

If you are not able to absorb your mind steadily in me, Dhananjaya! then through the practice of yoga may you seek to reach me.

If you do not have the capacity for practice of this (yoga) either, may you become one for whom action dedicated to me is paramount. Even doing actions for my sake you will gain success.

If you are not able to do even this, being one whose commitment is dedicating all actions to me, then, with a disciplined mind, give up the results of all actions (to me).

Knowledge is better indeed than the practice of yoga; meditation is superior to knowledge; renunciation of the results of action (is better) than meditation. Because of renunciation there is peace immediately.

The one who has no hatred for all beings, who has the disposition of a friend, who is compassionate, free from possessiveness, free from doership, equal in pleasant and unpleasant (situations), and indeed, one who is naturally accommodative…

...the one who is completely satisfied, who is always united, who has mastery over his mind, whose ascertainment is firm, whose mind and intellect are resolved in me, who is my devotee, is beloved to me.

The one because of whom people do not get disturbed and who does not get disturbed by people, and who is free from elation, intolerance, fear and anxiety, he is beloved to me.

The one who has no dependence, is clean, able, and neutral, from whom fear has gone, who has completely given up all initiation (of actions), and who is my devotee is beloved to me.

The one who does not get elated, is not hostile, does not grieve, does not desire, who has completely given up good and bad (karma), who has devotion, is beloved to me.

The one who is the same with reference to an enemy and a friend, so too, honor and disgrace; the same with reference to cold, heat, pleasure and pain (and) free from attachment…

...the one who is equal to censure and praise, discipline din speech, satisfied by whatever (he gets), who has no place to call his own, whose knowledge is firm, and who has devotion, is beloved to me.

However, those who follow this life that is in keeping with dharma leading to immortality, as was told, who are endowed shraddha and for whom I am the ultimate, those devotees are exceedingly beloved to me.

Shri Bhagavan said

Kaunteya! This body is called ‘field’. The one who knows this (field) is the ‘knower of the field’; thus say those who know that.

Bharata! May you know me as the knower of the body in all the bodies. That (which is) knowledge of the body and of the knower of the body, is (truly) the knowledge. (This is) my vision.

What is the kshetra, of what nature (it is), what are its modifications, from what has it come and who is the kshetrajna and what is (his) glory - (for) that, listen to me in brief.

In many ways it is sung by the rishis. It is also sung by the sentences of the Vedas as something that is varied and also as something that is distinct. And it is indeed explained by the sentences of the Veda, which reveal Brahman, without doubt, by implication, and with reasoning.

The (five) subtle elements, the hiranyagarbha, the samashti-buddhi, the unmanifest cause (maya), the ten organs and one (mind), the five sense objects...

...desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the physical body, cognition, fortitude - (all) this is kshetra, which is stated briefly along with its modifications.

Absence of conceit, absence of pretension, not hurting, accommodation, straight-forwardness, service to the teacher, inner and outer purity, steadfastness, mastery over the mind…

...dispassion towards the sense objects, absence of pride and seeing clearly the defects of pain in birth, death, old age and disease…

...absence of sense of ownership, absence of obsession towards son, wife, house and the like, and always evenness of mind regarding the gain of the desired and not desired…

...an unswerving devotion to me that is not connected to anything else, the disposition of repairing to a quiet place, no longing for the company of people…

...always (dwelling upon) knowledge centered on the self, keeping in view the purpose of knowledge of the truth - (all) this was told is the means to knowledge, what is opposite to this is ignorance.

What is to be known, that I will tell you clearly, knowing which one gains deathlessness. That is said to be Brahman, which has no beginning, is limitless, and is neither existent (as an Object) nor non-existent.

That (jneyam brahma) has hands and feet on all sides, has eyes, heads and mouths (faces) on all sides, has ears on all sides in the (bodies of the) people, and remains pervading everything.

(That jneyam brahma) appears as one with attributes of organs, is free from all the organs, is unattached, is the sustainer of all, is free from the (three) qualities and is the experiencer of the (three) qualities.

That (jneyam brahma) is outside and inside of the beings, it is that which does not move and indeed what moves. Because it is subtle, it is not known and it is far as well as near.

That jneyam (brahma) remains undivided in the beings and is seemingly divided, is the sustainer of the beings and elements, and is the devourer and the creator.

That (jneyam brahma), the light of lights, is said to be beyond ignorance. It is knowledge, it is that which has to be known, it is that which is arrived at by knowledge and it is present in the minds of all.

Thus, the kshetra as well as the (means of gaining) knowledge and what is to be known have been told in brief. The one who is devoted to me, knowing this clearly, is fit to gain the condition of being me.

May you know that both prakriti and purusha are indeed beginningless. May you (also) know that the modifications, and the qualities are indeed born of prakriti.

Prakriti is said to be the cause of creation of the physical body and the instruments; purusha is said to be the cause with reference to the state of being the experiencer of pleasure and pain.

Because purusha (enjoyer, jiva) obtains in prakriti, (he) enjoys the attributes born of prakriti. His attachment to the attributes is the cause for births in higher and lower wombs.

The ultimate seer, permitter, sustainer, enjoyer, limitless Lord (creator), and also called ‘limitless self’, is the purusha, the person who is limitless, in this body.

The one who knows in this manner, purusha and prakriti along with its attributes, even though engaged in all ways, he is not born again.

By contemplation some see the self, in the self (mind), with the self (the prepared mind), others by enquiry and some others by karma-yoga.

But others, not knowing in this manner, having heard from others (their teachers), being committed to what they have heard, follow (that), and indeed, they also cross death.

As long as any existent thing - moving or not moving - is born, that may you know, Bharatarshabha! is because of the connection between the kshetra and the kshetrajna.

The one who sees the Lord (Parameshvaram), as remaining the same in all beings, as the one who is not being destroyed in the things that are perishing, he alone sees.

Because of seeing the Lord as the same, as the one who obtains in the same form everywhere, he does not destroy himself by himself. Therefore, he reaches the ultimate end.

He who sees that by prakriti alone actions are being performed in all ways, and so too, (he who sees) the self as a non-doer, he alone sees.

When one sees clearly, the condition of distinction in the beings, as having its existence in one (atman), and from that alone is its projection (distinctions), then he gains Brahman.

Kaunteya! This limitless self, being beginningless and without attributes, is imperishable. Even though obtaining in the body, it does not perform action, and is not affected (by the results of actions).

Just as all-pervasive space, because it is subtle, is not affected, so too, the self, abiding in all states in the body is not affected.

Bharata! Just as one sun illumines this entire world, so too, the kshetri, one who obtains in the kshetra, illumine the entire kshetra.

Those who, in this manner, know the distinction between the kshetra and the kshetrajna through the eye of wisdom and (know) the freedom from prakriti, the cause of all beings, they go to the ultimate end.

Shri Bhagavan said

I shall again tell clearly the ultimate, the most exalted knowledge among all forms of knowledge, gaining which all the sages had reached the ultimate success (release) from this (body).

Resorting to this knowledge, those who have gained oneness with me, do not come to be born even when there is creation, and they do not perish in the dissolution (of creation).

Bharata! My maya is the primordial cause out of which (everything) grows and which sustains (everything). That I impregnate. From that occurs the manifestation of all beings.

Kaunteya! The great (maya) is the original (material) cause for those forms which are born in all wombs. I am the one who gives the seed, the father.

Mahabaho! Sattva, rajas, and tamas, the qualities existing in prakriti, bind (as though), the changeless indweller of the body, to the body.

Anagha (sinless one)! There (among these), Sattva, because it is pure is illuminating and is free from affliction. It binds (one) by connection to (subtle form of) pleasure and connection to knowledge.

Kaunteya! Rajas, may you know, is in the form of a coloring of the mind, causing longing and well-entrenched attachment. It totally binds the indweller of the body by connection to action.

Bharata! Tamas, may you know, is born of ignorance and causes delusion for all those who have bodies. It binds (the person) completely by indifference, slothfulness and sleep.

Bharata! Sattva binds in the form of pleasure, and Rajas in the form of action. Tamas, on the other hand, covering knowledge, binds indeed in the form of apathy.

Bharata! Sattva arises overwhelming rajas and tamas. Rajas, indeed (arises overwhelmingly) tamas and sattva. So too, tama (arises overwhelmingly) rajas and sattva.

When illumination, that is knowledge, is born in all the sense organs, in this body, then may one know indeed that sattva is predominant.

Bharatarshabha! Greed, physical restlessness, undertaking of activities, mental restlessness, longing - these are born when rajas has increased.

Kurunandana! Dullness, absence of activity, indifference, and indeed delusion - these are born, when tamas has increased.

When the embodies one dies, when sattva has increased, then he gains the worlds of those who know the highest, that are free from impurity.

Having dies with the predominance of rajas, he is born among those committed to karma; so too, the one who dies with the predominance of tamas is born in the wombs of those who have no discriminative faculty.

They say, that the result for the good action done is connected to sattva and is pure (a result that is free from any distress). But pain is the result of rajas and ignorance is the result of tamas.

From sattva is born knowledge and indeed from rajas is greed. Apathy and delusion is from tamas and so also is ignorance.

Those abiding in sattva go (to the worlds) higher up, those belonging to rajas remain in the middle and those belonging to tamas, having the nature of the lowest guna, go down.

When the seer does not see an agent other than the gunas and when he knows himself as beyond the gunas, he gains (understands) my nature.

Crossing these three gunas, that are the cause of the body, the embodied one, released from birth, death, old age and sorrow, gains immortality.

Arjuna said

Prabho! By what characteristics does a person become (recognizable as) one who has crossed these three gunas? What is his conduct, and how does he transcend these three gunas?

Shri Bhagavan said

Pandava! Brightness and activity and even delusion, that have come to occur, he does not despise. Nor does he long for those that have gone away.

He who, remaining as though indifferent, is not shaken by the gunas; and he who abides (in himself), (thinking) that the gunas alone are acting, the one who does not move (from the vision of the self)...

...who, being wise, is the same with reference to pleasure and pain, abiding in himself, the same with reference to a clod of earth, a stone or gold, the same in pleasant and unpleasant (situations), the same with reference to censure or praise of himself…

...who is the same towards respect and insult, the same towards the views of a friend or enemy, who has given up all undertakings - he is called the one who is beyond the gunas.

And the one who with unswerving devotion worships/seeks me, he is fit for being Brahman, having properly crossed these gunas.

I am the basis indeed of Brahman which is immortal, not subject to change, the eternal dharma, the basis of everything, and which is of the nature of happiness that is not subject to negation.

Shri Bhagavan said

They say the imperishable ashvattha tree has its roots above, its branches below and the Vedas are its leaves. The one who knows that is a knower of the Vedas.

Its branches that are nourished by the gunas, with sense objects as their shoots, are spread out below and above. And below, the diffused roots are the karmas that bind (one) in the world of mortals.

Its form is not as it is perceived here. It has no end, no beginning, and no continuance in between. After cutting this ashvattha tree, whose roots are well-entrenched, with the firm weapon of detachment...

...then, that end, into which those who have gone do not return again, is to be properly enquired into (with the attitude that) I surrender to that adi-purusha alone, from whom the primeval creation has come forth.

Those who are free from the demand for respect and from non-objectivity, who have conquered the limitation of attachment, who are always focused on the self and from whom desires have completely gone, who are totally free from the opposites known as pleasure and suffering and are not deluded, go to (gain) that imperishable end.

Neither the sun, nor moon, nor fire, illumines that having gone to which, they do not return. That is my limitless abode.

In the world of living beings, a part of me alone exists as the jiva which is eternal and when one who rules (the body) departs, he draws to himself the five senses and the mind, the sixth, obtaining in the body...

...When he obtains a new body, he goes, taking these (sense organs and the mind) with him just as the wind (would carry) the fragrance from their sources (the flowers).

Presiding over the ear, the eye, the senses of touch, taste, and smell, and the mind, this person (jiva) experiences the sense objects.

The deluded do not see the one who is departing (from the body) or even remaining (in the body), experiencing or endowed with gunas. Those who have the eyes of wisdom, see.

The yogis, who are making the effort, see this self-obtaining in the buddhi. Those whose minds are not mature and who do not have viveka, do not see this (atman) even if they are making effort.

May you know that the brilliance that obtains in the sun and illumines the entire world, that which is in the moon, and which is in the fire, belongs to me.

Having entered the earth, I sustain the beings with strength, and I nourish all the vegetation, having become soma in the form of (their) essence.

Having become the digestive fire obtaining in the bodies of living beings, endowed with prana and apana, I digest the four-fold food.

I have entered the hearts of all. From me (have come) memory, knowledge, and forgetfulness. I alone am the one to be known by all the Vedas and I alone am the author of the Vedanta (vedanta-sampradaya) and indeed the knower of the Vedas.

These two persons, the perishable and the imperishable, (exist) in the world. All beings and elements are called the perishable, the changeless (is called) the imperishable.

But the other superior person is called the paramatma, limitless self, the changeless Lord who, having entered the three worlds, sustains (them).

Because I am beyond the perishable and above the imperishable too; therefore, in the world and in the Veda, I am renowned as Purushottama.

The one who is not deluded, who knows me in this way, he, (becoming) the knower of (that which is) all, gains me as the self of all, Bharata!

Bharata! Anagha! This most profound teaching has thus been said by me. Knowing this, a person becomes (wise), one who has buddhi; and who has accomplished all that has to be accomplished (krita-kritya).

Shri Bhagavan said

Bharata! Freedom from fear, purity of mind, steadiness in contemplation, charity, judicious restraint (of sense organs), performing rituals, recitation of one’s own branch of Veda, religious discipline (austerity), alignment of thought, word, and deed…

...absence of hurting, truthfulness, resolution of anger, renunciation, resolution of the mind, absence of calumny, compassion for living beings, absence of ardent longing, softness, modesty, absence of physical agitation…

...brilliance, composure, fortitude, cleanliness, no thought of hurting, and no exaggerated self-opinion - all these are there for the one who is born to the wealth of devas (daivim sampadam).

Partha! The one who is born to the wealth of an asura, has hypocrisy with reference to dharma, pride, a tendency to demand respect, anger, harshness, and indeed, a lack of discrimination.

Spiritual wealth is considered (to be) for freedom, (the wealth) of an asura, for bondage. Pandava! Do not grieve. You are born to the spiritual wealth.

In this world, there are two (types of) created beings, the divine, and the adharmic. The divine have been extensively spoken of. Listen to me, Partha! about the characteristics belonging to the asuras.

People who have qualities belonging to the asuras do not know what is to be done and what is to be withdrawn from. There is neither inner cleanliness nor proper conduct, nor truthfulness in them.

They say, this world (of people) is untruthful, without (an ethical) basis, godless, and is born to the union of male and female, is driven by passion and nothing else.

Having recourse to this view, (these) enemies of the world whose minds are destroyed, who are of meagre thinking and cruel actions, are there very much for the destruction of the world.

Resorting to desire that is difficult to fulfill, those who are riddled with pretension, demand for respect, and pride, whose pursuits are unbecoming, having adopted false purposes due to delusion, engage themselves (in various actions).

Those committed to immeasurable concern until death, intent upon enjoyment of objects of desire, having concluded, ‘it (life) is this much alone’...

...committed to desire and anger, and bound by hundreds of fetters of hope, engage themselves in the illegitimate accumulation of wealth for the enjoyment of objects of desire.

Today, this is gained by me. I will gain this (also) which is pleasing to the mind. This (much) wealth I have; this wealth also I will have later. (So they think.)

This enemy is destroyed by me and I will destroy others also; I am the ruler; I am the enjoyer; I am successful, powerful, and happy.

Those who are totally deluded due to lack of discrimination say, ‘I have wealth. I was born in a very good family. Who else is there who is equal to me? I will perform rituals. I will give. I will enjoy.’

Those who are completely deluded by many types of thoughts, covered by the net of delusion (lack of discrimination), and totally committed to the enjoyment of desirable objects, (they) fall into the unclean places of pain.

Those who are self-glorifying, vain (conceited), filled with pride and arrogance because of their wealth, perform rituals that are rituals in name only, not according to stipulations (but) out of pretension.

Those who are completely given to egoism, (brute) strength, insolence, enjoyment, and anger, who despise in their own and others’ bodies, who are great cavillers…

...who are hateful and cruel, who are the lowest of men, who are wrongdoers, I dispatch them repeatedly into a life of transmigration only in asuri wombs.

Kaunteya! Those, who lack discrimination, obtaining the womb of an asura in every birth, certainly not reaching me, go to an end that is even lower than that.

This doorway to painful experience, that destroys a person, is three-fold - desire, anger, and greed. Therefore, one should give up this triad.

A man who is free from these three gates to darkness. Kaunteya! follows what is good for himself. Because of that he reaches the higher end.

The one who, being impelled by binding desire, engages oneself casting away the injunctions of the shastra, gains neither maturity, nor happiness (here), much less a higher end.

Therefore, shastra is the means of knowledge for you (Arjuna) in the determination of what is to be done and what is not to be done. Knowing what is said by the mandates of the shastra, you are obliged to perform action here (in this world).

Arjuna said

Krishna! Those who perform a ritual giving up what is stipulated by the shastra, but endowed with shraddha, what is their basis? Is it sattva or rajas or tamas?

Shri Bhagavan said

The shraddha of the embodied beings is born of the nature of the mind. It is three-fold as sattvika, rajasika, or tamasika. Listen to that (three-fold shraddha).

Bharata! Shraddha of everyone is in keeping with his mind. This person is permeated by shraddha. Whatever is his shradha, he conforms to that shraddha.

The sattvika people worship the devas; the rajasika (people) worship the yaksha-rakshas, and the others, tamasika (people) worship ghosts and bhuta-ganas.

Those people who are riddles with pretension and egoity, who lack in discrimination, endowed with strong passion and longing who perform terrible religious discipline not enjoined by the shastra...

...emaciating the sense organs obtaining in the body, and me as well, who obtains within the body - may you know them (to be) of asura conviction.

And, for everyone, the food that is liked also is three-fold, so too, are ritual, religious discipline, and charity. Listen to this difference of theirs.

Succulent, creamy, fortifying and pleasing foods, which increase longevity, mental clarity, strength, health, pleasure in taste and aesthetic pleasure, are the foods loved by the sattvika people.

Foods that are bitter, sour, salty, excessively hot, pungent, astringent, and causing inflammation, that give pain, sorrow and ill-health are highly desired by rajasika people.

Food which is stale or inadequately cooked, from which the essence has gone, which is putrid, overnight, refuse, and also unfit as an offering, is beloved to a tamasika person.

That ritual, which is known through the shastra, which is performed by those who do not expect a result (other than antah-karana-shuddhi), by making up the mind, ‘This ritual is just to be performed’, is sattvika.

On the other hand, may you know that ritual which is performed keeping a result in view, and also just to proclaim one’s own religiosity, is rajasika, Bharat-shreshtha!

They say that a ritual, which is bereft of the stipulations of shastra, without distribution of food, without proper recitation of mantras, without distribution of wealth and without shraddha, is tamasika.

Worshiping deities, brahmanas, teachers and wise people, external cleanliness, straightforwardness, self-discipline, and not physically hurting are (collectively) called discipline of the physical body (shariram tapas).

Speech, which does not cause agitation, which is true, pleasing and beneficial, and daily repetition of one’s own Veda, are (collectively) called discipline of speech (vanmayam tapas).

Mental cheerfulness, cheerfulness in expression, absence of pressure to talk, mastery over the mind, clean intent - this (these together) is called mental discipline (manasam tapas).

That three-fold tapas, observed with total shraddha by people who have no expectation of results (other than mental purity) and who are composed, is called sattvika.

That tapas, which is done for the sake of (receiving) honor, respect, and worship, and with ostentation, which is unsteady and not lasting, is called here rajasika.

That tapas, which is done due to deluded understanding, by afflicting one’s body or for the sake of destroying another, is called tamasika.

That charity, which is given to one from whom one does not expect a return, in the proper place, at the proper time, and to a worthy recipient, thinking, ‘it has to be given’, is considered sattvika charity.

On the other hand, that charity, which is given for the sake of being helped in return, or keeping in view a result (punya) to be gained later, and that which is fraught with pain, is considered rajasika.

That charity, which is given without respect (improperly), and contemptuously, at the wrong place and wrong time, and to unworthy recipients, is called tamasika.

‘Om tat sat’, is the three-fold expression of Brahman. By that the brahmanas, the four Vedas, and the rituals were created in the beginning.

Therefore, for those who know the Vedas, the activities such as rituals, charities, and religious disciplines, mentioned by injunctions (of the Veda), always commence after uttering ‘Om’.

Saying ‘tat’, various activities (such as), rituals and religious disciplines and charities are performed by those who want moksha, without expecting a result (other than antah-karana-shuddhi).

The word ‘sat’ is used with reference to bringing (something) into existence and (with reference to) a righteous life; so too, Partha! the word ‘sat’ is used for a sanctifying karma.

A commitment with reference to a ritual, a religious discipline, and giving is called ‘sat’, and a karma for their sake (or for the sake of Ishvara) is also called ‘sat’.

That which is, without shraddha, offered (in a religious ritual), given (as charity), performed in a religious discipline, and that (karma) which is done, is called asat, that which does not serve its purpose, Partha! That is not (fruitful) after death and indeed not here.

Arjuna said

Hrishikesha! Keshi-nishudana (the slayer of Keshi)! Mahabaho! I want to know distinctly the truth of sannyasa and tyaga.

Shri Bhagavan said

The wise know sannyasa as renunciation of actions for desired objects; the learned people say the renunciation of results of all actions is tyaga.

Some wise men say that action, which is inherently defective, is to be given up, and others say that an action, which is ritual, charity, or religious discipline should not be given up.

Bharata-sattama (the most mature among the Bharata family)! Purusha-vyaghra (the tiger among men)! Listen to my ascertained opinion about this renunciation. Renunciation is well stated as three-fold.

An action which is a ritual, charity, or religious discipline is not to be given up; that is indeed to be done. Ritual, charity, and religious discipline are indeed purifying for those who are discriminative.

Even these actions are to be done giving up the attachment and giving up the results. This is my clear, proper vision, Partha!

Renunciation of enjoined action is not proper. Renunciation of it (enjoined action), out of delusion, is called tamasika.

One may give up the karma as indeed painful out of fear of affliction to one’s physical body. Having done that rajasika renunciation, one would certainly not gain the result of renunciation.

‘It is to be done’, thinking thus when enjoined karma is done, giving up attachment and result, Arjuna! it is considered to be a sattvika renunciation.

The renunciate (of the results of actions), (being) the one who is endowed with a pure mind, (thereafter being) the one who has discriminative knowledge and whose doubts are gone, does not despise unpleasant (to be done) karma, nor does he cling to auspicious karma.

Indeed actions cannot be given up completely by the one who sustains a body; but the one who is a renunciate of the actions is called a tyagi.

The three-fold result of action - undesirable, desirable and a mixture - exists after death for the non-renunciates, but never for the renunciates.

Understand from me, Mahabaho! these five causes for the accomplishment of all karmas are told in the shastra at the end of the Veda (that is, Vedanta) which is the point of culmination of all karma.

(They are) the physical body, the agent, the manifold means (of action), the distinct and diverse activities (of the pranas), and indeed, daiva (the presiding deities) is the fifth here.

That karma, whether proper or the opposite (improper), which a man undertakes with body, speech or mind, has these five causes.

When this is so, the one who sees, on the other hand, the self, which is ‘pure’, as the agent, because of an immature mind, that person whose thinking is distorted does not see (the truth).

The one who has no doership, the one whose mind is not affected, he, even killing these people, does not kill, nor is he bound.

Knowledge (the thought corresponding to an object), the object of knowledge, (and) the knower are the three-fold impellers of action. The means of doing (instrument), the object of the action, and the agent are three-fold constituents of action.

Knowledge, action and agent are only three-fold according to the differences in guna, it is said in the shastra dealing with the enumeration of the gunas. Listen to those also just as it is (unfolded).

Know that to be sattvika knowledge by which one knows one changeless existence in all things (and beings) and the undivided among the divided.

On the other hand, may you the knowledge by which one knows distinctly the manifold nature of different kinds of beings, as rajasa.

Whereas that (knowledge by) which (one is) committed to one object, as though it is everything (and) which is illogical, without truth, and very limited, that (knowledge) is called tamasa.

That action, which is enjoined and which is done without attachment, without being impelled by likes and dislikes, by a person without a (binding) desire for result, is called sattvika.

But that karma which is done by one who has a (pronounced) desire for the result or again with arrogance (and) a lot of exertion is called rajasa.

That action, which is begun not taking into account the natural consequence, loss, injury (to others), and one’s own capacity because of delusion is called tamasa.

The one who is free from attachment, who has no egotism, who is endowed with resolve and enthusiasm and is unperturbed in success and failure, is called a sattvika doer.

One who has a predominance of raga and a predominant desire for the result of action, who is greedy, whose nature is to hurt, who is not clean and who is subject to elation and depression is called a rajasa doer.

The one who is disturbed, immature, irreverent, deceptive, cruel, lazy, given to sadness, and a procrastinator is called a tamasa doer.

Dhananjaya! Please listen to the three-fold difference of the mind and of the resolve, according to guna, that is being told completely and severally.

The mind which knows the pursuit of karma and renunciation, what is to be done and what is not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, and bondage and freedom, that (mind), Partha! is sattviki.

That mind, with which one wrongly knows what is proper and improper, what is to be done and what is not to be done, Partha! is rajasi.

That mind, which covered with ignorance considers what is improper as proper, and all things the reverse (of what they are), that (mind), Partha! is tamasi.

The unflinching resolve, with which one sustains, by practice, the activities of the mind, prana, and organs of action and knowledge, (that resolve) is sattviki, Partha!

Whereas the resolve, with which the one who has the longing for result as the occasion arises, sustains (activities for) religious merit, pleasure, and security, (that resolve) is rajasi, Partha!

The resolve, by which the one whose thinking is improper, does not give up (excess) sleep, fear, sorrow, depression and intoxication, is tamasi, Partha!

Listen to me now, Bharatarshabha! about the three-fold happiness. That in which one discovers joy by repeated practice (of meditation) and gains the end of sorrow…

...which in the beginning is like poison (and) when there is transformation, is like nectar, that happiness is called sattvika, born of the clarity of self-knowledge.

That happiness (arising) from the contact of a sense organ with its object, which in the beginning is like nectar and when it changes is like poison, is considered rajasa.

That happiness, which in the beginning and at the end is self-deluding, (and) born of sleep, laziness, and indifference, is called tamasa.

There is no existent being either on the earth or, furthermore, in heaven among the gods, who is free from three gunas born of prakriti (nature).

The duties of the brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudra, Parantapa! are divided according to the qualities born of svabhava (Ishvara’s maya, one’s nature and one’s karma).

Composure, restraint, religious discipline, (inner and external) cleanliness, accommodation, rectitude, knowledge, assimilated knowledge, and accepting the veracity of the Vedas, are (collectively) the duties, born of nature, of a brahmana.

Valor, self-confidence, resolve, adroitness, not running (away) from conflict, giving, and overlordship (leadership) are the naturally born duties and disposition of a kshatriya.

Agriculture, tending cattle, and commerce are the natural duties of a vaishya. The natural duty of a shudra is the form of service.

A man who delights in his own duty gains success. Listen to how one devoted to his own duty, finds success.

Through one’s duty, worshiping him from whom is the creation of the beings, by whom all this is pervaded, a human being gains success.

One’s own duty, devoid of merit, is better than the duty of another, well done. Doing action enjoined according to one’s nature, one does not gain any blemish.

The karma that is natural (according to one’s birth), Kaunteya! though defective, one should not give up, because all undertaking are covered with fault, like fire (is covered) with smoke.

The one whose mind is free from attachment everywhere, who has self-mastery, and from whom longing has gone, gains the most exalted accomplishment of actionlessness by renunciation.

Learn from me in brief, Kaunteya! How the one who has gained the accomplishment (of antah-karana-shuddhi) gains the ultimate certainty of the knowledge that is Brahman.

The one who is endowed with a mind that is very clear, mastering the body-mind-sense complex with a firm resolve, giving up the sense objects such as sound, etc., and giving up likes and dislikes…

...who lives in a quiet place, who eats lightly, whose speech, body and mind are mastered, who is always committed to contemplation, who has completely resorted to freedom from longing…

...giving up misplaced ‘I sense’, power, vanity, binding desire, anger, ownership (of external things), the one who has no sense of ownership (of his own body, etc.), and who is tranquil, is fit to gain abidance in the knowledge of Brahman being oneself.

The one who has become Brahman (has recognized oneself as Brahman) (Brahmabhutah), whose mind is cheerful, does not grieve or long for anything. That person for whom all beings are the same (as himself) gains the highest devotion to me.

By bhakti (knowledge), he knows me properly as to how much I am and who I am in reality. Thereafter, knowing me in reality, he enters (me) soon after that (knowing).

The one who is always doing all (proper) actions, whose basis (for all actions and results) is myself, gains the end, which is eternal and imperishable, because of my grace.

18.57: Being one whose (only) end is myself, mentally renouncing all actions unto me, resorting to a life of karma-yoga, may you become one whose mind is always in me.

Being one whose mind is always in me, you will cross all difficulties because of my grace. If, because of egotism, you do not listen (to me), you will perish.

Resorting to egotism, you think, ‘I will not fight’. This resolve of yours is false. Your disposition will impel you.

Kaunteya! Out of delusion, being definitely bound by your own action, which is born of your natural disposition, you will helplessly do just what you do not wish to do.

The lord remains at the seat of the intellect of all beings, Arjuna! causing all beings to move (revolve), by (the magic of his) maya, (like) those (figures) which are mounted on a machine (are made to revolve).

Surrender to him alone with your whole heart, Bharata! By his grace you will gain absolute peace, the eternal abode.

Thus, the knowledge that is more secret than any secret was told by me to you. Considering this thoroughly, you may do just as you wish.

Again, listen to my ultimate statement, which is the most secret of all. You are definitely beloved to me, therefore, I will tell you, what is good.

Become one whose mind is offered to me, one whose devotion is to me, one whose worship is to me; do salutations to me. You will reach me alone. I truly promise you. (Because) you are dear to me.

Giving up all karmas, take refuge in me alone. I will release you from all karmas; do not grieve.

This (teaching which has been taught) to you is never to be taught to the one who has no religious discipline, nor to the one who has no devotion, nor to the one who is not willing to listen, nor to the one who finds fault with me (where there is none).

The one who teaches this most exalted secret (shastra) to my devotees, having the highest devotion for me, will come to me alone. There is no doubt.

And there is no one other than him who is the best among men who do what is dear to me, and there will not be another dearer to me on the earth than he.

The one who studies or recites this dialog of ours, that is unopposed to dharma, through that ritual in the form of knowledge, I would be worshiped. This is my conclusion.

The person who has trust (in this shastra), and who does not find fault with (this shastra), even if he merely listens (to this teaching), he also, being freed (from the body), would gain the auspicious worlds of those who do good karmas.

Has this been ‘listened to’ by you, Partha! with a single pointed mind? is your delusion that is caused by ignorance destroyed, Dhananjaya?

Arjuna said

By your grace, (my) delusion is gone; and I have gained recognition (of myself). O Lord Achyuta! I remain as one from whom all doubts have gone. I will do what you say.

Sanjaya said

Thus I have heard the dialog between Krishna and Arjuna, of great mind and heart, which is wonderful and makes one’s hair stand on end.

By the grace of Vyasa, I have listened to this secret and ultimate yoga from Krishna, yogeshvara (the lord of yoga), directly teaching (it) himself.

Rajan! Repeatedly recalling this wondrous, auspicious, dialog between Krishna and Arjuna, I rejoice again and again.

Further, repeatedly recalling that most wondrous form of the Lord Hari, I have great amazement, Rajan! and I rejoice again and again.

Wherever there is Krishna, yogeshvara, wherever there is Partha, dhanurdhara, there wealth, victory and various riches, and definite justice is present. This is my conclusion.