Evil Wisdom 
Deadly thoughts
Not to be forgotten
By any heart
Evil Wisdom Deadly thoughts
Not to be forgotten
By any heart
I am releasing this collection of writings because they deserve wider appreciation. Many people have heard of the Bhagavad Gita and the Dhammapada, but who has seriously read them? And who has even remotely understood them?
In bringing you these works I have exercised my trademark "thinker's license". As you make your way through these writings it will become clear what a thinker's license enables one to do.
The two major works, the Bhagavad Gita and the Dhammapada, are very similar. Both explode with truth in the aphoristic style I love so much. Both are brave words for warriors in an age of peace. Yet some of what they teach is false, and some of the teachings are exceedingly weak, which makes them false also. I may have left some of this material in by mistake, but my sporadic commentary should make up for any sin of inclusion.
Shortcomings aside, all these writings are of the very highest quality. If you care for your own health then you will read this work frequently and contemplate it deeply.
YOU WILL FIND NO GREATER TREASURE!
Kevin Solway, 1994
- With commentary by Kevin Solway -
1.
This copy begins with the battle proper . . .
Sanjaya
The flight of arrows was now to begin and Arjuna, on whose banner was the symbol of an ape, saw Duryodhana and his warriors drawn up in their lines of battle. He thereupon took up his bow.
And spoke these words to Krishna:
Arjuna
Drive my chariot, Krishna immortal, and place it between the two armies.
That I may see those warriors who stand there eager for battle, with whom I must now fight at the beginning of this war.
That I may see those who have come here eager and ready to fight, in their desire to do the will of the evil son of Dhrita- rashtra.
Sanjaya
When Krishna heard the words of Arjuna he drove their glorious chariot and placed it between the two armies.
Then Arjuna saw in both armies fathers, grandfathers, sons, grandsons; fathers of wives, uncles, masters; brothers companions and friends.
When Arjuna thus saw his kinsmen face to face in both lines of battle, he was overcome by grief and despair and thus he spoke with a sinking heart.
Arjuna
When I see all my kinsmen, Krishna, who have come here on this field of battle, life goes from my limbs and they sink, and my mouth is sear and dry; a trembling overcomes my body, and my hair shudders in horror.
My great bow Gandiva falls from my hands, and the skin of my flesh is burning; I am no longer able to stand, because my mind is whirling and wandering.
And I see forebodings of evil, Krishna. I cannot foresee any glory if I kill my own kinsmen in the sacrifice of battle.
Because I have no wish for victory, Krishna, nor for a kingdom, nor for its pleasures. How can we want a kingdom, Govinda, or its pleasures or even life, when those for whom we want a kingdom, and its pleasures, and the joys of life, are here in this field of battle about to give up their wealth and their life?
Facing us in the field of battle are teachers, fathers and sons; grandsons, grandfathers, wives' brothers; mothers' brothers and fathers of wives.
These I do not wish to slay, even if I myself am slain. Not even for the kingdom of the three worlds: how much less for a kingdom of the earth!
If we kill these evil men, evil shall fall upon us: what joy in their death could we have, O Janardana, mover of souls.
I cannot therefore kill my own kinsmen, the sons of king Dhrita- rashtra, the brother of my own father. What happiness could we ever enjoy, if we killed our own kinsmen in battle?
Even if they, with minds overcome by greed, see no evil in the destruction of a family, see no sin in the treachery to friends;
Shall we not, who see the evil of destruction, shall we not refrain from this terrible deed?
O day of darkness! What evil spirit moved our minds when for the sake of an earthly kingdom we came to this field of battle ready to kill our own people?
Better for me indeed if the sons of Dhrita-rashtra, with arms in hand, found me unarmed, unresisting, and killed me in the struggle of war.
Sanjaya
Thus spoke Arjuna in the field of battle, and letting fall his bow and arrows he sank down in his chariot, his soul overcome by despair and grief.
2
Sanjaya
Then arose the Spirit of Krishna and spoke to Arjuna, his friend, who with eyes filled with tears, thus had sunk into despair and grief.
Krishna
Whence this lifeless dejection, Arjuna, in this hour, the hour of trial? Strong men know not despair, Arjuna, for this wins neither heaven nor earth.
Fall not into degrading weakness, for this becomes not a man who is a man. Throw off this ignoble discouragement, and arise like a fire that burns all before it.
Arjuna
Shall my arrows in battle slay Drona, my teacher? Shall I kill my own masters who, though greedy of my kingdom, are yet my sacred teachers? I would rather eat in this life the food of a beggar than eat royal food tasting of their blood.
And we know not whether their victory or ours be better for us. The sons of my uncle and king, Dhrita-rashtra, are here before us: after their death, should we wish to live?
In the dark night of my soul I feel desolation. In my self-pity I see not the way of righteousness. I am thy disciple, come to thee in supplication: be a light unto me on the path of my duty.
For neither the kingdom of the earth, nor the kingdom of the gods in heaven, could give me peace from the fire of sorrow which thus burns my life.
Sanjaya
When Arjuna the great warrior had thus unburdened his heart, "I will not fight, Krishna," he said, and then fell silent.
Krishna smiled and spoke to Arjuna - there between the two armies the voice of God spoke these words:
Krishna
Thy tears are for those beyond tears; and are thy words of wisdom? The wise grieve not for those who live; and they grieve not for those who die - for life and death shall pass away.
Because we all have been for all time: I, and thou, and those kings of men. And we all shall be for all time, we all for ever and ever.
As the Spirit of our mortal body wanders on in childhood, and youth and old age, the Spirit wanders on to a new body: of this the sage has no doubts.
This very last statement is of doubtful origin, with its blind faith and its shameful appeal to the authority of "the sage". In fact, the Spirit is not an entity, so is not able to travel from one body to another in a linear fashion, as is implied above. Rather, the Spirit is the totality of what you are, so it wanders infinitely into the world around you, into other bodies, into other things, and necessarily does so at all times. It wanders with the infinite meanderings of cause and effect. I can only think that some cowardly monk felt the need to insert more than a few words of his own into this text to make it palatable to his taste. Now, when innocent enquirers read this scripture they naturally gravitate towards these few corrupt passages, finding support for their own mistaken ideas. And because these corrupt passages are totally incompatible with the rest of the text the rest of the text is conveniently ignored - convenient to cowardly monks!
From the world of the senses, Arjuna, comes heat and comes cold, and pleasure and pain. They come and they go: they are transient. Arise above them, strong soul.
The man whom these cannot move, whose soul is one, beyond pleasure and pain, is worthy of life in Eternity.
The unreal never is: the Real never is not. This truth indeed has been seen by those who can see the true.
Interwoven in his creation, the Spirit is beyond destruction. No one can bring to an end the Spirit which is everlasting.
For beyond time he dwells in these bodies, though these bodies have an end in their time; but he remains immeasurable, immortal. Therefore, great warrior, carry on thy fight.
If any man thinks he slays, and if another thinks he is slain, neither knows the ways of truth. The eternal in man cannot kill: the Eternal in man cannot die.
He is never born, and he never dies. He is in Eternity: he is for evermore. Never-born and eternal, beyond times gone or to come, he does not die when the body dies.
When a man knows him as never-born, everlasting, never-changing, beyond all destruction, how can that man kill a man, or cause another to kill?
As a man leaves an old garment and puts on one that is new, the Spirit leaves his mortal body and then puts on one that is new.
Don't believe a word of it! That cowardly monk has been at work again. I would have written this passage thus: As a candle is able to light many other candles before it is exhausted, and burns no longer, the Spirit goes on its way.
Weapons cannot hurt the Spirit and fire can never burn him. Untouched is he by drenching waters, untouched is he by parching winds.
Beyond the power of sword and fire, beyond the power of waters and winds, the Spirit is everlasting, omnipresent, never- changing, never moving, ever One.
Invisible is he to mortal eyes, beyond thought and beyond change. Know that he is, and cease from sorrow.
For all things born in truth must die, and out of death in truth comes life. Face to face with what must be, cease thou from sorrow.
Invisible before birth are all beings and after death invisible again. They are seen between two unseens. Why in this truth find sorrow?
The Spirit that is in all beings is immortal in them all: for the death of what cannot die, cease thou to sorrow.
Think thou also of thy duty and do not waver. There is no greater good for a warrior than to fight in a righteous war.
There is a war that opens the doors of heaven, Arjuna! Happy the warriors whose fate is to fight such a war.
But to forgo this fight for righteousness is to forgo thy duty and honour: is to fall into transgression.
Men will tell of thy dishonour both now and in times to come. And to a man who is in honour, dishonour is more than death.
The great warriors will say that thou hast run from the battle through fear; and those who thought great things of thee will speak of thee in scorn.
And thine enemies will speak of thee in contemptuous words of ill-will and derision, pouring scorn upon thy courage. Can there be for a warrior a more shameful fate?
In death thy glory in heaven, in victory thy glory on earth. Arise therefore, Arjuna, with thy soul ready to fight.
Prepare for war with peace in thy soul. Be in peace in pleasure and pain, in gain and in loss, in victory or in the loss of a battle. In this peace there is no sin.
This is the wisdom of Sankhya - the vision of the Eternal. Hear now the wisdom of Yoga, path of the Eternal and freedom from bondage.
No step is lost on this path, and no dangers are found. And even a little progress is freedom from fear.
The follower of this path has one thought, and this is the End of his determination. But many-branched and endless are the thoughts of the man who lacks determination.
There are men who have no vision, yet they speak many words. They follow the letter of the Vedas, and they say: "there is nothing but this."
Their soul is warped with selfish desires, and their heaven is a selfish desire. They have prayers for pleasures and power, the reward of which is earthly rebirth.
Those who love pleasure and power hear and follow their words: they have not the determination ever to be one with the One.
The three Gunas of Nature are the world of the Vedas. Arise beyond the three Gunas, Arjuna! Be in Truth eternal, beyond earthly opposites. Beyond gains and possessions, possess thine own soul.
It is extremely important to understand here that true wisdom lies beyond the three Gunas; that is, beyond peacefulness, restlessness, and darkness. The peacefulness, clarity, and bliss of Sattva, the first Guna, is attained through skillfully satisfying the ego and has terrible consequences.
As is the use of a well of water where water everywhere overflows, such is the use of all the Vedas to the seer of the Supreme.
Set thy heart upon thy work, but never on its reward. Work not for a reward; but never cease to do thy work.
"Work" here means activity towards a goal. It doesn't mean mowing the lawn.
Do thy work in the peace of Yoga and, free from selfish desires, be not moved in success or in failure. Yoga is evenness of mind - a peace that is ever the same.
Work done for a reward is much lower than work done in the Yoga of wisdom. Seek salvation in the wisdom of reason. How poor those who work for a reward!
In this wisdom a man goes beyond what is well done and what is not well done. Go thou therefore to wisdom: Yoga is wisdom in work.
Seers in union with wisdom forsake the rewards of their work, and free from the bonds of birth they go to the abode of salvation.
When thy mind leaves behind its dark forest of delusion, thou shalt go beyond the scriptures of times past and still to come.
When thy mind, that may be wavering in the contradictions of many scriptures, shall rest unshaken in divine contemplation, then the goal of Yoga is thine.
Arjuna
How is the man of tranquil wisdom, who abides in divine contemplation? What are his words? What is his silence? What is his work?
Krishna
When a man surrenders all desires that come to the heart and by the grace of God finds the joy of God, then his soul has indeed found peace.
He whose mind is untroubled by sorrows, and for pleasures he has no longings, beyond passion, and fear and anger, he is the sage of unwavering mind.
Who everywhere is free from all ties, who neither rejoices nor sorrows if fortune is good or ill, his is a serene wisdom.
When in recollection he withdraws all his senses from the attractions of the pleasures of sense, even as a tortoise withdraws all its limbs, then his is a serene wisdom.
Pleasures of sense, but not desires, disappear from the austere soul. Even desires disappear when the soul has seen the Supreme.
The restless violence of the senses impetuously carries away the mind of even a wise man striving towards perfection.
Bringing them all into the harmony of recollection, let him sit in devotion and union, his soul finding rest in me. For when his senses are in harmony, then his is a serene wisdom.
When a man dwells on the pleasures of sense, attraction for them arises in him. From attraction arises desire, the lust of possession, and this leads to passion, to anger.
From passion comes confusion of mind, then loss of remembrance, the forgetting of duty. From this loss comes the ruin of reason, and the ruin of reason leads man to destruction.
But the soul that moves the world of the senses and yet keeps the senses in harmony, free from attraction and aversion, finds rest in quietness.
In this quietness falls down the burden of all sorrows, for when the heart has found quietness, wisdom has also found peace.
The "quietness" spoken of here comes from having perfectly understood Ultimate Reality and having completely sacrificed onself to it. It is absolutely not the quietness of being "well-balanced" and "centred".
There is no wisdom for a man without harmony, and without harmony there is no contemplation. Without contemplation there can be no peace, and without peace can there be joy?
For when the mind becomes bound to a passion of the wandering senses, this passion carries away man's wisdom, even as the wind drives a vessel on the waves.
The man who therefore in recollection withdraws his senses from the pleasures of sense, his is a serene wisdom.
In the dark night of all beings awakes to Light the tranquil man. But what is day to other beings is night for the sage who sees all.
The harmony and peace of ordinary people is seen by the sage to be disharmony and violence.
Even as all waters flow into the ocean, but the ocean never overflows, even so the sage feels desires, but he is ever one in his infinite peace.
For the man who forsakes all desires and abandons all pride of possession and of self reaches the goal of peace supreme.
This is the Eternal in man, O Arjuna. Reaching him all delusion is gone. Even in the last hour of his life upon earth, man can reach the Nirvana of Brahman - man can find peace in the peace of his God.
3
Arjuna
If thy thought is that vision is greater than action, why dost thou enjoin upon me the terrible action of war?
My mind is in confusion because in thy words I find contradictions. Tell me in truth therefore by what path may I attain the Supreme.
Krishna
In this world there are two roads of perfection, as I told thee before, O prince without sin: Jnana Yoga, the path of wisdom of the Sankhyas, and Karma Yoga, the path of action of the Yogis.
Not by refraining from action does man attain freedom from action. Not by mere renunciation does he attain supreme perfection.
For not even for a moment can a man be without action. Helplessly are all driven to action by the forces born of Nature.
He who withdraws himself from actions, but ponders on their pleasures in his heart, he is under a delusion and is a false follower of the Path.
But great is the man who, free from attachments, and with a mind ruling its powers in harmony, works on the path of Karma Yoga, the path of consecrated action.
Action is greater than inaction: perform therefore thy task in life. Even the life of the body could not be if there were no action.
Action is greater than inaction because inaction is unreal.
The world is in the bonds of action, unless the action is consecration. Let thy actions then be pure, free from the bonds of desire.
Thus spoke the Lord of Creation when he made both man and sacrifice: “By sacrifice thou shalt multiply and obtain all thy desires.
By sacrifice shalt thou honour the gods and the gods will then love thee. And thus in harmony with them shalt thou attain the supreme good.
For pleased with thy sacrifice, the gods will grant thee the joy of all thy desires. Only a thief would enjoy their gifts and not offer them in sacrifice.”
One sacrifices the pleasures of delusion, the bliss of ignorance, and the joy of possession, in return for which one gains All - the Infinite.
Holy men who take as food the remains of sacrifice become free from all their sins; but the unholy who have feasts for themselves eat food that is in truth sin.
Food is the life of all beings, and all food comes from rain above. Sacrifice brings rain from heaven, and sacrifice is sacred action.
Food comes from God, the Infinite. Sacrifice, if it is sacrifice of all, brings God.
Sacred action is described in the Vedas as these come from the Eternal, and therefore is the Eternal everpresent in sacrifice.
Thus was the Wheel of the Law set in motion, and that man lives indeed in vain who in a sinful life of pleasures helps not in its revolutions.
But the man who has found the joy of the Spirit and in the Spirit has satisfaction, who in the Spirit has found his peace, that man is beyond the law of action.
He is beyond what is done and beyond what is not done, and in all his works he is beyond the help of mortal beings.
In liberty from the bonds of attachment, do thou therefore the work to be done: for the man whose work is pure attains indeed the Supreme.
King Janaka and other warriors reached perfection by the path of action: let thy aim be the good of all, and then carry on thy task in life.
In the actions of the best men others find their rule of action. The path that a great man follows becomes a guide to the world.
I have no work to do in all the worlds, Arjuna - for these are mine. I have nothing to obtain, because I have all. And yet I work.
If I was not bound to action, never-tiring, everlastingly, men that follow many paths would follow my path of inaction.
If ever my work had an end, these worlds would end in destruction, confusion would reign within all: this would be the death of all beings.
Even as the unwise work selfishly in the bondage of selfish works, let the wise man work unselfishly for the good of all the world.
Let not the wise disturb the mind of the unwise in their selfish work. Let him, working with devotion, show them the joy of good work.
The only problem with this piece of advice is that everything the wise man does will disturb the mind of the unwise. The unwise never agree with anything the wise man says or does. If he speaks truth they will be disturbed, and if he remains silent they will likewise be disturbed, because silence speaks. The important thing to understand here is that the wise never disturb fools unnecessarily. They never do so out of malice for example, because the wise never feel malice.
All actions take place in time by the interweaving of the forces of Nature; but the man lost in selfish delusion thinks that he himself is the actor.
But the man who knows the relation between the forces of Nature and actions, sees how some forces of Nature work upon other forces of Nature, and becomes not their slave.
Those who are under the delusion of the forces of Nature bind themselves to the work of these forces. Let not the wise man who sees the All disturb the unwise who sees not the All.
Offer to me all thy works and rest thy mind on the Supreme. Be free from vain hopes and selfish thoughts, and with inner peace fight thou thy fight.
Those who ever follow my doctrine and who have faith, and have a good will, find through pure work their freedom.
But those who follow not my doctrine, and who have ill-will, are men blind to all wisdom, confused in mind: they are lost.
"Even a wise man acts under the impulse of his nature: all beings follow nature. Of what use is restraint?"
Hate and lust for things of nature have their roots in man's lower nature. Let him not fall under their power: they are the two enemies in his path.
And do thy duty, even if it be humble, rather than another's, even if it be great. To die in one's duty is life: to live in another's is death.
Arjuna
What power is it, Krishna, that drives man to act sinfully, even unwillingly, as if powerlessly?
Krishna
It is greedy desire and wrath, born of passion, the great evil, the sum of destruction: this is the enemy of the soul.
All is clouded by desire: as fire by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an unborn babe by its covering.
Wisdom is clouded by desire, the everpresent enemy of the wise, desire in its innumerable forms, which like a fire cannot find satisfaction.
Desire has found a place in man's senses and mind and reason. Through these it blinds the soul, after having over-clouded wisdom.
Set thou, therefore, thy senses in harmony, and then slay thou sinful desire, the destroyer of vision and wisdom.
They say that the power of the senses is great. But greater than the senses is the mind. Greater than the mind is Buddhi, reason; and greater than reason is He - the Spirit in man and in all.
This is not to say that reason is inferior in any way, for reason leads to God.
Know Him therefore who is above reason; and let his peace give thee peace. Be a warrior and kill desire, the powerful enemy of the soul.
4
Krishna
I revealed this everlasting Yoga to Vivasyan, the sun, the father of light. He in turn revealed it to Manu, his son, the father of man. And Manu taught his son, king Ikshvaku, the saint.
Then it was taught from father to son in the line of kings who were saints; but in the revolutions of times immemorial this doctrine was forgotten by men.
Today I am revealing to thee this Yoga eternal, this secret supreme: because of thy love for me, and because I am thy friend.
Arjuna
Thy birth was after the birth of the sun: the birth of the sun was before thine. What is the meaning of thy words: "I revealed this Yoga to Vivasvan"?
Krishna
I have been born many times, Arjuna, and many times hast thou been born. But I remember my past lives, and thou hast forgotten thine.
Again, this is speaking of cause and effect, rather than literal rebirth. The point is that the wise know where they come from (infinite causation) while fools are lost because of their failure to understand cause and effect.
Although I am unborn, everlasting, and I am the Lord of all, I come to my realm of nature and through my wondrous power I am born.
When righteousness is weak and faints and unrighteousness exults in pride, then my Spirit arises on earth.
For the salvation of those who are good, for the destruction of evil in men, for the fulfilment of the kingdom of righteousness, I come to this world in the ages that pass.
He who knows my birth as God and who knows my sacrifice, when he leaves his mortal body, he goes no more from death to death, for he in truth comes to me.
He who knows that the finite is a manifestation of the infinite transcends the finite and arrives at the infinite.
How many have come to me, trusting in me, filled with my Spirit, in peace from passions and fears and anger, made pure by the fire of wisdom!
In any way that men love me in that same way they find my love: for many are the paths of men, but they all in the end come to me.
Love of Truth always leads to Truth, and there are many ways to love Truth because there are countless manifestations of Truth to inspire such love. But there are also countless ways to love untruth, and the love of untruth never leads to Truth.
Those who lust for earthly power offer sacrifice to the gods of the earth; for soon in this world of men success and power come from work.
The four orders of men arose from me, in justice to their natures and their works. Know that this work was mine, though I am beyond work, in Eternity.
In the bonds of works I am free, because in them I am free from desires. The man who can see this truth, in his work he finds his freedom.
This was known by men of old times, and thus in their work they found liberation. Do thou therefore thy work in life in the spirit that their work was done.
What is work? What is beyond work? Even some seers see this not aright. I will teach thee the truth of pure work, and this truth shall make thee free.
It shall be seen that pure work is as different from ordinary work as are the clouds from mud. And that the harder ordinary people work, the less work is done.
Know therefore what is work, and also know what is wrong work. And know also of a work that is silence: mysterious is the path of work.
The man who in his work finds silence, and who sees that silence is work, this man in truth sees the Light and in all his works finds peace.
He whose undertakings are free from anxious desire and fanciful thought, whose work is made pure in the fire of wisdom: he is called wise by those who see.
In whatever work he does such a man in truth has peace: he expects nothing, he relies on nothing, and ever has fullness of joy.
He has no vain hopes, he is the master of his soul, he surrenders all he has, only his body works: he is free from sin.
He is glad with whatever God gives him, and he has risen beyond the two contraries here below; he is without jealousy, and in success or in failure he is one: his works bind him not.
He has attained liberation: he is free from all bonds, his mind has found peace in wisdom, and his work is a holy sacrifice. The work of such a man is pure.
Who in all his work sees God, he in truth goes unto God: God is his worship, God is his offering, offered by God in the fire of God.
There are Yogis whose sacrifice is an offering to the gods; but others offer as a sacrifice their own soul in the fire of God.
In the fire of an inner harmony some surrender their senses in darkness; and in the fire of the senses some surrender their outer light.
Others sacrifice their breath of life and also the powers of life in the fire of an inner union lighted by a flash of vision.
And others, faithful to austere vows, offer their wealth as a sacrifice, or their penance, or their practice of Yoga, or their sacred studies, or their knowledge.
Some offer their out-flowing breath into the breath that flows in; and the in-flowing breath into the breath that flows out: they aim at Pranayama, breath-harmony, and the flow of their breath is in peace.
Others, through practice of abstinence, offer their life into Life. All those know what is sacrifice, and through sacrifice purify their sins.
Unfortunately only a person who abandons false thoughts can achieve wisdom. It is possible to perform all the above practices for a thousand years without abandoning a single false notion.
Neither this world nor the world to come is for him who does not sacrifice; and those who enjoy what remains of the sacrifice go unto Brahman.
Indeed, but it must be made clear that the sacrifice is of all one's false thoughts, all of one's self. He is blessed who loves what is left.
Thus in many ways men sacrifice, and in many ways they go to Brahman. Know that all sacrifice is holy work, and knowing this thou shalt be free.
But greater than any earthly sacrifice is the sacrifice of sacred wisdom. For wisdom is in truth the end of all holy work.
Wisdom itself is the sacrifice in which ignorance is sacrificed.
Those who themselves have seen the Truth can be thy teachers of wisdom. Ask from them, bow unto them, be thou unto them a servant.
When wisdom is thine, Arjuna, never more shalt thou be in confusion; for thou shalt see all things in thy heart, and thou shalt see thy heart in me.
And even if thou wert the greatest of sinners, with the help of the boat of wisdom thou shalt cross the sea of evil.
Even as a burning fire burns all fuel into ashes, the fire of eternal wisdom burns into ashes all works.
There is nothing like wisdom to make us pure on this earth. The man who lives in self-harmony finds this truth in his soul.
He who has faith has wisdom, who lives in self-harmony, whose faith is his life; and he who finds wisdom, soon finds the peace supreme.
But he who has no faith and no wisdom, and whose soul is in doubt, is lost. For neither this world, nor the world to come, nor joy is ever for the man who doubts.
He who makes pure his works by Yoga, who watches over his soul, and who by wisdom destroys his doubts, is free from the bondage of selfish work.
Kill therefore with the sword of wisdom the doubt born of ignorance that lies in thy heart. Be one in self-harmony, in Yoga, and arise, great warrior, arise.
5
Arjuna
Renunciation is praised by thee, Krishna, and then the Yoga of holy work. Of these two, tell me in truth, which is the higher path?
Krishna
Both renunciation and holy work are a path to the Supreme; but better than surrender of work is the Yoga of holy work.
There can be no holy work without true, complete renunciation because holy work is the outcome of such renunciation. The Yoga of holy work is better than renunciation because it is the perfection of renunciation. Any "surrender of work" is a mistaken renunciation, being an attachment to non-action.
Know that a man of true renunciation is he who craves not nor hates; for he who is above the two contraries soon finds his freedom.
Ignorant men, but not the wise, say that Sankhya and Yoga are different paths; but he who gives all his soul to one reaches the end of the two.
Because the victory won by the man of wisdom is also won by the man of good work. That man sees indeed the truth who sees that vision and creation are one.
The man of wisdom has achieved holy work and the man of holy work has achieved wisdom. These truths are by definition.
But renunciation, Arjuna, is difficult to attain without Yoga of work. When a sage is one in Yoga he soon is one in God.
Without holy action, that is, without going beyond both action and inaction, renunciation is incomplete. Holy action does not precede renunciation; they are the same.
No one stains a man who is pure, who is in harmony, who is master of his life, whose soul is one with the soul of all.
"I am not doing any work", thinks the man who is in harmony, who sees the truth. For in seeing or hearing, smelling or touching, in eating or walking, or sleeping, or breathing, in talking or grasping or relaxing, and even in opening or closing his eyes, he remembers: "It is the servants of my soul that are working."
Nature serves itself.
Offer all thy works to God, throw off selfish bonds, and do thy work. No sin can then stain thee, even as waters do not stain the leaf of the lotus.
The Yogi works for the purification of the soul: he throws off selfish attachment, and thus it is only his body or his senses or his mind or his reason that works.
This man of harmony surrenders the reward of his work and thus attains final peace: the man of disharmony, urged by desire, is attached to reward and remains in bondage.
The reward may be emotional as well as monetary.
The ruler of his soul surrenders in mind all work, and rests in the joy of quietness in the castle of nine gates of his body: he neither does selfish work nor causes others to do it.
The Lord of the world is beyond the works of the world and their working, and beyond the results of these works; but the work of Nature rolls on.
The evil works or the good works of men are not his work. Wisdom is darkened by unwisdom, and this leads them astray.
But those whose unwisdom is made pure by the wisdom of their inner Spirit, their wisdom is unto them a sun and in its radiance they see the Supreme.
Their thoughts on Him and one with Him, they abide in Him, and He is the end of their journey. And they reach the land of never-returning, because their wisdom has made them pure of sin.
With the same evenness of love they behold a Brahmin who is learned and holy, or a cow, or an elephant, or a dog, and even the man who eats a dog.
Those whose minds are ever serene win the victory of life on this earth. God is pure and ever one, and ever one they are in God.
The man who sees Brahman abides in Brahman: his reason is steady, gone is his delusion. When pleasure comes he is not shaken, and when pain comes he trembles not.
He is not bound by things without, and within he finds inner gladness. His soul is one in Brahman and he attains everlasting joy.
For the pleasures that come from the world bear in them sorrows to come. They come and they go, they are transient: not in them do the wise find joy.
But he who on this earth, before his departure, can endure the storms of desire and wrath, this man is a Yogi, this man has joy.
Only the strength of the "joy" of wisdom is enough to keep the mind free of all desire. This holy joy is neither joy nor pain nor anywhere between joy and pain, but is the elimination of joy and pain.
He has inner joy, he has inner gladness, and he has found inner Light. This Yogi attains the Nirvana of Brahman: he is one with God and goes unto God.
Holy men reach the Nirvana of Brahman: their sins are no more, their doubts are gone, their soul is in harmony, their joy is in the good of all.
Because the peace of God is with them whose mind and soul are in harmony, who are free from desire and wrath, who know their own soul.
When the sage of silence, the Muni, closes the doors of his soul and, resting his inner gaze between the eyebrows, keeps peaceful even the ebbing and flowing of breath; and with life and mind and reason in harmony, and with desire and fear and wrath gone, keeps silent his soul before final freedom, he in truth has attained final freedom.
He knows me, the God of the worlds who accepts the offerings of men, the God who is the friend of all. He knows me and he attains peace.
6
Krishna
He who works not for an earthly reward, but does the work to be done, he is a Sanyasi, he is a Yogi: not he who lights not the sacred fire or offers not the holy sacrifice.
To speak the Truth at all times is the only holy sacrifice. He is a Yogi who speaks truly.
Because the Sanyasi of renunciation is also a Yogi of holy work; and no man can be a Yogi who surrenders not his earthly will.
When the sage climbs the heights of Yoga, he follows the path of work; but when he reaches the heights of Yoga, he is in the land of peace.
And he reaches the heights of Yoga when he surrenders his earthly will: when he is not bound by the work of his senses, and he is not bound by his earthly works.
Arise therefore! And with the help of thy Spirit lift up thy soul: allow not thy soul to fall. For thy soul can be thy friend, and thy soul can be thine enemy.
The soul of man is his friend when by the Spirit he has conquered his soul; but when a man is not lord of his soul then this becomes his own enemy.
When his soul is in peace he is in peace, and then his soul is in God. In cold or in heat, in pleasure or pain, in glory or disgrace, he is ever in Him.
When, happy with vision and wisdom, he is master of his own inner life, his soul sublime set on high, then he is called a Yogi in harmony. To him gold or stones or earth are one.
He has risen on the heights of his soul. And in peace he beholds relatives, companions and friends, those impartial or indifferent or who hate him: he sees them all with the same inner peace.
Day after day, let the Yogi practise the harmony of soul: in a secret place, in deep solitude, master of his mind, hoping for nothing, desiring nothing.
Let him find a place that is pure and a seat that is restful. On that seat let him rest and practise Yoga for the purification of the soul: with the life of his body and mind in peace; his soul in silence before the One.
With soul in peace, and all fear gone, and strong in the vow of holiness, let him rest with mind in harmony, his soul on me, his God supreme.
The Yogi who, lord of his mind, ever prays in this harmony of soul, attains the peace of Nirvana, the peace supreme that is in me.
Yoga is harmony. Not for him who eats too much, or for him who eats too little; not for him who sleeps too little, or for him who sleeps too much.
A harmony in eating and resting, in sleeping and keeping awake: a perfection in whatever one does. This is the Yoga that gives peace from all pain.
When the mind of the Yogi is in harmony and finds rest in the Spirit within, all restless desires gone, then he is a Yukta, one in God.
Then his soul is a lamp whose light is steady, for it burns in a shelter where no winds come.
When the mind is resting in the stillness of the prayer of Yoga, and by the grace of the Spirit sees the Spirit and therein finds fulfilment; then seeker knows the joy of Eternity: a vision seen by reason far beyond what senses can see. He abides therein and moves not from Truth.
He has found joy and Truth, a vision for him supreme. He is therein steady: the greatest pain moves him not.
In this union of Yoga there is liberty: a deliverance from the oppression of pain. This Yoga must be followed with faith, with a strong and courageous heart.
When all desires are in peace and the mind, withdrawing within, gathers the multitudinous straying senses into the harmony of recollection, then, with reason armed with resolution, let the seeker quietly lead the mind into the Spirit, and let all his thoughts be silenced.
And whenever the mind unsteady and restless strays away from the Spirit, let him ever and for ever lead it again to the Spirit.
Thus the joy supreme comes to the Yogi whose heart is still, whose passions are peace, who is pure from sin, who is one with Brahman, with God.
The Yogi who pure from sin ever prays in this harmony of soul soon feels the joy of Eternity, the infinite joy of union with God.
He sees himself in the heart of all beings and he sees all beings in his heart. This is the vision of the Yogi of harmony, a vision which is ever one.
And when he sees me in all and he sees all in me, then I never leave him and he never leaves me.
He who in this oneness of love, loves me in whatever he sees, wherever this man may live, in truth this man lives in me.
And he is the greatest Yogi he whose vision is ever one: when the pleasures and pain of others is his own pleasure and pain.
Arjuna
Thou hast told me of a Yoga of constant oneness. O Krishna, of a communion which is ever one. But, Krishna, the mind is inconstant: in its restlessness I cannot find rest.
The mind is restless, Krishna, impetuous, self-willed, hard to train: to master the mind seems as difficult as to master the mighty winds.
Krishna
The mind is indeed restless, Arjuna: it is indeed hard to train. But by constant practice and by freedom from passions the mind in truth can be trained.
When the mind is not in harmony, this divine communion is hard to attain; but the man whose mind is in harmony attains it, if he knows and if he strives.
Arjuna
And if a man strives and fails and reaches not the End of Yoga, for his mind is not in Yoga; and yet this man has faith, what is his end, O Krishna?
Far from earth and far from heaven, wandering in the pathless winds, does he vanish like a cloud into air, not having found the path of God?
Be a light in my darkness, Krishna: be thou unto me a Light. Who can solve this doubt but thee?
Krishna
Neither in this world nor in the world to come does ever this man pass away; for the man who does the good, my son, never treads the path of death.
He dwells for innumerable years in the heaven of those who did good; and then this man who failed in Yoga is born again in the house of the good and the great.
He may even be born into a family of Yogis, where the wisdom of Yoga shines; but to be born in such a family is a rare event in this world.
And he begins his new life with the wisdom of a former life; and he begins to strive again, ever onwards towards perfection.
During his life he sows the seeds for a crop which he himself cannot grow. If a man knows of God, but is too weak to live intimately with God, then he will rear his children and his friends to be stronger than himself.
Because his former yearning and struggle irresistibly carries him onwards, and even he who merely yearns for Yoga goes beyond the words of books.
And thus the Yogi ever-striving, and with soul pure from sin, attains perfection through many lives and reaches the End Supreme.
Be thou a Yogi, Arjuna! Because the Yogi goes beyond those who only follow the path of the austere, or of wisdom, or of work.
And the greatest of all Yogis is he who with all his soul has faith, and he who with all his soul loves me.
7
Krishna
Hear now, Arjuna, how thou shalt have the full vision of me, if thy heart is set on me and if, striving for Yoga, I am thy refuge supreme.
And I will speak to thee of that wisdom and vision which, when known, there is nothing else for thee to know.
Among thousands of men perhaps one strives for perfection; and among thousands of those who strive perhaps one knows me in truth.
The visible forms of my nature are eight: earth, water, fire, air, ether; the mind, reason, and the sense of "I".
But beyond my visible nature is my invisible Spirit. This is the fountain of life whereby this universe has its being.
All things have their life in this Life, and I am their beginning and end.
In this whole vast universe there is nothing higher than I. All the worlds have their rest in me, as many pearls upon a string.
I am the taste of living waters and the light of the sun and the moon. I am OM, the sacred word of the Vedas, sound in silence, heroism in men.
I am the pure fragrance that comes from the earth and the brightness of fire I am. I am the life of all living beings, and the austere life of those who train their souls.
And I am from everlasting the seed of eternal life. I am the intelligence of the intelligent. I am the beauty of the beautiful.
When this is beauty of soul and therefore of wisdom.
I am the power of those who are strong, when this power is free from passions and selfish desires. I am desire when this is pure, when this desire is not against righteousness.
And know that the three Gunas, the three states of the soul, come from me: peaceful light, restless life, and lifeless darkness. But I am not in them: they are in me.
How the whole world is under the delusion of these shadows of the soul, and knows not me though for ever I am!
My mysterious cloud of appearance is hard to pass beyond; but those who in truth come to me go beyond the world of shadows.
But men who do evil seek not me: their soul is darkened by delusion. Their vision is veiled by the cloud of appearance; their heart has chosen the path of evil.
There are four kinds of men who are good, and the four love me, Arjuna: the man of sorrows, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of something he treasures, and the man of vision.
The greatest of these is the man of vision, who is ever one, who loves the One. For I love the man of vision, and the man of vision loves me.
These four kinds of men are good; but the man of vision and I are one. His whole soul is one in me, and I am his Path Supreme.
At the end of many lives the man of vision comes to me. "God is all" this great man says. Such a spirit sublime how rarely is he found!
Men whose desires have clouded their vision, give their love to other gods, and led by their selfish nature, follow many other paths.
For if a man desires with faith to adore this or that god, I give faith unto that man, a faith that is firm and moves not.
And, when this man, full of faith, goes and adores that god, from him he attains his desires; but whatever is good comes from me.
But these are men of little wisdom, and the good they want has an end. Those who love the gods go to the gods; but those who love me come unto me.
The unwise think that I am that form of my lower nature which is seen by mortal eyes: they know not my higher nature, imperishable and supreme.
For my glory is not seen by all: I am hidden by my veil of mystery; and in its delusion the world knows me not, who was never born and for ever I am.
I know all that was and is and is to come, Arjuna; but no one in truth knows me.
All beings are born in delusion, the delusion of division which comes from desire and hate.
But there are men who do what is good, and whose sins have come to an end. They are free from the delusion of division, and they worship me with all their soul.
For those are men who take refuge in me and strive to be free from age and death, they know Brahman, they know Atman, and they know what Karma is.
They know me in earth and in heaven, and in the fire of sacrifice. Their souls are pure, in harmony, and even when their time to go comes they see me.
8
Arjuna
Who is Brahman? Who is Atman? And what is Karma, Spirit Supreme? What is the kingdom of earth? And what is the kingdom of Light.
Who offers the sacrifice in the body? How is the offering made? And when the time to go comes, how do those whose soul is in harmony know thee?
Krishna
Brahman is the Supreme, the Eternal. Atman is his Spirit in man. Karma is the force of creation, wherefrom all things have their life.
Matter is the kingdom of the earth, which in time passes away; but the Spirit is the kingdom of Light. In this body I offer sacrifice, and my body is a sacrifice.
And he who at the end of his time leaves his body thinking of me, he in truth comes to my being: he in truth comes unto me.
For on whomsoever one thinks at the last moment of life, unto him in truth he goes, through sympathy with his nature.
Think of me therefore at all times; remember thou me and fight. And with mind and reason on me, thou shalt in truth come to me.
Remember that in fact you are dying and being reborn each and every moment. You are not the same person for two consecutive moments, nor is it the same world. So think of God each moment, and you will find yourself with God.
For if a man thinks of the Spirit Supreme with a mind that wanders not, because it has been trained in Yoga, he goes to that Spirit of Light.
He who remembers the Poet, the Creator, who rules all things from all time, smaller than the smallest atom, but upholding this vast universe, who shines like the sun beyond darkness, far far beyond human thought; and at the time of his departure is in union of love and the power of Yoga and, with a mind that wanders not, keeps the power of his life between his eye-brows, he goes to that Spirit Supreme, the Supreme Spirit of Light.
Hear now of that Path which the seers of the Veda call the Eternal, and which is reached by those who, in peace from earthly passions, live a life of holiness and strive for perfection.
If when a man leaves his earthly body he is in the silence of Yoga and, closing the doors of the soul, he keeps the mind in his heart, and places in the head the breath of life.
And remembering me he utters OM, the eternal WORD of Brahman, he goes to the Path Supreme.
Those who in the devotion of Yoga rest all their soul ever on me, very soon come unto me.
And when those great spirits are in me, the Abode of joy supreme, they never return again to this world of human sorrow.
For all the worlds pass away, even the world of Brahma, the Creator: they pass away and return. But he who comes unto me goes no more from death to death.
They who know that the vast day of Brahma, the god of creation, ever lasts a thousand ages; and that his night lasts also a thousand ages - they know in truth day and night.
When that day comes, all the visible creation arises from the Invisible; and all creation disappears into the invisible when the night of darkness comes.
Thus the infinity of beings which live again and again all powerlessly disappear when the night and darkness comes; and they all return again at the rising of the day.
But beyond this creation, visible and invisible, there is a