Arjuna Uvaacha:
Sannyaasam karmanaam krishna punar yogam
cha shamsasi;
Yacchreya etayorekam tanme broohi
sunishchitam.(1)
Arjuna said:
Renunciation of actions, O
Krishna, Thou praisest, and again Yoga! Tell me conclusively which is the
better of the two.
Sri Bhagavaan Uvaacha:
Sannyaasah karmayogashcha nihshreyasakaraa
vubhau;
Tayostu karmasannyaasaat karmayogo
vishishyate.(2)
The Blessed Lord said:
Renunciation and the Yoga of
action both lead to the highest bliss; but of the two, the
Yoga of action is superior to
the renunciation of action.
Jneyah sa nityasannyaasi yo na dweshti na
kaangkshati;
Nirdwandwo hi mahaabaaho sukham bandhaat
pramuchyate.(3)
He should be known as a
perpetual Sannyasin who neither hates nor desires; for, free from the pairs of
opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily set free from bondage!
Saankhyayogau prithagbaalaah pravadanti na
panditaah;
Ekam apyaasthitah samyag ubhayor vindate
phalam.(4)
Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and
the Yoga of action or the performance of action as though they are distinct and
different; he who is truly established in one obtains the fruits of both.
Yatsaankhyaih praapyate sthaanam tad yogair
api gamyate;
Ekam saankhyam cha yogam cha yah pashyati
sa pashyati.(5)
That place which is reached by
the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is reached by the (Karma) Yogis. He sees who sees
knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) as one.
Sannyaasastu mahaabaaho duhkham aaptuma
yogatah;
Yogayukto munir brahma na
chirenaadhigacchati.(6)
But renunciation, O mighty-armed
Arjuna, is hard to attain without Yoga; the Yoga-harmonised sage proceeds
quickly to Brahman!
Yogayukto vishuddhaatmaa vijitaatmaa
jitendriyah;
Sarvabhootaatmabhootaatmaa kurvannapi na
lipyate.(7)
He who is devoted to the path of
action, whose mind is quite pure, who has conquered the self, who has subdued
his senses and who has realised his Self as the Self in all beings, though acting,
he is not tainted.
Naiva kinchit karomeeti yukto manyeta
tattwavit;
Pashyan shrunvan sprishan jighran nashnan
gacchan swapan shwasan.(8)
“I do nothing at all”—thus will
the harmonised knower of Truth think—seeing, hearing, touching, smelling,
eating, going, sleeping, breathing,
Pralapan visrijan grihnan nunmishan
nimishannapi;
Indriyaaneendriyaartheshu vartanta iti
dhaarayan.(9)
Speaking, letting go, seizing,
opening and closing the eyes—convinced that the senses move among the sense-objects.
Brahmanyaadhaaya karmaani sangam tyaktwaa
karoti yah;
Lipyate na sa paapena padmapatram
ivaambhasaa.(10)
He who performs actions,
offering them to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin as a
lotus leaf by water.
Kaayena manasaa buddhyaa kevalair indriyair
api;
Yoginah karma kurvanti sangam
tyaktwaatmashuddhaye.(11)
Yogis, having abandoned
attachment, perform actions only by the body, mind, intellect and also by the
senses, for the purification of the self.
Yuktah karmaphalam tyaktwaa shaantim
aapnoti naishthikeem;
Ayuktah kaamakaarena phale sakto
nibadhyate.(12)
The united one (the well poised
or the harmonised), having abandoned the fruit of action, attains to the
eternal peace; the non-united only (the unsteady or the unbalanced), impelled by
desire and attached to the fruit, is bound.
Sarvakarmaani manasaa sannyasyaaste sukham
vashee;
Navadwaare pure dehee naiva kurvan na
kaarayan.(13)
Mentally renouncing all actions and
self-controlled, the embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither
acting nor causing others (body and senses) to act.
Na kartritwam na karmaani lokasya srijati
prabhuh;
Na karmaphala samyogam swabhaavas tu
pravartate.(14)
Neither agency nor actions does the Lord
create for the world, nor union with the fruits of actions; it is Nature that
acts.
Naadatte kasyachit paapam na chaiva
sukritam vibhuh;
Ajnaanenaavritam jnaanam tena muhyanti
jantavah.(15)
The Lord accepts neither the demerit nor even
the merit of any; knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, thereby beings are
deluded.
Jnaanena tu tad ajnaanam yeshaam naashitam
aatmanah;
Teshaam aadityavaj jnaanam prakaashayati
tatparam.(16)
But, to those whose ignorance is destroyed by
knowledge of the Self, like the sun, knowledge reveals the Supreme (Brahman).
Tadbuddhayas tadaatmaanas tannishthaas tatparaayanaah;
Gacchantyapunaraavrittim jnaana nirdhoota
kalmashaah.(17)
Their intellect absorbed in that, their self
being that; established in that, with that as their supreme goal, they go
whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by knowledge.
Vidyaavinaya sampanne braahmane gavi
hastini;
Shuni chaiva shvapaake cha panditaah
samadarshinah.(18)
Sages look with an equal eye on
a Brahmin endowed with learning and humility, on a cow, on an elephant, and
even on a dog and an outcaste.
Ihaiva tairjitah sargo yeshaam saamye
sthitam manah;
Nirdosham hi samam brahma tasmaad brahmani
te sthitaah.(19)
Even here (in this world) birth (everything)
is overcome by those whose minds rest in equality; Brahman is spotless indeed
and equal; therefore, they are established in Brahman.
Na prahrishyet priyam praapya nodwijet
praapya chaapriyam;
Sthirabuddhir asammoodho brahmavid brahmani
sthitah.(20)
Resting in Brahman, with steady intellect, undiluted,
the knower of Brahman neither rejoices on obtaining what is pleasant nor
grieveth on obtaining what is unpleasant.
Baahyasparsheshwasaktaatmaa vindatyaatmani
yat sukham;
Sa brahma yoga yuktaatmaa sukham akshayam
ashnute.(21)
With the self unattached to the external
contacts he discovers happiness in the Self; with the self engaged in the
meditation of Brahman he attains to the endless happiness.
Ye hi samsparshajaa bhogaa duhkhayonaya eva
te;
Aadyantavantah kaunteya na teshu ramate budhah.(22)
The enjoyments that are born of contacts are
generators of pain only, for they have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna! The
wise do not rejoice in them.
Shaknoteehaiva yah sodhum praak shareera
vimokshanaat;
Kaamakrodhodbhavam vegam sa yuktah sa sukhee
narah.(23)
He who is able, while still here in this world
to withstand, before the liberation from the body, the impulse born of desire
and anger—he is a Yogi, he is a happy man.
Yo’ntah sukho’ntaraaraamas tathaantarjyotir
eva yah;
Sa yogee brahma nirvaanam
brahmabhooto’dhigacchati.(24)
He who is ever happy within, who
rejoices within, who is illumined within, such a Yogi attains absolute freedom
or Moksha, himself becoming Brahman.
Labhante brahma nirvaanam rishayah
ksheenakalmashaah;
Cchinnadwaidhaa yataatmaanah
sarvabhootahite rataah.(25)
The sages obtain absolute
freedom or Moksha—they whose sins have been destroyed, whose dualities
(perception of dualities or experience of the pairs of opposites) are torn
asunder, who are self-controlled, and intent on the welfare of all beings.
Kaamakrodhaviyuktaanaam yateenaam
yatachetasaam;
Abhito brahma nirvaanam vartate
viditaatmanaam.(26)
Absolute freedom (or Brahmic
bliss) exists on all sides for those self-controlled ascetics who are free from
desire and anger, who have controlled their thoughts and who have realised the Self.
Sparsaan kritwaa bahir baahyaamschakshus
chaivaantare bhruvoh;
Praanaapaanau samau kritwaa naasaabhyantara
chaarinau.(27)
Shutting out (all) external contacts and
fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, equalizing the outgoing and incoming
breaths moving within the nostrils,
Yatendriya manobuddhir munir
mokshaparaayanah;
Vigatecchaabhaya krodho yah sadaa mukta eva
sah.(28)
With the senses, the mind and the intellect
always controlled, having liberation as his supreme goal, free from desire,
fear and anger—the sage is verily liberated forever.
Bhoktaaram yajnatapasaam sarvaloka
maheshwaram;
Suhridam sarvabhootaanaam jnaatwaa maam
shaantim ricchati.(29)
He who knows Me as the enjoyer
of sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all the worlds and the friend
of all beings, attains to peace.
Iti Srimad Bhagavadgeetaasoopanishatsu
Brahmavidyaayaam
Yogashaastre Sri Krishnaarjunasamvaade
Karmasanyaasayogo Naama Panchamo’dhyaayah
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the
science of the Eternal, the
scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and
Arjuna ends the fifth discourse entitled:
In spite of Sri Krishna’s clear instructions, Arjuna still
seems to be bewildered. He wants to know conclusively which is superior, the
path of action or the path of renunciation of action. The Lord says that both
the paths lead to the highest goal of God-realisation. In both cases the final
realisation of the Atman is the aim, but the path of Karma Yoga is superior.
Actually there is no real difference between the two.
Krishna further asserts that perfection can be attained and
one can be established in the Atman only after the mind has been purified
through the performance of selfless action. The Karma Yogi who is aware of the
Atman and who is constantly engaged in action knows that although the intellect,
mind and senses are active, he does not do anything. He is a spectator of
everything. He dedicates all his actions to the Lord and thus abandons
attachment, ever remaining pure and unaffected. He surrenders himself
completely to the Divine Shakti. Having completely rooted out all desires,
attachments and the ego, he is not born again. The sage who has realised
Brahman and is always absorbed in It does not have any rebirth. Such a sage
sees Brahman within and without—within as the static and transcendent Brahman,
and without as the entire universe. He sees the one Self in all beings and
creatures—in a cow, an elephant, and even in a dog and an outcaste. He is ever
free from joy and grief and enjoys eternal peace and happiness. He does not
depend upon the senses for his satisfaction. On the other hand the enjoyments
of the senses are generators of pain. They are impermanent. Sri Krishna reminds
Arjuna that desire is the main cause of pain and suffering. It is the cause of
anger. Therefore, the aspirant should try to eradicate desire and anger if he
is to reach the Supreme.
The Lord concludes by describing how to control the senses,
mind and intellect by concentrating between the eyebrows and practicing
Pranayama. One who has achieved perfect control of the outgoing senses and is
freed from desire, anger and fear attains liberation and enjoys perfect peace.
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