Chapter One

Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra

Dhrtarastra said : O Sanjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kuruksetra, desiring to figit what did they do? (1/1)

Sanjaya said : O King, after looking over the army arranged in military formation by the sons of Pandu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and spoke the following words. (1/2)

O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple the sone of Drupada. (1/3)

Here in this army are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna : great fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada. (1/4)

There are also great heroic, powerful fighters like Dhrstaketu, Cekitana, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya. (1/5)

There are the mighty Yudhamanyu, the very powerful Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi.  All these warriors are great chariot fighters. (1/6)

But for your information, O best of the brahmanas, let me tell you about the captains who are especially qualified to lead my military force. (1/7).

There are personalities like you, Bhisma, Karna, Krpa, Asvatthama, Vikarna and the sone of Somadatta called Bhurisrava, who are always victorious in battle. (1/8).

There are many other heroes who are prepared to lay down their lives for my sake.  All of them are well equipped with different kinds of weapons, and all are experienced in military science. (1/9)

Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by Grandfather Bhisma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhisma, is limited. (1/10)

All of you must now give fill support to Grandfather Bhisma, as you stand at your respectiv strategic points of entrance into the phalanx of the army. (1/11)

Then Bhisma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters, blew his conchshell very loudly, making a sound like the roar of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy. (1/12).

After that, the conchshells, drums, bugles, trumpets and horns were all suddenly sounded, and the combined sound was tumultuous. (1/13).

On the other side, both Lork Krsna and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot drawn by white horses, sounded their transcendental conchshells. (1/14)

Lord Krsna blew His conchshell, called Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell, called Paundra. (1/15)

King Yudhisthira, the son of Kunti, blew hi conchshell, the Anantavijay, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka.  That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrstadyumn, Virata, the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their respective conchshells. (1/16,17,18).

The blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious.  Vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhrtarastra. (1/19).

At that time Arjuna, the son of Pandu, seated in the chariot bearing the flag marked with Hanuman, tool up his bow and prepared to shoot his arrows.  O King, after looking at the sons of Dhrtarastra drawn in military array, Arjuna then spoke to Lord Krsna these words. (1/20).

Arjuna said : O infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see those present here, who desire to fight, and with whom I must contend in this great trial of arms. (1/21,22)

Let me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhrtarastra. (1/23)

Sanjaya said : O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Krsna drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties. (1/24)

In the presence of Bhisma, Drona and all the other chieftains of the world, the Lord siad, Just behold, Partha, all the Kurus assembled here. (1/25).

There Arjuna could see, within the midst of the armies of both parties, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his fathers-in-law and well-sishers. (1/26).

When the son of Kunti, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus. (1/27).

Arjuna said : My deal Krsna, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up. (1/28).

My whole body is trembling, my hair is standing on end, my bow Gandiva is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning. (1/29).

I am now unable to stand here any longer.  I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling.  I see only causes of misfortune, O Krsna, killer of the Kesi demon. (1/30).

I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I, my dear Krsna, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom, or happiness. (1/31).

O Govinda, of what avail to us are a kingdom, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed on this battlefield?  O Madhusudana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, why should I wish to kill them, even though they might otherwise kill me?  O maintainer of all living entities, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth.  What pleasure will be derive from killing the sons of Dhrtarastra? (1/32,33,34,35).

Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors. Therefore, it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhrtrastra and our friends.  What should we gain, O Krsna, husband of the goddess of fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen? (1/36).

O Janardana, although these men, their hearts overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one’s family or quarreling with friends, why should we, who can see the crime in destroying a family, engage in these acts of sin? (1/37,38)

With the destruction of dynasty, the eternal family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion. (1/39).

When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krsna, the women of the family become polluted, and from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant of Vrsni, comes unwanted progeny. (1/40).

An increase of unwanted population certainly causes hellish life both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition.  The ancestors of such corrupt familities fall down, because the performances for offering them food and water are entirely stopped. (1/41).

By the evil deeds of those who destroy the family tradition and thus give rise to unwanted children, all kinds of community projects and family welfare activities are devastated. (1/42).

O Krsna, maintainer of the people, I have heard by disciplic succession that those who destroy family traditions dwell always in hell. (1/43).

Also, how strange it is that we are preparing to commit greatly sinful acts.  Driven by the desire to enjoy royal happiness, we are intent on killing our own kinsmen. (1/44).

Better for me if the sons of Dhrtarastra, weapons in hand, were to kill me unarmed and unresisting on the battlefield. (1/45).

Sanjaya said : Arjuna, having thus spoken on the battlefield, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed with grief. (1/46).

Chapter Two

Contents of the Gita Summarized.

Sanjaya said : Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusudana, Krsna, spoke the following words. (2/1)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said : My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you?  They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life.  They lead not to higher planets but to infamy. (2/2).

O son of Prtha, do not yield to this degrading impotence.  It does not become you.  Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy. (2/3).

Arjuna said :  O killer of enemies, O killer of Madhu, how can I counterattack with arrows in battle men like Bhisma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship? (2/4).

It would be better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of lives of great souls who are my teachers.  Even though desiring worldly gain, they are superiors.  If they are killed, everything we enjoy will be tained with blood. (2/5).

Nor do we know which is better - conquering them or being conquered by them.  If we killed the sons of Dhrtarastra, we should not care to live.  Yet they are now standing before us on the battlefiedl. (2/6).

Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness.  In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me.  Now I am your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You.  Please instruct me. (2/7).

I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses.  I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous, unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven. (2/8).

Sanjaya said : Having spoken thus, Arjuna, chastiser of enemies, told Krsna.  “Govinda, I shall not fight,” and fell silent. (2/9).

O descendant of Bharata, at that time Krsna, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-striken Arjuna. (2/10).

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said : While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what it not worthy of grief.  Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead. (2/11).

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. (2/12).

As the embobied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death.  A sober person is not bewildered by such a change. (2/13).

O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons.  They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being distrubed. (2/14).

O best among men [Arjuna], the persons who is not distrubed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation. (2/15).

Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the non existent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change.  This they have concluded by studying the nature of both. (2/16).

That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible.  No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul. (2/17).

The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata. (2/18).

Neither he who thinks the living entity the slayer nor he who thinks it stain is in knowledge, for the self slays not nor is slain. (2/19).

For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time.  He has not come into being, and will not come into being.  He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval.  He is not stain when the body is slain. (2/20).

O Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill? (2/21).

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.  (2/22).

The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. (2/23)

This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried.  He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same. (2/24).

It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable.  Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body. (2/25).

If, however, you think that the soul [or the symptoms of life] is always born and dies forever, you still have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed. (2/26).

One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again.  Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament. (2/27).

All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when annihilated.  So what need is there for lamentation? (2/28).

Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all. (2/29).

O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body can never be slain.  Therefore you need not grieve for any living being. (2/30).

Considering your specific duty as a ksatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.  (2/31).

O Partha, happy are the ksatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.  (2/32).

If, however, you do not perform your religious duty of fighting, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter. (2/33.)

People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.  (2/34).

The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you insignificant. (2/35).

Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and scorn your ability.  What could be more painful for you? (2/36).

O son of Kunti, either you will be killed on the battlefield and attain the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom.  Therefore, get up with determination and fight. (2/37).

Do thou fight for the sake a fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat - and by so doing you shall never incur sin. (2/38).

Thus for I have described this knowledge to you through analytical study.  Now listen as I explain it in terms of working without fruitive results.  O son of Prtha, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.  (2/39).

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.  (2/40).

Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one.  O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute in many-branched.  (2/41).

Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, powr, and so froth.  Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this. (2/42,43).

In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place. (2/44).

The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature.  O Arjuna, become transendental of these three modes.  Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self.  (2/45).

All purposes served by a small well can at once be served by a great reservoir of water.  Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them. (2/46).

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action.  Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. (2/47).

Perform your duty equipoised.  O Arjuna, abandoning al attachment to success of failure.  Such equanimity is called yoga. (2/48).

O Dhananjaya, keep all abominable activities far distant by devotional service, and in that consciousness surrender unto the Lord.  Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.  (2/49).

A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad actions even in this life.  Therefore strive for yoga, which is the art of all work.  (2/50).

By thus engaging in devotional service to the Lord, great sages or devotees free themselves from the results of work in the material world.  In this way they become free from the cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all miseries [by going back to Godhead]. (2/51).

When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard. (2/52).

When you mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness. (2/53).

Arjuna said : O krsna, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence?  How does he speak, and what is his language?  How does he sit, and how does he walk? (2/54).

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said :  O Partha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense gratification, which arise from mental concotion, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the self alon, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness. (2/55).

One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind. (2/56).

In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despisting it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge. (2/57).

One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness. (2/58).

The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains.  But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness. (2/59).

The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them. (2/60).

One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence. (2/61).

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. (2/62).

From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory.  When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.  (2/63).

But a person free from all attachment and aversion and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord. (2/64).

For one thus satisfied [in Krsna consciousness], the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such satisfied consciousness, one’s intelligence is soon well established. (2/65).

One who is not connected with the Supreme [in Krsna consciousness] can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace.  And how can there be any happiness without peace? (2/66).

As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence. (2/67).

Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence. (2/68).

What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage. (2/69).

A person who is not distrubed by the incessant flow of desires - that enter lke rivers into the ocean, which is even being filled but is always still - can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires. (2/70).

A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of properietorship and is devoid of false ego - he alone can attain real peace. (2/71).

That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered.  If one is thus situated even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God. (2/72).

Chapter Three

Karma-yoga

Arjuna said :  O Janardana, O Kesava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work? (3/1)

My Intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions.  Therefore, please tell me decisively which will be most beneficial for me. (3/2)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said : O sinless Arjuna, I have already explained that there are two classes of men who try to realize the self.  Some are inclined to understand it by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others by devotional service. (3/3).

Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection. (3/4).

Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment. (3/5).

One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender. (3/6).

On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Krsna consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior. (3/7).

Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working.  One cannot even maintain one’s physical body without work.  (3/8).

Work done as a sacrifice for Visnu has to be performed; otherwise work causes bondage in this material world.  Therefore, O son of  Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage. (3/9).

In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Visnu, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajna [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everyting desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.” (3/10).

The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all. (3/11)

In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajna [sacrifice], will supply all necessities to you.  But he who enjoys such gifts without offering them to the demigods in return is certainly a thief. (3/12).

The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice.  Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin. (3/13).

All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains.  Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties. (3/14).

Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice. (3/15).

My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin.  Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain. (3/16).

But for one who takes pleasure in the self, whose human life is one of self-realization, and who is satisfied in the self only, fully satiated - for him there is no duty. (3/17).

A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work.  Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being. (3/18).

Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme. (3/19).

Kings such as Janaka attained perfection solely by performance of prescribed duties.  Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work. (3/20).

Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow.  And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues. (3/21).

O son of prtha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems.  Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything - and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.  (3/22).

For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O partha, certainly all men would follow My path. (3/23).

If I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination.  I would be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings. (3/24).

As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment of results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path. (3/25).

So as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work.  Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities [for the gradual development of Krsna consciousness]. (3/26).

The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature. (3/27).

One who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the differences between work in devotion and work for fruitive results. (3/28).

Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fuly engage themselves in material activities and become attached.  But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performers’ lack of knowledge. (3/29).

Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to properietorship, and free from lethergy, fight. (3/30).

Those persons who execute their duties according to My injunctions and who follow this teaching faithfully, without envy, become free from the bondage of fruitive actions. (3/31).

But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not follow them are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befolled, and ruined in their endeavors for perfection. (3/32).

Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes.  What can repression accomplish? (3/33).

There are principles to regulate attachment and aversion pertaining to the senses and their objects.  One should not come under the control of such attachment and aversion, because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization. (3/34).

It is far better to discharge one’s prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another’s duties perfectly.  Destruction in the course of performing one’s own duty is better than engaging in another’s duties, for to follow another’s path is dangerous. (3/35).

Arjuna said : O descendant of Vrsni, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force? (3/36).

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said : It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world. (3/37).

As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust. (3/38).

Thus the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is necer satisfied and which burns like fire. (3/39).

The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust.  Through them lust coveres the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him. (3/40).

Therefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bharatas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization. (3/41).

The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence. (3/42).

Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence [Krsna consciousness] and thus - by spiritual strength - conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust. (3/43).

Chapter Four

Transcendental Knowledge.

The Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, said : I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku. (4/1).

This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way.  But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. (4/2).

That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science. (4/3).

Arjuna said : The sun-god Vivasvan is senior by birth to You.  How am I to understand that in the beginning You instructed this science to him? (4/4).

The Personality of Godhead said : Many, many births both you and I have passed.  I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy! (4/5).

Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form. (4/6).

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion - at that time I descend Myself. (4/7).

To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millenium after millenium. (4/8).

One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna. (4/9).

Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me- and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me. (4/10).

As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly.  Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha. (4/11).

Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods.  Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world. (3/12).

Accordingly to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me.  And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable. (4/13).

There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action.  One who understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work. (4/14).

All the liberated souls in ancient times acted with this understanding of My transcendental nature.  Therefore you should perform your duty, following in their footsteps. (4/15).

Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is action and what is inaction.  Now I shall explain to you what action is, knowing wich you shall be liberated from all misfortune. (4/16).

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand.  Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is. (4/17).

One  who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among emn, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities. (4/18).

One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense gratification.  He is said by sages to be a worker for whom the reactions of work have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge. (4/19).

Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings. (4/20).

Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions, and acts only for the bare necessities of life.  Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions. (4/21).

He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions. (4/22).

The work of a man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental knowledge merges entirely into transcendence. (4/23).

A person who is fully absorbed in Krsna consciousness is sure to attain the spiritual kingdom because of his full contribution to spiritual activities, in which the consummation is absolute and that which is offered is of the same spiritual nature. (4/24).

Some yogies perfectly worship the demigods by offering different sacrifices to them and some offer sacrifices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman. (4/25).

Some [the unadulterated brahmacharis] sacrifice the hearing process and the senses in the fire of mental control, and others [the regulated householders] sacrifice the objects of the senses in the fire of the senses. (4/26).

Others, who are interested in achieving self-realization through control of the mind and senses, offer the functions of all the senses, and of the life breath, as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind. (4/27).

Having accepted strict vows, some become enlightened by sacriticing their possessions, and others by performing severe austerities, by practicing the yoga of eightfold mysticism, or by studying the Vedas to advance in transcendental knowledge. (4/28).

Still others, who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to remain in trance, practice by offering the movement of the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing.  Others, curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself as a sacrifice. (4/29).

All these performers who know the meaning of sacrifice become cleansed of sinful reactions, and, having tested the nectar of the results of sacrifices, they advance toward the supreme eternal atmosphere. (4/30).

O best of the Kuru dynasty, without sacrifice one can never live happily on this planet or in this life: what then of the next? (4/31).

All these different types of sacrifice are approved by the Vedas, and all of them are born of different types of work.  Knowling them as such you will become liberated. (4/32).

O chastiser of the enemy, the sacrifice performed in knowledge is better than the mere sacrifice of material possessions.  After all, O son of Prtha, all sacrifices of work culminate in transcendental knowledge. (4/33).

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.  Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him.  The self-realized souls can impartknowledge unto you because they have seen the truth. (4/34).

Having obtained real knowledge from a self-realized soul, you will never fall again into such illusion, for by this knowledge you will see that all living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, that they are Mine. (4/35).

Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries. (4/36).

As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities. (4/37).

In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge.  Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism.  And one who has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in due course of time. (4/38).

A faithfully man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace. (4/39).

But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down.  For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next. (4/40).

One who acts in devotional service, renouncing the fruits of his actions, and whose doubts have been destroyed by transcendental knowledge, is situated factually in the self.  This he is not bound by the reactions of work, O conqueror of riches. (4/41).

Therefore the doubts which have arises in your heart out of ignorance should be slashed by the weapon of knowledge.  Armed with yoga, O Bharata, stand and fight. (4/42).

Chapter Five (5)

Karma-yoga - Action in Krsna Consciousness