Chapter Five

Karma-yoga - Action in Krsna Consciousness

Arjuna Said : O Krsna, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion.  Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial? (5/1).

The Personality of Godhead replied : The renunciation of work and work in devotion are both good for liberation.  But, of the two, work in devotional service is better than renunciation of work. (5/2).

One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced.  Such a person, free from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty armed Arjuna. (5/3).

Only the ignorant speak of devotional service [karma-yoga] as being different from the analytical study of the material world [Sankhya].  Those who are actually learned say that he who applies himself well to one of these paths achieves the results of both. (5/4).

One who knows that the position eached by means of analytical study can also be attained by devotional service, and who therefore sees analytical study and devotional service to be on the same level, sees things as they are. (5/5).

Merely renouncing all activities yet not engaging in the devotional service of the Lord cannot make one happy.  But a thoughtful person engaged in devotional service can achieve the Supreme without delay. (5/6).

One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him.  Though always working, such a man is never entangled. (5/7).

A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeking, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all.  Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them.  (5/8,9).

One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water. (5/10).

The yogis, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification. (5/11).

The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled. (5/12).

When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done. (5/13).

The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action.  All this is enacted by the modes of material nature. (5/14).

Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious activities.  Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge. (5/15).

When, however, one is enlightened with the knowledge by which nescience is destroyed, then his knowledge reveals everything, as the sun lights up everything in the daytime. (5/16).

When one’s intelligence, mind, faith and refuge are all fixed in the Supreme, then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation.(5/17).

The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, seewith equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]. (5/18).

Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already conqured the conditions of birth and death.  They are flawless like Brahman, and thus they are already situated in Brahman. (5/19).

A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God is already situated in transcendence. (5/20).

Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within.  In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme. (5/21).

An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses.  O son of Kunti such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them. (5/22)

Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world. (5/23).

One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic.  He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme. (5/24).

Those who are beyond the dualities that arise from doubts, whose minds are engaged within, who are always busy working for the welfare of all living beings, and who are free from all sins achieve liberation in the Supreme. (5/25).

Those who are free from anger and all material desires, who are self-realized, self-disciplined and constantly endeavouring for perfection, are assured of liberation in the Supreme in the very near future. (5/26).

Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils, and thus controlling the mind, senses and intelligence, the transcendentalist aiming at liberation becomes free from desire, fear and anger.  One who is always in this state is certainly liberated. (5/27,28).

A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains pece from the pangs of material miseries. (5/29).

Chapter Six.

Dhyana - yoga

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said : One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no duty. (6/1).

What is called renunciation you should know to be the same as yoga, or linking onwself with the Supreme, O son of Pandu, for one can never become a yogi he renounces the desire for sense gratification. (6/2).

For one who is a neophyte in the eightfold yoga system, work is said to be the means; and for one who is already elevated in yoga, cessation of all material activities is said to be the means. (6/3).

A person is said to be elevated in yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities. (6/4).

One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself.  The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. (6/5).

For him who has conqured the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greates enemy. (6/6).

For one who has conqured the mind, the Suspersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity.  To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same. (6/7).

A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi [or mystic] when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization.  Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled.  He sees everything - whether it be pebbles, stones or gold - as the same. (6/8).

A person is considered still further advanced when he regards honest well-wishers, affectionate benefactors, the neutral, mediators, the envious, friends and enemies, the pious and the sinners all with an equal mind. (6/9).

A transcendentalist should always engage his body, mind and self in relationship with the Supreme; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind.  He should be free from desires and feelings of possesiveness. (6/10).

To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth.  The seat should be neither too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place.  The yogi should then sit on it very firmly and practice yoga to purify the heart by controlling his mind, senses and activities and fixing the mind on one point. (6/11,12).

One should hold one’s body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose.  This, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life. (6,13/14).

Thus practicing constant control of the body, mind and activities, the mystic transcendentalist, his mind regulated, attains to the kingdom of God [or the abode of Krsna] by cessation of material existence. (6/15).

There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough. (6/16).

He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system. (6/18).

When the yogi, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in transcendence - devoid of all material desires - he is said to be well established in yoga. (6/18).

As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent self. (6/19).

In the stage of perfection called trance, or samadhi, one’s mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga.  This perfection is characterized by one’s ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self.  In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness, realized through transcendental senses.  Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain.  Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty.  This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact. (6/20, 21, 22, 23).

One should engage oneself in the practice of yoga with determination and faith and not be deviated from the path.  One should abandon, without exception, all material desires born or mental speculation and thus control all the senses on all sides by the mind. (6/24).

Gradually, step by step, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence sustained by full conviction, and thus the mind should be fixed on the self alone and should think of nothing else. (6/25).

From wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self. (6/26).

The yogi whose mind is fixed on Me verily attains the highests perfection of transcendental happiness.  He is beyond the mode of passion, he realizes his qualitative identity with the Supreme, and thus he is freed from all reactions to past deeds. (6/27).

Thus the self-controlled yogi, constantly engaged in yoga practice, becomes free from all material contamination and achieves the highest stage of perfect happiness in transcendental loving service to the Lord. (6/28).

A true yogi observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me.  Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere. (6/29).

For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to me. (6/30).

Such a yogi, who engages in the worshipful service of the Supersoul, knowing that I and the Supersoul are one, remains always in Me in all circumstances. (6/31).

He is a pefrct yogi who, by comparision to his own self, sees the true equality of all beings, in both their happiness and their distress, O Arjuna! (6/32).

Arjuna said : O Madhusudana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady. (6/33).

The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krsna, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind. (6/34).

Lord Sri Krsna said : O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment. (6/35).

For one whose mind is unbridled, self-realization is difficult work.  But he whose mind is controlled and who strives by appropriate means is assured of success.  That is My opinion. (6/36).

Arjuna said : O Krsna, what is the destination of the unsuccessful transcendentalist, who in the beginning takes to the process of self-realization with faith but who later desists due to worldlymindedness and thus does not attain perfection in mysticism? (6/37).

O mighty-armed Krsna, does not such a man, who is bewildered from the path of transcendence, fall away from both spiritual and material success and perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere? (6/38).

This is my doubt, O Krsna, and I ask You to dispel it completely.  But for You, no one is to be found who can destroy this doubt. (6/39).

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said : On of Prtha, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual world; one who does good, My friend, is never overcome by evil. (6/40).

The unsuccessful yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristrocracy. (6/41).

Or [if unsuccessful after long practice of yoga] he takes his birth in a family of transcendentalists who are surely great in wisdom.  Certainly, such a birth is rare in this world. (6/42).

On taking such a birth, he revives the devine consciousness of his previous life, and he again tries to make further progress in order to achieve complete success, O son of Kuru. (6/43).

By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attacted to the yogic principles - even without seeking them.  Such an inquisitive transcendentalist stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures. (6/44).

And when the yogi engages himself with sincere endeavor in making further progress, being washed of all contaminations, then ultimately, achieving perfection after many, many births of practice, he attains the supreme goal. (6/45).

A yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist and greater than the fruitive worker.  Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances, be a yogi. (6/46).

And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me - he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.  That is My opinion. (6/47).

Chapter Seven

Knowledge of the Absolute.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said :  Now hear, O son of Prtha, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt. (7/1).

I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous.  This being known, nothing further shall remain for you to know. (7/2).

Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth. (7/3).

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego- all together these eight constitute My separated material energies. (7/4).

Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.  (7/5).

All created beings have their source in these two natures.  Of all that is material and all thatis spiritual in this worlds, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution. (7/6).

O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me.  Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread. (7/7).

O son of Kunti, I am the teste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man. (7/8).

I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the heat in fire, I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics. (7/9).

O son of Prtha, know that I am the original seed of all existences, the intelligence of the intelligent, and the prowess of all powerful men.  (7/10).

I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire.  I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles, O lord of the Bharatas [Arjuna]. (7/11).

Know that all states of being - be they of goddness, passion or ignorance - are manifested by My enegry.  I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent.  I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me. (7/12).

Deluded by the three modes [goddness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and inehaustible. (7/13).

This devind energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome.  But those who have surrendered unto Me. can easily cross beyond it. (7/14).

Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me. (7/15).

O best among the Bharatas, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me - the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute. (7/16).

Of these, the one who is in full knowledge and who is always engaged in pure devotional service is the best.  For I am very dear to him, and he is dear to me. (7/17).

All these devotees are undoubtedly magnanimous souls, but he who is situated in knowledge of Me I consider to be just like My own self.  Being engaged in My transcendental service, he is sure to attain Me, the highest and most perfect goal. (7/18).

After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is.  Such a great soul is very rare. (7/19).

Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures. (7/20).

I am in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul.  As soon as one desires to worship some demigod, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to that particular deity. (7/21).

Endowed with such a faith, he endeavors to worship a particular demigod and obtains his desires.  But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone. (7/22).

Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary.  Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet. (7/23).

Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality.  Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme. (7/24).

I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent.  For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible. (7/25).

O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come.  I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows. (7/26).

O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate. (7/27).

Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with determination. (7/28).

Intelligent persons who are endeavoring for liberation from old age and death take refuge in Me in devotional service.  They are actually Brahman because they entirely know everything about transcendental activities. (7/29).

Those in full consciousness of Me, who know Me, the Supreme Lord, to be the governing principle of the material manifestation, of the demigods, and of all methods of sacrifice, can understand and know Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even at the time of death. (7/30).

Chapter Eight

Attaining the Supreme

Arjuna inquired : O my Lord, O Supreme Person, what is Brahaman?  What is the self?  Waht are fruitive activites?  What is this material manifestation? And what are the demigods?  Please explain this to me. (8/1).

Who is the Lord of sacrifice, and how does He live in the body, O Madhusudan? And how can those engaged in devotional service know You at the time of death? (8/2).

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said :  The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called adhyatma, the self.  Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities. (8/3).

O best of the embodied beings, the physical nature, which is constantly changin, is called adhibhuta [the material manifestation].  The universal form of the Lord, which includes all the demigods, like those of the sun and moon, is called adhidaiva.  And I, the Supreme Lord, represented as the Supersoul in the heart of every embodied being, am called adhiyajna [the Lord of sacrifice]. (8/4).

And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature.  Of this there is no doubt. (8/5).

Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail. (8/6).

Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting.  With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt. (8/7).

He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O partha, is sure to reach Me. (8/8).

One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person.  He is luminous like the sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature. (8/9).

One who, at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and, by the strength of yoga, with an undeviating mind, engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord in full devotion, will certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (8/10).

Persons who are learned in the Vedas, who utter omkara and who are great sages in the renounced order enter into Brahman.  Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy.  I shall now briefly explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation. (8/11).

The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements.  Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the hearth and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga. (8/12).

After being situated in this yoga practice and vibrating the sacred syllable om, the Supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets. (8/13).

For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain.  O son of Prtha, because of his constant engagement in devotional service. (8/14).

After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection. (8/15).

From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place.  But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again. (8/16).

By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together from the duration of Brahma’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night. (8/17).

At the beginning of Brahma’s day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanufest again. (8/18).

Again and again, when Brahma’s day arrives, all living entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahma’s night they are helplessly annihilated. (8/19).

Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter.  It is supreme and is never annihilated.  When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is. (8/20).

That which the Vedantists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns - that is My supreme abode. (8/21).

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion.  Although He is present in His abode, He is all-prevading, and everything is situated within Him. (8/22).

O best of Bharatas, I shall now explain to you the different times at which, passing away from this world, the yogi does or does not come back. (8/23).

Those who know the Supreme Brahman attain that Supreme by passing away from the world during the influence of the flery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment of the day, during the fortnight of the waxing moon, or during the six months when the sun travels in the north. (8/24).

The mystic who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the fortnight of the waning moon, or the six months when the sun passes to the south reaches the moon planet but again comes back. (8/25).

According to Vedic opinion, there are two ways of passing from this world - one in light and one in darkness.  When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns. (8/26).

Although the devotees know these two paths, O Arjuna, they are never bewildered.  Therefore be always fixed in devotion. (8/27).

A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the reslts derived from studying the Vedas, performing austere sacifices, giving charity or pursuing philosophical and frutive activities.  Simply by performing devotional service, he attains all these, and at the end he reaches the supreme eternal abode. (8/28).

                                                                chapter 9-11