Bhagavad_Gita: Chapter 2 - Sāṅkhya Yoga (The Yoga of Analysis)

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Chapter 2 - Sāṅkhya Yoga (The Yoga of Analysis)

1. Sanjaya said: To him, who was overcome with pity, whose eyes were wet with tears, who was sorrow-stricken and bore a bewildered look, Sri Krishna spoke as follows:
2. The Lord said, "Whence comes this despondency upon you, O Arjuna, in this crisis? It is unfitting for a noble person; it is disgraceful and it obstructs one's attainment of heaven."
3. Do not yield to unmanliness, O Arjuna, it does not befit you. Shake off this base faint-heartedness and arise, O conqueror of foes!
4. Arjuna said, "O slayer of foes, how can I aim arrows in battle against Bhisma and Drona, who are worthy of reverence?"
5. It is better even to live on a beggar's fare in this world than to slay these most venerable teachers. If I were to slay my teachers, though they may be degraded by desire for wealth, I would only be enjoying blood-stained pleasures here.
6. We do not know which of the two is better for us: whether our vanquishing them or their vanquishing us. The very sons of Dhrtarastra, whom, if we were to slay, we would not wish to live, even they are standing in array against us.
7. With my heart stricken by the fault of weak compassion, my mind perplexed about my duty, I implore you to tell me for certain what is good for me. I am your disciple; teach me, who have taken refuge in you.
8. Even if I were to win unchallenged sovereignty of a prosperous earth or even lordship over the Devas, I do not feel that it would dispel the grief that withers up my senses.
9. Sanjaya said, Having thus spoken to Sri Krsna, Arjuna, the conqueror of sleep and the scorcher of foes, said, "I will not fight," and became silent.
10. O King, to him who was thus sorrowing between the two armies, Sri Krishna spoke the following words, as if smiling (by way of ridicule).
11. The Lord said, "You grieve for those who should not be grieved for; yet you speak words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the dead nor for the living."
12. There never was a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor any of these kings. Nor will there be any time in the future when all of us shall cease to exist.
13. Just as the self associated with a body passes through childhood, youth, and old age, so too, at death, it passes into another body. A wise man is not deluded by that.
14. The contact of the senses with their objects, O Arjuna, gives rise to feelings of cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go, never lasting long. Endure them, O Arjuna.
15. For, he whom these do not affect, O chief of men, and to whom pain and pleasure are equal - that steadfast man alone is worthy of immortality.
16. The unreal never comes into being, the real never ceases to be. The truth about these two is seen by the seers.
17. Know that to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded. No one can cause the destruction of this immutable.
18. These bodies of the Jiva (the embodied self) are said to have an end, while the Jiva itself is eternal, indestructible, and incomprehensible. Therefore, fight, O Bharata (Arjuna).
19. He who considers It (the self) to be the slayer, and he who thinks of It as slain—both are ignorant. For, the self neither slays nor is being slain.
20. It is never born; it never dies; having come into existence once, it never ceases to exist. Unborn, eternal, perpetual, and primordial, it is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.
21. He who knows this self to be indestructible, unborn, unchanging, and thus eternal—how, O Arjuna, does he cause anyone to be killed, and whom does he kill?
22. As a man casts off worn-out garments and puts on new ones, so does the embodied self cast off its worn-out bodies and enter into new ones.
23. Weapons cannot cleave It, fire cannot burn It, waters cannot wet It, and wind cannot dry It.
24. It cannot be cleaved; It cannot be burned; It cannot be wetted, and It cannot be dried; It is eternal, all-pervasive, stable, immovable, and primordial.
25. This (self) is said to be unmanifest, inconceivable, and unchanging. Therefore, knowing it thus, it does not befit you to grieve.
26. Or, if you consider this self as constantly being born and constantly dying, O mighty-armed one, it still does not become you to feel grief.
27. For, death is certain for the born, and rebirth is certain for the dead; therefore, you should not grieve for what is inevitable.
28. O Arjuna, beings have an unknown beginning, a known middle, and an unknown end. What is there to grieve about in all this?
29. One regards This (self) as a wonder; another speaks of It as a wonder; yet another hears of It as a wonder; and even after hearing of It, one does not know It.
30. The self in the body, O Arjuna, is eternal and indestructible. This is the case for all selves in all bodies. Therefore, it is not fitting for you to feel grief for any being.
31. Further, considering also your own duty, it does not befit you to waver. For, to a Kshatriya, there is no greater good than a righteous war.
32. Happy are the Ksatriyas, O Arjuna, to whom such a war comes of its own accord; it opens the gates to heaven.
33. But if you do not fight this righteous war, you will be turning away from your duty and honor, and will incur sin.
34. Further, people will speak ill of you for all time, and for one accustomed to being honored, dishonor is worse than death.
35. The great warriors will think that you have fled from battle out of fear. Those who held you in high esteem will now speak of you disparagingly.
36. Your enemies, slandering your prowess, will use words that should never be uttered. What could be more painful than that?
37. If slain, you will win heaven; or if victorious, you will enjoy the earth. Therefore, arise, O Arjuna, resolved to fight.
38. Holding pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as equal, gird yourself up for the battle. Thus, you shall not incur any sin.
39. This Buddhi concerning the Self (Sankhya) has been imparted to you. Now listen to this with regard to Yoga, by following which you will get rid of the bondage of Karma.
40. Here, there is no loss of effort, nor any accrual of evil. Even a little of this Dharma (called Karma Yoga) protects one from the great fear.
41. In this (Karma Yoga), O Arjuna, the resolute mind is single-pointed; the minds of the irresolute are multi-branched and endless.
42. - O Partha, the unwise, who rejoice in the letter of the Vedas, say, "There is nothing else." They are full only of worldly desires and they hanker for heaven. They speak flowery words that offer mirth as the fruit of work. They look upon the Vedas as consisting entirely of varied rites for the attainment of pleasure and power. Those who cling so to pleasure and power are attracted by that speech (offering heavenly rewards) and are unable to develop the resolute will of a concentrated mind.
43. - O Partha, the unwise, who rejoice in the letter of the Vedas, say, "There is nothing else." They are full only of worldly desires and they yearn for heaven. They speak flowery words that offer mirth as the fruit of work. They view the Vedas as consisting entirely of varied rites for the attainment of pleasure and power. Those who cling so to pleasure and power are attracted by that speech (offering heavenly rewards) and are unable to develop the resolute will of a focused mind.
44. - O Partha, the unwise, who rejoice in the letter of the Vedas, say, "There is nothing else." They are full only of worldly desires and they hanker for heaven. They speak flowery words that offer mirth as the fruit of work. They look upon the Vedas as consisting entirely of varied rites for the attainment of pleasure and power. Those who cling so to pleasure and power are attracted by that speech (offering heavenly rewards) and are unable to develop the resolute will of a concentrated mind.
45. The Vedas have the three Gunas as their sphere, O Arjuna. You must be free from the three Gunas and be free from the pairs of opposites. Abide in pure Sattva; never care to acquire things and to protect what has been acquired, but be established in the Self.
46. What use does a thirsty person have for a water reservoir when all sides of it are flooded—that is the only use of all the Vedas for a Brahmana who knows.
47. You have the right to work alone, but not to the fruits of it. Do not be driven by the results of your work, nor have attachment to inaction.
48. Abandoning attachment and established in Yoga, perform works, viewing success and failure with an even mind. Evenness of mind is said to be Yoga.
49. Action done with attachment, O Arjuna, is far inferior to action done with evenness of mind. Seek refuge in evenness of mind; those who act with a motive for results are miserable.
50. A person with an evenness of mind discards both good and evil here and now. Therefore, strive for Yoga; for Yoga is skill in action.
51. The wise, who possess evenness of mind, relinquish the fruits born of action, and are freed from the bondage of birth, going to the region beyond all ills.
52. When your intellect has passed beyond the tangle of delusion, you will yourself feel disgusted with what you have heard and what you will hear.
53. When your intellect, having been well enlightened by hearing from Me and firmly placed, stands unshaken in a concentrated mind, then you will attain the vision of the Self.
54. Arjuna said, "What is the mode of speech of one who is of firm wisdom, established in the control of the mind? What does a man of firm wisdom speak, O Krsna? How does he sit? How does he move?"
55. The Lord said, "When a man renounces all the desires of the mind and is content with himself, then he is said to possess firm wisdom."
56. He whose mind is not perturbed by pain, who has no longing for pleasures, who is free from desire, fear, and anger—he is called a sage of firm wisdom.
57. He who has no love on any side, who, upon finding good or evil, neither rejoices nor hates—his wisdom is firmly set.
58. When one is able to draw their senses away from the objects of sense on all sides, like a tortoise draws in its limbs, then their wisdom is firmly established.
59. The objects of the senses, except for the pleasure they bring, turn away from the abstinent dweller in the body. Even the pleasure turns away from him when the Self, which is supreme over the senses, is seen.
60. The turbulent senses, O Arjuna, can forcibly carry away the mind of even a wise man, though he is ever striving.
61. Having controlled all the senses, let him remain in contemplation, regarding Me as supreme; for his knowledge is firmly established when his senses are under control.
62. To one who is thinking about sense-objects, attachment to them arises; from attachment arises desire, and from desire arises anger.
63. Anger leads to delusion, which causes the loss of memory; the loss of memory leads to the destruction of discrimination, and with the destruction of discrimination, one is lost.
64. But he who goes through the sense-objects with the senses free from love and hate, disciplined and controlled, attains serenity.
65. In that serenity, all sorrow is lost; for in the case of the person with a serene mind, the Buddhi is quickly established.
66. There is no Buddhi for the unintegrated, nor is there contemplation of the self for him, and without contemplation of the self, there is no peace; and for one who lacks peace, where is the happiness?
67. For, when the mind follows the senses, experiencing their objects, his understanding is carried away by them, just as the wind carries away a ship on the waters.
68. Therefore, O mighty-armed one, he whose senses are restrained from going after their objects on all sides, his wisdom is firmly established.
69. What is night for all beings, in it the one who is controlled is awake; when all beings are awake, that is the night for the sage who sees.
70. He into whom all desires enter, just as the waters enter the full and undisturbed sea, attains peace, and not he who longs after objects of desire.
71. The one who, abandoning all desires, abides without longing, possession, and the sense of 'I' and 'mine', wins peace.
72. This is the Brahmic state, O Arjuna. No one attaining to this is deluded. By abiding in this state even at the hour of death, one will attain the Self.