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I fain would learn, O mighty-armed! the truth Of Sannyasa, great Hrishikesa! and Of Tyaga, Keshava! and what divides The one from the other, Slayer of Keshi!

The poets teach that Sannyasa is the giving Up of all acts which spring from desire; The wise define Tyaga, Renouncement, as Foregoing fruit of every act. Some hold All action is defect, and should be left; Others that acts of sacrifice and gift And penance must not cease. Now hear from Me The truth of Renouncement, O best of men! Three-fold it is, O tiger of the breed Of Bharata!

Worship, gift, and penance — these Should never be abandoned; they must still Be wrought; for sacrifice, gift, and self-torment Are purifiers of the wise. Yet even these Should be performed surrendering all attachment And fruit of them. This, O son of Pritha, Is My best and dearest judgment, My last word. Renouncement of a duty is not meet! To shun it through delusion is of Tamas; Who turneth from a task in fear of pain, His renouncement is Rajasic, and wins No merit. He who doeth the appointed work Saying, "It is my duty!" — casting off All fruit — renounceth with the quality Of Sattva, wisely, with no doubt at heart.

For no embodied soul may wholly cease From acts; but he who gives the fruit away Is named the true Renouncer. Threefold fruit — Pleasant, unpleasant, mixed — comes after death To those who have not mastered self; but none Awaiteth those who truly do renounce. Five agents, as the Sankhya-Loss declare, Combine in every act. Hear of them now: The body, and the self within the body, The various senses, and the varied acts, And Providence, the fifth. Whatever deed A man may do — with body, speech, or mind — Whether 'tis right or wrong, these five combine. Whoso, in ignorance of this, doth hold Himself sole agent, seeth not at all In the blindness of his untaught soul.

He who is freed from the sense of self, whose wit Is unconfused, though he should slay these hosts, He would not slay, and is not bound thereby. Three things impel to action: Knowledge, that Which is to be known, and he who knows; Three make the sum of action: instrument, The object, and the doer. These, again — Knowledge, and action, and the doer — are Of three kinds each, divided by the Qualities. Hear now their nature briefly told.

That knowledge which perceives in all that lives One undivided Life, immutable, Amidst the separated many — know That knowledge for of Sattva. Knowledge which In every different body seeth a life Distinct and separate — know that knowledge Is of Rajas. Knowledge that clings to one Small object as if it were all, with no True reason, narrow, poor — know that for Tamas. That action which is done without regard To consequence, and free of lust and hate, By one who seeketh not — call that of Sattva. That action, wrought in stress to satisfy Desires, with sense of self and much turmoil — This is of Rajas. Action undertaken In blindness, reckless of what loss or hurt To others or to self, from folly sprung — Call that of Tamas.

The doer without passion, free from self, Endowed with will and zeal, unshaken still By good or ill fortune — is of Sattva. The doer full of passion, seeking fruit Of works, greedy and violent, impure, Moved by joy and grief — is of Rajas named. The doer slothful, stubborn, false, malicious, Lazy, desponding, slow — is Tamasic called.

Hear, too, of Intellect and Firmness, Prince! Each in its three-fold kind set forth to thee. That Intellect which knoweth when to act And when to cease, what should be done and what Left undone, and what to fear and when Fear nought — that, O son of Pritha, springs Of Sattva. That which wrongly understands The right and wrong, the thing to do and not — That is of Rajas, Partha! And that which, Wrapt in darkness, deemeth wrong for right And seeth all things contrariwise — of Tamas Is that Intellect, O Partha!

The firmness whereby one controls the mind, The breath, the senses — nothing wavering — In holy meditation: this, O Prince! Is Sattvic firmness. But that firmness, Partha, Whereby a man holds fast to fruits of works, To piety, to pleasures, and to wealth, Pursuing them with eager, grasping heart — This is of Rajas. And that resolve wherewith The dull soul clings to sloth, fear, grief, despair, And vanity — know this as born of Tamas.

Hear now of the three-fold Happiness, O Prince! That happiness which comes from long practice Of discipline, and leads to end of pain; Which seemeth, at the first, as bitter gall But is, in the end, sweet as the taste of nectar, Springing from clear self-knowledge — that, know thou, Is born of Sattva. That which cometh first As nectar, from the meeting of the senses With sense-objects, but in the end is bitter As gall — know that for Rajasic. That pleasure Which, both at first and last, deludes the soul, Springing from sleep and sloth and negligence — Of Tamas is that dullard's happiness.

There is no being on earth or among The gods in heaven, free from the three-fold sway Of these Qualities, born of Nature's womb. The works of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, And Shudras, O thou Slayer of thy Foes! Are fixed according to the Qualities Born in the nature of each. A Brahman's virtues Are serenity, self-mastery, religion, Purity, patience, uprightness, and learning. A Kshatriya's: boldness, fire, endurance, skill, Not flying from the field, great-heartedness, And sovereign mien. The Vaishya's: tillage, trade, And tending cattle. And a Shudra's task Is service — born of each one's nature, Prince!

He who with perfect faith in his own work Doth worship Me, finding Me in all, Winneth through to Me! Better a man's own work, Though done with faults, than doing others' work, Even excellently. He shall not incur Sin who performs the duty that his birth Hath set him. Every enterprise on earth Is wrapped in faults as fire in smoke; one must Not leave the work to which one's nature calls, O Kunti's Son! though stained with fault it be.

He who is wholly rid of self, calm-souled, With mind from longings free, through Renouncement Comes to the supreme perfection — freedom From all action. How one, having attained Perfection, wins to Brahma, that which is The highest height of Knowledge, hear from Me In briefest words, O Kunti's Son! Devoted With purified intelligence to Me; Controlling self by steadfastness; forsaking Sound and sense-attractions; putting off Desire and hate; dwelling in solitudes And eating little; speech, thought, body bridled; Deep-musing, ever fixed in meditation; Free from all pride, all force, all lust, all wrath, All worldly goods — at peace with all the world — A man so tempered, fit for Brahma, he In Brahma's being findeth bliss supreme.

He who thus, with supreme devotion, serves And knows Me, passeth from beyond the Qualities To oneness with the Brahma's self. For I Am Brahma's home! The Nectar of the Deathless! The changeless Right! The Everlasting Bliss! But if from self-regard thou wilt not hear, Then perish in thy willfulness! And if, Full of this self, thou sayest, "I will not fight!" — Vain the resolve! thy nature shall constrain thee. That which, in thy delusion, thou wouldst shun, O Kunti's Son! thy duty bids thee do. Bound by thy very nature, Kaunteya, That which from folly thou wouldst leave undone Against thy will thou shalt be driven to do!

The Lord lives in the heart of every creature, O Arjuna! and by His magic power He moves all things — mount on His wheel of change As if on some vast engine! Fly to Him Alone for shelter, Bharata! with all Thy soul, and by His grace thou shalt attain The eternal place, the changeless peace.

Thus hath been opened unto thee, more secret Than any secret, this My knowledge deep. Ponder it fully in thy mind; then act As seemeth best to thee! But once again Hear thou My deepest word, My last and best: Dear art thou very strongly to My heart! Hearken to this, thy counsel for thy good! सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज। अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः॥ Give Me thy heart! adore Me! serve Me! cling In faith and love and reverence to Me! So shalt thou come to Me! I promise true, For thou art sweet to Me! Let go all rule of life, all determination, All refuge, and fly unto Me alone! I will deliver thee from every sin. Grieve thou no more!

This word must ne'er be said to one whose life Is without discipline, nor to one void Of love, nor to who doth refuse to serve, Nor one who speaketh evil against Me. But whoso, out of loyal love to Me, Doth spread this sovereign secret among those Who are My worshippers, he certainly Shall come to Me! For there is none of men Who doeth dearer service unto Me; Nor shall there be in all the earth a man More dear to Me than he.

Destroyed is my delusion. I have gained Knowledge by Thy grace, O Infallible! I am firm! My doubts are fled! I will do According to Thy word!

Thus did I hear this wondrous colloquy Of Krishna and the high-souled Arjuna; And every hair upon my flesh stood up With awe and wonder at that marvellous speech. By grace of Vyasa I have heard this deep And sovereign Yoga, taught by Him, the Lord Of Yoga, Krishna's self, in living voice.

O King! recalling and recalling still This marvellous and holy colloquy Of Keshava and Arjuna, I rejoice Again, and yet again! And calling back That vision of surpassing loveliness Of Hari, Lord of all — amazement holds My heart, and I rejoice, and yet rejoice! यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः। तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम॥ Wherever Krishna is, the Lord of Yoga, Wherever Arjuna is, the mighty bowman, There shall be fortune, victory, prosperity, And righteousness — of this I am assured!