The Bhagavad Gita Interpreted - Part Three

Arjuna said,

—If perception of the Most High is my goal, why do you demand that I engage in this monstrous battle? Why do you urge me to terrible action? You have said it is the bondage of action that burdens us, that enslaves us to the transient world. It is better for me to renounce action and make no war against my family. It is better that I withdraw the limbs of perception, renouncing all action, as a tortoise withdraws into her shell.

—I hear contradictions in your guidance. Your teaching eludes me. Show me its straightness, that I may not wander lost, that I might come to perception of the Most High.

Krishna said,

—Through two eyes you may see the straight way. Through the eye of wisdom you will see it. Though the eye of selfless action you will see it. Through selfless action, you are free from bondage.

—Those who believe freedom from action is achieved by inaction have erred. In every breath, in every moment, you engage in action. Who would counsel that you must renounce breathing? The worlds of creation demand action; no man can avoid it.

—The man who withdraws within himself and renounces action, yet secretly craves the fruits of action, deceives himself. A man may fast, but fasting does not sate his appetite. Is he not still hungry? His appetite leads him from the straight way and he wanders lost.

—But the man who engages in selfless action, who surrenders the fruits of action, with the rein of his senses in hand, he is a true follower of the way.

—Know that you must act. Action cannot be renounced, for even renunciation is a form of action. Therefore, act, for this is the way to liberation. Only be sure your action is purified of appetite. Then action is not selfish, but a form of worship. This is selfless action; such action is sacred. Give up the fruits of action, for all action is bondage except action performed in sacrifice. Therefore perform selfless action, free from bondage. The heavens honor him who honors the heavens through selfless action, through the way of sacrifice, by surrendering the fruits of action.

—The Most High has granted you the gift of life and prosperity; to engage in sacrifice is a duty. Yet he who partakes of the good of this world, giving nothing in return, is a thief.

—When a pool of water offers itself to the heavens, the heavens offer up rain. Thus the pool, even dry, is always filled. Selfless action is the way of the Most High. Perform this action in service to the Most High.

—The one who rejects selfless action, rejects the Most High. He is a burden to the world. The one who embraces selfless action is serene; he transcends all bonds of action. He transcends action as the Sun transcends the Earth, his eye on it, yet unmoved by it. Nothing of the Earth may help or hinder his transit through the heavens. Therefore, perform selfless action, transcend attachment and find liberation from the things of the world. When your action is thus purified, you may perceive the Most High enthroned within you.

—When he engages in selfless action, the king becomes a sage; the warrior, a saint. When he engages in selfless action, he becomes a teacher to the world of men.

—I myself am unbound by action. There is nothing in the worlds that I do not already possess. Yet I am never without action. If I were to become still, stillness would fill the worlds. If I did not act, the worlds and all their creatures would cease to be. Selfish men act to achieve selfish ends, to fulfill selfish wishes. The wise act to achieve My ends, to fulfill My wishes. The wise need not preach the truth of selfless action; in their example you will see purity and serenity.

—Every selfish action is driven by desire. The unwise imagine they have chosen, but their desires do the choosing. The wise, however, understand this simple truth. They perceive the forces that govern action and claim no ownership of it. Enslaved by their nature, the unwise chain themselves to selfish action. How will the wise instruct them whose eyes are forever fixed on transient things?

—Fix your eyes on the Most High and sacrifice the fruits of action to Me. This is liberation; this is the straight way, this is the peace of selfless action. The wise follow this straight way, discovering freedom through sacrifice which purifies their actions. But those who cling to the fruits of action, who reject the way of selfless action, follow another path and never reach Me.

—If even the wise are subject to their nature and impulses, why should they restrain themselves? Yet the wise guard against the turbulent passions of their lower nature, recognizing this foe along the straight path, and resist her tyranny. For is it not better to perform one's own duty, even imperfectly, than to do the duty, even with skill and excellence, of a tyrant?

Arjuna said,

—O Krishna, what then drives men to act selfishly, to become distracted by the lures of this world, and to stray from the straight path of sacred action?

Krishna said,

—Desire and wrath, the twin daughters of thoughtless passion, are man's enemies on this path. They are burning fire; their smoke is impenetrable. They are filth on a mirror; who can see what is reflected therein? They envelope the senses, as the womb envelopes one not born. They deprive wisdom of its potency; they make eyes blind, ears deaf. In their unnumbered forms they drive man to sate them, though they can never be satisfied. Once granted entrance to the palace of the senses, they usurp reason, and are tyrants enthroned. Man is blinded by their false radiance, and offers up wisdom in sacrifice to them. Put these tyrants to death, crown wisdom in their place and regain your sight.

—The senses are lands and seas, the mind is the sky, a sea of milk, spreading over both; reason is the procession of sun and moon and stars. Unseen, above these three, you will find Me. Exceed reason, and discover Me. Let the serenity of the Most High become your serenity. Rise up and fight, Arjuna. Put these tyrants to the sword.