Bhagavad Gita

[Objection) : — -Tlie whole world sees ; why this one in particular ? [Answey) : — True, the world sees; but it sees erroneously. Hence the particularisation ' he alone sees.' A man whose eye is affected with timiva sees more moons than one ; and with reference to him, he who sees one moon luay be specified thus, ' he alone sees.' Similarly here, lie who sees the one undivided Self as described above is distinguished — from those who erroneously see many distinct selfs — in 332 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XIII. the words ' he alone sees.' Others, though seeing, yet do not see, inasmuch as they see erroneously like those who see more moons than one. Knowledge of the one Self leads to moksha. To praise the Right Knowledge described above by way of stating its results the Lord proceeds as follows : 28. Because he who sees the Lord, seated the same everywhere, destroys not the self by the self, therefore he reaches the Supreme Goal. He who realises that the Isvara described in the last preceding verse is the same — i. c, he who sees that He dwells in all creatures alike — destroys not his own self by himself. Because he does not destroy the self, he reaches the Supreme Goal, he attains moksha. '•'

[Objection) : — No living being whatever destroys itself by itself. Where then is the necessity for the denial " He destroys not the self by the self," any more than for the prohibition f " fire should be consecrated not on earth, not in the sky, not in heaven " (Tait. Sa;;/. 5-2-7) ? (Ansii/er) : — This objection does not apply here ; for, the necessity may be explained on the ground that ignorant / men are guilty of ignoring the Self. ''An ignorant man * Knowledge destroys ignorance, and ^,^,_^^ .^ .^ ^^^^.^^^^ ,^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ with it all evil is destroyed. On the g^^^ ^^^ prohibition of the construction destruction of nescience ( aj»ana ) and ^^ ^,^^^.^ .^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ .^^ ^^^ ^^^^.^^^ ^^^ false knowledge ( niithyd-j,.<ina ), the „„ meaning, as there is no occasion for two veils that have hidden the true ^^^ procedure. It has been therefore nature of the Self, the sage attains the determined that the prohibition in this highest goal, the highest end of man, the ^^^^^^ ^^^^ should not be understood Supreme Bliss (ParanKinanda;.— A. literally. Similarly we cannot nnder- t The prohibition of the construction of .^i^„(j tijg denial here liten-lly.— A. the altar on Earth has a meaning, be-

ignores the Self who is quite manifest to all, self-manifested, and directly visible, and he regards the not-Self (physical body, etc.) as himself. Having performed good and evil works (dharma and a-dharma), he kills even this self (the physical body, etc.) which he had accepted and accepts another new self ; he kills this again and accepts another, and so on ; thus he goes on killing every new self that he has accepted. An ignorant man is, accordingly, a slayer of the self. /Even the real Self is always killed by avidya, inasmuch as there is no perceptible effect of His existence. Thus, all ignorant men are but the slayers of the self. He who, on the other hand, sees the Self as described al)ove, kills not self by self in either of the ways shown above. Wherefore, he reaches the supreme goal ; he reaps the fruit spoken of above. Prakriti acts, not the Self. It has been said that he who sees the Lord (the Self) remaining the same in every being destroys not the self by the self. This may be objected to on the ground that there are many selfs, differentiated by differences in their respective deeds (karma) and qualities. To remove this objection the Lord says :

29. He sees, who sees all actions performed by Prakriti alone and the Self not acting. Praknti is the Lord's Maya composed of the three gu;/as. So the j\Iantra reads, '* Let him know that Maya is the Praknti and that the Great Lord is the possessor of Maya. — (Svetasva* tara-Up. 4-10.) By Prakriti, — i. e., Maya, the Sakti or inherent energy 334 'THE bhagavad-gIta. [Dis. XIII. of the Lord, not the other, i. e., not the (Pradhana, the self-existent) Prak/'iti (of the Sankhyas) described as transforming Itself into causes and effects such as the Mahat, — are done all sorts of actions, whether done in speech, thought, or deed. He sees, who realises this truth and also the truth that the Self (Kshetrajna) is devoid of all upadhis or conditions ; — i. c, he sees the supreme truth. There is no evidence to show that there is any variety in Him who is non -agent, unconditioned, and free from all specialities, just as there is no variety in the akasa. The 5elf is the source and the abode of all. The same Right Knowledge is again expounded in other words : * 30. When a man realises the whole variety of beings as resting in the One, and as an evolution from that (One) alone, then he becomes Brahman.

/ -AVhen, in accordance with the teachings of the sastraand ( of the teacher, he sees that all the various classes of beings abide in the One, in the Self, i. c, when he intuitively realises that all that we perceive is only the Selff, and when he further sees that the origin, the evolution, (of all) is from that One, the Self, — as stated in the passage " From the Self is life, from the Self is desire, from the Self is love, from * With a view to prevent the supposi- realisss ths essential unity of the universe lion that Prakiiti and its modifications "ith the Self. To realise this unity, one are quite distinct from Purusha, quite must merge the Prakriti also in unity with external to him, as the Siinkhyas say — A. the Self; for it is not possible to merge the i To explain : on seeing that the whole universe of forms in unity with the pure universe of being in all its variety, from Self except by merging also the Prakritii Prakriti down to the ultimate particulars the root of ths whole universe, in the (visesha), is evolved from the Self, has Self. — .V. derived its being from the Self, he

the Self is akasa, from the Self is light, from the Self are waters, from the Self is manifestation and disappearance, from the Self is food." ( Chhil. Up. 7-26-1 )— then he ) becomes Brahman indeed. "jV- The Self is unaffected by the fruits of acts. If the one Self be the Self in all the bodies, then He must be necessarily affected by their defects. To avoid this conclusion it is said . 31. Having no beginning, having no qualities, this Supreme Self, imperishable, though dwelling in the body, O son of Kunti, neither acts nor is tainted. The Self has no beginning, no cause. That which has a cause perishes by itself, whereas This(Self) does not perish, because, as having no cause, He is without parts. Further, He does not perish because He is without qualities; for that which has qualities perishes by loss of qualities ; whereas the Self does not perish, because He is devoid of qualities. Thus the Supreme Self is imperishable. He suffers no destruction. Therefore, though dwelling in the body, — the Self is said to dwell in the body because the Self is manifested in the body, — yet He does not act. Because He does not act. He is not affected by the results of acts. The meaning is this : — He that is an agent is affected by the fruit of the act ; but this (the Self) is a nonagent and is therefore not tainted by the fruit of action.

( Objection ) : — Who, then, in the bodies acts and is tainted ? If, on the one hand, an embodied self, distinct ir That is to say, he realises the all- as the cause of all limitation has been pervading nature of the Self, inasmuch absorbed into unity with Self. — A. from the Supreme Self, acts and is tainted, then the identity of Kshetrajna with the Isvara spoken of in such places as xiii. 2 would be inexplicable. If, on the other hand, there be no embodied self distinct from the Isvara, then tell me who acts and is tainted : or say that the Isvara is not Supreme."- On the ground that the doctrine of the Upanishads taught by the Lord is thus in every way difficult to understand and difficult to explain, it has been abandoned by the Vaiseshikas, as well as by the Sankhyas, the Arhatas, and the Buddhists. (AiisK'ey): — As regards this objection, the following answer I has been afforded by the Lord Himself. — " It is Nature that acts " (xiii. 2). The idea that there is one who acts and is tainted is a mere illusion (avidya) and nothing else. Action does not really exist in the Supreme Self. It has, for this very reason, been pointed out by the Lord here and there that there is no necessity of performing works (karma) for those devotees of Wisdom, for the order of Paramahawsa-Parivrajakas, Avho adhere to this doctrine of Supreme Truth ( Paramartha-Sankhya-darsana ) and have risen above avidya and vyavahara, nescience and all experience (due to avidya).

Like what does He not act, like what is he not tainted? — Here follows the illustration : 32. As the all-pervading akasa is, from its subtletyt, never soiled, so the Self seated in the i body everywhere is not soiled. • If the /svara be the doer and c.ijjyer, Him by avidyd. Therefore the Lord's He is no longer the /svara, any more teaching should be accepted as true. — A than ourselves. — A. J Because akasa. is so subtle that it + The answer is this : The Supreme is pervades all without obstruction, it is in reality neither the doer nor the enjoyer- not at all affected by mire, etc., which it Agency and enjoyment are attributed to pervades.— A. 32-34'] MATTER AND Sl'IRlT. 337 The 5elf illumines all. ^^. As the one sun illumines all this world, so does the embodied One, O Bharata, illumine all bodies. The embodied one ( Kshetrin ), the Supreme Self (Paramatman), is one and illumines all bodies, the whole material being (Kshetra), from the Avyakta (theunmanifested material cause of the universe) down to the unmoving objects, from the ' Great Elements ' down to ' firmness ' (xiii. 5-6). — The illustration by means of the sun serves here a double purpose with reference to the Self, — showing that, like the sun, the Self is One only in all bodies, and that like the sun, He is unsoiled.

The doctrine summed up. The teaching of the whole discourse is concluded as follows : 34. They who by the eye of wisdom perceive the distinction between Kshetra and Kshetrajna, and the dissolution of the Cause of beings, — they go to the Supreme. They who in this manner perceive the exact distinction, now pointed out, between Kshetra and Kshetrajna, by the eye of wisdom, by means of that knowledge of the Self * The Lord proceeds to show that the affected by the attributes ot the coguis* Sslf, b3ing the cogniser, cannot be ed. — A. 338 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. Xlll. which has been generated by the teachings of the sastra and the master (iicharya), and who also perceive the nonexistence of Praknti, Avidya, Avyakta, the material cause of beings, — they reach Brahman, the Real, the Supreme Self, and assume no more bodies.

The subject of the discourse. It has been said that all that is born is produced by the conjunction of Kshetra and Kshetrajna. — How can it be so ? — The present discourse is intended as an answer to this question. Or the connection may be explained thus : With a view to show that it is Kshetra and Kshetrajna, both dependent on the isvara, — but not independent in themselves as the Sankhyas hold, — that constitute the cause of the universe, it has been stated that the dwelling (of the Kshetrajna) in the Kshetra {i. c, his self-identification with Kshetra) and his attachment for the Gu«as form the cause of sa7;/sara (xiii. 2i). — In what Gunas and in what way is He attached? What are the Gu7;as ? How do they bind him ? How is liberation from the Gu«as attained ? What are the characteristics of a liberated soul ? — With a view to answer these questions, the Lord proceeds as follows : Knowledge of the origin of the universe is necessary for Salvation. The Blessed Lord said : I. I shall again declare that sublime knowledge, the best of all knowledges; which having learnt, all the sages have passed to high perfection from here.

Though declared more than once in the preceding dis- courses, I shall again declare that knowledge which is sublime as concerning itself with the Supreme Being, and which is the best of all knowledges'as productive of the best result. ^ All knoidedgcs ' does not refer to those which have been spoken of as knowledge in the verses xiii. 7-10, but to those kinds of knowledge which relate to sacrifices and other such things to be known. These (latter kinds of knowledge) do not lead to salvation, whereas the knowledge which is going to be imparted in this discourse does lead to salvation. So, the Lord praises this latter knowledge by the epithets ' sublime ' and ' best,' in order to rouse interest in the minds of the hearers. And having learnt this knowledge, all the sages (munis) — the sawnyasins, those who are devoted to contemplation (manana) — have passed from here — from this bondage of the body — to high perfection, known as moksha or liberation. The Lord now proceeds to declare that this knowledge unfailingly leads to perfection : 2. They who, having resorted to this knowledge, have attained to unity with Me, are neither born in the creation, nor disturbed in the dissolution,

'Unity' (siidharmya) here nieans 'identity.' It does not mean 'equality in attributes,' since in the Gita-sastrajio distinction is made between the tsvara and the Kshetrajna. And a declaration of the (true main) end (of knowledge) is here necessary to praise the knowledge.''' They who, having resorted to this knowledge, — i. c, having practised the * If equality were meant here, then it dhyuna, not that of knowledge, of which would only be a statement of the fruit of the Lord is here speaking.— A. necessary means whereby to attain that knowledge, — have attained to identity with Me, the Supreme Lord, are neither born at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution; /. f., they are not afifected even at the time of Brahma's dissolution. Evolution of the universe from the union of Spirit and Matter. The Lord now proceeds to explain what sort of conjunction of Kshetra and Kshetrajfia is the cause of all beings: 3. My womb is the great Brahman ; in that I place the germ ; thence, O Bharata, is the birth of all beings. My 7i>omh'. My own Praknti, — i.e., the Prak;'iti which belongs to Me, the Maya made up of the three Gu;/as, the material cause of all beings. This Praknti is spoken of as great because it is greater than all effects ; and as the source and nourishing energy of all Its modifications, It is termed Brahman. In that Great Brahman I place the germ, the seed of the birth of the Hira»yagarbha, the seed which gives birth to all beings. I who am possessed of the two potencies (Saktis), the two Prakntis of Kshetra and the Kshetrajfia, unite the Kshetrajfia with Kshetra, the Kshetrajfia conforming Himself to the upadhis of avidya (nescience), kama (desire), and karma (action). This act of impregnation gives rise to the birth of all beings through the birth of the Hira;iyagarbha.

4. Whatever forms are produced, O son of Kunti, in any wombs whatsoever, the Great Brahman is their womb, I the seed-giving Father. 342 THE bhagavad-gIta. [Dis. XIV. Wombs : such as the Devas, the Pitns, men, cattle, beasts. Forms : such as the bodies which are the condensed aggregations of several parts and limbs. Of these forms, the Great Brahman ( Praknti ) which passes through all states of matter is the cause ; and I, the Isvara, am the Father, the author of impregnation of the seed in the womb. The gunas bind the soul. What are the gu»as ? How do they bind ? — The answer follows : 5. Sattva, Rajas, Tamas, — these gu«as, O mighty-armed, born of Prakriti, bind fast in the body the embodied, the indestructible. Sattva (goodness), Rajas ( vigour, activity, passion ) and Tamas (darkness) — thus are the gu?;as named. — ' Gu7/a ' is a technical term. It does not mean a property, attribute or quality, such as colour, as opposed to the substance in which it is said to inhere. '■= No separate existence of a gwia. and a gumn — of an attribute and a substance — is [meant here. Accordingly, the gu«as here meant are so called because, like the attributes of substances, they are ever dependent on another, namely, the Kshetrajwa, as they are only forms of avidya or nescience ; and they bind fast ^5 it weve the Kshetraj«a. They are said to bind Kshetrajna because they come into being with Kshelrajj^a as the basis of their existence. Born of the Lord's Maya, they bind fast as it

* These Gunas are the primary consti- be said to be qualities inhering in these tuents of the Praknti and are the bases substances. — A, of all substances ; they cannot therefore were in the body the embodied"'' one, the indestructible Self.f That the Self is indestructible has been shown in xiii. 31. Mighty-armed : with powerful arms reaching down to the knees. (Objection) : — It has been said that the embodied one is not tainted (xiii. 31). How then, on the contrary, is it said here that the gu«as bind him ? (Ansiifcy) : — We have met this objection by adding * as it were ' , ' they bind him as it weve.^ The nature and functions of the gunas. Of these three gu;/as, Sattva is thus defined : 6. Of these, Sattva, which, from its stainlessncss, is lucid and healthy, binds by attachment to happiness and by attachment to knowledge, O sinless one. It is stainless like a pebble-stone, and therefore lucid and healthy. t Sattva binds the Self by making Him think ' I am happy : ' — it binds Him by causing in Him attachment to happiness j, by bringing about a union of the subject, (the Self,) with the object, (happiness). It makes Him think, " Happiness has accrued to me." This attachment to happiness is an illusion ; it is avidya. An attribute of the object cannot indeed belong to the subject; and it has

* Him who identities himself with the rellect Consciousness ; healthy, because body — A. it is so pure as to perfectly mirror the f They make it appear that the Self Spiritual Bliss.— A. undergoes all the changes that take place S The happiness and knowledge here In them. — A. spoken of ate those modifications of the ; It is stiiinUss, because it is able to Sattva in which .-Itman's inherent happi- ward oil all veiling ; lucid, as able to ness and consciousness are nianifested.-.\ 344 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XIV. been said by the Lord that all the qualities from ' desire ' to ' courage ' (xiii. 6) are all attributes of Kshetra (matter), the object. Thus it is through avidya alone — which forms an attribute (dharma) of the Self as the non-discrimination . between the object and the subject, — that Sattva causes the Self to be attached as it were to happiness which is not His own, causes Him, who is free from all attachment, to be engrossed as it were in happiness ; causes to feel happy as it were Him who does not possess the happiness. Similarly, Sattva binds the Self by attachment to knowledge, i' rom its mention here along with ' happiness,' ' knowled,t;i. ' meant here must be an attribute of the anta/jkara«a — of the Kshetra (matter), of the Object, — not of the Self ; for if it were an attribute of the Self, it cannot be an attachment and cannot be a bondage. Attachment to knowledge arises in the same way that attachment_to happiness arises.

7. Know thou Rajas (to be) of the nature of passion, the source of thirst and attachment ; it binds fast, O son of Kunti, the embodied one by attachment to action. Rajas is of the nature of passion, coloring (the soul) like a piece of red_ chalk, &c. Know it to be that from which arise thirst and attachment, — thiyst after what has not been attained, attachment or mental adherence to what has been attained. It binds fast the embodied Self by attachment to action, Iw making Him attached to actions productive of visible and invisible results ■•'- Though the self is not the agent, the doer.'— A Rajas makes Him act with the idea ' I am 8. But, know thou Tamas to be born of unwisdom, deluding all embodied beings ; by heedlessness, indolence and sloth, it binds fast, O Bharata. The third gu»a, Tamas, causes delusion or non-discrimi nation. Again the action of the gu«as is briefly described as follows : 9. Sattva attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Bharata, while Tamas, enshrouding wisdom, attaches, on the contrar}-, to heedlessness. Tamas, by its very nature as a veil, covers the judgment caused by Sattva and attaches one to heedlessness, i. e., to the non- performance of necessary duties.

The mutual action of the gunas. When do the guwas produce the effects described above ? •' — The answer follows : 10. Sattva arises, 0 Bharata, predominating over Rajas and Tamas ; and Rajas, over Sattva and Tamas ; so Tamas, over Sattva and Rajas. When Sattva increases, predominating over both Rajas and Tamas, then, asserting itself, Sattva produces its own effect, knowledge and happiness. Similarly, when .the gu7ja of Rajas increases, predominating over both Sattva and Tamas, then it gives rise to its own effect, viz., action such as husbandry. Similarly, when the gu«a called * The quastion is: Uo they produce cast, do they act in mutual concord or their effects simultaneously, or at difler- discord ?— The answer is that they act ac ■.nt limes, each in its turn? In the former diflcrent times, each in its turn.— A. 346' THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XIV. Tanias increases, predominating over both Sattva and Rajas, then it produces its own eftects, the covering of wisdom, etc. How to know when a particular guna is predominant. What is the characteristic mark by which to know when a particular gu«a is predominant ? — The answer follows : 11. When at every gate in this body there shoots up wisdom-light, then it may be known that Sattva is predominant.

/AH the senses such as hearing are for the Self the galeways of perception. When at all these gates in this body , there arises what is called light, illumination (prakasa), — i.e. the presence of anta/^-kara/^a, of buddhi, — then we have wliat is called knowledge (j,'/ana). When the light of knowledge thus springs up, thi.i, by that mark of knowledge, it may be known that Sattva is predominant. The characteristic marks of predominant Rajas are these : 12. Greed, activity, the undertaking of works, unrest, desire, — these arise when Rajas is predominant, O lord of the Bharatas. Greed : a desire to appropriate the property of another. Activity : action in general. Unrest : giving vent to joy, attachment &c. Desire : thirst after all things in general. These are the characteristic marks seen when Rajas is predominant. 13. Darkness, heedlessness, inertness, and error, — these arise when Tamas is predominant, O descendant of Kuru. 10-161 THE THUrCE r.UNAS. 347 Darkness : absence of discrimination. Inertness : Extreme inactivity, the result of darkness. Heedlessness and error are also the efTects of darkness. Life after death as governed by the fi^unas. Whatever result is obtained after death, — even that is caused by attachment and desire and is all due to the guwas. This is taught as follows :

14. If the embodied one meets death when Sattva is predominant, then he attains to the spotless regions* of the knowers of the Highest. The embodied one : the Self. TIic Highest : the Mahat and the like principles (Tattvas). 15. Meeting death in Rajas, he is born among those attached to action ; and, d}-ing in Tamas, he is born in the wombs of the irrational. If he meets death when Rajas is predominant, he is born among men, who are attached to action. The irrational: cattle and the like. Here follows a summary of what has been taught in the precedmg verses : 16. The fruit of good action, they say, is vSattvic t and pure ; while the fruit of Rajas is pain, and ignorance is the fruit of Tamas. Good action : S;ittvic action. They : tlie wise. Rajas * The Brahma-loka and the like, t '• t-, brought about by Sattva; devoid whore Rajas and Tamas never predomi- of impurities, snch as may arise from nate, as wo arc told in the scriptures Rajas and Tamas. — A. (agamas). — A. 348 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XIV. means Rajasic action, as this section treats of actions. The fruit of Rajasic actions is only pain, which is Rajasic ; for, the effect should be consonant with the cause. Tamas means Tamasic action, a-dharma or sin.

The functions of the gunas summed up. And what arises from the gu«as ? 1 7. From Sattva arises wisdom, and greed from Rajas ; heedlessness and error arise from Tamas, and also ignorance. From Sattva : When Sattva asserts itself. 18. Those who follow Sattva go upwards ; the Rajasic remain in the middle ; and the Tamasic, who follow in the course of the lowest gu7;a, go downwards. Those who follow the course of Sattva-gu;m will be born in the region of the Devas or the like. The Rajasic will dwell among men ; The Tamasic — those who follow the course of Tamas, the lowest gu«a — will go down, i.e., they will be born in the wombs of cattle and the like creatures. Realisation of the Self beyond the gunas leads to immortality. It has been briefly taught in the preceding discourse that the cause of sawsara — of the Purusha's birth in the wombs of high and low creatures — is the attachment which the Purusha, when under the influence of the illusory knowledo^e that bads him to identify himself with Praknti, has for objects of experience, i. c, for the gu«as which assume l6-20.] THE THREE CTNAS. 349

the forms of pleasure, pain and delusion, — the attachment which makes him feel " I am happy, miserable, deluded." The same thing has been described at length here (xiv. 5, et. scq.) : the nature of the gU7ms, their functions, how they bind by their functions, the destination of the persons enslaved by the functions of the gunas ; all about the cause of bondage rooted in illusion. Now, with a view to teach that moksha accrues from right knowledge, the Lord says : ig. When the seer beholds riot an agent other than the gu;/as and knows Him who is higher than the gu?ias, he attains to My being. When a man is enlightened and realises that there is no ' agent other than the gu»as which transform themselves into the bodies, senses and sense-objects, when he sees that it is the guj/as that in all their modifications constitute the agent in all actions ; when he sees Him who is distinct from the guwas, who is the Witness of the gu«as and of their functions, then he attains to I\Iy being : i. e., seeing ' that All is Vasudeva, he becomes Vasudeva.'**' Now the Lord proceeds to teach how he attains to it.

20. Having crossed beyond these three guHas, which are the source of the body, the embodied one is freed from birth, death, decay and pain, and attains the immortal. The wise man crosses, while still alive, beyond the three gu/zas which constitute the upadhi of ]\Iaya f and the * Then his identity with Brahman be- rx»- ■ u -ji.- i ■ ~" of Nlaya, the upadhi, and are the source comes manifest.-A. ^^ ^,j g,.;, _j^ t The three gunas are the constituents 350 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XIV. seed out of which the body is evolved. He is emancipated, while still alive, from birth, death, decay and pain, and attains to immortality : in this way he attains to My being. The marks of a liberated soul. When it was said that (the wise man) crosses beyond the gu7?as and attains to immortality while still alive, Arjuna found an occasion for a question and asked : 21. By what marks, O Lord, is he known who has crossed beyond those three |2^u;?as ? What is his conduct, and how does he pass beyond those three gunas ? Having been thus asked by Arjuna as to what are the characteristic marks of one who has crossed beyond the guwas and as to the means of crossing the gu;;as, the Lord proceeds to answer the two questions. First as to the question ' by what marks is he known who has crossed beyond the gu«as? ' listen to what follows :

The Blessed Lord said : 22. Light and activity and delusion present, O Pan^ava, he hates not, nor longs for them absent. Light is the effect of Sattva, activity of Rajas, and delusion of Tamas. He does not h:ite these when present, when they clearly present themselves as objects of consciousnes. It is only in the absence of right knowledge that a man hates them thus : ' I have now a Tamasic idea by which I am deluded ; there has arisen in me the Rajasic activity which is painful, and urged on by this Rajas I have fallen from my true nature, and painful is this fall from my true nature ; and the Sattvic gu»a, which is luminous, binds me by way of ascribing discrimination to me and causing attachment to happiness.' But the man who has risen above the gu;/as does not thus hate them when they present themselves to his consciousness. Unlike a man of Sattva (or Rajas or Tamas) who longs for the Sattvic (or Rajasic or Tamasic) states which first presented themselves to his consiousness and then disappeared, he who has risen abovethe gu»as does not long after things which have disappeared. — This is a mark which others cannot perceive; it serves as a mark for the individuajjiimself, as it can be perceived by himself alone ; no man indeed can perceive the hatred or the desire which presents itself to another man's consciousness.

The conduct in life of the Liberated one. Now follows the answer to the question, what is his conduct who has risen above the gu«as ? 23. He who, seated as a neutral, is not moved ■ by gu;Kis ; who, thinking that gu//as act, is firm and moves not ; 24. Her to whom pain and pleasure are alike, who dwells in the Self, to whom a clod of earth and stone and gold are alike, to whom the dear and the nndear are alike, who is a man of wisdom, to whom censure and praise are same ; The Self-knowing sawnyasin, like a neutral man who inclines to neither party, ■'■' treads firmly the path f by which * This is to illustrate how the Self- hlnisolf as the doer of actions and does knower, in virtue of his knowledge of the not eiigage in any action. — A. immutability of the Self, ceases to regard t This path is Self-knowledge.— A. 352 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XIV. he seeks to rise above the guwas ; he does not swerve from the state of discrimination. This is made clearer by what follows next : the gu;;as transforming themselves into the body, senses and sense-objects, act and react upon each other. Thus thinking, he remains unshaken, i. e., he remains in his own true nature. — There is another reading which makes this part mean " thus thinking, he acts.'''" Who dwells in the Self: who is calm.

25. The same in honour and disgrace, the same towards friends and enemies, abandoning all undertakings, — he is said to have crossed beyond The same : unaffected. Though neutral from their own standpoint, some appear to others as if they were on the side of friends or on the side of foes ; but this man appears to be same to friends and foes. He renounces all actions, productive of visible and invisible results, except those which are necessary for the bare maintenance of the body. Devotion to the Lord leads to liberation. The attributes described in xiv. 23, 24, 25, form a rule of conduct laid down for the sawmyasin who seeks moksha, so long as they are to be achieved by effort ; but when they are firmly ingrained in his nature, as may be perceived by himself, they form marks indicating that the devotee has risen above the gu«as. t * This action is the continuation ot a acquired with special eflort prior to the mere semblance of action which, he attainment of Self-knowledge (vidya) ; knows, does not pertain to him — A. and the aspirant for Self-knowledge + These attributes, such as indifter- should therefore cultivate these virtues,

ence to the various modifications and as they are the means of attaining it. functions of ,the gunas. have to be But, on the rise of Self-knowledge, when The Lord proceeds next to answer the question ' How does one pass beyond these three gu«as ? ' 26. And he who serves. Me with unfaiUng Devotion of Love, he, crossing beyond those three gunas, is fitted for becoming Brahman. A sa/«nyasin (yati), or even a man of works (karmin), who serves Me — the Isvara, Narayawa — dwelling in the heart of all beings, with a never-failing Bhakti-Yoga,''' in devotion to discriminative knowledge, — this Bhakti-Yoga being indeed the result of the Grace and Mercy of the Lord, — he crosses beyond the three gu/ias mentioned above and is fit for becoming Brahman, i. c, for moksha. How can it be sof ? — Listen : 27. For I am the abode of Brahman, the Immortal and the Immutable, the Eternal Dharma, and the unfailing Bliss. For, in Me, in the Pratyagatman, in the true Inner Self, abides Brahrnan, the Supreme Self (Paramatman) who is immortal and immutable ; who is the Eternal Dharma, i. e., who is attainable by the Dharma of Jilana-Yoga or wisdomdevotion ; who is the unfailing Bliss, the Supreme Bliss, the Bliss Immortal. Because I, — the Pratyagatman, the

the aspirant becomes a J ivanmukta (one Gjd in Bhakti-Yoga moans to constantly who is liberated while still living in the contemplate Him by completely with- body,) all the attributes mentioned here drawing the niind from all external form part and parcel of his nature and objects, from the non-Self. In virtue of serve as marks of liberation which he "'- °'^'"^ ^■^^"' ^"^ '^ endued with can perceive for himself-A. ""'" '^"''^^■•cdge. Thus enlightened, he * Bhakti-Yoga is that Supreme Love ( Parama-preman ) which leads to com- T i. c, how can the suge be himself becomes Brahman while still alive. — A. t i.e., niunion with the Supreme. To servo Brahman ? Immortal Self, — am the abode of the Supreme Self, therefore by Right Knowledge one sees that the Pratyagatman is the very Supreme Self. It is this truth which has been declared in the preceding verse in the words " he is fitted for becoming Brahman. " The meaning of the passage may be explained as follows: It is through His Isvara-5akti, — through the power He has to manifest Himself as Isvara or the Lord of the universe,— that Brahman shews His grace to His devotees, and so on. I am only that power or S'akti in manifestation, and am therefore Brahman Himself; for .Sakti — power, potentiality, energy — cannot be distinct from the one in whom it inheres.

The verse may also be explained as follows : By ' Brahman,' is here meant the Conditioned Brahman, who eilone can be spoken of by any such word as ' Brahman.'— I, the Unconditioned and the Unutterable, am the abode of the Conditioned Brahman, who is Immortal and Indestructible. I am also the abode of the Eternal Dharma of Wisdom- Devotion, and the abode of the unfailing Bliss born of that Devotion.

The Tree of 5amsara. Because all living beings are dependent on Me for the fruits of ( their ) actions, and the wise for the fruit of their knowledge, therefore those who serve Me with Bhakti-Yoga (Devotion of Love) cross beyond the gu»as by My Grace, through the attainment of knowledge, and attain liberation (moksha) ; much more so those who rightly understand the real nature of the Self. \\'herefore the Lord proceeds in the present discourse to teach the real nature of the Self, though unasked by Arjuna. First he describes the nature of sawsara or mundane existence by a figurative representation as a tree* in order to produce vairagya or absence of all attachment. For, he alone who is free from all attachment, and no other person, is fit for attaining the knowledge of the real nature of the Lord. The Blessed Lord said : 1. They speak of the indestructible Asvattha having its root above and branches below, whose leaves are the metres. He who knows it knows the Vedas. As Brahman with Maya f or the unmanifested potentiality is subtle in point of time, as He is the Cause |, as He * Sai/isara is represented as a tree be- : This is to shew how Brahman is

cause it can l)e cut oft lilce a tree.— A. "subtle in point of time." Brahman is S Brahman who is Kii/astha (immutable) the Cause because He is the invariable cannot by Himself be Ibe cause.— A,] antecedent of all eflects.— A, 2c6 THE BHAGAVAD-GlTA. [DiS. XV. is eternal, as He is great, He is spoken of as the One above. The One above is the root of this Tree of Sa;»sara, which is therefore said to have its root above. The Sruti says: " With root above and branches below, this Asvattha is eternal." (Kai'ha-Up. 3-2-1). In the Pura//a also it is said : " The root from which the Eternal Tree of Brahman"-^= has sprung is the Avyakta, the Unmanifested. It has developed by the strength of the same (Avyakta). Its trunk is Buddhi, the sense-apertures Its hollows, the great elements Its boughs, the sense-objects Its leaves and branches, dharmaand a-dharma Its fair blossoms, pleasure and pain Its fruits affording livelihood to all creatures. And this is the resort f of Brahman (the Highest Self), and that Highest Self is (the essence) of that Tree of Brahman. Having cut asunder and split the Tree with the mighty "sword of knowledge j and

then attained to the Bliss of the Self, none comes back They speak of the illusory sawsara as a tree rooted above. The Mahat, the Ahawkara ( Egoism ), the Tanmatras (the Elemental Essences), etc., are its branches as it were, and these extend downwards ; whence the Tree is said to have its branches below. They call this tree ' Asvattha ' because * i. c, the Tree occupied, presided Tree of sawsara ; for, this infinite uni- over, led, governed, guided, by Brah- verse has its basis in Brahman and in man. It is said to ba eternal because it nothing else. It is indeed Brahman Him- cannot be cut except by knowledge. — A. sslf.that, owing to avidya, manifests t It is in this Tree of si»jsara that Brah- Himself in the form of this univcrse.-A. man abides.— This portion is interpreted : The knowledge " I am Brahman."-A. to mean " Brahman is the resort of this it will not abide the same even till tomorrow, because it undergoes destruction every moment. The illusion (Maya) of sa/«sara having existed in time without beginning, they say that this Tree of sawsara is eternal ; for, it rests, as is well known, on a continuous series of births which is without beginning or end and is thus eternal. The Tree of Sawsara is further qualified thus : The metres ( chhandases ) are its leaves as it were ;

they are so called because, like leaves, the metres ( Vedas ) such as Rik, \'a.}us a.nd S-kman protect {^chhad' to cover) the Tree of Sa;«sara. Just as the leaves of a tree serve to protect the tree, so do the Vedas '■"' serve to protect the Tree of Sa;;/sara, as treating of dharma ( merit ) and a-dharma (demerit), with their causes and fruits. He who knows the Tree of Sa;«sara and its Root as described above is a knower of the Teaching-of the \'edas. Indeed nothing else, not even an iota, remains to be known beyond this Tree of Sawsara and its Root. He who knows It is therefore omniscient.— This is to extol the knowledge of the Tree of Saw?- sara and its Root.

Now follows another figurative representation of the members of this Tree of Sa;«sara. 2. Below and above are its branches spread, nourished by the gu;?as, sense-objects its buds ; and below in the world of man stretch forth the roots ending in action. From man down to unmoving objects below, and from him up to the abode of Brahma, the Creator of the Uni- • The ritualistic sections of the Veda of the soul ; they protect sa>;isara by treat of the path of ascent and descent concealing its defects. — A. 358 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XV. verse, whatever regions are attained as the suitable reward of knowledge and action, — each varying according to the character of knowledge or of action, — they are the spreading branches as it were of that Tree ; they are nourished and fattened by the gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, which form their material basis (upadana). The senseobjects such as sound are the buds, as it were, sprouting from the branches of the physical and other bodies which are the result of actions. — The Highest Root of the Tree of Sawsdra has been mentioned already, and now will be mentioned the secondary roots as it were (of the universe), as leading to acts of dharma or a-dharma: viz., the latent impressions (vasanas) of the feelings of attachment and aversion, etc., which were caused by the fruits of actions. These roots are spread in this world of man below "•'' — below the regions of Devas and the like — and give rise to acts of dharma and a-dharma, these acts springing up on the up-springing of those vasanas. Those roots are spread especially in the world of man. It is while here, as is wellknown to all, that men concern themselves with actionf.

Cut the Tree and seek the Goal. And as to the Tree of Sawsara just described, 3. Its form is not perceived as such here, neither its end nor its origin nor its existence. Having cut asunder this firm-rooted Asvattha with the strong sword of dispassion, 4. Then That Goal should be sought for, if i. c, in the linga-sariras of men T That is to say, it is while in the hu- these feeUngs of attachment and aversion man body especially, that one is ut to are constantly present,— A. engage in action.— A. whither having gone none return again. " I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha whence streamed forth the Ancient Current." As such : as described above. Its form as such is perceived by nobody here ; for it is very much Hke a dream, a mirage, a gandharva-nagaya (an imaginary city in the sky) produced by a juggler's art ; indeed, it appears and disappears." It has therefore no finality, no endt. Neither has it a beginning : nobody knows * It has proceeded from this point.' Its existence — i.e., its nature between the origin and the end — is perceived by nobody. Dispassion : freedom from attachment to children, to wealth, and to the world. Strong : strengthened by a resolute bent of mind towards the Supreme Self and sharpened again and again on the whetstone of the practice of true discrimination. Cut asundey : uprooted the Tree of sa7«sara with its seed.

Then the aspirant should seek for and know the abode of Vish;m beyond that Tree. Those who have reached this Goal never return to sawsara. — How is that Goal to be sought after ? — It is sought after thus : " I seek refuge in Him, the Primeval Purusha, " who is spoken of as the Goal ; /. c, He is to be sought for by way of seeking refuge ♦ One may suppose that the Tree of Saiiisara, constantly kept up as it is by attachment etc., has no beginning and is not liable Co destruction in itself, and that it is not even possible for one to cut it asunder. To remove this idea, the Lord says that the Tree of Sawisara described above, though not perceived through our sense-organs, should be inferred to be as described above from the teachings of the sastra (scripture). So it is possible for one to cut it asunder by means of knowledge. — .\. T In the absence of knowledge, sa;Hsara has no end, inasmuch as illusion, vasanas (latent tendencies acquired in the past) and works give rise to one another, by action and reaction Samsara is firmrooted ; and one should therefore put forth a very strong effort to uproot it, by resorting to renunciation through practice of indiflerence. — A.

360 THE bhagavad-gIta [Dis. XV. in Him.— Who is this Purusha ? — It is that Purusha from whom the emanation of the Tree of illusory Saw^sara streamed forth, just as illusory sights (maya) issue from out of a juggler. The Path to the Goal. What sort of persons reach that Goal ? — Listen : 5. Free from pride and delusion, with the evil of attachment conquered, ever dwelling in the Self, their desires having completely turned away, liberated from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that Goal Eternal. Dwelling, etc. : constantly engaged in the contemplation of the nature of the Supreme Self. Theiy desires, etc : they become sa/;myasins, all desires having fled without leaving any taint behind. That : described above. The Goal is the Lord's Glorious Being. That Goal is again specified thus : 6. That, the sun illumines not, nor the moon, nor fire ; That is My Supreme Abode, to which having gone none return. The sun, though possessed of the power of illumining all, does not illumine that Abode, the Abode of Light. That Abode to which having gone none return, and which the sun and other (luminous bodies) do not illumine, is the Highest Abode of Vish/m.

Jiva is a ray of the Lord. It has been said 'to which having gone none return.' But, as everybody knows, going ultimately leads to returning, union to disunion. How can it be said that there is no returning of those who have reached that Abode ? — Listen ; how that may be is thus explained : 7. A ray of Myself, the eternal Jiva in the world of Jivas, attracts the senses, with manas the sixth, abiding in Prakriti. 'An integral portion of Myself — of the Supreme Self, of Naraya»a, — is the eternal Jiva (individual soul) in sawsara, manifesting himself in every one as the doer and enjoyer. He is like the sun reflected in water ; the reflected sun is but a portion of the real sun ; and on the removal of water the reflected sun returns to the original sun and remains as that very sun. — Or, it is like the akasa (space) in the jar, which is limited by the upadhi of the jar. This akasa of the jar is but a portion of the infinite akasa and becomes one with the latter on the destruction of the jar which is the cause of limitation ; then it returns no more. / Thus the statement " to which having gone none return " is quite explicable.

[Objection) : — How can there be a portion of the Supreme Self who has no parts ? If He has parts. He would be liable to destruction on the separation of parts. [Anstiiey) : — Our theory is not open to this objection ; for, it is only a portion limited by the upadhi set up by avidya ; it is a portion a.s it were, an iniagmary portion. This truth was established at length in the thirteenth discourse. '•' * It lijs been shewn there tliat, as a Paramfttman, that he is identical witji matter of fact, Jiva is not a portion of the Supreme Self. — A. 362 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XV. How Jiva dwells in the body and departs from it. How does the Jiva or individual Soul, who is only an imaginary portion of Myself, live in the world ? Or how does he leave it ?"■'' — Listen : He draws round himself the (five) senses, such as hearing, with the manas, the sixth sense — those six senses which abide in the Prakriti, i. c, in their respective seats such as the orifice of the ear. When ( does he draw them round himself) ?

8. When the Lord acquires a body, and when He leaves it, He takes these and goes, as the wind takes scents from their seats. When the Jiva, the lord of the aggregate of the body and the rest, is to leave the body, then (he draws round himself the senses and the manas). When he leaves a former body and enters another, he does so, taking these — the (five) senses with the manas the sixth — with him as the wind takes with it the scents of flowers. What then are those (senses) ? g. The ear, the eye and the touch, the taste and the smell, using these and the manas, he enjoys the sense-objects. Using the manas along with each sense separately, the Dweller in the body enjoys the sense-objects such as sound. The Self is visible only to the eye of knowledge. 10. Him who departs, stays and enjoys, who is conjoined with guwas, the deluded perceive not ; they see, who possess the eye of knowledge. * i.e., if Jiva' is the Supreme Self, how as departing from this world ?^A. is it that he is spoken of as a sai/'sarin, or ♦ Though A tman is nearest ar\d (faQVcfore + The wisdom-eye here spoken of refers

most easily perceivable, still, all do not to the scriptures (sastra), Raided by reflec- scc Him, because of their complete tion and reason (nyayanugcihita), which subservience (o sense-objects.— A, form a means to knowledge.— A, /Him who thus dwells In the body, who leaves the body I once acquired, who stays in the body, who perceives sound and other objects, who is always in association with gu«as, /. e., whom all dispositions of mind — such as pleasure, pain delusion — invariably accompany, the deluded do not recognise. They do not see Him, though in this way He comes quite within the range of their vision, because they are deluded in various ways, their minds being forcibly attracted by the enjoyment of objects seen and unseen. ;>'" Ah 1 such is human perversity. — Thus does the Lord regret. — But those whose wisdom-eye I has been opened by an authoritative source of knowledge, i.e., who possess the power of discrimination, do recognise Him. No self-knowledge without Yoga. II. Those who strive, endued with Yoga, perceive Him dwelling in the self; though striving, those of unrefined self, devoid of wisdom, perceive Him not. Those who strive, well balanced in their mind, behold Him, the Self, dwelling in their own mind (buddhi) : they recognise Him, " This I am. " But though striving to know Him by means of proper authorities such as the scriptures (sastra), men of unrefined self — whose self (mind) has not been regenerated by austerity (tapas) and subjugation of the senses, who have not abandoned their evil

364 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XV. ways, whose pride has not been subdued, — behold Him not." Immanence of the Lord, (i) as the all-illumining Light of Consciousness. That Goal (the Supreme Self) which even such luminaries as fire and sun, the illuminators of all, do not illumine ; which having reached, the seekers of moksha never return towards sa7;/sara ; of which the Jivas (individual souls) are only parts manifesting themselves in conformity to the upadhis, as the akasa (space) in a jar is but a portion of the all-pervading akasa, — with a view to show that that Goal is the essence of all and the real basis {i. e., object) of all experience, the Lord proceeds in the next four verses to give a brief summary of His manifestations. 12. That light which residing in the sun illumines the whole world, that which is in the moon and in the fire, that light do thou know to be Mine. Light : splendour. Mine : Vish;Ri's. Or, ' light ' may be understood to mean the light of consciousness (chaitanya). {Objection) : — The light of consciousness exists in all alike, in the moving and unmoving objects : then why this qualification of light as ' residing in the sun, ' etc. ?

[Answer) : — This objection does not apply here ; for, the * A mere siudy of scriptures, aided by realised the distinction between the per- reason and reflection, will not be of much manent and the impermanent, the real avail to those whose minds are still and the unreal. — A, impure and who therefore have not yet qualification may be explained on the ground that the better manifestation (of consciousness in the sun, etc.) is due to a higher proportion of Sattva. In the sun and other bodies (mentioned here) the Sattva is very brilliant and luminous ; wherefore it is in them that the light of consciousness is better manifested. Hence the qualification ; not that the light is a specific attribute of those bodies only. To illustrate it by an example from ordinary experience : A man's face is not reflected in a wall, in a piece of wood or the like ; but the same face is reflected in a mirror in a greater or less degree of clearness, according as the mirror is more or less transparent. (2) As the all-sustaining Life. 13. Penetrating the earth I support all beings by (My) Energy ; and having become the watery moon I nourish all herbs.

Energy (ojas) : the energy of the Isvara. It is devoid of desires and passions. It permeates the earth for supporting the world. Held by that energy, the massive earth does not fall down and is not shattered to pieces. So it is chanted as follows : — " Whereby the vast heaven and the earth are firmly held. " " He held the earth firm."— (Taittiriya-Saw/hita, Thus do I, penetrating the Earth, support the moving and unmoving objects. Moreover, becoming the savoury moon, I nourish all the herbs germinating on the Earth, such as rice and wheat, and make them savoury. Soma (the moon) is the repository of all savours. It is indeed the savoury moon that nourishes all herbs by infusing savours into them. (3) As the Digestive Fire in all living: organisms. 14. Abiding in the body of living beings as Vaisvanara, associated * with Prana and Apana, I digest the four-fold food. Vaisvciiiara : the hve abiding in the stomach, as said in the sruti : " This fire is Vaisvanara, which is within man and by which this food is digested. " — (Bri. Up. 5-9-1-) Fourfold food : the food which has to be eaten by mastication, that which has to be sucked out, the food which has to be eaten by devouring, and that which is eaten by licking.

He who regards that the eater is the Vaisvanara Fire, that the food eaten by Fire is the Soma (moon), and that thus the^^two together form Fire-Soma (Agni-shomau), is free from all taint of impurity in food, f (4) As the Self in the hearts of all. 15. And I am seated in the hearts of all : from Me are memory, knowledge, as well as their loss ; it is I who r/.n to be known by all the Vedas, I am ♦ Kindled by Prana. — A. form of eater and eaten is made up of + Incidentally the Lord teaches here that Agni and Soma is untouched by evil he who at the time of eating contemplates arising from bad food. — A. that the whole universe which is in the indeed the author of the Vedanta as well as the knower of the Vedas. I dwell in the hearts (buddhi) of all sentient beings as their Self.''' Wherefore from Me f , the Self of all sentient beings, are memory, knowledge, I as well as their loss. Just as knowledge and memory occur in righteous persons as a result of their good deeds (pu7;yakarma«i), so, as a result of their sins, loss of memory and knowledge occurs in the sinful.

who cause the Teaching of the Vedanta (Upanishads) to be handed down in regular succession, and It is I who know the Vedic Teaching. The Lord beyond the perishable and the imperishable universe. From XV. 12, et seq a. summary has been given of the glories of Naraya//a, the Blessed Lord, as manifested through superior upadhis.j Now, in the following verses, the Lord proceeds to determine the true nature of the same (Blessed Lord), who is pure and unlimited, being quite distinct from all perishable (kshara) and imperishable (akshara) upadhis. First, then, the Lord arranges all that is taught in the preceding as well as in the succeeding discourses in three groups and says : 16. There are these two beings in the world. * I am the witness of all that is good ; Memory of what was experienced in and evil in their hearts.— A. the past births, and knowledge of things t Who am the wire-puller (Siitra-dhar.i) transcending the ordinary limits of space, standing behind the machine of the time, and visible nature,— A. universe, who presides over all ac- g Such as the sun.— A. t ions.— A. 368 THE BHAGAVAD-GlTA. [DiS. XV. the perishable and the imperishable : the perishable comprises all creatures ; the immutable is called the imperishable.

In sawisara, there are two categories, we see, arranged in two separate groups of beings, spoken of as ' purushas ' '•' The one group consists of the perishable (kshara) ; and the other is the imperishable (akshara) — the contrary of the first — viz., the Maya-5akti, the Illusion-Power of the Lord, the germ from which the perishable being takes its birth, the seat of all the latent impressions (sawskaras) of desires, actions, etc., pertaining to the numerous mortal creatures. As to what the two beings (Purushas) comprise, the Lord Himself says : The perishable comprises the whole universe of changing forms ; the imperishable is what is known as immutable ( ku/astha ) — that which remains immovable like a heap. Or, ' kuz^a ' means illusion, and ' kufastha ' means that which manifests itself in various forms of illusion and deception. As the seed of sawsara is endless f, it is said to be imperishable. Distinct from these two, — the perishable and the imperishable,— and untainted by the evils of the two upadhis of the perishable and imperishable, eternal, pure, intelligent and free by nature is the Highest Spirit. 17. But distinct is the Highest Spirit spoken of as the Supreme Self, the indestructible Lord who penetrates and sustains the three worlds.

* They are spoken of as 'purushas' f In the absence of Brahma-j)!ana ihe because they are the upadhis of the seed does not perish— (A). Purusha, the one Spirit. (A) l6-l8.] THE SUPREME SPIRIT. 369 But/the Highest Spirit is quite distinct from the two. He is the Supreme Self. He is Supreme as compared with the other selves set up by avidya, such as the physical body ; and He is the Self as constituting the unfailing Inner Consciousness of all beings. He is therefore known as the Supreme Self in the Vedantas (Upanishads). / The Highest Spirit is further specified thus : He is the Eternal Omniscient Lord, Narayana, who penetrates by His Vital Energy (Bala-Sakti) ■'■' the three worlds — the Earth ( Bhu/i ), the Mid-region (BhuvaA) and Heaven ( Suva/; ) — and supports them by His mere existence in them. 'Purushottama,' the Highest Spirit, is a well-known name of the Lord described above. Now the Lord, while showing, by a declaration of the etymology of the word, that the name is significant, shows what He really is, " I am the unsurpassed Lord." 18. Because I transcend the perishable and am even higher than the imperishable, therefore am I known in the world and in the Veda as 'Purushottama,' the Highest Spirit.

Because I transcend the perishable, the Tree of illusory sawsara called Asvattha, because I am higher than even the imperishable which constitutes the seed of that Tree of the illusory sawsara, because I am thus superior to the perishable and the imperishable, I am known in the world and in the Veda as the Highest Spirit : devotees know Me as such, and the poets, too, incorporate this name in their poems and other works. • ' Bala' me.-ins enersy. the energy of and ' sakti ' means Miya which lies Consciousness or seutiency (chaitanya), therein.— A. 370 THE BMAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XV. The Glory of Self-knowledge. Now the Lord speaks of the fruit accruing to him who realises the Self as described above : ig. He who, undeluded,* thus knows Me, the Highest Spirit, he, knowing all, worships Me with his whole being, O Bharata. Me : the Lord as above specified. Knows : * that I am He.' With his whole being : with his whole thought devoted exclusively to the Self of all. A knowledge of the true nature of the Lord having been imparted in this discourse, — a knowledge which leads to moksha, — it is now extolled as follows :

20. Thus, this most Secret Science has been taught by Me, O sinless one ; on knowing this, ( a man ) becomes wise, O Bharata and all his duties are accomplished. Though the whole of the Gita is called Science (5astra), yet from the context it appears that the fifteenth discourse alone is here spoken of as the Science, for the purpose of extolling it. In fact the whole teaching of the Gita-Sastra has been summed up in this discourse. Not the teaching of the Gita-Sastra only, but the whole teaching of the Veda is here embodied ; and it has been said that ' he who knows it (the Asvattha) knows the Veda (xii. i), and that ' It is I who am to be known by all the Vedas' ( xv. 15). On knowing this science as taught above — but not otherwise— a man becomes wise. He has accomplished all duties. •k Never looking upon the physical himself. — A. body, etc., as himself or as belonging to I g-20.] THE SUPREME SPIRIT 371 Whatever duty a brahmawa of superior birth has to do, all that duty has been done when the real truth about the Lord is known ; that is to say, by no other means can a man's duty have been accomplished. And it has been said " All actions, without exception, O son of P/'itha are comprehended in wisdom" ( iv. 33 ). And here is the saying of Manu :

" This is the fulfilment of the birth, especially for a brihina;/a ; for, by attaming to this does the twice-born become the accomplisher of all duties, and not other- -wise" (xii. 93). Since you have heard from Me this truth about the Supreme Being, you are a happy man, O Bharata.

In the ninth discourse were indicated three kinds of nature (prakriti) belongin*:^ to sentient beings, namely, the nature of the Gods, that of the Asuras, and that of the Rakshasas. The sixteenth discourse proceeds to describe them at length. Of these the nature of the Gods (Daivi Praknti) leads to liberation from samskra, and those of the Asuras and the Rakshasas lead to bondage. Accordingly the nature of the Gods will be described with a view] to its acceptance, and the other two with a view to their rejection.* The Blessed Lord said : I. Fearlessnesst, purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga ; alms-giving, self-restraint and worship, study of one's own (scriptures), austerity, uprightness ; Purity of heart : purity oi the antaA-kara7/a (sattva), i.e., abandonment of deception, dissimulation, falsehood and the like, in all transactions ; that is to say, transacting business in perfect honesty. Knowledge consists in understanding the nature of things, such as the Self, as taught * These are respectively the Sattvic, in actions and spoken of in XV. 2 as Rajasic, and Tamasic natures, manifested the secondary roots of sa>;isara.— A. in men according to the karma of their previous births. They are the tendencies (vasanas) Lsbowing themselves out

t Devout observance of scriptural precepts without doubting. — A, in the Scripture (sastra) and by the Teacher (Acharya). Yoga consists in making what has been thus learnt an object of one's own direct perception, by concentrat^ion (onepointedness) through the subjugation of the senses. This — viz., fearlessness, purity of heart, and steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga — forms the Daivi or Sattvic nature by pre-eminence. Whatever attributes among those (mentioned in xvi. I — 3) can possibly pertain to the disciples treading a particular path, * they constitute the Sattvic nature of the disciples in that particular path. Alms-giving \ distributing food and the like as far as lies in one's power. Self-control : the subjugation of external senses ; that of the antaA-kara;;a (internal sense, manas) being mentioned in the next verse. Worship : including the fire-worship (agnihotra) and the like enjoined in the sruti, as also the worship of the Gods (Deva-yajna) and the like enjoined in the smriti. Study, etc : study of the i?ig-Veda and the like with a view to some unseen results (adrishfa). Austerity : bodily mortification and other penances, which will be mentioned in the sequel. Uprightness : this should be a constant attitude.

2. Harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, serenity, absence of calumny, compassion to creatures, uncovetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness; Harmlessness : abstaining from injury to sentient beings. Truth : speaking of things as they are, without giving utterance to what is unpleasant or what is false. Absence of * Karma- Yoga or Jnana-Yoga. The and Karma-Yogins. The latter, though first three of the attributes mentioned wanting in the first three attributes, are here can be found in Jnnna-Yogins only, nevertheless classed among S.ittvic men, the rest being common to Jxtina-Yogins 374 THE BHAGAVAD-GtTA [DiS. XVI. anger : suppression of anger arising when beaten or reviled. Renunciation: 'tyaga' (lit., giving up) is thus explained, since 'alms-giving' has already been mentioned. Serenity : tranquillity of mind (anta/!-kara?m). Compassion to creatures : to those in suffering. Uncovetousness : unaflfectedness of the senses when in contact with their objects. Absence of fickleness : not to speak or move hands and legs in vain. 3. Energy, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride; these belong to one born for a divine lot, O Bharata. * Tejas ' means energy, not brightness of the skin. Forgiveness : unaflfectedness when beaten or reviled. We have explaixTcd ' absence of anger ' to mean suppression of anger when it arises. Thus ' forgiveness ' and 'absence of anger' should be distinguished from each other. Fortitude : that state of mind (anta/j-kara»a) which removes the exhaustion of the body and senses when they droop down, and upheld by which the body and senses no longer get dejected.

Purity : of the two sorts, the external and the internal ; the one being accomplished by means of earths and water, the other consisting in the taintlessness of mind and heart, in freedom from impurities such as deception and passion. Absence of hatred : absence of a desire to injure others. Pride : consists in supposing oneself worthy of a high honor. These — from 'fearlessness' to ' absence of pride ' — are found in one who is born for a divine lot, i.e., who is worthy of the powers of the Devas, i.e., for whom there is happiness in store.

Here follows a description of the demoniac (asuric) nature : 4. Ostentation, arrogance and self-conceit, anger as also insolence, and ignorance, belong to one who is born, O Partha, for a demoniac lot. Ostentation: pretending to be righteous. Arrogance: pride of learning, wealth, high connection, etc. Insolence : in speech ; e. g. to speak of the blind as having eyes, of the ugly as handsome, of a man of low birth as one of high birth, and so on. Ignorance : misconception of duties and the like. Results of the two dispositions. The effects of the two natures are spoken of as follows : 5. The divine nature is deemed for liberation, the demoniac for bondage. Grieve not, O Paw^ava; thou art born for a divine lot. Liberation : from the bondage of sawsara. The demoniac (asuric) nature leads to an unfailing bondage, and so does the fiendish (Rakshasic) nature. — Now, seeing some such question as " Am I possessed of demoniac nature, or of divine nature ? " occur in the mind of Arjuna on hearing what has been said, the Lord again says : grieve not ; thou art born for a divine lot; i.e., thou hast happiness in prospect.

6. There are two creations of beings in this world, the divine and the demoniac. The divine has been described at length ; hear from Me, O Partha, of the demoniac. Creation: means what is created. The men who are created with the two kinds of nature, the divine and the 376 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XVI. demoniac, are here spoken of as the ' two creations.' It is said in the sruti, ' Verily there are two classes of Prajapati's creatures, Devas and Asuras.' (Bn. Up. x-3-i)- Every being in this world is included in the one or the other of the two creations, the divine and the demoniac. The purpose of repeating again what has been already said is stated thus: — The divine has been declared at length, beginning with xvi. i, but not the demoniac; therefore, do thou hear and understand the demoniac nature to be described at length by Me in the sequel here in order that you may avoid it. The demoniac nature will be described, — to the very end of the discourse — as an attribute of some living men ; for, only when it is recognised in the visible, its avoidance is possible.

7. Neither action nor inaction do the demoniac men know ; neither purity nor good conduct nor truth is found in them. They do not know what acts they should perform to achieve the end of man, nor from what acts they should abstain to avert evil. Not only do they not know ' action and inaction,' there is neither purity nor good conduct nor truth in them. Indeed, the demons are persons who are wanting in purity and good conduct, who are hypocrites and liars The materialist's view of the world. 8. They say, "the universe is unreal, without a basis, without a Lord, born of mutual union, ■ brought about by lust ; what else ? " These demons of men say, " As \vc are unreal, so this whole universe is unreal. Neither are dharinaand a-dharma its basis. There exists no Isvara ruling the universe according to dharma and a-dharma. Universe is, therefore, they say, without a Lord. The whole universe is, moreover, caused by the mutual union of man and woman under the impulse of lust. It is brought about only by lust. What else can be the cause of the universe ? There is no other cause whatever, no invisible cause, of the universe, no such thing as karma." This is the view of the materialists (Lokayatikas), that sexual passion is the sole cause of all living creatures.

Men's life as guided by materialism. g. Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellect, of fierce deeds, rise as th^ enomies of the world ■'^ for its destruction. Ruined souls : having lost all chances of goinj to the higher worlds. Their intellect is small, as it concerns itself only with sense-objects. Of ficfcc deeds : intent on injuring others. 10. Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, holding unwholesome views through eielusion, they work with unholy resolve ; 11. Beset with immense cares ending only with death, sensual enjoyment tlieir highest aim, assured that that is all t ; * World : Sentient beings — A. thins is th^ happiness of ano. her world, t Sensual enjoyment is the supreme — A source of happiness : there is no such 37^ THE BHAGAVAD-GiTA. [DiS. XVI. They give themselves up to care. ■''■ Sensual enjoyment : Enjoyment of sense-objects such as sound. They are convinced tliat this sensual enjoyment is the highest end of man. 12. Round by hundreds of bands of hope, given over to lust and wrath, they strive to secure b}^ unjust means hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyment. They are attracted here and there, bound by a hundred bands of false hopes. They secure wealth for sensual enjoyment, not for (performing acts of) dharma. By unjust means : by robbing other men's wealth.

Their aspiration is expressed as follows : 13. This to-da}' has been gained by me ; this desire I shall attain ; this is mine, and this wealth also shall be mine in future. In future : in the coming year this wealth also shall be mine, and thereby I shall bs known to be a man of wealth. 14. " That enemy has been slain by me, and others also shall I slay. I am a lord, I enjoy, I am successful, strong and healthy. That unconquerable enemy, say Devadatta by name, * The immeasurable care as to iho innuiiKTable objects of desire. A. means of accjuirins; and preserviii»^ iho 11-17] SPIRITCaLITY AND MATERIALISM. 379 has been slain by me, and others also shall I slay. What can these poor men do ? There is none equal to me in any respect. — How ? — I am a lord, I enjoy, I am successful in every way, blessed with children and grandchildren ; I am no ordinary man, I am alone strong and healthy. 15. " I am rich and well-born. Who else is equal to me ? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice." Thus deluded by unwisdom,

16. Bewildered by many a fancy, entangled in the snare of delusion, addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall into a foul hell. Well-born : born in a family learned in the scriptures for seven generations. Even in this respect none is equal to me. I will surpass others even in respect of sacrificial rites. I will give (money) to actors and obtain a high delight. Many a fancy : such as those described above. Delusion is a snare, as it is of the nature of an enclosure or envelope. They are addicted to sensual gratification ; and with sins thus accumulated they fall into a foul hell, such as Vaitara/a. The materialist 5 sacrificial rites. 17. Self-honored, stubborn, filled with the pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform sacrifices in name with hypocrisy, without regard to ordinance. Self-honored : Esteeming themselves as possessed of all good qualities ; they are not esteemed as such by the 380 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XVI. righteous. They perform sacrifices without regard to the several parts and obhgations enjoined in the scriptural The materialist's neglect of Divine Commandments. 18. Given over to egotism, power, haughtiness, lust, and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own and other's bodies.

/Egotism : they esteem themselves very high for qualities which they really possess and for those which they falsely attribute to themselves. This egotism is what is called avidyii ; and it is the hardest thing (to overcome), the source of all perversities (doshas), of all evil actsV Power: accompanied with lust and passion, and seeking to humiliate others. Haughtiness : when this arises one transgresses the path of virtue ; it is a peculiar vice seated in the anta/tkara//a. Lust: sexual passion, and the like. Anger: at something unpleasant. They are given over to these and other great vices. Moreover, they hate Me, the Isvara, abiding in their own and other bodies as the Witness of their thoughts and actions. To hate Me is to transgress My commands.''' They are malicious, jealous of the virtue of those who tread the right path. ig. These cruel haters, worst of men, I hurl these evil-doers for ever in the worlds into the wombs of the demons only. These : the enemies of the right path and haters of the righteous. Worst : because they are guilty of unrighteous * Not caring to know and follow tha Sruti and the Sm;iti. — (A) /svara's commands as embodied in tlje

deeds (a-dharma). Worlds : paths of sa/wsara passing through many a hell. Wombs of the demons: wombs of the most cruel beings such as tigers, lions and the like. 20. Entering into demoniac wombs, the deluded ones, in birth after birth, without ever reaching Me, O son of Kunti, pass into a condition still lower than that. These deluded creatures are born, birth after birth, only in Tcimasic wombs and pass into lower and lower states. Without ever reaching Me, the livara, they fall into a condition which is still lower (than they are in at present). Without reaching Mc : Certainly there is no room whatever even for the supposition that they will ever reach Me. The meaning, therefore, is, 'without ever attaining to the right path taught by Me.' * The three Gates of Hell to be avoided. Here follows a summary of the whole demoniac (asuric) nature in which, in its three forms, the whole variety of asuric nature, though endless, is comprehended ; which being avoided, the whole asuric nature becomes avoided, and which is the source of all evil. 21. Triple is this, the gate to hell, destructive of the self : LUST, WRATH, and greed. Therefore, these three, one should abandon.

The gate to Ml : the gate leading to hell (naraka). By * The meaning on the whole is this. The while he is yet a free agent, while he has tsuric nature, ae leading to a series of not yet passed into a birth which would evils, is inimical to all human progress. A make him entirely dependant on others, nian should, therefore, try and shake it oil —A. 382 THE BHaCAVAD-gItA. [DiS. XVI. merely entering at the gate, the self is ruined, i. e., is fit for no human end whatever. Since this gate is ruinous to the self, let every one abandon these three ; lust, wrath and gyeed. Here follows the praise of this abandonment : 22. A man who is released from these, the three gates to darkness, O son of Kunti, does good to the self, and thereby reaches the Supreme Goal. Gates to darkness : leading to hell (naraka) which is full of pain and delusion. He who is released from lust, wrath and greed will act for the good of the self, because of the absence of that by which obstructed he has not heitherto so acted. By so doing he even attains moksha.

Let the Law guide thy life. The scripture (sflstra) is the authority on which all this renunciation of asuric nature, and the observance of what is good, are based. One would engage in these only on the authority of the scriptures (silstra), not otherwise. Therefore, 23. He who, neglecting the scriptural ordinance, acts under the impulse of desire, attains not perfection, nor happiness, nor the Supreme Goal. Scriptural ordinance : the command of the Veda in the form of injunctions and prohibitions, giving us to know what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Perfection : fitness for attaining the end of man. Happiness : in this world. Supreme Goal : Svarga or Moksha, (as the case may be). 24. Therefore, the scripture is thy authority in deciding as to what ought to be done and what ought not to 1)^ done. Now, thou oughtest to know and perform thy duty laid down in the scripture-hiw. Authority: source of knowledge. Scripture- Laiv : The scripture itself is the Law, which says " thou shalt act so and so, thou shalt not act so and so." Noiv : referring to the stage where the disciple is fit for Karma- Yoga.

The ignorant, but faithful. " The Lord's words (xvi. 24) having given Arjuna an occasion for a question, he said : I. Whoso worship, setting aside the ordinance of the scripture, endued with faith, — what faith is theirs ? Is it Sattva, or Rajas, or Tamas ? IVJioso : not exactly specified. It must refer to those who, endued with faith, i. c, thinking that there is something beyond, — on observing the conduct of the learned, — worship the Gods and the like, unaware of the procedure laid down in the scriptures, the sruti and the smriti. Those, on the other hand, who, while knowing the injunctions of the scripture, set them aside and worship the Gods, &c., contrary to those injunctions, — they cannot indeed be meant here, because of the qualification that they are ' endued with faith '. We cannot suppose that those men are endued with faith who, while knowing the scriptural injunctions about the worship of the Gods, etc., set them aside, ir The Lord has described the future believe in their teachings. Xow Arjuna lots of astikas and nastikas, of believers proceeds to ask as to the fate of the and unbelievers, of persons who, seeing believers who do not know the scriptures.

with the eye of the scriptures, do or do not — A. without caring for them^^ and engage in the worship of the Gods which is not in accordance with the injunctions. Therefore it is only the persons of the other class described above that are here referred to. Arjuna's question may be thus stated : Is the worship offered by them to the Gods, etc., based in Sattva, or Rajas, or Tainas ? The three kinds of Faith. Seeing that such a general question cannot be answered without reference to the several particular aspects of it, the Blessed Lord said : The Blessed Lord said : 2. Threefold is that faith born of the individual nature of the embodied, — Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic. Do thou hear of it. Faith, of which thou hast asked, is of three sorts. It is born of the individual nature (svabhava) : i. e., the sawskara or tendency made up of the self- reproductive latent impressions of the acts — good and bad, Dharma and Adharma — which were done in the past births and which manifested themselves at the time of death. Sattvic : faith in the worship of the Gods (Davas) which is an effect of Sattva. Kdjasic : faith in the worship of the Yakshas and the Rakshasas, which is an effect of Rajas. Tamasic : faith in the worship of the Pretas and the Pisachas, which is an effect of Tamas. Do thou understand the threefold faith which is going to be described.

* Ami who nre therefore to be classed preceding discourse.— A among demons (asuras), as shewn in the As to this threefold Faith, 3. The faith of each is in accordance with his nature, O Bharata. The man is made up of his | faith ; as a man's faith is, so is he. I Each : every livinpf being. Nature (Sattva) : the antaAkara/ia with its specific tendencies or sawskara. Man : Jiva, sawsiirin. So : in accordance with that faith. So the Sattvic faitli or the hke has to be inferred from its characteristic effects, namely, the worship of the Gods or the like. The Lord says : Yakshas'^ and the Rakshasas ; the others, — Tamasic men, — the Pretas and the hosts of Bhutas. ■'' Hosts of Bhutas : as also the seven iNIatnkas. Men of Rajasic and Tamasic Faiths. Thus, by a general principle laid down in the scripture, Sattvic and other devotions have been determined through their respective effects. Now only one in a thousand is Sattvic and devoted to the worship of the Gods, while the Rajasic and Tamasic creatures form the majority. How ? 5. Those men who practise terrific austerities not enjoined by the scripture, given to hypocrisy and egotism, endued with the strength of lust and passion ;

if Gods : such as the Vasus. Yakshas : after death, attainpri V.'iyii-dehas (rcrial such as Kubora. Rakshasas : such as bodies). We may understand that all Nairrita. Pretas : thoss who, while they thjse beings, when worshippsd, answer had been on earth as brahniaiias, etc., the prayers of the devotees by granting peglqcted their proper duties, and who, their respective desires— A. 3-7'] THE THREIil'OI.D FAITH 387 0. Weakening,' all the elements in the body — fools they .are — and Mc who dwell in the body within ; know thou these to be of demoniac resolves. Terrific : causing pain to himself and toother living beings. Endued, etc : This portion of the text may also be interpreted to mean ' possessed of lust, passion and strength.' Elements : organs. Me : Naraya;/a, the Witness of their thoughts and deeds. To v/eaken Mc is to neglect My teaching. Know thou that they are demoniac (asuric) in their resolves, so that you may avoid them. This is a word of advice to Arjuna. Threefold Food, Worship, Austerity and Gift. Now will be shown what sort of food — which is divided into three classes, viz., that which is savoury and oleaginous, and so on — is dear to the Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic men respectively, so that a man may know that he is one of Sattva or of Rajas or of Tamas as indicated by his own partiality for one or another particular class of food — ^such as the savoury and the oleaginous — and then give up the Rajasic and Tamasic food and resort to Sattvic one. Similarly, the object of the threefold division here made of sacrifice and the like according to the Sattva and other gu»as is to show how a man may find out and give up the Rajasic and Tamasic ones and resort exclusively to the Sattvic ones. The Lord says :

7. The food also which is dear to each is threefold, as also worship, austerity and gift. Do thou hear of this, their distinction. Each : Every living being that eats. This : that which is going to be described . Their : of food (ahara), etc. .388 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XVII The three kinds of Food. 8, The foods which increase hfe, energy, strength, health, joy and cheerfulness, which are savoury and oleaginous, substantial and agreeable, are dear to the Sattvic. Oleaginous : oily, fatty, ^ubstmiiial : which can last long in the body. g. The foods that are bitter, sour, saline, excessively hot, pungent, dry and burning, are liked by the Rajasic, causing pain, grief and disease. Excessively: should be construed. with all, thus, excessively bitter, excessively hot, &c. 10. The food which is stale, tasteless, putrid and rotten, refuse and impure, is dear to the Tamasic. Stale : Half-cooked. ' Yatayama ' (///. cooked three hours ago) meaning 'powerless' is thus explained, to avoid tautology ; for, the next word ' gatarasa ' (tasteless) means the same, ?. f., ' powerless.' Rotten: the cooked food over which one night has passed. Refuse : left after a meal. Impure : unfit for offering.

The three kinds of Worship Now the three sorts of worship will be described : 11. That worship is Sattvic which is offered by men desiring no fruit, as enjoined in the Law, with a hxed resolve in the mind that they should merely worship. That they should mci'cly worship : t'.iat their duty !i(;s in the mere performance of the worship itself, that no personal end has to be achieved by that means. 12. That whicli is offered, O best of the Bharatas, with a view to reward and for ostentation, knovv- it to be a Rajasic worship. 13. Thc}' declare that worship to be Tamasic which is contrary to the ordinances, in which no food is distributed, which is devoid of mantras and gifts, and which is devoid of faith. Distributed : to brahma>vas. Devoid of inantras : with hymns defective in utterance and accent. Gifts : prescribed fees (to priests). Now the three kinds of austerity will be described : 14. Worshipping the Gods, the twice-born, teachers and wise men, — purity, straightforwardness, continence, and Jibstinence from injur}- are termed the bodily austerity. The bodily austerity : that which is accomplished by the body, i. e., in which the body is the chief of all factors of action, — the doer, etc., — of which the Lord will speak in xviii. 15.

15. The speech which causes no excitement and is true, as also pleasant and beneficial, and also the practice of sacred recitation, are said to form the austerity of speech. 390 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XVII. Excitcmcni : p.iin to living beings. Pleasant auJ beneficial : having respectively to do with the seen and the unseen. 'Speech' is specified by the attributes of * causing no excitement' and so on. An invariable combination of all these attributes is here meant. That speech addressed to others which, though causing no pain, is devoid of one, two or three of the other atttributes — i.e., is not true, not pleasant and not beneficial — cannot form the austerity of speech ; so, that speech which, though true, is wanting in one, two, or three of the other attributes cannot form the austerity of speech ; so, an agreeable speech which is wanting in one, two or three of the other attributes cannot form the austerity of speech. So, the speech which, though beneficial, is wanting in one, two, or three of the other attributes cannot form the austerity of speech. — What forms the austerity then ? — The speech that is true, that causes no excitement, that is agreeable and good, forms the austerity of speech ; '■■■ as for example, " Be tranquil, my son, study (the Vedas) and practise yoga, and this will do thee good." Practice of sacred recitation : according to ordinances.

i6. Serenity of mind, good-heartedness, silence, self-control, purity of nature, — this is called the mental austerity. Good-heartedness : the state of mind which may be inferred from its effects, such as the, brightness of the face, &c. Silence : even silence in speech is necessarily preceded by a control of thought, and thus the effect is here put for the H- i. e. the austerity practised specially plays the leading part.— A. in regard to speech, i. c. in which speech cause, viz., the control of thought. Sclf-conivol : a general (control of the mind. This is to be distinguished from silence (mauna) which means tlie control of thought so far as it [concerns speech. Piwity of mitiiyc : Honesty of purpose in I dealings with other people. The three kinds of Austerity according: to Qunas. The Lord proceeds to show that the foregoing austerity, — bodily, vocal and mental, — as practised by men, is divided into classes according to Sattva and other gu//as. 17. This threefold austerity, practised by devout * men with utmost faith, desiring no fruit, they call Sattvic. Thi'Ci'fold : having respectively to do with the three seats — body, speech, and mind. With faith : believing in the existence of things (taught in the scriptures.)

18. That austerity which is practised with the object of gaining good reception, honour and worship, and with hypocrisyt, is said to be of this t world, to be Rajasic, unstable and uncertain. Good reception : in such words as ' Here is a good brahma.na. of great austerities.' Honouy : the act of rising to greet, of making a reverential salutation, &c. Wovship : the washing of feet, adoring and feeding. Unstable : as productive of a transient effect. . * Balanced in minrl : unaffected in show. — A. success and failure— A. ; Yielding fruit only hi this World— A. t With no shicere belief, for mere 392 THE bhagavad-gIta. [Dis. XVII. 19. That austerity which is practised out of a foolish notion, with self-torture, or for the purpose of ruining another, is declared to be Tamasic. The three kinds of Gift. Now the threefold nature of gift will be described. 20. That gift which is given — knowing it to be a duty to give — to one who does no service, in place and in time, and to a worthy person, that gift is held Sattvic. Given to one, etc : to one who cannot return the good, or to one from whom, though able to return the good, no such return is expected. Place : Kurukshetra &c. Time : Sa/«- kranti (passage of the sun from one Zodiacal sign to another), etc. Worthy : as learned in the six sciences (angas) &c.

21. And that gift which is given with a view to a return of the good, or looking for the fruit, or reluctantly, that gift is held to be Rajasic. With a view, &=€ : hoping that he (the donee) will in time return the service, or that the gift will secure for himself some (novv^) unseen reward. 22. The gift that is given at a wrong place or time, to unworthy persons, without respect or with insult, that is declared to be Tamasic. At a wrong place and time : at a placa which is not sacred and which is associated with mlechchhas (Non-aryans), with unholy things and the like, and at a time which is not auspicious — i.e., which is not marked with any such speciality as the sun's passage from one zodiacal sign to another. iJnwoythy pcisons : such as fools or rogues. Without respect : [without agreeable speech, without the washing of feet, or ■without worship, though the gift be made in proper time [und place. How to perfect the defective acts. The following instructions are given with a view to perfecting sacrifices, gifts, austerities, &c. 23. " Om, Tat, Sat ": this has been taught to be the triple designation of Brahman*. By that were created of oldt the, brahmanas and the Vedas and the sacrifices.

Taught : in the Vedanta by the knowers of Brahman. By that etc.: by the triple designation, etc. This is said in praise of (the triple) designation. 24. Therefore, with the utterance of '0;;f,' are the acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity, as enjoined in the scriptures, always begun by the students of Brahman]:. Acts of sacrifice : acts in the form of sacrifice, &c. 25. With ' Tat, ' without aiming at the fruits, are the acts of sacrifice and austerity and the various acts of gift performed by the seekers of moksha. With ' Tat ' : with the utterance of ' Tat ', which is a designation of Brahman. The fruits : oi sacnhce, &c. Acts of gift \ gUts oi laud, gold, &c. ir When a sacrificial rite or the like is + At the bcf,'inning of creation by the found defective, it will be perfected on Prajapati. — A. the utterance of one of the three desig- + , r. 1 .1 ...... + Brahman here means 'Veda,'— A. THE BHAGAVAD-GiTA. [DiS. XVII. The use of ' Om ' and of ' Tat ' has been explained. Now the use of ' Sat ' is given as follows :

26. The word ' Sat ' is used in the sense of reality and of goodness ; and so also, O Partha, the word ' Sat ' is used in the sense of an auspicious act. In expressing the reality of an object which is unreal — as for example, the birth of a son who is unreal — and in expressing that a man is one of good conduct who is not so, this designation of the Brahman, viz., the word ' Sat,' is employed. It is also used with reference to the act of marriage and the like*. £7. Devotion to sacrifice, austerity and gift is also spoken of as ' Sat ' ; ■ and even action in connection with these is called ' Sat.' Sdcrijicc : the act of sacrifice. Spoken of : by the learned. These : sacrifice, gift and austerity. Or, ' tadarthiyam karma ' may be interpreted to mean action for the sake of the Lord whose triple designation is the subject of treatment here. These acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity, — even such of them as are not of the Sattvic class and are imperfect, — turn out to be Sattvic and perfect ones, on

* It may be further explained thus : A Good and absolutely Auspicious, is son when born is said to come into lipplied to a man whose conduct is not existence. From the stand-point, how- good or is only relatively good, or to an ever, sf the Absolute, he never exists. act which is not auspicious or which is Thus the word ' Sat ' meaning 'real' only relatively auspicious. This is only properly applicable to Brahman who to illustrate how to imperfectly per- alone is real, is applied also to a son formed acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity who is unreal or is only relatively real. the designation of Brahman may be Similarly, the word ' Sat,' properly applied— as enjoined here— with a view app:icableto Brahman who is absolutely to make them perfect. applying to them with faith the triple designation of Brahman. Works without faith are fruitless. Because all these acts become perfect when done in full faith, therefore, 28, Whatever is sacrificed, given, or done, and whatever austerity is practised, without faith, it is called ' asat,' O Partha ; it is naught here or hereafter. Given : to the brahma«as. Deed : such as adoration and obeisance, ^sat : as they are quite outside the path by which I (the Isvara) may be reached. It is nauf^ht : though costing much trouble, it is of no use here as it is despised by the wise ; nor can it produce any effect hereafter.

The teaching of the discourse summed up. [ The teaching of this discourse may be thus summed up ; — There are devotees, who, though ignorant of the scriptures, are yet endued with faith, and who, according to the nature of their faith, may be classed as Sattvic, Rajasic, or Tamasic. These should cultivate pure Sattva by avoiding Rajasic and Tamasic kinds of food, worship, gift and austerity, and resorting exclusively to Sattvic ones. When their acts of worship, gift, and austerity are found defective, they may be perfected by uttering the three designations of Brahman, ' Om, ' ' Tat, ' and ' Sat. ' With their reason (buddhi) thus purified, they should engage in the study of scriptures and in the subsequent stages of investigation into the nature of Brahman. Thereby they attain a direct perception of Truth and are finally liberated. ^A. ]

* Samnyasa ' and ' Tyaga ' distinguished. In the present discourse the Lord proceeds to teach, by way of summing up, the doctrine of the whole of the GitaSastra, as also the whole of the Vedic Doctrine. Verily, the whole of the doctrine taught in the preceding discourses is to be found in this discourse. Arjuna, however, asks to know only the distinction in meaning between ' samnyasa' and ' iydga\ I. Of ' sa/;inyasa ' O Mighty-armed, I desire to know the truth, O Hrishikesa, as also of ' tyaga', severally, O Slayer of Kesin. Samnydsa: the connotation of the term ' saiiiiiydsa.' Tydga : the connotation of the term Hydga". Severally : as distinguished from each other. Kesin was an Asura whom the Lord, the son of Vasudeva, slew, and the Lord is therefore addressed as 'Kesi-nishudana,' the Slayer of Kesin. The words ' sa;/myasa ' and ' tyaga ' have been used here and there in the preceding discourses, their connotations, however, not being clearly distinguished. Wherefore, with a view to determining them, the Lord addresses Arjuna, who desired to know of them, as follows : The Blessed Lord said : J. Sages understand ' sa;»nyasa ' to be the renouncement of interested works ; the abandonment of the fruits of all works, the learned declare, is ' tyaga '.

A few sages understand by ' saw/nyasa ' the abandonment of kdmya-karmani, of works (such as the Asvamedha, Horsesacrifice ) acccompanied with a desire for fruits. The learned declare that ' tyaga ' means abandonment of the fruits of all the works that are performed, — uitya and naimittiha, ordinary and extra-ordinary duties, — /. e., of the fruits that may accrue to the performer. The abandonment of interested works and the abandonment of fruits (of works) being intended to be ovpressed (by the two words), the meaning of the words ' sawnyasa ' and ' tyaga ' is in any way one and the same so far as the general idea is concerned, namely, ahmidonment . They are not quite so distinct in meaning as the words ' jar ' and ' cloth '*. (Objection) : — The nitya and naimittiha works, ordinary and extra-ordinary duties, are said to produce no fruits. How is it that the abandoning of their fruits is here spoken of ? It is like speaking of the abandoning of a barren woman's son. [Amii'er) : — No such objection may be raised here, since, in the opinion of the Lord, oidinary and occasional duties

♦ To explain the two words as meaning As explained here, the two words convey two altogether distinct things would be the same general idea with some distincin contravention to the accepted usage. tion.^A. 3g8 THE BHAGAVAD-GiTA. [DiS. XVIII. produce their own fruits, as He will show in xviii. 12, where, indeed, while teaching that sawmyasins alone (those alone who have renounced all desire for the fruits of works) have no connection whatever with those fruits, the Lord teaches also that those who are not sa;«nytisins will have to reap the fruits of the ordinary works which they are bound to perform. ^ Should the ignorant perform works or not? 3. That action should be abandoned as an evil, some philosophers declare ; while others (declare) that acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be given up. Some philosophers, following the doctrine of the Sankhyas, etc., declare that all action should be given up as an evil, even by those who are fit for Karma- Yoga. As an evil : this may be interpreted to mean either that all Karma should be given up as involving evil since it is the cause of bondage ; or that it should be given up like passion and other such evil tendencies. With regard to the same class of persons {viz., those who are fit for Karma- Yoga), others say that the acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity ought not to be abandoned.

It is the Karma- Yogins that form the subject of discussion here ; and it is with reference to them that these divergent views are held, but not with reference to the jfiana-nish^has (wisdom-devotees), the sa;;myasins who have risen (above all worldly concerns). Those persons who have been raised above the path of Karma in iii. 3 are not spoken of in this connection. (Objection) : — Just as the persons who are qualified for works form the subject of discussion here — in the section where the whole doctrine of the sastra is summed up, — though their path has already been specified in iii. 3, so also the Sankhyas, the devotees of wisdom, may also form the subject of discussion here, (Ausicey) : — No, because of the inconceivability of their abandoning of duty from delusion or on account of pain. (To explain) : The Sankhyas (men of knowledge) perceive in the Self no pain whatever arising from bodily trouble, since desire, pain, &c., are said to be the attributes of Kshetra or matter. Wherefore they do not abandon action for fear of bodily trouble and pain. Neither do they perceive action in the Self. If they could ever perceive action in the Self, then it would be possible to imagine their abandoning of obligatory works from delusion. In fact, they abandon works because they see that action pertains to gu^^as and think ' I do nothing at all ' (v.

8). How those men who know the truth renounce works has been described in v, 13, &c. Therefore it is only the other class of persons v/ho are ignorant of the true nature of the Self and are qualified for works, and in whose case the supposition of the abandoning of duty from delusion or for fear of bodily trouble is possible, — it is only these that are censured as Tamasic and Rajasic relinquishers (tyagins) in order to praise the abandoning of the fruits of action resorted to by the followers of works who do not know the Self. And the sawnyasin proper has been distinguished — by the Lord, when defining the man who has transcended gu«as — as one " renouncing all undertakings... who is silent, content with anything, homeless, steady-minded, " (xii. i6 — 18).

400 THE bhagavad-gIta. [Dis. XVIII. And the Lord will hereafter describe (his devotion) as " that supreme consummation of knowledge " (xviii. 50), Thus, it is not the sa;/myasins, who are the devotees of wisdom, that are referred to here. It is only the abandoning of the fruits of works that, by reason of its being Sattvic, is spoken of as sawnyasa in contradistinction to the Tamasic and Rajasic (abandoning of works) ; but not the sawnyasa proper, that pre-eminent renunciation of all works. [Objection): — Since xviii. 11 states the reason why renunciation of all action is an impossibility, it is only the sawnyasa proper that is spoken of in this connection. (Answey) : — No, because the passage referred to as a statement of the reason is only intended to praise (something else enjoined). Just as the passage " on abandonment peace closely follows " (xii, 12) is only a praise of the abandonment of the fruits of works, since it is addressed to Arjuna who is ignorant of the Self and who could not therefore follow the several paths previously spoken of, so also, the passage here referred to goes to praise the abandonment of the fruits of action. It is not possible for any one to point out an exception to the proposition " Renouncing all actions by thought, and self- controlled, the embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither at all acting nor causing to act. " (v. 13). Wherefore these alternative views regarding sawnyasa and tyaga concern those persons only for whom works are intended. On the other hand, the Sankhyas, those who see the Supreme Reality, have only to follow the path of knowledge, accompanied with the renunciation of all works ; and they have nothing else to do, and do not therefore form the subject of the alternative views set forth here. And so we

established this proposition while commenting on ii. 21 and at the commencement of the third discourse. The Lord's decree is that the ignorant should perform works. Now, as to these divergent views, 4. Learn from Me the truth about this abandonment, O best of the Bharatas ; abandonment, verily, O best of men, has been declared to be of three kinds. Do thou learn from My words the truth as to the alternatives of abandonment and renunciation referred to. Abandommnt (tyaga) : the Lord has used this single word here, implying that the meaning of ' tyaga ' and ' sawnyasa ' is one and the same. Of three kinds : Tamasic, &c. Declared : in the sastras. Because it is hard to know the fact that the threefold (Tamasic, &c.) abandonment denoted by the words ' tyaga ' and ' sawnyasa ' is possible in the case of him alone who does not know the Self and for whom works are intended, — not in the case of him who sees the Supreme Reality, — therefore no one, other than Myself, is able to teach the real truth about the subject. Wherefore, learn from Me what My — the Lord's — decree is as to the real teaching of the sastra.

What is the decree then ? — The Lord says : 5. Practice of worship, gift, and austerity should not be given up ; it is quite necessary ; worship, gift and austerity are the purifiers of the wise. The three sorts of action should be performed; for, they |0:2 THE BHAGAVAD-GiTA. [DiS. XVIII. cause purity in the wise, /. c, in those who have no desire for fruits. The obligatory works should be performed without attachment. 6. But even those actions should be performed, setting aside attachment and the fruits ; this, O son of Pritha, is My lirm and highest belief. Those actions, c\:c : the acts of worship, gift and austerity, which have been said to be purifiers, should be performed, setting aside attachment for them and abandoning their fruits. A proposition was started in the words, ' Learn from Me the truth about this ' (xviii. 4) ; and as a reason for it, it has been stated that worship, etc., are the purifiers ; so that the Words " even those actions should be performed this is My firm and highest belief" form a mere conclusion of the proposition started in xviii. 4. "Even those actions should be performed " cannot be a fresh proposition ; for, it is better to construe the passage as related to the immediate subject of the present section. The word "even" implies that these actions should be performed by a seeker of liberation, though they form the cause of bondage in the case of one wl'o has an attachment for the actions and a desire for their fruits. The words ' even those' cannot certainly refer to actions other (than the acts of worship, etc).

But others explain : Since obligatory (nitya) actions bear no fruits, it is not right to speak of " setting aside attachment and the fruits." Therefore in the words " even those actions " etc., the Lord teaches that even those works which are intended to secure objects of desire — /. c, even h'lmya or interested works, as opposed to nitya or obligatory works — should be performed ; how much more then the obligatory acts of worship, gift and austerity. It is wrong to say so ; for, it has been declared here that even obligatory actions are productive of fruits, in the words " worship, gift and austerity are the purifiers of the wise " (xviii. 5). To a seeker of liberation who would give up even the obligatory works, looking upon th.em as the cause of bondage, where is an occasion to engage in interested works ? " Even these actions " cannot refer to interested (kamya) works, inasmuch as these have been despised as constituting an inferior path (ii. 49) and decisively declared to be the cause of bondage (iii. 9, ii. 45, ix. 20, 21), and are too far removed from the present section.

Tamasic and Rajasic renunciations of works. Therefore for a seeker of liberation who is ignorant and is (therefore) bound to perform works, 7. Verily, the abandonment of an obligatory duty is not proper ; the abandonment thereof from ignorance is declared to be Tamasic. Not proper : since it is admitted to be a purifier in the case of an ignorant man. To hold that a duty is obligatory and then to abandon it involves a self-contradiction. Therefore, this sort of abandonment is due to ignorance and is said to be Tamasic, inasmuch as ignorance is Tamas. 8. Whatever act one may abanion because it is painful, from fear of bodily trouble, he practises 404 THE bhagavad-gIta. [Dis. XVIII. Rajasic abandonment, and he shall obtain no fruit whatever of abandonment. He does not obtain moksha, which is the fruit of the renunciation of all actions accompanied with wisdom. Renunciation in works is Sattvic. What then is the StUtvic abandonment ? — The Lord says : 9. Whatever obligatory work is done, O Arjuna, merely because it ought to be done, abandoning attachment and also the fruit, that abandonment is deemed to be Sattvic. Abaiidoniiif^ etc. : These words of the Lord form, as we have said, the authority which declares that obligatory (nitya) works produce fruits.

Or thus : — An ignorant man may even suppose that, though the fruits of obligatory works are not declared in the Scripture, the obligatory works, when performed, do produce their fruits for the doer in the form of self-regeneration, or by way of warding off pratyavaya or the sin of non-performance. But even this supposition is prevented by the words " abandoning the fruits. " Hence the appropriateness of the words " abandoning attachment and the fruits. " That abandonment : the abandoning of all attachment for, and of the fruits of, obligatory works. {Objection) : — It is the ^threefold abandonment of works — referred to as ' sawnyasa ' (xviii. 7) — that forms the subject of the present section (xviii. 4, &c.). Out of the three, the Rajasic and Tamasic (sorts of abandonment of works) have been treated of. How is it that the abandonment of attach- merit and of the //'/u7s of works is spoken of as the third? It is something Hke saying, " Three brahma^as have come ; two of them are proficient in sha^angas or the six auxiHary sciences, and the third is a Kshatriya " {Ans7iri') : — No such objection can be raised here ; for, the object of this section is to praise (the abandonment of the fruits of works, as compared with the abandonment of works, i. e., by comparing the two abandonments), both being alike abandonments. In fact the abandonment of works and the abandonment of desire for the fruits do agree in so far as they alike imply abandonment. Accordingly, by despising the two sorts of the abandonment of worhs, as

Riljasic and Tamasic abandonments, the abandonment of desire for the fniits of the works is praised as being the Sattvic abandonment in the words ' that abandonment is deemed to be Sattvic' From renunciation in works to renunciation of all works. When the man who is qualified for (Karma- Yoga) performs obligatory works without attachment and without a longing for results, his inner sense (anta/;-kara«a), unsoiled by desire for results and regenerated by (the performance of ) obligatory works, becomes pure. When pure and tranquil, the inner sense is fit for contemplation of the Self. Now, with a view to teach how the man whose inner sense has been purified by the performance of obligatory works and who is prepared to acquire the Self-knowledge, may gradually attain to jn4na-nish/ha or devotion in knowledge, the Lord proceeds as follows : 406 THE BHAGAVAD-GtTA. [DiS. XVIII. 10. He hates not evil action, nor is he attached to a good one, — he who has abandoned, pervaded by Sattva and possessed of wisdom, his doubts cut asunder. Evil action : the Kamya-karma, the interested action, which becomes the cause of sawsara by producing a body. He does not hate evil action, thinking " of what avail is it?" Goorf 07it: nitya-karma, obligatory action. He cherishes no attachment for it by way of thinking that it leads to moksha by purifying the heart and thereby conducing to knowledge and to devotion in knowledge. — Of whom is this said ?

— Of him who has abandoned attachment and desire, and who, having abandoned attachment to action and desire for its fruit, performs obligatory works ( nityakarma). — When does he hate no evil action ? When is he not attached to a good one ? — When he is permeated with Sattva, which causes a discriminative knowledge of the Self and the not-Self. As he is permeated with Sattva, he becomes gifted with wisdom, with knowledge of Self. As he becomes possessed of wisdom, his doubt caused by avidya is cut asunder by tlie conviction that to abide in the true nature of the Self is alone the means of attaining the Highest Bliss, and that there is no other means.

That is to say, when a man who is qualified (for KarmaYoga) practises Karma- Yoga in the manner described above and thereby becomes gradually refined in the self (anta/jkara^a), then he knows himself to be that Self who, as devoid of birth or any other change of condition, is immutable ; he renounces all action in thought ; he remains without acting or causing to act ; he attains devotion in wisdom, i. c, he attains freedom from action. Thus, the purpose of the Karma- Yoga described above has been taught in this verse. Renunciation of fruits is alone possible for the For the unenHghtened man, on the other hand, who wears a body by way of identifying himself with it, who, not yet disabused of the notion that the Self is the agent of action, firmly believes that he is himself the agent, — for him who is thus qualified for Karma- Yoga, abandonment of all works is impossible, so that his duty lies only in performing prescribed works by abandoning their fruits, — not in abandoning those works. To impress this point, the Lord proceeds thus : II. Verily, it is not possible for an embodied - being to abandon actions completely ; he who abandons the fruits of actions is verily said to be an abandoner.

An embodied being: a body-wearer, i. e., he who identifies himself with the body. No man of discrimination can be called a body-wearer, for it has been pointed out (ii.21, etc.) that such a man does not concern himself (in actions) as their agent. So, the meaning is : it is not possible for an ignorant man to abandon actions completely. When an ignorant man who is qualified for action performs obligatory works, abandoning merely the desire for the fruits of his actions, he is said to be an abandoner (tyagin) though he is a performer of works. This — the title " abandoner," — is applied to him for courtesy's sake. Accordingly, the abandonment of all actions is possible for him alone who, realising the Supreme Reality, is not a ' body-wearer,' i. e., does not regard the body as the Self. Effects of the two renunciations after death. Now, what is the benefit which accrues from the abandonment of all actions ? — The Lord says : 12. The threefold fruit of action, — evil, good, and mixed, — accrues after death to non-abandoners, but never to abandoners. Fruit : brought forth by the operation of various external factors. It is a doing of avidya ; it is like the glamour cast by a juggler's artj'very delusive, inhering, to all appearance, in the Innermost Self ; by its very etymology, the word 'phala, ' fruit, implies something that vanishes, something unsubstantial.

Action (karma) : Dharma and Adharma. Evil : such as hell (naraka), the animal kingdom, etc. Good : such as the Devas. Mixed : Good and evil mixed together in one ; the humanity. These three sorts of fruits accrue after death to non-abandoners, to the unenlightened, to the followers of Karma-yoga, to the abandoners (sawnyasins) not strictly so called '■'■ but never to the real sawnyasins, engaged exclusively in the path of knowledge(jfiana-nish^ha) and belonging to the highest order of sawnyasins, the Paramahawsa-Parivrajakas. Indeed, exclusive devotion to Right Knowledge cannot but destory avidya and other seeds of sawsara.

Accordingly, a complete abandonment of all works is * That is to say, those who perforin will necessarily reap, after death, the ■works Without desire for their fruits fruits of their respective actions— A. possible for him alone who has attained to Right Knowledge, inasmuch as he sees that action and its accessories and its results are all ascribed to the Self by avidyd, ; but, for the unenlightened man identifying himself with the body, etc., which constitute action, its agent and accessories, complete abandonment of action is not possible. This truth, the Lord proceeds to teach in the following verses : Factors in the production of an act. 13. These live factors in the accomplishment of all action, know thou from Me, O mighty-armed, as taught in the Sankhya which is the end of action. These : which are going to be mentioned. Lea/n : this exhortation is intended to secure steady attention on the part of the hearer to what follows, as well as to indicate the difference (in the view which is going to be presented) as to the nature of those things. In the words "taught in the Sankhya," the Lord praises them, as they are things that ought to be known. Sankhya : the Vedanta (the Upanishads) in which all the things that have to be known are expounded. It is qualified by the epithet " knta-anta ", the end of action, that which puts an end to all action (karma). The v'erses ii. 46. and iv. 33 teach that all action ceases when the knowledge of the Self arises ; so that the Vedanta, which imparts Self-knowledge, is ' the end of action.'

14. The seat and actor and the various organs, and the several functions of various sorts, and the Divinity also, the fifth among these ; 410 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DiS. XVIII. The seat : the body which is the seat of desire, hatred, happiness, misery, knowledge and the like ; i. e., the seat of their manifestation. Adov: the enjoyer, partaking of the character of the upadhi with which it may be associated. The various organs : such as the sense of hearing, by which to perceiv^e sound, &c. Functions : of the air (vayu), such as outbreathing and inbreathing. Of various sorts : twelve in number. Divinity : such as the Aditya and other Gods by whose aid the eye and other organs discharge their functions. 15. Whatever action a man does by the body, speech and mind, right or the opposite, these five are its causes. Right : not opposed to dharma, taught in the sastra. The opposite : what is opposed to dharma and opposed to sastra. Even those actions, — the act of twinkling and the like, — which are the necessary conditions of life are denoted by the expression "the right or the opposite", since they are but the effects of the past dharma and a-dharma. Its causes : the causes of every action,

{Objection) : — The body, etc. (xviii. 14), are necessary factors in every action. Why do you speak of (a distinction in actions) in the words " whatever action a man does by the body, speech or mind ? " {Answer): — This objection cannot be urged against us. In the performance of every action, whether enjoined or forbidden, one of the three — body, speech or mind— has a more prominent share than the rest, while seeing, hearing, and other activities, which form mere concomitants of life, are subordinate to the activity of that one. All actions are thus classed into three groups and are spoken of as performed by body, or speech, or mind. Even at the time of fruition, the fruit of an action is enjoyed through the instrumentaHty of body, speech and mind, one of them iieing more prominent than the rest. Hence no gainsaying of the assertion that all the five are the causes of action (xviii. 14). The agency of the Self is an illusion. 16. Now, such being the case, verily, he who, as untrained in understanding, looks on the pure Self as the agent, that man of perverted intelligence sees not. Nozv : with reference to what we are speaking of. Such being the case : every action being accomplished by the five

causes described above. Now case: this shows the reason v/hy the person here referred to is said to be a man of perverted intelligence. The unenlightened one, in virtue of his ignorance, identifies the Self with the five causes and looks upon the pure Self as the agent of the action, which is really accomplished by those five causes. — Why does he regard them so ? — For, his understanding (buddhi) has not been trained in the Vedanta, has not been trained by a master's teaching, has not been trained in the principles of reasoning. Even he who, while maintaining the existence of the disembodied Self, looks upon the pure Self as the agent, is a man of untrained understanding ; he does not therefore see the truth about the Self and action. He is therefore a man of perverted intelligence, — his intelligence takes a wrong direction, is vicious, continually leading to birth and death. Though seeing, yet he does not see 412 THE diiagavad-gItA. [Dis. XVI II. (the truth), like a man whuse //wrm-.idected eye sees many moons, or like one who regards that the moon moves when the clouds arc in motion, or like a m.an who, seated in a vehicle, regards himself as running when it is the others I (the l»earcrs) that run.

I^cflllsntlon of the non n^cncy of the Self leads to ahHoUition from tfie effects of nil work*. Who then is the wise man that sees rightly ? — Thf answer follows : 17. He who is free from egotistic notion, whose mind is not tainted, — though he kills these creatures, he kills not, he is not l)f)und. He whose mind has been well trained in the scriptures, well-trained by a master's instructions, and well-trained in the soimd principles of reasoning, is free from the egotistic notion that 'I am the agent.' He thinks thus: It is these five— the body, Sec., ascribed to the Self through avidyA — that arc the causes of all action, not 1. I am the witness of their actions, I am ' without breath, without mind, pure, higher than the Indestructible which is Supreme " (Mnm/. Up. 2-1-2). I am pure and immutable. )le whose antaA-kara/za fbuddhi), which is an upft.dhi of the Self, is not tainted, does not repent thus : " I have done this; thereby I shall go to naraka (hell)." He is wise; he sees rightly; though he kills all these living creatures, he commits no act of killing, nor is he bound by the fruit of a-dharma as an effect of that act.

i| siuMti. mul i«»t\wJK Iu th<:> OttA itJMpH, tW i«!!»tt\«ct», it lms< Uhi« ovf V auU owr tt^ttin taught iu thp swuvls, *' Up i» I uuelmu»if<U>Ui" (ii, ^5) ; ** tietiouH Ht\> wum^ht l»y kua^uj*" (IIL ^7) i *' though ^Iwt^Um^ iu tht> Unly, h«? iU'tJ* uot" (\iii. 3it)« Ami th«) <MUt4? thiuj^ iit ^^Iho t^u^ht iu tho i)a!mig<9» ^xt \\\<o nutl Huch «* *' It uitKlit»t«>>» tt» it wpu\ It movpjt u>t it wtMtV [\in, tf^>. 4<i 7). Hy »«*«>tv.>uiuH rtlso we ui»y t>stnl>li*ih thvi '■trtiut', thus: -That thf SpU is uu pulily without )>n«t'<, is uot Ot>|H>iKlput w\ mtothfi, uuU 1!$ iuuuu. 414 THE bhagavad-gIta. [Dis. XVIII. table, is the royal road (i. c. is undisputed). Even if it be admitted that the Self is subject to change, He should only be subject to a change of His own ; the actions of the body, &c., can never be attributed to the agency of the Self. Indeed, the action of one cannot go to another that has not done it. And what is attributed to the Self by avidya cannot really pertain to Him, in the same way that the motherof-pearl cannot become silver, or (to take another illustration) in the same way that surface and dirt ascribed by children through ignorance to akasa cannot really pertain to akiisa. Accordingly, any changes that may take place in y the body, &c., belong to them only, not to the Self. Wherefore, it is but right to say that in the absence of egotism and of all taint in the mind, the wise man neither kills nor is bound.