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I dedicate this book to my mothers and fathers: to my mothers, Helen Cooper Clark,Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, the Earth, and Shrimati Radharani; to my fathers, RodneyUpham Clark, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Sun, andShri Krishna.
Preface
The Song of Bhagavan was originally spoken ca. 3000 BC by Dhritarashtra, Sanjaya,
Duryodhana, Arjuna, and Krishna (Shri Bhagavan). Not long after that, Vyas compiledit as part of the Mahabharata, which he dictated to Ganesh, who wrote it down.Traditionally the scripture is known as the Bhagavad-gita, or sometimes, theGitopanishad . It has been recited, discussed, analyzed, praised, commented on, andtranslated more than any other Sanskrit work.
In the 1960s, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translated itunder the title Bhagavad-gita As It Is, adding his commentaries to the verses. Heremarked to his disciples that they could reword the verses. But, he said, "Do notchange my purports. They are my ecstasies." In attempting a new translation of theverses alone, I of course have respected his wish. But his purports have guided me
throughout. Without being shown the way by the realization of a pure devotee of God, Iwould be lost in a forest of speculation, making arbitrary choices about which path totake.
In 1967, Swami Bhaktivedanta initiated me as one of his many students. I served himuntil his passing away in 1977. Since then I've lived apart from the religiousorganization he founded. But I still try to serve him. Talking with people about the Gitais one way to do that. To be certain of my understanding, I've decided to study all thewords carefully and translate them as best I can in my own vernacular -- though theGita demands a degree of formality. The result depends mostly on my guru's Gita, butalso on the English versions of other scholars and poets. I've retained many of theoriginal Sanskrit terms. They've become customary to me -- part of my dailyterminology. There's a glossary at the end.
"Write according to your realization," Prabhupad once advised us. I pray to God andGuru to give me the strength to serve them with self-awareness, and with devotion totheir purpose.
Sanjaya, my sons and the sons of my brother Pandu are intending to wage war against each other! They and their allies have gathered on the Kuru dynastyceremonial field! What are they doing now?
1.2
Sanjaya:Your son Duryodhana has been observing the ranks of your nephews' army. He'sgoing to his teacher Drona to talk with him.
1.3
Duryodhana:My teacher, look at the mighty military force of the Pandavas. Your student, the son of Drupada, has arranged their divisions so intelligently!
1.4
They have their heroes -- the powerful archers Bhima and Arjuna, and others, equal tothem in battle -- and stupendous warriors like Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada.
1.5
There are Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, Kashiraj, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, and Shaibya. Thepeople adore them for their immense strength.
1.6
Yudhamanyu, who's so powerful -- Uttamauja, so strong -- the sons of Subhadra andthe sons of Draupadi -- certainly, they're all great chariot fighters.
1.7
But, Best of the Brahmans, please be advised that the leaders of my soldiers areespecially well qualified. Allow me to tell you about them.
You, Bhishma, Karna, and Kripa are always victorious in battle. Ashvatthama, Vikarna,and the son of Somadatta are too, definitely.
1.9
A multitude of other heroes are also prepared to risk their lives for my sake. They areall well supplied with weaponry. All of them are expert in military science and tested inbattle.
1.10
Our strength has no limits! Bhishma protects us perfectly. But the others, though wellprotected by Bhima, have only limited strength.
1.11
Now, all of you! From every point in the ranks! From every division in the phalanx! Giveyour full support to Bhishma! Everyone!
1.12
Sanjaya:Bhishma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kurus, increases Duryodhana's happinessby blowing his conchshell loudly, until the vibration sounds like the roaring of a lion.
1.13
Following him, more conchshells, and bugles, and trumpets, are blowing -- drums arebeating -- all the instruments are combining together to make a tumultuous sound!
1.14
Following that, stationed on their magnificent chariot drawn by white horses, Madhavaand Pandava sound their divine conchshells.
1.15
Hrishikesh sounds Panchajanya. Dhananjaya sounds Devadatta. Bhima, the doer of great deeds, the voracious eater, blows his huge conch Paundram.
1.16
King Yudhishtir, the son of Kunti, blows his conch Ananta-Vijay. Nakula and Sahadevsound Sugosha and Manipushpaka.
That great archer the King of Kashi -- Sikhandi the Maha-Ratha -- Dhrishtadyumna,Virata, and Satyaki, who have never been conquered --
1.18
Drupada and the sons of Draupadi -- the mighty-armed son of Subhadra -- each of them, my King, is blowing his conchshell.
1.19
The tumult of that uproar is resounding through the sky and the land. It's shattering thehearts of the sons of Dhritarashtra.
1.20
In his chariot with its monkey flag, Pandava looks at the sons of Dhritarashtra. Hepicks up his bow and prepares his arrows for shooting. Now, my King, he speaks thesewords toHrishikesh.
1.21
Arjuna:Between the two armies -- I ask you to drive my chariot there, Achyuta.
1.22
Place it far enough so I can see everyone, as they stand in place in their desire tomake war. I want to see the ones I will attempt to contend with in this conflict.1.23
They've come here dedicated to fight in service to the madness of the son of Dhritarashtra. Let me look at them.
1.24
Sanjaya:
Descendant of Bharata, Hrishikesh is positioning the superb chariot midway betweenthe two armies in response to Gudakeshana's request.
He faces Bhishma, Drona, and the other great leaders of many kingdoms. "Look,Partha," he says, "here they are before you: the Kurus."
1.26
Partha can see the warriors in both armies standing there. Among them are fathers,grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, fathers-in-law, and people who always wished him well.
1.27
Kaunteya is overwhelmed by a deep sense of compassion after contemplating thoserelations of every sort. He's lamenting.
1.28
Arjuna:Krishna, now that I've seen my own people all here before me, ready to fight, my armsand legs are shaking. My mouth is drying up.
1.29
My whole body is trembling! My hair is standing on end! My bow Gandiva is slippingfrom my hand. My skin is burning.
1.30
No -- I can't stay here any longer! I can't remember -- anything. I've lost my mind! Iforesee only evil coming from our actions, Keshava.
1.31
I foresee no good coming from killing our own people here. Nor do I long for victory,Krishna. And not for monarchy and its pleasures.
1.32
Govinda, what use is a kingdom, or enjoyment, or even life itself, when the very peoplewe want to share these things with
1.33
are all located on this battlefield about to give up their prana and dhana -- teachers,fathers, sons, yes, and grandfathers,
maternal uncles, fathers in law, grandsons, brothers in law, and other relatives. I don'twant them to be killed -- even if I am killed, Madhusudana!
1.35
Even in exchange for the three worlds! Let alone for the earth. Janardana, whathappiness will we get from killing the sons of Dhritarashtra?
1.36
We will take on great sin by slaying these aggressors. So we have no right to killDhritarashtra's sons and our friends. How could we become happy by killing our people, Madhava?
1.37
Greed has taken over in their hearts. They can't see the fault in quarrelling with friendsor killing a family.
1.38
But we know about these things. We can see the sinfulness, the criminality, in thedestruction of a family. So why shouldn't we desist from taking part in it, Janardana?
1.39
When the family is broken, the family's eternal dharma is broken too. When thedharma is ruined, then everyone in the family turns to adharma.
1.40
When adharma is on the rise, Krishna, the family's women become corrupted.Corrupted women give birth to society's rejects, Varshneya.
1.41
Those social outcasts make it hellish both for the family and for those who wrecked thefamily. Even the family's ancestors fall down when the offerings of rice and water arestopped.
The faults of the family's destroyers cause the outcasts to devastate the dharma of both the family and the community for all time.
1.43
Janardana, I've heard from those who carry on the ancient teachings that whoever spoils the family dharma goes to live in hell.
1.44
Alas! How strange it is! We have decided to commit a great sin. We will attempt to killour kinsmen -- out of our greed for a kingdom and its pleasures.
1.45
Rather than fight, it would be better for me to carry no weapons, and offer noresistance, and let myself be killed by Dhritarashtra's sons.
1.46
Sanjaya:Arjuna finishes speaking. He sits down on his chariot on the battlefield. He lays downhis bow and arrows. His mind is tormented by grief.
2.1
He's overcome by compassion and bereavement. His sad eyes are filled with tears.While he's in this state, Madhusudana speaks to him.
2.2
Shri Bhagavan:This is contamination!Why has it settled in you now,in a time of crisis?Crude people, ignoble people,this is how they act!It won't lead you to heaven,but to dishonor, Arjuna.
Don't allow this impotenceto enter into you.It doesn't suit you, Partha.
This petty weakness in your heart --get rid of it!Rise up, Parantapa!
2.4
Arjuna:Madhusudana, if Bhishma and Drona attack, how can I wage war and send my arrowsagainst them? I worship them, Arisudana!
2.5
They're my gurus! Rather than kill those great beings, I should spend my life in theworld begging for bhoga. They may be hoping that their aggression will bring themworldly profits. But they are my gurus. Could I enjoy bhoga tainted with their blood?
2.6
Should we conquer them, or be conquered by them? There's no way for us to knowwhich is better. There they stand, facing us -- the sons of Dhritarashtra. If we take their lives, we won't want to live!
2.7
Yes, yes, there's a flaw in me. My consciousness is -- afflicted! Is my pity --misdirected? Is my awareness -- of my dharma -- confused? I ask you, tell medefinitely. What is right? I am your shishya. Instruct me. I surrender to you.
2.8
This grief is parching my senses. I can't see any way to dispel it, even if I win unrivaledprosperity on earth, or supremacy in the kingdoms of the gods!
2.9
Sanjaya:Having spoken those words, Gudakesha Parantapa says to Hrishikesh, "I shall notfight, Govinda." And he falls silent.
Hrishikesh smiles at him, Bharata. Between the two armies, he speaks to thebereaved one.
2.11
Shri Bhagavan:What you're grieving for isn't worthy of grief.You speak wisely.But pandits don't grieve --not for those who havelost their life, andnot for those who haven't.
2.12
I have never been nonexistent.Neither have you.Nor have any of the leaders here.And never in the futureshall any of us be nonexistent.
2.13
Just as the embodied endures
through the body's childhood,youth, and seniority,it also enduresthrough the body's demise.A stoic is not bewildered by that.
2.14
Kaunteya, it's only sense perceptionthat creates our happiness and pain,our winters and summers.These impermanent thingsappear and disappear.So learn to tolerate them, Bharata.
Yes, the best person is the stoic --the one who's never distressed by them.For the stoic,
misery and joy are the same.That person is eligible for immortality.
2.16
Death is temporary. Life is eternal.The seers of reality have observed both,and have come to this conclusion.
2.17
Understand the undying.It pervades everything here.No one is capable of killingthe unchangeable.
2.18
These material bodies come to an end.But it's said that the embodied is endless.It is undying and immeasurable.So fight, Bharata!
2.19
Anyone who thinks that this entity is a killer,or who considers it to be killed,is without knowledge in both respects.It never kills or is killed.
2.20
It doesn't take birth.It doesn't die.It has being, butit never came into being, andit will never stop being.It's unborn, eternal,ever-existing, and primeval.It isn't killedwhen the material body is killed.
will surely be born.So don't give in to grievingfor the inevitable.
2.28
Bharata, all creaturesstart out unmanifest,have a middle period of manifestation,and then are unmanifest againwhen they are annihilated.
So why lament?
2.29
Some have seen this entity,and to them it is amazing.Others talk about it --it is amazing to them, too.And it's amazing to thosewho hear about it from the wise.But even having heard what it is,
does anyone know what it is?
2.30
The embodied, this eternal entity,is in everyone's body, Bharata,and can't be killed.So don't give in to grief for any creature.
2.31
Look closely at your svadharma.Don't hesitate to take it up.There's nothing better for a kshatriyathan fighting for dharma.
Be the same in happiness or distress,in loss or gain, in victory or defeat.Fight for the sake of fighting.
That is how to avoid sin.
2.39
I've been talking to you about sankhya.Now hear about buddhi-yoga.When you're yoked to buddhi, Partha,you can release yourself from the harness of karma.
2.40
No effort here is lost or wasted.Just a little dharma saves youfrom the greatest danger.
2.41
Kurunandana,the buddhi of the resolutehas only one purpose.The buddhi of the irresolutehas many branches without end.
2.42
Those with no discriminationcling to the ritualsand the flowery languageof the Vedas.They claim that nothing elsehas any value.
2.43
Filled with desires,they endeavor to live with the gods.They make plans to get a good birth,with its powers, profits, and good deeds.Their various elaborate ceremoniesare gateways to opulence andsensual enjoyment.
to opulence and sensual enjoymentis beset with confusion.They don't experience the samadhiof those resolute in buddhi.
2.45
The subject of the Vedas is the three gunas.Be free from the three gunas, Arjuna.Be free from the dualities.Always be situated in sattva.
Be free from thoughts of profits and security.Be fixed in the self.
2.46
You can get something from a pond.But a big reservoir will give you everything.You can get something from the Vedas.But a knowledgeable brahman will give you everything.
2.47
You have the right to karma --but never to its fruits.Never be the cause of the fruits of karma --but never be attached to akarma.
2.48
Stand firm in yoga, Dhananjaya.Perform your karma while giving up attachment.Be the same in perfection and imperfection.That equanimity is called yoga.
Dhananjaya, with buddhi-yogayou can rid yourself of inferior karma.Develop a desire to surrender to buddhi.
It's the misers who are drawn to the fruits.
2.50
Yoked to buddhi, in a single lifetimeone can abandon both good and bad karma.Therefore, take up yoga.Yoga is the craft of karma.
2.51
Yoked to buddhi, thoughtful peoplerelinquish the fruits of karma.Liberated from bondage to birth,they attain a state beyond putrefaction.
2.52
When your buddhi passes beyond the jungle of illusion,then you'll come to pay no attention toanything that's been heard from the Vedas --or to anything that will be heard.
2.53
When your buddhi remains unmoved,in unflinching samadhi,uninfluenced by the Vedas,at that timeyou will have achieved yoga.
2.54
Arjuna:Keshava, those who are steady in stoicism, wisdom, and samadhi -- what language dothey speak? How do they talk -- and walk, and sit?
Shri Bhagavan:They stand firmly in wisdom, Partha,when they let go of all the desires
that the mind creates.Then the atman is satisfied by the atman.So it is said.
2.56
They are called munis.For them, the mind is notupset by sufferingor delighted by pleasure.They are free from
attraction, fear, and anger.They stand firmly in stoicism.
2.57
Always and everywhere, they don't careif they meet with happiness or unhappiness.They don't glorify or hate anything.They stand very firmly in wisdom.
2.58
They withdraw their sensesfrom the objects of the senses,as a tortoise retracts all its limbs,and stand very firmly in wisdom.
2.59
The embodied entitycan refrain from sensuous thingsby obeying prohibitions.The act of tasting can be denied.But the urge to taste goes awaywhen one experiences superior things.
The senses are strong, impetuous,and bewildering, Kaunteya.
They forcibly attack the mind -- yes,even when a purusha of discriminationattempts to control them.
2.61
Restrain and subdue all the senses --while steadily connected to me.Stand very firmly in wisdom.
2.62
A person's contemplation of sense objectsproduces attachment.Attachment creates desire.Desire gives birth to anger.
2.63
From anger comes confusion.From confusion, the distortion of memory.From distortion of memory, loss of buddhi.
From loss of buddhi, ruination.
2.64
Prasadam can be attained by the atmanwho is controlled and regulated --and who is free from attraction and contempteven while the sensesare in contact with the sense objects.
2.65
Prasadam causes the dissolutionof all miseries.Very soon, one who is prasadam-consciousis firmly fixed in buddhi.
Within those who are not yoked,there is no buddhi.Nor within the unyoked is there any power.
The powerless have no peace --lacking peace,where is their happiness?
2.67
Yes, the senses can ride herdover a mind focused on them.Like winds pushing a boat,they can carry away your wisdom.
2.68
Therefore, Mahabaho, in every caserestrain your senses from the sense objects,and stand very firmly in wisdom.
2.69
When it's nighttime for the world,the self-controlled are awake.When the world is awake,
it's nighttime for the perceptive munis.
2.70
If you desire desires,you will have no peace.Let all desires flow through you.Be like the ocean --always steady, and never movedby the waters flowing through it.
2.71
Achieve peacefulness.Set aside all desires.Live without craving,without possessiveness,and without egotism.
That state is Brahman.You never get bewildered there.When you're there, Partha,
at the end of your days,you attain Brahman Nirvana.
3.1
Arjuna:Janardana, you say you prefer buddhi to karma. Then why do you want me to takepart in this horrible karma, Keshava?
3.2
Your ambiguous words are confusing my buddhi! For my benefit, please divulge atleast one certainty to me.
3.3
Shri Bhagavan:Anagha, I've already stated it.In this world, there are two kinds of faith --the jnana-yoga of the sankhyasand the karma-yoga of the yogis.
3.4
The purusha cannot be freed from karmaby abstaining from karma. No.Perfection can't be achieved by sannyas alone.
3.5
Anyway, no one can exist for a momentwithout doing some karma.It's clear that whether they want to or not,everyone does karma.They're forced to do soby the gunas of Prakriti.
Anyone who restrains the five karmic senses,but whose mind recallsthe objects of the senses,
is known as a self-deceiving hypocrite.
3.7
Far superior to that, Arjuna,is a person who's detachedfrom the sense objects,who uses the mindto regulate the senses,and who engages the five karmic sensesin karma-yoga.
3.8
Do the karma that is proper for you.Yes, karma is better than akarma.You can't even manage to keep your body goingwithout karma.
3.9
Do karma for the sake of yajna.
Otherwise karma binds youto the material world.Act for that reason, Kaunteya.Do it well, and it will liberate youfrom material association.
3.10
In ancient times, when Prajapatipopulated the universe,he told the peoplehow to conduct yajnas and said,"By doing this you willgrow ever more prosperous.It will be like the Kamadhuk cowwho fulfills all desires.
"This will enliven the devas.And the devas will enliven you.Everyone will be enlivened
and will receive the supreme benediction.
3.12
"When the devas are enlivened by the yajnas,they'll reward you with all the bhoga you want.But you will certainly be thievesif you enjoy what is givenwithout first making an offering."
3.13
Spiritualists eat food after offering it,and get relief from every sin.But materialists,who prepare food for their own sake,are eaters of sin.
3.14
Creatures live by eating food.Food is produced by rain.
Rain is generated by yajna.Yajna is born from karma.
3.15
Karma comes from Brahman -- understand that.And Brahman is born from the Imperishable.Therefore the all-pervading Brahmanis always situated in yajna.
3.16
Whoever does not enter intothat well-established cycleleads a useless life of sin, Partha,finding pleasure only in the senses.
If I don't scrupulously engage in karma,the whole population will follow alongevery step of the way.
3.24
The world would be wreckedif I didn't perform my karma.I'd be the cause of misdeeds.I'd destroy all the people.
3.25
Bharata, the uneducated do their karma
with attachment to the results.The educated must act similarly,but without attachment,in their desire to protect the world.
3.26
Without disrupting the buddhiof the ignorant people attached to karma,the educated people spiritualize all that karmaby showing the others how to yoke it.
3.27
"I'm the one who's doing this,"thinks the ego-bewildered atman,all of whose activitiesare done by the gunas of Prakriti.
3.28
But Mahabaho, someone who knows what's realcan discriminate and see that guna-karmais just the gunas relating with the gunas.With that in mind, you're never attached.
People who are fooled by the gunas of Prakritiare attached to guna-karma.They don't know how to behave properly,
and they're lazy.Those who do know how to behave properlyshouldn't agitate them.
3.30
Relinquish all your karma to me.Be conscious of yourself as atman.Be free from profiteering and possessiveness.In that state,fight off weakness and fight the battle!
3.31
Those persons who constantlyobey my instructions,faithfully and without envy,are indeed released from karma.
3.32
But those envious persons
who disobey my instructionsare unconscious, ignorant fools.They're ruined.
3.33
Creatures proceedaccording to their own prakriti.Even the knowledgeableact out their prakriti.What's the use of repression?
3.34
As you walk along your path,attraction and repulsion await youin the senses and the sense objects.Don't let those deterrents attack you!
So first regulate the senses,best of the Bharatas.Slay the sinfulness that destroys
knowledge and realization.
3.42
The senses are superior to their objects.Mind is superior to the senses.Buddhi is superior to mind.But the entity is superior to buddhi.
3.43a
Realizing this superiority to buddhi,the atman is steadied by the atman.
3.43b
Desire is the form of your insatiable enemy.Conquer it, Mahabaho!
4.1
I taught this changeless yoga to Vivashvan.
Vivashvan told it to Manu.Manu spoke it to Ikshvaku.
4.2
In that way, Parantapa --disciples receiving it from masters --it was learned by the raja-rishis.But as time went by in the world,the great yoga fell into disuse.
4.3
You are my bhakta. You are my friend.Today I am teaching you that same ancient yoga.It is certainly the highest of mysteries.
Arjuna:Vivashvan's birth was long ago. Yours was more recent. How am I to comprehend thatyou were the first instructor?
4.5
Shri Bhagavan:Many births of mine,and yours, have passed by.I know about all of them --you're not aware of them, Parantapa.
4.6
I am an unborn and undying atman.I am the Ishvara of the created beings.I'm situated in my own prakriti.Nevertheless, I advent myself in the worldthrough my personal energy.
4.7
Yes, whenever and wherever dharma declinesand adharma is on the rise, Bharata,then and there I manifest myself.
4.8
To protect the sadhus,to annihilate the miscreants,to establish the standards of dharma,I advent myself from yuga to yuga.
4.9
When those who knowthe divine realityof my birth and activitiesgive up the body,they don't have another birth.They have me.
What is karma? What is akarma?Even the scholars are confused about it.I'll explain to you what karma is,
and when you know,you'll be liberated from iniquity.
4.17
to realize what karma isto realize what akarma isto realize what vikarma is-- yes, the entrance to karma is obscure
4.18
the realized human beingproficient in practicing karmasees karma in akarma and akarma in karma-- and is yoked
4.19
pursuit of desire absent from all planskarma burned up by the fire of knowledge-- the realized ones declare, "that is a pandit"
4.20
giving up attachment to the fruits of karmaever satisfied, independentbusily engaged in karma-- yet really doing nothing at all
4.21
when there's no yearningwhen atman and consciousness are controlledwhen all proprietorship is cast off when karma is only for the body's sake--such activity takes on no harmful reactions
satisfied with random profitsbeyond duality, free from envythe same in success and failure
-- although active, never bound
4.23
liberated and free from attachmentsconsciousness fixed in knowledgebeing active for the purpose of yajna-- that karma is wholly suffused
4.24
The person who makes an offering is Brahman.The thing offered is Brahman.The fire is Brahman, the butter is Brahman.The goal is Brahman --when one's karma is absorbed in Brahman.
4.25
Some yogis, with excellent worship,make offerings to the devas.Some worshippers, with superb sacrifices,
make offerings to the fire of Brahman.
4.26
Others offer their senses,such as their hearing,to the fire of restraint.Others offer sense objects,such as sounds,to the fire of the senses.
4.27
Some, striving for knowledge,offer all the actions of their sensesand the actions of their pranato the fire of the yogathat steadies the atman.
Some are enlightenedby taking strict vows in this way --they sacrifice their possessions,
they do penance as a sacrifice,they perform yoga as a sacrifice,and they gain knowledge bythe study of scripture as a sacrifice.
4.29
Some, who practice pranayama, stop their breathingby offering the downward breath to the upward,and the upward breath to the downward.Some limit their eating
and offer the upward breath to itself.
4.30
Although seemingly different,all these practitioners of sacrificeknow the meaning of yajna.Yajna cleanses them of their sins.By performing yajna,they taste its nectar and go to the eternal Brahman.
4.31
What use is this world or the other without yajna, Kurusattama?
4.32
The many varieties of yajnapervade the face of Brahman.Understand -- they're all born from karma.When you know that, you're liberated.
4.33
It's better to offer knowledgethan to offer material things, Parantapa.All karma of every kind, Partha,reaches its conclusion in knowledge.
without knowledge, without faiththe doubting atman loses its way --not in this world, not in the next
is there joy for the doubting atman
4.41
yoga gets rid of karmaknowledge slashes doubts --be self-possessed and don'tlet karma bind you, Dhananjaya
4.42
the origin of ignorance is in the heartbut knowledge is atman's sword --so cut away your doubts, stand upand be firm in yoga, Bharata
5.1
Arjuna:You praise the renouncing of karma. And then you praise yoga. Which one of thesetwo is better, Krishna? Tell me definitely.
5.2
Shri Bhagavan:Renunciation and karma-yogaboth result in bettermentof the best kind.But of the two, karma-yogasurpasses the renouncing of karma.
5.3
Mahabaho, the constant sannyasican be recognized as the one without dualities,who never detests or hankers.Yes, the one who easily escapes from captivity.So it is said.
Sankhya and yoga are separate for the stupid.But the pandits don't say that.When you're deeply involved in either one,
you receive the results of both.
5.5
The position you reach through sankhyayou can also attain through yoga.Sankhya and yoga are the same thing.A seer is one who sees that.
5.6
But without yoga,sannyas is afflicted with distress.The muni yoked to yogaachieves Brahman without delay.
5.7
Yoked to yoga,the purified atmancontrols atmanand controls the senses.
That atman is one with theatman of every creature.Despite being active,it is never polluted.
5.8
"In fact, I never do anything,"thinks the person who's yokedand who knows what reality is."The senses are seeing, smelling,eating, traveling, dreaming, breathing,
Released from desire and anger,the ascetics control their consciousnessand confront atman.
They soon will have Brahman Nirvana.
5.27
Shutting out all external contact,the munis focus their eyes between their browsand equalize the breathsthat move upward and downward in their nostrils.
5.28
Intent on deliverance,they control their senses, mind, and buddhi,and dispel their longing, fear, and anger.Always in this state,they are truly liberated.
5.29
I am the consumer of all offerings and penances.I am the great Ishvara of all the worlds.
I am the dear friend of all creatures.To know this is to achieve peace.
6.1
Who's a sannyasi? Who's a yogi?Not the one who burns no sacrifical fire or does no work,but the one who does the karma that's to be done,without concern for karma's fruits.
6.2
Understand this, Pandava --what they call sannyas,that is yoga.Yes, without renouncing willfulnessno one becomes a yogi.
A yogi is a yoked atman,satisfied by knowledge and realization,with senses under control --
above it all.Clay, stone, and goldare the same for the yogi.So it is said.
6.9
It takes a special personto realize the samenessof comrades, close friends, and enemies --of those who are indifferent
and those who negotiate --of the envious and the pious --of saints and sinners.
6.10
A yogi stays isolated in seclusion,always concentrating on atman,restraining the consciousness,without possessiveness or hope.
6.11
In a clean place,one prepares for oneself a firm seat,not too high, not too low,covered with cloth, deerskin,and kusha grass.
6.12
In that place, one makes the mind single-pointed --controlling consciousness, senses, and activities.Sitting on that seat, one performs yoga to purify atman.
Remember the saying,"A lamp in a windless place does not waver."So it is with the yogi of controlled consciousness,
the atman performing yoga.
6.20
When thought is held in checkand becomes stillthrough the discipline of yoga,when atman sees atmanand finds contentment in atman,
6.21
there is a boundless transcendental joywhich only buddhi can grasp.When one has this understanding,one stands firmly in it,never straying from reality.
6.22
When you gain ityou think there's no greater gain.
When you stand thereyou're never shaken,even by the worst suffering.
6.23
The yoga connection meansthe disconnection of theconnection with suffering.When you know that,you practice yoga resolutely,with no despairing thoughts.
6.24
Completely giving upall desire born of willfulness,the mind disciplines the busy sensesin every way.
The yogis stand firm in that unityand worship me as the one in all creatures.No matter where they live,
they live in me.
6.32
They say the supreme yogi is the onewho sees the equality of all things --both the pleasurable and the painful --by seeing their similarity to atman.
6.33
Arjuna:Equanimity -- you use that word to describe this yoga, Madhusudana. But in myrestlessness I see no solid standing for it.
6.34
The mind is restless, Krishna -- turbulent, strong, and stubborn. Yes, it's as difficult tocurb as the wind, I think.
6.35
Shri Bhagavan:Undoubtedly, Mahabaho, the mind is restlessand difficult to curb.But it can be curbed --through constant practice and detachment.
6.36
In my opinion, yoga is difficult to graspif atman isn't restrained.But by working hard to control atman,using the right method, one succeeds.
6.37
Arjuna:What happens if you have faith, but your mind is unsteady, your attempts in yoga areall in vain, and you fail to reach perfection in yoga? What is your destination?
Mahabaho, when you're confused on the path to Brahman, having failed in bothrespects, don't you get ripped apart, like a low-moving cloud, with no standing at all?
6.39
That's my doubt, Krishna. No one except you can dispel it completely. Unless youdispel my doubt, there'll be nobody else to do it!
6.40
Shri Bhagavan:Such a person is never destroyed,not in this world or the next.That's right, Partha --
a person of honorable behavior does not travel the crooked road.Not at all.
6.41
After going to the worlds of the righteousand living there for many years,the fallen yogi is born into a clean houseblessed with fortune,
6.42
or else is born among yogis,in a family blessed with insight.A birth like that in this worldis very hard to get.
6.43
Then one regains the connectionwith the buddhi of one's former body,and once again labors for perfection,Kurunandana --
6.44a
yes, attracted to it without even trying,because of those previous efforts.
Out of thousands of people,there may be one who tries to be perfect.And of those who try for perfection,
there may be one who knows me as I really am.
7.4
My prakriti has eight divisions --earth, water, fire, air, space,mind, buddhi, and self-identification.
7.5
This is not supreme. Understand --
in addition to this I have another,supreme prakriti.It's the living soul of each creature,and it sustains this world.
7.6a
Be certain of it --this is the womb of all creatures.
7.6b
I am the origin and the dissolutionof each and every world.
7.7
There isn't anything superior to me.Like pearls on a thread, Dhananjaya,everything here is strung on me. 7.8
Kaunteya, I am the taste of water.I'm the light of the sun and the moon.In all the Vedas, I'm the syllable Om.I am the sound of space and the virility of men.
I am the pure fragrance of the earth,the heat of fire.I am the life of all creatures
and the penance of penitents.
7.10
Understand, Partha --I am the eternal seed of all creatures.I'm the insight of the insightful.I'm the glory of the glorious.
7.11
Best of the Bharatas, in the strongI am the strength that's devoid of desire and passion.In the world's creaturesI am the desire that doesn't conflict with dharma.
7.12
And those states of being --goodness, passion, and darkness --certainly come from me.They are in me. But, understand --
I am not in them.
7.13
Deluded by those states of being --the three gunas --the whole world is confused,and doesn't comprehendthat I am beyond, I am supreme,I am without any change.
7.14
Yes, that's divine --my Maya, made of the gunas.It's hard to get away from.Those who surrender to me --they can make it across that Maya.
Maya carries away the knowledgeof the criminals, of the fools,of the uncultured who don't surrender to me --
those who take on an ungodly state of being.
7.16
Arjuna, best of the Bharatas,four kinds of godly peoplelove and serve me --those who weep for me,who inquire about me,who petition me,and who know me.
7.17
Among those,the knower is permanently yoked,with devotion for only one.The knower is the best.Yes, I am dear to those in knowledge,and they are dear to me.
7.18
The others are very exalted.But I consider the knower to be my special atman.Yes, that atmanis steadily yoked to meas the very highest destination.
7.19
At the end of many births,a person of knowledge says"Vasudeva is everything,"and surrenders to me.That mahatma is hard to find.
When people are dominated by their own prakriti,their knowledge gets carried awayby this desire or that desire.
They surrender to other devas,and observe this regulation or that regulation.
7.21
In their faithfulness,people of devotion may glorifyone or another form.Whichever or whatever form it is,no matter who or what,I'm the one who grants them
their unwavering faith.
7.22a
Yoked by that faith,they seek the favor of their deityand fulfill their desires.
7.22b
Who bestows those benefits?
No one but me.
7.23a
But those fruits have their limits.They're for the dimwits!
7.23b
Praise the devas, and you'll go to the devas.My devotees go to me. That's certain.
7.24
When the unrealized consider me, they think,"the unmanifest has become manifest."They don't know about my highest state of being.I am changeless and supreme.
I'm concealed by Yoga-Maya.I'm not revealed to everyone.The deluded world is not aware of me.
I am changeless and unborn.
7.26
I know all the created beings.I know those in the past,those in the present,and those in the future.But, Arjuna, nobody knows me.
7.27
Bharata,from the moment they're born,all creatures are bewildered.They're confused by the dualitiesthat are spawned by longing and hatred,Parantapa.
7.28
But people of virtuous karma,
whose sins have come to an end,are free from duality's delusions.They are firm in their vows.They worship me.
7.29
Those who try hardto be liberated from old age and deathby taking shelter of me --they know Brahman in its fullness,in its relation to atmanand to every aspect of karma.
They know mein my relation to the created beings,to the gods, and to yajna.
And right at the time of death,with yoked consciousness,they know me.
8.1
Arjuna:What is karma, Purushottam? Tell me what Brahman is said to be. Tell me how itrelates to atman, to the created beings, and to the gods.
8.2
Who is it here in this body, Madhusudan, who is related to yajna? And how can theself-controlled know you at the time of passing away?
8.3
Shri Bhagavan:Brahman is the supreme, the imperishable.Its character is said to be related to atman.Karma is known as the generating forcethat produces the creatures' various states of being.
8.4
Things relating to the creatureshave a perishable nature.Things relating to the godshave the nature of the purusha.The one related to yajna,who's in the body -- O Best of the Embodied --is none other than me.
8.5
And at the final hour,whoever gives up the bodywhile remembering just me,passes into and achievesmy state of being.There's no doubt about it.
When you give up your body at the end,whatever state of being
you might be remembering --this one or that one --you will then becomethis one or that one.Every time without fail,that's what you'll get, Kaunteya.
8.7
Therefore, at all times remember me.And fight.
Fix your mind and buddhi on me.And, without doubting, you'll come to me.
8.8
Practice and meditate, Partha.Yoke your consciousness in yoga without deviation.That's how you go to the Supreme Divine Purusha.
8.9
Keep on remembering the Sage,the Ancient One, the Great Controller who is smaller than the smallest,the Maintainer of Everythingwhose form is beyond the darkness,bright as the sun, and inconceivable.
8.10
At the time of their passing away,those who are yoked by devotionand the power of yogakeep the mind from wavering.They direct the pranaprecisely between the eyebrows.And they approach the Supreme Divine Purusha.
Best of the Bharatas, I'll describe preciselythe times when departing yogis pass on --either to return or never return,
according to the time they leave.
8.24
People who know Brahman achieve Brahmanwhen they pass away in fire, light, daytime,the brighter moon, and the six monthsof the sun's northern journey.
8.25
Yogis return here --after reaching the light of the moon --when they pass away in smoke, nighttime,the darker moon, and the six monthsof the sun's southern journey.
8.26
Yes, the white road and the black --they're considered fundamentals of the world.With one, you go and don't return.
With the other, you come back again.
8.27
None of the yogis who know these pathsis confused -- not any of them, Partha.Therefore, at all times becomeyoked in yoga, Arjuna.
8.28
Studying the Vedas,conducting offerings,performing austerities,getting auspicious fruitsfrom the pursuit of charitable works --they are surpassed, all of them,by the yogi of knowledgewho approaches the supreme and primal place.
Kaunteya, at the end of a kalpaall the creatures flow into my prakriti.Then, at the beginning of a kalpa,
I manifest them again.
9.8
Again and againI push into my own prakritiand manifest them.Under prakriti's power,this whole multitude of creaturesis powerless.
9.9
Dhananjaya,none of those actitivities bind me.I sit among them, detached --as if I'm indifferent to them.
9.10
I supervise prakriti's bringing forththe moving and the non-moving, Kaunteya.
That's what makes the world go around.
9.11
Fools deride me when I assume a human form.They don't know about my supreme being --I am the great controller of all creation.
9.12
They've given themselves over to the charms of the prakritiof rakshashas and asuras.Their hopes are in vain,their deeds are in vain,their knowledge is in vain --wasted and useless.
But Partha, the mahatmasgive themselves over to the divine prakriti.
With undeviating mindsthey serve me and love mein the knowledgethat I am the changeless originof the created beings.
9.14
They're always praising me.They work hard, firm in their vows.They bow down to me in loving devotion.
They're permanently yoked to me in worship.
9.15
Other people, by offering their knowledge,offer their worship to me asthe unity in multiplicity, or asthe many aspects of the face of the universe.
9.16
I am the ritual.I am the offering.The libation for the dead is me,and I am the healing herb.The mantra is me.I am even the butter and the fire,and I am the oblation.
9.17
I am the father of this world, and its mother,its supporter, and its grandfather.I am all there is to be known,the purifier, the Om,and even the Rik, Sama, and Yajur Vedas.
I am the goal, the sustainer, the prabhu,the witness, home, refuge, and dear friend.I am the creation, destruction, and solid ground,
the storehouse, the changeless seed.
9.19
Arjuna, all heat is radiated from me.I'm the one who holds back and sends forth the rain.Indeed, immortality and death,existence and nonexistence -- I am them, too.
9.20
The followers of the three Vedas --the soma drinkers who are cleansed of sin --they offer worship to mewhile yearning for a destination in paradise.Their virtue wins them a taste of Indra's godly world.In that place of divinitythey enjoy the divine pleasures of the devas.
9.21
Having enjoyed immensely in that heavenly world,
they use up the winnings of their virtueand enter the mortal world.In this way the followers of the threefold dharma,desiring desires,achieve something that only comes and goes.
9.22
Those people who worship me,who meditate only on me,constantly yoked to me --I bring them whatever they need,and preserve whatever they have.
Kaunteya, those too who are devotees of other devas,who make their offerings faithfully,
they too are making their offerings to me --in ignorance of the correct rituals.
9.24a
Yes, I am the enjoyer and the only lordof all offerings.
9.24b
But they have no knowledgeabout my reality.So they fall down.
9.25
deva-worshippers go to the devasancestor-worshippers go to the ancestorsthose who propitiate the ghosts go to the ghosts-- and my devotees go to me
9.26
a leaf, a flower, some fruit, some water whatever it is that is offered to methrough the bhakti of a steadfast atman-- that offering made with bhakti I accept
9.27
what you do, what you eatwhat you give in sacrifice or charitywhat penances you perform-- do as an offering to me, Kaunteya
freed from fruits both good and badliberated from the bondage of karmayour atman yoked to the yoga of sannyas
-- liberated, you come to me
9.29
I am equal to all creaturesno one is despicable or dear to mebut those who serve me with bhakti-- they're in me and I'm in them
9.30
by serving me without deviationeven the worst criminalmust indeed be considered a sadhu-- yes, properly situated
9.31
that atman quickly becomes righteousand attains eternal peaceknow it and teach it, Kaunteya-- my bhakta is never lost to me
9.32
anyone who earnestly seeks shelter in meeven those born among the uncleanor women, or vaishyas, or shudras-- even they go to the supreme destination
9.33
then all the more so for the brahmansfor the virtuous, the bhaktas, the rajarishiswho serve and give their love to me-- in this transient, sorrowful world
of the Adityas I am Vishnu --of lights, the shining Sun --Marichi of the Maruts is me --
in the Nakshatras I'm the Moon
10.22
of the Vedas, the Sama Veda is me --of the Devas, I am Vasava --of the senses, the mind is me --in the creatures I am consciousness
10.23
of the Rudras, Shankara is me --Vittesha, of the Yakshas and Rakshasas --of the Vasus, Pavaka is me --I am Meru among the mountains
10.24
Partha, know me as Brihaspatiwho is the head of the priests --of commanders I am Skanda --of water-bodies I am the ocean
10.25
of the maharishis, Bhrigu is the one I am --of spoken sounds I am the one imperishable OM --of offerings, the offering of japa is me --of the immovable things, the Himalayas
10.26
the banyan, among all trees --of the deva-rishis, Narada --of the Gandharvas, Chitraratha --of the perfect beings, Kapila
Of the alphabet's letters I am A --and the dvandva among the compounds --Indeed, I am imperishable time --
I am the ordainer who face turns everywhere
10.34
and I am death, consuming everything --and the origin of things yet to be --of feminine nouns I am fame, fortune, speech --memory, intelligence, resolve, and patience
10.35
the Brihat Sama of the Sama Veda --I am the Gayatri among poems --of months, November-December is me --of the seasons, I am Spring
10.36
the dice-playing of tricksters is me --I am the splendor of the splendid --victory is me, resoluteness is me --I am the strength of the strong
10.37
of the Vrishnis, Vasudeva is me --of the Pandavas, Dhananjaya --of the munis I am Vyas --of poets, the poet Ushana
10.38
of things that punish, the stick is me --the diplomacy of the ambitious is me --of secret things, silence is me --I am the knowledge of the knowledgeable
and whatever may be among all creaturesI am the seed of that, Arjuna --nothing moving or unmoving can exist
without being created by me
10.40
Parantapa, there's no end to my divine glory.What I've described to youare just examples of my glory in its vastness.
10.41
Whatever is glorious and strong,
whatever is beautiful, or invulnerable --that is born from a fragment of my splendor.Of that you can be sure.
10.42
Arjuna, what's the use of knowingso many of these things?With one fragment I support --in its entirety --this world in which I stand.
11.1
Arjuna:The words you've spoken have dispelled my confusion. You've showed me your favor.You've revealed the supreme secret about Atman.
11.2
Yes, Kamala Patraksha, I've heard from you in detail about the coming to be and thepassing away of the creatures, and about the Great Unchanging Atman too.
11.3
Parameshvara, what you've described is you -- as you are. I want to see you,Purushottama -- in that form as the Ishvara!
Wearing divine garlands and robes, anointed with divine perfume -- everything is sowonderful! This Deva is limitless -- his face is everywhere in the cosmos!
11.12
If a thousand suns were to rise all at once in the heavens, perhaps their light mightcompare to this effulgence of this Great Atman.
11.13
Now Pandava sees the entire universe, with its many kinds and categories of things,unified there in the body of the Deva of Devas!
11.14
Dhananjaya's hair is standing on end. He's filled with amazement. He bows his headto the Deva. With palms pressed together, he speaks.
11.15
Arjuna:Deva, I see the devas and all the multitudes of various creatures in your body! LordBrahma, sitting on his lotus throne! And rishis, and divine serpents!
11.16
So many arms, bellies, mouths, and eyes! I see your boundless form everywhere. Lordof the Universe, Form of the Universe, I see no end to you, no middle, no beginning.
11.17
Helmets, clubs, and discs are blazing everywhere in a mass of radiant energy! I see --but it's hard to see you. You're surrounded by shining fire, and by suns and lightbeyond estimation!
11.18
You are the Imperishable -- the supreme object of knowledge. You are the supremefoundation of this universe. You are the Unchanging -- the guardian of the primevaldharma. You are the eternal Purusha. I'm sure of it.
No beginning, no middle, no end! Unlimited power! Unlimited arms! The moon and thesun are your eyes! I see your mouth, a blazing fire -- your power, burning up theuniverse!
11.20
Yes, you are the one who permeates heaven and earth and all the space between inall directions. Mahatma, the three worlds are trembling as they look upon thisastonishing, terrifying form of yours!
11.21
Yes, all the assemblies of the gods are entering into you. Some of them are fearful --with prayerful hands, they're offering invocations. The peaceful assemblies of
maharishis and perfected beings are declaiming and singing prayers and hymns toyou.
11.22
All of them -- the Rudras, the Adityas, the Vasus and the Sadhyas -- the Vishvas, theAshvins, the Maruts and the ancestors -- the assemblies of Gandharvas, Yakshas, theungodly and the perfect -- they all gaze at you in amazement.
11.23
Your mighty form! So many faces and eyes! So many, many arms, thighs, feet,Mahabaho! Many stomachs! Many horrifying teeth! The worlds are shaking as theysee you, and so am I!
11.24
Multi-colored, flaming, touching the sky -- mouths opened wide, huge flaming eyes!Yes, even my inner self is shaken by seeing you. I've lost my bearing and myperspective, Vishnu!
11.25
And your faces' jagged teeth look to me like the blazing flames of time! I don't knowwhere to go, or where to find protection. Have mercy -- Lord of the Devas, Shelter of the Universe.
All of them -- Dhritarashtra's sons and all the kings gathered with them -- Bhishma,Drona, and Karna too -- and the warrior chieftains on our side --
11.27
they're entering into those fearsome mouths -- those terrifying, hideous teeth! I seesome of them caught between your teeth, their heads ground to pieces!
11.28
As the tossing waves of many rivers flow into the ocean, so all those powerful peopleenter into your blazing mouths.
11.29
As moths enter into a blazing flame, full speed to their destruction, so the worlds areentering with full speed into your mouths to their destruction.
11.30
Vishnu! You lick up, you swallow, every world everywhere with your burning mouths!The shining, scorching force of your horrible rays fills the entire universe!
11.31
Tell me who you are in this fierce form. I bow down to you, Best of the Devas. Havemercy! I want to know your original being. I don't understand what your purpose is.
11.32
Shri Bhagavan:I am time --the cause of the world's destruction!My purpose is to obliterate the world!That is my purpose here.Even without you,all these soldiers standing against each other will cease to exist.
So, get up! Win your fame! Conquer your enemies!Enjoy your prosperous kingdom! It's definite --all of them have long since been killed -- by me!
You merely have to be an instrument, Savyasachin.
11.34
Drona and Bhishma and Jayadratha and Karnaand the other powerful warriors --I have killed them.You slay them! Don't waver.Fight this battle! Conquer the enemy!
11.35
Sanjaya:Having heard Keshava's words, Kiriti trembles, and presses his hands together inreverence. He bows down, fearfully paying his obeisances, and, falteringly, againspeaks to Krishna.
11.36
Arjuna:Hrishikesha, it is right that the universe feels joy and rapture while praising you, andthat the terrified rakshas run away in every direction, and that all the assembled
perfected beings are bowing in respect.
11.37
And why shouldn't they pay their respects to you, Great Atman? You are the FirstCause, even more than Brahma or Brahman. Unlimited Lord of the Devas, Shelter of the Universe, you are imperishable existence and nonexistence, and even superior tothat.
11.38
You are the Primal Deva, the Ancient Purusha. You are the supreme refuge of thecosmos, the one who knows and the object of knowledge, the supreme abode. Your unlimited form fills the cosmos!
You are Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, and the moon. You are Prajapati and the primalancestor. Glory to you! Glory to you a thousand times! Again and again, glory, glory toyou!
11.40
Glory to you from the front, and from behind! Glory to you from everywhere. You areeverything! With unlimited power and endless force you bring everything to itscompletion, so you are everything!
11.41
I've been rash, thinking of you as just a friend -- calling to you with "Hey, Krishna,""Hey, Yadava," "Hey, my friend." In my derangement -- or because of my love -- I didn't
know about this majesty of yours.
11.42
And Achyuta, if I joked with you, showing you disrespect as we relaxed or played or rested or ate together, by ourselves or with others, please forgive my offenses,unfathomable one.
11.43
You are the father of the world -- the worshipable and venerable guru of everything
that moves and doesn't move. No one is equal to you. How could anyone be greater?In the three worlds, your potency is incomparable.
11.44
So I bow down to you and prostrate my body before you. I beg your mercy, Lord I love!Deva! Tolerate me -- as a father to a son, or a friend to a friend, or a lover to a beloved.
11.45
I've seen something never seen before, and I'm thrilled! But my mind is disturbed byfear. Deva, please show me your form. Be merciful, Lord of the Devas, Shelter of theUniverse.
11.46
I want to see you with your helmet, with your club and disc in your hands -- like that. OCosmic Murti with a thousand arms, please become that four-handed form.11.47
Shri Bhagavan:By my mercy, Arjuna, through my yoga,I have shown you this supreme form of mine --effulgent, universal, unlimited, primal.
No one but you has ever seen it before.
11.48
Indeed, no one but you within this worldcan see me in this form --not by the Vedas,not by offerings or scholarship,not by charity,not by pious rituals,and not by severe penances.
11.49
You don't have to tremble.And your being doesn't have to be confusedby seeing this terrifying form of mine.Banish your fear. Let your mind be happy.Once again look at that form of minethat you want.
11.50
Sanjaya:Having said that to Arjuna, Vasudeva again reveals his own form. The Great Atmancomforts him in his fear by again generating a body of pleasing appearance.
11.51
Arjuna:Janardan, now that I see this -- your pleasant human form -- my consciousness issteady. My prakriti is back.
Shri Bhagavan:That form of minethat you have seenis very difficult to see.
The devas are constantlytrying to see that form.
11.53
Not by the Vedas,not by penances,not by charity,and not by ritualscan one see mein the form in which you saw me.
11.54
But Arjuna, I can be known,seen, and entered into --as I am in reality, Parantapa --by undiluted bhakti.
11.55
Do your karma for me.
Make me the supreme.Give me your bhakti.Free yourself from material association.Have no enemies among all creatures.A person like that comes to me, Pandava.
12.1
Arjuna:The bhaktas who are always yoked to you in worship -- do they know yoga better thanthose of the imperishable unmanifest?
Shri Bhagavan:I consider thosewho are constantly yokedby fixing their minds on me,
worshiping me,and serving me with true faith,to be the most yoked.
12.3
But those who worship the imperishable,the ineffable, the unmanifest,the omnipresent, the inconceivable,the beyond, the unmoving, the firm,
12.4
while restraining the vast array of the senses,while staying in buddhi everywhere,while taking pleasure in the welfare of all creatures --they definitely reach me.
12.5
It is very troublesomewhen the consciousness
clings to the unmanifest.Yes, the unmanifestis a goal difficult to attainfor the embodied ones.
12.6
But those who are intent on meand give up all karma to me,who meditate on me and worship mein undeviating yoga,
12.7
whose consciousness is fixed on me --Partha, I quickly appear to them,and deliver themfrom the ocean of death and rebirth.12.8
Place your mind on me.Let your buddhi enter into me.From then on you will live in me,without a doubt.
12.9
If you can't concentrate your consciousnesssteadily on me,then try to reach meby practicing yoga, Dhananjaya.
12.10
If you're not capable of that practice,
then become active and work for me.Do it for my sake.You can gain success by performing activities.
12.11
If you can't do those activities either,then take shelter of my yoga,giving up the results of all karma,working as one who is atman.
12.12
Yes, better than practice is knowledge.Better than knowledge is meditation.Better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of karma.From that renunciation comes unlimited peace.
12.13
Not envious of any creature,but friendly and merciful to all--free from egotismand the sense of me-and-mine --forgiving,and the same whether in happiness or distress --
content, satisfied in yoga,self-controlled and firm in purpose,fixing mind and buddhi on me --these are my bhaktas,
and they are dear to me.
12.15
Those who are never a source of disturbance in the world --and never disturbed by the world --who are liberatedfrom jubilation, fearfulness, impatience, and excitement --they are dear to me.
12.16
They have no expectations.They're clean, and skillful.They have no cares,and they're renouncedin all their activities.They are my bhaktas.They're dear to me.
12.17
Neither despising nor coveting,neither hankering or lamenting,they let go of both the good and the bad.Those bhaktas are dear to me.
12.18
They're detached --the same to friends and enemies,the same in honor and dishonor,cold and heat, happiness and distress,
and whether praised or blamed.They are silent.Satisifed with whatever comes their way,they don't need a roof over their heads.
They're of steady mind.The people who are bhaktas are dear to me.
12.20
But even more dear to me are the bhaktaswho revere the eternal dharma I am speaking,and who make me the supreme object of their faith.
13.1
Arjuna:Keshava, I want to know about prakriti and purusha, the field and the knower of thefield, knowledge and the object of knowledge.
13.2
Shri Bhagavan:Kaunteya, this body is called the field.One who knows about this is the knower of the field.So it is declared by those who know these things.
13.3a
Understand -- I am also the knower of the field.I am within all fields, Bharata.
13.3b
In my opinion, knowledge meansto know the fieldand the knower of the field.
13.4
Listen -- I'll give a summaryof what the field is like --its character, its changesand which change comes from which,and the powers of the knower.13.5
The rishis have sung about it in many wayswith conclusive reasoning about causes and effects --this way and that in a variety of hymns,and of course in the verses of the Brahma Sutra.
13.6
The gross elements, the ego,the buddhi, the unmanifest,the eleven senses,the five sense objects,
13.7
longing, hatred, happiness,
suffering, the whole bodily system,consciousness, conviction --this summarizes the field and its changes.
13.8
Don't be conceited or clever or cruel.Be tolerant and truthful.Honor your teacher.Be clean, steady, and self- restrained.
13.9
Give up the objects of the sensesand have no material ego.See the flaws -- birth, death,old age, disease, and pain.
13.10
Be detached --don't associate with sons, with wives,and with other affairs of the household.Constantly keep your consciousness unchangedby either the pleasant or the unpleasant.
The Supreme Atman is also in the body,the Supreme Purusha,Observer, Permitter, Sustainer, Enjoyer,
the Great Ishvara.
13.24
Those who know what the purusha is,and prakriti, and the gunas --no matter what their position,they never take birth any more.
13.25
One atman sees Atmanby atman meditation,another by sankhya-yoga,and others by karma-yoga.
13.26
But others without this knowledgehear from others, and worship.Just by their decision to hear,even they overcome death.
13.27
Best of the Bharatas, understand this --whatever happens, everything that exists,that which moves, that which doesn't,is the joining of the field and its knower.
13.28
The Supreme Ishvara residesequally in all creatures,the permanent in the fragile.The one who sees this, sees.
The eye of knowledgecan distinguish betweenthe field and the knower of the field,and can perceive what is
liberation from creation's prakriti.The ones who know this --they go to the Supreme.
14.1
Again I'll proclaim it --the supreme knowledge,the highest knowledge.When they know it,all the munis leaving this place
attain the supreme perfection.
14.2
They take shelter of this knowledgeand attain my dharma's state of existence.At the creation, they're not reborn.At the destruction, they're not disturbed.
14.3
The great Brahman is my womb,and I fertilize its egg.Then comes the birthof all the creatures, Bharata.
14.4
Kaunteya, great Brahman is the womband I am the seed-giving father of all the forms of all the wombs that take birth.
14.5
Goodness, passion, and darknessare the gunas born of Prakriti.They bind the changeless embodied oneto the body, Maha-Baho.
Of these, goodness is the purest --it illuminates and never decays.It binds you to attachment to knowledgeand attachment to happiness, Anagha.
14.7
Understand -- passion is instinctual desire.It's born out of attachment and craving.It binds the embodied oneto be attached to karma, Kaunteya.
14.8
Understand -- darkness is born from ignorance.
It deludes all those who are embodied.It binds you to irresponsibility,laziness, and sleep, Bharata.
14.9
Goodness makes you addicted to happiness --passion, to karma, Bharata.But darkness stifles knowledgeand addicts you to irresponsibility.So it is said.
14.10
Bharata, goodness flourisheswhen it dominates passion and darkness --or passionwhen it's over goodness and darkness,or darknesswhen it's over goodness and passion.
14.11
When knowledge brings illuminationto all the body's senses,understand that goodness has increased.So it is said.
For the self-assured,pain and pleasure are the same --clay, stone, and gold are the same.They are steady,
equally disposed to friend and foeand to blame or praise of themselves,
14.25
equal in honor or dishonor,equal to allies and enemies.They abandon all business activities.They transcend the gunas.So it is said.
14.26
One who serves mein undeviating bhakti-yogapasses beyond the gunasand is considered to have become Brahman.
14.27
I am the foundationof Brahman the immmortal, Brahman
the changeless, the primordial dharmaof absolute, ultimate joy.
15.1
They say the rootsof the changeless Ashvatta treeare above, and its branches are below.Its leaves are the Vedic hymns.Whoever know this knows the Vedas.
The branches stretch below and above,nourished by the gunas.The twigs are the sense objects.The roots reach out below too,
bound tight to the karmaof the world of human beings.
15.3a
Its form cannot be perceived here --not the end, not the beginning, not the foundation.The roots of this Ashvattha treeare strong and deep.
15.3b
Chop it up --with the sturdy weapon of detachment.
15.4
Afterwards,you must search for the placeyou never return fromonce you've gone there,saying, "Yes, I surrender
to the original Purusha,from whom creativityhas surged forthsince the most ancient times."
15.5
Those who aren't foolishreach that changeless place.They have no pride, no delusion.They've defeated the fault of attachment.They constantly relate to atman.They've extinguished lustand are liberated from the dualitiesknown as pleasure and pain.
No sun, no moon, no fireilluminates that place.When you go there,you never come back here.
That is my supreme abode.
15.7
The eternal living creaturesin the worlds of lifeare particles of me.They're grabbing ontothe prakriti-based senses --the six senses, including the mind.
15.8
Like aromas taken from their home by the wind,these six are taken by the body's ishvaraas it leaves one body and goes to another
15.9
to take up hearing, seeing, touching,tasting, smelling, and thinking,savoring the objects of the senses.
15.10
What is it that's leaving, or staying,or enjoying contact with the gunas?The fools can't see it.The eyes of knowledge can see it.
15.11
The hard-working yogissteady in atman can see it.But without developing atman,the unconscious can't see it,no matter how hard they try.
that splendor centered in the sun --lighting up the entire world --that in the moon, and in fire --understand that splendor is mine
15.13
and I penetrate the earth and its creatures --sustaining them with my strength --and I nourish all the vital plants --becoming the moon, supplying them juice
15.14
I become the universal fire --
located in breathing bodies --yoking the in and out breaths --to digest the four kinds of food
15.15
and I reside in everyone's heart --memory, knowledge, and their loss come from me --and in the Vedas, the subject is me --I created Vedanta -- I know what the Veda is
15.16
There are two purushas here.They are the perishable and the imperishable.The perishable ones are all the creatures.The imperishable ones are liberated into the essence.So it is said.
15.17
But there is another,The Highest Purusha,whose name is The Paramatma.That changeless Ishvaraenters into and sustainsthe three worlds.
Because I transcend the perishableand I'm even higher than the imperishable,therefore I am celebrated in the worldand in the Vedas as The Highest Purusha.
15.19
Those who know thatI am The Highest Purusha --they know everything.They're no fools.They worship mewith all their beingand all their love, Bharata.
15.20
So, Anagha, I have revealed it --this, the most secret of doctrines.Whoever realizes it becomes realized, Bharata,and has done what is to be done.
16.1
Fearlessness, purity of heart,determination in jnana-yoga,
charity, control, sacrifice,study of scriptures, austerity,straightforwardness,
16.2
nondisturbance, truthfulness, absence of anger,renunciation, peacefulness, freedom from fault-finding,mercy for all creatures, lack of greed,gentleness, modesty, steadiness,
16.3
splendor, forgiveness, fortitude,cleanliness, no envy, no pride --these qualities come with a divine birth, Bharata.
Hypocrisy, arrogance, vanity,anger, harshness, ignorance --these are the qualitiesof an ungodly birth, Partha.
16.5
The divine qualities lead to liberation --the ungodly, they say, to bondage.Don't worry, Pandava.You were born with divine qualities.
16.6
Two kinds of creatures are created in this world --
the divine and the ungodly.I've spoken at length about the divine.Listen to what I say about the ungodly.
16.7
Ungodly people don't know what to do, or what not to do.There's no cleanliness, no morality, no truth in them.
16.8
"The world has no truth," they say,"no foundation, and no Ishvara.It's born from material mutuality --caused by desire -- and nothing else."
16.9
These lost souls with meager realizationclutch their viewsand contrive horrible, malignant deedsmeant to destroy the world.
16.10
Insatiable desire is their shelter.They're frenzied by pride, conceit, and hypocrisy.In their delusion they cling to illusory things.They dedicate themselves to unclean acts.16.11
Convinced that the enjoyment of desires is supreme,they're subjected to immeasureable anxietythat ends only with their death.
16.12
Bound up by hope's hundreds of chains,locked into desire and anger,they accumulate funds illegallybecause they want to savor their desires.
16.13
"This is my profit today.That I shall gain tomorrow.
Here is my wealth --it will grow, more and more!
16.14
"I have killed that enemy.I'll kill others too!I am the Ishvara! I am the enjoyer.I'm perfect, powerful, and happy.
16.15
"Wealthy and well born -- that's me.Who else is there like me?I'll make offeringsand donate to charitiesand enjoy life!"That's what the ignorant, the deluded say.
16.16
Perplexed by various ideas,caught in a net of delusions,obsessively enjoying their desires,they fall down into the filth of hell.
(People who perform horrible penancesagainst the scriptural directionsare yoked to hypocrisy and egotismand impelled by the forces of desire and attachment.
17.6
In their lack of consciousness,they torment the creatures within their bodies --and me too, within their bodies!Understand how ungodly their intentions are.)
17.7
Foods, offerings, penances, and charity
are of three kinds too,so they can be pleasing to everyone.Listen to the differences between them.
17.8
Pleasing to those in goodnessare juicy, oily, sweet, and hearty foodsthat promote long life, vitality, strength,health, happiness, and satisfaction.
17.9
Craved by those in passionare bitter, sour, salty, very hot,pungent, dry, and burning foodsthat cause pain, grief, and sickness.
17.10
Pleasing to those in darknessare foods left sitting --they enjoy tasteless, putrid,spoiled and unofferable foods,and others' leftovers.
Whoever makes an offeringin accordance with the rules,thinking only of the duty of the actwith no longing for its fruits --
that person is in goodness.
17.12
Best of the Bharatas, understand --passionate offerings are madewith their fruits in mind --pridefully, just for profit.
17.13
They say that offerings in darknessare made against the rules,with no distribution of food,no chanting of mantras,no payments to the priests,and without any faith.
17.14
Penances of the body are:showing reverence to God, guru, and brahmans,
worshiping at the altar, cleanliness,simplicity, celibacy, and non-disturbance.So it is said.
17.15
Penances of speech are:using words that are inoffensive,truthful, pleasing, and helpful,and regularly reciting the scriptures.So it is said.
17.16
Penances of the mind are:mental serenity, kindness, silence,self control, and purifying one's being.So it is said.
Remember that the term used to indicate Brahmanhas three parts: Om, Tat, Sat.Since ancient times the brahmins have used themto sanctify their offerings
and their recitations of the Vedas.
17.24
Om is always pronounced by the Brahmavadis,in accordance with tradition,as they begin their performancesof offerings, charity, and penances.
17.25
Tat is pronounced by those who want liberationas they perform the various actsof offerings, penances, and charityfor the sake of "That,"with no concern for the fruits.
17.26
Sat means "it is," and "it is good," too.Partha, the word Sat is pronouncedto indicate praiseworthy deeds.
17.27
Sat is said to indicate steadinessin offerings, penances, and charity.Activities with that purposefulnessare termed Sat.
17.28
Faithlessofferings, penances, and charity --or any other actions --are called Asat, Partha.They are not Tat,in this life or the next.
Arjuna:Renunciation as sannyas, Mahabaho -- what is it, really? I want to know, Hrishikesh.How does it differ from renunciation as tyaga, Keshini-Shudana?
18.2
Shri Bhagavan:Scholars consider sannyasto be the giving up of karmathat is impelled by desire.The renunciation of all the fruits of karmais what the analysts call tyaga.
18.3
Some philosophers proclaimthat karma itself is badand should be renounced.For others, the karmaof offering, penance, and charityshould not be renounced.
18.4
Best of the Bharatas,listen to my conclusions
on the subject of renunciation.Tiger of the Purushas,it is widely declaredthat renunciation is of three kinds.
18.5
The karma of offerings, penances, and charityshould not be renounced.They must be performed.The philosophers are made pureby offerings, penances, and charity.
But even in this karma,you must renounce attachmentto it and to its fruits.Do it as a duty, Partha.
That is my conclusion --my highest opinion.
18.7
It's not appropriate, though,to renounce prescribed karma.That renunciation is deludedand is declared to be in darkness.
18.8
When painful karma is given up out of fear that it may be troublesome to the body,that renunciation is done in passion.It gains none of the fruits of renunciation.
18.9
Doing what must be done -- prescribed karma --while renouncing attachment and the fruits --I consider that renunciation to be in goodness, Arjuna.
18.10
Doubts cut away,neither hating unproductive karmanor clinging to the productive,the intelligent renunciateis absorbed in goodness.
18.11
Yes, for someone still in the bodyit isn't possible to renounce all karma whatsoever.Those who renounce the fruits of karma --call them the renunciates.
Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower are the three kinds of motivations for karma.The senses, the action, and the agentare the three kinds of ingredients of karma.
18.19
Knowledge, karma, and the agentare of three kinds,distinguished by the gunas.Listen to how the gunas work.Sankhya proclaims this about them.
18.20
Understand --knowledge in goodness seesone changeless state of beingin all creatures,undivided in the divided.
18.21
But knowledge in passion perceivesvarious separate states of beingdistinctly different in all creatures.
Understand this.
18.22
However, it's in darkness whenwithout any reason it adheres to one thingas if that were all things,and rejects Reality as pointless and finite.So it is said.
18.23
Karma is said to be in goodnesswhen it is prescribed, free of attachments,and is performed without any attraction or repulsionby one who doesn't long for its fruits.
But karma is said to be in passionwhen, with great effort,one egotistically pursuesthe satisfaction of desires.
18.25
And karma is said to be in darkness and delusionwhen it's initiated without concernfor the future bondage it may bringbecause of the pain and distress it causes people.
18.26
A person liberated from attachment and egotism,
who is both enthusiastic and steadfast,who's unchanged by either success or failure,is said to be an agent in goodness.
18.27
One who lustily pursues karma's fruitsand is greedy, violent, unclean,and subjected to elation and sorrow,is declarad to be an agent in passion.
18.28
Disconnected, materialistic, obstinate, deceitful,insulting, lazy, depressed, procrastinating --that person is said to be an agent in darkness.
18.29
Listen, Dhananjaya,as I tell you aboutthe varied detailsof the three different kindsof buddhi and steadiness,according to the gunas.
Also, there are three kinds of happiness.Hear from me about them now,Best of the Bharatas.
18.36b
Enjoyment resulting from effort,that brings an end to misery,
18.37
that starts off like poisonand finishes up like nectar --that happiness is proclaimed to be in goodness.It is born from the mercy of realization of atman.
18.38
When the senses connect to the sense objects,it starts off like nectar and finishes up like poison.That happiness is considered to be in passion.
18.39
The happiness derived from sleep, laziness, and negligenceis bound up in self-deception from start to finish.
It's declared to be in darkness.
18.40
There's no one existing on earthor even among the devas in the divine regionswho is or ever will be liberatedfrom the three gunas born of prakriti.
18.41
The activitiesof brahmans, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudrasspring from their own states of beingand are categorized according tothe gunas.
The brahmans' karma,born from their own state of being,is tranquil, controlled, austere,clean, tolerant, straightforward,
learned, realized, and religious.
18.43
The kshatriyas' karma,born from their own state of being,is courageous, zesty, determined,skillful, and charitable.They refuse to retreat in battleand they are lordly in temperament.
18.44a
The vaishyas' karma,born from their own state of being,is to plow, to herd cattle, and to do business.
18.44b
The shudras' karmais also born from their own state of being,and service to others is its soul.
18.45
Follow your own karma! Follow your own karma!That's how a person achieves success.Listen to how you attain perfectionby following your own karma.
18.46
By dedicating their own karma tothe one who's the source of all creaturesand who pervades everything here,human beings attain perfection.
If, with egotism as your shelter,you think, "I won't fight,"your determination will be misguided,because prakriti will force you to.
18.60
If in your delusion you decide not to do it,you will do it anyway in spite of that.Based on one's own state of being,Kaunteya, one is bound to one's own karma.
18.61
Housed in all creatures in the region of the heart,
Ishvara uses Maya to spin all the creatures around --as if they're mounted on a machine, Arjuna.
18.62
You must take refuge in him, Bharata,with all your being and all your love.Through his mercy you will attainsupreme peace, standing in eternity.
18.63
The most secret of all secrets --this is the knowledge I've taught you.Deliberate on it rigorously.Then do what you will.
18.64
Listen to me again.I'll tell youthe most supreme secret of all.I love you dearly.So I'm telling you thisfor your benefit.
Arnold, Edwin, The Song Celestial, or Bhagavad-Gita, London, 1885 (fromwww.vt.edu).Besant, Annie, The Bhagavad Gita or The Lord's Song , (London, 1895), Adyar, TheTheosophical Publishing House, 1953.Deutsch, Eliot, The Bhagavad Gita, New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968.Easwaran, Eknath, The Bhagavad Gita, Berkeley, Blue Mountain Center of Meditation(Petaluma, Calif., Nilgiri Press), 1985.Edgerton, Franklin, The Bhagavad Gita, Cambridge, The Harvard University Press,
1944, 1972.Feuerstein, Georg, The Bhagavad-Gita : Yoga of Contemplation and Action, AtlanticHighlands N.J., Humanities Press, 1981.Ghai, O. P., The Bhagavad Gita, New Delhi, Sterling Publishers, 1992.Gotshalk, Richard, Bhagavad Gita, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1985.Herman, A. L., The Bhagavad Gita : A Translation and Critical Commentary ,Springfield, Ill., Charles C. Thomas, 1973.Johnson, W. J., The Bhagavad Gita, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1994.Judge, William Quan, Bhagavad-Gita, (1890), Pasadena, Theosophical UniversityPress, 1969.Leggett, Trevor, Realiazation of the Supreme Self : The Bhagavad Gita Yogas, Lodon,
Kegan Paul, 1995.Maheshwar, ed., Bhagavad Gita In the Light of Sri Aurobindo, Pondicherry, India, SriAurobindo Ashram Trust, 1978.Majumdar, Sachindra Kumar, The Bhagavad Gita : A Scripture for the Future,Berkeley, Asian Humanities Press, 1991.Mascaro, Juan, The Bhagavad Gita, New York, Penguin Books, 1962.Miller, Barbara Stoller, The Bhagavad-Gita : Krishna's Counsel in Time of War , NewYork, Bantam Books, 1986.Minor, Robert N., Bhagavad-Gita : An Exegetical Commentary , New Delhi, HeritagePublishers, 1982.Nikhilananda, Swami, The Bhagavad Gita, Ramakrishna Vedanta Center, New York,1944.Nitya Chaitanya Yati, The Bhagavad Gita, New Delhi, 1981.Parrinder, Geoffrey, The Bhagavad Gita : A Verse Translation, New York, E. P. Dutton,1975.Prabhavananda, Swami, and Christopher Isherwood, The Song of God : Bhagavad-Gita, Los Angeles, Vedanta Society of Southern California, 1944, New York, NewAmerican Library (Penguin Books), 1972.
Bhakta: devoteeBhakti: devotion, loveBhakti-Yoga: devotion to God, love of God, service of GodBharata: the king who is considered the ancestor of all the Vedic kings, anyonedescended from Bharata, the indigenous name for the nation known as India
Bhima: one of the five Pandava brothersBhishma: an elder of the Kuru clan respected as a patriarch by both sides -- thoughhe worshiped Krishna as God, he fought against the Pandavas' armyBhoga: enjoyment, food, food not yet offered to GodBhrigu: a sage and deva associated with the planet VenusBrahma: the deva who populated the universe at its beginning, and who remains theprimary god in the cosmic heaven -- in Sanskrit, spelled the same as BrahmanBrahma Sutra: see Vedanta SutraBrahmachari: celibate, a celibate personBrahman: spiritual existence, God, the absolute -- often the term is meant to indicatea non-personal or abstract conception of God, a spiritual energy that also consitutes
the "stuff" of the innumerable souls -- sometimes Krishna uses it to mean the cosmosas a whole -- it also signifies a member of the priestly, professorial, and juridical classof societyBrihaspati: the guru of the devasBrihat-Sama: a Vedic hymnBuddhi: intuitive power of discrimination between spirit and matter, intuitive power of realizing the presence of God -- usually translated as "intelligence" or "understanding,"or sometimes as "soul," the buddhi is that aspect of one's psychology which gives aperson the most dignityBuddhi-Yoga: linking the buddhi to God -- it is the most crucial practice on the path toGod-realization
Chekitana: a warrior on the Pandavas' sideChitraratha: a GandharvaDaitya: son of Diti -- her sons were asurasDeva: God, a god, a demigod, a godly personDevala: a sageDevadatta: Arjuna's conchDeva-Rishi: a title for Narada -- the gods' sageDhana: wealthDhananjaya: Arjuna -- winner of wealthDharma: duty, religion, lawDhrishtadyumna: a warrior on the Pandavas' sideDhrishtaketu: a warrior on the Pandavas' sideDhritarashtra: a blind king -- the father of Duryodhana and his 99 brothersDhyana: meditationDhyana-Yoga: the practice of meditationDraupadi: the wife of all five Pandavas -- a rare instance of polyandryDrona: guru of the young Pandavas and Kurus -- when the Kurus exiled thePandavas, Drona remained at the palace and fought to his death on the Kurus' sideDrupada: a king, the father of Draupadi
Duryodhana: son of Dhritarashtra, principal antagonist of the Pandavas, leader of theKuru armyDvandva: a Sanskrit grammatical constructionGandharva: singer or musician of the godsGandiva: Arjuna's bow
Garuda: the eagle carrier of VishnuGayatri: a prayer usually repeated three times a dayGovinda: Krishna -- gives pleasure to the cowsGudakeshana: Arjuna -- hair in a topknotGuna: strand, rope, mode of material nature -- the three modes are sattva, rajas, andtamasGuru: teacher -- one other meaning of the word is "heavy"Hanuman: the monkey devotee of RamaHari: Krishna -- the deliverer, the savior Himalayas: the tallest mountains on Earth -- at the northern boundary of the SouthAsian subcontinent
Hrishikesh: Krishna -- lord of the sensesIkshvaku: son of the current ManuIndra: the executive chief of the devas, King of the GodsIshvara: controller -- can apply to God or an embodied soulJahnava: the Ganges River Janaka: a king, the father of Queen SitaJanardana: Krishna -- savior of the peopleJayadratha: a warrior on the Kurus' sideJnana: knowledge, understandingJnana-Yoga: the disciplined study of scripture for the purpose of knowing GodKalpa: four billion, three hundred twenty million years -- the duration of one day in the
lifetime of Brahma, whose span of life stretches from the start to the finish of theuniverse, in 100 Brahma-years of 360 days and 360 nights eachKamadhuk: a desire-fulfilling cowKamala Patraksha: Krishna -- lotus-eyedKandarpa: the god of loveKapila: a sage considered an avatar of VishnuKarma: activity, action, work, deeds, action and reaction, the accumulated reactions topast deedsKarma-Yoga: dedicating one's activities, or their fruits, to GodKarna: son of Kunti and brother to the Pandavas, Karna was separated from his familyat birth -- only Kunti knew his true identity -- he became a great warrior and a rival toArjunaKashiraj: the king of Kashi -- the old city of Kashi is now a district in the city of Benares (Varanasi)Kaunteya: Arjuna -- son of KuntiKeshava: Krishna -- with beautiful hair Keshini-Sudana: Krishna -- the subduer of KeshiKiriti: Arjuna -- who wears a crown given by IndraKripa: a warrior on the Pandavas' side
Krishna: black -- this is the simplest literal meaning of the name, but grammarianshave found many other meanings by combining the syllables in various ways --Krishna is considered to be the source of everything and the center of all reality by hisdevotees -- the Song of Bhagavan establishes him as suchKshatriya: warrior, administrator, politician -- one of the four social classes
Kunti: Krishna's aunt, the mother of the PandavasKuntibhoja: a warrior on the Pandavas' sideKuru: ancestor of the Kuru dynasty, of whom both the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra are descendantsKurunandana: Arjuna -- son of KuruKurusattama: Arjuna -- the highest of the KurusKusha: a kind of grassMadhava: Krishna -- the husband of the Goddess of FortuneMadhusudana: Krishna -- the subduer of MadhuMaha-Baho: mighty-armedMaha-Ratha: a great chariot warrior
Maharishi: great sageMahatma: great soulMakara: a half-goat half-fish sea creatureManipushpaka: Sahadev's conchMantra: prayer, hymn -- a short verse repeated over and over in meditation practice,either silently or vocallyManu: the law-giver -- a cosmic official on the godly level who presides throughout aset duration of time, to be succeeded by the next ManuMarichi: the god of lightningMarut: a wind godMaya: (the first a is long) illusion, material energy, magical power -- since Maya is also
a name for The Great Goddess, Maya is generally considered feminineMeru: a huge mountain of gold extending up through the axis of the universeMuni: sage, learned personMurti: form -- it can indicate "form" in general, or it can mean a statue worshiped on analtar Naga: serpent, a large cosmic-scale serpentNakshatra: often translated as "star," a nakshatra is a 13-degree 20-minute arc of thezodiac belt -- there are 27 nakshatras, each further divided into 4 subparts -- theposition of the moon in a nakshatra is important in Vedic astrologyNakula: one of the five Pandava brothersNarada: one of the principal sagesNirvana: no material qualities, a place or state of consciousness that has no materialqualitiesOm: (or Aum) a syllable embodying spiritual energy -- yogis often intone it at lengthand meditate on the sound -- it's also often placed at the beginning of mantras or hymns to indicate GodPanchajanya: Krishna's conchPandava: son of PanduPandit: scholar, learned person
Parameshvara: supreme lord, supreme controller Parantapa: Arjuna -- chastiser of enemiesPartha: Arjuna -- son of Pritha (Kunti)Paundram: Bhima's conchPavaka: a fire god
Prabhu: lord, master Prahlad: a devotee who as a boy endured the torments of his ungodly father Prana: air, breath, life air, life force, a category of material energy that mediatesbetween body and mind -- comparable to the Chinese term "chi" or "ki"Pranayama: yogic discipline of breath control as a method for fixing the mind on GodPrakriti: nature, material nature, a name of the Great Goddess, an individual person'snaturePrasadam: mercy, grace, serenity, something offered to God (usually food)Purujit: a warrior on the Pandavas' sidePurusha: person, soul, God, masculine personPurushottam: Krishna, the highest purusha
Raja: kingRaja-Rishi: wise and saintly kingRajas: passion -- one of the three gunasRakshasha: a demon who eats humans, a giantRama: the dutiful king and hero of the Ramayana who is a popularly worshiped avatar of VishnuRishi: sage, holy person, saintRudra: a manifestation of ShivaSadhu: wise person, teacher Sadhya: a devaSahadev: one of the five Pandava brothers
Samadhi: trance of union with GodSamsara: birth-and-death understood as a repeated cycleSanjaya: Dhritarashtra's secretary -- he is able to see events taking place at adistance through the extra-sensory perception he learned from Vyas, his guruSankhya: analysis of material nature, a philosophical system that rejects the conceptof spiritual realitySankhya-Yoga: practice of stoicismSannyas: renunciation, the last of the four stages of life in traditional Vedic societySannyasi: a renounced personSat: reality, existence, eternity (n. or adj.)Sattva: goodness, lucidity -- one of the three gunasSatyaki: a warrior on the Pandavas' sideSavyasachin: Arjuna -- expert archer Shaibya: a warrior on the Pandavas' sideShankara: ShivaShisya: discipleShri: beautiful -- a term of respect placed at the beginning of a person's name, as inShri Bhagavan -- another name for Lakshmi, the consort of VishnuShudra: laborer, servant -- one of the four social classes
Sikhandi: a warrior on the Pandavas' sideSkanda: the general of the devas' army, the god of war Soma: the moon, the moon god, a substance that when ingested imbued a personwith divinity (the exact identity of the substance and its exact effects have been lost)Somadatta: father of a warrior on the Kurus' side
Subhadra: the sister of Krishna and wife of ArjunaSughosha: Nakula's conchSvadharma: one's own duty based on personal aptitudeTamas: darkness, ignorance -- one of the three gunasTat: that, the spiritual realm, GodTyaga: renunciation, giving up -- sometimes contrasted with sannyas, in which case itrefers to the giving up of the fruits of an activity rather than the act itself Ucchaihshrava: a horse produced out of the ocean during the churning competitionbetween the devas and the asurasUshana: a poet-philosopher Uttamauja: a warrior on the Pandavas' side
Vaishya: merchant, farmer -- one of the four social classesVarna: social class, casteVarshneya: Krishna -- in the Vrishni dynastyVaruna: the sea godVasava: another name for IndraVasu: a devaVasudeva: (the first a is long) KrishnaVasudeva: (the first a is short) Krishna's father Vasuki: king of the snakesVayu: the god of wind and air Vikarma: improper action
Vikarna: a warrior on the Kurus' sideVishnu: Krishna in his four-armed form, the Godhead in a form approached with aweand reverence, the manifestation of God associated with sattva-guna and themaintenance of the cosmos (along with Brahma, raja- guna, creation, and Shiva,tama-guna, destruction)Vivashvan: the sun godVeda: (or Vedas) knowledge, scriptures -- the Vedas are a body of knowledge comingfrom a distant past when there was one Veda communicated only through speech,then from a more recent past 5,000 years ago when they were first compiled in writtenform -- when considered as separate books, they are divided into many categories --sometimes the term refers only to the Rik, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva VedasVedanta: specifically, the Vedanta-Sutra or Brahma-Sutra, a scripture -- or generally,the philosophy derived from the scriptureVirata: a warrior on the Pandavas' sideVishva: a devaVittesha: another name for Kuvera, the treasurer of the godsVrishni: a member of the dynasty in which Krishna took his birth as the son of Vasudeva and DevakiVyas: the compiler of the Vedas -- a sage considered to be especially empowered by
God for literary service Yajna: offering, making offerings, sacrifice Yaksha: a deva Yama: the god of death, lord of the underworld -- Yama is not a demon, but rather oneof the principal devas
Yoga: in the simplest sense, yoga means practice or discipline -- it can be used as asuffix added to terms to indicate the disciplined practice of something -- but since theroot of the word is "yuk," meaning "yoke" or "connect," it specifically points to a joiningwith God -- it also can signify mystical powers possessed by a person
Yoga-Maya: Krishna's material power, or illusory power, and the Goddess whoembodies it
Yogeshvara: Krishna -- lord of yoga, master of mystics Yogi: one who practices a spiritual discipline Yudhamanya: a warrior on the Pandavas' side Yudishthir : one of the five Pandava brothers, the rightful heir to the throne -- the battleof Kurukshetra is being fought because Duryodhana and the Kurus are denying him
his accession Yuga: age, era, epoch -- four yugas make up a yuga-cycle, 1000 cycles make up akalpa -- the four yugas are named Satya, Dvapara, Treta, and Kali, lasting1,728,000,000 years, 1,296,000 years, 864,000 years, and 432,000 years respectively