[Draft translation; not for quotation, citation or attribution

outside of classroom use except by permission of the translator]

The Bhagavad Gita

"The Song of the Lord"

from The Book of Bhisma in The Mahabharata

translation and adaptation by David L. Gitomer
DePaul University

CHAPTER THREE
Arjuna said:
If you believe that cultivation of Intellect
is superior to action,
then why do you impel me
to this horrific action, Krishna? (3.1)

You bewilder my mind

with these contradictory statements.
Determine that one thing by which
I may attain the highest good.
Then speak to me.1 (3.2)

The Lord said:

In ancient times I declared that in this world
there are two bases to stand upon, sinless Arjuna--
the yoga of knowledge for the samkhyas, the systematic philosophers
and the yoga of action for the yogis,
those engaged in disciplined practice. (3.3)

Not by undertaking actions

does a person attain freedom from karmic processes,
nor by mere renunciation
does he arrive at success. (3.4)

For no one ever passes even an instant

without committing some act--
each person is forced to act by the Gunas,2

1Of course, the whole point of the Gita is that Krishna can't tell him "one thing." Or, as
the commentator Samkara states, there are different paths for different people at
different stages of their lives. See also 5.1.
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the qualities inherent in Material Nature. (3.5)

The person who restrains his organs of action

and merely sits,
using his mental faculty to recollect the objects of sense--
that deluded soul is acting in vain. (3.6)

But the one who restrains the senses

with his mental faculty, Arjuna,
and undertakes karmayoga, the discipline of action,
using those very organs of action,
while remaining unattached to the fruits of action,
he excels. (3.7)

Perform the required action,

for action is better than the absence of action.
If you do not act,
you cannot even maintain your body . (3.8)

Except for the pure action of sacrifice,3

this world is bound in action.
That is why you must perform action wholeheartedly, Arjuna,
but free from attachment. (3.9)

In ancient days, Lord Prajapati created creatures,

and with them the sacrifice. He charged them:
"Procreate yourselves by this means.
Let sacrifice be the magic wishing-cow
for whatever you desire!" (3.10)

Through sacrifice, make the gods thrive

and they shall make you thrive.
Making each other thrive,
you shall attain the highest good! (3.11)

Gods who are nourished by sacrifice

2 See note to 2.45.

3The action involved in sacrifice is considered pure according to the Vedic ritual theory
because it is done primarily for the sake of the injunction itself, and only secondarily for
the result that might gained from it.
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will grant all the pleasures you desire.

Whoever enjoys what is given by them
but gives nothing in return
is nothing but a thief. (3.12)

Good people who subsist on remains from their sacrifices

Are released from all offences,
But those evil who cook the offering for themselves alone
eat their own sin. (3.13)

Beings arise from food;

the production of food is from rain;
rain comes from sacrifice,
and sacrifice arises through action. (3.14)

Know that action has its origins in Brahman,

and Brahman arises from the imperishable syllable OM;
thus, the omnipresent eternal Brahman
is established in sacrifice. (3.15)

He who does not keep turning the wheel

that is already set in motion,
but pleasures only in what his senses give him,
makes his life a sin.
He lives in vain, Arjuna. (3.16)

But the man who delights in the self,

who is satisfied in the self,
who finds complete satisfaction in the self alone--
for him there is "nothing to do." (3.17)

For him there is nothing in the world to be accomplished

by performing an action
or not performing it,
nor does he depend on what is achieved by any other
creature.4 (3.18)

Therefore always perform actions that must be done5

4Both commentators agree that there is a break here; Krishna has been speaking of those
who are in the path of knowledge, whereas Arjuna is in the path of action. But the
perspective of this verse teaches that those engaged in action should also be unattached.
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wholeheartedly and without attachment;

for the person who performs actions without attachment
reaches the highest state. (3.19)

Men like King Janaka achieved complete success

by pure action.6
You also must set an example
in how you maintain the world;
you must engage in action. (3.20)

Whatever the highest man does

is what other people do;
he is the standard
that the world follows. (3.21)

There is nothing at all in the three worlds

I am obliged to do, Arjuna,
nothing I have not or cannot obtain;
yet I engage in action. (3.22)

For if I, tireless, do not engage in action,

men everywhere will follow my path. (3.23)

These worlds would fall to ruin

if I did not engage in action:
I would be the agent of social confusion;7
I would destroy these my creatures. (3.24)

Whatever actions ignorant people perform with attachment,

so do the wise,
but unattached,
from a desire to maintain the world by example. (3.25)

5 This should be probably be understood in the context of ritual action primarily.

6This could either mean "by action alone," i.e. without attachment, or as the
commentators want to understand it, without renouncing worldly responsibilities,
including Vedic sacrifice, and without recourse to the other path, that of pure
knowledge.

7 Literally, caste mixing.

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But the wise man should not generate contradictions

in the minds of the ignorant who are attached in their actions.
Rather he ought to encourage them to take pleasure in all actions;
with discipline he himself performs actions wholeheartedly. (3.26)

Actions of every sort are really performed by the Gunas,

the Qualities of Material Nature;
but the man deluded by ego believes,
"I am the agent." (3.27)

But the man who knows the principle, mighty-armed Arjuna,

of these Guns and their actions,
in all their categories, holds in his mind the truth that
"Gunas are operating on Gunas."
and is without attachment to them. (3.28)

Those who are thoroughly deluded by the Gunas of prakrti,

Gunas the Qualities of Material Nature,
get attached to the actions, the karma, of those Qualities.
Those who know the complete truth should not agitate
the slow-witted, who know it only incompletely.8 (3.29)

Relinquish all actions to me

with consciousness focused on the supreme Self.
Free from aspiration, free from possessiveness,
your fever of anguish departed, fight, Arjuna! (3.30)

Those who, full of faith9 and without

hostility to my teaching
become ever trained on my teaching--
they also are released from their karma. (3.31)

But those who do not follow my teaching, impugning it,

know them as bewildered
in all their knowledge;
they are perished. (3.32)

8This is the culmination of the idea begun in 3.26, that those knowing the true nature of
action are obliged not to confuse those incapable of understanding it, those who think
that human agency is real, that they really perform actions.

9 Or conviction.
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outside of classroom use except by permission of the translator]

Even a man who possesses knowledge

acts according to his own Material Nature.10
Creatures do follow their material natures;
what does restraint accomplish? (3.33)

Both passion and hatred are rooted

in the sense objects that the senses perceive;
don't fall under the sway of either.
They are highwaymen, lying in wait. (3.34)

One's own dharma, though undistinguished,

is better than another's dharma well-executed.
Death in one's own dharma is the highest good;11
another's dharma brings danger. (3.35)

Arjuna said:
Then what drives this man
that he commits evil.
Even without desiring it, Krishna,
he is compelled as if by force? (3.36)

The Lord said:

See, it is sensual desire, it is anger,
which arise from rajas, Material Nature's passionate Quality.12
It is the great devourer, the great evil--
know it as the enemy in this world. (3.37)

As a fire is covered by smoke,

a mirror by soot,
or a fetus by the membrane,
so is this world covered by that rajas. (3.38)

The knowledge of the knower is covered

by that eternal enemy in the form of sensual desire.

That is, people act according to the proportional amount of each of the Gunas in their
10

makeup.

11 Sreyas, which suggests moksa, liberation.

12 That is, they arise from the Guna of rajas, "passionate energy."
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Son of Kunti, it is a fire

that is never satisfied. (3.39)

The senses, the mental faculty, and the Intellect

are said to be its base of operations.
Using them, see how sensual desire covers knowledge
and bewilders the embodied self. (3.40)

Therefore, Arjuna, first control your senses,

and kill that evil which destroys
the transcendent knowledge that comes from the Vedas
and the wisdom you've gained from experience. (3.41)

They say the senses are finer than their objects,

and the mental faculty is higher than the senses.
The Intellect is higher than the mental faculty,
yet beyond Intellect is That.13 (3.42)

Thus use your Intellect to cultivate That which is beyond Intellect,

and use your mind to subdue your mind;
then kill the foe, mighty-armed Arjuna, hard to attack--
wily sensual desire! (3.43)

CHAPTER FOUR
The Lord said:
I proclaimed this imperishable yoga
to Vivasvan, the sun.
Vivasvan transmitted it to Manu, his son,
and Manu taught the discipline
to his son Iksvaku, founder of the solar dynasty. (4.1)

In this way, handed down in continuous succession,

the sage-kings knew this yoga,

13This is the same "That" which is taught in the great dictum of the Upanisads, "That
thou art." In other words, the Supreme Self which is identified with Brahman.
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but over the vast course of time

it perished here on earth, scorcher of foes. (4.2)

It is the same ancient yoga

that I have now spoken to you,
since you are devoted and my friend--
for this is the ultimate mystery. (4.3)

Arjuna said:
Your birth was recent;
the birth of Vivasvan was long ago.
How should I understand that you proclaimed this yoga
"in the beginning"? (4.4)

The Lord said:

Many have been my past births
and yours, too, Arjuna.
I know them all,
but you do not know them, scorcher of foes. (4.5)

Though I am unborn and imperishable,

though I am the lord of creatures,
I enter into Material Nature, which I govern,
and come into being through my own maya,
supernatural creative power.14 (4.6)

For whenever Dharma becomes enfeebled

and Adharma15 rises up strong, Arjuna,
then I create myself. (4.7)

For the protection of the worthy,

for the destruction of the wicked--

14In the Vedas, maya means the conjurings of a magician (as when Indra destroyed the
"tricks" of the dragon Vrtra). In the later Vedanta philosophy, somewhat under the
influence of Buddhist (Yogacara) ideas, the term comes to refer to the notion that the
phenomenal world is "illusion," because only Brahman is real. Here, however, maya
describes the exuberance and energy of the divine creative activity that Lord Krishna
works through prakrti, Material Nature. Though not illusory, its dynamic, playful
quality makes it less "ultimate" than purusa (=atman = Brahman).

15 The un-dharma of 1.40 above.

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for the sake of establishing Dharma,

I come into being in every Age. (4.8)

He who knows the reality of my birth and deeds

as in this way divine,
when he leaves behind his body
he is not born again;
he comes to me, Arjuna. (4.9)

There are many, with passions, fears and anger departed,

absorbed in me, dependent on me,
and purified by the asceticism of knowledge,
who have come to come to share my Being. (4.10)

Yet however they resort to me,

so do I give myself to them,
for people follow my path everywhere,
and in many ways, Arjuna. (4.11)

Those who desire that their actions will have successful results
sacrifice to the gods here on earth,
for in the human world success from ritual action
is quickly produced. (4.12)

And here on earth I created the system of four classes,

dividing people according to their predominant Qualities
and the work, the karma, these incline them to.
Though you know me as their creator,
know that I am not an agent,
but imperishable. (4.13)

For actions do not stain me,

nor have I any longing for the fruits of action:
anyone who understands me this way
is not bound by actions. (4.14)

With this sort of knowledge, even the ancients

seeking liberation performed action.
Therefore, you must engage in the very actions
performed by your predecessors, and those before them. (4.15)

What is "action" and what is "nonaction?"

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About this even the sages have been deluded.

I will tell what this karma is, and knowing it
you will liberate yourself from this world of misfortune. (4.16)

For you need to understand not only action,

you also need to understand wrong action,
and you need to understand the absence of action:
the way of action is profound. (4.17)

Whoever sees nonaction in action,

and action in the absence of action,
that person, among all people, is possessed of Intellect.
He is a master of disciplined practice,
a master of all the varieties of action. (4.18)

Whose every undertaking is free

from sensual desire and conceptual motives,
whose actions, karmas, are burned up by the fire of knowledge,
the intelligent call him sage. (4.19)

He abandons attachment to the fruit of action,

always satisfied, and dependent on nothing;
though engaged in action,
he does not act at all. (4.20)

Wishing for nothing,

his mind and whole being under control,
he leaves behind all possessions.
He performs actions only with his body,
and does not incur karmic stain. (4.21)

Content with what chance brings his way,

transcending dualities, free from envy,
keeping equanimity in success and failure,
though acting, he is not bound by acts. (4.22)

When he is free from attachment--released,

his consciousness fixed in knowledge,
he performs action as a sacrifice,
and his karma is dissolved in its entirety. (4.23)

Brahman, the Absolute, is the ladle,

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Brahman is the offering;

it is Brahman who pours the offering in the fire.
It is Brahman to which the offering goes
when one contemplates ritual action as Brahman. (4.24)

Some yogis, masters of disciplined practice,

offer worship as sacrifice for the gods.
Others offer the self as a sacrifice
into the fire of Brahman, the absolute. (4.25)

Some offer the senses, hearing and the rest,

into the burning fire of self-control.
Others offer the objects of sense, such as sound
into the fires of the senses. (4.26)

Some offer all the actions of the sense organs

and the actions of the breaths into the fire of yoga,
the disciplined practice of self-restraint,
which is fueled by transcendent knowledge. (4.27)

There are those who sacrifice with the things they have,
and those whose sacrifice is austerities.
Still others sacrifice by means of yoga,
and ascetics with harsh vows make their sacrifice
with Vedic study and transcendent knowledge. (4.28)

Some offer the prana16 into the apana17

while others offer the apana into the prana.
Some are wholly given over to control of the breaths,
blocking the movements of prana and apana. (4.29)

Others regulate their intake of food,

offering the breaths into the breaths themselves.
Yet all of these truly understand the sacrifice,
and their impurities are destroyed by their sacrifices. (4.30)

Subsisting on the sacred remnants of their sacrifice,

they go to eternal Brahman.

16 The primary of the five vital breaths in the traditional Indian physiology.

17 The downward moving vital breath.

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This world does not belong to those who do not sacrifice.

Could they even aspire to another, Arjuna? (4.31)

Thus sacrifices of many sorts are spread out

at the entrance to Brahman.
When you understand them all as arising from karma,
you will liberate yourself. (4.32)

Better than the sacrifice involving material substances

is the sacrifice in transcendent knowledge, scorcher of foes.
For every action, Arjuna, is brought to fulfillment
in transcendent knowledge. (4.33)

Know that by humbling yourself

before those who have this knowledge,
by serving them and questioning them,
they who see the truth will impart their knowledge to you. (4.34)

Knowing it, you will never again

fall into delusion, Pandava.
Using it, you will see all creatures in yourself,
and then within me. (4.35)

Even were you the most evil of all sinners,

you would cross safely
over every raging vice
on this raft of knowledge. (4.36)

Like a fire, once kindled,

reduces stacks of wood to ashes, Arjuna,
the fire of ultimate knowledge
reduces all karmas to ashes. (4.37)

For nowhere can be found a purifier equal

to this knowledge, and in time,
when you achieve complete mastery of yoga,
you find it within yourself. (4.38)

Full of conviction, one can gain that knowledge

if he makes it his highest aim
and has his senses under control.
Gaining that knowledge, one soon reaches utmost peace. (4.39)
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But the ignorant person makes no effort of conviction;

his mind becomes filled with doubt, and he perishes.
This world does not belong to one
whose mind is filled with doubt,
nor the other world, nor happiness. (4.40)

Actions do not bind a man, Arjuna,

who has renounced actions through yoga.
His doubts are completely cut away by knowledge;
his mind is firm. (4.41)

The doubt abiding in your heart arises from ignorance.

Cut it away with your own sword of knowledge!
Rely on this yoga and get up, Arjuna! (4.42)

CHAPTER FIVE
Arjuna said:
First you praise renunciation of actions, Krishna,
then their mastery in disciplined practice.
Tell me between these two
which one is better for certain.18 (5.1)

Renunciation and the yoga of action--

both can lead to the ultimate state.19
Yet between these two, the yoga of action
is far superior to the renunciation of action. (5.2)

One who neither hates nor desires

should be understood as a perpetual renouncer.
For when one is free from the pairs of opposites, mighty-armed Arjuna,

18 See also 3.2, where Arjuna also asks for "one thing."

19 nihsreyas = moksa, liberation}

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he's easily released from bondage. (5.3)

The intellectual path to transcendent knowledge20

and the yoga of disciplined action are different,
say the immature, but not the wise.
If you practice rightly even one,
you obtain the fruits of both. (5.4)

That state which is reached by the samkhyas

is attained by the yogis as well.
He truly sees
who sees that samkhya and yoga are one. (5.5)

While renunciation without disciplined practice

may lead to suffering, mighty-armed Arjuna,
a sage who is yoked to yoga
attains Brahman, the Absolute, without delay. (5.6)

Yoked to yoga, his mind becomes pure,

he subdues himself and conquers his senses.
His self becomes the self of all beings
and even while performing actions,
he is not stained by karma. (5.7)

While yoked in action

he should think--which is true--
that he performs no acts at all. (5.8a)

Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling,

eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, (5.8b)
talking, eliminating, grasping,
even opening and closing his eyes,
he should maintain the thought that
all these are only the senses
operating on objects of sense. (5.9)

When he places his actions in Brahman, abandoning attachment,

he may act,
but he remains unstained by evil,

20 Samkhya, see note to 2.39.

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like a lotus leaf unstained by water. (5.1O)

Yogis, letting go of attachment,

perform actions merely with the body,
the mind, the Intellect, or the senses,
for the sake of purifying the self. (5.11)

Engaged in action21 but letting go of the fruits

one attains to unwavering peace;
unyoked to action but attached to results
(because desire still abides),
one actually is bound. (5.12)

The embodied self mentally renounces all actions

and abides happily, self-controlled,
in his nine-gated fort--the body--22
neither acting nor causing others to act. (5.13)

The all-powerful lord23

creates neither agency nor actions for the world,
nor an immediate connection between acts and results.
Rather it is in the nature of the material realm
to work this way. (5.14)

The all-pervading lord24 does not receive

either the evil or good actions of anyone;
transcendent knowledge is covered over by ignorance
and by that are people deluded. (5.15)

But those whose ignorance has been destroyed

by knowledge of the self--

21 Literally, "yoked."

22 So called because of the body's various apertures.

23Thecommentators understand this to refer to the "lord of the body," or atman, but the
author of the Gita probably intended a more straightforward meaning.

24Again the commentators understands atman, but to me the drift seems to be

addressing the question of what role divinity plays in the operation of karma as before.
Either both verses must refer to the atman, or both to God.
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in them that knowledge is bright as the sun,

illuminating the ultimate truth, Brahman. (5.16)

Their Intellect is trained on that;

their whole beings are trained on that.
Grounded in that and aiming toward that
as their highest goal,
they attain that state from which there is no return,
for their sins have been beaten out25by knowledge. (5.17)

A brahmin endowed with learning and graceful conduct,

a cow, an elephant,
even a dog, and a dog-eating outcaste--
the wise observe them with the same regard. (5.18)

Even here on earth creation's disposition

is conquered for those wise men whose minds
are fixed in impartiality.
For Brahman, the Absolute, is everywhere flawless and equal;
therefore they remain fixed in Brahman. (5.19)

He neither rejoices when what comes is welcome,

nor grieves when what comes is unwelcome.
His Intellect is steady, unclouded with delusion.
The knower of Brahman remains fixed in Brahman. (5.20)

His mind stays detached in contacts with the external world;

he finds happiness in the self.
His whole being is yoked in the yoga of Brahman,
he enjoys imperishable happiness. (5.21)

One consumes pleasures born from these contacts,

but they generate nothing but suffering.
They have beginnings and ends, Arjuna;
the intelligent person takes no delight in them. (5.22)

The man who can endure while still here on earth

the jolts that desire and anger produce

25nirdhuta;
the image is definitely that of the dhobi cleaning clothes, so "washed clean,"
"cleansing" are appropriate translations.
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before he lets go of his body--

he is a yogi, he is a happy man. (5.23)

He whose happiness is within him,

whose delight rests within him,
whose light is within him, he is a yogi.
He achieves Brahman-nirvana, extinction in the Absolute,
having become the Absolute.26 (5.24)

The sages who gain Brahman-nirvana

have destroyed their sins and demolished duality.
They have brought their minds under control,
and take delight in the welfare of all beings. (5.25)

Ascetics, unyoked from desire and anger,

rein in their conscious minds;
from then on Brahman-nirvana exists for them,
and they know the self. (5.26)

Ensuring that contacts with the external world

remain outside, fixing his gaze between his brows,
keeping the incoming and downward breaths
moving equally in the nostrils, (5.27)
the sage who has reined in his senses, his mental faculty and Intellect,
makes liberation his highest goal.
Desire, fear and anger have departed;
he is released forever. (5.28)

He knows me as the Enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities,

the great lord of all the worlds,
the friend of all creatures:
he attains peace. (5.29)

CHAPTER SIX
The Lord said:
The person who performs actions which must be done--
the required ritual duties--

26Cf. 2.72.
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outside of classroom use except by permission of the translator]

with no dependence on the result of those actions,

he is both a renouncer and a yogi, a master of action.
He who simply stops maintaining the sacred fires and performing the rites
is not. (6.1)

What they call renunciation,

know that to be yoga, Pandava,
for no one becomes a yogi who has not also
renounced thinking about intended results. (6.2)

For the sage wishing to rise to yoga,

action is called the means,
and when he has risen to yoga,
tranquillity is called the means. (6.3)

For when he is attached neither to the objects of sense

nor the actions he performs,
he is able to renounce thoughts of intended results;
then he is said to have fully risen to yoga. (6.4)

You should lift yourself by yourself;

you should not drag yourself down.
For your yourself are your only friend,
and you yourself are your only enemy. (6.5)

When you conquer yourself by yourself,

your self is your own friend.
When you do not have possession of your own self,
your self turns hostile on you like an enemy. (6.6)

When you've conquered yourself and stilled your mind,

your self becomes the Supreme Self,
fully collected in cold and heat, happiness and grief,
honor and dishonor. (6.7)

When your being is satisfied with transcendent knowledge

from scripture and experience,
when you stand aloof and steady as a mountain,
your senses fully subdued,
you are yoked and can be called a yogi:
a lump of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same to you. (6.8)
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Towards friends, companions and enemies,

towards those who are indifferent and those who are neutral,
towards detestable people and relatives,
towards those whose deeds are righteous or evil,
the yogi maintains an even Intellect,
and he distinguishes himself in excellence. (6.9)

The yogi perpetually yokes himself,

his mind and body under control.
He abides alone in lonely places;
he has no expectations or possessions. (6.10)

In a pure spot,
he solidly grounds a seat for himself,
neither too high or too low,
with a covering of cloth, deerskin and kusa grass. (6.11)

Seated there, let him make his mind one-pointed,

rein in the activities of his consciousness and his senses.
Let him yoke himself to yoga
to purify himself. (6.12)

Holding his body, neck and head straight,

motionless and firm,
he gazes steadily at the tip of his nose27
without looking anywhere else. (6.13)

His whole being is tranquil, his fear is departed

and he remains fixed in his vow of celibacy.
Restraining the mind, his consciousness trained on me,
yoked he sits, entirely concentrating on me. (6.14)

Continuously yoking his whole being in this way,

the yogi whose mind is subdued reaches that peace
which is tantamount to extinction,28
and concludes in me. (6.15)

27Thecommentator Samkara makes a point of saying this does not mean that he is
concentrating on the tip of his nose, but withdrawn from the external objects of sense
and directed inwards towards the self.

28But not extinction itself, for this would constitute a Buddhistic (early Buddhist) denial
of its shape as real divinity.
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This disciplined practice is not

for a person who eats too much
or for one who eats absolutely nothing.
It is not for a person who is given to long sleep
or one stays awake too much. (6.16)

Rather this yoga is for the person who is yoked--

disciplined in appetite and diversions,
disciplined in his bodily movements
and disciplined in sleeping and waking.
For that person, this yoga is the destruction
of all suffering. (6.17)

When consciousness is thoroughly subdued

and is focused on the self alone,
when the yogi becomes free from longing for every desire,
then he is said to be "yoked." (6.18)

Like a lamp in a windless spot that does not flicker--

that's the comparison traditionally made
with the yogi whose consciousness is reined in,
who yokes himself with yoga. (6.19)

When consciousness is checked through cultivation of yoga

and comes to rest,
when the yogi sees the self with the self
and finds contentment in the self, (6.20)

when he knows a happiness beyond any limits he has ever imagined,

a happiness beyond the senses,
comprehensible only to the Intelligence,
he remains fixed in that reality
and does not swerve from it. (6.21)

And when he gains it,

he can conceive of no other greater than it.
Fixed in it, he cannot be shaken from it
even by the weightiest suffering. (6.22)

You should know that this unyoking

from being yoked to suffering
 [Draft translation; not for quotation, citation or attribution
outside of classroom use except by permission of the translator]

is called Yoga.
Practice this Yoga with resolve,
your consciousness free from despair. (6.23)

Let go of every single desire--

these are born from semi-conscious intentional thoughts--
and using the mental faculty itself,
rein in the whole village of sense faculties on all sides. (6.24)

Little by little,
Intellect armed with fortitude,
the yogi comes to rest.
His mind should be made to take the form of the self,
and he should think of nothing else. (6.25)

Wherever the fickle, wavering mind roams,

you must bring it back from there,
rein it in under the control of the self. (6.26)

For ultimate happiness comes to the yogi:

his mind is tranquil,
his Quality of Passion is stilled,
he has become Brahman,
he is without karmic stain. (6.27)

Continuously yoking his whole being in this way,

the yogi whose karmic stain is dissolved
easily attains the happiness without end
that is intimate union with Brahman. (6.28)

When your whole being is yoked in yoga,

you behold the self in all creatures
and all creatures in the self;
you see them all the same. (6.29)

Who sees me in everything

and sees everything in me,
for him I will never perish,
and he will never perish for me. (6.30)

The yogi who worships me dwelling in all creatures,

while he maintains a firm belief in oneness,
 [Draft translation; not for quotation, citation or attribution
outside of classroom use except by permission of the translator]

however he is living,
he lives in me. (6.31)

Whether in happiness or suffering, Arjuna,

he sees everything the same, Arjuna,
because he understands everything to be like himself--
he is held to be the highest yogi. (6.32)

Arjuna said:
This yoga which you declare to be "sameness," Krishna--
I don't see how its existence can be firmly maintained,
because of fickleness. (6.33)

For the mind is fickle--

turbulent, strong and obstinate.
To restrain it is hard
as reining the wind. (6.34)

The Lord said:

Doubtless, mighty-armed warrior,
the mind is hard to restrain--it wavers.
But by diligent practice, Arjuna, and dispassion
it can be firmly held.29 (6.35)

I do believe that yoga is difficult to attain

for the person who has not learned to rein the mind in
completely;
but it is possible to attain for the person
who has brought the mind under his own control,
striving by these means I have taught. (6.36)

Arjuna said:
If a person does not have self-control,
if his mind wavers from this yoga, this discipline,
but he has faith in it--
since he doesn't attain perfection in yoga,
where does he go, Krishna? (6.37)

29AsV. Panoli mentions in his notes to the commentary of Samkara, the comparison is
with horses and relates to the Katha Upanisad III.3-4; also a most apt comparison for
Arjuna, the great chariot warrior.
 [Draft translation; not for quotation, citation or attribution
outside of classroom use except by permission of the translator]

Like a fragment floating between two clouds--

mastery of disciplined action and transcendent knowledge--
does he fall away and perish?
Without any support, mighty-armed warrior, does he stumble,
bewildered, on to the path of Brahman? (6.38)

This is my doubt, Krishna,

which you must destroy so that none remains.
No one but you
can destroy this doubt. (6.39)

The Lord said:

Neither in this world, Arjuna, or the next,
could he be destroyed.
For no one who performs blessed deeds30
goes to an miserable end. (6.40)

He reaches the worlds of those who perform deeds of merit

and dwells there for an eternity of years.
Then the person who has fallen away from yoga
takes birth in the house of pure and fortune-favored folk. (6.41)

Or else he'll arise in the clan of wise yogis.

A birth such as this is extremely rare in the world. (6.42)

In that birth he will attain direct contact

with the Intellect he had developed in his former body,
and from there he can strive even more toward perfection,
Delight of Kurus. (6.43)

Even without willing it,

his previous diligent practice carries him along.
Even the person whose desire it is to know about yoga
will be pulled beyond the Brahman found
in the practice of Vedic rituals. (6.44)

The yogi, striving with great effort,

is completely purified of the stains of sin.
Perfected through many births,

30kalyanakrt; others translate "does good."

 [Draft translation; not for quotation, citation or attribution
outside of classroom use except by permission of the translator]

from there he starts for the highest Goal. (6.45)

The yogi is greater than ascetic athletes;

the yogi is held to be greater than those with transcendent knowledge,
and the yogi is greater than practitioners of ritual action.
Therefore become a yogi, Arjuna--a master of disciplined practice! (6.46)

And of all yogis, the one who worships me,

full of conviction,
with his inmost self trained on me-
him I hold to be the most disciplined in yoga. (6.47)