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Knowledge and the Renunciation of Action · 42 verses
Ask Krishna about this chapterLord Shri Krishna said: I taught this imperishable philosophy to Vivaswān, the founder of the Sun dynasty; Vivaswān gave it to Manu, the lawgiver, and Manu to King…
Thus received through an unbroken succession, the royal sages knew this yoga. But over a great passage of time, this yoga has been lost in this world, O Parantapa.
It is the same ancient path that I have now revealed to you, for you are my devotee and my friend. It is the supreme secret.
Arjuna said: Your birth was later, while the birth of Vivasvan was earlier. How am I to understand that You taught this in the beginning?
The Blessed Lord said: Many births of Mine have passed, and of yours as well, O Arjuna. I know them all, but you do not know them, O scorcher of foes.
Though I am unborn, though my nature is imperishable, and though I am the Lord of all beings, I manifest Myself by My own Maya, presiding over My own Prakriti.
Whenever there is a decline of righteousness and a rise of unrighteousness, O Bharata, then I manifest Myself.
For the protection of the righteous, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the reestablishment of dharma, I manifest age after age.
He who realizes the divine truth concerning My birth and life does not take birth again; and when he leaves his body, he becomes one with Me.
Freed from attachment, fear, and anger, wholly absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, and purified by the austerity of knowledge, many have attained My state of being.
In whatever way people approach Me, in that very same way do I reciprocate with them; it is My path that all human beings follow in every way, O Partha.
Desiring success in their actions, they worship the gods in this world; for in the human world, success born of action comes quickly.
The four categories of society were created by Me according to the division of qualities and actions. Though I am the creator of this system, know Me to be the non-doer…
My actions do not bind Me, nor do I desire anything that they can bring. He who thus realizes Me is not enslaved by action.
In the light of wisdom, our ancestors who sought deliverance performed their acts. Act thou also as our fathers of old did.
What is action and what is inaction? This is a question that has bewildered the wise. But I will declare to you the philosophy of action, and knowing it, you will be…
It is necessary to consider what is right action, what is wrong action, and what is inaction, for the law of action is mysterious.
He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction — he is the wise one among men; he is a yogi and the performer of all actions.
The wise call him a sage, for whatever he undertakes is free from the motive of desire, and his deeds are purified by the fire of wisdom.
Having surrendered all claim to the results of his actions, he is always contented and independent; in reality, he does nothing, even though he appears to be acting.
Expecting nothing, his mind and personality controlled, without greed, doing only bodily actions; though he acts, he remains untainted.
Content with what comes to him without any effort of his own, rising above the pairs of opposites, free from envy, his mind balanced in both success and failure; though…
He who is without attachment, free, his mind centered in wisdom, and his actions done as a sacrifice, leave no trace behind.
The ladle is Brahman, the oblation is Brahman, offered by Brahman into the fire of Brahman; Brahman alone is to be reached by one who is absorbed in seeing Brahman in…
Some yogis devote themselves to sacrifice directed to the gods alone, while others offer sacrifice by sacrifice itself into the fire of Brahman.
Some sacrifice their physical senses in the fire of self-control; others offer up their contact with external objects in the sacrificial fire of their senses.
Others offer all the functions of the senses and the functions of the life breath into the fire of the yoga of self-restraint, kindled by knowledge.
Some offer material possessions as sacrifice, some offer austerity as sacrifice, and some offer yoga as sacrifice; while others, ascetics of strict vows, offer the…
Others offer the outgoing breath into the incoming breath, and the incoming breath into the outgoing breath, while still others, restraining the movements of both the…
Others, having regulated their food, offer the life-breaths into the life-breaths. All these are knowers of sacrifice, whose sins have been destroyed by sacrifice.
Those who partake of the nectarean remnants of sacrifice attain the eternal Brahman. Even this world is not for one who performs no sacrifice — how then the other, O…
Thus, many kinds of sacrifices are spread forth at the mouth of Brahman. Know them all to be born of action; knowing thus, you shall be liberated.
The sacrifice of wisdom is superior to any material sacrifice, for, O Arjuna, the pinnacle of action is always realization.
This you shall learn by prostrating yourself at the master's feet, questioning them, and serving them. The wise who have realized the truth will teach you wisdom.
Knowing which, O Pandava, you shall never again fall into such delusion, and by which you shall see all beings without exception in the Self and also in Me.
Even if you are the greatest of sinners, you will cross over all sin by the ferryboat of wisdom.
Just as a blazing fire reduces firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all actions to ashes.
There is nothing in the world so purifying as wisdom; and he who is a perfect saint finds that at last within himself.
He who is full of faith attains wisdom, and he who can control his senses, having attained that wisdom, will soon attain Supreme Peace.
But the ignorant man, and he who has no faith, and the skeptic are lost. Neither in this world nor elsewhere is there any happiness in store for him who always doubts.
But the one who has renounced their actions for meditation, who has cleaved their doubts in two by the sword of wisdom, and who remains always enthroned in their Self,…
Therefore, cutting asunder with the sword of knowledge this doubt of the self, born of ignorance and dwelling in the heart, take refuge in Yoga and arise, O Bharata.