Sankhya Yoga

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Bhagavad Gita

 

II. SANKHYA YOGA

 

SAMJAYA SAID:

 

1. To him who was thus overcome with pity and afflicted and whose

eyes were full of tears and agitated, the destroyer of Madhu spoke as

follows:

 

THE LORD SAID:

 

2. Whence in (this) perilous strait has come upon thee this weakness

cherished by the unworthy, debarring from heaven and causing

disgrace, O Arjuna ?

 

3. Yield not to unmanliness, O son of Pritha. It does not become

thee. Cast off this base weakness of heart and arise, O tormentor of

foes.

 

ARJUNA SAID:

 

4. O slayer of Madhu, how shall I assail in battle with arrows

Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of worship, O slayer of enemies.

 

5. Better indeed in this world to live even upon alms than to slay

the teachers of high honor. But, were I to slay these teachers, I

should only in this world enjoy the pleasures of wealth, delights

stained with blood.

 

6. And we know not which is the better alternative for us; nor do we

know whether we shall conquer them or they will conquer us. Even the

sons of Dhritarashtra, after killing whom we do not wish to live,

stand arrayed against us.

 

7. My heart contaminated by the taint of helplessness, my mind

confounded about Dharma, I ask Thee: tell me what is absolutely good.

I am Thy pupil. Instruct me, who have sought Thy grace.

 

8. I do not indeed see what can dispel the grief which burns up my

senses, even after attaining unrivalled and prosperous dominion on

earth or even lordship over gods.

 

SAMJAYA SAID:

 

9. Having spoken thus to Hrishikesa, Gudakesa, the tormenter of foes,

said to Govinda, 'I will not fight' and verily remained silent

 

10. To him who was grieving in the midst of the two armies, O

descendant of Bharata, Hrishikesa as if smiling, spoke these words:

 

THE LORD SAID:

 

11. For those who deserve no grief thou hast grieved and words of

wisdom thou speakest. For the living and for the dead the wise grieve

not.

 

12. Never did I not exist, nor thou, nor these rulers of men; and no

one of us will ever hereafter cease to exist.

 

13. Just as in this body the embodied (Self) passes into childhood

and youth and old age, so does He pass into another body. There the

wise man is not distressed.

 

14. The sense-contacts it is, O son of Kunti, which causes heat and

cold; pleasure and pain; they come and go, they are impermanent. Them

endure bravely, O descendant of Bharata.

 

15. That wise man whom, verily, these afflict not, O chief of men, to

whom pleasure and pain are same, he for immortality is fit.

 

16. Of the unreal no being there is; there is no non-being of the

real. Of both these is the truth seen by the seers of the Essence.

 

17. But know that to be imperishable by which all this is pervaded.

None can cause the destruction of That, the Inexhaustible.

 

18. These bodies of the embodied (Self) who is eternal,

indestructible and unknowable, are said to have an end. Do fight,

therefore, O descendant of Bharata.

 

19. Whoever looks upon Him as the slayer and whoever looks upon Him

as the slain, both these know not aright. He slays not, nor is He

slain.

 

20. He is not born, nor does He ever die; after having been, He again

ceases not to be; nor the reverse. Unborn, eternal, unchangeable and

primeval, He is not slain when the body is slain.

 

21. Whoso knows Him as indestructible, eternal, unborn and

inexhaustible - How, O son of Pritha, and whom does such a man cause

to slay and whom does he slay?

 

22. Just as a man casts off worn-out clothes and puts on others which

are new, so the embodied (self) casts off worn-out bodies and enters

others which are new.

 

23. Him weapons cut not, Him fire burns not and Him water wets not;

Him wind dries not.

 

24. He cannot be cut, nor burnt, nor wetted, nor dried up. He is

everlasting, all-pervading stable, firm and eternal.

 

25. He, it is said, is unmanifest, unthinkable and unchangeable.

Wherefore, knowing Him to be such, thou hadst better grieve not.

 

26. But even if thou thinkest of Him as ever being born and ever

dying, even then, O mighty-armed, thou oughtst not to grieve thus.

 

27. To that which is born, death is indeed certain; and to that which

is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, about the unavoidable thing,

thou oughtst not to grieve.

 

28. Beings have their beginning unseen, their middle seen, and their

end unseen again. Why any lamentation regarding them ?

 

29. One sees Him as a wonder; and so also another speaks of Him as a

wonder; and as a wonder another hears of Him; and though hearing,

none understands Him at all.

 

30. He, the embodied (Self) in every one's body, can never be killed,

O descendant of Bharata. Wherefore thou oughtst not to grieve about

any creature.

 

31. Having regard to thine own duty also, thou oughtst not to waver.

For, to a Kshatriya, there is nothing more wholesome than a lawful

battle.

 

32. Happy Kshatriya, O son of Pritha, find such a battle as this,

come of itself, an open door to heaven.

 

33. Now if thou wouldst not fight this lawful battle, then having

abandoned thine own duty and fame, thou shalt incur sin.

 

34. People, too, will recount thy everlasting infamy; and to one who

has been esteemed, infamy is more than death.

 

35. The great car-warriors will think thou hast withdrawn from the

battle through fear; and having been hitherto highly esteemed by

them, thou wilt incur their contempt.

 

36. Thy enemies, too, scorning thy power, will take many abusive

words. What is more painful than that ?

 

37. Killed, thou wilt reach heaven; victorious, thou wilt enjoy the

earth. Wherefore, O son of Kunti, arise, resolved to fight.

 

38. Then, treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, success

and defeat, prepare for the battle and thus wilt thou not incur sin.

 

39. This, which has been taught to thee is wisdom concerning Sankhya.

Now listen to wisdom concerning Yoga, which possessing thou shalt

cast off the bond of action.

 

40. There is no loss effort here, there is no harm. Even a little of

this devotion delivers one from great fear.

 

41. Here, O son of Kuru, there is one thought of a resolute nature.

Many-branched and endless are the thoughts of the irresolute.

 

42-44. No conviction of a resolute nature is formed in the mind of

those who are attached to pleasures and power and whose minds are

drawn away by that flowery speech which the unwise - enamoured of

Vedic utterances, declaring there is nothing else, full of desire,

having svarga as their goal - utter, (a speech) which promises birth

as the reward of actions and which abounds in specific acts for the

attainment of pleasure and power, O son of Pritha.

 

45. The Vedas treat of the triad of the gunas. Be, O Arjuna, free

from the triad of the gunas, free from pairs, free from acquisition

and preservation, ever remaining in the Sattva and self-possessed.

 

46. What utility there is in a reservoir by the side of an all-

spreading flood of water, the same (utility) there is in all Vedas

for an enlightened Brahmana.

 

47. Thy concern is with action alone, never with results. Let not the

fruit of action be thy motive, nor let thy attachment be for inaction.

 

48. Steadfast in devotion do thy works, O Dhananjaya, casting off

attachment, being the same in success and failure. Evenness is called

Yoga.

 

49. Verily action is far inferior to devotion in wisdom (buddhi-

yoga), O Dhananjaya. In wisdom (buddhi) seek thou shelter. Wretched

are they whose motive is the fruit.

 

50. He who is endued with wisdom casts off here both good deeds and

bad deeds. Wherefore apply thyself to devotion. In regard to actions

devotion is a power.

 

51. For, men of wisdom cast off the fruit of action; possessed of

knowledge (and) released from the bond of birth, they go to the place

where there is no evil.

 

52. When thy mind shall cross beyond the mire of delusion, then wilt

thou attain to a disgust of what is yet to be heard and what has been

heard.

 

53. When thy mind, perplexed by what thou hast heard, shall stand

firm and steady in the Self, then wilt thou attain Yoga.

 

ARJUNA SAID:

 

54. What, O Kesava! Is the description of one of steady knowledge,

who is constant in contemplation ? How does one of steady knowledge

speak, how sit, how move ?

 

THE LORD SAID:

 

55. The Lord said: When a man, satisfied in the Self alone by

himself, completely casts off all the desires of the mind, then is he

said to be one of steady knowledge.

 

56. He whose heart is not distressed in calamities, from whom all

longing for pleasures has departed, who is free from attachment, fear

and wrath, he is called a sage, a man of steady knowledge.

 

57. Whoso, without attachment anywhere, on meeting with anything good

or bad, neither exults nor hates, his knowledge becomes steady.

 

58. When he completely withdraws the senses from sense-objects, as

the tortoise (withdraws) its limbs from all sides, his knowledge is

steady.

 

59. Objects withdraw from an abstinent man, but not the taste. On

seeing the Supreme, his taste, too, ceases.

 

60. The dangerous senses, O son of Kunti, forcibly carry away the

mind of a wise man, even while striving (to control them).

 

61. Restraining them all, a man should remain steadfast, intent on

Me. His knowledge is steady whose senses are under control.

 

62. When a man thinks of objects, attachment for them arises. From

attachment arises desire; from desire arises wrath.

 

63. From wrath arises delusion; from delusion, failure of memory;

from failure of memory, loss of conscience; from loss of conscience

he is utterly ruined.

 

64. He attains peace, who, self-controlled, approaches objects with

the senses devoid of love and hatred and brought under his own-

control.

 

65. In peace there is an end of all his miseries; for, the reason of

the tranquil-minded soon becomes steady.

 

66. There is no wisdom to the unsteady, and no meditation to the

unsteady, and to the un-meditative no peace; to the peaceless, how

can there be happiness ?

 

67. For, the mind which yields to the roving senses carries away his

knowledge, as the wind (carries away) a ship on water.

 

68. Therefore, O mighty-armed, his knowledge is steady whose senses

have been entirely restrained from sense-objects.

 

69. What is night to all beings, therein the self controlled one is

awake. Where all beings are awake, that is the night of the sage who

sees.

 

70. He attains peace, into whom all desires enter as waters enter the

ocean, which, filled from all sides, remains unaltered; but not he

who desires objects.

 

71. That man attains peace, who, abandoning all desires, moves about

without attachment, without selfishness, without vanity.

 

72. This is the Brahmic state, O son of Pritha. Attaining to this,

none is deluded. Remaining in this state even at the last period of

life, one attains to the felicity of Brahman.