Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Bhagavad Gita Interpreted - Part Five

Arjuna said: 

—O Krishna, you commend the renunciation of actions, yet also their practice. Of these two, which is best?

Krishna said: 

—Whether by practice or renunciation of action, you will attain to the Most High. But of these, the practice of action excels renunciation.

—He is true to renunciation who relinquishes desire and hatred. He transcends the false opposites of renunciation and selfless action and is free from bondage.

—The ignorant distinguish selfless action from renunciation. But the wise know that in the harvest of the one, you taste the fruit of both.

—Whether in selfless action or in renunciation of action, you reach the same goal, because renunciation and selfless action are the same.

—Without selfless action, you cannot attain renunciation. With selfless action, one attains the Most High.

—In selfless action, you purify your soul, you command your senses, you are in harmony with all creatures. Although you act, action does not bind you.

—Whatever you do, whatever your senses experience, whether seeing or hearing, whether eating or drinking, whether asleep or awake, the Self does nothing. These senses act and react, but the purified Self transcends them.

—Offering all actions to the Most High, in action, you are not acted upon. Sin cannot stain you, as muddy water washes clean, leaving no residue on the leaf of the lotus.

—Detached from action even in the heart of action, you become pure. Only the body, the mind, the sense act, but the Self is disengaged from action.

—Renouncing the fruit of action, you are at peace. But the man who lacks discipline, acting on desire, desire enslaves him and action enchains him.

—The man who renounces all selfish action enthrones the Self within the fortress of nine gates. He neither acts nor enjoins action.

—The Most High transcends the actions of nature, but nature does not cease to act.

—Likewise the immortal Self does not perform action, though the body engages in action. The ignorant are confounded by this; they have confused the body with the Self. The mariner remains utterly still, though the vessel moves over the waters.

—The one who understands this is enlightened by the sun of knowledge, which illuminates for him the world's many shadows.

—Devoted to this, he returns no more into darkness, for his perception is pure.

—Devoted to this, he does not distinguish the Brahmin from the cow, the elephant from the dog, the prince from the prisoner.

—Devoted to this, he transcends the world and its creatures. His perception is pure and he knows the Most High.

—Knowing the Most High, he does not delight in pleasure; he is not aggrieved in displeasure. He is steady and rightly-guided.

—Knowing the Most High, his senses do not delude him; he transcends his senses. Happiness does not elude him; his happiness is within.

—Knowing the Most High, his happiness is perpetual.

—He disdains even the delights of sense, for they are distractions from true happiness.

—Delights of the sense pass away and are no more; therefore he does not cultivate them.

—He is truly happy who, while still alive, does not indulge desire or anger. When he attains this inner joy, when he is bathed in the shining light of knowledge, when he finds perpetual happiness, he becomes one with the Most High.

—He is one with the Most High who has defeated his doubts, has purified his Self, has mastered his senses and dedicates his work to all beings.

—He is one with the Most High who has shed desire and anger, has tamed his restless spirit, and recognizes his true Self.

—He views the outside world as it is, outside. He focuses his gaze within. He devotes his every breath to Me. He sees Me as I am, the beginning and end of all sacrifice, the ancient, changeless, everlasting Lord of worlds, the friend of all beings. When he sees Me, he is at peace.

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