The Bhagavad Gita Interpreted - Part Six

Krishna said:

—In selfless action, unbound by desire or aversion or expectation, a man performs My discipline. But the man who does not sacrifice, who makes no offering, is a stranger to Me.

—This discipline is renunciation. It is the relinquishment of desire and aversion and expectation in action. It is not the relinquishment of action itself.

—Piercing the mystery of renunciation, your work is sacred. Such work is your path to peace, and peace your path to such work. Piercing the mystery of renunciation, you give up the fruits of action, you tame your senses. Your work is My work. Therefore, rise up and sound the conch. Do not abase yourself. There can be no better ally than your Self. There can be no deadlier an enemy than your Self.

—If you conquer yourself, the Self is your friend. Yet if the worldly self opposes your transcendent Self, you are your own enemy. If you at peace with your Self, then you are at peace with Me. That Self is untouched by heat or cold, unmoved by pleasure or pain, untroubled by glory or disgrace.

—Piercing the mystery of renunciation, contented and serene, master of your senses, your vision is ever one. Transcending the world, you see with the same eye the friend, the enemy, and the stranger. To each you show equanimity.

— In every moment be in balance, untroubled, master your senses with neither expectation nor encumbrance. In solitude, sit neither too high nor too low in a place of ease and comfort. Sitting there, at peace, purified, quiet your thoughts, restrain your senses, and commune with the Most High. Sitting upright, unmoving, turn your gaze within. At peace, washed free of fear, firm in Me, the restrained mind reaches Me. In every breath, worshipping Me, you attain peace in Me, beyond Nirvana.

—He lacks the balance of My discipline who eats too little or too much, who sleeps too little or too much. He finds balance between eating and hunger, between sleeping and wakefulness. Between these are perfection and peace. He finds balance when he has tamed his thoughts and senses, when he resides within the shelter of Self.

— The Self is his lamp, its light unfailing in the shelter of renunciation, where the gale of desire does not reach.His thoughts restrained, the self finds the Self, his bliss exceeding any pleasure of senses. Fixed on the Self, he discovers a joy that does not pass away, perceiving beyond any perception of sense. Acquiring this greatest acquisition, he abides within it, unmoving and unmoved by even the most profound grief.

—His heart is courageous and he is firm in My discipline; he unbinds the bonds of sorrow. He drives out all passion, all expectation. He finds shelter in the Self and his senses obey his command. He silences his thoughts; like waters beneath the sun of Self, they evaporate. Should his mind stray, wandering restless away from the Self, patiently he leads it back. His joy is greatest who stills his mind, his passions yoked. Purified he is one with the Most High. His joy does not pass away who contemplates the Most High, who is one with the Most High.

—With perfected vision, he finds the Self within all creatures and all creatures he finds within the Self. Seeing Me in all things, seeing all things within Me, he will find Me always ever present. One with all creatures, he is one with Me. He is never lost to Me, and I am always near to him. He has tamed his mind and achieved his goal who sees without distinguishing another’s joys and another’s sorrows from his own joys, his own sorrows.

Arjuna said:

—O Krishna, the mind is restless and domineering. It is capricious and changeable. It is willful and unyielding, more difficult to tame than wind or storm.

Krishna said:

—To tame the mind, to calm its restless wandering is difficult. But with vigilance and dispassionate endurance, it may be tamed. Possessing self-mastery, with discipline and knowledge, if a man struggles with his changeable mind, it may be tamed.

Arjuna said:

—Yet if a man struggles but his efforts fall short, what becomes of him? Does he wander lost between this world and the next? Does he slip away as a cloud dissolves? Teach me, O Krishna, and resolve my doubt, for you are the best of teachers.

Krishna said:

—No, Arjuna, he is not lost. The evil you describe will not befall him. Into the world of his merit he goes. He is born into the house of purity and wisdom; a birth like this is rare in the world. In that world to come, he will recall his life in this world and will struggle again to achieve his goal.

—His efforts in this world are not wasted nor ever lost. They are his in this world and the next, beyond any rite or scripture. He rises therefore above all lives, all worlds. He sheds his earthly body, then his celestial dwelling. He surpasses the ascetics, the wise with their wisdom, and those who act without passion. He attains supreme perfection in Me.

—Become like him, for he is My best disciple among those who follow Me who sacrifices the Self for Me.