5

Thou praisest, Krishna, the releasing of Works, and again the doing of works. Of these Twain, tell me clearly which is best to do; Declare to me one certain path, O Lord!

Renunciation and performance both Conduct to bliss supreme. Of these twain, yet The performance is the better way. Always renouncing is the true recluse Who hates not and desires not. Free of the bonds Of those "opposites," dear-armed one! He is easily set loose from them! A child Will speak of knowledge and of work as two; Not so the wise: in either, well-pursued, Lies the end of both.

That which the Sankhyas reach, the yogins reach; Who sees these twain as one, he sees indeed. But, O great-armed! hard is renouncement bare To win without the Yoga; who fulfils Yoga with faithful soul attains to Me Swiftly, O Pritha's Son!

He who, with Yoga disciplined, pure-souled, Self-mastered, having conquered all his senses, Whose self becomes the self of every creature, Working, is not defiled by work. The sage, Yoga-devoted, deems, "I am doing naught!" Whilst seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, Walking, sleeping, breathing;—"Naught is it That I do!" he saith; for in all acts 'Tis only the senses meeting the sense-world.

He who abandons all desires, acting Without attachment, giving up the fruit Of action unto Brahma, stands untouched By sin, as the lotus-leaf by water. Yogis, forsaking fruit of deeds, attain The peace of Unity; the unjoined soul Is fettered by desire of fruit of deeds.

The embodied one who rules his city well— This body of nine gates—dwelling therein At ease, not acting, and not causing act, The sovereign soul, renouncing silently All work of limb and heart and brain. It is not The Lord that works! What works, the body is— Nature, the active cause. The Lord takes note Of no man's deeds, be they good or bad. Wisdom is clouded by unwisdom; hence All creatures are bewildered. Nevertheless, In whom unwisdom is destroyed by wisdom, In them doth wisdom, sun-like, make appear The Supreme, as the sun lights up the sky.

Their mind on Him, their life in Him, content, Illumined all by Him—the stains of sin Washed off in wisdom, they attain that realm Which, once attained, returns them nevermore. The wise look equally upon a Brahman Rich in learning and humility, A cow, an elephant, a dog, a man Who eats the flesh of dogs—in each they see The same one Self.

Even here on earth they conquer birth and death Whose minds rest steadfastly on Unity. Brahma is faultless and the same to all; Therefore in Brahma do they live, who know. With settled mind, not trembling, knowing well The truth of Brahma, and abiding there, The wise rejoice not at the pleasant thing Nor sadden at the sorrowful; the soul Is fixed in its own bliss unswervingly.

He who doth not attach himself to sense, Discovereth bliss within; the soul of him, By Yoga joined to Brahma, knoweth bliss Imperishable. Those delights that spring From contact with the senses—Loss of grief!— They come and go, Kunti's Son! the wise Doth not resort to them.

He who shall conquer, here, upon this earth, Before his body's death, the stress of wrath And lust—he is the yokel he is blest! He whose delight, whose peace, whose shining light Is inward, that Yogin, at one with God, Gains God's peace. Rishis who have conquered sin, Doubt cleft asunder, sense-controlled, intent On good of all the creatures—Loss the peace Of God. Who shuts outside his mortal house The feelings of the senses, with the mind Fixed twixt the brows, and the breath of life Equal through nostrils flowing in and out; With organs, mind, and understanding stilled, The wise one, who doth make Salvation his one aim— Free from desire, and fear, and wrath,— For ever so is freed! And, knowing Me The Lord of sacrifice and penance, Friend Of all the worlds, He reacheth Peace.