THE BHAGAVAD GITA
WITH THE COMMENTARY OF
SRI SANKARACHARYA
Translated from the original Sanskrit into English
By ALLADI MAHADEVA SASTRY
wm sffar 4-eHti
SAMATA BOOKS MADRAS
First Published 1897. Successive editions 1901, 1918, 1947, 1961, 1972. 7th edition 1977 with the kind co- operation of Sri S. T. Ramalingam, Official Trustee administering the Vavilla Venkateswara Sastrulu Trust.
© V. Sadanand
Published by V. Sadanand
The Personal Bookshop
10, Kamaraj Bhavan, 111, Mount Road^
Madras 600006 India
Printed at AH India Press Pondicherry India
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Sri Sankaracharya's is the earliest extant commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. He explained the need for his commentary thus:-
"This famous Gita-Sastra is an epitome of the essentials of the whole Vedic teaching; and its meaning is very difficult to understand. Though, to afford a clear view of its teaching, it has been explained word by word and sentence by sentence, and its import critically examined by several com- mentators, still I have found that to the laity it appears to teach diverse and quite contradictory doctrines. I propose, therefore, to write a brief commentary with a view to determine its precise meaning."
The text of the Gita as cited by Sankara has come down the centuries as the authentic text and this commentary of his has proved to be of seminal value ever since.
Its translation into English by Sri Alladi Mahadeva Sastri has stood the test of time since its first publication in 1897, being the only English translation of Sankara's Gita Bhashya available for 80 years. The late Pandit Mahadeva Sastri was Director, Oriental Section Adyar Library, Curator, Government Oriental Library, Mysore and Fellow of the Theosophical Society. He has also translated Sankara's commentary on Taittiriya Upanishad and Amritabindu, Dakshinamurti Stotra, Pranava Vartika and Dakshinamurti Upanishad besides editing 4 out of 5 volumes of Minor Upanishads for the Adyar Library.
We consider it a privilege and a Blessing to issue this famous book as our first publication.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
The twofold Vedic Religion... The purpose of the Divine Incarnation... The Gita and the Commentary... J nana- Yoga is the means to the Supreme Bliss... How Karma- Yoga is a means to the Supreme Bliss... The specific subject and object
of the Gita-Sastra. pp. 1-5
first Discourse.
The Despondency of Arjuna.
San jay a narrates the course of the war...Duryodhana
addresses Dro»a...Both armies ready for battle... Arjuna's
survey of the enemy... Arjuna's words of despondency...
Arjuna's grief at the evils of war. pp. 7-1 8
Second Discourse.
Sankhya-Yoga.
Arjuna's weakness condemned by the Lord... Arjuna seeks instruction from the Lord... Self -knowledge alone eradi- cates misery ...The doctrine that knowledge should be conjoined with works... Sankhya and Yoga distinguished... Conjunction inconsistent with the sequel... Some cases of apparent conjunc- tion explained... The Self is immortal... Endurance is a condi- tion of wisdom. ..The Real and the unreal. ..The Self is un- concerned in action. ..Self is immutable...The enlightened mau has to renounce works... Works are meant for the unenlightened... Knowledge of the Immutable Self is possible ...The enlightened should resort to Jnana Yoga... How the
IV CONTENTS.
Self is immutable... No room for grief.. .A warrior should fight... Yoga... Yoga, a safe course... Wisdom is one... No wisdom possible for the wordiy-minded... Advice to the Yogin ...Karma- Yoga.. .The merit of Wisdom... Results of Karma- Yoga... The characteristic attributes of a perfect Sage...(l) Satisfaction in the Self... (2) Equanimity in pleasure and pain. ..(3) Absence of attachment, delight and aversion... (4) Complete withdrawal of senses from objects... Unrestrained senses work miachiaf...(5) Devotion to the Lord.-.Tbought of sense-objects is the source of evil... Sense-control leads to peace and happiness... Sense-restraint conduces to steady knowledge... (6) The Universe, a mere dream to the Sage- Works are not meant for the sage... (7) Subjugation of desire and personal self... Knowledge leads to Divine Felicity*
pp. 19-81 Third Discourse. Karma -Yoga, Arjuna's perplexity... No conjunction of Knowledge and Action... Renunciation enjoined in the scriptures... Moksha, cannot be the effect of an action... Conjunction is inconsistent with Arjuna's question... Which is better, Knowledge or Action... The paths of Knowledge and Action... Karma-Yoga leads to freedom from action... The ignorant are swayed by Nature... The unenlightened should not give up Karma-Yoga ...The wheel of the world should be set going... Karma- Yoga is not meant for the Self-knower...Arjuna qualified for Karma- Yoga... The wise should set an example to the masses •..The wise man's action as contrasted with that of the ignorant ...How an aspirant for Moksha should do actions... Influence of man's nature on his conduct... Scope for man's personal exertion... Desire is the enemy of man... Desire enshrouds wisdom...The seat of desire... How to kill our desire.
pp. 82417
CONTENTS. V
Fourth Discourse.
J nana -Yoga.
Tradition of Jraana- Yoga... Divine Incarnations... The purpose of Divine Incarnation... J«ana« Yoga is the sole means to moksha... Divine dispensation of worldly benefits and salvation... Caste as a divinely ordered human institution..- Action without attachment does not bind the soul... The real nature of action and inaction... Who is a Sage ?... The Sage's worldly action as an example to the masses... The Sage's action for bodily maintenance... The Sage's worldly action does not bind him... Wisdom-sacrifice... Sacrifices effected by action... Wisdom-sacrifice is superior to other sacrifices... How and where one should seek wisdom... Wisdom, a consumer of all sins and actions.. .The surest means to wisdom... Wisdom » the killer of doubt. pp. 11 84 53,
Fifth Discourse.
Samnyasa-Yoga.
WThich is better for the ignorant, Karma- Yoga or Samnyasa?...The question is not with reference to the en- lightened... Karma-Yoga and Sawnyasa inapplicable to tha enlightened... Karma- Yoga suits the ignorant better than Samnyasa...Sankbya and Yoga lead to the same goal ...Karma- Yoga is a means to Samnyasa...A Sage's actions do not affect him. ..A Sage's actions are really no actions... Karma Yogin is untainted by the results of his action... The blissful embodied life of a Sage... Nature is the source of activity... Wisdom and unwisdom... The sage has no more births... The Sage sees the One in all beings.-The Sage is liberated while s|ill on earth... The Sage is free from grief and rejoicing... The Sage's infinite joy... The path of Nirvawa... Realisation of the Lord by Dhy ana- Yoga. pp. 1 5 4* 1 7
VI CONTENTS.
Sixth Discourse. Dhyana -Yoga. Dhyana- Yoga is incompatible with works... Renunciation in action... Action is stepping-stone to Dhyana- Yoga... Who is a Yogin?... Directions for the practice of Yoga... Consum- mation... Further directions concerning the practice of Yoga..* The effect of Dhyana- Yoga... Practice and Indifference are the surest means to Yoga... Failures in Yoga and the after-career ...The best of the Yogins. pp. 179-206
Seventh Discourse.
VlJNANA-YOGA. Realisation of the Lord by meditation... Evolution of the Universe out of Divine Prakriti...The Divine Principle penetrating the Universe... May a: How to overcome it... Four classes of devotees... The ignorant worship inferior Gods..* The root of ignorance... Divine worship leads to realisation.
pp. 207-221. Eighth Discourse.
ABHYASA-YOGA. The seven things to be realised by meditation... Constant meditation of the Divine is necessary... The Divine Being to he meditated upon... Meditation of the Divine in the Pranava ...No re-birth on attaining to the Divine Being... The day and the STight of Brahma. ..The Highest Goal, how reached.., The Paths of Light and Darkness... Excellence of Yoga.
pp. 222-237
Ninth Discourse.
Sovereign Wisdom and Secret.
Brahma jnana is the best Religion... All beings rest in
the Lord. — The Lord is the source and the end of all beings
...The Lord is not bound by His acts.. .The life of the
impious.. .The ways of the faithful devotees... All worship
CONTENTS. Vli
goes to the Lord... The fruits of interested acts of Vedic ritual ...The Supreme watching over His devotee's interests... Other devotees do but worship the Supreme in ignorance... Facility in Devotion to the Supreme... The impartiality of the Supreme... Even the low-born attain salvation by Devotion. .. The Yoga of Devotion*
pp. 238-258: Tenth Discourse.
Divine Manifestations.
The Lord is the source of all manifestations... Know- ledge of the Lord's Glory conduces to Yoga... The Lord endows His devotees with wisdom... Arjuna's question about the Lord's manifestations... The Lord's enumeration of His manifestations... Divine Glory described in brief.
pp. 259-276-
Eleventh Discourse.
The Universal Form".
Arjuna's prayer for a vision of the Universal Form... Arjuna endowed with heavenly sight wherewith to see the Universal Form... The manifestation of the Lord's Universal Form... Vishnu is one with the Unconditioned... The Universal Form (continued).. .The wonderfulness of the Universal Form ...The terribleness of the Universal Form... Arjuna's vision of the defeat of the enemy... the splendour of the Universal Form... The Lord's advent for destruction of worlds... Arjuna's adoration of the Universal Form... Arjuna's prayer for the Lord's forgiveness... Arjuna's prayer for the Lord's resum po- tion of His usual form... The Lord resumes Hi§ usual form... Devotion as the sole means to the realization of the Universal Form... The essence of the whole teaching of the Gita.
pp. 277*301.
VIH CONTENTS.
Twelfth Discourse.
Bhakti-Yoga.
Who are superior, the worshippers of Is vara, or the worshippers of Akshara?...The worshippers of Isvara...The worshippers of Akshara... Salvation by worship of Isvara..* Abhyasa- Yoga... Service of the Lord... Abandonment of the fruits of actions. ..The life of the Akshara-upasakas.
pp. 302-315* Thirteenth Discourse.
Matter and Spirit.
The main subject of the discourse... The body and soul... Identity of the soul with the Lord... The soul is subject to evil only through ignorance... Ksbetraj^a is really unaffected by samsara...Avidya inheres in the organ, not in the Self... Scriptural injunctions apply only to the state of bondage- Bondage and liberation are not real states of the Self... Scriptural injunctions concern the unenlightened... Learned but deluded... The relation of the Self to samsara is a mere illusion... The perception of the relation of avidya, etc., to the Self is due to illusion... Summary of the Doctrine... The Doc- trine extolled... Matter in all its forms... Virtues conducive to Self-knowledge... Brahman, the Knowable... Brahman is he yond speech and thought... Brahman is the source of all activity... Brahman is unconditioned... Brahman, the basic Reality in all illusory phenomena... Brahman, the perceive* of the gu«as... Brahman is all... Brahman is comprehended only by the wise... Brahman is the one Self in all... Brahman is the Cause of the Universe... Brahman is the Illuminator of all... The Light Is in the heart of every one.. .Seek the Light through devotion — Prakriti and Purusha are eternal... Prakriti and Purusha as the Cause of samsara... Avidya and Kama, are the cause of rebirths... Self-knowledge removes the cause
CONTENTS. IX
of samsara...The four paths to Self-knowledge... Nothing exists outside the Self. ..The one Self in all... Knowledge of the one Self, leads to moksha...Praknti acts, not the Self..: The Self is the source and the abode of all... The Self is unaffected by the fruits of acts... The Self illumines all. ..The doctrine summed up. pp. 316-377.
Fourteenth Discourse.
The Three Gunas.
The subject of the discourse... Knowledge of the origin of the universe is necessary for salvation... Evolution of the Universe from the union of Spirit and Matter... The gurcas bind the soul ...This nature and functions of the gu«as...The mutual action of tht, gu/jas...How to know when a particular guna is predominant... Life after death as governed by the gu«as...The functions of the gu/jas summed up... Realisation of the Self beyond the gu«as leads to immortaHty...The marks of a liberated soul. ..The conduct in life of a Liberated one... Devotion to the Lord leads to liberation... Unity of Atman.
pp. 378-395
Fifteenth Discourse.
The Supreme Spirit. The Tree of Sa*»sara..,Cut the Tree and seek the Goal..* The Path to the Goal... The Goal is the Lord's Glorious Being. ..Jiva is a ray of the Lord... How Jiva dwells in the body and departs from it..* The Self is visible only to the eye of knowledge. ..No Self-knowledge without Yoga.. # Immanence of the Lord, (1) as the all-illumining Light of Consciousness -..(2) As the all-sustaining Life. ..(3) As the Digestive Fire in all living organisms... (4) As the Self in the hearts of all..* The Lord beyond the perishable and the imperishable universe •••The Glory of Self-knowledge. pp, 396*41$
X CONTENTS.
Sixteenth Discourse.
Spirituality and materialism. Spiritual disposition... Materialistic disposition... Results of the two dispositions... Tbe materialists.. .The materialist's view of the world. ..Men's life as guided by materialism ...The materialist's aspirations. ..The materialist's sacrificial rites. ..The materialist's neglect of Divine commandments... The materialist's fall... The three Gates of Hell to be avoided ...Let the Law guide thy life. pp. 414-426
Seventeenth Discourse.
The Threefold Faith. The ignorant, but faithful... The three kinds of Faith... Men of Rajasic and Tamasic Faiths... Threefold Food, Worship and Gift. ..The three kinds of Food. ..The three kinds of Worship... Physical Austerity... Austerity in speech... Mental Austerity.- .The three kinds of Austerity according to Gu*ias. The three kinds of Gift... How to perfect the defective acts..» Works without faith are fruitless... The teaching of the dis- course summed up. pp. 427-440
Eighteenth Discourse. Conclusion. 'Sawnyasa' and *Tyaga '• distinguished. ..Should the ignorant perform works or not ?...The Lord's decree is that the ignorant should perform works... The obligatory works should be performed without attachment... Tamasic and Rajasic renunciations of works... Renunciation in works is Sattvic... From renunciation in- works to renunciation of all works... Renunciation of fruits is alone possible for the ignorant... Effects of the two renunciations after death- Factors in the production of an act... The agency of the Self is an illusion... Realisation of the non-agency of the Self leads to absolution from the effects of all works. ..The Impulses to
CONTENTS. XI
action, ..The Impulses are threefold according to the gu«as... Sattvic Knowledge... Rajasic Knowledge... Tamasic Know- ledge... Sattvic Action.,. Rajasic Action. . -Tamasic Action... Sattvic Agent... Rajasic Agent... Tamasic Agent... Intellect and firmness are threefold according to gu«as... Sattvic Intellect... Rajasic Intellect... Tamasic Intellect... Sattvic Firmness... Rajasic Firmness... Taraasic Firmness... Pleasure is three- fold according to gu«as... Sattvic Pleasure. "Rajasic Pleasure ...Tamasic PIeasure»-No man or god is free from gunas... The sequel sums up the whole doctrine... Duties of the four castes ordained according to nature... Devotion to one's own duty leads to perfection... One ought not tojabandon one's own duty... Is entire renunciation of action possible?... The Sankhya, Buddhistic, and Vaiseshika theories... Refutation of the Vaisesbika theory... Refutation of the Pari«ama-Vada....The -Lord's theory of illusion. ..The enlightened alone can renounce action entirely... Perfection in Karma- Yoga leads to absolute Perfection... Absolute Perfection is the consummation of Self- knowledge... Is Self-knowledge possible at all ?...The Self reveals Himself in Pure Reason... Cognition and the Cogniser are self-revealed... The Path to Absolute Perfection... The consummation of Knowledge attained by Devotion... Renunci- ation of all works is necessary for Absolute Perfection... Devotion to the Lord by works enjoined... Devotion to the Lord is the Secret of success in Karma- Yoga... Right Know- ledge and Renunciation... What is the means to the Highest Bliss, Knowledge or Works?. ..Self- Knowledge alone is the means to the Highest Bliss... Knowledge cannot be conjoined with works... Refutation of the theory that salvation is attained by works alone... Refutation of the theory that the Nitya- Karma leads to no future births.. .The Paths of Knowledge and Works are meant for distinct classes of aspirants... Action is a creature of Avidya...The theory of Avidya does not
XII CONTENTS.
militate against the authority of Karma-Kawfa... Refutation - of the theory of the Self's agency by mere presence... The theory of Avidya concluded * Qualification for instruction in the Gita Doctrine... The merit of teaching the Doctrine... The merit of hearing the Doctrine... The Lord assured by Arjuna of his grasp of the Teaching... Sanjaya extols the Lord and His teaching. pp. 441—522.
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THE BHAGAVAD-GITA
WITH SRI SANKARACHARYA'S COMMENTARY
INTRODUCTION
Narltyawa is beyond the Avyakta ; From the Avyakta the Mundane Egg is born ; Within the Mundane Egg, verily, are these worlds And the Earth made up of the seven Dvipas.
[This is a paurawic verse speaking of the Antaryamin, the Inner Guide and Regulator of all souls. It is quoted here by the commentator in order that he may begin his important work, after the orthodox fashion, with the con* templation of his favourite God (Ishifa-Devata), namely, N&~ r&ya«a, and further with a view to shew that the Pura«a (archaic history), the Itihasa (ancient tradition) and the Gtt& teach one and the same doctrine. NEtr&yarca is, In the popular conception, the Creator who was brooding over the waters just before the "beginning of Creation. Cf. Manu I. 10. According to a subtler conception, N&r&yawa is the Antaryamin, the Divine Being in whom all embodied souls have their being. He is not a creature of the Avyakta, but far transcends it. It is the Avyakta,— the Avyaknta, Maya» the undifferentia- ted matter, — out of which, when in apparent union with Isvara, is evolved the principle of Hira/jyagarbba, here spoken of as Attda or the Mundane Egg, which is composed of the five simple rudimentai elements of matter. An intermingling of the five rudimentai elements of matter gives rise to the prin- ciple of the Viraj, of which are formed the Earth and all the
2 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA
other lokas or inhabited regions — (Anandagiri). The seven Dvtpas or insular continents are Jambu, Plaksha, Kusa. Krauncha, S&ka, S&lmala and Pushkara. For further parti- culars regarding these, see Wilson's Vish/wpur&wa, Vol, 1, p. 109 ff.]
The twofold Vedic Religion
The Lord created the universe, and wishing to secure order therein He first created the Prajapatis* (Lords of creatures) such as Marichi and caused them to adopt the Pravntti-Dharma, the Religion of Works. He then created others such as Sanaka and Sanandana f and caused- them to adopt the Nivntti-Dharma, the Religion of Renunciation, characterised by knowledge and indifference to worldly objects. It is the twofold Vedic Religion of Works and Renunciation that maintains order in the universe. This Religion which directly leads to liberation and worldly prosperity has long t been practised by all castes and religious orders (var«a-&srama) ■ — from the br&hmawas downwards, — who sought welfare.
The purpose ol the Divine Incarnation
When, owing to the ascendancy of lust in its votaries, religion was overpowered by irreligion caused by the vanishing faculty of discrimination, and irreligion was advancing, — it was
# They are ten in number, Cf. Manu III, 34, 55. Authorities differ as to their names and number. See Wilson's Vishwupurana, Vol. I pp, 100—102.
t They were * without desire or passion, inspired with holy wisdom, estranged from the universe and undesirous of progeny.' See Vishnu- pur&na, Part I, Ch, VII. The authorities differ as to their names and number ; see "Wilson's V. P., Vol I. pp. 77—78. These, declining to create progeny, remained— as the name of the first, Sanatkumara, implies— ever boys, Kumdras, that is, ever pure and innocent.
J The words ' dirgbewa kalena ' (meaning a long time) in the Com. are also construed* as an alternative interpretation, wiih the next follow- ing sentence. Then it means ' a long time after, ' 4,e»f when the Krita and the Treta Yugas had been over and the Dvapara-Yuga was approach- ing its end.— (A).
INTRODUCTION 3
then that the original Creator (Adi-kartri), Vishnu, known as N&r&yawa, wishing to maintain order in the universe, incarna- .ted* Himself as Krishna, begotten in Devaki by Vasudeva, for the preservation of the ' earthly Brahman ' t of spiritual life (Brahmanatva) on the earth. For it was by the preserva- tion of spiritual life that the Vedic Religion could bepreserved^ since thereon depend all distinctions + of caste and religious order. The Lord, always possessed as He is of (infinite) knowledge, supremacy, power, strength, might and vigour, controls the Maya, — belonging to Him as Vistmu, — the Mula- prakrlti, the First Cause, composed of three Gu«as § or ener. gies, and He appears to the world as though He is born and embodied and helping the world at large ; whereas really He is unborn and indestructible, is the Lord of creatures, and is by nature Eternal, Pure, Intelligent and Free
[The special stress laid here on Maya as belonging to and being under the control of the Isvara is chiefly intended
# The words in the Com. corresponding to this are ' arasena samba- bhuva,' As amsa means a part, it would mean that Krishna was a partial incarnation of God Vishnu-. But of the several forms of the incarnation of God, Krishna is on all hands recognised as a full incarna- tion of Vishnu. Accordingly, ^nandagiri explains ' amsena ' to mean * svechchhanirmitena-mayamayena svarupena,' that is, "in an illusory form created by His own will.
t The Commentator here refers to the following passage :
" That G-od whom Lady Devaki begot by Vasudeva for the preserva-
vation of the earthly Brahman -." (Santi^parva, 47th
Adhyaya.) "Earthly Brahman " is explained by Nilakantfha to mean wthe Vedas, the brahmanas, and yagnas or sacrifices.
% Kshatriyas and others require the help of the brahmanas, the spiritual class, in the performance of sacred rites and in the study o£ Scriptures.-— (A»)
§ For a full description of the Gunas see xiv. 5 et. seq.
4 THE BHAGAVAD-CITA
to impress the idea that Maya does not exist or act independ- ently of Brahman, the Isvara. He is quite independent of Maya, unlike the individual souls who are subject to its influ- ence. The followers of the historical school of the Sankhya- darsana hold, on the other hand, that Matter and Spirit, Prakriti and Purusha, are two distinct principles, the former being as real as the latter and acting in unison with it. — (A.]
Without any interest of His own, but with the sole inten" tion of helping His creatures, He taught to Arjuna, who was deeply plunged in the ocean of grief and delusion, the towfold Vedic Religion, evidently thinking that the Religion would widely spread when accepted and practised by men of high character.
The Glta and the Commentary
It is this Religion, which was taught by the Lord, that the omniscient and adorable Veda-Vyasa (the arranger of the Vedas) embodied in the seven hundred verses called Gitas.
This famous Gtta- $astra is an epitome of the essentials of the whole Vedic teaching; and its meaning is very difficult to understand. Though, to afford a clear view of its teaching, it has been explained word by word and sentence by sentence* and its import critically examined by several commentators^ still I have found that to the laity it appears to teach diverse and quite contradictory doctrines. I propose, therefore, to write a brief commentary with a view to determine its precise meaning.
Jnana-Yoga is the means to the Supreme Bliss
The aim of this famous Gtta-$astra is, briefly, the Supreme Bliss, a complete cessation of samsara or transmig- ratory life and of its cause. This accrues from that Religion (Dharma) which consists in a steady devotion to the knowledge oi the Self, preceded by the renunciation of all works. So
INTRODUCTION 5
with reference to this Religion, the doctrine of the Gita, the Lord says in the Anu-Gita* as follows :
" That religion, indeed, is quite sufficient for
the realisation of the state of Brahman,
the Absolute.'* (Asv. Parva xvi. 12.) In the same place it is also said :
" He is without merit and without sinf without
weal and woe, — he who is absorbed in the One
Seat, silent and thinking nothing."
And He also says :
" Knowledge is characterised by renunciation. "
(/ bid xliii. 26.) Here also at the end Arjuna is thus exhorted :
" Abandoning all dharmas* come to Me alone
for shelter." (xviii. 66.)
How Karma -Yoga is a means to the Supreme Bliss
Though the Religion of "Works, — which, as a means of attaining worldly prosperity, is enjoined on the several castes and religious orders,— leads the devotee to the region of the Devas and the like, still, when practised in a spirit of complete devotion to the Lord and without regard to the (immediate) results, it conduces to the purity of the mind (sattva-suddhi). The man whose mind is pure is competent to tread the path of knowledge, and to bun comes knowledge; and thus (indirectly)
* This forms part of the Asvamedhaparva and is contained in chap- ters 16-51 of that parva or section. It professes to be a sort of recapitula- tion of the teaching of the Bhagavad-GSla. Sometime after the fratrici- dal war was over, Arjuna requested Krishna " to repeat the instruction which had been conveyed to him on the holy field of Kurukshetra, but which had gone out of his degenerate mind. Krishna thereupon protest- ed that He was not equal to a verbatim recapitulation of the Bhagavad- glta, but agreed, in lieu of that, to impart to Arjuna the same instruction in other words through the medium of a certain ancient story,"— See Sacred Books of the East, Vol. VIII, pp. 197-198.
6 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA
the Religion of Works forms also a means to the Supreme Bliss, Accordingly, with this very idea in mind, the Lord says :
" He who does actions, placing them in Brahman,'*
cl Yogins perform actions, without attachment,
for the purification of the self.'* (v. 10> 11).
The specific subject and object of the Gita-Sastra
The Gita Sastra expounds this twofold Religion, whose aim is the Supreme Bliss. It expounds specially the nature of the Supreme Being and Reality known as Vasudeva, the Parabrahman, who forms the subject of the discourse. Thus* the Gita-Sastra treats of a specific subject with a specific object and bears a specific relation (to the subject and object). A knowledge of its teaching leads to the realisation of, all human aspirations. Hence my attempt to explain it.
* It is considered incumbent on a commentator to state, before commenting on a work, tbe subject and the object, as well as the class of persons for whom it is intended, and the relation in whicb it stands to the three severally, Here the subject is the Para-Brahman ; the ob- ject is Salvation, Moksha. It is intended for those who seek deliverance from the turmoil of sams&ra* It is related to the subject as an exposition thereof, and to the object as a means of attaining it.
FIRST DISCOURSE
THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA SamJaya narrates the course of the war
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Dhritarash^ra said : i. What did Pkndu's sons and mine do when they assembled together on the sacred plain of Kurukshetra, eager for battle, O Samjaya ?
Sawjaya said :
2. Having seen the army of the P&wiavas drawn up in battle-array, prince Duryodhana then approached his teacher and spoke (these) words :
Duryodhana addresses Drona
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3. " O teacher, look at this grand army of the sons of Vknd% marshalled by thy talented pupil, the son of Drapada.
8 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA [DJS. I
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4. "Here are heroes, mighty archers, equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna,— Yuyudhana, Virafe, and Drupada, the master of a great car (maharatha).*
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5. " Dhrishfoketu, Chekitana, and the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit and Kunti-Bhoja and that eminent man Saibya ;
•Sl
6, " The heroic Yudha-manyu and the brave Uttamaujas ; the son of Subhadr& and the sons of Draupadi, all masters of great cars (mahlkathas).
r^. "N
7. " Bat know, O best of the twice-born, who are the most distinguished among us, the leaders of my army ; these I name to thee by way of example.
* Technically, maharatha means a ' warrior proficient in military science who single-handed can fight a thousand archers.'
4—11] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 9
sp^fin fa^sa staqfosrahr ^ il £ II
8. '• Thyself and Bbishma, and Kama, and also K>ipa, the victor in war, Asv&ttMman and Vikaraa, and also Jayadratha, the son of Soma- datta ;
9. " And many other heroes who have given up their lives for my sake, fighting with various weapons, all well-skilled in battle.
10. "This army of ours protected by Bhishma is inadequate, whereas that army of theirs which is under the protection of Bhima is adequate.*
il. " And therefore do ye all, occupying your respective positions in the several divisions of the army, support Bhishma only."
* This sloka is differently interpreted by different commentators* -4nandagiri's gloss suggests various interpretations which all go to make Duryodhana mean that his army, larger and led by an abler leader than the enemy's, is more likely to win the battle.
10 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA [DlS. L
Both armies ready for battle.
tot ^irsfi:! f ^f^;j Nctmf : I
12. His mighty grandsire, (Bbisbma), the oldest of the Kauravas, in order to cheer him,, sounded on high a lion's roar and blew his conch.
»s ^
13. Then, all at once, conches and kettle- drums, cymbols, drums and horns were played upon, and the sound was a tumultuous uproar.
^t ^r^ig^ ir^Tcr m*<(*i wmi \
14. Then, too, Madhava and the son of Pa.ndu9 seated in a grand chariot yoked to white horses, blew their celestial conches.
*?fai ^r WR$ tftowf w&w IUh u
15. Hrishlkesa blew the Panchajanya, and Arjuna blew the Devadatta. Bhlma, (the doer) of terrible deeds, blew his great conch Pau^dra.
16. Prince Yudhish^hira, the son of Kunti, blew the Anantavijaya, while Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosha and the Mampushpaka.
12—22] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 11
17. The king of K&si, an excellent archer, Sikhandin, the master of a great car, Dhrish/a- dyumna and Viraia, and the unconquered S&tyaki;
18. Drupada and the sons of Draupadl, O lord of earth, and the son of Subhadra, of mighty arms, all together blew their respective conches.
H TOT ^?§*Tfpir ftpnft s^rcsrcj; I
19. That tumultuous sound rent the hearts of (the people) of Dhfitarashfra's party, making both heaven and earth resound.
Ariuna's survey of the enemy
*
12 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA [DlS. I.
20-22. Then seeing the people of Dhritar&sh- fra's party regularly marshalled, while the discharge of weapons began, Arjuna, the son of Pindu, whose ensign was a monkey, O King of earth, took up his bow and said thus to Kmrma :
" O Achyuta (Immortal), place my chariot between the two armies, that I may just see those who stand here desirous to fight, and know with whom I must fight in this strife of battle.
23. " I will observe those who are assembled here and are about to engage in battle desirous to do service in war to the evil-minded son of Dhritarashfra"
Wl^Pf e$NJfr ?pr%iN vrrc^ I &ratw*tt&!3ir ^r#f^T wlwflt II Htf II
^h m§ m^^F^mm^ww^f^ 11 ^h u
Sa?njaya said : 24-25. O descendant of Bharata, Hrishike^a (Krishna) thus addressed by Guiakesa (Arjuna) stationed that excellent car betweeq the two armies in front of Bhishma and Dro^a and all the rulers of earth, and said : " O son of PHtha, look at these assembled Kauravas*"
20—30] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 13
^S^TFIf $k S^ritorikfir I
26-27. Then the son of Pritha saw arrayed there in both the armies fathers and grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons and comrades, fathers-in-law and friends.
^ <\
sFOTflpr sr «prw: e«n»iw|jwreraT^ II ^ II
27-28. When the son of Kunti saw all the kinsmen standing, he was overcome with deepest pity and said thus in sorrow :
Ariuna's words of despondency
s|* m^H w®t 3?PS «g<?few£ II R<* II #rf^r to ^imm %® ^ <7i%**n% i ^q^ j^rtft *r foR$«fe «cf& u R% 1 1
Arjuna said : 28-29t Seeing these kinsmen, O Krishna, arrayed and desirous to fight, my limbs droop down, and my mouth is dried up. A tremor comes on my body and my hairs stand on end.
14 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA DlS. I,
30. The GaWiva slips from my hand, and my skin is intensely burning. I am also unable to stand and my mind is whirling round, as it were, '
31. And, 0 Kesava, 1 see omens foreboding evil. Nor do I see any good from killing my kinsmen in battle.
{% fit Km* *hf*F? f% ^ftsffRf^ ^1 « ^ U
32- I desire not victory, O Knsna, nor king- dom, nor pleasures. Of what avail is dominion to us, O Govinda ? Of what avail are pleasures and even life ?
ot*t*it: hto gprrasrsr ^ Tramp: i
33-34* They for whose sake dominion, enjoy- ments and pleasures are sought by us are here standing, having staked their life and wealth ; teachers, fathers, sons as well as grandfathers; maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, bro- thers-in-law as also (other) relatives.
30—39] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 15
*s, .fs
35. These, O slayer of Madhu, I do not wish to kill, though they kill me, even for the sake of dominion over the three worlds ; how much less, for the sake of the earth 1
«nj>
36 O Janardana, what delight shall be ours after killing the sons of Dhntasashto ? On killing these felons, sin only will take hold of us.
3y. We had then better not slay oar own kinsmen, the sons of Dhfitarashta ; for, how can we be happy, O M&dhava, after slaying our own people ?
Arluna's grief at the evils of war
mm® ^ qw*r $Wtapr«Nra* 1
rs. f\r»
38-39. Though these, whose intelligence is stricken by greed, perceive no evil in the extinction of families and no sin in treachery to friends, yet,
16 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA [DlS. I.
O Janardana, should not we, who clearly see evil in the extinction of a family, learn to refrain from this sinful deed ?
f mim SpJI^FcT f^ETT: ^EW3?Ui I
m ^i i^ wffWRfsfirosrgp it tf o |j
40. On the extinction of a family, the imme- morial dharmas * of that family disappear. When the dharmas disappear, impiety (adharma) over- takes the whole family. +
^tg jgig m*m ^m *&&%*% \\%x 11
41. By the prevalence of impiety, O Krisrma, the women of the family become corrupt. Women corrupted, there will be intermingling of castes (varaa-sawkara), O descendant of Wishms.
42. Confusion of castes leads the family of these destroyers of families also to hell ; for, their forefathers fall (down to hell), deprived of the offerings of pin^a (rice-ball) and water.
* The duties and ceremonies practised by the family in accordance with the scriptural command.
f Of the destroyed (according to some)? of the destroyer (according to some others).
40—46] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA. 17
35stsfS snfanfc fssrafe mmn n tf 3 u
43. By these evil deeds of the destroyers of families which cause the intermingling of castes, the eternal dharmas of castes and families are subverted.
* ♦ ♦ <s
5R% fori mm *m€m?$giwi w as \\
44. We have heard, O Janardana, that neces- sary is the dwelling in hell of the men whose family dharmas are subverted.
45. Alas ! we have resolved to commit a great sin, inasmuch as we are endeavouring to slay our kinsmen out of a craving for the pleasures of dominion.
46. It would be better for me, if the sons of Dhritarashfra, with arms in hand, should slay me unarmed and unresisting in the battle.
18 THE BHAGAVAD GITA.
Samjayasaid:
47. Having said thus, Arjuna, sorrow-stricken in mind, cast aside his bow and arrows in the midst of the battle and sat down in the chariot.
SECOND DISCOURSE. SANKHYA YOGA.
A rj una's weakness condemned by the Lord.
Samjaya said :
1. To him who was thus overcome with pity and afflicted, and whose eyes were full of tears and agitated, the destroyer of Madhu spoke as follows :
The Lord said :
2. Whence in (this) perilous strait has come upon thee this weakness cherished by the unworthy, -debarring from heaven and causing disgrace, O Arjuna ?
3. Yield not to unmanliness, O son of PrltM. It does not become thee. Cast off this base weak- ness of heart and arise, O tormentor of foes
20 THE BHAGAVAD GITA [DlS. XL
Arjuua seeks instruction from the Lord.
1!
Arjuna said :
4. O slayer of Madhu, how shall I assail in battle with arrows Bhishma and Drowa, who are worthy of worship, O slayer of enemies.
3TOT **TO i|2R?l<fT$ ^f% I
gssfN ^rt^^st5*. II H u
5. Better indeed in this world to live even upon alms than to slay the teachers of high honor. But, were I to slay these teachers, I should only in this world enjoy the pleasures of wealth, delights stained with blood.
?itfl«r 5^r( *t tsrsrrtcrwT:
6. And we know not which * is the better
* Which of the two — living upon alms without slaying others, or fighting tha enemy which is our duty.— (A)
4— 9] SANKHYA YOGA. 21
alternative for us ; nor do we know whether we shall conquer them or they will conquer us. Even the sons of Dhritarash/ra, after killing whom we do not wish to live, stand arrayed against us.
7. My heart contaminated by the taint of helplessness, my mind confounded about Dharma,* I ask Thee : Tell me what is absolutely good. I am Thy pupil. Instruct me, who have sought Thy grace.
* ft smmw nmgOR? m$ gq*iraft ^ii^r^iq: \\ c \\
8. I do not indeed see what can dispel the grief which burns up my senses, even after attain- ing unrivalled and prosperous dominion on earth or even lordship over gods.
* Dharma ' here means * Brahman ' who supports all — (*
22 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II,
Sawjaya Said :
9. Having spoken thus to Hnshikesa, Guda- kei-a, the tormenter of foes, said to Govinda, < I will not fight/ and verily remained silent.
n%m^ mmt sr^rflre mm \
10. To him who was grieving in the midst of the two armies, O descendant of Bharata, HHshi- kesa as if smiling, spoke these words :
Self-knowledge alone eradicates misery
Now the portion from i. 2 to ii- 9 should be interpreted as showing whence arise those evils of grief, delusion, etc, which in sentient creatures cause the misery of samsara. — To explain : In ii. 4 et seq* Arjuna displayed grief and delusion caused by his attachment for, and the sense of separation from, dominion, the elders, sons, friends, well-wishers, kins- men, near and remote relations, — all this arising from his notion that " I am theirs and they are mine.** It was when discrimination was overpowered by grit* and delusion that Arjuna, who had of himself been engaged in battle as the duty of the warrior caste, abstained from fighting and proposed to lead a mendicant's life* which was the duty of a different caste*. Accordingly, all creatures whose intelligence is swayed by grief and delusion and other evil influences naturally abandon their proper duties and resort to those which are pro- hibited. Even if they are engaged in their duties, their con- duct in speech, thought and deed is egoistic and is prompted
* The brahmawas alone are allowed to. enter the fourth Asrama of sawnyasa, wKich consists in the renunciation of all formal religion and vjorldly possessions.
9—10] SANKHYA YOGA. 23
by a longing for reward. In their case, then owing to an accumulation of merit and demerit, of dharma and adharma, the sawsara, which consists in passing through good and bad births, happiness and misery, becomes incessant. Grief and delusion are thus the cause of samsara. And seeing that their cessation could not be brought about except by Self-knowledge added to renunciation of all works, Lord Vasudeva wished to teach that knowledge for the benefit of the whole world through Arjuna and began His teaching with ii. 11- The doctrine that knowledge should be conjoined
with works Against the foregoing view some * say : — Moksha can- not at all be attained by mere A'tmaj«ana-nish#ha by mere devotion of Self-knowledge preceded by the renunciation of all works. — By what then ? — Absolute freedom can be attain- ed by knowledge conjoined with works? such as the Agnib6tra prescribed in the Sruti and the Srrmti. This is the conclusive teaching of the whole Gita. As supporting this view may be cited — they say — the verses ii. 33, ii. 47» iv. 15, etc It should not be supposed that the Vedic ritual is sinful because it involves cruelty, etct — Why ? — For, our Lord says that, since fighting which is the profession of the warrior caste is
* According to A'nandagiri the "Wittikfira Is the commentator here referred to. A Wittikara'sj interpretation of the Brahma*sutras I. i.- 11 — 19 is also referred to by Sankaracharya in his commentary on that section. It is very probable that one and the same person was the author of the two Wittis or commentaries. The Vritti on the Gita was evidently very voluminous, inasmuch as Sri Sankaracharya' s bhashya is professedly very short in comparison with it. It is, therefore, not unlikely that the author of the Vritti on the Gita was no other than Bodhayana who is said to have written a voluminous commentary on the Brahma-sutras, nearly a million slokas in extent, and of which the 5ri-bhashya of Sri
Bamanujacharya is said1 to be a mere abstract.
f Such as the eating of uchchish*a or what remains of the food, of
which another has already eaten — (A).
24 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
a proper duty (of the caste), it is not sinful though it involves cruelty, to elders, brother's sons and the like and is therefore very horrible ; and He further says that* in the case of a neg- lect of this duty, *' abandoning thy duty and fame thou shalt incur sin.*' (ii. 33). This is clearly tantamount to asserting that those rites which are enjoined as life-long duties by the Vedas are sinless though they involve cruelty to animals. Sankhja and Yoga distinguished This is (wrong* since the Lord has made a distinction between J#ana»nisb*ba and Karma-nisbfha, between the devotion of knowledge and the devotion of works, as based respectively upon two distinct standpoints— The real nature of the Self as expounded here in ii* 11 — 30 by the Lord is called Sankhya and intellectual conviction of the truth pro- duced by a study of that section,— that the Self is no doer, owing to the absence in Him of such changes as birth — forms the Sankhya standpoint (Sankhya-buddhi) ; and the enligh- tened who hold this view are called Sankhyas. Yoga consists in the performance — before the rise of the foregoing convic- tion— of works as a means to raoksha, requiring a knowledge of virtue and sin, and presupposing that the Self is distinct from the body and is the doer and the enjoyer* Such convic- tion forms the Yoga standpoint (Yoga-buddhi?, and the per- formers of works who hold this view are Yogins- Accordingly two distinct standpoints are referred to by the Lord in ii. 39. Of these, He will assign to the Sankhyas the J a na-yoga, or devotion to knowledge, based upon the Sankhya standpoint ; and so also He will assign to the Yogins the path of Karma- yoga, or devotion to works, based upon the Yoga standpoint (iii. 3). Thus with reference to the Sankhya and the Yoga standpoints two distinct paths have been shown by the Lord, seeing the impossibility of J«ana and Karma being conjoined in one and the same person simultaneously, the one being
10] SANKHYA YOGA. 25
based upon the idea of non-agency and unity* and the other on the idea of agency and multiplicity. The distinction .made here is also referred to in the Satapatha-Brahmana. — Having enjoined renunciation of all works in the words, ** The br&hma«as who, having no worldly attachments, wish only for this region of the Self, should give up alt worldly concerns,** the Br&hma«a continues thus in explanation of the said injunction ••
" What have we to do with progeny, — we who live in this region, this Self ? " (Brihadara#yaka-Upa- nishad, iv. 4, 22).
In the same Brahmana {ibid, i. 4, 17) we are told that, before marriage and after completing the investigation into the nature of the Dharma and Vedic injunction, the man of the world * desired * to acquire the means of attaining to the three regions (of man, of Pitris, and of Devas), namely, a son and the twofold wealth, — the one kind of wealth being called * human (manusha),' consisting of works and leading to the region of Pitris, and the other kind of wealth being called 4 godly (daiva),' consisting in wisdom (vidya, upasana) and leading to the region of Devas. Thus the Vedic rites are inten- ded for him only who has desires and has no knowledge of the Self* The renunciation of these is enjoined on him who seeks only the region of the Self and is free from desire. This assigning of the two paths to two distinct classes of people would be unjustifiable if the Lord had intended a simultaneous conjunction of knowledge and Vedic rites.
Conjunction inconsistent with, the sequel
Neither could Arjuna's question with which the Third Discourse opens be satisfactorily explained (on that theory). How might Arjuna falsely impute to the Lord— as he did in iii, I — that which is alleged (by the opponent) to have
26 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
been taught before by the Lord and to have not been heard by Arjuna, — namely, the impossibility of both knowledge and works being followed by one and the same person, as well as the superiority of knowledge to works ?
Moreover, if conjunction of knowledge and works be intended for all, it must have been intended for Arjuna as well. In that ase how might Arjuna ask about only one of the two.
* Tell roe conclusively that which is the better of the two*" (v. 1) ?
If a physician has prescribed a mixture composed of both sweet and cooling articles for a man who wishes to reduce bilious heat (in the system), there cannot arise the question 1 which one alone of the two ingredients can alleviate bilious heat * ?
Arj una's question, it might be alleged on the other sidt, was due to his not having understood aright the teaching of the Lord. Even theni the reply of the Lord should have been given in accordance with the question and in the following form : " I meant a conjuncti6n of knowledge and works ; why are you thus mistaken ?'* It would not, on the other hand, be proper to answer in the words " A twofold path was taught by Me " (iii. 3), — an answer which is not in accordance with the question and is altogether beside it.
If it be held that knowledge is to be conjoined with such works only as are enjoined in the smriti, even then the assign- ing of the two paths to two distinct classes of people respectively and other statements in that connection would
be equally inexplicable. Moreover, Arj una's blame of the Lord as conveyed by his words " why dost Thou command
me to do this horrible deed ?" (iii. 1) would be inexplicable,
10] SANKHYA YOGA. 27
since he knew that figting was enjoined in the smriti as a Kshatriya's duty.
It is not, therefore, possible for anybody to show that the Gita-Sastra teaches a conjunction of knowledge with any work whatever, enjoined in the sruti or in the smriti.
Some cases of apparent conjunction explained.
Now a person who, having been first engaged in works owing to ignorance and worldly attachment and other evil tendencies, and having since attained purity of mind by sacrificial rites, gifts, austerity, etc., arrives at the knowledge of the grand truth that "all this is one, the Brahman, the Abso- lute, the non-agent," may continue performing works in the same manner as before with a view to set an example to the masses, though neither works nor their results attract him any* longer. This semblance of active life on his part cannot constitute that course of action with which knowledge is sought to be conjoined as a means of attaining moksha, any more than Lord Vasudeva's activity in His disharge of the duty of the military caste can constitute the action that is to be conjoined with His knowledge as a means to moksha, or that conduces to the attainment of any specific end of His ; egotism and hope of reward being absent in both alike. He who knows the truth does not think 'I act,' nor does he long for the results.
Or to take another example : suppose a man seeking svarga or other such objects of desire goes through the ceremony of the Agui-ldhana as a preliminary to the perfor- mance of sacrificial rites such as the Agnihotra whereby to attain his desire, and then commences the Agnihotra, which bas thus become a kamya (interested) rite ; and suppose further that the desire vanishes when the sacrifice is half completed*
28 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS II.
but that the man goes on with it all the same : the Agnihotra can no longer be regarded as an interested rite- Accordingly our Lord says " though doing, he is not tainted," (v. 7), and " The Self neither acts nor is tainted." (xiii. 31).
Now as regards the passages, *' Do thou also perform action as did the ancients in the olden time** (iv. 15), and " By action alone, indeed, did Janaka and others aim at perfection " (iii. 20), we must distinguish two cases and interpret the passages thus :
First, suppose that Janaka and the rest were engaged in works though they knew the truth. Then, they did so lest people at large might go astray ; whereas they were sincerely convinced that * the senses '-—but not the Self — were engaged in the objects (iii. 28). Thus they reached perfection by knowledge alone. Though the stage of renunciation had been reached, they attained perfection without abandoning works ; that is to say, they did not formally renounce works.
Secondly, suppose that they had not known the truth. Then the passages should be interpreted thus; — By means of work dedicated to Is vara, Janaka and the rest attained perfection, — ' perfection * meaning here either 'purity of mind * or 'the dawn of true knowledge.' It is to this doctrine, that the Lord refers when he says " The Yogin performs action for the purification of the self.'* (v. 11) Elsewhere, after having said that ' man attains perfection by worshipping Him with his own duty ' (xviii. 46), the Lord again recommends the path of knowledge, to him who has attained perfection, in the following words : " How he who has attained perfection reaches Brahman, that do thou learn from Me." (xviii. 50).
The conclusion, therefore, of the Bhagavad-glta is that salvation is attained by knowledge alone, not by knowledge
11] SANKHYA YOGA. 29
conjoined with works. That such is the teaching of the Gita. we shall shew here and there in the following sections accord- ing to the context.
The Self is immortal.
How finding no means other than Self-knowledge for the deliverance of Arjuna who was thus confounded as to his duty and was deeply plunged in the mighty ocean of grief, Lord Vasudeva who wished to help him out of it introduced him to* Self-knowledge in the following words :—
The Lord said :
ii. For those who deserve no grief thou hast grieved, and words of wisdom thou speakest. For the living and for the dead the wise grieve not*
Such people as Bhishmaand Dro«a deserve no grief t, for they are men of good conduct and are eternal in their real nature. You have grieved for them saying " I am the cause of their death ; of what avail are pleasures of dominion and other things to me left alone without them ? " And you also
* He who knows not the Self is subject to illusion. He who is subject to illusion will obtain right knowledge by devoutly listening to the words of the Scripture and the spiritual teacher, and by investigating into the nature of things as they are with a view to clearly understand such teachings. This shews to what class of persons this teaching is addressed. — (A.)
t Whether you regard their present personalities or their real nature . Personally they are men of good conduct ; in their real nature (as identi- cal with the Absolute) they are eternal.
30 THE BHGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
speak the words - of wise men. Thus you 'exhibit inconsist- ency in yourself, — foolishness and wisdom, — like a maniac. For t, the wise (pa«<iita/j) — those who know the Self — grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. They alone are wise who know the Self. For, the sruti says :
" Having obtained wisdom (p^wiitya, i- e, know- ledge of the Self) in its entirety..." (BHL Up. III.
5,1.)
That is, you grieve those who are really eternal and who
really deserve no grief ; wherefore you are foolish.
(Question) : — Why do they deserve no grief ? (Answer) : — For, they are eternal. (Question) :— How ? (Answer) :-~The Lord says :
I 2. Never did I not exist, nor thou, nor these rulers of men ; and no one of us will ever hereafter cease to exist.
Never did I cease to exist ; on the other hand, I always did exist ; that is, through the past bodily births and deaths, I always existed. So always, never did- you cease to exist j •on the other hand, you always did exist. So, never did these rulers of men cease to exist ; on the other hand, they always did exist- So, neither shall we ever cease to exist ; on the other hand, we shall all certainly continue to exist even after
* Bef erring to what Arjuna said in i. 43 et seq. — (A.)
f The second half of the verse is intended to show that Arjuna's delusion was due to his ignorance of the true nature of the Self.— (A.)
12—13] SANKHYA YOGA. 31
the death of these bodies. As the Self, the Atman, we are -eternal in all the three periods of time (past, present and future.)
The plural ' us ' is used with reference to the bodies that are different ; it does not mean that there are more than one Self.
(Question) : — Now, how is the Self eternal ? (Answer) : — Here follows an illustration :
13, Just as in this body the embodied (Self) passes into childhood and youth and old age, so does He pass into another body. There the wise man is not distressed.
We see how the embodied Self passes unchanged in the present body into the three stages (avasthas) of childhood, youth or the middle age, and old age or the age of decay, all distinct from one another. At the close of the first of thess stages the Self is not dead, nor is He born again at the com- mencement of the second ; on the other hand, we see the Self passing unchanged into the second and, third stages. Just so does the Self pass unchanged into another body. Such being the case- the wise man is not troubled (in mind) about it.
Endurance is a condition of wisdom.
Now Arjuna might argue as follows : It is true that when one knows the Self to be eternal there is no room for the distressful delusion that the Self will die. But quite common
32 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
among people, as we see, is the distressful delusion that the Self is subject to heat and cold, pleasure and pain, as also to grief due to the loss of pleasure or to the suffering of pain.
As against the foregoing, the Lord says :
14. The sense-contacts it is, O son of Kunti* which cause heat and cold ; pleasure and pain ; they come and go, they are impermanent. Them endure bravely, O descendant of Bharata.
The senses are those of hearing and the like, by which sound and other things are perceived. It is the contacts of the senses with their objects such as sound—or, according to another interpretation, it is the senses and the contacts — i. e., the sense- objects, such as sound, which are contacted by the senses, — which produce heat and cold, pleasure and pain. Cold is pleasant at one time and painful at another. So also heat is of an inconstant nature, t But pleasure and pain are constant in their respective natures as pleasure and pain. Wherefore heat and cold are mentioned separately
# Here Arjuna is addressed as the * son of Kunti ' and again as the- descendant of Bharata,' to show that he alone is fit to receive the teaching who is well descended on the father's as well as on the mother's, side. — (AO
t The separate mention of heat and cold which should properly be included under the category of objects (vishayas) implies that the sub- jective feelings of harmony and discord are the immediate antecedents of pleasure and pain. The external objects first produce subjective changes, such as the sensations of heat and cold or the feelings of harmony and disoord, and then produce pleasure and pain,-— (A.)
14—15] SANKHYA YOGA. 33
from pleasure and pain. Because * these sense-contacts, etc., have, by nature, a beginning and an end, therefore they are •not permanent. Wherefore do thou bravely endure t them, heat and cold &c. ; i.e., give not thyself up to joy or grief on their account.
(Question) : — What good will accrue to him who bears heat and cold and the like P
( Answer) :— -Listen.
15. That wise man whom, verily, these afflict not, O chief of men, to whom pleasure and pain are same, he for immortality is fit.
That person to whom pleasure and pain are alike,— who neither exults in pleasure nor feels dejected in pain, — who is a man of wisdom, whom heat and cold and other things such as those mentioned above do not affect in virtue of his vision of the eternal Self, — that man, firm in his vision of the eternal Self and bearing calmly the pairs of opposites (such as heat and cold), is able to attain immortality fmoksha). *
#Some MSS. of the Bhashya liere add . " It may be objected that if the objects of the senses or their contacts give pleasure and pain, the wheel of mundane existence will be endless, since those objects and their contacts with the senses are endless. This objection does not apply here, for these..."
f Here is laid down a second condition of right knowledge, viz,t calm endurance in pleasure and pain — (A).
% Though by endurance alone one may not be able to secure the highest human end, still, when coupled with discrimination and indiffer- ence to worldly objects and pleasures, it becomes a means to the right knowledge, which leads to deliverance. He who has satisfied all the conditions laid down can realize the nature of his own eternal Self, and then only is he fit for the final teaching that leads to deliverance. — (A).
34- THE BHAGAVAD GITA, [DlS. II.
The Real and the Unreal.
For the following reason also it is proper that thou shculdst abandon grief and distressful delusion and calmly endure heat and cold, etc. For,
16. Of the unreal no being there is ; there is no non being of the real. Of both these is fhe truth seen by the seers of the Essence.
There is no bhava — no being, no existence — of the unreal (asat) such as heat and cold as well as their causes. Heat cold, etc. i and the causes thereof, which are {no doubt) perceived through the organs of perception, are not absolutely real (vastu-sat) ; for they are effects or changes (vikara), and every change is temporary. For instance, no objective form, such as an earthen pot, presented to consciousness by the eye, proves to be real, because it is not perceived apart from clay. Thus every effect is unreal, because it is not perceived as distinct from its cause. Every effect, such as a pot, is unreal, also because it is not perceived before its production and after its destruction. * And likewise the cause, such as clay, is un- real because it is not perceived apart from its cause, t
(Objection) : — Then it comes to this : nothing at all
©XISlS' <|*
* Op. ' Whatever exists not in the beginning or in the end exists not really in the present.' (Gandap^dakorikas on the Mandwkya- upanishad. IV, 31).—-(A).
fThis implies that the Absolute Reality is not conditioned by causality ; and therefore the perception of the series of causes and effects mast be. illusory.— -(A).
t The objector evidently thinks that there cannot be a thing which is neither a cause nor an effect.
6] SANKHYA YOGA. 35
(Answer) :-— No (such objection applies here). For, every fact of experience involves twofold consciousness (buddhi), the consciousness of the real (sat) and the consciousness of the unreal (asat). Now that is (said to be) real, of which our consciousness fails ; and that to be unreal, of which our con- sciousness fails.* Thus the distinction of reality and unreality depends on our consciouness. Now, in all our experience, twofold consciousness arises with reference to one and the same substratum (samanadhikara«a^, as ' a cloth existent,' c a pot existent/ * an elephant existent* — not as in the expression a blue lotus * t— and so on everywhere. Of the two, the con- sciousness of pot, etc., is temporary as was already pointed out, but not the consciousness of existence. Thus, the object corres- ponding to our consciousness of pot, etc., is unreal, because the consciousness is temporary ; but what corresponds to our
* There must be an Absolute Reality which is neither a cause nor an effect. For, what is fleeting mast be uureal, and what is constant must be real. In the case of our illusory perception of a rope mistaken for a snake, we hold that the snake is unreal because our consciousness of it fails, whereas what corresponds to " this " in the perception "this is a, snake, " — viz., the rope, — is real, because our consciousness of it is con- stant through all its illusory manifestations. The reality and the unreality of things are thus to be inferred from our own experience.
f Blue and lotus being two realities. Existence and the pot refer — as in the sentence * this is the man we saw ' — to only one thing really existing. They are not two distinct realities, related to each other as" the universal and the particulars, or as a substance and its attribute. If the pot, etc., were as real as existence we should be at a loss to explain why, with reference to one and the same substratum, the two— existence and. the pot or the like — should always present themselves together to our consciousness any more than a pot and a cloth. Illusion, on the other hand, can account for the twofold consciousness of existence and the pot and so on, arising with reference to one and the same substratum, there being only one Reality — namely, that which corresponds to existence— and all the rest being unreal, as in the case of a rope mistaken for various other things which are unreal.— (A).
36 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II
consciousness of existence is not unreal, because the conscious- ness is unfailing.
{Objection) : — When the pot is absent and the conscious- ness of it fails, the consciousness of existence also fails.
(Answer) :— No * (such objection applies here). For the consciousness of existence still arises with reference to other objects such as cloth. The consciousness of existence corres- ponds indeed only to the attributive (vise»ha»a)«
(Objectioti)v — Lite the consciousness of existence, the consciousness of the pot also arises with reference to another pot (present).
(Answer) : — You cannot say so, for the consciousness of the pet does not arisewith reference to a cloth.-
(Objection) : — Neither does the consciousness of existence arise in the case of the pot that has disappeared.
(Answer) :— You cannot say so, for there is no substantive (viseshya) present The consciousness of existence corres- ponds to the attributive ; and as there can be no consciousness of the attributive without that of the corresponding substan- tive, how can the consciousness of the attributive arise in the absence of the substantive ? — Not that there is no objective reality present, corresponding to the consciousness of existence.
(Objection) : — If the substantive such as the pot be unreal, the twofold consciousness arising with reference to one and the same substratum is inexplicable, t
* The consciousness of existence still arises in conjunction with the absence of the pot. "When we say ' here is no pot/ existence is- signified by reference to the place where the pot is said to be absent
t The objector means this : In all our experience, we find both substantive and the attributive to be real. So, here, the pot must be a* isjalfcs existence.— (A)
16—17] SANKHYA YOGA. 37
(-Answer) : — No ; for, we find the twofold consciousness arising with reference to one and the same substratum, even • though one of the two objects corresponding to the twofold consciousness is unreal, as for instance in the case of a mirage, where our consciousness takes the form "this is water*** Therefore, there is no existence of the unreal, the fictitious — such as the body and the pairs of opposites— -or of their causes. Neither does the real —the Self (Atman)— ever cease to exist ; for, as already pointed out, our consciousness of the Self never fails.
This conclusion — that the real is ever existent and the unreal is never existent — regarding the two, the Self and the non-Self, the real and the unreal, is always present before the minds of those who attend only to truth, to the real nature of the Brahman, the Absolute, the All, * That.* Thou hadst therefore better follow the view of such truth-seers, shake off grief and delusion, and, being assured that all phenomena (vik&ras) are really non-existent and are, like the mirage, mere false appearances, do thou calmly bear heat and cold and other pairs of opposites, of which some are constant and others inconstant in their nature as productive of pleasure or pain.
What, then, is that which is ever real ? Listen :—
17. But know that to b<a, imperishable by
which all this is pervaded. None can cause the
destruction of That, the Inexhaustible.
Uulike the unreal, That— you must understand— does not vanish ; That, the Brahman, the ' Sat ', the Real, by which all this world, including the akasa, is pervaded, just as pots and
38 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
other objects are pervaded by the akasa or space. Brahman does not undergo increase or diminution and is therefore inexhaustable. This Brahman, the ' Sat *, is not exhausted in Itself; for, unlike the bcdy It has no parts. Nor does It diminish by (loss of) anything belonging to It; for, nothing belongs to the Self. Devadatta, for instance, is ruined by loss of wealth ; but Brahman does not suffer loss in that way. "Wherefore, nobody can bring about the disappearance or destruction of the inexhaustible Brahman. Nobody — not even the Isvara, the Supreme Lord— can destroy the Self. For, the Self is Brahman Itself and one cannot act upon oneself.
What, then, is the unreal (asat), whose existence is not constant ? Listen :
18. These bodies of the embodied (Self) who is eternal, indestructible and unknowable, are said to have an end. Do fight, therefore, O descendant of Bharata.
It is said by the enlightened that these bodies of the Self, who is eternal, indestructible and unknowable, have an end, like those seen in dreams or produced by a juggler. — The end of such objects as the mirage consists in the cessation — as the result of investigation into their nature by proper tests of truth — of the idea of reality which has been associated with them. So also these bodies have an end.
[No tautology is involved in the use of both 'eternal* and ' indestructible; * for, two kinds of eternality and of des- truction are met with in our experience. The physical body, for instance, entirely disappearing when reduced to ashes, is
18] SANKHYA YOGA. 39
said to have been destroyed. The physical body, while exist- ing as such, may be transformed owing to sickness or such •other causes, and it is then said to have ceased to be (some- thing) and to have become (something else). " Eternal " and ' indestructible * here imply that the Self is subject to neithef sort of destruction. Otherwise, the eternality of Atman, the Self, might perhaps be understood to be like that of clay or other material objects. It is the denial of this which is conveyed by the two epithets.]
The Self is unknowable, — not determinable by the senses (pratyaksha) or any other means of knowledge.
{Objection) :— The Self is determined by the Agama or Revelation, and by perception, etc., prior to Revelation.
(Answer) : — The objection is untenable, for the Self is .self-determined (svatas-siddba). When the Self, the knower (pramatri), has been determined, then only is possible a search for proper authorities on the part of the knower with a view to obtain right knowledge. In fact, without determining the Self — 'I ami'— none seeks to determine the knowable objects. Indeed the Self- is unknown (aprasiddha^ to nobody. And the Scripture (Sastra) which is the final * authority obtains its authoritativeness regarding the Self, as serving only to eliminate the adhyaropana or superim position (on the Self) of the attributes t alien to Him, but not as revealing .what has been altogether unknown. The sruti also describes the Self thus : —
" That which is the Immediate, the Unremote, the Brahman, which is the Self, which is within all." (Bri- Up. ii. 4. I.).
**•«., the last. The Sruti teaches that the Self is the only real thing and that all others are illusory and non-existent. No prama*ta or authority can survive the realisation of this truth taughtby the sruti- — (A)
f Such as humanity and agency.
40 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. IL
Because the Self is thus eternal (nitya) and immutable (avikriya), therefore, do thou fight,— do not abstain from fighting.
Here the duty of fighting is not enjoined. Arjuna had already been engaged in fighting. But overpowered by grief and delusion he abstained from fighting. It is only the removal of obstructive causes (pratibandha, viz-, grief and delusion) that is here attempted by the Lord. Wherefore in the words ' do thou fight * the Lord issues here no new command (vidhi) ; He only refers to what is commonly known already.*
Tne Self is unconcerned in action.
The Lord now quotes two Vedic verses to confirm the view that the Gita-sastra is intended to remove the cause of sawsara, such as grief and delusion, but not to enjoin works.
It is only a false notion of yours, says the Lord, that you think thus : " Bhishma and others will be killed by me in the battle ; I will be their slayer." — How ? —
*r q;ii %rt §?c*r qk$ *Rm 5«n i
19. Whoever looks upon Him as the slayer, and whoever looks upon Him as the slain, both these know not aright- He slays not, nor is He slain.
He who understands the Self — of whom we are speak- ing— as the agent in the act of slaying, and he who regards Him as the sufferer in the act of slaying when the body
* That, is to say, the Lord does not here mean that fighting is abso- lutely necessary. He has simply shewn that Arjuna had no reason to desist from the fighting in which he had engaged of himself.
19—20] SANKHYA YOGA. 41
is slain, neither of these two has understood the Self aright, for want of discrimination. Those who think ' I slay ' or { I am slain ' when the body is slain, and thus identify the Self with the object of the consciousness of ' I,' the ego (aham),— they do not understand the real nature of the Self. Being immutable (avikriya). the Self is neither the agent nor the object of the action of slaying.
The Self is immutable
How is the Self immutable ? — This is answered by the aiext verse •
<mi ?*m omits* gcmr
20. He is not born, nor does He ever die ; after having been, He again ceases not to be ; nor the reverse. Unborn, eternal, unchangeable and primeval, He is not slain when the body is slain.
He is not born ; no such change of condition as birth takes place in the Salf. Nor does He die ; this denies the last change of condition called death — * Ever * should be construed with the denial of every change, thus : He is never born, never dies, and so on. — For, the Self, having once exist- ed does not afterwards cease to be any more. In ordinary parlance he is said to die who, having once existed, after- wards ceases to be. Neither does the Self come into existence, like the body, having not existed before- Where- fore He is unborn. For, he is said to be born who, having not existed, comes into existence. Not so is the Self.
42 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
Wherefore He is unborn. And because He does not die. He is eternal. [Though, by the denial of the first and the last changes, all changes have been denied, yet it is thought necessary to directly deny the intermediate changes, in the words * unchangeable,' etc-, so as to imply the absence of all such changes of condition as motion, though not specified here.] He is unchangeable : He is constant, not subject to the changes of condition known as decline (apakshaya^ Having no parts, He does not diminish in His own sub- stance- As devoid of qualities, He does not diminish by loss of a quality. He is primeval, not subject to the change known as growth fwiddhi) as opposed to decline. For, that which increases in size by the accretion of parts is said to grow and to be renewed. As devoid of parts, the Self was as fresh in the past (as He is now or will be in future ; *"•«., He is ever the same,) ; He never grows. And He is not slain when the body is slain : He is not transformed when the body is transformed. To avoid tautology, slaying is interpreted to mean transforma- tion : the Self is not subject to transformation.
This verse teaches the absence in the Self of the six* bhava-vikaras, — of the six mharas or changes of condition to which all Ihams or beings in the world are subject. The pas- sage, on the whole, means that the Self is devoid of all sorts of change. Hence the words in the previous verse, " both these know not aright.1"
The enlightened man has to renounce works
Having started (in ii- 19) the proposition that the Self is neither the agent nor the object of the action of slaying, and having stated in the next verse the immutability of the Self
* Such as birth, existence, growth, transformatioo, decline, asA destruction.
20—21] SANKHYA YOGA. 43
as the reason for that statement, the Lord concludes the pro- position as follows : —
w € g^r* Tit % engraft #<r ^ u ^l \\
21. Whoso knows Him as indestructible 5 eternal, unborn and inexhaustible, — How, O son of Pntha., and whom does such a man cause to slay, and whom does he slay ?
He who knows the Self (described in the last verse) as indestructible, ».«>, devoid of the final change called death, as eternal, *'.«., devoid of change called transformation, as unborn and inexhaustible, *.e., devoid of birth and decline, — how does an enlightened man of this description do the act of slaying, or how does he cause another to slay ? He slays nobody at all, nor does he at all cause another to slay. — In both the places, denial is meant, since no question can have been asked.* The reason % for the denial of slaying applying to all actions alike, what the Lord means to teach in this section appears to be the denial of all action whatsoever in the case of the enlightened ; the denial? however, of the specific act of slaying being only meant as an example.
(Objection) ■ — What special reason for the absence of action in the case of an enlightened man does the Lord see when denying actions in the words "how does such a man slay ?w
(Answer) : — The immutability of the Self has already been given as the reason for the absence of all actions.
* Because no reply follows.
X Viz., the immutability of the Self.
44 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [JDIS« II.
(Objection) : — True, it has been given ; but that cannot be a sufficient reason, since the enlightened man is distinct from the immutable Self- We cannot indeed say that a man who has known an immovable pillar can have no action to do.
(Answer) : — This objection does not apply. For, the enlightened man is identical with the Self- Enlightenment (vidvatta) does not pertain to the aggregate of the body, etc. Therefore, as the only other alternative, the enlightened man should be identical with the Self, who is not included in the aggregate and is immutable. No action being possible in the case of an enlightened man, it is but just to deny all action in the words '* how does such a man slay ?" Now, for instance, the Self, while remaining immutable, is> by reason of His not being distinguished from intellectual states (buddhi- vrittis), imaginedj through ignorance, to be the percipient of objects, such as sound, perceived by the intellect and other means. Similarly, the Self is imagined to be enlightened, merely because of avidyc? associating Him with that intellec- tual perception — which is unreal — which takes the form of discrimination between the Self and the not-Self, while in reality the Self has undergone no change whatever. From this assertion of impossibility of action in the case of an enlightened man, the conclusion of the Lord is evident, that those acts which are enjoined by the scripture are intended for the unenlightened.
Works are meant for the unenlightened.
(Objection) :— Even knowledge is intended for the unen- lightened only, as it would be useless — like grinding the flour over again — to impart knowledge to those who already possess it Wherefore, it is hard to explain the distinction that works are meant for the unenlightened, and not for the enlightened.
21] SANKHYA YOGA. 45
(Answer) : — This objection does not apply. For, the distinction can be explained by the existence or non-existence of. something to be performed in the two cases respectively. (To explain) : There remains something for the unenlighten- ed man to do, on understanding the meaning of the injunctions regarding the Agnihotra etc. He thinks that the Agnihotra and other sacrificial rites are to be performed, and that the many necessary accessories thereto should be acquired. He thinks further, *' I am the agent, this is my duty.*' Nothing, on the contrary, remains to be performed subsequent to the realization of the truth of such teachings as are contained in ii. 20 etc., regarding the real nature of the Self. No other conviction arises except that the Self is one and non-agent. Wherefore, the distinction referred to can be accounted for.
In the case of him who thinks that the Self is the doer of actions, there will necessarily arise the idea that he has this or that thing to do. A man who possesses this sort of knowledge is qualified for actions* and on him actions are enjoined. Such a man is unenlightened, for it is said that " both these know not aright " (ii. 19). In ii. 21, the enlighten- ed man is specified, and with reference to him actions are denied in the words " how does such a man slay ?" There" fore the enlightened man who has seen the immutable Self and the man who is eager for emancipation have only to renounce all works* Hence it is that Lord Narayana distinguishes the enlightened Sankhyas from the unenlight- ened followers of works, and teaches to them respectively two distinct paths (iii. 3). Accordingly Vyasa. said to his son, " Now there are two paths." (Mokshadharma, xxiv. 6). In the same connection, Vy«sa said that the path of works
* The latter, ue.t he who is eager for Moksha, but who does not yet possess Self knowledge, has no doubt to perform the acts enjoined on him, these acts being not prejudicial to his devotion to knowledge.
46 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
is the first, and that renunciation comes next. Our Lord will refer to this distinction again and again in this work. (vide Hi. 27,28; v-13, etc.)
Knowledge of the Immutable Self is possible.
(Objection) : — In this connection some conceited pedants say : To no man can arise the conviction * I am the immutable Self, the One, the non-agent, devoid of the six changes, such as birth, to which all things in the world are subject ; ' which conviction arising, renunciation of all works is enjoined.
{Answer) : — This objection does not apply here. For, in vain then would be the Scriptural teaching, such as " the Self is not born,'' etc. (ii. 20). They (the objectors) may be asked why knowledge of the immutablity, non-agency, unity, etc-, of the Self cannot be produced by the Scripture in the same way as knowledge of the existence of dharma and a^dharma and of the doer passing through other births is produced by the teaching of the Scripture ?
(Opponent) ;— Because the Self is inaccessible to any of the senses.
(Answer) :— -Not so. For, the Scripture says ** It can be seen by the mind alone." (Bri. Up. iv. 19). The mind, refined by Sama and Pcwua— .*'.e., by the subjugation of the body, the mind and the senses — and equipped with the teachings of the Scripture and the teacher, constitutes the sense by which the Self may be seen. Thus, while the Scripture and inference * (anumana) teach the immutability of the Self, it is mere temerity to hold that no such knowledge can arise.
* The inference may be thus stated : such changes as birth, death, agency and the like are not inherent in the Self, any more than infancy, youth and old age are inherent in Him.
21] SANKHYA YOGA. 47
The enlightened should resort to Jnana-Yoga.
It must be granted that the knowledge which thus arises necessarily dispels ignorance, its opposite. This ignorance has been already indicated in ii. 19. It is there taught that the notion that the Self is the agent or the object of the action of slaying is a product of ignorance. That the agency, etc., of the self is a product of ignorance holds good in the case of all actions alike, since the Self is immutable. It is only the agent, subject to variations of conditions, that causes another person, who can be acted on by him, to do an action. This agency — direct and causative with respect to all actions alike — the Lord Vasudeva denies in ii. 21 in the case of an enlightened man, with a view to show that the enlightened man has nothing to do with any action whatsoever.
(Question) : — What, then, has he to do ?
(Answer) : — This has been already answered in iii. 3, that the Sankhyas should resort to Jraana-Yoga or devotion to knowledge. So also, the Lord will teach renunciation of all works in the words, " Renouncing all actions by thought, the self-controlled man rests happily in the nine-gated city, — in the body —neither acting nor causing to act." (v. 13).
(Objection) : — Here the word c thought ' implies that there is no renunciation of the acts of speech and body.
(Answer) : — No, for there is the qualification, * all actions.'
(Objection) : — The renunciation of all mental acts only is meant.
(Answer) : — No- Since all acts of speech and body are preceded by mental activity, they cannot exist when the mind is inactive.
48 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
(Objection) : — Then, let him renounce all other acts of mind except such as are necessary for those acts of speech and body which are enjoined by the Scripture.
(Answer) ; — No, for, there is the qualification, " neither acting nor causing to act."
(Objection) : — Then, the renunciation of all actions, here taught by the Lord, may be meant for the dying man, not for the living man.
(Answer):— No; for then, the qualification ' rests in the nine-gated city — in the body ' would have no meaning. No man who is dying can by giving up all activity be said to rest in the body.
{Objection)'. — Let us then construe the passage thus: Neither acting nor causing another to act, he, the disembodied soul of the enlightened man, deposits (sam+nyas) all activity in the body (t. e., knows that all activity belongs to the body, not to the Self) and rests happily. Let us not, on the contrary, construe, as you have done, ' he rests in the body,* etc.
(Answer) : — No; Everywhere (in the sruti and- in the smnti) it is emphatically asserted that the Self is immutable* Moreover, the act of resting presupposes a place to rest in, whereas the act of renunciation does not presuppose it. And the Sanskrit verb sam+nyas * means ' to renounce,* not * to deposit*
Therefore, the Gtta-Sastra teaches that he who has acquired a knowledge of the Self should resort to renuncia- tion only, not toworks. This we shall show here and there in the following sections, wherever they treat of the Self.
* Wherefore the Self cannot be the agent of an action.
21 — 23] SANKHYA YOGA. 49
How the Self is immutable.
To return to the immediate subject. It has been stated that the Self is indestructible. Like what is He indestructi- ble ? Here follows the answer :
mmm %Cmm snsr res ra wp^nfa sreim «wrrw^ II RR II
22. Just as a man casts off worn-out clothes and puts on others which are new, so the embodied (Self) casts off worn-out bodies and enters others which are new.
Just as, in this world, a man casts off the clothes that have been worn-out and puts on others which are new, in the same manner, like the man (of the world), the embodied Self abandons old bodies, and, without undergoing any change, enters others which are new.
Why is the Self quite changeless ? The Lord says i
^ |£ iq^wff * mmm m^t It *3 u
23. Him weapons cut not. Him fire burns not, and Him water wets not ; Him wind dries not.
Him, ^.e., the embodied Self of whom we are speaking, weapons, such as swords, do not cut. As he has no parts, they can effect no division of Him into parts. So, fire does not burn Him : even fire cannot reduce Him to ashes.
50 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS' II.
Neither does water wet Him ; for, the power of water lies in disjoining the parts of a thing which is made up of parts, by wetting it ; and this cannot take place in the parti ess Self. So, wind destroys an object containing moisture, by drying it up ; but even wind cannot dry up the Self.
Wherefore,
24. He cannot be cut, nor burnt, nor wetted, nor dried up. He is everlasting, all-pervading stable, firm, and eternal.
Because the mutually destructive objects — namely, swords and the like — cannot destroy the Self, therefore He is overlasting. Because everlasting, He is all-pervading. Because all-pervadicg, He is stable like a pillar. Because stable, the Self is firm. Wherefore He is eternal, not produced out of any cause, not new.
No charge of tautology can be brought against the verses (ii. 21-24) on the ground that in (ii. 20) the eternality and the immutability of the Self have been taught and that what has been said regarding the Self m these verses (ii. 21-24) adds nothing to what was taught in that one verse, — something being repeated verbatim, and something more being repeated in idea. Since the Self is a thing very difficult to understand, the Lord Vasudeva again and again introduces the subject and describes the same thing in other words, so that in some way or other the truth may be grasped by the intellect of the mortals (sams&rins) and thus the cessation of their sams&ra may be brought about.
24—26] sankhy! y^ga .
No room f or^iiSC
Moreover,
25. He, it is said, is unmanifest, unthinkable and unchangeable. Wherefore, knowing Him to foe such, thou hadst better grieve not.
As the Self is inaccessible to any of the senses, He is not manifest. Wherefore, He is unthinkable. For, that alone which is perceived by the senses becomes an object of thought. Verily, the Self is unthinkable, because He is inaccessible to the senses. He is unchangeable. The Self is quite unlike milk, which, mixed with butter-milk, can be made to change its form. He is changeless, also because He has no parts ; for, whatever has no parts is never found to undergo change. Because the Self is changeless, He is unchangeable. Therefore, thus understanding the Self, thou hadst better not grieve, nor think that thou art their slayer and that they are slain by thee.
Granting that the Self is not everlasting, the Lord proceeds :
26. But even if thou thinkest of Him as ever being born and ever dying, even then, O mighty-armed, thou oughtst not to grieve thus.
Granting that the Self — of whom we are speaking — is, according to the popular view, again and again born whenever a body comes into existence, and again and again dead when- ever the body dies, — even if the Self were so, as you think 4
52 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS, II.
O mighty-armed, you ought not to grieve thus ; for, death is inevitable to what is born ; and birth is inevitable to what is dead.
Accordingly,
27. To that which is born, death is indeed certain ; and to that which is dead, birth is certain. Wherefore, about the unavoidable thing, thou oughtst not to grieve.
To that which has had birth, death happens without failure, and birth is sure to happen to that which is dead. Since birth and death are unavoidable, therefore you ought not to grieve regarding such an unavoidable thing. If death is natural to that which has had birth, and if birth is natural to that which has had death, the thing is unavoidable. Regarding such an unavoidable thing you ought not to grieve.
Neither is it proper to grieve regarding beings which are mere combinations of (material) causes and effects ; for,
28, Beings have their beginning unseen, their middle seen, and their end unseen again. Why any lamentation regarding them ?
The origin — prior to manifestation — of beings such as sons and friends, who are mere combinations of material elements correlated as causes and effects, is non-perception (avyakta). And having come into existence, their middle
27—29] SANKHYA YOGA. 53
state— previous to death — is perceived. Again their end is
non-perception : after death, they become unperceived again- •Thus it is said :
He has come from non-perception (the unseen) and
has gone back to non- perception (the unseen). He is
not thine, nor thou his. What is this vain lamentation
f or ? " (Mahabh. StWparva, 2-13)
About these mere illusions — first unseen, then seen, and again unseen — what occasion is there for any lamentation ?
The Self just spoken of is very difficult to realise. Why am I to blame you alone while the cause, vie., illusion, is common to all ? One may ask : how is it that the Self is difficult to realise ? The Lord says ;
29. One sees Him as a wonder ; and so also another speaks of him as a wonder ; and as a wonder another hears of Him ; and though hearing, none understands Him at all.
One sees the Self as a wonder, as a thing unseen, as something strange, as seen all on a sudden. And so, another speaks of Him as a wonder ; and another hears of Him as a wonder. Though seeing Him, hearing and speaking of Him» none realises Him at all.
Or (as otherwise interpreted) : He that sees the Self is something like a wonder. He that speaks and he that hears of Him is only one among many thousands. Thus the Self is hard to understand.
THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II
Now the Lord concludes the subject of this section thus :
M fagjwaitef ^| ^|^f mis |
30. He, the embodied (Self) in every one's body, can never be killed, O descendant of Bharata. Wherefore thou oughtst not to grieve about any creature.
Though the body of any creature whatever is killed, the Self cannct be killed ; wherefore, you ought not to grieve regarding any creature whatever, Bhishma or anybody else. A warrior should fight.
Here (in ii. 30) it has been shown that from the stand- point of absolute truth there is no occasion for grief and attachment. Not only from the standpoint of absolute truth, but also,
31, Having regard to thine own duty also, thou oughtst not to waver. For, to a Kshatriya, there is nothing more wholesome than a lawful battle.
Having regard also to the fact that fighting is a Kshatri- ya's duty, you ought not to swerve from that duty, which is natural to a Kshatriya,—- from that which is natural to you (i e%s becoming the caste and the order to which you belong). This fighting is a supreme duty, not opposed to Law, since it is conducive, through conquest of dominion, to the interests of Law and popular well-being ; and to a Kshatriya nothing else is more wholesome than such a lawful battle.
30—33] SANKHYA YOGA. 55
And why also should the battle be fought ? The Lord says:
32. Happy Kshatriya, O son of PHth&, find such a battle as this, come of itself, an open door to heaven.
Are not those Kshatriyas happy who find a battle like this presenting itself unsought, an open door to heaven ? Though found to be your duty,
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33. Now if thou wouldst not fight this lawful battle, then, having abandoned thine own duty and fame* thou shalt incur sin.
If, on the other hand, you will not fight this battle which is enjoined on you as a duty, and which is not opposed to Law, you will, by neglecting this battle, have abandoned your duty and lost the fame that you acquired by your encounter with such persons as Mahadeva. * Thus you will only incur sin.
Not only will you have given up your duty and fame, but also,
* When Yudhishihira lost his kingdom by gambling. Arjuna went on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas to propitiate the gods and obtain from them celestial weapons- There he fought with Siva who appeared in the gnise of a mountaineer (Kirata), and having found the true character of his adversary; he worshipped Him and obtained the Fasupata-astra, a celestial missile.
56 THE BHGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
34. People, too, will recount thy everlasting infamy ; and, to one who has been esteemed, infamy is more than death.
People, too, will recount your infamy, which will survive you long. To him who has been esteemed as a hero and as a righteous man and as one possessing other such noble qualities, death is preferable to infamy.
Moreover,
S5. The great car- warriors will think thou hast withdrawn from the battle through fear ; and, having been (hitherto) highly esteemed by them, thou wilt incur their contempt
Duryodhana and others — warriors fighting in great cars — will think that you have withdrawn from the battle through fear of Kama and others, but not through compassion. — Who are they that will think so ? — The very persons, Duryodhana and others, by whom you have been esteemed as possessed of many noble qualities. Having been thus esteemed, you will again grow very small (in their estimation).
Moreover,
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86. Thy enemies, too, scorning thy power, will take many abusive words- What is more pain- ful than that ?
34-— 38] SANKHYA YOGA. 57
There is no pain more unbearable than that of scorn thus incurred.
Now, when you fight with Kama and others,
37. Killed, thou wilt reach heaven ; victorious, thou wilt enjoy the earth. Wherefore, O son of Kunti, arise, resolved to fight.
Victorious : that is, having defeated Karwa and other heroes. In either case you will have an advantage only. Wherefore rise, with the resolution. " I will conquer the enemy or die.'*
Now listen to the advice I offer to you, while you fight the battle regarding it as a duty :
38. Then, treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, success and defeat, prepare for the battle, and thus wilt thou not incur sin.
Treating alike pleasure and pain: i.e., without liking the one and disliking the other. Thus fighting, you will not incur sin. [This injunction as to fighting is only incidental.]
Yoga.
Worldly considerations have been adduced (ii. 31 — 38) to dispel grief and attachment ; but they do not form the main subject of teaching. On the other hand, it is the realisation of the Supreme Reality that forms the main subject of this portion (ii. 12, &c.) of the discourse; and this, which has been treated of already (ii, 20 et seq t is concluded in (ii. 39)
58 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
with a view to exhibit the division of the whole subject of the s&stra. For, by making such a division of the whole subject of the s&stra as has been shewn here, that portion of the work which will treat of the two paths later on (iii. 3) will proceed the more smoothly ; and the hearers also will understand it the more easily for this division of the whole subject. Hence says the Lord :
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39. This, which has been taught to thee is wisdom concerning Sankhya. Now listen to wisdom concerning Yoga, which possessing thou shalt cast off the bond of action.
This, which has been taught to you, constitutes wisdom (buddhi) concerning Sankhya or the true nature of the Absolute Reality, — that wisdom by which may be brought about the cessation of the evil* which is the cause of sams&ra, — of grief, attachment and the like. Now, listen to the teaching (which follows presently) concerning Yoga, which is the means of attaining wisdom concerning Sankhya. This Yoga* which constitutes the worship of Isvara consists in practising samadhi or in performing works without attachment, after killing all pairs of opposites (such as heat and cold).
Now He extols the wisdom concerning Yoga, in order to create an interest in it- When possessed of wisdom concerning Yoga, O son of Pntha, you -will cast off the bond of action (karma), of dharma and a-dharma, of virtue and sin, of merit and demerit, this severance of the bond being effected only on attaining to a knowledge of the Self through Divine Grace (Isvara-prasada).
* The igr.crance of the true nature of the Self.
39~-41] SANKHYA YOGA. 59
Yoga, a safe coarse. Moreover,
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40. There is no loss of effort here, there is no harm. Even a little of this devotion delivers one from great fear.
Unlike agriculture, nothing that is attempted here — in this path to m6ksha, in this devotion by works — is entirely lost- That is, there is no uncertainty regarding the result of any effort in the path of Yoga. Neither is there any chance of harm resulting from it, as it may sometimes result from medical treatment. — What is the result ? — Anything done, however little it be, in this Path of Yoga, saves one from great fear, from the fear of samsara, of birth and death.
Wisdom is ones
The wisdom concerning Sankhya and Yoga thus far described is of the following nature :
41. Here, O son of Kuru, there is one thought of a resolute nature. Many-branched and endless are the thoughts of the irresolute.
Here, O son of Kuru, in this path to Bliss, there is only one thought of a resolute nature, and it is subversive of all other many- branched thoughts opposed to it — .that thought having sprung from the right source of knowledge. Those other thoughts which are opposed to «it are various- By acting up to these many-branched thoughts, samsara
60 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
becomes endless and ever-spreading. But when, owing to discrimination produced by the right source of knowledge, these thoughts of endless variety cease, sa^sara also ceases. Owing to variety in each of their branches, the thoughts of the irresolute — of those who are not possess- ed of the discrimination produced by the right source of knowledge— are endless.
No Wisdom possible for the worldly-minded.
As regards those who have no conviction of a resolute nature,
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42-44, No conviction of a resolute nature is formed in the mind of those who are attached to pleasures and power, and whose minds are drawn away by that flowery speech which the unwise — enamoured of Vedic utterances, declaring there is nothing else, full of desire, having svarga as their goal — utter, (a speech) which promises birth as the reward of actions and which abounds in speci- fic acts for the attainment of pleasure and power, O son of Pritha.
They are unwise ; they are wanting in discrimination. They are enamoured of the Vedic passages composed of
42—45] SANKHYA YOGA. 61
many a praise (to gods) and unfolding various ends and means. They say that there is nothing else besides words •which are the means of attaining svarga, cattle, and other such objects of desire. They are full of desires and are ever in pursuit of them. Their chief and final goal is svarga- They talk words, fine like a flowery tree, very pleasant to hear. Their speech holds out birth as the reward of works and treats of specific acts wherewith to secure svarga, cattle, progeny and the like, and wherewith to attain pleasures and power. Thus talking, these foolish people wander in the samsara* They regard pleasure and power as necessary ; they are in love with them and have identified themselves with them. Their intelligence and wisdom are blinded (as it were) by this speech abounding in specific acts. In their mind — samadhi, the budhi, the antah. tear ana, in which are gathered together all objects of enjoyment for the pumsha, the individual soul — no conviction of a resolute nature, no wisdom concerning Sankhya or Yoga will arise.
Advice to the Yogin.
The Lord now speaks of the result accrui to those lustful persons who are thus wanting in discrimination :
45. The Vedas treat of the triad of the gwzas. Be, O Arjuna, free from the triad of the gimas, free from pairs, free from acquisition and preservation, ever remaining in the Sattva (Good- ness), and self-possessed.
The Vedas # treat of the triad of the gwms ; sa*»s&ra t
* i e., the Karmakawda, the rituatstic portion of the Vedas. t Which is made up of virtuous, sinful, and mixed deeds and their results, all brought about by the interaction of the guwas.
62 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
is their subject You, on the other hand, had better be free from the triad of the gunas, *•«, be without desires. Be free from pairs (dvandvas), from all mutually opposed objects which are the causes of pleasure and pain. Take your stand ever in the Sattva t practise purity. To him who is anxious to acquire what has not been acquired and to preserve what has been already acquired, practice of virtue is impossible ; wherefore be not anxious about new acqui- sitions or about the preservation of the old ones. Be also self-possessed : be guarded. * This is the advice you have to follow when engaged in the performance of duty.
Karma-Yoga.
Question : — If all those endless advantage which are said to result from the Vedic rituals are not to be sought after, to what end are they to be performed and dedicated to the Isvara ?
(Answer) : — Listen to what follows :
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46. What utility there is in a reservoir by the side of an all-spreading flood of water, the same (utility) there is in all Vedas for an enlightened Brahmafta»
Whatever utility — of bathing, drinking, and the like — is served by a well, a tank, and many other small reservoirs of water &c.. all that utility is only as much as the utility which is served by an all-spreading flood of water ; that is the former utility is comprehended m the later. So alsot whatever utility there is in all the Vedic ritual, all that is comprehended in the utility of the right knowledge possess- ed by a Brahmawa who has renounced the world and has
* Do not yield to the objects of the senses*
46—- 47] SANKHYA YOGA. 63
completely realised the truth concerning the Absolute Rea- lity; this knowledge corresponding to the all-spreading flood of water. * The sruti says : — " Whatever good thing is done by people, all that is possessed by him who knows what he (Raikva) knew." (Chh. Up 4. 1-4). The same thing will also be said here (iv. 33). Wherefore f, for a man who is qualified for works it is necessary to perform works (which stand in the place of wells and tanks) before he becomes fit for the path of knowledge. And as for you,
47. Thy concern is with action alone5 never
with results. Let not the fruit of action be thy
motive, nor let thy attachment be for inaction.
You are qualified for works alone, not for the path of knowledge. And then, while doing works, let -there be no desire for the results of works under any circumstances whatever. If you should have a thirst for the results ©f works, you will have to reap those fruits. Therefore let not your motive be the fruits of your action. When a person performs work thirsting for the results of those works, then he will be subject to rebirth as the result of action. Neither may you be attached to inaction, thinking " Of what
* That is to say, all the pleasure which results from the performance of all works enjoined in the Vedas is comprehended in the bliss which the man who has realised the Self finds as the essence of his own Self ; and every one must admit that all kinds of limited bliss are comprehend- ed in the Infinite Bliss. Thus the Path of Karma- Yoga, which in the end leads to the attainment of the infinite bliss of the Self, cannat be futile, as the questioner has been led to suppose. — (A)
f Because the Path of Karma -Yoga is not futile.— (A),
64 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. IL
avail are these painful works if their fruits should not be deisred ?"
If a man should not perform works urged by a desire for their results, how then are they to be performed? The reply follows:
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43. Steadfast in devotion do thy works, 0 Dhanamjaya, casting off attachment, being the same in success and failure. Evenness is called Yoga.
Steadfast in devotion (Yoga) perform works merely for God's sake, casting off even such attachment as this, *' May God be pleased,'* and being equanimous in success and failure. Success (siddhi) consists in the attainment of knowledge (jna-na) as the result of the mind (Sattva attaining purity when works are done by one without longing for their fruits ; and failure results from the opposite course.
What is that devotion (Yoga) to which Arjuna has been exhorted to resort in performing works ? The reply is this : — Evenness of mind in success and failure is called devotion (Yoga).
In comparison with action thus performed in the service of the Isvara with evenness of mind,
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49. Verily action is far inferior to devotion in wisdom (buddhi-yoga), O Dhanamjaya. In wisdom (buddhi) seek thou shelter. Wretched are they whose motive is the fruit
47—50] SANKHYA YOGA. 65
Action done by a seeker of its reward is far inferior to devotion in wisdom, i.e.t to action performed with evenness -of mind; for, the former is the cause of birth and death, O Dhanamjaya. Wherefore seek shelter in the wisdom of Yoga, or rather in the wisdom of Sankhya, which latter arises when Yoga attains maturity. That is, seek refuge in the knowledge of the supreme Reality. For, wretched are they who resort to inferior action, who are incited to action by thirst for its fruit. The sruti says :
" O Gargi, wretched is he who departs from this world without knowing the Akshara, the Imperishable.'* (Bri. Up. 3-8-13).
The merit of Wisdom.
Now, learn as to what result he attains who performs his own duty with evenness of mind :
50. He who is endued with wisdom casts off here both good deeds and bad deeds. Wherefore apply thyself to devotion. In regard to actions devotion is a power.
The man that has evenness of mind casts off in this world both merit and sin (sukrita and dushkrita, puwya and p&pa) through attaining mental purity and knowledge. Wherefore apply yourseslf to devotion with equanimity. For devotion is a power, — devotion bejng the equanimity of mind in success and failure on the part of him who is engaged in the perform- ance of his o^n duties, his mind resting on the Isvara all the while. It is indeed a power, because works which are of a binding nature lose that nature when done with even- ness of mind. Wherefore be equanimous.
66 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. IL
Results of Karma-Yoga.
51. For, men of wisdom cast off the fruit of action ; possessed of knowledge (and) released from the bond of birth, they go to the place where there is no evil.
For, men of wisdom, possessing evenness of mind, cast off the fruit of works ue.t escape from good and bad births* They then attain knowledge. While still alive, they are released from the bond of birth, and attain the supreme abode of Vishnu—the state of moksha or liberation...which is free from all turmoils.
Or, the wisdom (buddhi) referred to in the three verses (ii. 49—51) may be the Sankhya-(not the Yoga-) wisdom, the knowledge of the Absolute Reality, (corresponding to the wide-spread expanse of water), which arises when the mind is purified by Karma- Yoga ; for, it is said in ii, 50 that wisdom directly brings about the destruction of good and bad deeds.
When is that conviction attained which (it is said) arises as soon as the mind is purified by Karma- Yoga or devotion through works ? The answer follows :
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52. When thy mind shall cross beyond the mire of delusion, then wilt thou attain to a disgust of what is yet to be heard and what has been heard.
51—53] SANKHYA YOGA. 67
When your intuition (buddhi) shall cross beyond the mire of delusion, by which the sense of discrimination between the Self and the not-Self is confounded and the mind (antafc- karana) is turned towards the objects of the senses — & e., when your reason attains purity — then will you attain to a disgust of what is yet to be heard and what has already been heard # : they will appear to you to be of no use.
You may now ask : " When shall I attain the true Yoga or conviction of the Supreme Truth, by crossing beyond the mire of delusion and obtaining wisdom by discrimination o£ the Self ? " Listen :
53. When thy mind, perplexed by what thou hast heard, shall stand firm and steady in the Self, then wilt thou attain Yoga,
When your intuition (buddhi** anta&-kara«a) which has been perplexed by what you have heard about the multifari- ous ends and means in all their relations— concerning the life of activity and the life of retirement—shall stand firm, with- out distraction (vikshepa** viparyaya) and doubt (vikalpa= samsaya), in the Self (Sama:dhi, i.e., the objective point of your meditation), then you will attain Yoga, samadhi, *.«., the knowledge which arises from discriminatioa
The characteristic attributes of a perfect Sage.
Having found an occasion for interrogation, Arjuna asks with a desire to know the characteristic marks of one who has attained wisdom in steady contemplation (samadhiprajna) ;
* Except, of course, the teaching of the scripture regarding the Atman, the Self.— (A)
68 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. IL
t
Arjuna said;
54. What, 0 Kesava ! , is the description of one of steady knowledge, who is constant in con- templation ? How does one of steady knowledge speak, how sit, how move ?
How is a man who has a firm conviction that he is the Supreme Brahman, and who is intent on contemplation (samadhi).— "how is such a man spoken of by others ? How does the man of steady knowledge himself speak ? How does he sit ? How does he move ? — In this verse Arjuna asks in order to know what the characteristic attributes of a man of steady knowledge (sthitaprajna) are.
From ii. 55 to the end of the Discourse (adhyaya), the characteristic attributes of a man of steady knowledge as well as the means of obtaining that knowledge are taught to him who, having from the very commencement renounced all works, has entered upon a course of Devotion to knowledge (j«ana-yoga-nishAa), as well as to him who has reached that stage by means of Devotion to works (Karma-yoga.) For, everywhere in spiritual science (adhyatma-sastra), the very characteristic attributes of the successful Yogin are taught as the means (of attaining that stage), since they are to be attained by effort The Lord now points out those characte- ristic attributes which, as attainable by effort, constitute the means as well.
54 — 56] SANKHYA YOGA. 69
(1) Satisfaction in the Self. The Lord said : 55. When a man, satisfied in the Self alone by himself, completely casts off all the desires of the mind, then is he said to be one of steady- knowledge.
When a man completely abandons all the various desires that enter the heart and is satisfied with the True Innermost Self (Pratyagatman) in himself, without longing for external possessions, averse to everything else because of his acquisi- tion of the immortal nectar, — i.e., his realisation of the Supreme Truth, — then he is said to be a wise man (vidvan)9 one whose knowledge arising from the discrimination of the Self and the not- Self has been steadied. [If, on his abandon- ing of all desires, nothing should be found to cause satisfac- tion while the cause of the embodied state still operates, it would follow that his behaviour would be like that of a mad man or a maniac. Hence the words ' satisfied in the Self * etc.] That is to say, he who has abandoned all desires con- nected with progeny, possessions and the world, who has renounced fall works), who delights in the Self and plays with the Self, — he is the man whose knowledge is steady. (2) Equanimity ia pleasure and paia.
Moreover,
70 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. If.
56. He whose heart is not distressed in cala- mities. from whom all longing for pleasures has departed, who is free from attachment, fear and wrath, he is called a sage, a man of steady know- ledge.
His heart if not distressed in calamities such as may arise from disorder in the body*, (adhyatmika), etc. Unlike fire, which increases as fuel is added, his longing for pleasures does not increase as more pleasures are attained. He is said to be a man of steady knowledge. He is called a sage, a Sannyasin, one who has renounced works. (3) Absence of attachment, delight and aversion.
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57. Whoso, without attachment anywhere, on meeting with anything good or bad, neither exults nor hates, his knowledge becomes steady.
The sage has no attachment even for the life of the body. He does not exult in pleasure, nor is he averse to pain that may befall him. When he is thus free from delight and distress, his knowledge arising from discrimination becomes steady.
* Calamities are divided into the three following classes according to their sources :
Adhyatmika, arising from disorder in one's own body ;
Adhibhautika, arising from external object such as a tiger ;
Adhidaiv.ika, arising from the action of great, intelligent, cosmic forces such as those which cause rain and storm or such beings as Yak- shasj Ra&shasas and Fisachas.
Pleasures also are divided into the seme three classes.
57—59] SANKHYA YOGA. 71
(4) Complete withdrawal of senses from objects. Moreover,
58. When he completely withdraws the senses from sense-objects, as the tortoise (withdraws) its limbs from all sides, his knowledge is steady.
He, i.e>, the devotee who strives in the path of know- ledge (j»ana-nish*ha>, withdraws his senses from all objects as the tortoise withdraws its limbs from all sides out of fear.
(Question) : — Now, even the senses of a diseased man who is not able to partake of sensuous objects withdraw from sense-objects, but the taste for them ceases not. How does that cease ?
(Answer) : — Listen :
59. Objects withdraw from an abstinent man, but not the taste. On seeing the Supreme, his taste, too, ceases.
The senses, — ' vishayafo,' meaning literally sense~objecfst here stands for the senses, — it is true, withdraw from objects even in the case of an ignorant person who, practising extremest austerity, abstains from all sensuous objects ; but the taste or inclination (rasa) for those objects ceases not- (Rasa is used in the sense of taste or inclination in such expressions as * svarasena pravritta/*,* * rasika/i»* and ' rasa"* jmh. ) Even that taste, that subtle attachment, vanishes in
72 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
the case of the devotee who, having seen the Supreme Reality, the Brahman, thinks ' I am myself That * ; that is to say, his perception of sensuous objects becomes seedless (nir-bija), has lost all germ of evil. The meaning is this : In the absence of right knowledge, there can be no annihilation * of taste for sensuous objects ; wherefore, steadiness of right knowledge (prajwa) should be acquired.
Unrestrained senses work mischief.
He who would acquire steadiness of right knowledge (praj*sa) should first bring the senses under control. For, if not controlled, they will do harm. So, the Lord says :
60. The dangerous senses, O son of Kunti, forcibly carry away the mind of a wise man, even while striving (to control them).
The senses are dangerous. They agitate the mind of the man who is inclined to sensuous objects. Having thus agitat- ed the mind, they carry- it away by force, while the man is wide awake t though the mind is possessed of discriminative knowledge.
(5) Devotion to the Lord
Wherefore,
* It is no fallacy of mutual dependence (anyonyasraya) to say that knowledge arises on the killing of desires and that desires vanish when knowledge arises. For, desire in its grossest form disappears at the first dawn of knowledge, and as knowledge is steadied and perfected, even he subtlest desires are killed out,
f t'.e. while repeatedly thinking of the evil nature of sensuous objects
60—63] SANKHYA YOGA. 73
6e. Restraining them all, a man should
remain steadfast, intent on Me. His knowledge
is steady whose senses are under control.
He should bring the senses under control and sit calm and intent on Me, Vasudeva, the Innermost Self of all ; ue-t he should sit thinking 'I am no other than He.' The know- ledge of tfctat devotee is steady who, thus seated, has by prac* tice brought the senses under his own control.
Thought of sense-objects is the source of evil.
Now the Lord proceeds to point out the source of all evil in the case of the unsuccessful :
62. When a man thinks of objects, attachment for them arises. From attachment arises desire -, from desire arises wrath.
Attachment for objects arises when a man thinks of them specifically* — Wrath arises when desire is frustrated by some cause or other.
63. From wrath arises delusion ; from delu- sion, failure of memory •, from failure of memory, loss of conscience ; from loss of conscience he is utterly ruined(
From wrath arises delusion, a lack of discrimination be- iween right and wrong. Verily, when a wrathful man gets
* i.e., thinks of their beauty etc.
74 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. U%
infatuated, he is led to insult even the Guru. From infatu- ation follows failure of memory. Despite the presence of favourable conditions, no reminiscences arise of things already impressed npon the mind by the teachings of the sastras and of the teacher (acharya). From failure of memory follows loss of conscience (buddhi) — the inability of the inner sense (anta/j-kararaa) to discriminate between right and wrong (karya and a-karya). By loss of conscience h<j is utterly ruined ► Man is man only so long as his antafr-karana is competent to discriminate between right and wrong. When it is unable to do so, the man is utterly ruined. Thus, by loss of conscience (anta&-kara«a, buddhi) he is ruined, he is debarred from attain- ing human aspirations.
Sense-control leads to peace and happiness*
The contemplation of sense-objects has been described as the source of all evil. Now the means of deliverance (moksha) is described as follows :
64. He attains peace, who, self-controlled, approaches objects with the senses devoid of love and hatred and brought under his own-control-
The natural activity of the senses is characterised by love and hatred- He who longs for deliverance resorts only to unavoidable objects with the senses — hearing, etc., — devoid of love and hatred and brought under his own control, his inner- sense (atman-~ antaA-karawaJ being made obedient to his own will. Such a man attains peace, tranquillity, self-possession.
(Question) : — What will happen when peace is attained ?
Answer :— Listen :
64—66] SANKHYA YOGA. 75
65. In peace there is an end of all his miseries; for, the reason of the tranquil- minded soon be- comes steady.
Oq the attainment of peace there is an end of all the devotee's miseries such as pertain to the body and the mind* For, the reason (buddhi) of the pure-minded man soon becomes steady, pervading on ail sides like the akasa ; ue.t it remain^ steadfast, in the form of the Self.
The sense of the passage is this :— The man whose heart is pure and whose mind is steady has achieved his object Wherefore the devout man should resort only to those sense- objects which are indispensable and not forbidden by the sastras, with the senses devoid of love and hatred.
Tranquillity is thus extolled :
66. There is no wisdom to the unsteady, and no meditation to the unsteady, and to the unmedi- tative no peace ; to the peaceless, how can there be happiness r
To the unsteady (ayukta = asamahita), to the man who cannot fix the mind in contemplation, there can be no wisdom (buddhi), no knowledge of the true nature of the Self. To the unsteady, there can be no meditation, no intense devotion to Self-knowledge' So, to him who is not devoted to Self-know- ledge there can be no peace, no tranquillity. To the peaceless man, how can there be happiness ? Verily, happiness consists
76 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
in the freedom of the senses from thirst of sensual enjoyment, not in the thirst (trishua) for objects. This last is mere misery indeed. While there is thirst, there can be no trace of happiness ; we cannot so much as smell it.
Sense-restraint conduces to steady knowledge.
(Question) : — Why is there no knowledge for the un- steady ?
(Answer) : — Listen :
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6y. For, the mind which yields to the roving senses carries away his knowledge, as the wind (carries away) a ship on water.
For, the mind which yields to the senses engaged in their respective objects, i*e«, the mind which is altogether engross- ed in the thought of the various objects of the senses, destroys the devotee's discriminative knowledge of the Self and the not-Self. — How ?— As the wind carries away a ship from the intended course of the sailors and drives her astray, so the mind carries away the devotee's consciousness from the Self and turns it towards sense-objects.
Having explained in several ways the proposition enunci- ated in ii. 60—61, the Lord concludes by reaffirming the same proposition :
68. Therefore, O mighty-armed, his knowledge is steady whose senses have been entirely restrain- ed from sense-objects.
67—69] SANKHYA YOGA. 77
It has been shown that evil arises from the senses pursu- ing sense-objects. Wherefore, that devotee's knowledge is steady whose senses have been restrained from sense-objects (such as sound) in all forms, subjective and objective.
(6) The Universe, a mere dream to the Sage.
In the case of the man who possesses discriminative knowledge and whose knowledge has become steady, his experience of all matters, temporal and spiritual (laukika and vaidika, sensuous and supersensuous), ceases on the cessation of nescience (avidya) ; for, it is the effect of nescience : and nescience ceases because it is opposed to knowledge- To make this clear, the Lord proceeds :
69. What is night to all beings, therein the self controlled one is awake. Where all beings are awake, that is the night of the sage who sees.
To all beings the Supreme Reality is night- Night is by nature tamasic, and, as such, causes confusion of things. The Reality is accessible only to a man of steady knowledge. Just as what is day to others becomes night to night- wanderers, so, to all beings who are ignorant and who correspond to the night- wanderers, the Supreme Reality is dark, is like night ; for it is not accessible to those whose minds are not in It- With reference to that Supreme Reality, the self-restrained Yogin who has subdued the senses, and who has shaken off the sleep of Avidya (nescience), is fully awake. When all beings are said to be awake, ie-, when all beings* who in reality sleep in the night of ignorance, imbued with the distinct notions of perceiver and things perceivedi are as
78 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. IL
it were mere dreamers in sleep at night, — that state is night in the eye of the sage who knows the Supreme Reality ; for, it is nescience itself.
Works are not meant of the Sage.
Wherefore works are enjoined on the ignorant, not on the wise- Wisdom (Vidya) arising, nescience (Avidya) dis- appears as does the darkness of the night at sunrise. Before the dawn of wisdom, nescience presents itself in various forms — as actions, means and results, — is regarded as authori- tative, and becomes the source of all action. When it is regarded as of no authority, it cannot induce action. A man engages in action regarding it as his duty — regarding that action is enjoined by such an authority as the Veda, but not looking upon all this duality as mere illusion, as though it were night When he has learnt to look upon all this dual world as a mere illusion, as though it were night, when he has realised the Self, his duty consists not in the performance of action, but in the renunciation of all action. Our Lord will accordingly show (v- 17 et $eq.) that such a man's duty con- sists in devotion to wisdom, in jwana-nishfha.
(Objection) : — In the absence of an injunction (Pravar- taka pramarca *■ vidhi) one cannot have recourse to that course either.
(Answer) : — This objection does not apply ; for the knowledge of Atman means the knowledge of one's own Self* There is indeed no need of an injunction impelling one to devote oneself to one's Atman, for the very reason that Atman is one's own very Self, And all organs of knowledge (pramanas) are so called because they ultimately lead to a knowledge of the Self. When the knowledge of the true nature of the Self has been attained, neither organs of knowledge nor objects of knowledge present themselves to
69—70] SANKHYA YOGA. 79
consciousness any longer. For, the final authority, (viz., the Veda)» teaches that the Self is in reality no percipient of objects, and while so denying, (i>e.t as a result of that teaching), the Veda itself ceases to be an authority, just as the dream-perception (ceases to be an authority) in the waking state. In ordinary experience, too, we do not find any organ of knowledge necessitating further operation (on the part of the knower) when once the thing to be percived by that organ has been perceived.
(7) Subjugation of desire and personal self.
The Lord proceeds to teach, by an illustration, that that devotee only who is wise, who has abandoned desires, and whose wisdom is steady, can attain moksha, but not he who, without renouncing, cherishes a desire for objects of pleasure.
70. He attains peace, into whom all desires enter as waters enter the ocean, which, filled from all sides, remains unaltered ; but not he who desires objects.
The ocean is filled with waters flowing from all sides. Its state is unaltered, though waters flow into it from all sides; it remains all the while within its bounds without change. That sage into whom in this manner desires of all sorts enter from all sides without affecting him — as waters enter into the ocean — even in the presence of objects ; in whose Self they are absorbed, and whom they do not enslave ;
80 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II,
that sage attains peace (moksha), but not the other who has a longing for external objects. Because it is so, therefore,
71. That man attains peace, who, abandoning all desires, moves about without attachment, with- out selfishness, without vanity.
That man of renunciation, who, entirely abandoning all desires, goes through life content with the bare necessities of life, who has no attachment even for those bare necessities of life, who regards not as his even those things which are need- ed for the mere bodily existence, who is not vain of his knowledge, — such a man of steady knowledge, that man wha knows Brahman, attains peace (nirvana), the end of all the misery of samsara (mundane existence). In short, becomes the very Brahman,
Knowledge leads to Divine Felicity
This devotion to knowledge is extolled as follows ;
*ot %\m Mw: m^ *mx sm ragu?$ 1
72. This is the Brahmic state, O son of Pn- tha. Attaining to this, none is deluded. Remaining in this state even at the last period of life, one at- tains to the felicity of Brahman.
70] SANKHYA YOGA. 81
This foregoing state — to renounce all and to dwell in Brahman — is the Divine state, the state of Brahman. It pertains to and has its being in Brahman. On reaching this state, one is no longer deluded. Remaining in this state even at the last period of life, one attains moksha, the felicity of Brahman. And it needs no saying that he who renounces while yet a student and dwells in Brahman throughout life attains the Felicity of Brahman, the Brahma-Nirvana.
THIED DISCOURSE. KARMA-YOGA. Arena's perplexity.
The two aspects of wisdom—relating respectively to Pravntti and Niwitti, i*e-t to the Path of Works and the Path of Renunciation — with which the Gita-Sastra is con- cerned have been pointed out by the Lord in the Second Discourse. He has recommended renunciation of action to those who hold to the Sankhya-buddhi (Sankhya aspect of wisdom) and has added in ii. 72 that their end can be achieved by being devoted to that alone. And as to Arjunaf He has declared in ii. 47 that he should resort to works (karma) alone as based on Yoga-buddhi (the Yoga aspect of wisdom), while it has not been said that the Highest Good can be attained by that alone.* Seeing this, Arjuna is troubl- ed in mind and therefore puts a question to the Lord. (III. 1, 2).
This perplexity in Arjuna's mind is quite explicable. He thinks, " how might the Lord first describe to me — a devout seeker of Bliss — the direct means of attaining Bliss* namely adherence to the Sankhya aspect of wisdom, and then command me to do action which is fraught with many a tangible evil and which is but an indirect and uncertain means of attaining Bliss ? Arjuna's question, too, points to this state of mind ; and the Lord's words in reply to the question are explicable only when the sastra makes such a distinction (between Sankhya and Yoga) as has been described above.
* Vide ii 49—(A)
KARMA YOGA. 83
No conjunction of Knowledge and Action.
A certain commentator * interprets the meaning of Arju- na's question differently and explains the Lord's reply as opposed (to the question) in meaning. So also, he sums up the teaching of the Gita-sastra in one way in the introductory portion of his commentary, while he interprets the question and answer in this connection in a different way —How f — It is stated in the introduction that a simultaneous conjunction of knowledge and action for men in all stages of religious life is inculcated in the Gita-sastra ; and moreover a specific state, ment is made amounting to an emphatic denial of the doctrine that moksha can be attained by knowledge alone, i.e>, without those works which are enjoined by the scriptures as obligatory throughout life. But here, in the Third Discourse, he makes out that devotion to only one of the two paths is taught. This is tantamount to saying that the very works which are enjoined by the scriptures as obligatory throughout life have to be renounced. How is it possible either for the Lord to teach such contradictions or for the disciple to accept them P
That commentator may perhaps explain away the contra- diction thus : — It is only to the grihasthas (to the order of married house-holders) — but not to other orders— that salvation by mere knowledge, preceded by the renunciation of works enjoined in the sruti and in the smnti, is denied.t
This, too, involves a self-contradiction. For after declaring (in the introduction) that a simultaneous conjunction of knowledge and action is meant for all religious orders by the Gita-sastra, how could he, in contradiction thereto, say here (in iii. Discourse) that salvation by mere knowledge is meant for some religious orders ?
* The Vrittikara is here referred to. Vide ante note on p. 16.
t In the iii. Discourse salvation by mere knowledge is said to be
possible in the case of other orders. Thus, they hold, ther« is no contradiction.
84 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. Ill,
Then the commentator may explain away the contradic- tion thus : It is with reference to the srauta-karma (action enjoined in the sruli) that the assertion is made that salvation by mere — 4.0., unconjoined with the srauta-karma — knowledge is denied to the grihastba. The smarta-karma (action enjoin- ed in the smnti) that is meant for a grihastba is ignored as if it were absent.* It is in this sense that salvation by mere knowledge is denied in the case of grihasthas-t
This also involves an absurdity. For, how is it possible for any intelligent man to believe that salvation by knowledge- conjoined only with the smarta-karma is denied to a gnhastba alone? but not to other orders ? On the other hand, if, as a means of obiaining salvation, the smarta-karma should be conjoined with knowledge in the case of the sawnyasins — the fourth religious order, — then it follows that, for the grihasthas also, knowledge should be conjoined only with the smarta- karma, not with the srauta-karma.
Then, he may explain away the contradiction thus : it is only in the case of a grihastha that a conjunction (of know- ledge) with both the srauta-karma and the smarta-karma — both being of equal importance to him — is necessary for
* Because it is of secondary importance to him.
t It may be further explained thus :
The satwnyasins have renounced only the srauta-karma, but they have still to do certain acts and be bound by certain restrictions as enjoin- ed in the smriti. Thus a conjunction of knowledge with action as a means of obtaining salvation holds good in the case of sawnyasins. On the other hand, the srauta-karma is binding on a grihastba ; that is to say, he cannot attain salvation by knowledge unconjoined with the srauta- karma. The smarta-karma, which he is bound to do is only of secondary importance to him ; and in the absence of the srauta-karma. which is o£ primary importance to him, the existence of the smarta-karma may be ignored in his case. Thus, while a sawnyasin can attain salvation by knowledge conjoined with the smarta-karma, a grihastba can obtain it by knowledge conjoined with the srauta-karma.
Introduction."] KARMA YOGA. 85
salvation, whereas the samnyasins can attain moksha by knowledge conjoined with the smarta-karma only.
If so, too mnch exertion in the shape of both the srauta- karma and the smarta-karma, very painful in themselves, falls to the lot of the grihastha*
Renunciation enjoined in the scriptures.
The commentator in question may now say : Because of this multiplicity of exertion, salvation is attained only by a grihastha, but not by other religious orders who have not to do the nitya or obligatory srauta-karma.*
This, too, is wrong; for, in all the Upanishads, in the Itihasas, in the Parana, and in the Yoga-sastra, renunciation of all karma is enjoined on the seeker of moksha as an accessory f to knowledge- Both in the sruti % and in the smriti, a gradual passage (through the three orders to the fourth order) is enjoined, as well as a sudden jump (from any one of the three to the fourth order).
* According to a certain ritualistic school of Mimarasakas, renunci- ation of the srauta-karma is intended for those who are afflicted with physical disabilities —for the lame and the blind who cannot perform the complicated Vedic sacrifices according to prescribed rules* According to this view, the sa«*nyasins cannot attain moksha, as they have not per- formed the srauta karma.
t If samnyasa were meant for the lams and the blind only, it could not have been meant as an accessory to knowledge, Hence that view is wrong.
% " On the completion of the student-life one should become aa house-holder ; then, leaving home he should become a forest-dweller and then retire from the world* Or he may retire from the world when he is yet a student, or retire from house or from the forest, whether he is •engaged in austerities or not, whether he has completed or not the student's career, whether he has quenched the sacrificial fires or not. la short the very day on which he may get disgusted with the world, the same day he should retire from it." Jabala-Upanihad, 4.
86 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. IIL
If so — the commentator in question may retort — it follows that a conjunction of knowledge with action is necessary for all religious orders.*
No, (we reply). For, renunciation of all action is enjoin- ed on the seeker of moksha, as the following passages from the sruti show :
" Having given up all desire for progeny, for wealth and for the world, they lead a mendicant life." — (Bn. Up. 3-5-i;,
" Wherefore, of these austerities, renunciation, they say, is excellent." " Renunciation alone excelled.** (Taitti- riya-Up. 4-78, 79).
*' Not by action," not by progeny, not by wealth, but by renunciation, some attained immortality.- (1*4 442).
** One may renounce the world when yet a student.'* (Jabala-Upanishad, 4).
The following passages from the smriti may also be quoted: — " Give up religion, give up irreligion. Give up truth, give up untruth. Having given up both truth and un- truth, give up that t by which you give them up."
" Finding the samsara (mundane existence) worthless and wishing to get ,at the essence, the unmarried grow quite weary of life and renounce the world." — (Brihas* pati).
Suka's teaching runs as follows :
* When it is said that all the religious orders are sanctioned by the •sxuti, the duties also that are assigned to them respectively are binding on them. A conjunction of knowledge with aetion is thus proved to be .necessary in the case of all asramas or religious orders.
t Even that idea of personality which is implied in the thought, * I have abandoned these,1
Introduction.'} KARMA YOGA. 87
" By action a person is bound, and by wisdom he is released. Therefore, the sages who see the goal do no action." (Santiparva, Mokshadharma, 241-7). Here (in the Bhagavad-gita) also we have, " Renouncing all actions by thought," &. (v. 12).
Moksha cannot be the effect of an action
Moksha, too, being no effect of an act, no action will be of any avail to a mumukshu, a seeker of moksha.
(Objection) : — The performance of obligatory duties is intended for the mere avoidance of the sin (of their omission).
(Answer) : — No. For, the sin arises only in the case of one who has not formally entered the fourth order, the order of sawnyasins. It is certainly (as the opponent must admit) not possible to imagine that a samnyasin will incur sin by omitting the agni-karya — worship of the sacred fire— as students (Brahmacharins) do thereby incur when they are not yet samnyasins, i.e., when they have not formally renounced works.*
Neither is it, indeed, possible to imagine the generation of sin— which is a bhava or positive effect — out of the omission of the obligatory duties,— -which is an abhava or mere negation ; for, that the generation of existence out of non-existence is impossible is taught by the sruti in the words " How can existence arise out of non-existence Y* (Chhandogya-Upanishad, 6-2). If the Veda should teach what is inconceivable to us, vfa, that evil arises from the omission of prescribed duties, it is tantamount to saying that the Veda conduces to no good and is therefore no authority ;
* It is admitted by all that a Brahmacharin alone incurs sin by omitting agnikarya (throwing fuel into the sacred fire) and the Vedic study, which are both enjoined only on the first order (asrama). No sin in fact is incurred by any religious order of men neglecting the duties not enjoined on that order.
88 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. III.
for, performance and non-performance alike would only produce pain. This would further lead to the absurd * conclusion that sastta. or revelation is creative, not indicative* a conclusion -which is acceptable to none. Hence no karma for samnyasins ; and hence also the absurdity of a conjunction of knowledge and action.
Conjunction is inconsistent with Arjtma's question.
Arj una's question (in iii) would also be inexplicable. If, in the Second Discourse, it was said by the Lord that both knowledge and action should be simultaneously conjoined in Arjuna himself, then his question (in iii. 1) cannot be explained. If it was taught to Arjuna that both knowledge and action should be conjoined in him, knowledge which is superior to action must certainly have been meant for him. Then there could be no occasion for the question, or for the blame, which is-implied in Arjuna's words. "Then why dost Thou, O Kesava> direct me to this terrible action ?" (iii. 1.) It can by no means be supposed that knowledge, the superior of the two, was forbidden to Arjuna alone by the Lord in His previous teaching, — in which case the question on the part of Arjuna distinguishing (one path from the other) might arise- If, on the other hand, it has been previously taught by the Lord that knowledge and action are intended for two distinct classes of men respectively, on the ground that a simultaneous devo- tion— on the part of one man — to knowledge and action was impossible owing to their mutual opposition, then the question (in iii. 1.) becomes explicable. Even supposing that the question was asked from ignorance, the Lord's answer that devotion to knowledge and devotion to action are assigned to two distinct class of men cannot be explained. Neither can
* For, it is tantamount to saying that an abhava which in itself cannot produce anything, is invested, with a power to do so by the sastra which is of absolute authority.
1] KARMA YOGA. 89
the reply of the Lord be attributed to His ignorance- From this very answer of the Lord — that devotion to knowledge and devotion to action are assigned to distinct classes of persons- follows the impossibility of a conjunction of knowledge and action.
Wherefore the conclusion of the Gita and all the Upanishads is this, that moksha can be obtained by knowledge alone, unaided (by action).
If a conjunction of the two were possible (for one man,) Arjuna's request to the Lord to teach him only one of the two, jwana or karma, would be unaccountable. The Lord, moreover, emphatically teaches the impossibility of devotion to j«ana in the case of Arjuna, in the words " do thou there- fore perform action only." (iv, 15).
Which is better, Knowledge or Action?
Arjuna said :
1. If it be thought by Thee that knowledge is superior to action, O Janardana, why then dost Thou, O Kei-ava, direct me to this terrible action P
If it had been meant that knowledge and action should he conjoined, then the means of salvation would be one only ; and, in that case, a groundless separation of knowledge from, action would have been made by Arjuna declaring knowledge to be superior to action. If the two be regarded as constituting together a single means to a single end, they
90 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. III.
cannot at the same time be regarded to be distinct as produc- ing distinct effects* Neither could we account for what Arjuna said — " Why then dost Thou direct me to this terrible- action ? " — as if meaning to censure the Lord, on finding that He — for what reason Arjuna could not see clearly — had exhorted him to follow the unwholesome course of action after declaring that knowledge was superior to action.
Now, if a conjunction of knowledge with the smarta- karma only were intended for all by the Lord and understood by Arjuna as so intended, how could we then justify the words of Arjuna t " why dost Thou direct me to this terrible action ? "
Moreover,
%%4 *t% \k{k® hi ^s^i^pn^ II ^ II
2, With an apparently perplexing speech, Thou confusest as it were rny understanding. Tell me with certainty that one (way) by which J may attain bliss,
• This may be explained with, reference to the present case thus : — When knowledge and action are held to form together but one means to moksha, they cannot at the same time be supposed to become distinct as producing distinct effects. If this were possible, Arjuna's considering of the two as distinct from each other might find some justification*
f For, then, the Lord who had taught a conjunction of knowledge and action could not have enjoined mere action on Arjuna, and so there would be no occasion for Arjuna's complaint.
2—3] KARMA YOGA. 91
No doubt the Lord speaks clearly ; still, to me of dull understanding the speech of the Lord appears to be perplex- ing. Thereby " Thou confusest as it were my understand- ing." Arjuna means—" It is not possible That thou wouldst confuse me, Thou who hast undertaken to remove my confusion ? Hence I say * Thou confusest as it were my understanding/' He goes on: — If Thou thinkest that knowledge and action, which are intended for two distinct classes of aspirants, cannot both be followed by one and the same person, then teach me one of the t*vo, knowledge or action, after determining (within Thyself) that " this one alone is suited to Arjuna, and is in accordance with the state and powers of his understanding; " teach me that one of the two knowledge or action, by which I may attain bliss.
If knowledge had been intended by the Lord to be at least an accessory to devotion -to action, why then should Arjuna wish to know about only one of them- It had not indeed been said by the Lord that He would teach him one only of the two, knowledge or action, but not both, — in which case alone Arjuna might ask for one only, seeing that both would not be taught to him.
The Paths of Knowledge and Action.
The Blessed Lord gives the following reply, which is in conformity with the question :
irprapft ^if *n?tT *p^NSw wffiR n \ II
The Blessed Lord said :
3. In this world a twofold path was taught by Me at first, O sinless one : that of Sankhyas by
92 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS, III.
devotion to knowledge, and that of Yogins by devotion to action.
In this world — with reference to the people of the three castes, for whom alone are intended the teachings of the sastra (Scripture), — a twofold nishtfia or path of devotion was taught by Me, the Omniscient Lord, when at first, at the be- ginning of creation, I created people and revived the tradition -of the Vedic doctrine for teaching them the means of attaining worldly prosperity and Bliss — What was that twofold path of devotion? — One of them was j^ana-yoga, the devotion of knowledge — knowledge itself being yoga— suited to "the Sankhyas, to those who possessed a clear knowledge of the Self and the not- Self, who renounced the world from the Brahmacharya (the first holy order or asrama), who determine ed the nature of things in the light of the Vedantic wisdom, whp belonged to the highest class of sawnyasins known as the Paramahawsas, whose thoughts ever dwelt on Brahman only. The other was karma-yoga, the devotion of action,— action itself being Yoga or devotion, — suited to Yogins, to karmins, -to those who were inclined to action.
If it had already been taught or is going to be taught by ihe Lord in the Gita— * and if it had been taught in the Yedas as well— that both knowledge and action should be conjoined in one and the same person as a means to one and the same end, how might the Lord teach Arjuna, who approached Him as a beloved pupil, that the two paths of knowledge and action ■were respectively intended for two distinct classes of aspirants ? If, on the other hand, we suppose, that the Lord meant that Arjuna, after hearing Him teach knowledge and action, would devote himself, of his own accord, to both of them simultane- ously conjoined, but that to others He would teach that the ^wo paths were intended for two distinct classes of aspirants, then it would be tantmount to saying that' the Lord is subject
3 — 4] KARMA YOGA. 93
to love and hatred and that therefore He is no authority (in such matters) : which is absurd. Wherefore by no argument can a conjunction of knowledge and action be proved. Karma-Yoga leads to freedom from action- The superiority of knowledge to action, referred to by Arjuna {iii. 1), must be true, because there is no denial of it. And it must also be true that the path of knowledge is intend- ed for sawnyasins only. Since it has been stated that the two paths are intended for two distinct classes of aspirants, such is evidently the opinion of the Lord. Now seeing that Arjuna, afflicted as he was at heart on the ground that the Lord had urged him to action which caused bondage, was resolved not to perform action, the Lord proceeds with iii. 4.
Or, the connection of what has gone before with the sequel may be thus stated : As devotion to knowledge and devotion to action are mutually opposed, it is impossible for one man to resort to both of them at one and the same time. From this it may follow that each leads to the goal quite independently of the other. But the truth is this : Devotion to action is a means to the end, not directly, but only as leading to devotion to knowledge ; whereas the latter, which is attain- ed by means of devotion to action, leads to the goal directly, without extraneous help. To show this, the Lord says :
4. Not by abstaining from action does man win actionlesstiess, nor by mere renunciation does be attain perfection.
'Action ' refers to the acts of worship (Yaj»a? which* performed in this or a previous birth, conduce to the destruc- tion of sins committed in the past and cause purity of mind
94 THE BHAGAVAD GITA- [DlS. III.
(sattva, antak-karana) ; and by thus purifying mind, they cause knowledge to spring up and lead to the path of devotion to knowledge. It is said in the Mahabharata :
" Knowledge springs in men on the destruction of sinful karma, when the Self is seen in self as in a clean mirror." (Santiparva, 204-8.) By abstaining from action man cannot attain to actionlessness (naishkarmya), freedom from activity, *.«., devotion in the path of knowledge, the condition of the actionless Self. From the statement that man wins not freedom from activity by abstaining from action, it is understood that by the opposite course, t.e., by performing action, man attains freedom from activity. For what reason, then, does he not attain freedom from activity by abstaining from action? The answer follows : — For, performance of action is a means of attaining freedom from activity. Certainly there is no attaining of an end except by proper means. Devotion to action is the means of attaining freedom from activity, i.e>9 devotion to knowledge, — as taught in the sruti, as well as here. In the sruti, for instance, karma-yoga is declared to be a means to j^ana-yoga in the following passage •
" The Brahmaraas seek to know this (the Self) by the
study of the Vedas, by yajna or worship." (Bn. Up.
4-4-22).
In this passage, karma-yoga is pointed out as a means of
realising the Self that is sought after. Here (in the Bhaga-
vad-Gita) the following passages point to the same view ;
"But without Yoga, O mighty-armed, renunciation is hard to attain.** (v. 6.)
"' Having abandoned attachment, Yogins perform action for the purification of the Self.*' (v. 11.)
" Sacrifice, gift and also austerity are the purifiers of he wise." (xviii. 5.)
4 — 5] KARMA YOGA. 95
Now the following objection may be raised :— A passage in the smnti,— " Having promised* immunity from fear to all beings, one should resort to freedom from activity (naishkarmya)," — shows that actionlessness can be attained by renouncing the prescribed duties. Our experience also favours the idea that freedom from activity can be attained by abstaining from action. Of what use then is the performance f action to one who seeks for freedom from action P
In reply the Lord says : Nobody can attain perfection,— t.e-, freedom from activity, or devotion in the path of know- ledge—by mere renunciation, by merely abandoning action, without possessing knowledge.
The ignorant are swayed by Nature.
For what reason, then, does a person not attain perfec- tion, i.e., freedom from activity, by mere renunciation unaccompanied with knowledge P— The reason thus asked for is given as follows :
5. None, verily, even for an instant, ever remains doing no action ; for every one is driven helpless to action by the energies born of Nature.
The energies (guwas) are three, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.t 'Every one* means every living being that is
ignorant, (ajrca), who knows not (the Self) ; for, it is said of a
*** i .in ■ ■ - ■- i .
* Having promised that he would sacrifice no animal, that he would do no harm to any being as he used to do when he was gnhastna t.e*t having renounced all the sacrificial rites enjoined on a gnhastha.
t For a description of these vide Discourse xiv.
96 THE BHGAVAD GITA. [DlS. III.
wise man* (that he is one) "who is unshaken by the energies "" (xiv 23 )
Since the Sankhyas have been distinguished from the Yogins (iii. 3), the Karma-yoga, devotion to action, is indeed meant for the ignorant only, not for the wise. As for the wise who are unshaken by the guwas, and who in themselves are devoid of any change whatever, the Karma-yoga is out of place. And this was explained at length in our comments on di. 21.) The unenlightened should not give tip Karma-Yoga.
Now, for him who knows not the Self, it is not right to neglect the duty enjoined on him. So, the Lord says •
3$F£*nFi 3*«r v mm jrbt srat i
6. He who, restraining the organs of action, sits thinking in his mind of the objects of the senses, self-deluded, he is said to be one of false conduct.
The organs of action are the handj etc. The self-deluded man, the man whose anta/t-kararca is thus deluded, is called a hypocrite, a man of sinful conduct.
j. But whoso, restraining the senses by mind O Arjuna, engages in Karma-Yoga, unattached* with organs of action, he is esteemed-
* He who knows the Self is immoveable by the gu«as, and is therefore said to have crossed over them. The man who knows not the Self and who has not completely controlled the body and the senses—he alone is driven to action by the giraas ;—*(A)
5 — 9] KARMA YOGA. 97
If the ignorant man, who is only qualified for action, performs action with the hand, with the organ of speech, etc., restraining the organs of knowledge by mind and unmindful of the result, he is more worthy than the other, who is a hypocrite.
Wherefore,
8. Do thou perform (thy) bounden duty; for action is superior to inaction. And even the main- tenance of the body would not be passible for thee by inaction.
Thy bounden duty is the obligatory (nitya) act, that which one is bound to perform, and which is not prescribed (in the scriptures) as a means to a specific end. Action is superior to inaction in point of result. By inaction you cannot attain success in the life's journey. The distinction between action and inaction is thus seen in our own experiencei
It is also wrong to suppose that actions lead to bondage and that they should not therefore be performed—Why f
<rc$ qft 4pkv grot i wf* u <i u
9. Except in the case of action for Sacrifice's sake, this world is action-bound. Action for the sake Thereof, do thou, O son of Kunti, perform, free from attachment
98 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. Ill
Sacrifice (Yajwa) here means Isvara, the Supreme Lord So, the sruti* says ' Yajwa, verily, is Vishnu.' ' This world * means those persons who, as qualified for action only, are bound to do it and who accordingly perform it The world is not bound by action done for the Lord's sake. Perform action without attachment.
For the following reason also, action should be done by him who is qualified for it :
®§mu sari: m * 3*far*c 5Mrcr%: i
io. Having first created mankind together with sacrifices, the Prajapati said, " By this shall ye propagate ; let this be to you the cow of plenty.
Mankind: composed of the three castes, fflrst; at the beginning of creation. The cow of $U*ty : the cow which yields all desires.
How can this be achieved by sacrifice ?
ii. With this do ye nourish the Gods, and the Gods shall nourish you ; thus nourishing one another, ye shall attain the supreme good.
" By this sacrifice ye nourish the Gods such as Indra. The Gods shall nourish you with rain, etc.'1 * The supreme
Dgmmmmtmim
* Taittiriya-Samhita, 1-7-4.
13] KARMA YOGA. 99
$ood ' is the attainment of the knowledge of Brahman in due course- Or, the ' supreme good ' may mean * svarga.' * Moreover,
12. " Nourished by the sacrifice, the Gods shall indeed bestow on you the enjoyments ye desire." Whoso enjoys — without offering to Them — Their gifts, he is verily a thief.
Pleased with your sacrifices, the Gods shall bestow on you all enjoyments, including women, cattle, children, etc. He who enjoys what is given by Gods, ie., he who gratifies the cravings of his own body and senses f without discharging the debt due to the Gods, is a thief indeed, a robber of the property of the Gods, etc.
On the other hand,
13 The righteous, who eat the remnant of the sacrifice, are freed from all sins ; but sin do the impious eat who cook for their own sakes.
■ * * " * — ■ '"ii—
*The 'supreme good' here spoken of may be either the knowledge of Brahman or svarga. The result depends upon the motive of the aspirant, according as he desires salvation or worldly enjoyment. In the former case, the sacrifice leads to purity of heart in this or a subsequent birth and ultimately leads to knowledge, whereas in the latter case it eads directly to svarga.
f %. e., he who is bent upon feeding his own body and senses without satisfying the Gods, the iSishis and the Pitns, respectively, by sacrifice by study of the sacred scriptutes, and by offspring.
100 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. IIL
Those who, after performing sacrifices to the Gods, etc., eat the remains of the food — which is called amnta, ambrosia — are freed from all sins committed at the five* places of animal-slaughter (such as the fire place), as well as from those sins which result from involuntary acts of injury and other causes. But as to the others, who are selfish and cook food for their own sakes, what they eat is sin itself, while they themselves are sinners.
The wheel of the world should he set going. For the following reason also should action be performed by him who is qualified for action. For, it is action that sets the wheel of the world going.-- How ?•— The answer follows.
14-15. From food creatures come forth ; the production of food is from rain ; rain comes forth from sacrifice ; sacrifice is born of action ; know thou that action comes from Brahman, and that Brahman comes from the Imperishable. There* fore, the all-pervading Brahman ever rests in sacrifice.
* The five places referred to are the fire-place, the water-pot, the cutting, grinding and sweeping apparatus. These are the five-places where injury to life is daily committed. The sins committed here are said to be washed away by the five maha-yaj«as or great sacrifices, which every dvija ought to perform, and which are intended to satisfy the Bfcutas, the JRisbis, men, the Gods, and the Pitris. Vide Manu, ii. 67—73.
— 1316] KARMA YOGA. 101
All living creatures, it is evident, are bora from food, which, when eaten, is converted into blood and semen. Rain proceeds from sacrifice as taught in the following text from the smnti :
" The offering thrown into the fire reaches the sun ; from the sun comes rain ; from rain food ; and from this (food) all creatures.'* [Manus Hi. 76).
Yajwa or sacrifice here spoken of refers to what is called apurva ;* and this apurva is the result of the activities of the sacrificer and his priests (ritviks) engaged in a sacrifice. These activities are enjoined in the Veda (Brahman), and the Veda comes from the Imperishable, the Paramatman, the Highest Self. Because the Veda has arisen from the Highest Self — the Akshara, the Imperishable, — as the breath comes out of a man, therefore, the Veda, though all-comprehending as reveal- ing all things, ever rests in sacrifice, i.e., it treats mainly of sacrifices and the mode of their performance.
• r>p • * ^ f\
16, He who follows not here the wheel thus set in motion, who is of sinful life, indulging in senses, he lives in vain, O son of Pfitha.
He who ought to perform action, but who, indulging in sensual pleasures, does not follow the wheel of the world thus
muni iiPwiiMiiwiwiipiiiMBpwMMMMM^ '« ' '""— ««— *m *■—«— — mmm m*—*
* The unseen from which a sacrifice is said to assume between the time of its performance and the time when its results become manifested ; it being, in short, the connecting link between the two, the cause and the
effect.
102 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. III.
set revolving by Is vara on the basis of the Veda and sacri- fices, * he lives in vain.
The main drift, therefore, of this section (iii. 4. 16) is that action should be performed by the ignorant man, for whom it is intended. In iii. 4-8, it was taught that till he attains the qualification for Devotion to the knowledge of the Self, the man who knows not the Self and is therefore qualified (for action only) should resort to Devotion to action as a means of attaining Devotion to knowledge j and, further, there were incidentally propounded (in iii. 9-16) many reasons why the man who knows not the Self and is (therefore) qualified for action should perform it. Mention, too, has been made of evils arising from a neglect of action. Karma-Yoga is not meant for the Self-knower.
Now, the Lord Himself supposes Arjuna to ask the fol- lowing question : Is the wheel, thus set in motion, to be fol- lowed by all, or by him only who has not yet attained to devotion in the path of knowledge which the Sankhyas or Self*knowers tread and which is attainable by the ignorant by means of devotion in the path of action already described ? In answer to this question, or with a view to afford, of. his own accord, a clear understanding of the teaching of the sastra, He proceeds to show that what is intended to be taught in the Gita-sastra is the same truth that is embodied in the following 'passage of the sruti :
" The Br&hmanas (the devotees of the Brahman, the Self), knowing this, the Self, and free from illusory know- ledge, shake off all desires of progeny, etc-, cherished, of necessity^ by those who are still subject to illusion; and they lead a mendicant life for the barest necessaries of
* i.e*t he who does not follow the wheel by studying the Vedas and performing the sacrifices therein enjoined, as commanded by Jsvara.
16—18] KARMA YOGA. 103
life. They have nothing else to do than resort to devo- tion to Self-knowledge." (Bn. Up. 3-5-1).
17. That man, verily, who rejoices only in the Self, who is satisfied with the Self, who is con- tent in the Self alone, — for him there is nothing to do.
But that man — a sa^nyasin, the Sankhya, ane devoted to Self-knowledge— whose joy is in the Self, not in the objects of the senses ; who is satisfied only with the Self, not with food-essence, etc ; who is contented in the Self ; — all others derive contentment from possession of external things, where- as, disregarding these, he is content in the Self only and has no desire for anything ; — for such a man, for the man who knows the Self, there is nothing to do.
Moreover,
18. For him, there is here no interest what- ever in what is done or what is not done. Nor is there in all beings any one ne should resort to for any object.
For the man thus rejoicing in the Self, no purpose is served by action.-— Does, then, any evil called sin (pratyav&ya) arise from inaction ?— No evil whatever, either by way of incurring sin, or by way of losing the Self, arises in this world
104 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. III.
from inaction. Nor is there, in all beings from Brahma (Prajapati) down to the sthavara or immovable objects, any whose support he has to gain by action. He has no object whatever to gain, for which he has to depend upon any parti- cular being : if he were to have any object in view, then he would have to exert himself to gain that object
Arjtma qualified for Karma-yoga.
You have not attained to the right knowledge, which corresponds to the all-spreading flood of water (vide ii. 46). Wherefore :
wot irrw^lr TOfl<sm% i^j ii %% \\
19, Therefore, without attachment, constant- ly perform the action which Should be done ; for, performing action without attachment, man reaches the Supreme.
Performing action, without attachment, for the sake of the Isvara, man attains moksha, through attaining purity of mind (sattva-suddhi). The wise should set an example to the masses.
For the following reason also (shouldst thou perform action) :
20. By action only, indeed, did Janaka and others try to attain perfection. Even with a view to the protection of the masses thou shouldst per- form (action).
18—20] KARMA YOGA. 105
The wise kshatriyas of old, such as Janaka and Asvapati * tried by action alone to attain moksha (sam-siddhi). If they were persons possessed of right knowledge, then we should understand that, since they had been engaged in works, they tried to reach moksha with action, i.e., without abandoning action, t with a view to set an example to the world. If, on the other hand, such men as Janaka were persons who had not attained right knowledge, then, (we should understand), they tried to attain moksha through action which is the means of attaining purity of mind (sattva-suddhi).
If you think that obligatory works were performed by the ancients such as Janaka because they were ignorant, and that it does not follow from that » fact alone that action should be performed by another who possesses right knowledge and has done all his duties, — even then, as subject to your prarabdha-karma (the karma which has led you to this birth as a kshalriya), and having regard also to the purpose of pre- venting the masses from resorting to a wrong path, you ought to perform action.
Who should secure the welfare of the world ? And how ? The answer follows :
Vide Chhandogya-Upanishad v. 11. 4, et. seq,
fThough such persons as Janaka were men of right knowledge, they had no right to enter the fourth order of samny&sa, as they were kshatri- yas. In obedience therefore to their prarabdha-karma {*'.<?., the karma which led them to that birth and which had to be worked out in tha* birth) which caused them to be born as kshatriyas, they went on in their spiritual career without renouncing works, lest, otherwise, the masses would follow their example. It is, however, proper that they should attain moksha in virtue of their right knowledge.
106 THE BHAGAVAB GITA. [DlS. IIL
sr wsmw $m stosr^qiit II R\ n
21. Whatsoever a great man does, that alone the other men do ; whatever he sets up as the standard, that the world follows.
Whatever authority the chief among men follows, whether in relation to the spiritual or temporal matters, the same is regarded as the authority by his followers.
If you have a doubt even as regards the necessity there is for the protection of the masses, why do you not observe Me*?
22. I have nothing whatsoever to achieve in the three worlds, O son of Pritha, nor is there any- thing unattained that should be attained ; yet I engage in action.
I have nothing to achieve, for, there is nothing unattained^
23. For, should I not ever engage in action, unwearied, men would in all matters follow My path9 O son of Pritha.
My : I being the chief among men.
* " ' •mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmtmimmmimmmm^mmmmmMmm n— — — i-
* i,e<, why do you not follow My example and try to prevent the masses from going astray by setting an example yourself.
21—25] KARMA YOGA. 107
And what harm is there in that ? — The Lord says :
H?€r%ft$ star «* tpil $$ %^?^ i
24. These worlds would be ruined if I should not perform action ; I should be the cause of confusion of castes, and should destroy these creatures.
If I should not perform action, then there would be no action conducive to the continuance of the universe, and all these worlds would fall into ruin. Moreover, I would be the author of confusion of castes, and thereby destroy these creatures. Thus, though working for the welfare of the creatures, I would bring about their ruin, — which would be unbecoming of Me, their lord.
The wise man's action as contrasted with that of
the ignorant.
Suppose, on the other hand, you — or suppose (for that matter) any other man thinks that he has achieved his ends and has realised the Self, even he should work * for the wel- fare of others, though for himself he may have nothing to do.
25, As ignorant men act attached to work, O Bharata, so should the wise man act, unattached from a wish to protect the masses.
The ignorant expect the result of their action thus : " The result of this action shall accrue to me." The wise man : he who knows the Self.
* Even he should perform action in view of the welfare of others*
108 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. III.
For Me, or for any other person who, knowing the Self, thus seeks the welfare of the world, there is nothing to do except it be with a view to that welfare of the world at large. To such a man who knows the Self, the following advice is offered :
26. Let no wise man cause unsettlement in the minds of the ignorant who are attached to action ; he should make them do all actions, him- self fulfilling them with devotion.
An ignorant man who is attached to action believes " I should do this action and enjoy its result." No wise man should unsettle that firm belief- — What then should he do ? — Himself doing diligently and well the actions which the ignorant have to do, he should make them do those actions.
In what way is an ignorant man attached to actions f
27. Actions ate wrought in all cases by the energies of Nature. He whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks 1 1 am the doer.*
Nature (Prakriti, Pradh&na) is the equipoised state of the three guwas or energies, viz., sattva (goodness), rajas (activity), tamas (darkness). It is by the gunas or the modi- fications of Nature, manifesting themselves as the body and the senses, that all our actions, conducive to temporal and spiritual ends, are done. The man whose mind (antafrkarawa)
25—29] KARMA YOGA. 109
is variously deluded by ahawkara, by egoism identifying the aggregate of the body and the senses with the Self, i- e.f who ascribes to himself all the attributes of the body and the senses and thus thoroughly identifies himself with tham — he, by nescience, sees actions in himself : as regards every action, he thinks "lam the doer."
But as regards the wise man :
jjoit jjqg *dhr |i% vrm * ^*m u \c \\
28. But he who knows the truth, O mighty- armed, about the divisions of the energies and (their) functions, is not attached, thinking that the energies act upon the energies.
He who is versed in the classification of the energies (gu^as) and their respective functions holds that the energies as sense-organs move amid the energies as sense-objects, but not the Self. Thus holding, he forms no attachment (for actions).
Now,
29. Those deluded by the energies of Nature are attached to the functions of the energies. He who knows the All should not unsettle the unwise who know not the All.
The foolish believe " we do action for the sake of its result" These men who are attached to action look only to the result of their actions. The man who knows the
HO THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. Ill-
All — the man who knows the Self — should not of himself unsettle such men,t-e., he should not disturb their conviction.
How an aspirant for Moksha should do actions.
How then should action be performed by the ignorant man who seeks moksha and who is qualified for action only ? The answer follows :
vim mm ^ffa ^^r^rc*T%€T i
30 Renouncing all action in Me, with thy thought resting on the Self, being free from hope, free from selfishness, devoid of fever, do thou fight.
To Me, Vasudeva, the Divine Being, the Supreme Lord, the Omniscient, the Self of all, surrender all actions, with the wise thought that " I, the agent, do this for the Isvara's sake as His liege." Fever : anguish, grief.
'fa- 's
n * tow? Haragrasra mmn 1
«ra^s*3p?ft sps^rer %sfa «6§fir: II $\ li
31. Men who constantly practise this teach- ing of Mine with faith and without cavilling, they too are liberated from actions.
Men who always follow this teaching of Mine without cavilling, *'.«., without cherishing any feeling of envy towards Me, Vasudeva, the Supreme Master (Parama-Guru)— they too are released from actions, i.e., from dharma and a-dharma, from the merit and demerit of actions.
29—33] KARMA YOGA. Ill
32. But those who, carping at this, My teaching, practise it not, — know them as deluded in all knowledge, as senseless men doomed to destruction.
Influence of man's nature on Ms conduct.
Then, why do they, not following Thy doctrine, perform others' duties and neglect their own ? Thus opposed to Thee, why are they not afraid of the sin of transgressing Thy command ?
^z$jt §gifr &*?rr* sn^ifcftFfft 1
srff fif ^FFcT Jpfft Rsr?: ft vftraiit WW U
33. Even the man of knowledge acts in con* formity with his own nature ; (all) beings follow (their) nature ; what shall coercion avail ?
Nature (prakriti) is the sawskara (the latent self-repro- ductive impression of the past acts of dharma and a-dharma) manifesting itself at the commencement of the present birth. Even the man of knowledge acts according to his own nature ; it needs no saying that an ignorant man acts according to his own nature. Thus all living beings follow their own nature. What shall coercion in the shape of prohibition avail ? That is to say, to Me or to anybody else, nature is irresistible. Scope for man's personal exertion.
(Objection) :— If every being acts according to its own nature only, — and there is none that has no nature of its own, — then, there being possibly no scope for personal exertion
112 THEBHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. III.
(purushakara), the Teaching (sastra) would be quite purpose- less.
(Answer) : — The Lord replies as follows :
34. Love and hate lie towards the object of each sense; let none become subject to these two; for, they are his enemies.
As regards all sense-objects, such as sounds, there neces- sarily arises in each sense love for an agreeable object, and aversion for a disagreeable object. Now I shall tell you where lies the scope for personal exertion and for the Teaching (sastra). He who would follow the Teaching should at the very commencement rise above the sway of affection and aversion. For, what we speak of as the nature (prakriti) of a person draws him to its course only through love and aversion. He then neglects his own duties and sets about doing those of others. When, on the other hand, a person restrains these feelings by means of their enemy*, then he will become mindful of the Teaching only, no longer subject to his own nature. Wherefore, let none come under the sway of these two ; for, they are his adversaries, obstacles to his progress in the right path, like thieves on the road.
Now, the man who is led by love and aversion may mis- understand the Teaching ; he may think that one man may follow the duty (dharma) of another because the latter is also a duty. But it is not right to think so :
* Viveka~j»&na or Right knowledge is the enemy ; for, it is inimical to mithya-jnana or ill usory knowledge, the source of affection and aver* sion,
34—36] KARMA YOGA. 113
35. Better one's own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well discharged. Better is death in one's own duty ; the duty of another is productive of danger.
For a man to die doing his own duty though devoid of merit is better than for him to live doing the duty of another though perfectly performed- For, the duty of another leads to danger, such as hell (naraka).
Desire is the Enemy of Han.
Though the source of evil has been pointed out in ii. 62, etc, and in iii. 34, yet with a view to eliciting a concise and clear statement of what was but desultorily and vaguely ex- pressed,— for, the exact cause being koown, he might exert himself to exterminate it, — Arjuna asks :
Arjuna said ;
36. But by what dragged on, O Varshneya, does a man, though reluctant, commit sin, as if constrained by force ?
Dragged on w& comtraimd : as a servant by the king. 'Varshneya : one born in the family of the Wisbttis.
The Lord says : Listen, I shall tell you who that enemy is, of whom you ask* who the source of all evil is ••
114 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. III.
[Vasudeva is here called the Lord (Bhagavat), because He is one in whom the six attributes of unimpeded dominion «to, ever abide collectively and in perfection, and who pos- sesses a complete knowledge of the origin of the universe etc. Says the Vishwu-Purawa :
" *Bhaga' means the six attributes — perfect dominion, might, glory, splendour, dispassion and salvation," (vi. 5-74).
" He is called the Lord (Bhagavat), who knows the origin and the end, the coming and the going of beings, what is wisdom and what is ignorance." (vi. 5-78.)]
The Blessed Lord said :
37. It is desire, it is wrath, born of the energy of Rajas* all-devouring, all sinful ; that, know thou, is the foe here.
The enemy of the whole world is desire, from which all the evil comes* to living beings. When obstructed by some cause, desire is transformed into wrath. Whence wrath is desire itself. It is born of the energy of Rajas. — Or, desire itself is the cause of the energy of Rajas ; for, when desire arises, it rouses the Rajas and urges the person to action. We often hear the cry of miserable persons — who are engaged in servitude, etc., under the impulse of the Rajas, — saying ' I have been led to act so by desire.' It is very sinful ; for it is only when urged by desire that a man commits sin. Where- fore, know that this desire is man's foe here in samsara.
36—39] KARMA YOGA. 115
Desire Enshrouds Wisdom.
He now illustrates how it is our foe .•
38. As fire is surrounded by smoke, as a mirror by rust, as the foetus is enclosed in the womb, so is this covered by it.
As a bright fire is surrounded by dark smoke co-existent with it... so this is covered with desire.
What is the thing referred to by * this ' and which is •covered with desire ? — The answer follows :
39. Covered, O son of Kunti, is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise, in the form of desire, which is greedy and insatiable.
The wise man knows, even before suffering the conse- quence, that he has been led by desire to evil ways, and therefore he feels ever miserable. Whence desire is a constant enemy of the wise, not of the ignorant. For, the latter regards desire as a friend at the time he thirsts for objects, and it is only when suffering results from it, — but not before,— that he learns the truth that he has been rendered miserable by desire.
Wherefore it is a constant enemy of the wise alone It
is insatiable and greedy; it never has enough, i.e., it finds nothing enough for itself, u e., there is no limit to its consum- ing power.
116 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. Ill,
The Seat of Desire.
He now tells us where is seated desire which by envelop* tag wisdom, forms the enemy of the whole world. The seat of the enemy being known, it is easy to kill it.
'wriwpra'r m[OTi|^ m$*oi II tf© II
40. The senses, mind, and reason are said to be its seat ; veiling wisdom through these, it deludes the embodied.
Ms seat : the seat of desire. These : the senses mind (manas), and reason (buddhi).
How to Kill out Desire.
Wherefore,
www mm. ir ^T^m^rnERq: 11 % % it
41 . Therefore, O lord of the Bhaiatas, restrain the senses first, do thou cast off this sinful thing which is destructive of knowledge and wisdom.
J#anais the knowledge of the Self and other things acquired from the sastra (scripture) and from a teacher (acharya). Vi-jnana is the personal experience of the things so taught. Do thou cast off from you the destroyer of jrcana and vijwana which lead to the highest good
It has been taught, " first master the senses, and cast off desire* thy enemy." Now it may he asked, — Where should one take one*s stand and cast off desire ? The answer follows:
40—43] KARMA YOGA. 117
42. They say that the senses are superior ; superior to the senses is mind ; superior to mind is reason; one who is even superior to reason is He.
The senses are five, the sense of bearing, etc. When compared with the physical body, which is gross, external, and limited, the senses are superior as they are comparatively more subtle and internal, and have a more extensive sphere of action. So say the wise. Superior to the senses is mind (manas, the impulsive nature) ^fhich is composed of thoughts and desires, of errors and doubts, (sankalpa and vikalpa), Superior to mind is reason (buddhi) characterized by determi- nation (nischaya). So, He who is behind all things visible, inclusive of reason, the Dweller m the body, whom— it has been said—desire, seated in the senses and other quarters, bewilders by enveloping wisdom, — He, the Self, the witness of reason, is superior to reason,
srit ^2 wn& *w 5*wra \\*\ II
43. Then knowing Hitn who is superior to reason, subduing the self by the self, siay thou, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, bard to conquer.
Thus understanding the Self who is superior to reason, and subduing the self by the elf, i.e., steadily composing the self by means of the self.* do thou slay desire. It is difficult to conquer desire, on account of its complex and incomprehensible nature.
m fFWIEg^^MR? WWII" *rw
'■ " ■— %■ in 1 ,m !
* The regenerated or purified mind (self, manas) is the means of attaining self-composure (tnanas-sam&dh&na) — (A).
FOURTH DISCOURSE. JNAffA-YOGA.
Tradition of Jnana-Yoga.
This Yoga of Devotion to knowledge taught in the last two Discourses, accompanied with renunciation and attained by means of Karma-Yoga, — this Yoga in which the Vedic teaching regarding the life of activity and retirement (Pravritti and Nivritti) is comprehended, — it is this Yoga which forms the subject of the Lord's teaching throughout the Gita. Thinking, therefore, that the Vedic Doctrine has been con- cluded, He extols it by relating its pedigree.
The Blessed Lord said. :
i. I taught this imperishable Yoga to Vivas- vat ; Vivasvat taught it to Manu ; Manu taught to Ikshvaku.
This Yoga, treated of in the two preceding Discourses, I taught to the Sun (Vivasvat) at the commencement of Evolu- tion in order to infuse strength into the Kshatriyas, the rulers of the world. It is only when possessed of the strength of this Yoga that they can protect the Brahmawas, the spiritual class. And when the spiritual and ruling classes are well maintained, it is possible to maintain the world. That Yoga
1—3] JNANA-YOGA. 119
is imperishable, because of its imperishable results. Indeed, Moksha, the fruit of this Yoga of complete devotion to right knowledge, never perishes. Vivasvat taught it to Manu ; and Manu taught it to his son Ikshvaku the first ruler.
2. This, handed down thus in succession, the King-sages learnt, This Yoga, by long lapse of time, has been lost here, O harasser of foes.
This Yoga, thus handed down In regular succession among the Kshatriyas, the king-sages — men who were at once kings and sages — learnt. The tradition of this Yoga has now for a long time been broken here, O Arjuna, who harasses! thy foes, like the sun, by the heat of thy prowess.
Saeing that the Yoga has been lost by falling into the hands of the weak who could not control their senses, and seeing also that the people have not been able to attain the object of life.
^ wts*t *r*rc gfssi 4far: si8^: 5*tw* | srdstsfe ^ ^Psrr 3fir ^f iNr^Turq; n 3 li
3. That same ancient Yoga has been to-day taught to thee by Me, seeing that thou art My devotee and friend ; for, this is the Supreme Secret.
This knowledge, this Yoga, is the Supreme Secret. Divine Incarnations.
In order not to leave in anybody's mind an impression that an inconsistent statement has been made by the Lord »
120 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS» IV.
and with a view to avoiding that impression, Arjuna asks as though he were to raise an objection :
Arjuna said ;
4. Later is Thy birth, and prior the birth of Vivasvat ; how am I to understand that Thou taughtest this Yoga in the beginning ?
Thy birth is later, in the house of Vasudeva : Vivasvat' s (Aditya's) birth is prior, in the beginning of evolution ; how then, am I to reconcile the statement that Thou taughtest this Yoga in the beginning (to Vivasvat), and that Thou, the self-same person, has now taughHt to me?
To remove — as was the aim of Arjuna's question — from the ignorant the impression that Vasudeva was not the Omnipotent and the Omniscient, the Blessed Lord says :
wire ?r ©^wtft ^*rn*T 3^ m^i \
The Blessed Lord said :
5. Many births of Mine have passed, as well as of thine, O Arjuna ; *ali these I know, thou know- es not, O harasser of foes.
Thou hnowest not, because the power of vision is obstruc- ted by thy past action, good and bad (dharma and adharma). I, on the other hand, know them, because I am by nature eternal, pure, wise, unbound, and My power of vision is unobstructed*
4—7] JNANA YOGA. 121
How, then, canst Thou, the eternal Lord, have a birth, in the absence of dharma and a-dharma ? — Listen :
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6. Though I am unborn, of imperishable nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, yet ruling over My own nature, I am born by My own Maya\
Though X am unborn, though by nature my power of vision (jnana-sakti) is undecaying, though I am by nature the Lord of all creatures from Brahma down to grass, yet ruling over by nature — the Praknti, the Maya of Vishnu, which is made up of the three energies of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, to which this whole universe is subject, and by which deluded the whole world knows not Vasudeva, its own Self, — I appear to be born and embodied, through my own Maya, but not in reality, unlike others.
THE PURPOSE OF DIYINE INC&RN&TION.
When and for what purpose is He so born ? — The answer follows :
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7. Whenever there is a decay of religion, O Bharata, and an ascendency of irreligion, then I manifest Myself.
Religion: Dharma as embodied in the institution of castes (varwa) and religious orders (asrama) which are the means of attaining worldly prosperity and salvation. When- ever there is a decay of religion (Dharma),,.. I manifest
Myself through Maya.
122 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. IV,
For what purpose ?
8, For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, for the firm establishment of religion, I am born in every age.
The Good ; those who are in the right path.
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3WST \i g^?*! %% HT^T% 5BTS#T II S> I!
9» Whoso knows thus My divine birth and action in truth is not born again on leaving this body ; he comes to Me, O Arjuna.
My birth is an illusion (Maya). It is Divine, peculiar to Isvara, not of ordinary nature (aprakma). Me comes to me : He is liberated.
JNAN&-YOG& 18 THE SOLE MEANS TO MOKSH&.
This path of salvation is not recent, but it was in vogue, even in ancient times ?
10. Free from passion, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the fire ftapas) of wisdom, many have reached My being.
8—11] JNANA-YOGA. 125
Absorbed in Me : knowing Brahman, ». e.f seeing their identity with Isvara. Taking refuge in Me> Parame*vara» the Supreme Lord, *. e., firmly devoted to wisdom only- Jwma-tapas : religious austerity (tapas) in the form of jwana or knowledge of the Highest Self. Paramatman.— This com- pound indicates that Devotion to knowledge is quite inde- pendent of all other austerities (tapases). Having attained to highest purity by means of this fire of austerity (tajm)% many have attained moksha.
DIYINE DISPENSATION OF WORLDLY BENEFITS 1ND SALVATION.
Then, Thou cherishest the feelings of affection and aver- sioni since Thou awardest moksha, Thy Being (identity with Thy Self), to a few only, not to ail ?— The answer follows :
11. Howsoever men approach Me, even so do I reward them ; My path do men follow in all things O son of Pntha.
I reward men by granting them the things they desire just in accordance with the way in which they seek Me and the motive with which they seek Me ; for they do not seek for moksha. One cannot indeed pursue pleasure and at the same time seek for moksha. Wherefore, I reward seekers of fruits by securing to them their selfish ends ; I reward the unselfish, who do their prescribed duties and seek for moksha, by granting them knowledge ; I reward men of knowledge who have renounced the world and seek for moksha, by granting them moksha ; similarly, I reward men in distress by relieving them from distress. Thus do 1 reward all, just in the way they seek Me. But never do i reward any from affection or aversion, or from delusion. la
124 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. IV*
all things, men follow My path, the path of the Isvara who exists in all forms.* [Here * men ' stands for all those t who are engaged in works prescribed according to their respective ends.]
(Question) :— If Thou, Isvara, art free from affection and other evil passions, then, since Thou art gracious to all creatures alike and able to grant every desire, why do they not all desire moksba and seek Thee, with the knowledge that Vasudeva is all ?
(Answer) : — Listen why it is so :
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12. They who long after success in actions sacrifice here to the Gods : for, soon in this world of man accrues success from action.
They who long after success in action sacrifice to the Gods, such as Indra and Agni. The sruti says ;
" He who, on the other hand, 'worships a separate God, thinking, ' He is separate from me and I am sepa- rate from Him ' — he knows not. He is to the Devas as cattle (to men)'* (Br'u Up. 1-4-1(3).
For, quickly is the fruit of action reaped in this world of men by those who, with selfish ends in view, sacrifice to external Gods, performing the works enjoined on them according to their caste (var«a) and order (asrama). It is for this world of men that Vedic injunctions are meant' — By
*>., whether it be for a selfish end or for moksha, every one should follow the Lord, in the path of works or of knowledge. It is the Supreme Xord Himself that abides as the Self in every form,-— (A) f Not men only, but other beings as well,— (A)
11—13] JNANA YOGA 125
the expression " soon in this world of man " the Lord implies that even in other worlds actions produce results : the only difference being that it is only to this world of men that injunctions based upon castes and religious orders apply t
Caste, A Divinely ordered human institution
What is the foundation of the law that the respective ^"tifis of the several castes and religious orders obtain only is world of men, but not in other worlds ? — Or the ques* may be put thus : It has been said that men, split up into igmmunities of several castes and orders (var«as and nas), should follow Thy path in all things, Why should necessarily follow Thy path only, but not that of any r ? — The answer follows :
13. The fourfold caste has been created by according to the distribution of energies and )ns ; though I am the author thereof, know Me on-agent and immutable.
The four castes (varwas, ttt.t colours) have been created [e, Isvara, according to the distribution of energies (gunas) of actions. The energies are Sattva (goodness), Rajas ness, activity,) and Tamas (darkness). The actions of a> nana (priest), in whom Sattva predominates, are serenity estraint, austerity &c., (xviii 42). The actions of a riya (warrior), in whom Rajas predominates and Sattva ^ordinate to Rajas, are prowess, daring, &c, (xviii 43). actions of a vaisya (merchant)i in whom Rajas pre- □atesand Tamas is subordinate to Rajas, are agriculture, (xviii. 44). The action of a sudra (servant) in whom
126 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. (DlS. IV.
Tamas predominates and Rajas is subordinate to Tamas, is only servitude. Thus have been created the four castes according to the distribution of energies and actions. This fourfold caste does not exist in other worlds. Hence the limitation " in this world of man." (iv. 12).
; Objection) ;— Oh ! then Thou art the author of the act of creating the four castes, and as such Thou art bound by its effect 5 wherefore Thou art not the eternal Lord nor the eternally unbound
Answer : — Though I am the author of this act when viewed from the standpoint of Maya, still know thou that I am in reality no agent and therefore not subject to samsara. Action without attachment does not bind tbe soul. Since I am not in reality the author of those actions, of which you think Me to be the author,
14. Actions pollute Me not, nor have I a desire for the fruit of actions. He who knows Me thus is not bound by actions.
For want of egoism (ahawkara), these actions do not pollute Me by necessitating incarnation ; nor have I a desire for the fruit of thess actions. On the other hand, it is but right that actions should pollute those men of the world (samsara) who are attached to their actions, thinking them- selves to be the authors thereof, and longing for tbe fruits of such actions. As I have none of these, (war., desire and at- tachment), action cannot pollute Me. Any other person, too, who knows Me to be his Self, who thinks " I am no agent, I have no longing for the fruits of actions"— his ■action too will not necessitate incarnation.
13—16] JNANA YOGA. 127
Knowing that ' I am no agent. I have no longing for the fruits of actions.'
15. Thus knowing, men of old performed ac- tion in the hope of liberation : therefore do thou also perform action as did the ancients in the olden time.
As the ancients performed action, do thou also perform action ; do not sit quiet, nor renounce action, if thou art ignorant, do thou perform action to purify the self. If thou art wise and knowest the truth, do thou perform action for the protection of the masses. It was performed by the ancients such as Janaka in the olden time ; it is not a recent instruction.
The real nature of action and inaction.
If action should be performed here (in this world of man) 1 shall perform it on the authority of Thy word. Why shouldst thou add that it was performed by the ancients in the olden time ?— In reply the Lord says ; (Listen). For there is a great difficulty in (understanding; action. — How ?
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16. What is action ? What is inaction — As to this, even the wise are deluded 1 shall teach thee such action, by knowing which thou shalt be liberated from evil.
128 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. IV*
Even the wise are deluded as to what is action and what is inaction. Wherefore 1 will explain to you the nature of action and of inaction, knowing which thou shalt be released from the evil of sa^sara.
Neither shouldst thou think thus ; " It is familiar to all that action means movement of the body, and inaction means absence of it, to sit quiet. What is there to be learnt about them ?"
Wherefore ?
The answer follows :
17. For, thou hast to know something even of action, something to know of unlawful action, and something to know of inaction ; hard to under- stand is the nature of action.
For there is much to be learnt about the action which is enjoined by the scripture, about the action which is unlawful, and about inaction. In fact, it is bard to understand the true nature of action (enjoined), of inaction, and of unlawful action.
What, then, is the true nature of action and inaction about which much has to be learnt, and which you have pro- mised to teach ? — Listen :
18. He who can see inaction in action, who can also see action in inaction, he is wise among men, he is devout, he is the performer of all action.
16—18] JNANA YOGA. 129
' Action * means what is done, an act in general. Inaction can be seen in action, and action in inaction, since both inac- tion (nivritti) and action (pravritti) presuppose an agent* In fact all our experience of such things as action and agent is possible only in a state of avidya, only when we have not yet attained to the Real (vastu). He who sees inaction in action and who sees action in inaction, — he is wise among men, he is devout (yukta, yogin), he has done all action — Thus is he extolled who sees action in inaction and vice versa-
(Objection) ; — What means this incongruity, " who can see inaction in action and action in inaction"? Surely action •can never realize such an incongruity ?
(Answer) : — This objection does not apply to our inter- pretation. To an ignorant man of the world, what in reality is inaction appears as action, and what in reality is action appears as inaction. With a view to teach what their real nature is, the Lord says'* He who can see inaction in action," &c. Hence no incongruity. It must be a bare truth that the Lord means to teach here, inasmuch as He has said that he who realizes this view of action and inaction is wise, and has introduced the subject by saying that there is much to be learnt about action and inaction, (iv. 17). It has also been said that ' by knowing which thou shalt be liberated from evil* (iv. 16) ; and certainly freedom from evil cannot be achieved by means of false knowledge. Wherfore, we should under- stand that action and inaction are misunderstood by all living
* It has been said that action should be seen in inaction and vice versa because in both an agent is presupposed. This cannot be objected to on the ground that nivntti or inaction is resorted to only when the One real Self is known, and that therefore it presuppose no agency of the Self. For action or inaction, Pravitti or Nivritti. is resorted to only before obtaining a knowledge of the Real Self, as a means of attaining
130 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. IV.
beings and that the Lord, wishing to remove this false view of them, teaches " He whoxan see inaction in action " &c. Moreover, inaction cannot be said to be located in action or contained in it, as jujube (badara) fruits in a vessel, nor can action be said to be located in inaction : for, inaction is but the absence of action. Wherefore (the meaning of the Lord must be that) action and inaction are not rightly understood by people and that the one is mistaken for the other, as the mirage is mistaken for water, or as the mother-of-pearl is mistaken for silver.
(Objection) : — Action is ever action to all ; it never appears to be anything else ?
(Answer) :— Not so. When a ship is in motion, the motionless trees on the shore appear, to a man on board the ship, to move in the opposite direction ; distant and moving bodies which are far away from our eye appear to be motion- less. Similarly, here, (in the case of the Self) inaction is mis- taken for action, and action for inaction. Wherefore, to remove this false impression, the Lord says " He who can see inaction in action " &c.
Though such an objection has been more than once answered, people who have long been subject to great mis- conceptions are deluded often and often, forget the truth though often and often taught, and often and often raise objections based on false premises. Wherefore, seeing how difficult the Real is for us to know, the Lord often answers such objections.
The truth that the Self is actionless, so clearly taught by sruti, smnti, and reason, has been taught here also in ii. 20--24 ; and it will also be taught hereafter. It is, how- ever a deep-rooted habit of the mind to connect action with the actionless Self, though it is contrary to His real nature
18] JNANA YOGA. 131
wherefore, " even the wise are deluded as to what is action and what is inaction'* (v. 16). Action pertains to the physi- cal body (deha) etc., but man falsely attributes action to the Self and imagines " I am the agent, mine is action, by me shall the fruit of action to reaped." Similarly, he falsely imputes to the Self the cessation (of activity) which really per- tains to the body and the senses, as also the happiness which results from that cessation (of activity) : he imagines ' I shall be quiet, so that I may be happy, without worry and without action; and I do nothing now, lam quiet and happy.*. To remove this false impression, the Lord says " He who can see inaction in action," &c.
Now, action which belongs to the body and the senses, while yet retaining its' own nature as action, is falsely imputed by all to the Self who is actionless and immutable ; whence even a learned man thinks " I act.'* Hence the passage means : — He who sees inaction in action, ».eM he who has the right knowledge that action which is commonly supposed by all to pertain to the Self, does not really belong to the Self, just as motion does not really pertain to the trees (on the shore of the river) which appear (to a man on board the