The Bhagavad Gita

by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

Use all your power to free the senses from attachment and aversion alike, and live in the full wisdom of the Self. 69 Such a sage awakes to light in the night of all creatures. That which the world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.

Krishna replies that anger and selfish desire are our greatest enemies. They are the destructive powers that can compel us to wander away from our purpose, to end up in self-delusion and despair.

Selfish action imprisons the world. Act selflessly, without any thought of personal profit.

The spiritually minded, who eat in the spirit of service, are freed from all their sins; but the selfish, who prepare food for their own satisfaction, eat sin. 14

What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. The standards such people create will be followed by the whole world. 22

Now he reveals that wisdom is the goal of selfless action: knowing is the fruit of doing.

The wise see that there is action in the midst of inaction and inaction in the midst of action. Their consciousness is unified, and every act is done with complete awareness.

The offering of wisdom is better than any material offering, Arjuna; for the goal of all work is spiritual wisdom.

Even if you were the most sinful of sinners, Arjuna, you could cross beyond all sin by the raft of spiritual wisdom. 37 As the heat of a fire reduces wood to ashes, the fire of knowledge burns to ashes all karma.

Those who take wisdom as their highest goal, whose faith is deep and whose senses are trained, attain wisdom quickly and enter into perfect peace. 40 But the ignorant, indecisive and lacking in faith, waste their lives. They can never be happy in this world or any other.

Pleasures conceived in the world of the senses have a beginning and an end and give birth to misery, Arjuna. The wise do not look for happiness in them.

The mind is so powerful, so turbulent, that trying to bring it under control is like trying to catch the wind.

For aspirants who want to climb the mountain of spiritual awareness, the path is selfless work; for those who have ascended to yoga the path is stillness and peace.

When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were his own, he has attained the highest state of spiritual union.

Ramakrishna takes vijnana to mean an intimate, practical familiarity with God, the ability to carry through in daily affairs with the more abstract understanding that is jnana.

Arjuna, I am the taste of pure water and the radiance of the sun and moon. I am the sacred word and the sound heard in air, and the courage of human beings. 9 I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the radiance of fire; I am the life in every creature and the striving of the spiritual aspirant.

All those who follow the spiritual path are blessed. But the wise who are always established in union, for whom there is no higher goal than me, may be regarded as my very Self.

After many births the wise seek refuge in me, seeing me everywhere and in everything. Such great souls are very rare.

Few see through the veil of maya. The world, deluded, does not know that I am without birth and changeless. 26 I know everything about the past, the present, and the future, Arjuna; but there is no one who knows me completely.

A hundred and one subtle tracks lead from the heart; One of these goes upwards to the crown of the head. Going up by it, he goes to eternal life. Others depart in various directions.

Then, for a Night as long as the cosmic Day, the universe rests. It ceases to be – or, rather, it continues only in a subtle, unmanifest form, a dream in the mind of Vishnu, who lies sleeping on the waves of the cosmic ocean. Then, without deviating from the eternal rhythm, the cosmos is reborn when the Night is over. The new universe dawns, and Brahma once again moves into his active, creative Day.

The six months of the northern path of the sun, the path of light, of fire, of day, of the bright fortnight, leads knowers of Brahman to the supreme goal. 25 The six months of the southern path of the sun, the path of smoke, of night, of the dark fortnight, leads other souls to the light of the moon and to rebirth.

The purpose of life is to realize God, and until this is done, the soul cannot escape creating more karma which has to be worked out, however many lives it might take. The choice to turn toward Self-realization is always open.

In particular, to have real, selfless love, regardless of the object, is to love Krishna, the ultimate good. This kind of love, called bhakti, is far more potent than observances and rituals – a point the Gita is slowly revealing. But to have this devotion without understanding Krishna’s nature is not enough. In the end, to attain his goal, Arjuna must have devotion and understand it is Krishna’s universal aspect that he loves. Then he will truly attain the eternal, immortal state.

The one message is: anyone who has real love, love for the Lord of Love who is in all creatures, will in the end attain the goal. This is the royal secret that Krishna had promised to reveal. –D.M.

The immature do not look beyond physical appearances to see my true nature as the Lord of all creation. 12 The knowledge of such deluded people is empty; their lives are fraught with disaster and evil, and their work and hopes are all in vain.

But truly great souls seek my divine nature. They worship me with a one-pointed mind, having realized that I am the eternal source of all. 14 Constantly striving, they make firm their resolve and worship me without wavering. Full of devotion, they sing of my divine glory.

18 I am the goal of life, the Lord and support of all, the inner witness, the abode of all. I am the only refuge, the one true friend; I am the beginning, the staying, and the end of creation; I am the womb and the eternal seed.

26 Whatever I am offered in devotion with a pure heart – a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water – I accept with joy. 27 Whatever you do, make it an offering to me – the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering. 28 In this way you will be freed from the bondage of karma, and from its results both pleasant and painful. Then, firm in renunciation and yoga, with your heart free, you will come to me.

29 I look upon all creatures equally; none are less dear to me and none more dear. But those who worship me with love live in me, and I come to life in them.

Fill your mind with me; love me; serve me; worship me always. Seeking me in your heart, you will at last be united with me.

I am the source from which all creatures evolve. The wise remember this and worship me with loving devotion. 9 Their thoughts are all absorbed in me, and all their vitality flows to me. Teaching one another, talking about me always, they are happy and fulfilled.

To those steadfast in love and devotion I give spiritual wisdom, so that they may come to me. 11 Out of compassion I destroy the darkness of their ignorance. From within them I light the lamp of wisdom and dispel all darkness from their lives.

I am the scepter which metes out punishment, and the art of statesmanship in those who lead. I am the silence of the unknown and the wisdom of the wise.

Patanjali speaks of many different kinds of samadhi, but for practical purposes we may speak of two: savikalpa and nirvikalpa. Arjuna’s vision begins with savikalpa samadhi, in which he sees God in a personal manifestation. Then, as he passes into nirvikalpa samadhi, Arjuna sees all forms disappearing into God, until only a supernatural fire consuming the entire phenomenal world is left.

Those who make me the supreme goal of all their work and act without selfish attachment, who devote themselves to me completely and are free from ill will for any creature, enter into me.

The Upanishads, the final word on mystic experience uttered by the Vedas, stressed the ultimate reality, the eternal truth behind the ephemeral things of this world. The teachers of the Upanishads told their students to seek knowledge of the Atman, their true Self. The consummation of this knowledge was to know that the Self within was one with Brahman, the ultimate reality pervading all things. This was encapsulated in the statement Tat tvam asi, “You are that” – that imperishable being, that immortal Reality. Brahman, the nameless, formless Godhead, could be known only in the superconscious state.

The Cloud of Unknowing states that love is the sure, safe path to God: “By love He can be gotten and holden, by thought never.”

As for those who seek the transcendental Reality, without name, without form, contemplating the Unmanifested, beyond the reach of thought and of feeling, 4 with their senses subdued and mind serene and striving for the good of all beings, they too will verily come unto me.

Still your mind in me, still your intellect in me, and without doubt you will be united with me forever. 9 If you cannot still your mind in me, learn to do so through the regular practice of meditation. 10 If you lack the will for such self-discipline, engage yourself in my work, for selfless service can lead you at last to complete fulfillment. 11 If you are unable to do even this, surrender yourself to me, disciplining yourself and renouncing the results of all your actions.

Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.

That one is dear to me who runs not after the pleasant or away from the painful, grieves not, lusts not, but lets things come and go as they happen.

Their devotion to me is undivided. Enjoying solitude and not following the crowd, they seek only me. 11 This is true knowledge, to seek the Self as the true end of wisdom always. To seek anything else is ignorance.

As akasha pervades the cosmos but remains unstained, the Self can never be tainted though it dwells in every creature.

this highest aspect Krishna is Ishvara, the cosmic Lord, who abides in his own mystery.

The brightness of the sun, which lights up the world, the brightness of the moon and of fire – these are my glory.

Entering into every heart, I give the power to remember and understand; it is I again who take that power away. All the scriptures lead to me; I am their author and their wisdom.

Lust, anger, and greed are the three doors to hell that Arjuna must at all costs not enter.

Be fearless and pure; never waver in your determination or your dedication to the spiritual life. Give freely. Be self-controlled, sincere, truthful, loving, and full of the desire to serve. Realize the truth of the scriptures; learn to be detached and to take joy in renunciation. 2 Do not get angry or harm any living creature, but be compassionate and gentle; show good will to all. 3 Cultivate vigor, patience, will, purity; avoid malice and pride. Then, Arjuna, you will achieve your divine destiny.

The demonic do things they should avoid and avoid the things they should do. They have no sense of uprightness, purity, or truth.