The Bhagavad Gita

by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

If a person establishes an ever-present awareness of the core of divinity within himself, how does it affect the way he lives?

This is the mystics’ supreme goal: knowing their real nature, they know their own immortality and realize their union with eternal Being.

The impermanent has no reality; reality lies in the eternal.

Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.

You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction.

When you keep thinking about sense objects, attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, the lust of possession that burns to anger.

Only when he is free from every bond of karma – every consequence of past action – can he achieve life’s ultimate goal.

We must act in a selfless spirit, Krishna says, without ego-involvement and without getting entangled in whether things work out the way we want;

We cannot hope to escape karma by refraining from our duties: even to survive in the world, we must act.

“Through selfless service, you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires”: this is the promise of the Creator.

Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life.