Bhagavad Gita
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Bhagavad Gita

Edwin Arnold tr. 

 CHAPTER I

 Of the Distress of Arjuna

  Dhritirashtra. Ranged thus for battle on the sacred plain- 

On Kurukshetra- say, Sanjaya! say 

What wrought my people, and the Pandavas? 

Sanjaya. When he beheld the host of Pandavas, 

Raja Duryodhana to Drona drew, 

And spake these words: "Ah, Guru! see this line, 

How vast it is of Pandu fighting-men, 

Embattled by the son of Drupada, 

Thy scholar in the war! Therein stand ranked 

Chiefs like Arjuna, like to Bhima chiefs, 

Benders of bows; Virata, Yuyudhan, 

Drupada, eminent upon his car, 

Dhrishtaket, Chekitan, Kasi's stout lord, 

Purujit, Kuntibhoj, and Saivya, 

With Yudhamanyu, and Uttamauj 

Subhadra's child; and Drupadi's;- all famed! 

All mounted on their shining chariots! 

On our side, too,- thou best of Brahmans! see 

Excellent chiefs, commanders of my line, 

Whose names I joy to count: thyself the first, 

Then Bhishma, Karna, Kripa fierce in fight, 

Vikarna, Aswatthaman; next to these 

Strong Saumadatti, with full many more 

Valiant and tried, ready this day to die 

For me their king, each with his weapon grasped, 

Each skilful in the field. Weakest- meseems- 

Our battle shows where Bhishma holds command, 

And Bhima, fronting him, something too strong! 

Have care our captains nigh to Bhishma's ranks 

Prepare what help they may! Now, blow my shell!" 

  Then, at the signal of the aged king, 

With blare to wake the blood, rolling around 

Like to a lion's roar, the trumpeter 

Blew the great Conch; and, at the noise of it, 

Trumpets and drums, cymbals and gongs and horns 

Burst into sudden clamour; as the blasts 

Of loosened tempest, such the tumult seemed! 

Then might be seen, upon their car of gold 

Yoked with white steeds, blowing their battle-shells, 

Krishna the God, Arjuna at his side: 

Krishna, with knotted locks, blew his great conch 

Carved of the "Giant's bone;" Arjuna blew 

Indra's loud gift; Bhima the terrible- 

Wolf-bellied Bhima- blew a long reed-conch; 

And Yudhisthira, Kunti's blameless son, 

Winded a mighty shell, "Victory's Voice;" 

And Nakula blew shrill upon his conch 

Named the "Sweet-sounding," Sahadev on his 

Called "Gem-bedecked," and Kasi's Prince on his. 

Sikhandi on his car, Dhrishtadyumn, 

Virata, Satyaki the Unsubdued, 

Drupada, with his sons, (O Lord of Earth!) 

Long-armed Subhadra's children, all blew loud, 

So that the clangour shook their foemen's hearts, 

With quaking earth and thundering heav'n. 

Then 'twas- 

Beholding Dhritirashtra's battle set, 

Weapons unsheathing, bows drawn forth, the war 

Instant to break- Arjun, whose ensign-badge 

Was Hanuman the monkey, spake this thing 

To Krishna the Divine, his charioteer: 

"Drive, Dauntless One! to yonder open ground 

Betwixt the armies; I would see more nigh 

These who will fight with us, those we must slay 

To-day, in war's arbitrament; for, sure, 

On bloodshed all are bent who throng this plain, 

Obeying Dhritirashtra's sinful son." 

  Thus, by Arjuna prayed, (O Bharata!) 

Between the hosts that heavenly Charioteer 

Drove the bright car, reining its milk-white steeds 

Where Bhishma led, and Drona, and their Lords. 

"See!" spake he to Arjuna, "where they stand, 

Thy kindred of the Kurus:" and the Prince 

Marked on each hand the kinsmen of his house, 

Grandsires and sires, uncles and brothers and sons, 

Cousins and sons-in-law and nephews, mixed 

With friends and honoured elders; some this side, 

Some that side ranged: and, seeing those opposed, 

Such kith grown enemies- Arjuna's heart 

Melted with pity, while he uttered this: 

Arjuna. Krishna! as I behold, come here to shed 

Their common blood, yon concourse of our kin, 

My members fail, my tongue dries in my mouth, 

A shudder thrills my body, and my hair 

Bristles with horror; from my weak hand slips 

Gandiv, the goodly bow; a fever burns 

My skin to parching; hardly may I stand; 

The life within me seems to swim and faint; 

Nothing do I foresee save woe and wail! 

It is not good, O Keshav! nought of good 

Can spring from mutual slaughter! Lo, I hate 

Triumph and domination, wealth and ease, 

Thus sadly won! Aho! what victory 

Can bring delight, Govinda! what rich spoils 

Could profit; what rule recompense; what span 

Of life itself seem sweet, bought with such blood? 

Seeing that these stand here, ready to die, 

For whose sake life was fair, and pleasure pleased, 

And power grew precious:- grandsires, sires, and sons, 

Brothers, and fathers-in-law, and sons-in-law, 

Elders and friends! Shall I deal death on these 

Even though they seek to slay us? Not one blow, 

O Madhusudan! will I strike to gain 

The rule of all Three Worlds; then, how much less 

To seize an earthly kingdom! Killing these 

Must breed but anguish, Krishna! If they be 

Guilty, we shall grow guilty by their deaths; 

Their sins will light on us, if we shall slay 

Those sons of Dhritirashtra, and our kin; 

What peace could come of that, O Madhava? 

For if indeed, blinded by lust and wrath, 

These cannot see, or will not see, the sin 

Of kingly lines o'erthrown and kinsmen slain, 

How should not we, who see, shun such a crime- 

We who perceive the guilt and feel the shame- 

O thou Delight of Men, Janardana? 

By overthrow of houses perisheth 

Their sweet continuous household piety, 

And- rites neglected, piety extinct- 

Enters impiety upon that home; 

Its women grow unwomaned, whence there spring 

Mad passions, and the mingling-up of castes, 

Sending a Hell-ward road that family, 

And whoso wrought its doom by wicked wrath. 

Nay, and the souls of honoured ancestors 

Fall from their place of peace, being bereft 

Of funeral-cakes and the wan death-water. 

So teach our holy hymns. Thus, if we slay 

Kinsfolk and friends for love of earthly power, 

Ahovat! what an evil fault it were! 

Better I deem it, if my kinsmen strike, 

To face them weaponless, and bare my breast 

To shaft and spear, than answer blow with blow. 

  So speaking, in the face of those two hosts, 

Arjuna sank upon his chariot-seat, 

And let fall bow and arrows, sick at heart. 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER I OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Arjun-Vishad," 

Or "The Book of the Distress of Arjuna." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER II 

Of Doctrines

  Sanjaya. Him, filled with such compassion and such grief, 

With eyes tear-dimmed, despondent, in stern words 

The Driver, Madhusudan, thus addressed: 

Krishna. How hath this weakness taken thee? 

Whence springs 

The inglorious trouble, shameful to the brave, 

Barring the path of virtue? Nay, Arjun! 

Forbid thyself to feebleness! it mars 

Thy warrior-name! cast off the coward-fit! 

Wake! Be thyself! Arise, Scourge of thy Foes! 

Arjuna. How can I, in the battle, shoot with shafts 

On Bhishma, or on Drona- O thou Chief!- 

Both worshipful, both honourable men? 

  Better to live on beggar's bread 

With those we love alive, 

Than taste their blood in rich feasts spread, 

And guiltily survive! 

Ah! were it worse- who knows?- to be 

Victor or vanquished here, 

When those confront us angrily 

Whose death leaves living drear? 

In pity lost, by doubtings tossed, 

My thoughts- distracted- turn 

To Thee, the Guide I reverence most, 

That I may counsel learn: 

I know not what would heal the grief 

Burned into soul and sense, 

If I were earth's unchallenged chief- 

A god- and these gone thence! 

  Sanjaya. So spake Arjuna to the Lord of Hearts, 

And sighing, "I will not fight!" held silence then. 

To whom, with tender smile, (O Bharata!) 

While the Prince wept despairing 'twixt those hosts, 

Krishna made answer in divinest verse: 

Krishna. Thou grievest where no grief should be! thou speak'st 

Words lacking wisdom! for the wise in heart 

Mourn not for those that live, nor those that die. 

Nor I, nor thou, nor any one of these, 

Ever was not, nor ever will not be, 

For ever and for ever afterwards. 

All, that doth live, lives always! To man's frame 

As there come infancy and youth and age, 

So come there raisings-up and layings-down 

Of other and of other life-abodes, 

Which the wise know, and fear not. This that irks- 

Thy sense-life, thrilling to the elements- 

Bringing thee heat and cold, sorrows and joys, 

'Tis brief and mutable! Bear with it, Prince! 

As the wise bear. The soul which is not moved, 

The soul that with a strong and constant calm 

Takes sorrow and takes joy indifferently, 

Lives in the life undying! That which is 

Can never cease to be; that which is not 

Will not exist. To see this truth of both 

Is theirs who part essence from accident, 

Substance from shadow. Indestructible, 

Learn thou! the Life is, spreading life through all; 

It cannot anywhere, by any means, 

Be anywise diminished, stayed, or changed. 

But for these fleeting frames which it informs 

With spirit deathless, endless, infinite, 

They perish. Let them perish, Prince! and fight! 

He who shall say, "Lo! I have slain a man!" 

He who shall think, "Lo! I am slain!" those both 

Know naught! Life cannot slay. Life is not slain! 

Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never; 

Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams! 

Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit for 

ever; 

Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the house of it 

seems! 

Who knoweth it exhaustless, self-sustained, 

Immortal, indestructible,- shall such 

Say, "I have killed a man, or caused to kill?" 

  Nay, but as when one layeth 

His worn-out robes away, 

And, taking new ones, sayeth, 

"These will I wear to-day!" 

So putteth by the spirit 

Lightly its garb of flesh, 

And passeth to inherit 

A residence afresh. 

  I say to thee weapons reach not the Life; 

Flame burns it not, waters cannot o'erwhelm, 

Nor dry winds wither it. Impenetrable, 

Unentered, unassailed, unharmed, untouched, 

Immortal, all-arriving, stable, sure, 

Invisible, ineffable, by word 

And thought uncompassed, ever all itself, 

Thus is the Soul declared! How wilt thou, then,- 

Knowing it so,- grieve when thou shouldst not grieve? 

How, if thou hearest that the man new-dead 

Is, like the man new-born, still living man- 

One same, existent Spirit- wilt thou weep? 

The end of birth is death; the end of death 

Is birth: this is ordained! and mournest thou, 

Chief of the stalwart arm! for what befalls 

Which could not otherwise befall? The birth 

Of living things comes unperceived; the death 

Comes unperceived; between them, beings perceive: 

What is there sorrowful herein, dear Prince? 

  Wonderful, wistful, to contemplate! 

Difficult, doubtful, to speak upon! 

Strange and great for tongue to relate, 

Mystical hearing for every one! 

Nor wotteth man this, what a marvel it is, 

When seeing, and saying, and hearing are done! 

  This Life within all living things, my Prince! 

Hides beyond harm; scorn thou to suffer, then, 

For that which cannot suffer. Do thy part! 

Be mindful of thy name, and tremble not! 

Nought better can betide a martial soul 

Than lawful war; happy the warrior 

To whom comes joy of battle- comes, as now, 

Glorious and fair, unsought; opening for him 

A gateway unto Heav'n. But, if thou shunn'st 

This honourable field- a Kshattriya- 

If, knowing thy duty and thy task, thou bidd'st 

Duty and task go by- that shall be sin! 

And those to come shall speak thee infamy 

From age to age; but infamy is worse 

For men of noble blood to bear than death! 

The chiefs upon their battle-chariots 

Will deem 'twas fear that drove thee from the fray. 

Of those who held thee mighty-souled the scorn 

Thou must abide, while all thine enemies 

Will scatter bitter speech of thee, to mock 

The valour which thou hadst; what fate could fall 

More grievously than this? Either- being killed- 

Thou wilt win Swarga's safety, or- alive 

And victor- thou wilt reign an earthly king. 

Therefore, arise, thou Son of Kunti! brace 

Thine arm for conflict, nerve thy heart to meet- 

As things alike to thee- pleasure or pain, 

Profit or ruin, victory or defeat: 

So minded, gird thee to the fight, for so 

Thou shalt not sin! 

Thus far I speak to thee 

As from the "Sankhya"- unspiritually- 

Hear now the deeper teaching of the Yog, 

Which holding, understanding, thou shalt burst 

Thy Karmabandh, the bondage of wrought deeds. 

Here shall no end be hindered, no hope marred, 

No loss be feared: faith- yea, a little faith- 

Shall save thee from the anguish of thy dread. 

Here, Glory of the Kurus! shines one rule- 

One steadfast rule- while shifting souls have laws 

Many and hard. Specious, but wrongful deem 

The speech of those ill-taught ones who extol 

The letter of their Vedas, saying, "This 

Is all we have, or need;" being weak at heart 

With wants, seekers of Heaven: which comes- they say- 

As "fruit of good deeds done;" promising men 

Much profit in new births for works of faith; 

In various rites abounding; following whereon 

Large merit shall accrue towards wealth and power; 

Albeit, who wealth and power do most desire 

Least fixity of soul have such, least hold 

On heavenly meditation. Much these teach, 

From Veds, concerning the "three qualities;" 

But thou, be free of the "three qualities," 

Free of the "pairs of opposites," and free 

From that sad righteousness which calculates; 

Self-ruled, Arjuna! simple, satisfied. 

Look! like as when a tank pours water forth 

To suit all needs, so do these Brahmans draw 

Text for all wants from tank of Holy Writ. 

But thou, want not! ask not! Find full reward 

Of doing right in right! Let right deeds be 

Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them. 

And live in action! Labour! Make thine acts 

Thy piety, casting all self aside, 

Contemning gain and merit; equable 

In good or evil: equability 

Is Yog, is piety! 

Yet, the right act 

Is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind. 

Seek refuge in thy soul; have there thy heaven! 

Scorn them that follow virtue for her gifts! 

The mind of pure devotion- even here- 

Casts equally aside good deeds and bad, 

Passing above them. Unto pure devotion 

Devote thyself: with perfect meditation 

Comes perfect act, and the righthearted rise- 

More certainly because they seek no gain- 

Forth from the bands of body, step by step, 

To highest seats of bliss. When thy firm soul 

Hath shaken off those tangled oracles 

Which ignorantly guide, then shall it soar 

To high neglect of what's denied or said, 

This way or that way, in doctrinal writ. 

Troubled no longer by the priestly lore, 

Safe shall it live, and sure; steadfastly bent 

On meditation. This is Yog- and Peace! 

Arjuna. What is his mark who hath that steadfast heart, 

Confirmed in holy meditation? How 

Know we his speech, Kesava? Sits he, moves he 

Like other men? 

Krishna. When one, O Pritha's Son!- 

Abandoning desires which shake the mind- 

Finds in his soul full comfort for his soul, 

He hath attained the Yog- that man is such! 

In sorrows not dejected, and in joys 

Not overjoyed; dwelling outside the stress 

Of passion, fear, and anger; fixed in calms 

Of lofty contemplation;- such an one 

Is Muni, is the Sage, the true Recluse! 

He who to none and nowhere overbound 

By ties of flesh, takes evil things and good 

Neither desponding nor exulting, such 

Bears wisdom's plainest mark He who shall draw 

As the wise tortoise draws its four feet safe 

Under its shield, his five frail senses back 

Under the spirit's buckler from the world 

Which else assails them, such an one, my Prince! 

Hath wisdom's mark! Things that solicit sense 

Hold off from the self-governed; nay, it comes, 

The appetites of him who lives beyond 

Depart,- aroused no more. Yet may it chance, 

O Son of Kunti that a governed mind 

Shall some time feel the sense-storms sweep, and wrest 

Strong self-control by the roots. Let him regain 

His kingdom! let him conquer this, and sit 

On Me intent. That man alone is wise 

Who keeps the mastery of himself! If one 

Ponders on objects of the sense, there springs 

Attraction; from attraction grows desire, 

Desire flames to fierce passion, passion breeds 

Recklessness; then the memory- all betrayed- 

Lets noble purpose go, and saps the mind, 

Till purpose, mind, and man are all undone. 

But, if one deals with objects of the sense 

Not loving and not hating, making them 

Serve his free soul, which rests serenely lord, 

Lo! such a man comes to tranquillity; 

And out of that tranquillity shall rise 

The end and healing of his earthly pains, 

Since the will governed sets the soul at peace. 

The soul of the ungoverned is not his, 

Nor hath he knowledge of himself; which lacked, 

How grows serenity? and, wanting that, 

Whence shall he hope for happiness? 

The mind 

That gives itself to follow shows of sense 

Seeth its helm of wisdom rent away, 

And, like a ship in waves of whirlwind, drives 

To wreck and death. Only with him, great Prince! 

Whose senses are not swayed by things of sense- 

Only with him who holds his mastery, 

Shows wisdom perfect. What is midnight-gloom 

To unenlightened souls shines wakeful day 

To his clear gaze; what seems as wakeful day 

Is known for night, thick night of ignorance, 

To his true-seeing eyes. Such is the Saint! 

And like the ocean, day by day receiving 

Floods from all lands, which never overflows; 

Its boundary-line not leaping, and not leaving, 

Fed by the rivers, but unswelled by those;- 

So is the perfect one! to his soul's ocean 

The world of sense pours streams of witchery, 

They leave him as they find, without commotion, 

Taking their tribute, but remaining sea. 

Yea! whoso, shaking off the yoke of flesh 

Lives lord, not servant, of his lusts; set free 

From pride, from passion, from the sin of "Self," 

Toucheth tranquillity! O Pritha's Son! 

That is the state of Brahm! There rests no dread 

When that last step is reached! Live where he will, 

Die when he may, such passeth from all 'plaining, 

To blest Nirvana, with the Gods, attaining. 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER II OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Sankhya-Yog," 

Or "The Book of Doctrines." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER III 

Of Virtue in Work

  Arjuna. Thou whom all mortals praise, Janardana! 

If meditation be a nobler thing 

Than action, wherefore, then, great Kesava! 

Dost thou impel me to this dreadful fight? 

Now am I by thy doubtful speech disturbed! 

Tell me one thing, and tell me certainly; 

By what road shall I find the better end? 

Krishna. I told thee, blameless Lord! there be paths 

Shown to this world; two schools of wisdom. First 

The Sankhya's, which doth save in way of works 

Prescribed by reason; next, the Yog, which bids 

Attain by meditation, spiritually: 

Yet these are one! No man shall 'scape from act 

By shunning action; nay, and none shall come 

By mere renouncements unto perfectness. 

Nay, and no jot of time, at any time, 

Rests any actionless; his nature's law 

Compels him, even unwilling, into act; 

[For thought is act in fancy]. He who sits 

Suppressing all the instruments of flesh, 

Yet in his idle heart thinking on them, 

Plays the inept and guilty hypocrite: 

But he who, with strong body serving mind, 

Gives up his mortal powers to worthy work, 

Not seeking gain, Arjuna! such an one 

Is honourable. Do thine allotted task! 

Work is more excellent than idleness; 

The body's life proceeds not, lacking work. 

There is a task of holiness to do, 

Unlike world-binding toil, which bindeth not 

The faithful soul; such earthly duty do 

Free from desire, and thou shalt well perform 

Thy heavenly purpose. Spake Prajapati- 

In the beginning, when all men were made, 

And, with mankind, the sacrifice- "Do this! 

Work! sacrifice! Increase and multiply 

With sacrifice! This shall be Kamaduk, 

Your 'Cow of Plenty,' giving back her milk 

Of all abundance. Worship the gods thereby; 

The gods shall yield thee grace. Those meats ye 

The gods will grant to Labour, when it pays 

Tithes in the altar-flame. But if one eats 

Fruits of the earth, rendering to kindly Heaven 

No gift of toil, that thief steals from his world." 

  Who eat of food after their sacrifice 

Are quit of fault, but they that spread a feast 

All for themselves, eat sin and drink of sin. 

By food the living live; food comes of rain, 

And rain comes by the pious sacrifice, 

And sacrifice is paid with tithes of toil; 

Thus action is of Brahma, who is One, 

The Only, All-pervading; at all times 

Present in sacrifice. He that abstains 

To help the rolling wheels of this great world, 

Glutting his idle sense, lives a lost life, 

Shameful and vain. Existing for himself, 

Self-concentrated, serving self alone, 

No part hath he in aught; nothing achieved, 

Nought wrought or unwrought toucheth him; no hope 

Of help for all the living things of earth 

Depends from him. Therefore, thy task prescribed 

With spirit unattached gladly perform, 

Since in performance of plain duty man 

Mounts to his highest bliss. By works alone 

Janak and ancient saints reached blessedness! 

Moreover, for the upholding of thy kind, 

Action thou should'st embrace. What the wise choose 

The unwise people take; what best men do 

The multitude will follow. Look on me, 

Thou Son of Pritha! in the three wide worlds 

I am not bound to any toil, no height 

Awaits to scale, no gift remains to gain, 

Yet I act here! and, if I acted not- 

Earnest and watchful- those that look to me 

For guidance, sinking back to sloth again 

Because I slumbered, would decline from good, 

And I should break earth's order and commit 

Her offspring unto ruin, Bharata! 

Even as the unknowing toil, wedded to sense, 

So let the enlightened toil, sense-freed, but set 

To bring the world deliverance, and its bliss; 

Not sowing in those simple, busy hearts 

Seed of despair. Yea! let each play his part 

In all he finds to do, with unyoked soul. 

All things are everywhere by Nature wrought 

In interaction of the quahties. 

The fool, cheated by self, thinks, "This I did" 

And "That I wrought;" but- ah, thou strong-armed Prince!- 

A better-lessoned mind, knowing the play 

Of visible things within the world of sense, 

And how the qualities must qualify, 

Standeth aloof even from his acts. Th' untaught 

Live mixed with them, knowing not Nature's way, 

Of highest aims unwitting, slow and dull. 

Those make thou not to stumble, having the light; 

But all thy dues discharging, for My sake, 

With meditation centred inwardly, 

Seeking no profit, satisfied, serene, 

Heedless of issue- fight! They who shall keep 

My ordinance thus, the wise and willing hearts, 

Have quittance from all issue of their acts; 

But those who disregard My ordinance, 

Thinking they know, know nought, and fall to loss, 

Confused and foolish. 'Sooth, the instructed one 

Doth of his kind, following what fits him most: 

And lower creatures of their kind; in vain 

Contending 'gainst the law. Needs must it be 

The objects of the sense will stir the sense 

To like and dislike, yet th' enlightened man 

Yields not to these, knowing them enemies. 

Finally, this is better, that one do 

His own task as he may, even though he fail, 

Than take tasks not his own, though they seem good. 

To die performing duty is no ill; 

But who seeks other roads shall wander still. 

Arjuna. Yet tell me, Teacher! by what force doth man 

Go to his ill, unwilling; as if one 

Pushed him that evil path? 

Krishna. Kama it is! 

Passion it is! born of the Darknesses, 

Which pusheth him. Mighty of appetite, 

Sinful, and strong is this!- man's enemy! 

As smoke blots the white fire, as clinging rust 

Mars the bright mirror, as the womb surrounds 

The babe unborn, so is the world of things 

Foiled, soiled, enclosed in this desire of flesh. 

The wise fall, caught in it; the unresting foe 

It is of wisdom, wearing countless forms, 

Fair but deceitful, subtle as a flame. 

Sense, mind, and reason- these, O Kunti's Son! 

Are booty for it; in its play with these 

It maddens man, beguiling, blinding him. 

Therefore, thou noblest child of Bharata! 

Govern thy heart! Constrain th' entangled sense! 

Resist the false, soft sinfulness which saps 

Knowledge and judgment! Yea, the world is strong 

But what discerns it stronger, and the mind 

Strongest; and high o'er all the ruling Soul. 

Wherefore, perceiving Him who reigns supreme, 

Put forth full force of Soul in thy own soul! 

Fight! vanquish foes and doubts, dear Hero! slay 

What haunts thee in fond shapes, and would betray! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER III OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Karma-Yog," 

Or "The Book of Virtue in Work." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER IV 

Of the Religion of Knowledge

  Krishna. This deathless Yoga, this deep union, 

I taught Vivaswata, the Lord of Light; 

Vivaswata to Manu gave it; he 

To Ikshwaku; so passed it down the line 

Of all my royal Rishis. Then, with years, 

The truth grew dim and perished, noble Prince! 

Now once again to thee it is declared- 

This ancient lore, this mystery supreme- 

Seeing I find thee votary and friend. 

Arjuna. Thy birth, dear Lord, was in these later days 

And bright Vivaswata's preceded time! 

How shall I comprehend this thing thou sayest, 

"From the beginning it was I who taught?" 

Krishna. Manifold the renewals of my birth 

Have been, Arjuna! and of thy births, too! 

But mine I know, and thine thou knowest not, 

O Slayer of thy Foes! Albeit I be 

Unborn, undying, indestructible, 

The Lord of all things living; not the less- 

By Maya, by my magic which I stamp 

On floating Nature-forms, the primal vast- 

I come, and go, and come. When Righteousness 

Declines, O Bharata! when Wickedness 

Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take 

Visible shape, and move a man with men, 

Succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, 

And setting Virtue on her seat again. 

Who knows the truth touching my births on earth 

And my divine work, when he quits the flesh 

Puts on its load no more, falls no more down 

To earthly birth: to Me he comes, dear Prince! 

  Many there be who come! from fear set free, 

From anger, from desire; keeping their hearts 

Fixed upon me- my Faithful- purified 

By sacred flame of Knowledge. Such as these 

Mix with my being. Whoso worship me, 

Them I exalt; but all men everywhere 

Shall fall into my path; albeit, those souls 

Which seek reward for works, make sacrifice 

Now, to the lower gods. I say to thee 

Here have they their reward. But I am He 

Made the Four Castes, and portioned them a place 

After their qualities and gifts. Yea, I 

Created, the Reposeful; I that live 

Immortally, made all those mortal births: 

For works soil not my essence, being works 

Wrought uninvolved. Who knows me acting thus 

Unchained by action, action binds not him; 

And, so perceiving, all those saints of old 

Worked, seeking for deliverance. Work thou 

As, in the days gone by, thy fathers did. 

Thou sayst, perplexed, It hath been asked before 

By singers and by sages, "What is act, 

And what inaction?" I will teach thee this, 

And, knowing, thou shalt learn which work doth save 

Needs must one rightly meditate those three- 

Doing,- not doing,- and undoing. Here 

Thorny and dark the path is! He who sees 

How action may be rest, rest action- he 

Is wisest 'mid his kind; he hath the truth! 

He doeth well, acting or resting. Freed 

In all his works from prickings of desire, 

Burned clean in act by the white fire of truth, 

The wise call that man wise; and such an one, 

Renouncing fruit of deeds, always content. 

Always self-satisfying, if he works, 

Doth nothing that shall stain his separate soul, 

Which- quit of fear and hope- subduing self- 

Rejecting outward impulse-yielding up 

To body's need nothing save body, dwells 

Sinless amid all sin, with equal calm 

Taking what may befall, by grief unmoved, 

Unmoved by joy, unenvyingly; the same 

In good and evil fortunes; nowise bound 

By bond of deeds. Nay, but of such an one, 

Whose crave is gone, whose soul is liberate, 

Whose heart is set on truth- of such an one 

What work he does is work of sacrifice, 

Which passeth purely into ash and smoke 

Consumed upon the altar! All's then God! 

The sacrifice is Brahm, the ghee and grain 

Are Brahm, the fire is Brahm, the flesh it eats 

Is Brahm, and unto Brahm attaineth he 

Who, in such office, meditates on Brahm. 

Some votaries there be who serve the gods 

With flesh and altar-smoke; but other some 

Who, lighting subtler fires, make purer rite 

With will of worship. Of the which be they 

Who, in white flame of continence, consume 

Joys of the sense, delights of eye and ear, 

Foregoing tender speech and sound of song: 

And they who, kindling fires with torch of Truth, 

Burn on a hidden altar-stone the bliss 

Of youth and love, renouncing happiness: 

And they who lay for offering there their wealth, 

Their penance, meditation, piety, 

Their steadfast reading of the scrolls, their lore 

Painfully gained with long austerities: 

And they who, making silent sacrifice, 

Draw in their breath to feed the flame of thought, 

And breathe it forth to waft the heart on high, 

Governing the ventage of each entering air 

Lest one sigh pass which helpeth not the soul: 

And they who, day by day denying needs, 

Lay life itself upon the altar-flame, 

Burning the body wan. Lo! all these keep 

The rite of offering, as if they slew 

Victims; and all thereby efface much sin. 

Yea! and who feed on the immortal food 

Left of such sacrifice, to Brahma pass, 

To The Unending. But for him that makes 

No sacrifice, he hath nor part nor lot 

Even in the present world. How should he share 

Another, O thou Glory of thy Line? 

  In sight of Brahma all these offerings 

Are spread and are accepted! Comprehend 

That all proceed by act; for knowing this, 

Thou shalt be quit of doubt. The sacrifice 

Which Knowledge pays is better than great gifts 

Offered by wealth, since gifts' worth- O my Prince! 

Lies in the mind which gives, the will that serves: 

And these are gained by reverence, by strong search, 

By humble heed of those who see the Truth 

And teach it. Knowing Truth, thy heart no more 

Will ache with error, for the Truth shall show 

All things subdued to thee, as thou to Me. 

Moreover, Son of Pandu! wert thou worst 

Of all wrong-doers, this fair ship of Truth 

Should bear thee safe and dry across the sea 

Of thy transgressions. As the kindled flame 

Feeds on the fuel till it sinks to ash, 

So unto ash, Arjuna! unto nought 

The flame of Knowledge wastes works' dross away! 

There is no purifier like thereto 

In all this world, and he who seeketh it 

Shall find it- being grown perfect- in himself. 

Believing, he receives it when the soul 

Masters itself, and cleaves to Truth, and comes- 

Possessing knowledge- to the higher peace, 

The uttermost repose. But those untaught, 

And those without full faith, and those who fear 

Are shent; no peace is here or other where, 

No hope, nor happiness for whoso doubts. 

He that, being self-contained, hath vanquished doubt, 

Disparting self from service, soul from works, 

Enlightened and emancipate, my Prince! 

Works fetter him no more! Cut then atwain 

With sword of wisdom, Son of Bharata! 

This doubt that binds thy heart-beats! cleave the bond 

Born of thy ignorance! Be bold and wise! 

Give thyself to the field with me! Arise! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER IV OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Jnana Yog," 

Or "The Book of the Religion of Knowledge." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER V 

Of Religion by Renouncing Fruit of Works

  Arjuna. Yet, Krishna at the one time thou dost laud 

Surcease of works, and, at another time, 

Service through work. Of these twain plainly tell 

Which is the better way? 

Krishna. To cease from works 

Is well, and to do works in holiness 

Is well; and both conduct to bliss supreme; 

But of these twain the better way is his 

Who working piously refraineth not. 

  That is the true Renouncer, firm and fixed, 

Who- seeking nought, rejecting nought- dwells proof 

Against the "opposites." O valiant Prince! 

In doing, such breaks lightly from all deed: 

'Tis the new scholar talks as they were two, 

This Sankhya and this Yoga: wise men know 

Who husbands one plucks golden fruit of both! 

The region of high rest which Sankhyans reach 

Yogins attain. Who sees these twain as one 

Sees with clear eyes! Yet such abstraction, Chief! 

Is hard to win without much holiness. 

Whoso is fixed in holiness, self-ruled, 

Pure-hearted, lord of senses and of self, 

Lost in the common life of all which lives- 

A "Yogayukt"- he is a Saint who wends 

Straightway to Brahm. Such an one is not touched 

By taint of deeds. "Nought of myself I do!" 

Thus will he think- who holds the truth of truths- 

In seeing, hearing, touching, smelling; when 

He eats, or goes, or breathes; slumbers or talks, 

Holds fast or loosens, opes his eyes or shuts; 

Always assured "This is the sense-world plays 

With senses." He that acts in thought of Brahm, 

Detaching end from act, with act content, 

The world of sense can no more stain his soul 

Than waters mar th' enamelled lotus-leaf. 

With life, with heart, with mind,- nay, with the help 

Of all five senses- letting selfhood go- 

Yogins toil ever towards their souls' release. 

Such votaries, renouncing fruit of deeds, 

Gain endless peace: the unvowed, the passion-bound, 

Seeking a fruit from works, are fastened down. 

The embodied sage, withdrawn within his soul, 

At every act sits godlike in "the town 

Which hath nine gateways," neither doing aught 

Nor causing any deed. This world's Lord makes 

Neither the work, nor passion for the work, 

Nor lust for fruit of work; the man's own self 

Pushes to these! The Master of this World 

Takes on himself the good or evil deeds 

Of no man- dwelling beyond! Mankind errs here 

By folly, darkening knowledge. But, for whom 

That darkness of the soul is chased by light, 

Splendid and clear shines manifest the Truth 

As if a Sun of Wisdom sprang to shed 

Its beams of dawn. Him meditating still, 

Him seeking, with Him blended, stayed on Him, 

The souls illuminated take that road 

Which hath no turning back- their sins flung off, 

By strength of faith. [Who will may have this Light; 

Who hath it sees.] To him who wisely sees, 

The Brahman with his scrolls and sanctities, 

The cow, the elephant, the unclean dog, 

The Outcast gorging dog's meat, are all one. 

  The world is overcome- aye! even here! 

By such as fix their faith on Unity. 

The sinless Brahma dwells in Unity, 

And they in Brahma. Be not over-glad 

Attaining joy, and be not over-sad 

Encountering grief, but, stayed on Brahma, still 

Constant let each abide! The sage whose soul 

Holds off from outer contacts, in himself 

Finds bliss; to Brahma joined by piety, 

His spirit tastes eternal peace. The joys 

Springing from sense-life are but quickening wombs 

Which breed sure griefs: those joys begin and end! 

The wise mind takes no pleasure, Kunti's Son! 

In such as those! But if a man shall learn, 

Even while he lives and bears his body's chain, 

To master lust and anger, he is blest! 

He is the Yukta; he hath happiness, 

Contentment, light, within: his life is merged 

In Brahma's life; he doth Nirvana touch! 

Thus go the Rishis unto rest, who dwell 

With sins effaced, with doubts at end, with hearts 

Governed and calm. Glad in all good they live, 

Nigh to the peace of God; and all those live 

Who pass their days exempt from greed and wrath, 

Subduing self and senses, knowing the Soul! 

  The Saint who shuts outside his placid soul 

All touch of sense, letting no contact through; 

Whose quiet eyes gaze straight from fixed brows, 

Whose outward breath and inward breath are drawn 

Equal and slow through nostrils still and close; 

That one- with organs, heart, and mind constrained, 

Bent on deliverance, having put away 

Passion, and fear, and rage;- hath even now, 

Obtained deliverance, ever and ever freed. 

Yea! for he knows Me Who am He that heeds 

The sacrifice and worship, God revealed; 

And He who heeds not, being Lord of Worlds, 

Lover of all that lives, God unrevealed, 

Wherein who will shall find surety and shield! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER V OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Karmasanyasayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by Renouncing 

Fruit of Works." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER VI 

Of Religion of Self-Restraint

  Krishna. Therefore, who doeth work rightful to do, 

Not seeking gain from work, that man, O Prince! 

Is Sanyasi and Yogi- both in one 

And he is neither who lights not the flame 

Of sacrifice, nor setteth hand to task. 

  Regard as true Renouncer him that makes 

Worship by work, for who renounceth not 

Works not as Yogin. So is that well said: 

"By works the votary doth rise to faith, 

And saintship is the ceasing from all works; 

Because the perfect Yogin acts- but acts 

Unmoved by passions and unbound by deeds, 

Setting result aside. 

Let each man raise 

The Self by Soul, not trample down his Self, 

Since Soul that is Self's friend may grow Self's foe. 

Soul is Self's friend when Self doth rule o'er Self, 

But Self turns enemy if Soul's own self 

Hates Self as not itself. 

The sovereign soul 

Of him who lives self-governed and at peace 

Is centred in itself, taking alike 

Pleasure and pain; heat, cold; glory and shame. 

He is the Yogi, he is Yukta, glad 

With joy of light and truth; dwelling apart 

Upon a peak, with senses subjugate 

Whereto the clod, the rock, the glistering gold 

Show all as one. By this sign is he known 

Being of equal grace to comrades, friends, 

Chance-comers, strangers, lovers, enemies, 

Aliens and kinsmen; loving all alike, 

Evil or good. 

  Sequestered should he sit, 

Steadfastly meditating, solitary, 

His thoughts controlled, his passions laid away, 

Quit of belongings. In a fair, still spot 

Having his fixed abode,- not too much raised, 

Nor yet too low,- let him abide, his goods 

A cloth, a deerskin, and the Kusa-grass. 

There, setting hard his mind upon The One, 

Restraining heart and senses, silent, calm, 

Let him accomplish Yoga, and achieve 

Pureness of soul, holding immovable 

Body and neck and head, his gaze absorbed 

Upon his nose-end, rapt from all around, 

Tranquil in spirit, free of fear, intent 

Upon his Brahmacharya vow, devout, 

Musing on Me, lost in the thought of Me. 

That Yogin, so devoted, so controlled, 

Comes to the peace beyond,- My peace, the peace 

Of high Nirvana! 

  But for earthly needs 

Religion is not his who too much fasts 

Or too much feasts, nor his who sleeps away 

An idle mind; nor his who wears to waste 

His strength in vigils. Nay, Arjuna! I call 

That the true piety which most removes 

Earth-aches and ills, where one is moderate 

In eating and in resting, and in sport; 

Measured in wish and act; sleeping betimes, 

Waking betimes for duty. 

  When the man, 

So living, centres on his soul the thought 

Straitly restrained- untouched internally 

By stress of sense- then is he Yukta. See! 

Steadfast a lamp burns sheltered from the wind; 

Such is the likeness of the Yogi's mind 

Shut from sense-storms and burning bright to Heaven. 

When mind broods placid, soothed with holy wont; 

When Self contemplates self, and in itself 

Hath comfort; when it knows the nameless joy 

Beyond all scope of sense, revealed to soul- 

Only to soul! and, knowing, wavers not, 

True to the farther Truth; when, holding this, 

It deems no other treasure comparable, 

But, harboured there, cannot be stirred or shook 

By any gravest grief, call that state "peace," 

That happy severance Yoga; call that man 

The perfect Yogin! 

  Steadfastly the will 

Must toil thereto, till efforts end in ease, 

And thought has passed from thinking. Shaking off 

All longings bred by dreams of fame and gain, 

Shutting the doorways of the senses close 

With watchful ward; so, step by step, it comes 

To gift of peace assured and heart assuaged, 

When the mind dwells self-wrapped, and the soul broods 

Cumberless. But, as often as the heart 

Breaks- wild and wavering- from control, so oft 

Let him re-curb it, let him rein it back 

To the soul's governance; for perfect bliss 

Grows only in the bosom tranquillised, 

The spirit passionless, purged from offence, 

Vowed to the Infinite. He who thus vows 

His soul to the Supreme Soul, quitting sin, 

Passes unhindered to the endless bliss 

Of unity with Brahma. He so vowed, 

So blended, sees the Life-Soul resident 

In all things living, and all living things 

In that Life-Soul contained. And whoso thus 

Discerneth Me in all, and all in Me, 

I never let him go; nor looseneth he 

Hold upon Me; but, dwell he where he may, 

Whate'er his life, in Me he dwells and lives, 

Because he knows and worships Me, Who dwell 

In all which lives, and cleaves to Me in all. 

Arjuna! if a man sees everywhere- 

Taught by his own similitude- one Life, 

One Essence in the Evil and the Good, 

Hold him a Yogi, yea! well perfected! 

Arjuna. Slayer of Madhu! yet again, this Yog, 

This Peace, derived from equanimity, 

Made known by thee- I see no fixity 

Therein, no rest, because the heart of men 

Is unfixed, Krishna! rash, tumultuous, 

Wilful and strong. It were all one, I think, 

To hold the wayward wind, as tame man's heart. 

Krishna. Hero long-armed! beyond denial, hard 

Man's heart is to restrain, and wavering; 

Yet may it grow restrained by habit, Prince! 

By wont of self-command. This Yog, I say, 

Cometh not lightly to th' ungoverned ones; 

But he who will be master of himself 

Shall win it, if he stoutly strive thereto. 

Arjuna. And what road goeth he who, having faith, 

Fails, Krishna! in the striving; falling back 

From holiness, missing the perfect rule? 

Is he not lost, straying from Brahma's light, 

Like the vain cloud, which floats 'twixt earth and heaven 

When lightning splits it, and it vanisheth? 

Fain would I hear thee answer me herein, 

Since, Krishna! none save thou can clear the doubt. 

Krishna. He is not lost, thou Son of Pritha! No! 

Nor earth, nor heaven is forfeit, even for him, 

Because no heart that holds one right desire 

Treadeth the road of loss! He who should fail, 

Desiring righteousness, cometh at death 

Unto the Region of the Just; dwells there 

Measureless years, and being born anew, 

Beginneth life again in some fair home 

Amid the mild and happy. It may chance 

He doth descend into a Yogin house 

On Virtue's breast; but that is rare! Such birth 

Is hard to be obtained on this earth, Chief! 

So hath he back again what heights of heart 

He did achieve, and so he strives anew 

To perfectness, with better hope, dear Prince! 

For by the old desire he is drawn on 

Unwittingly; and only to desire 

The purity of Yog is to pass 

Beyond the Sabdabrahm, the spoken Ved. 

But, being Yogi, striving strong and long, 

Purged from transgressions, perfected by births 

Following on births, he plants his feet at last 

Upon the farther path. Such as one ranks 

Above ascetics, higher than the wise, 

Beyond achievers of vast deeds! Be thou 

Yogi Arjuna! And of such believe, 

Truest and best is he who worships Me 

With inmost soul, stayed on My Mystery! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER VI OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Atmasanyamayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion of Self-Restraint." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER VII 

Of Religion by Discernment

  Krishna. Learn now, dear Prince! how, if thy soul be set 

Ever on Me- still exercising Yog, 

Still making Me thy Refuge- thou shalt come 

Most surely unto perfect hold of Me. 

I will declare to thee that utmost lore, 

Whole and particular, which, when thou knowest, 

Leaveth no more to know here in this world. 

  Of many thousand mortals, one, perchance, 

Striveth for Truth; and of those few that strive- 

Nay, and rise high- one only- here and there- 

Knoweth Me, as I am, the very Truth. 

  Earth, water, flame, air, ether, life, and mind, 

And individuality- those eight 

Make up the showing of Me, Manifest. 

  These be my lower Nature; learn the higher, 

Whereby, thou Valiant One! this Universe 

Is, by its principle of life, produced; 

Whereby the worlds of visible things are born 

As from a Yoni. Know! I am that womb: 

I make and I unmake this Universe: 

Than me there is no other Master, Prince! 

No other Maker! All these hang on me 

As hangs a row of pearls upon its string. 

I am the fresh taste of the water; I 

The silver of the moon, the gold o' the sun, 

The word of worship in the Veds, the thrill 

That passeth in the ether, and the strength 

Of man's shed seed. I am the good sweet smell 

Of the moistened earth, I am the fire's red light, 

The vital air moving in all which moves, 

The holiness of hallowed souls, the root 

Undying, whence hath sprung whatever is; 

The wisdom of the wise, the intellect 

Of the informed, the greatness of the great. 

The splendour of the splendid. Kunti's Son! 

These am I, free from passion and desire; 

Yet am I right desire in all who yearn, 

Chief of the Bharatas! for all those moods, 

Soothfast, or passionate, or ignorant, 

Which Nature frames, deduce from me; but all 

Are merged in me- not I in them! The world- 

Deceived by those three qualities of being- 

Wotteth not Me Who am outside them all, 

Above them all, Eternal! Hard it is 

To pierce that veil divine of various shows 

Which hideth Me; yet they who worship Me 

Pierce it and pass beyond. 

  I am not known 

To evil-doers, nor to foolish ones, 

Nor to the base and churlish; nor to those 

Whose mind is cheated by the show of things, 

Nor those that take the way of Asuras. 

  Four sorts of mortals know me: he who weeps, 

Arjuna! and the man who yearns to know; 

And he who toils to help; and he who sits 

Certain of me, enlightened. 

  Of these four, 

O Prince of India! highest, nearest, best 

That last is, the devout soul, wise, intent 

Upon "The One." Dear, above all, am I 

To him; and he is dearest unto me! 

All four are good, and seek me; but mine own, 

The true of heart, the faithful- stayed on me, 

Taking me as their utmost, blessedness, 

They are not "mine," but I- even I myself! 

At end of many births to Me they come! 

Yet hard the wise Mahatma is to find, 

That man who sayeth, "All is Vasudev!" 

  There be those, too, whose knowledge, turned aside 

By this desire or that, gives them to serve 

Some lower gods, with various rites, constrained 

By that which mouldeth them. Unto all such- 

Worship what shrine they will, what shapes, in faith- 

'Tis I who give them faith! I am content! 

The heart thus asking favour from its God, 

Darkened but ardent, hath the end it craves, 

The lesser blessing- but 'tis I who give! 

Yet soon is withered what small fruit they reap: 

Those men of little minds, who worship so, 

Go where they worship, passing with their gods. 

But Mine come unto me! Blind are the eyes 

Which deem th' Unmanifested manifest, 

Not comprehending Me in my true Self! 

Imperishable, viewless, undeclared, 

Hidden behind my magic veil of shows, 

I am not seen by all; I am not known- 

Unborn and changeless- to the idle world. 

But I, Arjuna! know all things which were, 

And all which are, and all which are to be, 

Albeit not one among them knoweth Me! 

  By passion for the "pairs of opposites," 

By those twain snares of Like and Dislike, Prince! 

All creatures live bewildered, save some few 

Who, quit of sins, holy in act, informed, 

Freed from the "opposites," and fixed in faith, 

Cleave unto Me. 

  Who cleave, who seek in Me 

Refuge from birth and death, those have the Truth! 

Those know Me BRAHMA: know Me Soul of Souls, 

The ADHYATMAN: know KARMA, my work; 

Know I am ADHIBHUTA, Lord of Life, 

And ADHIDAIVA, Lord of all the Gods, 

And ADHIYAJNA, Lord of Sacrifice; 

Worship Me well, with hearts of love and faith, 

And find and hold me in the hour of death. 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER VII OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Vijnanayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by Discernment." 

  ==============================================

CHAPTER VIII 

Of Religion by Devotion to the One Supreme God

  Arjuna. Who is that BRAHMA? What that Soul of Souls, 

The ADHYATMAN? What, Thou Best of All! 

Thy work, the KARMA? Tell me what it is 

Thou namest ADHIBHUTA? What again 

Means ADHIDAIVA? Yea, and how it comes 

Thou canst be ADHIYAJNA in thy flesh? 

Slayer of Madhu! Further, make me know 

How good men find thee in the hour of death? 

Krishna. I BRAHMA am! the One Eternal GOD, 

And ADHYATMAN is My Being's name, 

The Soul of Souls! What goeth forth from Me, 

Causing all life to live, is KARMA called: 

And, Manifested in divided forms, 

I am the ADHIBHUTA, Lord of Lives; 

And ADHIDAIVA, Lord of all the Gods, 

Because I am PURUSHA, who who begets. 

And ADHIYAJNA, Lord of Sacrifice, 

I- speaking with thee in this body here- 

Am, thou embodied one! (for all the shrines 

Flame unto Me!) And, at the hour of death, 

He that hath meditated Me alone, 

In putting off his flesh, comes forth to Me, 

Enters into My Being- doubt thou not! 

But, if he meditated otherwise 

At hour of death, in putting off the flesh, 

He goes to what he looked for, Kunti's Son! 

Because the Soul is fashioned to its like. 

  Have Me, then, in thy heart always! and fight! 

Thou too, when heart and mind are fixed on Me, 

Shalt surely come to Me! All come who cleave 

With never-wavering will of firmest faith, 

Owning none other Gods: all come to Me, 

The Uttermost, Purusha, Holiest! 

  Whoso hath known Me, Lord of sage and singer, 

Ancient of days; of all the Three Worlds Stay, 

Boundless,- but unto every atom Bringer 

Of that which quickens it: whoso, I say, 

  Hath known My form, which passeth mortal knowing; 

Seen my effulgence- which no eye hath seen- 

Than the sun's burning gold more brightly glowing, 

Dispersing darkness,- unto him hath been 

  Right life! And, in the hour when life is ending, 

With mind set fast and trustful piety, 

Drawing still breath beneath calm brows unbending, 

In happy peace that faithful one doth die,- 

  In glad peace passeth to Purusha's heaven. 

The place which they who read the Vedas name 

AKSHARAM, "Ultimate;" whereto have striven 

Saints and ascetics- their road is the same. 

  That way- the highest way- goes he who shuts 

The gates of all his senses, locks desire 

Safe in his heart, centres the vital airs 

Upon his parting thought, steadfastly set; 

And, murmuring OM, the sacred syllable- 

Emblem of BRAHM- dies, meditating Me. 

  For who, none other Gods regarding, looks 

Ever to Me, easily am I gained 

By such a Yogi; and, attaining Me, 

They fall not- those Mahatmas- back to birth, 

To life, which is the place of pain, which ends, 

But take the way of utmost blessedness. 

  The worlds, Arjuna!- even Brahma's world- 

Roll back again from Death to Life's unrest; 

But they, O Kunti's Son! that reach to Me, 

Taste birth no more. If ye know Brahma's Day 

Which is a thousand Yugas; if ye know 

The thousand Yugas making Brahma's Night, 

Then know ye Day and Night as He doth know! 

When that vast Dawn doth break, th' Invisible 

Is brought anew into the Visible; 

When that deep Night doth darken, all which is 

Fades back again to Him Who sent it forth; 

Yea! this vast company of living things- 

Again and yet again produced- expires 

At Brahma's Nightfall; and, at Brahma's Dawn, 

Riseth, without its will, to life new-born. 

But- higher, deeper, innermost- abides 

Another Life, not like the life of sense, 

Escaping sight, unchanging. This endures 

When all created things have passed away; 

This is that Life named the Unmanifest, 

The Infinite! the All! the Uttermost. 

Thither arriving none return. That Life 

Is Mine, and I am there! And, Prince! by faith 

Which wanders not, there is a way to come 

Thither. I, the PURUSHA, I Who spread 

The Universe around me- in Whom dwell 

All living Things- may so be reached and seen! 

  Richer than holy fruit on Vedas growing, 

Greater than gifts, better than prayer or fast, 

Such wisdom is! The Yogi, this way knowing, 

Comes to the Utmost Perfect Peace at last. 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER VIII OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA; 

Entitled "Aksharaparabrahmayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by Devotion 

to the One Supreme God." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER IX 

Of Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery

  Krishna. Now will I open unto thee- whose heart 

Rejects not- that last lore, deepest-concealed, 

That farthest secret of My Heavens and Earths, 

Which but to know shall set thee free from ills,- 

A royal lore! a Kingly mystery! 

Yea! for the soul such light as purgeth it 

From every sin; a light of holiness 

With inmost splendour shining; plain to see; 

Easy to walk by, inexhaustible! 

  They that receive not this, failing in faith 

To grasp the greater wisdom, reach not Me, 

Destroyer of thy foes! They sink anew 

Into the realm of Flesh, where all things change! 

  By Me the whole vast Universe of things 

Is spread abroad;- by Me, the Unmanifest! 

In Me are all existences contained; 

Not I in them! 

Yet they are not contained, 

Those visible things! Receive and strive to embrace 

The mystery majestical! My Being- 

Creating all, sustaining all- still dwells 

Outside of all! 

  See! as the shoreless airs 

Move in the measureless space, but are not space, 

[And space were space without the moving airs]; 

So all things are in Me, but are not I. 

  At closing of each Kalpa, Indian Prince! 

All things which be back to My Being come: 

At the beginning of each Kalpa, all 

Issue new-born from Me. 

  By Energy 

And help of Prakriti, my outer Self, 

Again, and yet again, I make go forth 

The realms of visible things- without their will- 

All of them- by the power of Prakriti. 

  Yet these great makings, Prince! involve Me not 

Enchain Me not ! I sit apart from them, 

Other, and Higher, and Free; nowise attached! 

  Thus doth the stuff of worlds, moulded by Me, 

Bring forth all that which is, moving or still, 

Living or lifeless! Thus the worlds go on! 

  The minds untaught mistake Me, veiled in form;- 

Naught see they of My secret Presence, nought 

Of My hid Nature, ruling all which lives. 

Vain hopes pursuing, vain deeds doing; fed 

On vainest knowledge, senselessly they seek 

An evil way, the way of brutes and fiends. 

But My Mahatmas, those of noble soul 

Who tread the path celestial, worship Me 

With hearts unwandering,- knowing Me the Source, 

Th' Eternal Source, of Life. Unendingly 

They glorify Me; seek Me; keep their vows 

Of reverence and love, with changeless faith 

Adoring Me. Yea, and those too adore, 

Who, offering sacrifice of wakened hearts, 

Have sense of one pervading Spirit's stress, 

One Force in every place, though manifold! 

I am the Sacrifice! I am the Prayer! 

I am the Funeral-Cake set for the dead! 

I am the healing herb! I am the ghee, 

The Mantra, and the flame, and that which burns! 

I am- of all this boundless Universe- 

The Father, Mother, Ancestor, and Guard! 

The end of Learning! That which purifies 

In lustral water! I am OM! I am 

Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Ved; 

The Way, the Fosterer, the Lord, the Judge, 

The Witness; the Abode, the Refuge-House, 

The Friend, the Fountain and the Sea of Life 

Which sends, and swallows up; Treasure of Worlds 

And Treasure-Chamber! Seed and Seed-Sower, 

Whence endless harvests spring! Sun's heat is mine; 

Heaven's rain is mine to grant or to withhold; 

Death am I, and Immortal Life I am, 

Arjuna! SAT and ASAT, Visible Life, 

And Life Invisible! 

Yea! those who learn 

The threefold Veds, who drink the Soma-wine, 

Purge sins, pay sacrifice- from Me they earn 

Passage to Swarga; where the meats divine 

  Of great gods feed them in high Indra's heaven. 

Yet they, when that prodigious joy is o'er, 

Paradise spent, and wage for merits given, 

Come to the world of death and change once more. 

  They had their recompense! they stored their treasure, 

Following the threefold Scripture and its writ; 

Who seeketh such gaineth the fleeting pleasure 

Of joy which comes and goes! I grant them it! 

  But to those blessed ones who worship Me, 

Turning not otherwhere, with minds set fast, 

I bring assurance of full bliss beyond. 

  Nay, and of hearts which follow other gods 

In simple faith, their prayers arise to me, 

O Kunti's Son! though they pray wrongfully; 

For I am the Receiver and the Lord 

Of every sacrifice, which these know not 

Rightfully; so they fall to earth again! 

Who follow gods go to their gods; who vow 

Their souls to Pitris go to Pitris; minds 

To evil Bhuts given o'er sink to the Bhuts; 

And whoso loveth Me cometh to Me. 

Whoso shall offer Me in faith and love 

A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water poured forth, 

That offering I accept, lovingly made 

With pious will. Whate'er thou doest, Prince! 

Eating or sacrificing, giving gifts, 

Praying or fasting, let it all be done 

For Me, as Mine. So shalt thou free thyself 

From Karmabandh, the chain which holdeth men 

To good and evil issue, so shalt come 

Safe unto Me- when thou art quit of flesh- 

By faith and abdication joined to Me! 

  I am alike for all! I know not hate, 

I know not favour! What is made is Mine! 

But them that worship Me with love, I love; 

They are in Me, and I in them! 

  Nay, Prince! 

If one of evil life turn in his thought 

Straightly to Me, count him amidst the good; 

He hath the high way chosen; he shall grow 

Righteous ere long; he shall attain that peace 

Which changes not. Thou Prince of India! 

Be certain none can perish, trusting Me! 

O Pritha's Son! whoso will turn to Me, 

Though they be born from the very womb of Sin, 

Woman or man; sprung of the Vaisya caste 

Or lowly disregarded Sudra,- all 

Plant foot upon the highest path; how then 

The holy Brahmans and My Royal Saints? 

Ah! ye who into this ill world are come- 

Fleeting and false- set your faith fast on Me! 

Fix heart and thought on Me! Adore Me! Bring 

Offerings to Me! Make Me prostrations! Make 

Me your supremest joy! and, undivided, 

Unto My rest your spirits shall be guided. 

HERE ENDETH CHAPTER IX OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Rajavidyarajaguhyayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by the Kingly Knowledge 

and the Kingly Mystery." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER X 

Of Religion by the Heavenly Perfections

Krishna. Hear farther yet, thou Long-Armed Lord! these latest 

words I say- 

Uttered to bring thee bliss and peace, who lovest Me alway- 

Not the great company of gods nor kingly Rishis know 

My Nature, Who have made the gods and Rishis long ago; 

He only knoweth- only he is free of sin, and wise, 

Who seeth Me, Lord of the Worlds, with faith-enlightened eyes, 

Unborn, undying, unbegun. Whatever Natures be 

To mortal men distributed, those natures spring from Me! 

Intellect, skill, enlightenment, endurance, self-control, 

Truthfulness, equability, and grief or joy of soul, 

And birth and death, and fearfulness, and fearlessness, and shame, 

And honour, and sweet harmlessness, and peace which is the same 

Whate'er befalls, and mirth, and tears, and piety and thrift, 

And wish to give, and will to help,- all cometh of My gift! 

The Seven Chief Saints, the Elders Four, the Lordly Manus set- 

Sharing My work- to rule the worlds, these too did I beget; 

And Rishis, Pitris, Manus, all, by one thought of My mind; 

Thence did arise, to fill this world, the races of mankind; 

Wherefrom who comprehends My Reign of mystic Majesty- 

That truth of truths- is thenceforth linked in faultless faith to 

Me: 

Yea! knowing Me the source of all, by Me all creatures wrought, 

The wise in spirit cleave to Me, into My Being brought; 

Hearts fixed on Me; breaths breathed to Me; praising Me, each to 

each, 

So have they happiness and peace, with pious thought and speech; 

And unto these- thus serving well, thus loving ceaselessly- 

I give a mind of perfect mood, whereby they draw to Me; 

And, all for love of them, within their darkened souls I dwell, 

And, with bright rays of wisdom's lamp, their ignorance dispel. 

Arjuna. Yes! Thou art Parabrahm! The High Abode! 

The Great Purification! Thou art God 

Eternal, All-creating, Holy, First, 

Without beginning! Lord of Lords and Gods! 

Declared by all the Saints- by Narada, 

Vyasa Asita, and Devalas; 

And here Thyself declaring unto me! 

What Thou hast said now know I to be truth, 

O Kesava! that neither gods nor men 

Nor demons comprehend Thy mystery 

Made manifest, Divinest! Thou Thyself 

Thyself alone dost know, Maker Supreme! 

Master of all the living! Lord of Gods! 

King of the Universe! To Thee alone 

Belongs to tell the heavenly excellence 

Of those perfections wherewith Thou dost fill 

These worlds of Thine; Pervading, Immanent! 

How shall I learn, Supremest Mystery! 

To know Thee, though I muse continually? 

Under what form of Thine unnumbered forms 

Mayst Thou be grasped? Ah! yet again recount, 

Clear and complete, Thy great appearances, 

The secrets of Thy Majesty and Might, 

Thou High Delight of Men! Never enough 

Can mine ears drink the Amrit of such words! 

Krishna. Hanta! So be it! Kuru Prince! I will to thee unfold 

Some portions of My Majesty, whose powers are manifold! 

I am the Spirit seated deep in every creature's heart; 

From Me they come; by Me they live; at My word they depart! 

Vishnu of the Adityas I am, those Lords of Light; 

Maritchi of the Maruts, the Kings of Storm and Blight; 

By day I gleam, the golden Sun of burning cloudless Noon; 

By Night, amid the asterisms I glide, the dappled Moon! 

Of Vedas I am Sama-Ved, of gods in Indra's Heaven 

Vasava; of the faculties to living beings given 

The mind which apprehends and thinks; of Rudras Sankara; 

Of Yakshas and of Rakshasas, Vittesh; and Pavaka 

Of Vasus, and of mountain-peaks Meru; Vrihaspati 

Know Me 'mid planetary Powers; 'mid Warriors heavenly 

Skanda; of all the water-floods the Sea which drinketh each, 

And Bhrigu of the holy Saints, and OM of sacred speech; 

Of prayers the prayer ye whisper; of hills Himila's snow, 

And Aswattha, the fig-tree, of all the trees that grow; 

Of the Devarshis, Narada; and Chitrarath of them 

That sing in Heaven, and Kapila of Munis, and the gem 

Of flying steeds, Uchchaisravas, from Amritwave which burst; 

Of elephants Airavata; of males the Best and First; 

Of weapons Heav'n's hot thunderbolt; of cows white Kamadhuk, 

From whose great milky udder-teats all hearts' desires are strook; 

Vasuki of the serpent-tribes, round Mandara entwined; 

And thousand-fanged Ananta, on whose broad coils reclined 

Leans Vishnu; and of water-things Varuna; Aryam 

Of Pitris, and, of those that judge, Yama the Judge I am; 

Of Daityas dread Prahlada; of what metes days and years, 

Time's self I am; of woodland-beasts- buffaloes, deers, and bears- 

The lordly-painted tiger; of birds the vast Garud, 

The whirlwind 'mid the winds; 'mid chiefs Rama with blood imbrued, 

Makar 'mid fishes of the sea, and Ganges 'mid the streams; 

Yea! First, and Last, and Centre of all which is or seems 

I am, Arjuna! Wisdom Supreme of what is wise, 

Words on the uttering lips I am, and eyesight of the eyes. 

And "A" of written characters, Dwandwa of knitted speech, 

And Endless Life, and boundless Love, whose power 

sustaineth each; 

And bitter Death which seizes all, and joyous sudden Birth, 

Which brings to light all beings that are to be on earth; 

And of the viewless virtues, Fame, Fortune, Song am I, 

And Memory, and Patience; and Craft, and Constancy: 

Of Vedic hymns the Vrihatsam, of metres Gayatri, 

Of months the Margasirsha, of all the seasons three 

The flower-wreathed Spring; in dicer's-play the conquering 

Double-Eight; 

The splendour of the splendid, and the greatness of the great, 

Victory I am, and Action! and the goodness of the good, 

And Vasudev of Vrishni's race, and of this Pandu brood 

Thyself!- Yea, my Arjuna! thyself; for thou art Mine! 

Of poets Usana, of saints Vyasa, sage divine; 

The policy of conquerors, the potency of kings, 

The great unbroken silence in learning's secret things; 

The lore of all the learned, the seed of all which springs. 

Living or lifeless, still or stirred, whatever beings be, 

None of them is in all the worlds, but it exists by Me! 

Nor tongue can tell, Arjuna! nor end of telling come 

Of these My boundless glories, whereof I teach thee some; 

For wheresoe'er is wondrous work, and majesty, and might, 

From Me hath all proceeded. Receive thou this aright! 

Yet how shouldst thou receive, O Prince! the vastness of this word? 

I, who am all, and made it all, abide its separate Lord! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER X OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Vibhuti Yog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by the Heavenly Perfections." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER XI 

Of the Manifesting of the One and Manifold

  Arjuna. This, for my soul's peace, have I heard from Thee, 

The unfolding of the Mystery Supreme 

Named Adhyatman; comprehending which, 

My darkness is dispelled; for now I know- 

O Lotus-eyed!- whence is the birth of men, 

And whence their death, and what the majesties 

Of Thine immortal rule. Fain would I see, 

As thou Thyself declar'st it, Sovereign Lord! 

The likeness of that glory of Thy Form 

Wholly revealed. O Thou Divinest One! 

If this can be, if I may bear the sight, 

Make Thyself visible, Lord of all prayers! 

Show me Thy very self, the Eternal God! 

Krishna. Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for thee 

Those hundred thousand thousand shapes that clothe my Mystery: 

I show thee all my semblances, infinite, rich, divine, 

My changeful hues, my countless forms. See! in this face of mine, 

Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Aswins, and Maruts; see 

Wonders unnumbered, Indian Prince! revealed to none save thee. 

Behold! this is the Universe!- Look! what is live and dead 

I gather all in one- in Me! Gaze, as thy lips have said 

On GOD, ETERNAL, VERY GOD! See ME! what thou prayest! 

  Thou canst not!- nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest! 

Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light! 

And, look! This is My glory, unveiled to mortal sight! 

Sanjaya. Then, O King! to God, so saying, 

Stood, to Pritha's Son displaying 

All the splendour, wonder, dread 

Of His vast Almighty-head. 

Out of countless eyes beholding, 

Out of countless mouths commanding, 

Countless mystic forms enfolding 

In one Form: supremely standing 

Countless radiant glories wearing, 

Countless heavenly weapons bearing, 

Crowned with garlands of star-clusters, 

Robed in garb of woven lustres, 

Breathing from His perfect Presence 

Breaths of every subtle essence 

Of all heavenly odours; shedding 

Blinding brilliance; overspreading- 

Boundless, beautiful- all spaces 

With His all-regarding faces; 

So He showed! If there should rise 

Suddenly within the skies 

Sunburst of a thousand suns 

Flooding earth with beams undeemed-of, 

Then might be that Holy One's 

Majesty and radiance dreamed of! 

  So did Pandu's Son behold 

All this universe enfold 

All its huge diversity 

Into one vast shape, and be 

Visible, and viewed, and blended 

In one Body- subtle, splendid, 

Nameless- th' All-comprehending 

God of Gods, the Never-Ending 

Deity! 

  But, sore amazed, 

Thrilled, o'erfilled, dazzled, and dazed, 

Arjuna knelt; and bowed his head, 

And clasped his palms; and cried, and said: 

Arjuna. Yea! I have seen! I see! 

Lord! all is wrapped in Thee! 

The gods are in Thy glorious frame! the creatures 

Of earth, and heaven, and hell 

In Thy Divine form dwell, 

And in Thy countenance shine all the features 

  Of Brahma, sitting lone 

Upon His lotus-throne; 

Of saints and sages, and the serpent races 

Ananta, Vasuki; 

Yea! mightiest Lord! I see 

Thy thousand thousand arms and breasts, and faces, 

  And eyes,- on every side 

Perfect, diversified; 

And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning, 

Nowhere a centre! Shifts- 

Wherever soul's gaze lifts- 

Thy central Self, all-wielding, and all-winning! 

  Infinite King! I see 

The anadem on Thee, 

The club, the shell, the discus; see Thee burning 

In beams insufferable, 

Lighting earth, heaven, and hell 

With brilliance blazing, glowing, flashing; turning 

  Darkness to dazzling day, 

Look I whichever way; 

Ah, Lord! I worship Thee, the Undivided, 

The Uttermost of thought, 

The Treasure-Palace wrought 

To hold the wealth of the worlds; the Shield provided 

  To shelter Virtue's laws; 

The Fount whence Life's stream draws 

All waters of all rivers of all being: 

The One Unborn, Unending: 

Unchanging and Unblending! 

With might and majesty, past thought, past seeing! 

  Silver of moon and gold 

Of sun are glories rolled 

From Thy great eyes; Thy visage, beaming tender 

Throughout the stars and skies, 

Doth to warm life surprise 

Thy Universe. The worlds are filled with wonder 

  Of Thy perfections! Space 

Star-sprinkled, and void place 

From pole to pole of the Blue, from bound to bound, 

Hath Thee in every spot, 

Thee, Thee!- Where Thou art not, 

O Holy, Marvellous Form! is nowhere found! 

  O Mystic, Awful One! 

At sight of Thee, made known, 

The Three Worlds quake; the lower gods draw nigh Thee; 

They fold their palms, and bow 

Body, and breast, and brow, 

And, whispering worship, laud and magnify Thee! 

  Rishis and Siddhas cry 

"Hail! Highest Majesty! 

From sage and singer breaks the hymn of glory 

In dulcet harmony, 

Sounding the praise of Thee; 

While countless companies take up the story, 

  Rudras, who ride the storms, 

Th' Adityas' shining forms, 

Vasus and Sadhyas, Viswas, Ushmapas; 

Maruts, and those great Twins 

The heavenly, fair, Aswins, 

Gandharvas, Rakshasas, Siddhas, and Asuras,- 

  These see Thee, and revere 

In sudden-stricken fear; 

Yea! the Worlds,- seeing Thee with form stupendous, 

With faces manifold, 

With eyes which all behold, 

Unnumbered eyes, vast arms, members tremendous, 

  Flanks, lit with sun and star, 

Feet planted near and far, 

Tushes of terror, mouths wrathful and tender;- 

The Three wide Worlds before Thee 

Adore, as I adore Thee, 

Quake, as I quake, to witness so much splendour! 

  I mark Thee strike the skies 

With front, in wondrous wise 

Huge, rainbow-painted, glittering; and thy mouth 

Opened, and orbs which see 

All things, whatever be 

In all Thy worlds, east, west, and north and south. 

  O Eyes of God! O Head! 

My strength of soul is fled, 

Gone is heart's force, rebuked is mind's desire! 

When I behold Thee so, 

With awful brows a-glow, 

With burning glance, and lips lighted by fire 

  Fierce as those flames which shall 

Consume, at close of all, 

Earth, Heaven! Ah me! I see no Earth and Heaven! 

Thee, Lord of Lords! I see, 

Thee only- only Thee! 

Now let Thy mercy unto me be given, 

  Thou Refuge of the World! 

Lo! to the cavern hurled 

Of Thy wide-opened throat, and lips white-tushed, 

I see our noblest ones, 

Great Dhritarashtra's sons, 

Bhishma, Drona, and Karna, caught and crushed! 

  The Kings and Chiefs drawn in, 

That gaping gorge within; 

The best of both these armies torn and riven! 

Between Thy jaws they lie 

Mangled full bloodily, 

Ground into dust and death! Like streams down-driven 

  With helpless haste, which go 

In headlong furious flow 

Straight to the gulfing deeps of th' unfilled ocean, 

So to that flaming cave 

Those heroes great and brave 

Pour, in unending streams, with helpless motion! 

  Like moths which in the night 

Flutter towards a light, 

Drawn to their fiery doom, flying and dying, 

So to their death still throng, 

Blind, dazzled, borne along 

Ceaselessly, all those multitudes, wild flying! 

  Thou, that hast fashioned men, 

Devourest them again, 

One with another, great and small, alike! 

The creatures whom Thou mak'st, 

With flaming jaws Thou tak'st, 

Lapping them up! Lord God! Thy terrors strike 

  From end to end of earth, 

Filling life full, from birth 

To death, with deadly, burning, lurid dread! 

Ah, Vishnu! make me know 

Why is Thy visage so? 

Who art Thou, feasting thus upon Thy dead? 

  Who? awful Deity! 

I bow myself to Thee, 

Namostu Te, Devavara! Prasid! 

O Mightiest Lord! rehearse 

Why hast Thou face so fierce? 

Whence doth this aspect horrible proceed? 

Krishna. Thou seest Me as Time who kills, 

Time who brings all to doom, 

The Slayer Time, Ancient of Days, come hither to consume; 

Excepting thee, of all these hosts of hostile chiefs arrayed, 

There stands not one shall leave alive the battlefield! Dismayed 

No longer be! Arise! obtain renown! destroy thy foes! 

Fight for the kingdom waiting thee when thou hast vanquished those. 

By Me they fall- not thee! the stroke of death is dealt them now, 

Even as they show thus gallantly; My instrument art thou! 

Strike, strong-armed Prince, at Drona! at Bhishma strike! deal 

death 

On Karna, Jyadratha; stay all their warlike breath! 

'Tis I who bid them perish! Thou wilt but slay the slain; 

Fight! they must fall, and thou must live, victor upon this plain! 

Sanjaya. Hearing mighty Keshav's word, 

Trembling that helmed Lord 

Clasped his lifted palms, and- praying 

Grace of Krishna- stood there, saying, 

With bowed brow and accents broken, 

These words, timorously spoken: 

Arjuna. Worthily, Lord of Might! 

The whole world hath delight 

In Thy surpassing power, obeying Thee; 

The Rakshasas, in dread 

At sight of Thee, are sped 

To all four quarters; and the company 

  Of Siddhas sound Thy name. 

How should they not proclaim 

Thy Majesties, Divinest, Mightiest? 

Thou Brahm, than Brahma greater! 

Thou Infinite Creator! 

Thou God of gods, Life's Dwelling-place and Rest. 

  Thou, of all souls the Soul! 

The Comprehending Whole! 

Of being formed, and formless being the Framer; 

O Utmost One! O Lord! 

Older than eld, Who stored 

The worlds with wealth of life! O Treasure-Claimer, 

  Who wottest all, and art 

Wisdom Thyself! O Part 

In all, and All; for all from Thee have risen 

Numberless now I see 

The aspects are of Thee! 

Vayu Thou art, and He who keeps the prison 

  Of Narak, Yama dark; 

And Agni's shining spark; 

Varuna's waves are Thy waves. Moon and starlight 

Are Thine! Prajapati 

Art Thou, and 'tis to Thee 

They knelt in worshipping the old world's far light, 

  The first of mortal men. 

Again, Thou God! again 

A thousand thousand times be magnified! 

Honour and worship be- 

Glory and praise,- to Thee 

Namo, Namaste, cried on every side; 

Cried here, above, below, 

Uttered when Thou dost go, 

Uttered where Thou dost come! Namo! we call; 

Namostu! God adored! 

Namostu! Nameless Lord 

Hail to Thee! Praise to Thee Thou One in all; 

  For Thou art All! Yea, Thou! 

Ah! if in anger now 

Thou shouldst remember I did think Thee Friend, 

Speaking with easy speech, 

As men use each to each; 

Did call Thee "Krishna," "Prince," nor comprehend 

  Thy hidden majesty, 

The might, the awe of Thee; 

Did, in my heedlessness, or in my love, 

On journey, or in jest, 

Or when we lay at rest, 

Sitting at council, straying in the grove, 

  Alone, or in the throng, 

Do Thee, most Holy! wrong, 

Be Thy grace granted for that witless sin 

For Thou art, now I know, 

Father of all below, 

Of all above, of all the worlds within 

  Guru of Gurus; more 

To reverence and adore 

Than all which is adorable and high! 

How, in the wide worlds three 

Should any equal be? 

Should any other share Thy Majesty? 

  Therefore, with body bent 

And reverent intent, 

I praise, and serve, and seek Thee, asking grace. 

As father to a son, 

As friend to friend, as one 

Who loveth to his lover, turn Thy face 

  In gentleness on me! 

Good is it I did see 

This unknown marvel of Thy Form! But fear 

Mingles with joy! Retake, 

Dear Lord! for pity's sake 

Thine earthly shape, which earthly eyes may bear! 

  Be merciful, and show 

The visage that I know; 

Let me regard Thee, as of yore, arrayed 

With disc and forehead-gem, 

With mace and anadem, 

Thou that sustainest all things! Undismayed 

  Let me once more behold 

The form I loved of old, 

Thou of the thousand arms and countless eyes! 

This frightened heart is fain 

To see restored again 

My Charioteer, in Krishna's kind disguise. 

  Krishna. Yea! thou hast seen, Arjuna! because I loved thee well, 

The secret countenance of Me, revealed by mystic spell, 

Shining, and wonderful, and majestic, manifold, 

Which none save thou in all the years had favour to behold; 

For not by Vedas cometh this, nor sacrifice, nor alms, 

Nor works well-done, nor penance long, nor prayers, nor chanted 

psalms, 

That mortal eyes should bear to view the Immortal Soul unclad, 

Prince of the Kurus! This was kept for thee alone! Be glad! 

Let no more trouble shake thy heart, because thine eyes have seen 

My terror with My glory. As I before have been 

So will I be again for thee; with lightened heart behold! 

Once more I am thy Krishna, the form thou knew'st of old! 

Sanjaya. These words to Arjuna spake 

Vasudev, and straight did take 

Back again the semblance dear 

Of the well-loved charioteer; 

Peace and joy it did restore 

When the Prince beheld once more 

Mighty BRAHMA'S form and face 

Clothed in Krishna's gentle grace. 

Arjuna. Now that I see come back, Janardana! 

This friendly human frame, my mind can think 

Calm thoughts once more; my heart beats still again! 

Krishna. Yea! it was wonderful and terrible 

To view me as thou didst, dear Prince! The gods 

Dread and desire continually to view! 

Yet not by Vedas, nor from sacrifice, 

Nor penance, nor gift-giving, nor with prayer 

Shall any so behold, as thou hast seen! 

Only by fullest service, perfect faith, 

And uttermost surrender am I known 

And seen, and entered into, Indian Prince! 

Who doeth all for Me; who findeth Me 

In all; adoreth always; loveth all 

Which I have made, and Me, for Love's sole end, 

That man, Arjuna! unto Me doth wend. 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XI OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Viswarupadarsanam," 

Or "The Book of the Manifesting of the 

One and Manifold." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER XII 

Of the Religion of Faith

  Arjuna. Lord! of the men who serve Thee- true in heart- 

As God revealed; and of the men who serve, 

Worshipping Thee Unrevealed, Unbodied, Far, 

Which take the better way of faith and life? 

Krishna. Whoever serve Me- as I show Myself- 

Constantly true, in full devotion fixed, 

Those hold I very holy. But who serve- 

Worshipping Me The One, The Invisible, 

The Unrevealed, Unnamed, Unthinkable, 

Uttermost, All-pervading, Highest, Sure- 

Who thus adore Me, mastering their sense, 

Of one set mind to all, glad in all good, 

These blessed souls come unto Me. 

Yet, hard 

The travail is for such as bend their minds 

To reach th' Unmanifest. That viewless path 

Shall scarce be trod by man bearing the flesh! 

But whereso any doeth all his deeds 

Renouncing self for Me, full of Me, fixed 

To serve only the Highest, night and day 

Musing on Me- him will I swiftly lift 

Forth from life's ocean of distress and death, 

Whose soul clings fast to Me. Cling thou to Me! 

Clasp Me with heart and mind! so shalt thou dwell 

Surely with Me on high. But if thy thought 

Droops from such height; if thou be'st weak to set 

Body and soul upon Me constantly, 

Despair not! give Me lower service! I seek 

To reach Me, worshipping with steadfast will; 

And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly, 

Work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me! 

For he that laboureth right for love of Me 

Shall finally attain! But, if in this 

Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! find 

Refuge in Me! let fruits of labour go, 

Renouncing hope for Me, with lowliest heart, 

So shalt thou come; for, though to know is more 

Than diligence, yet worship better is 

Than knowing, and renouncing better still. 

Near to renunciation- very near- 

Dwelleth Eternal Peace! 

  Who hateth nought 

Of all which lives, living himself benign, 

Compassionate, from arrogance exempt, 

Exempt from love of self, unchangeable 

By good or ill; patient, contented, firm 

In faith, mastering himself, true to his word, 

Seeking Me, heart and soul; vowed unto Me,- 

That man I love! Who troubleth not his kind, 

And is not troubled by them; clear of wrath, 

Living too high for gladness, grief, or fear, 

That man I love! Who, dwelling quiet-eyed, 

Stainless, serene, well-balanced, unperplexed, 

Working with Me, yet from all works detached, 

That man I love! Who, fixed in faith on Me, 

Dotes upon none, scorns none; rejoices not, 

And grieves not, letting good or evil hap 

Light when it will, and when it will depart, 

That man I love! Who, unto friend and foe 

Keeping an equal heart, with equal mind 

Bears shame and glory; with an equal peace 

Takes heat and cold, pleasure and pain; abides 

Quit of desires, hears praise or calumny 

In passionless restraint, unmoved by each; 

Linked by no ties to earth, steadfast in Me, 

That man I love! But most of all I love 

Those happy ones to whom 'tis life to live 

In single fervid faith and love unseeing, 

Drinking the blessed Amrit of my Being! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XII OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Bhaktiyog," 

Or "The Book of the Religion of Faith." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER XIII 

Of Religion by Separation of Matter and Spirit

  Arjuna. Now would I hear, O gracious Kesava! 

Of Life which seems, and Soul beyond, which sees, 

And what it is we know- or think to know. 

Krishna. Yea! Son of Kunti! for this flesh ye see 

Is Kshetra, is the field where Life disports; 

And that which views and knows it is the Soul, 

Kshetrajna. In all "fields," thou Indian prince! 

I am Kshetrajna. I am what surveys! 

Only that knowledge knows which knows the known 

By the knower! What it is, that "field" of life, 

What qualities it hath, and whence it is, 

And why it changeth, and the faculty 

That wotteth it, the mightiness of this, 

And how it wotteth- hear these things from Me! 

  The elements, the conscious life, the mind, 

The unseen vital force, the nine strange gates 

Of the body, and the five domains of sense; 

Desire, dislike, pleasure and pain, and thought 

Deep-woven, and persistency of being; 

These all are wrought on Matter by the Soul! 

  Humbleness, truthfulness, and harmlessness, 

Patience and honour, reverence for the wise. 

Purity, constancy, control of self, 

Contempt of sense-delights, self-sacrifice, 

Perception of the certitude of ill 

In birth, death, age, disease, suffering, and sin; 

Detachment, lightly holding unto home, 

Children, and wife, and all that bindeth men; 

An ever-tranquil heart in fortunes good 

And fortunes evil, with a will set firm 

To worship Me- Me only! ceasing not; 

Loving all solitudes, and shunning noise 

Of foolish crowds; endeavours resolute 

To reach perception of the Utmost Soul, 

And grace to understand what gain it were 

So to attain,- this is true Wisdom, Prince! 

And what is otherwise is ignorance! 

  Now will I speak of knowledge best to know- 

That Truth which giveth man Amrit to drink, 

The Truth of HIM, the Para-Brahm, the All, 

The Uncreated; not Asat, nor Sat, 

Not Form, nor the Unformed; yet both, and more;- 

Whose hands are everywhere, and everywhere 

Planted His feet, and everywhere His eyes 

Beholding, and His ears in every place 

Hearing, and all His faces everywhere 

Enlightening and encompassing His worlds. 

Glorified in the senses He hath given, 

Yet beyond sense He is; sustaining all, 

Yet dwells He unattached: of forms and modes 

Master, yet neither form nor mode hath He; 

He is within all beings- and without- 

Motionless, yet still moving; not discerned 

For subtlety of instant presence; close 

To all, to each; yet measurelessly far! 

Not manifold, and yet subsisting still 

In all which lives; for ever to be known 

As the Sustainer, yet, at the End of Times, 

He maketh all to end- and re-creates. 

The Light of Lights He is, in the heart of the Dark 

Shining eternally. Wisdom He is 

And Wisdom's way, and Guide of all the wise, 

Planted in every heart. 

  So have I told 

Of Life's stuff, and the moulding, and the lore 

To comprehend. Whoso, adoring Me, 

Perceiveth this, shall surely come to Me! 

  Know thou that Nature and the Spirit both 

Have no beginning! Know that qualities 

And changes of them are by Nature wrought; 

That Nature puts to work the acting frame, 

But Spirit doth inform it, and so cause 

Feeling of pain and pleasure. Spirit, linked 

To moulded matter, entereth into bond 

With qualities by Nature framed, and, thus 

Married to matter, breeds the birth again 

In good or evil yonis. 

Yet is this- 

Yea! in its bodily prison!- Spirit pure, 

Spirit supreme; surveying, governing, 

Guarding, possessing; Lord and Master still 

PURUSHA, Ultimate, One Soul with Me. 

  Whoso thus knows himself, and knows his soul 

PURUSHA, working through the qualities 

With Nature's modes, the light hath come for him! 

Whatever flesh he bears, never again 

Shall he take on its load. Some few there be 

By meditation find the Soul in Self 

Self-schooled; and some by long philosophy 

And holy life reach thither; some by works: 

Some, never so attaining, hear of light 

From other lips, and seize, and cleave to it 

Worshipping; yea! and those- to teaching true- 

Overpass Death! 

Wherever, Indian Prince! 

Life is- of moving things, or things unmoved, 

Plant or still seed- know, what is there hath grown 

By bond of Matter and of Spirit: Know 

He sees indeed who sees in all alike 

The living, lordly Soul; the Soul Supreme, 

Imperishable amid the Perishing: 

For, whoso thus beholds, in every place, 

In every form, the same, one, Living Life, 

Doth no more wrongfulness unto himself, 

But goes the highest road which brings to bliss. 

Seeing, he sees, indeed, who sees that works 

Are Nature's wont, for Soul to practise by 

Acting, yet not the agent; sees the mass 

Of separate living things- each of its kind- 

Issue from One, and blend again to One: 

Then hath he BRAHMA, he attains! 

O Prince! 

That Ultimate, High Spirit, Uncreate, 

Unqualified, even when it entereth flesh 

Taketh no stain of acts, worketh in nought! 

Like to th' ethereal air, pervading all, 

Which, for sheer subtlety, avoideth taint, 

The subtle Soul sits everywhere, unstained: 

Like to the light of the all-piercing sun 

[Which is not changed by aught it shines upon,] 

The Soul's light shineth pure in every place; 

And they who, by such eye of wisdom, see 

How Matter, and what deals with it, divide; 

And how the Spirit and the flesh have strife, 

Those wise ones go the way which leads to Life! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XIII OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Kshetrakshetrajnavibhagayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by Separation of Matter and Spirit." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER XIV 

Of Religion by Separation from the Qualities

  Krishna. Yet farther will I open unto thee 

This wisdom of all wisdoms, uttermost, 

The which possessing, all My saints have passed 

To perfectness. On such high verities 

Reliant, rising into fellowship 

With Me, they are not born again at birth 

Of Kalpas, nor at Pralyas suffer change! 

  This Universe the womb is where I plant 

Seed of all lives! Thence, Prince of India, comes 

Birth to all beings! Whoso, Kunti's Son! 

Mothers each mortal form, Brahma conceives, 

And I am He that fathers, sending seed! 

  Sattwan, Raias, and Tamas, so are named 

The qualities of Nature, "Soothfastness," 

"Passion," and "Ignorance." These three bind down 

The changeless Spirit in the changeful flesh. 

Whereof sweet "Soothfastness," by purity 

Living unsullied and enlightened, binds 

The sinless Soul to happiness and truth; 

And Passion, being kin to appetite, 

And breeding impulse and propensity, 

Binds the embodied Soul, O Kunti's Son! 

By tie of works. But Ignorance, begot 

Of Darkness, blinding mortal men, binds down 

Their souls to stupor, sloth, and drowsiness. 

Yea, Prince of India! Soothfastness binds souls 

In pleasant wise to flesh; and Passion binds 

By toilsome strain; but Ignorance, which blots 

The beams of wisdom, binds the soul to sloth. 

Passion and Ignorance, once overcome, 

Leave Soothfastness, O Bharata! Where this 

With Ignorance are absent, Passion rules; 

And Ignorance in hearts not good nor quick. 

When at all gateways of the Body shines 

The Lamp of Knowledge, then may one see well 

Soothfastness settled in that city reigns; 

Where longing is, and ardour, and unrest, 

Impulse to strive and gain, and avarice, 

Those spring from Passion- Prince!- engrained; and where 

Darkness and dulness, sloth and stupor are, 

'Tis Ignorance hath caused them, Kuru Chief! 

  Moreover, when a soul departeth, fixed 

In Soothfastness, it goeth to the place- 

Perfect and pure- of those that know all Truth. 

If it departeth in set habitude 

Of Impulse, it shall pass into the world 

Of spirits tied to works; and, if it dies 

In hardened Ignorance, that blinded soul 

Is born anew in some unlighted womb. 

  The fruit of Soothfastness is true and sweet; 

The fruit of lusts is pain and toil; the fruit 

Of Ignorance is deeper darkness. Yea! 

For Light brings light, and Passion ache to have; 

And gloom, bewilderments, and ignorance 

Grow forth from Ignorance. Those of the first 

Rise ever higher; those of the second mode 

Take a mid place; the darkened souls sink back 

To lower deeps, loaded with witlessness! 

  When, watching life, the living man perceives 

The only actors are the Qualities, 

And knows what rules beyond the Qualities, 

Then is he come nigh unto Me! 

The Soul, 

Thus passing forth from the Three Qualities- 

Whereby arise all bodies- overcomes 

Birth, Death, Sorrow, and Age; and drinketh deep 

The undying wine of Amrit. 

Arjuna. Oh, my Lord! 

Which be the signs to know him that hath gone 

Past the Three Modes? How liveth he? What way 

Leadeth him safe beyond the threefold Modes? 

Krishna. He who with equanimity surveys 

Lustre of goodness, strife of passion, sloth 

Of ignorance, not angry if they are, 

Not wishful when they are not: he who sits 

A sojourner and stranger in their midst 

Unruffled, standing off, saying- serene- 

When troubles break, "These be the Qualities! 

He unto whom- self-centred- grief and joy 

Sound as one word; to whose deep-seeing eyes 

The clod, the marble, and the gold are one; 

Whose equal heart holds the same gentleness 

For lovely and unlovely things, firm-set, 

Well-pleased in praise and dispraise; satisfied 

With honour or dishonour; unto friends 

And unto foes alike in tolerance; 

Detached from undertakings,- he is named 

Surmounter of the Qualities! 

  And such- 

With single, fervent faith adoring Me, 

Passing beyond the Qualities, conforms 

To Brahma, and attains Me! 

  For I am 

That whereof Brahma is the likeness! Mine 

The Amrit is; and Immortality 

Is mine; and mine perfect Felicity! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XIV OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Gunatrayavibhagayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by Separation from 

the Qualities." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER XV 

Of Religion by Attaining the Supreme

  Krishna. Men call the Aswattha,- the Banyan-tree,- 

Which hath its boughs beneath, its roots above,- 

The ever-holy tree. Yea! for its leaves 

Are green and waving hymns which whisper Truth! 

Who knows the Aswattha, knows Veds, and all. 

  Its branches shoot to heaven and sink to earth, 

Even as the deeds of men, which take their birth 

From qualities: its silver sprays and blooms, 

And all the eager verdure of its girth, 

Leap to quick life at kiss of sun and air, 

As men's lives quicken to the temptings fair 

Of wooing sense: its hanging rootlets seek 

The soil beneath, helping to hold it there, 

  As actions wrought amid this world of men 

Bind them by ever-tightening bonds again. 

If ye knew well the teaching of the Tree, 

What its shape saith; and whence it springs; and, then 

  How it must end, and all the ills of it, 

The axe of sharp Detachment ye would whet, 

And cleave the clinging snaky roots, and lay 

This Aswattha of sense-life low,- to set 

  New growths upspringing to that happier sky,- 

Which they who reach shall have no day to die, 

Nor fade away, nor fall- to Him, I mean, 

FATHER and FIRST, Who made the mystery 

  Of old Creation; for to Him come they 

From passion and from dreams who break away; 

Who part the bonds constraining them to flesh, 

And,- Him, the Highest, worshipping alway- 

  No longer grow at mercy of what breeze 

Of summer pleasure stirs the sleeping trees, 

What blast of tempest tears them, bough and stem: 

To the eternal world pass such as these! 

  Another Sun gleams there! another Moon! 

Another Light,- not Dusk, nor Dawn, nor Noon- 

Which they who once behold return no more; 

They have attained My rest, life's Utmost boon! 

  When, in this world of manifested life, 

The undying Spirit, setting forth from Me, 

Taketh on form, it draweth to itself 

From Being's storehouse,- which containeth all,- 

Senses and intellect. The Sovereign Soul 

Thus entering the flesh, or quitting it, 

Gathers these up, as the wind gathers scents, 

Blowing above the flower.-beds. Ear and Eye, 

And Touch and Taste, and Smelling, these it takes,- 

Yea, and a sentient mind;- linking itself 

To sense-things so. 

The unenlightened ones 

Mark not that Spirit when he goes or comes, 

Nor when he takes his pleasure in the form, 

Conjoined with qualities; but those see plain 

Who have the eyes to see. Holy souls see 

Which strive thereto. Enlightened, they perceive 

That Spirit in themselves; but foolish ones, 

Even though they strive, discern not, having hearts 

Unkindled, ill-informed! 

Know, too, from Me 

Shineth the gathered glory of the suns 

Which lighten all the world: from Me the moons 

Draw silvery beams, and fire fierce loveliness. 

I penetrate the clay, and lend all shapes 

Their living force; I glide into the plant- 

Root, leaf, and bloom- to make the woodlands green 

With springing sap. Becoming vital warmth, 

I glow in glad, respiring frames, and pass, 

With outward and with inward breath, to feed 

The body by all meats. 

For in this world 

Being is twofold: the Divided, one; 

The Undivided, one. All things that live 

Are "the Divided." That which sits apart, 

"The Undivided." 

Higher still is He, 

The Highest, holding all, whose Name is LORD, 

The Eternal, Sovereign, First! Who fills all worlds, 

Sustaining them. And- dwelling thus beyond 

Divided Being and Undivided- I 

Am called of men and Vedas, Life Supreme, 

The PURUSHOTTAMA. 

Who knows Me thus, 

With mind unclouded, knoweth all, dear Prince! 

And with his whole soul ever worshippeth Me. 

  Now is the sacred, secret Mystery 

Declared to thee! Who comprehendeth this 

Hath wisdom! He is quit of works in bliss! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XV OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Purushottamapraptiyog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by Attaining the Supreme." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER XVI 

Of the Separateness of the Divine and the Undivine

  Krishna. Fearlessness, singleness of soul, the will 

Always to strive for wisdom; opened hand 

And governed appetites; and piety, 

And love of lonely study; humbleness, 

Uprightness, heed to injure nought which lives, 

Truthfulness, slowness unto wrath, a mind 

That lightly letteth go what others prize; 

And equanimity, and charity 

Which spieth no man's faults; and tenderness 

Towards all that suffer; a contented heart, 

Fluttered by no desires; a bearing mild, 

Modest, and grave, with manhood nobly mixed, 

With patience, fortitude, and purity; 

An unrevengeful spirit, never given 

To rate itself too high;- such be the signs, 

O Indian Prince! of him whose feet are set 

On that fair path which leads to heavenly birth! 

  Deceitfulness, and arrogance, and pride, 

Quickness to anger, harsh and evil speech, 

And ignorance, to its own darkness blind,- 

These be the signs, My Prince! of him whose birth 

Is fated for the regions of the vile. 

  The Heavenly Birth brings to deliverance, 

So should'st thou know! The birth with Asuras 

Brings into bondage. Be thou joyous, Prince! 

Whose lot is set apart for heavenly Birth. 

  Two stamps there are marked on all living men, 

Divine and Undivine; I spake to thee 

By what marks thou shouldst know the Heavenly Man, 

Hear from me now of the Unheavenly! 

  They comprehend not, the Unheavenly, 

How Souls go forth from Me; nor how they come 

Back unto Me: nor is there Truth in these, 

Nor purity, nor rule of Life. "This world 

Hath not a Law, nor Order, nor a Lord," 

So say they: "nor hath risen up by Cause 

Following on Cause, in perfect purposing, 

But is none other than a House of Lust." 

And, this thing thinking, all those ruined ones- 

Of little wit, dark-minded- give themselves 

To evil deeds, the curses of their kind. 

Surrendered to desires insatiable, 

Full of deceitfulness, folly, and pride, 

In blindness cleaving to their errors, caught 

Into the sinful course, they trust this lie 

As it were true- this lie which leads to death- 

Finding in Pleasure all the good which is, 

And crying "Here it finisheth!" 

  Ensnared 

In nooses of a hundred idle hopes, 

Slaves to their passion and their wrath, they buy 

Wealth with base deeds, to glut hot appetites; 

"Thus much, to-day," they say, "we gained! thereby 

Such and such wish of heart shall have its fill; 

And this is ours! and th' other shall be ours! 

To-day we slew a foe, and we will slay 

Our other enemy to-morrow! Look! 

Are we not lords? Make we not goodly cheer? 

Is not our fortune famous, brave, and great? 

Rich are we, proudly born! What other men 

Live like to us? Kill, then, for sacrifice! 

Cast largesse, and be merry!" So they speak 

Darkened by ignorance; and so they fall- 

Tossed to and fro with projects, tricked, and bound 

In net of black delusion, lost in lusts- 

Down to foul Naraka. Conceited, fond, 

Stubborn and proud, dead-drunken with the wine 

Of wealth, and reckless, all their offerings 

Have but a show of reverence, being not made 

In piety of ancient faith. Thus vowed 

To self-hood, force, insolence, feasting, wrath, 

These My blasphemers, in the forms they wear 

And in the forms they breed, my foemen are, 

Hateful and hating; cruel, evil, vile, 

Lowest and least of men, whom I cast down 

Again, and yet again, at end of lives, 

Into some devilish womb, whence- birth by birth- 

The devilish wombs re-spawn them, all beguiled; 

And, till they find and worship Me, sweet Prince! 

Tread they that Nether Road. 

  The Doors of Hell 

Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass,- 

The door of Lust, the door of Wrath, the door 

Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three! 

He who shall turn aside from entering 

All those three gates of Narak, wendeth straight 

To find his peace, and comes to Swarga's gate. 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XVI OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Daivasarasaupadwibhagayog," 

Or "The Book of the Separateness of the 

Divine and Undivine." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER XVII 

Of Religion by the Threefold Kinds of Faith

  Arjuna. If men forsake the holy ordinance, 

Heedless of Shastras, yet keep faith at heart 

And worship, what shall be the state of those, 

Great Krishna! Sattwan, Rajas, Tamas? Say! 

Krishna. Threefold the faith is of mankind, and springs 

From those three qualities,- becoming "true," 

Or "passion-stained," or "dark," as thou shalt hear! 

  The faith of each believer, Indian Prince! 

Conforms itself to what he truly is. 

Where thou shalt see a worshipper, that one 

To what he worships lives assimilate, 

[Such as the shrine, so is the votary,] 

The "soothfast" souls adore true gods; the souls 

Obeying Rajas worship Rakshasas 

Or Yakshas; and the men of Darkness pray 

To Pretas and to Bhutas. Yea, and those 

Who practise bitter penance, not enjoined 

By rightful rule- penance which hath its root 

In self-sufficient, proud hypocrisies- 

Those men, passion-beset, violent, wild, 

Torturing- the witless ones- My elements 

Shut in fair company within their flesh, 

(Nay, Me myself, present within the flesh!) 

Know them to devils devoted, not to Heaven! 

For like as foods are threefold for mankind 

In nourishing, so is there threefold way 

Of worship, abstinence, and almsgiving! 

Hear this of Me! there is a food which brings 

Force, substance, strength, and health, and joy to live, 

Being well-seasoned, cordial, comforting, 

The "Soothfast" meat. And there be foods which bring 

Aches and unrests, and burning blood, and grief 

Being too biting, heating, salt, and sharp, 

And therefore craved by too strong appetite. 

And there is foul food- kept from over-night, 

Savourless, filthy, which the foul will eat, 

A feast of rottenness, meet for the lips 

Of such as love the "Darkness." 

  Thus with rites;- 

A sacrifice not for rewardment made, 

Offered in rightful wise, when he who vows 

Sayeth, with heart devout, "This I should do! 

Is "Soothfast" rite. But sacrifice for gain, 

Offered for good repute, be sure that this, 

O Best of Bharatas! is Rajas-rite, 

With stamp of "passion." And a sacrifice 

Offered against the laws, with no due dole 

Of food-giving, with no accompaniment 

Of hallowed hymn, nor largesse to the priests, 

In faithless celebration, call it vile, 

The deed of "Darkness!"- lost! 

Worship of gods 

Meriting worship; lowly reverence 

Of Twice-borns, Teachers, Elders; Purity, 

Rectitude, and the Brahmacharya's vow, 

And not to injure any helpless thing,- 

These make a true religiousness of Act. 

  Words causing no man woe, words ever true, 

Gentle and pleasing words, and those ye say 

In murmured reading of a Sacred Writ,- 

These make the true religiousness of Speech. 

  Serenity of soul, benignity, 

Sway of the silent Spirit, constant stress 

To sanctify the Nature,- these things make 

Good rite, and true religiousness of Mind. 

  Such threefold faith, in highest piety 

Kept, with no hope of gain, by hearts devote 

Is perfect work of Sattwan, true belief. 

  Religion shown in act of proud display 

To win good entertainment, worship, fame, 

Such- say I- is of Rajas, rash and vain. 

  Religion followed by a witless will 

To torture self, or come at power to hurt 

Another,- 'tis of Tamas, dark and ill. 

  The gift lovingly given, when one shall say 

"Now must I gladly give!" when he who takes 

Can render nothing back; made in due place, 

Due time, and to a meet recipient, 

Is gift of Sattwan, fair and profitable. 

  The gift selfishly given, where to receive 

Is hoped again, or when some end is sought, 

Or where the gift is proffered with a grudge, 

This is of Rajas, stained with impulse, ill. 

  The gift churlishly flung, at evil time, 

In wrongful place, to base recipient, 

Made in disdain or harsh unkindliness, 

Is gift of Tamas, dark; it doth not bless! 

  HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XVII OF THE 

BHAGAVAD-GITA, 

Entitled "Sraddhatrayavibhagayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by the Threefold 

Kinds of Faith." 

  ==============================================

  CHAPTER XVIII 

Of Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation

  Arjuna. Fain would I better know, Thou Glorious One! 

The very truth- Heart's Lord!- of Sannyas, 

Abstention; and Renunciation, Lord! 

Tyaga; and what separates these twain! 

Krishna. The poets rightly teach that Sannyas 

Is the foregoing of all acts which spring 

Out of desire; and their wisest say 

Tyaga is renouncing fruit of acts. 

  There be among the saints some who have held 

All action sinful, and to be renounced; 

And some who answer, "Nay! the goodly acts- 

As worship, penance, alms- must be performed!" 

Hear now My sentence, Best of Bharatas! 

  'Tis well set forth, O Chaser of thy Foes! 

Renunciation is of threefold form, 

And Worship, Penance, Alms, not to be stayed; 

Nay, to be gladly done; for all those three 

Are purifying waters for true souls! 

  Yet must be practised even those high works 

In yielding up attachment, and all fruit 

Produced by works. This is My judgment, Prince! 

This My insuperable and fixed decree! 

  Abstaining from a work by right prescribed 

Never is meet! So to abstain doth spring 

From "Darkness," and Delusion teacheth it. 

Abstaining from a work grievous to flesh, 

When one saith "'Tis unpleasing!" this is null! 

Such an one acts from "passion;" nought of gain 

Wins his Renunciation! But, Arjun! 

Abstaining from attachment to the work, 

Abstaining from rewardment in the work, 

While yet one doeth it full faithfully, 

Saying, "'Tis right to do!" that is "true" act 

And abstinence! Who doeth duties so, 

Unvexed if his work fail, if it succeed 

Unflattered, in his own heart justified, 

Quit of debates and doubts, his is "true" act: 

For, being in the body, none may stand 

Wholly aloof from act; yet, who abstains 

From profit of his acts is abstinent. 

  The fruit of labours, in the fives to come, 

Is threefold for all men,- Desirable, 

And Undesirable, and mixed of both; 

But no fruit is at all where no work was. 

  Hear from me, Long-armed Lord! the makings five 

Which go to every act, in Sankhya taught 

As necessary. First the force; and then 

The agent; next, the various instruments; 

Fourth, the especial effort; fifth, the God. 

What work soever any mortal doth 

Of body, mind, or speech, evil or good, 

By these five doth he that. Which being thus, 

Whoso, for lack of knowledge, seeth himself 

As the sole actor, knoweth nought at all 

And seeth nought. Therefore, I say, if one- 

Holding aloof from self- with unstained mind 

Should slay all yonder host, being bid to slay, 

He doth not slay; he is not bound thereby! 

  Knowledge, the thing known, and the mind which knows, 

These make the threefold starting-ground of act. 

The act, the actor, and the instrument, 

These make the threefold total of the deed. 

But knowledge, agent, act, are differenced 

By three dividing qualities. Hear now 

Which be the qualities dividing them. 

  There is "true" Knowledge. Learn thou it is this: 

To see one changeless Life in all the Lives, 

And in the Separate, One Inseparable. 

There is imperfect Knowledge: that which sees 

The separate existences apart, 

And, being separated, holds them real. 

There is false Knowledge: that which blindly clings 

To one as if 'twere all, seeking no Cause, 

Deprived of light, narrow, and dull, and "dark." 

  There is "right" Action: that which- being enjoined- 

Is wrought without attachment, passionlessly, 

For duty, not for love, nor hate, nor gain. 

There is "vain" Action: that which men pursue 

Aching to satisfy desires, impelled 

By sense of self, with all-absorbing stress: 

This is of Rajas- passionate and vain. 

There is "dark" Action: when one doth a thing 

Heedless of issues, heedless of the hurt 

Or wrong for others, heedless if he harm 

His own soul- 'tis of Tamas, black and bad! 

  There is the "rightful" doer. He who acts 

Free from self-seeking, humble, resolute, 

Steadfast, in good or evil hap the same, 

Content to do aright- he "truly" acts. 

There is th' "impassioned" doer. He that works 

From impulse, seeking profit, rude and bold 

To overcome, unchastened; slave by turns 

Of sorrow and of joy: of Rajas he! 

And there be evil doers; loose of heart, 

Low-minded, stubborn, fraudulent, remiss, 

Dull, slow, despondent- children of the "dark." 

  Hear, too, of Intellect and Steadfastness 

The threefold separation, Conqueror-Prince! 

How these are set apart by Qualities. 

  Good is the Intellect which comprehends 

The coming forth and going back of life, 

What must be done, and what must not be done, 

What should be feared, and what should not be feared, 

What binds and what emancipates the soul: 

That is of Sattwan, Prince! of "soothfastness." 

Marred is the Intellect which, knowing right 

And knowing wrong, and what is well to do 

And what must not be done, yet understands 

Nought with firm mind, nor as the calm truth is: 

This is of Rajas, Prince! and "passionate!" 

Evil is Intellect which, wrapped in gloom, 

Looks upon wrong as right, and sees all things 

Contrariwise of Truth. O Pritha's Son! 

That is of Tamas, "dark" and desperate! 

  Good is the steadfastness whereby a man 

Masters his beats of heart, his very breath 

Of life, the action of his senses; fixed 

In never-shaken faith and piety: 

That is of Sattwan, Prince! "soothfast" and fair! 

Stained is the steadfastness whereby a man 

Holds to his duty, purpose, effort, end, 

For life's sake, and the love of goods to gain, 

Arjuna! 'tis of Raias, passion-stamped! 

Sad is the steadfastness wherewith the fool 

Cleaves to his sloth, his sorrow, and his fears, 

His folly and despair. This- Pritha's Son!- 

Is born of Tamas, "dark" and miserable! 

  Hear further, Chief of Bharatas! from Me 

The threefold kinds of Pleasure which there be. 

  Good Pleasure is the pleasure that endures, 

Banishing pain for aye; bitter at first 

As poison to the soul, but afterward 

Sweet as the taste of Amrit. Drink of that! 

It springeth in the Spirit's deep content. 

And painful Pleasure springeth from the bond 

Between the senses and the sense-world. Sweet 

As Amrit is its first taste, but its last 

Bitter as poison. 'Tis of Rajas, Prince! 

And foul and "dark" the Pleasure is which springs 

From sloth and sin and foolishness; at first 

And at the last, and all the way of life 

The soul bewildering. 'Tis of Tamas, Prince! 

  For nothing lives on earth, nor 'midst the gods 

In utmost heaven, but hath its being bound 

With these three Qualities, by Nature framed. 

  The work of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, 

And Sudras, O thou Slayer of thy Foes! 

Is fixed by reason of the Qualities 

Planted in each: 

A Brahman's virtues, Prince 

Born of his nature, are serenity, 

Self-mastery, religion, purity, 

Patience, uprightness, learning, and to know 

The truth of things which be. A Kshatriya's pride, 

Born of his nature, lives in valour, fire, 

Constancy, skilfulness, spirit in fight, 

And open-handedness and noble mien, 

As of a lord of men. A Vaisya's task, 

Born with his nature, is to till the ground, 

Tend cattle, venture trade. A Sudra's state, 

Suiting his nature, is to minister. 

  Whoso performeth- diligent, content- 

The work allotted him, whate'er it be, 

Lays hold of perfectness! Hear how a man 

Findeth perfection, being so content: 

He findeth it through worship- wrought by work- 

Of HIM that is the Source of all which lives, 

Of HIM by Whom the universe was stretched. 

  Better thine own work is, though done with fault, 

Than doing others' work, ev'n excellently. 

He shall not fall in sin who fronts the task 

Set him by Nature's hand! Let no man leave 

His natural duty, Prince! though it bear blame! 

For every work hath blame, as every flame 

Is wrapped in smoke! Only that man attains 

Perfect surcease of work whose work was wrought 

With mind unfettered, soul wholly subdued, 

Desires for ever dead, results renounced. 

  Learn from me, Son of Kunti! also this, 

How one, attaining perfect peace, attains 

BRAHM, the supreme, the highest height of all! 

  Devoted- with a heart grown pure, restrained 

In lordly self-control, forgoing wiles 

Of song and senses, freed from love and hate, 

Dwelling 'mid solitudes, in diet spare, 

With body, speech, and will tamed to obey, 

Ever to holy meditation vowed, 

From passions liberate, quit of the Self, 

Of arrogance, impatience, anger, pride; 

Freed from surroundings, quiet, lacking nought- 

Such an one grows to oneness with the BRAHM; 

Such an one, growing one with BRAHM, serene, 

Sorrows no more, desires no more; his soul, 

Equally loving all that lives, loves well 

Me, Who have made them, and attains to Me. 

By this same love and worship doth he know 

Me as I am, how high and wonderful, 

And knowing, straightway enters into Me. 

And whatsoever deeds he doeth- fixed 

In Me, as in his refuge- he hath won 

For ever and for ever by My grace 

Th' Eternal Rest! So win thou! In thy thoughts 

Do all thou dost for Me! Renounce for Me! 

Sacrifice heart and mind and will to Me! 

Live in the faith of Me! In faith of Me 

All dangers thou shalt vanquish, by My grace; 

But, trusting to thyself and heeding not, 

Thou can'st but perish! If this day thou say'st, 

Relying on thyself, "I will not fight!" 

Vain will the purpose prove! thy qualities 

Would spur thee to the war. What thou dost shun, 

Misled by fair illusions, thou wouldst seek 

Against thy will, when the task comes to thee 

Waking the promptings in thy nature set. 

There lives a Master in the hearts of men 

Maketh their deeds, by subtle pulling-strings, 

Dance to what tune HE will. With all thy soul 

Trust Him, and take Him for thy succour, Prince! 

So- only so, Arjuna!- shalt thou gain- 

By grace of Him- the uttermost repose, 

The Eternal Place! 

Thus hath been opened thee 

This Truth of Truths, the Mystery more hid 

Than any secret mystery. Meditate! 

And- as thou wilt- then act! 

  Nay! but once more 

Take My last word, My utmost meaning have! 

Precious thou art to Me; right well-beloved! 

Listen! tell thee for thy comfort this. 

Give Me thy heart! adore Me! serve Me! cling 

In faith and love and reverence to Me! 

So shalt thou come to Me! I promise true, 

For thou art sweet to Me! 

And let go those- 

Rites and writ duties! Fly to Me alone! 

Make Me thy single refuge! will free 

Thy soul from all its sins! Be of good cheer! 

  [Hide, the holy Krishna saith, 

This from him that hath no faith, 

Him that worships not, nor seeks 

Wisdom's teaching when she speaks: 

Hide it from all men who mock; 

But, wherever, 'mid the flock 

Of My lovers, one shall teach 

This divinest, wisest, speech- 

Teaching in the faith to bring 

Truth to them, and offering 

Of all honour unto Me- 

Unto Brahma cometh he! 

Nay, and nowhere shall ye find 

Any man of all mankind 

Doing dearer deed for Me; 

Nor shall any dearer be 

In My earth. Yea, furthermore, 

Whoso reads this converse o'er, 

Held by Us upon the plain, 

Pondering piously and fain, 

He hath paid Me sacrifice! 

(Krishna speaketh in this wise!) 

Yea, and whoso, full of faith, 

Heareth wisely what it saith, 

Heareth meekly,- when he dies, 

Surely shall his spirit rise 

To those regions where the Blest, 

Free of flesh, in joyance rest.] 

  Hath this been heard by thee, O Indian Prince! 

With mind intent? hath all the ignorance- 

Which bred thy trouble- vanished, My Arjun? 

Arjuna. Trouble and ignorance are gone! the Light 

Hath come unto me, by Thy favour, Lord! 

Now am I fixed! my doubt is fled away! 

According to Thy word, so will I do! 

  Sanjaya. Thus gathered I the gracious speech of Krishna, O my King! 

Thus have I told, with heart a-thrill, this wise and wondrous thing 

By great Vyasa's learning writ, how Krishna's self made known 

The Yoga, being Yoga's Lord. So is the high truth shown! 

And aye, when I remember, O Lord my King, again 

Arjuna and the God in talk, and all this holy strain, 

Great is my gladness: when I muse that splendour, passing speech, 

Of Hari, visible and plain, there is no tongue to reach 

My marvel and my love and bliss. O Archer-Prince! all hail! 

O Krishna, Lord of Yoga! surely there shall not fail 

Blessing, and victory, and power, for Thy most mighty sake, 

Where this song comes of Arjun, and how with God he spake. 

  HERE ENDS, WITH CHAPTER XVIII, 

Entitled "Mokshasanyasayog," 

Or "The Book of Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation," 

THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. 

THE END
-- Bhagavad Gita