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Arjuna said:
1. Great Arm, Hrishikesha, Slayer of Keshin, I was to know the real nature of renunciation and abandonment, and how they differ.
The Lord said:
2. Seers understand renunciation as the rejection of actions motivated by desires; the discerning describe abandonment, as the giving up of the results of all actions.
3. Some of the wise say that action is full of error and should be completely abandoned, others that actions such sacrifice, giving, and asceticism should not be abandoned.
4. Now Best of Bharatas, tiger of a man, hear my definitive statement concerning abandonment; abandonment is divided into three.
5. Acts of sacrifice, giving, and asceticism should be undertaken, not abandoned. Sacrifice, giving, and asceticism purify the wise.
6. But it is my final, definitive doctrine, Partha, that these actions should be undertaken only after attachment and interest in results have been abandoned.
7. There should, however, be no renunciation of prescribed action; the deluded abandonment of that is a product of darkness.
8. Whoever abandons an action because it is unpleasant, and out of fear of bodily affliction, has performed a passionate type of abandonment and does not obtain the reward of abandonment.
9. Whoever undertakes controlled prescribed action, having abandoned all attachment and interest in its result, is considered, Arjuna, to have performed a pure kind of abandonment.
10. The wise man, who has excised doubt, the abandoner filled with purity, neither recoils from an unpleasant action nor attaches himself to a pleasant one.
11. For no embodied being can abandon actions completely; but it is the man who abandons the result of actions who is called “abandoner.”
12. For non-abandoners departing this life, the result of action is threefold: undesired, desired, and in between. But for renouncers there is none whatsoever.
13. Great Arm, let me enlighten you: these five determinants are given in Sankhya doctrine for the successful accomplishment of all actions:
14. The locus of action, the agent, various material means, different kinds of actions, and fifth and last, divine fate.
15. Whatever action a man undertakes with body, speech, and mind, whether proper or improper, these five are the causes of it.
16. This being the case, the wrong-minded man, who, because his intelligence is inadequate, regards himself alone as the agent, sees nothing.
17. For the man whose condition is not egoistical, and whose intelligence is not polluted, even though destroying these worlds, he does not kill and is not bound.
18. Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower are the threefold motivators of action instrument, act, and agent comprise the action itself.
19. According to the “constituents of nature” theory, knowledge, action, and agent are of three kinds, depending upon their constituents. Now hear about these as well.
20. Know that knowledge by which one sees the one imperishable state of being in all creatures, the undivided among the divided, is purely constituted.
21. And you should realise that that knowledge which sees a multiplicity of different states of being, separated among creatures, is passionately constituted.
22. But that knowledge which, without reason, and lacking a true object, superficially fixes on a single effect as though it were everything, is said to be darkly constituted.
23. That action which is prescribed, unaccompanied by attachment, undertaken without desire or aversion by one who is not interested in the result, is said to be purely constituted.
24. But that action strained after with some desire in mind, out of egoism, is said to be passionately constituted.
25. That action undertaken through delusion, reckless of consequence, death, or injury, ignoring one’s human capacity, is said to be darkly constituted.
26. The agent who is free from attachment and self aggrandisement, resolute and persevering, the same in success and failure, is said to be purely constituted.
27. The agent who is passionate, eager to obtain results from his actions, greedy, of a violent disposition, impure, and consumed by joy and grief, is said to be passionately constituted.
28. The agent who is undisciplined, unrefined, stubborn, false, dishonest, idle, depressive, and procrastinating is said to be darkly constituted.
29. Listen now to the threefold classification of intelligence and resolution, definitively and individually explained according to the constituents, Dhananjaya.
30. That intelligence which knows about action and the cessation of action, what should be done and what should not be done, danger and security, bondage and liberation, is purely constituted, Partha.
31. That intelligence which incorrectly perceives what is right and what is wrong, what should be done and what should not be done, is passionately constituted, Partha.
32. That intelligence which, covered by darkness, believes what is wrong to be natural and good, and perverts everything, is darkly constituted, Partha.
33. The resolution with which one controls the activities of the mind, the life breath, and the senses in unwavering yogic practice – that is purely constituted, Partha.
34. Arjuna, the resolution with which one maintains order, pleasure, and prosperity, with attachment, desiring their fruits – that is passionately constituted, Partha.
35. That resolution through which the fool will not give up sleep, fear, grief, depression, or intoxication is darkly constituted, Partha.
36. But now, Bull of the Bharatas, hear me on the three fold happiness one enjoys through repeated practice, wherein one achieves an end to suffering.
37. That happiness, born from the serenity of one’s own intelligence, which to begin with seems like poison, and when developed is the most wonderful nectar, is said to be purely constituted.
38. That happiness, arising from the contact of the senses with their objects, which to begin with seems like nectar, and when developed is like poison, is held to be passionately constituted.
39. That happiness arising out of sleep, indolence, and negligence, which to begin with, and uninterruptedly thereafter, deludes the self, is said to be darkly constituted.
40. There is no being, whether on earth or in heaven among the gods, that can be free from these three constituents, born of material nature.
41. The actions of brahmins, of warriors and princes, of farmers and merchants, and of servants are all distributed according to the constituents that spring from their own natures, Incinerator of the Foe.
42. Serenity, self-restraint, asceticism, purity, patience, honesty, knowledge, insight, and religious faith as the actions of a brahmin, deriving from his own nature.
43. Valour, vital power, resolution, skill, intransigence in battle, giving, and exercising power are the actions of warriors and princes, deriving from their own natures.
44. Ploughing, tending cattle, and trade are the actions of farmers and merchants, deriving from their own natures; the essence of action for the servant is service, derived from his own nature.
45. A man achieves perfection by contenting himself with his own work; hear how such a man, intent upon his own work, finds that perfection.
46. A man attains perfection by reverencing, through his own specific activity, him from whom all creatures come into being, by whom all this is spread out.
47. It is better to do one’s own duty inadequately than another’s well; no man is at fault performing an action enjoined by his own nature.
48. Son of Kunti, a man should not abandon the work he was born into, even if it is faulty, for just as fire is wreathed in smoke all undertakings are attended by faults.
49. A man whose intelligence is free of any attachment, who has conquered himself, whose desire has evaporated, attains the supreme perfection of freedom from action and its results through renunciation.
50. Son of Kunti, learn from me in short how, having attained perfection, one also attains Brahman, which is the highest state of knowledge.
51. Disciplined with a pure intelligence, having controlled the self with resolution, having abandoned sound and the other objects of the senses, and putting away attraction and aversion.
52. Dwelling apart, eating little, controlling speech, body, and mind, continuously immersed in yogic concentrating, cultivating dispassion.
53. Having freed oneself from egoism, force, pride, desire, anger, and possessiveness, unselfish and serene, one is able to become Brahman.
54. Having become Brahman, tranquil in the self, a man does not grieve and he does not desire; the same towards all creatures, he attains the highest devotion to me.
55. Through devotion he recognises me – how great I am, and who I am in reality; and then, having known me in reality, he enters me immediately.
56. Though continually performing all actions, his refuge is in me, and through my grace he attains the eternal, imperishable home.
57. Having surrendered in thought all your actions to me, holding me supreme, depending upon the yoga of intelligence, be every thinking on me.
58. For thinking on me, you shall by my grace sail past all obstacles; but if, falling into egoism, you pay no heed, you shall perish.
59. If, falling into such egoism, you suppose you will not fight, your resolution is quite pointless: your material nature will constrain you.
60. Bound by your own activity, which springs from your own nature, ineluctably, Son of Kunti, you will do precisely what, in your delusion, you try to avoid.
61. Arjuna, in the centre of the heart of all beings their lord stands still, mechanically revolving all creatures through high magical power.
62. Bharata, go with your whole being to him alone for refuge; through his grace you will reach supreme peace, eternal home.
63. Such is the knowledge I have imparted to you, the mystery of mysteries; consider it fully, then do what you will.
64. Beyond that, listen to my final word, the most secret of all. You have been assuredly singled out by me, so I shall speak it for your benefit.
65. Fix your mind on me, devote yourself to me, sacrifice to me, do homage to me, and so you shall in reality come to me. I promise you: you are dear to me.
66. Abandoning all duties, vow yourself to me alone. Don’t agonise, I shall release you from all evils.
67. You must never repeat this to one who neglects asceticism, to one who is not devoted, to one who has no desire to hear it, or to one who speaks ill of me.
68. But he who propounds this supreme mystery to my devotees, having rendered the highest devotion to me, will, without a doubt, come to me.
69. Among men there is no one who does more to please me than he, and no one on earth shall be dearer to me than he is.
70. And I consider that he who commits this sacred dialogue of ours to memory, in effect worships me through a sacrifice of knowledge.
71. And the man who listens to it, full of faith, and without ill will, is also freed, and will attain the bright worlds of those whose actions have been meritorious.
72. Partha, have you listened to this single-mindedly? Dhanajaya, has your delusion born of ignorance been dispelled?
Arjuna said:
73. My delusion has been obliterated, and through your grace, Achyuta, I have remembered myself. I stand, my doubt dispelled. I shall do as you say.
Sanjava said:
74. Thus, shivers running down my spine, I have heard this astonishing dialogue between Vasudeva and the great-souled Partha.
75. By Vyasa’s grace, I have heard this supreme mystery, yoga, from Krishna, from the lord of yoga himself, who taught it directly.
76. O King, repeatedly calling to mind this astounding, auspicious dialogue between Keshava and Arjuna, time and again I exult.
77. And repeatedly calling to mind that more than astounding form of Hari, I am greatly amazed, O King, and exult again and again.
78. Wherever Krishna, the lord of yoga, and Partha, the bowman, are, I believe that there too there will be fortune, victory, prosperity, and lasting good counsel.