CHAPTER IDhritirashtra:Ranged thus for battle on the sacred plain--On Kurukshetra--say, Sanjaya! sayWhat wrought my people, and the Pandavas? Sanjaya:When beheld the host of Pandavas,Raja Duryodhana to Drona drew,And spake these words: "Ah, Guru! see this line,How vast it is of Pandu fighting-men,Embattled by the son of Drupada,Thy scholar in the war! Therein stand rankedChiefs like Arjuna, like to Bhima chiefs,Benders of bows; Virata, Yuyudhan,Drupada, eminent upon his car,Dhrishtaket, Chekitan, Kasi's stout lord,Purujit, Kuntibhoj, and Saivya,With Yudhamanyu, and UttamaujSubhadra's child; and Drupadi's;-all famed!All mounted on their shining chariots!On our side, too,--thou best of Brahmans! seeExcellent chiefs, commanders of my line,Whose ...Read More

CHAPTER IISanjaya.Him, filled with such compassion and such grief,With eyes tear-dimmed, despondent, in stern wordsThe Driver, Madhusudan, thus addressed: hath this weakness taken thee? Whence springsThe inglorious trouble, shameful to the brave,Barring the path of virtue? Nay, Arjun!Forbid thyself to feebleness! it marsThy warrior-name! cast off the coward-fit!Wake! Be thyself! Arise, Scourge of thy Foes! Arjuna.How can I, in the battle, shoot with shaftsOn Bhishma, or on Drona-O thou Chief!--Both worshipful, both honourable men? Better to live on beggar's breadWith those we love alive,Than taste their blood in rich feasts spread,And guiltily survive!Ah! were it worse-who knows?--to beVictor or ...Read More

CHAPTER IIIArjuna.Thou whom all mortals praise, Janardana!If meditation be a nobler thingThan action, wherefore, then, great Kesava!Dost thou impel to this dreadful fight?Now am I by thy doubtful speech disturbed!Tell me one thing, and tell me certainly;By what road shall I find the better end? Krishna.I told thee, blameless Lord! there be two pathsShown to this world; two schools of wisdom. FirstThe Sankhya's, which doth save in way of worksPrescribed[FN#4] by reason; next, the Yog, which bidsAttain by meditation, spiritually:Yet these are one! No man shall 'scape from actBy shunning action; nay, and none shall comeBy mere renouncements unto ...Read More

CHAPTER IVKrishna.This deathless Yoga, this deep union,I taught Vivaswata,[FN#6] the Lord of Light;Vivaswata to Manu gave it; heTo Ikshwaku; passed it down the lineOf all my royal Rishis. Then, with years,The truth grew dim and perished, noble Prince!Now once again to thee it is declared--This ancient lore, this mystery supreme--Seeing I find thee votary and friend. Arjuna.Thy birth, dear Lord, was in these later days,And bright Vivaswata's preceded time!How shall I comprehend this thing thou sayest,"From the beginning it was I who taught?" Krishna.Manifold the renewals of my birthHave been, Arjuna! and of thy births, too!But mine I know, ...Read More

CHAPTER VArjuna.Yet, Krishna! at the one time thou dost laudSurcease of works, and, at another time,Service through work. Of twain plainly tellWhich is the better way? Krishna.To cease from worksIs well, and to do works in holinessIs well; and both conduct to bliss supreme;But of these twain the better way is hisWho working piously refraineth not. That is the true Renouncer, firm and fixed,Who--seeking nought, rejecting nought--dwells proofAgainst the "opposites."[FN#8] O valiant Prince!In doing, such breaks lightly from all deed:'Tis the new scholar talks as they were two,This Sankhya and this Yoga: wise men knowWho husbands one plucks golden ...Read More

CHAPTER VIKrishna.Therefore, who doeth work rightful to do,Not seeking gain from work, that man, O Prince!Is Sanyasi and Yogi--both oneAnd he is neither who lights not the flameOf sacrifice, nor setteth hand to task. Regard as true Renouncer him that makesWorship by work, for who renounceth notWorks not as Yogin. So is that well said:"By works the votary doth rise to faith,And saintship is the ceasing from all works;Because the perfect Yogin acts--but actsUnmoved by passions and unbound by deeds,Setting result aside. Let each man raiseThe Self by Soul, not trample down his Self,Since Soul that is Self's friend ...Read More

CHAPTER VIIKrishna.Learn now, dear Prince! how, if thy soul be setEver on Me--still exercising Yog,Still making Me thy Refuge--thou comeMost surely unto perfect hold of Me.I will declare to thee that utmost lore,Whole and particular, which, when thou knowest,Leaveth no more to know here in this world. Of many thousand mortals, one, perchance,Striveth for Truth; and of those few that strive--Nay, and rise high--one only--here and there--Knoweth Me, as I am, the very Truth. Earth, water, flame, air, ether, life, and mind,And individuality--those eightMake up the showing of Me, Manifest. These be my lower Nature; learn the higher,Whereby, thou ...Read More

CHAPTER VIIIArjuna.Who is that BRAHMA? What that Soul of Souls,The ADHYATMAN? What, Thou Best of All!Thy work, the KARMA? me what it isThou namest ADHIBHUTA? What againMeans ADHIDAIVA? Yea, and how it comesThou canst be ADHIYAJNA in thy flesh?Slayer of Madhu! Further, make me knowHow good men find thee in the hour of death? Krishna.I BRAHMA am! the One Eternal GOD,And ADHYATMAN is My Being's name,The Soul of Souls! What goeth forth from Me,Causing all life to live, is KARMA called:And, Manifested in divided forms,I am the ADHIBHUTA, Lord of Lives;And ADHIDAIVA, Lord of all the Gods,Because I am ...Read More

CHAPTER IXKrishna.Now will I open unto thee--whose heartRejects not--that last lore, deepest-concealed,That farthest secret of My Heavens and Earths,Which to know shall set thee free from ills,--A royal lore! a Kingly mystery!Yea! for the soul such light as purgeth itFrom every sin; a light of holinessWith inmost splendour shining; plain to see;Easy to walk by, inexhaustible! They that receive not this, failing in faithTo grasp the greater wisdom, reach not Me,Destroyer of thy foes! They sink anewInto the realm of Flesh, where all things change! By Me the whole vast Universe of thingsIs spread abroad;--by Me, the Unmanifest!In Me ...Read More

CHAPTER XKrishna.[FN#l6]Hear farther yet, thou Long-Armed Lord! these latest words I say--Uttered to bring thee bliss and peace, who Me alway--Not the great company of gods nor kingly Rishis knowMy Nature, Who have made the gods and Rishis long ago;He only knoweth-only he is free of sin, and wise,Who seeth Me, Lord of the Worlds, with faith-enlightened eyes,Unborn, undying, unbegun. Whatever Natures beTo mortal men distributed, those natures spring from Me!Intellect, skill, enlightenment, endurance, self-control,Truthfulness, equability, and grief or joy of soul,And birth and death, and fearfulness, and fearlessness, and shame,And honour, and sweet harmlessness,[FN#17] and peace which is ...Read More

CHAPTER XIArjuna.This, for my soul's peace, have I heard from Thee,The unfolding of the Mystery SupremeNamed Adhyatman; comprehending which,My is dispelled; for now I know--O Lotus-eyed![FN#21]--whence is the birth of men,And whence their death, and what the majestiesOf Thine immortal rule. Fain would I see,As thou Thyself declar'st it, Sovereign Lord!The likeness of that glory of Thy FormWholly revealed. O Thou Divinest One!If this can be, if I may bear the sight,Make Thyself visible, Lord of all prayers!Show me Thy very self, the Eternal God! Krishna.Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for theeThose hundred thousand thousand shapes ...Read More

CHAPTER XIIArjuna.Lord! of the men who serve Thee--true in heart--As God revealed; and of the men who serve,Worshipping Thee Unbodied, Far,Which take the better way of faith and life? Krishna.Whoever serve Me--as I show Myself--Constantly true, in full devotion fixed,Those hold I very holy. But who serve--Worshipping Me The One, The Invisible,The Unrevealed, Unnamed, Unthinkable,Uttermost, All-pervading, Highest, Sure--Who thus adore Me, mastering their sense,Of one set mind to all, glad in all good,These blessed souls come unto Me. Yet, hardThe travail is for such as bend their mindsTo reach th' Unmanifest That viewless pathShall scarce be trod by man ...Read More

CHAPTER XIIIArjuna.Now would I hear, O gracious Kesava![FN#26]Of Life which seems, and Soul beyond, which sees,And what it is know-or think to know. Krishna.Yea! Son of Kunti! for this flesh ye seeIs Kshetra, is the field where Life disports;And that which views and knows it is the Soul,Kshetrajna. In all "fields," thou Indian prince!I am Kshetrajna. I am what surveys!Only that knowledge knows which knows the knownBy the knower![FN#27] What it is, that "field" of life,What qualities it hath, and whence it is,And why it changeth, and the facultyThat wotteth it, the mightiness of this,And how it wotteth-hear these ...Read More

CHAPTER XIVKrishna.Yet farther will I open unto theeThis wisdom of all wisdoms, uttermost,The which possessing, all My saints have perfectness. On such high veritiesReliant, rising into fellowshipWith Me, they are not born again at birthOf Kalpas, nor at Pralyas suffer change! This Universe the womb is where I plantSeed of all lives! Thence, Prince of India, comesBirth to all beings! Whoso, Kunti's Son!Mothers each mortal form, Brahma conceives,And I am He that fathers, sending seed! Sattwan, Rajas, and Tamas, so are namedThe qualities of Nature, "Soothfastness,""Passion," and "Ignorance." These three bind downThe changeless Spirit in the changeful flesh.Whereof sweet ...Read More

CHAPTER XVKrishna.Men call the Aswattha,--the Banyan-tree,--Which hath its boughs beneath, its roots above,--The ever-holy tree. Yea! for its leavesAre and waving hymns which whisper Truth!Who knows the Aswattha, knows Veds, and all. Its branches shoot to heaven and sink to earth,[FN#30]Even as the deeds of men, which take their birthFrom qualities: its silver sprays and blooms,And all the eager verdure of its girth,Leap to quick life at kiss of sun and air,As men's lives quicken to the temptings fairOf wooing sense: its hanging rootlets seekThe soil beneath, helping to hold it there, As actions wrought amid this world of ...Read More

CHAPTER XVIKrishna.Fearlessness, singleness of soul, the willAlways to strive for wisdom; opened handAnd governed appetites; and piety,And love of study; humbleness,Uprightness, heed to injure nought which lives,Truthfulness, slowness unto wrath, a mindThat lightly letteth go what others prize;And equanimity, and charityWhich spieth no man's faults; and tendernessTowards all that suffer; a contented heart,Fluttered by no desires; a bearing mild,Modest, and grave, with manhood nobly mixed,With patience, fortitude, and purity;An unrevengeful spirit, never givenTo rate itself too high;--such be the signs,O Indian Prince! of him whose feet are setOn that fair path which leads to heavenly birth! Deceitfulness, and arrogance, ...Read More

CHAPTER XVIIArjuna.If men forsake the holy ordinance,Heedless of Shastras, yet keep faith at heartAnd worship, what shall be the of those,Great Krishna! Sattwan, Rajas, Tamas? Say! Krishna.Threefold the faith is of mankind and springsFrom those three qualities,--becoming "true,"Or "passion-stained," or "dark," as thou shalt hear! The faith of each believer, Indian Prince!Conforms itself to what he truly is.Where thou shalt see a worshipper, that oneTo what he worships lives assimilate,[Such as the shrine, so is the votary,]The "soothfast" souls adore true gods; the soulsObeying Rajas worship Rakshasas[FN#34]Or Yakshas; and the men of Darkness prayTo Pretas and to Bhutas.[FN#35] Yea, ...Read More

CHAPTER XVIIIArjuna.Fain would I better know, Thou Glorious One!The very truth--Heart's Lord!--of Sannyas,Abstention; and enunciation, Lord!Tyaga; and what separates twain! Krishna.The poets rightly teach that SannyasIs the foregoing of all acts which springOut of desire; and their wisest sayTyaga is renouncing fruit of acts. There be among the saints some who have heldAll action sinful, and to be renounced;And some who answer, "Nay! the goodly acts--As worship, penance, alms--must be performed!"Hear now My sentence, Best of Bharatas! 'Tis well set forth, O Chaser of thy Foes!Renunciation is of threefold form,And Worship, Penance, Alms, not to be stayed;Nay, to be ...Read More