Bhagavad Gita Chapters: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | 6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 | 16 |
17 |
18 |
- 1. The Lord said, "Fearlessness, purity of mind, devotion to meditation on the knowledge of the self, alms-giving, self-control, worship, study of the Vedas, austerity, and uprightness—
- 2. Non-injury, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation, tranquility, non-slandering of others, compassion for all beings, freedom from desire, gentleness, a sense of shame, and freedom from fickleness;
- 3. Grandeur, patience, fortitude, purity, freedom from hatred and over-pride—these, O Arjuna, belong to one who is born to a divine destiny.
- 4. Pompousness, arrogance, self-conceit, wrath, rudeness, and ignorance—these, O Arjuna, belong to one who is born with a demonic destiny.
- 5. The divine destiny is said to lead to liberation, while the demoniac to bondage. Do not grieve, O Arjuna, for you are born with a divine destiny.
- 6. There are two types of beings in this world: the divine and the demoniac. The divine have been described at length. Hear from Me, O Arjuna, about the demoniac.
- 7. The demoniacal men neither know action nor renunciation. They have no cleanliness, nor right conduct, nor truth.
- 8. They maintain: 'The universe is without truth, with no foundation, and without a Lord (Isvara). What else could exist without mutual causation? It has lust as its cause.'
- 9. Holding this view, these men of lost souls and feeble understanding do cruel deeds, leading to the destruction of the world.
- 10. Turning to insatiable desires, seizing through delusion unjustly acquired wealth, and following impious vows, they act, full of ostentation, pride, and arrogance.
- 11. Obsessed by unlimited cares that end with dissolution, looking upon the enjoyment of desires as their highest aim, and convinced that this is all;
- 12. Bound by hundreds of fetters of hopes, given over to desire and anger, they strive unjustly to gather wealth for the gratification of their desires.
- 13. 'This I have gained today, and this desire I shall attain. This wealth is mine, and this will also be mine hereafter.
- 14. 'I have slain this enemy, and I shall slay others too. I am the Lord, the enjoyer, the successful one, the strong one, and the happy one.'
- 15. 'I am wealthy and high-born; who else is equal to me? I shall sacrifice, I shall give alms, I shall rejoice.' Thus they think, deluded by ignorance.
- 16. Bewildered by numerous thoughts, ensnared in the net of delusion, addicted to sensual pleasures, they fall into a wretched Naraka.
- 17. Self-conceited, self-sufficient, intoxicated by wealth and pride, they perform sacrifices in name only, ostentatiously and not according to the injunctions of the scriptures.
- 18. Depending on their egoism, power, and pride, as well as their desires and wrath, these malicious men hate Me in their own bodies and in those of others.
- 19. Those who are hateful, cruel, the vilest and most inauspicious of mankind, I hurl forever into the cycles of births and deaths, into the wombs of demons.
- 20. Fallen into demoniac wombs in birth after birth, these deluded men, not attaining Me, further sink down to the lowest level, O Arjuna.
- 21. Desire, wrath, and greed—these are the three gateways to Naraka, ruinous to the self. Therefore, one should abandon these three.
- 22. One who has been released from these three gates of darkness, O Arjuna, works for the benefit of the self; thus, they reach the supreme state.
- 23. He who, abandoning the injunctions of the Sastras, acts under the influence of desire, attains neither perfection nor pleasure, nor the supreme state.
- 24. Therefore, let the Sastra be your authority for determining what should be done and what should not be done. Knowing what is enjoined in the injunctions of the Sastra, you should perform work here.