Bhagavad Gita on Liberation

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

The Saint who shuts outside his placid soul All touch of sense, letting no contact through; Whose quiet eyes gaze straight from fixed brows, Whose outward breath and inward breath are drawn Equal and slow through nostrils still and close; That one-with organs, heart, and mind constrained, Bent on deliverance, having put away Passion, and fear, and rage;--hath, even now, Obtained deliverance, ever and ever freed. Yea! for he knows Me Who am He that heeds The sacrifice and worship, God revealed; And He who heeds not, being Lord of Worlds, Lover of all that lives, God unrevealed, Wherein who will shall find surety and shield!

The Heavenly Birth brings to deliverance, So should'st thou know! The birth with Asuras Brings into bondage. Be thou joyous, Prince! Whose lot is set apart for heavenly Birth.

Yea! whoso, shaking off the yoke of flesh Lives lord, not servant, of his lusts; set free From pride, from passion, from the sin of "Self," Toucheth tranquillity! O Pritha's Son! That is the state of Brahm! There rests no dread When that last step is reached! Live where he will, Die when he may, such passeth from all 'plaining, To blest Nirvana, with the Gods, attaining.

Sequestered should he sit, Steadfastly meditating, solitary, His thoughts controlled, his passions laid away, Quit of belongings. In a fair, still spot Having his fixed abode,--not too much raised, Nor yet too low,--let him abide, his goods A cloth, a deerskin, and the Kusa-grass. There, setting hard his mind upon The One, Restraining heart and senses, silent, calm, Let him accomplish Yoga, and achieve Pureness of soul, holding immovable Body and neck and head, his gaze absorbed Upon his nose-end,[FN#11] rapt from all around, Tranquil in spirit, free of fear, intent Upon his Brahmacharya vow, devout, Musing on Me, lost in the thought of Me. That Yojin, so devoted, so controlled, Comes to the peace beyond,--My peace, the peace Of high Nirvana!

The world is overcome--aye! even here! By such as fix their faith on Unity. The sinless Brahma dwells in Unity, And they in Brahma. Be not over-glad Attaining joy, and be not over-sad Encountering grief, but, stayed on Brahma, still Constant let each abide! The sage whose soul Holds off from outer contacts, in himself Finds bliss; to Brahma joined by piety, His spirit tastes eternal peace. The joys Springing from sense-life are but quickening wombs Which breed sure griefs: those joys begin and end! The wise mind takes no pleasure, Kunti's Son! In such as those! But if a man shall learn, Even while he lives and bears his body's chain, To master lust and anger, he is blest! He is the Yukta; he hath happiness, Contentment, light, within: his life is merged In Brahma's life; he doth Nirvana touch! Thus go the Rishis unto rest, who dwell With sins effaced, with doubts at end, with hearts Governed and calm. Glad in all good they live, Nigh to the peace of God; and all those live Who pass their days exempt from greed and wrath, Subduing self and senses, knowing the Soul!

Krishna. Manifold the renewals of my birth Have been, Arjuna! and of thy births, too! But mine I know, and thine thou knowest not, O Slayer of thy Foes! Albeit I be Unborn, undying, indestructible, The Lord of all things living; not the less-- By Maya, by my magic which I stamp On floating Nature-forms, the primal vast-- I come, and go, and come. When Righteousness Declines, O Bharata! when Wickedness Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take Visible shape, and move a man with men, Succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, And setting Virtue on her seat again. Who knows the truth touching my births on earth And my divine work, when he quits the flesh Puts on its load no more, falls no more down To earthly birth: to Me he comes, dear Prince! Many there be who come! from fear set free, From anger, from desire; keeping their hearts Fixed upon me--my Faithful--purified By sacred flame of Knowledge. Such as these Mix with my being. Whoso worship me, Them I exalt; but all men everywhere Shall fall into my path; albeit, those souls Which seek reward for works, make sacrifice Now, to the lower gods. I say to thee Here have they their reward. But I am He Made the Four Castes, and portioned them a place After their qualities and gifts. Yea, I Created, the Reposeful; I that live Immortally, made all those mortal births: For works soil not my essence, being works Wrought uninvolved.[FN#7] Who knows me acting thus Unchained by action, action binds not him; And, so perceiving, all those saints of old Worked, seeking for deliverance. Work thou As, in the days gone by, thy fathers did.

Who eat of food after their sacrifice Are quit of fault, but they that spread a feast All for themselves, eat sin and drink of sin. By food the living live; food comes of rain, And rain comes by the pious sacrifice, And sacrifice is paid with tithes of toil; Thus action is of Brahma, who is One, The Only, All-pervading; at all times Present in sacrifice. He that abstains To help the rolling wheels of this great world, Glutting his idle sense, lives a lost life, Shameful and vain. Existing for himself, Self-concentrated, serving self alone, No part hath he in aught; nothing achieved, Nought wrought or unwrought toucheth him; no hope Of help for all the living things of earth Depends from him.[FN#5] Therefore, thy task prescribed With spirit unattached gladly perform, Since in performance of plain duty man Mounts to his highest bliss. By works alone Janak and ancient saints reached blessedness! Moreover, for the upholding of thy kind, Action thou should'st embrace. What the wise choose The unwise people take; what best men do The multitude will follow. Look on me, Thou Son of Pritha! in the three wide worlds I am not bound to any toil, no height Awaits to scale, no gift remains to gain, Yet I act here! and, if I acted not-- Earnest and watchful--those that look to me For guidance, sinking back to sloth again Because I slumbered, would decline from good, And I should break earth's order and commit Her offspring unto ruin, Bharata! Even as the unknowing toil, wedded to sense, So let the enlightened toil, sense-freed, but set To bring the world deliverance, and its bliss; Not sowing in those simple, busy hearts Seed of despair. Yea! let each play his part In all he finds to do, with unyoked soul. All things are everywhere by Nature wrought In interaction of the qualities. The fool, cheated by self, thinks, "This I did" And "That I wrought; "but--ah, thou strong-armed Prince!

I say to thee weapons reach not the Life; Flame burns it not, waters cannot o'erwhelm, Nor dry winds wither it. Impenetrable, Unentered, unassailed, unharmed, untouched, Immortal, all-arriving, stable, sure, Invisible, ineffable, by word And thought uncompassed, ever all itself, Thus is the Soul declared! How wilt thou, then,-- Knowing it so,--grieve when thou shouldst not grieve? How, if thou hearest that the man new-dead Is, like the man new-born, still living man-- One same, existent Spirit--wilt thou weep? The end of birth is death; the end of death Is birth: this is ordained! and mournest thou, Chief of the stalwart arm! for what befalls Which could not otherwise befall? The birth Of living things comes unperceived; the death Comes unperceived; between them, beings perceive: What is there sorrowful herein, dear Prince?

Thus far I speak to thee As from the "Sankhya"--unspiritually-- Hear now the deeper teaching of the Yog, Which holding, understanding, thou shalt burst Thy Karmabandh, the bondage of wrought deeds. Here shall no end be hindered, no hope marred, No loss be feared: faith--yea, a little faith-- Shall save thee from the anguish of thy dread. Here, Glory of the Kurus! shines one rule-- One steadfast rule--while shifting souls have laws Many and hard. Specious, but wrongful deem The speech of those ill-taught ones who extol The letter of their Vedas, saying, "This Is all we have, or need;" being weak at heart With wants, seekers of Heaven: which comes--they say-- As "fruit of good deeds done;" promising men Much profit in new births for works of faith; In various rites abounding; following whereon Large merit shall accrue towards wealth and power; Albeit, who wealth and power do most desire Least fixity of soul have such, least hold On heavenly meditation. Much these teach, From Veds, concerning the "three qualities;" But thou, be free of the "three qualities," Free of the "pairs of opposites,"[FN#2] and free From that sad righteousness which calculates; Self-ruled, Arjuna! simple, satisfied![FN#3] Look! like as when a tank pours water forth To suit all needs, so do these Brahmans draw Text for all wants from tank of Holy Writ. But thou, want not! ask not! Find full reward Of doing right in right! Let right deeds be Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them. And live in action! Labour! Make thine acts Thy piety, casting all self aside, Contemning gain and merit; equable In good or evil: equability Is Yog, is piety!

The worlds, Arjuna!--even Brahma's world-- Roll back again from Death to Life's unrest; But they, O Kunti's Son! that reach to Me, Taste birth no more. If ye know Brahma's Day Which is a thousand Yugas; if ye know The thousand Yugas making Brahma's Night, Then know ye Day and Night as He doth know! When that vast Dawn doth break, th' Invisible Is brought anew into the Visible; When that deep Night doth darken, all which is Fades back again to Him Who sent it forth; Yea! this vast company of living things-- Again and yet again produced--expires At Brahma's Nightfall; and, at Brahma's Dawn, Riseth, without its will, to life new-born. But--higher, deeper, innermost--abides Another Life, not like the life of sense, Escaping sight, unchanging. This endures When all created things have passed away: This is that Life named the Unmanifest, The Infinite! the All! the Uttermost. Thither arriving none return. That Life Is Mine, and I am there! And, Prince! by faith Which wanders not, there is a way to come Thither. I, the PURUSHA, I Who spread The Universe around me--in Whom dwell All living Things--may so be reached and seen!

Yet, hard The travail is for such as bend their minds To reach th' Unmanifest That viewless path Shall scarce be trod by man bearing the flesh! But whereso any doeth all his deeds Renouncing self for Me, full of Me, fixed To serve only the Highest, night and day Musing on Me--him will I swiftly lift Forth from life's ocean of distress and death, Whose soul clings fast to Me. Cling thou to Me! Clasp Me with heart and mind! so shalt thou dwell Surely with Me on high. But if thy thought Droops from such height; if thou be'st weak to set Body and soul upon Me constantly, Despair not! give Me lower service! seek To reach Me, worshipping with steadfast will; And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly, Work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me! For he that laboureth right for love of Me Shall finally attain! But, if in this Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! find Refuge in Me! let fruits of labour go, Renouncing hope for Me, with lowliest heart, So shalt thou come; for, though to know is more Than diligence, yet worship better is Than knowing, and renouncing better still. Near to renunciation--very near-- Dwelleth Eternal Peace!

Yet is this Yea! in its bodily prison!--Spirit pure, Spirit supreme; surveying, governing, Guarding, possessing; Lord and Master still PURUSHA, Ultimate, One Soul with Me.

Moreover, when a soul departeth, fixed In Soothfastness, it goeth to the place-- Perfect and pure--of those that know all Truth. If it departeth in set habitude Of Impulse, it shall pass into the world Of spirits tied to works; and, if it dies In hardened Ignorance, that blinded soul Is born anew in some unlighted womb.

As actions wrought amid this world of men Bind them by ever-tightening bonds again. If ye knew well the teaching of the Tree, What its shape saith; and whence it springs; and, then

No longer grow at mercy of what breeze Of summer pleasure stirs the sleeping trees, What blast of tempest tears them, bough and stem To the eternal world pass such as these!

'Tis well set forth, O Chaser of thy Foes! Renunciation is of threefold form, And Worship, Penance, Alms, not to be stayed; Nay, to be gladly done; for all those three Are purifying waters for true souls!

Abstaining from a work by right prescribed Never is meet! So to abstain doth spring From "Darkness," and Delusion teacheth it. Abstaining from a work grievous to flesh, When one saith "'Tis unpleasing!" this is null! Such an one acts from "passion;" nought of gain Wins his Renunciation! But, Arjun! Abstaining from attachment to the work, Abstaining from rewardment in the work, While yet one doeth it full faithfully, Saying, "Tis right to do!" that is "true " act And abstinence! Who doeth duties so, Unvexed if his work fail, if it succeed Unflattered, in his own heart justified, Quit of debates and doubts, his is "true" act: For, being in the body, none may stand Wholly aloof from act; yet, who abstains From profit of his acts is abstinent.

Thus hath been opened thee This Truth of Truths, the Mystery more hid Than any secret mystery. Meditate! And--as thou wilt--then act!

And let go those-- Rites and writ duties! Fly to Me alone! Make Me thy single refuge! I will free Thy soul from all its sins! Be of good cheer!