Bhagavad Gita

Why I Read This Book

I don’t consider myself a spiritual person (definitely not in the woo sense), but I’ve learned to admire and seek out philosophies of nonattachment. I find they put reality into perspective and still the mind. With an endless amount of screens begging for our attention, mindfulness is something everyone could benefit from — myself included. Having not read any primary Hindu texts, I searched around and stumbled upon a Reddit post comparing the Bhagavad Gita to the Tao Te Ching and Dhammapada (two of my favorite books) and figured that was a good place to start. 

Should You Read This Book?

Yes (of course).

But that seems odd for me to say as this is a pivotal Hindu text and one of the world’s great books. For those who may not be into this type of thing, the book itself isn’t very long; less than 100 pages when you remove the introductions and commentary (which were actually quite helpful and informative).

Before reading this book, I didn’t know much about the Bhagavad Gita beyond its importance. Translated to English as “Song of God,” the Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between the god Krishna and Prince Arjuna on the eve of a great battle. The background isn’t necessary to understand Krishna’s wisdom, but it’s interesting to learn the Gita is one scene in a much larger ancient Indian epic.

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Commonplace

 

Introduction

Their findings [of the ancient Indian seers] can be summarized in three statements which Aldous Huxley, following Leibniz, has called the Perennial Philosophy because they appear in every age and civilization (1) there is an infinite, changeless reality beneath the world of changes; (2) this same reality lies at the core of every human personality; (3) the purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially: that is, to realize God while here on earth.

Brahman, the Godhead; Atman, the divine core of personality; dharma, the law that expresses and maintains the unity of creation; karma, the web of cause and effect; samsara, the cycle of birth and death; moksha, the spiritual liberation that is life’s supreme goal.

The phenomenal world is [not] an illusion or unreal. The illusion is the sense of separateness.

We ourselves are responsible for what happens to us whether or not we can understand how. It follows that we can change what happens to us by changing ourselves; we can take our destiny into our own hands.

Sense objects and senses are not separate; they are two aspects of the same event.

We never really encounter the world; all we experience is our own nervous system.

Whatever comes — success or failure, praise or blame, victory or defeat — we can give our best with an unruffled mind.

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; … the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” — Bernard Shaw

Our lives are an eloquent expression of our belief: what we deem worth having, doing, attaining, being. What we strive for shows what we value; we back our shraddha with our time, our energy, our very lives.

 

Translation

[You should be] established in eternal truth, self-controlled, without any sense of duality or desire to acquire and hoard.

You should never engage in action for reward, nor should you long for inaction.

Those who are motivated only by the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do.

When you keep thinking about sense objects attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, the lust of possession that burns to anger. Anger clouds the judgement; you can no longer learn from past mistakes. Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and what is unwise, and your life is utter waste.

One who shirks action does not attain freedom; no one can gain perfection by abstaining from work. Indeed, there is no one who rests for even an instant; all creatures are driven to action by their own nature.

[The sage has] nothing to gain or lose by any action; neither people nor things can affect their security.

What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. The standards such people create will be followed by the whole world.

It is better to strive in one’s own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another. Nothing is ever lost in following one’s own dharma, but competition in another’s dharma breeds fear and insecurity.

Knowledge is hidden by selfish desire — hidden, Arjuna, by this unquenchable fire for self-satisfaction.

Actions do not cling to me because I am not attached to their results.

The wise see that there is action the midst of inaction and inaction in the midst of action.

The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results; all his selfish desires have been consumed in the fire of knowledge.

Competing with no one, they are alike in success and failure and content with whatever comes to them.

Those established in the Self have renounced selfish attachments to their actions and cut through doubts with spiritual wisdom.

Pleasures conceived in the world of the senses have a beginning and an end and give birth to misery.

Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path. When you have freed yourself from attachment to the results of work, and from desires for the enjoyment of sense objects, you will ascend to the unitive state.

To those who have conquered themselves, the will is a friend. But it is the enemy of those who have not found the Self within them.

The supreme Reality stands revealed in the consciousness of those who have conquered themselves. They live in peace, alike in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, praise and blame.

[The sage] is equally disposed to family, enemies, and friends, to those who support them and those who are hostile, to the good and the evil alike. Because they are impartial, they rise to great heights.

Make your mind one-pointed in meditation and your heart will be purified… with senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with the Self within, an aspirant attains nirvana, the state of abiding joy and peace in me.

Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self.

Others are deluded by Maya; performing evil deeds, they have no devotion to me. Having lost all discrimination, they follow the way of their lower nature.

The world, deluded, does not know that I am without birth and changeless.

When the day of Brahma dawns, forms are brought forth from the Unmanifest; when the night of Brahma comes, these forms merge in the Formless again… But beyond this formless state there is another, unmanifested reality, which is eternal and is not dissolved when the cosmos is destroyed.

There is One, that One is me; where there are many, all are me; they see my face everywhere.

Those who follow the rituals given in the Vedas, who offer sacrifices and take soma, free themselves from evil and attain the vast heaven of the gods, where they enjoy celestial pleasures. When they have enjoyed these fully, their merit is exhausted and they return to this land of death. Thus observing Vedic rituals but caught in an endless chain of desires, they come and go.

Those who worship me and meditate on me constantly without any other thought — I will provide for all their needs.

Behold, Arjuna, a million divine forms, with an infinite variety of color and shape. … [Krishna] appeared with an infinite number of faces, ornamented by heavenly jewels, displaying unending miracles and the countless weapons of his power.

I am time, the destroyer of all; I have come to consume the world. Even without your participation all the warriors gathered here will die. Therefore arise, Arjuna; conquer your enemies and enjoy the glory of sovereignty. I have already slain all these warriors; you will only be my instrument.

Still your mind in me, still your intellect in me, and without doubt you will be united with me forever. If you cannot still your mind in me, learn to do so through the regular practice of meditation. If you lack the will for such self-discipline, engage yourself in my work, for selfless service can lead you at last to complete fulfillment. If you are unable to do even this, surrender yourself to me, disciplining yourself and renouncing the results of all your actions.

Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.

Not agitating the world or by it agitated, they stand above the sway of elation, competition, and fear: that one is my beloved.

That one is dear to me who runs not after the pleasant or away from the painful, drives not, lusts not, but lets things come and go as they happen.

This supreme Self is without a beginning, undifferentiated, deathless. Through it dwells in the body, Arjuna, it neither acts nor is touched by action.

Do not get angry or harm any living creature, but be compassionate and gentle; show good will to all. Cultivate vigor, patience, will, purity; avoid malice and pride.

There are three gates to this self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Renounce these three.

Those who are sattvic worship the forms of God; those who are rajasic worship power and wealth. Those who are tamasic worship spirits and ghosts.

But to fulfill your responsibilities knowing they are obligatory, while at the same time desiring nothing for yourself — this is sattvic renunciation. Those endowed with sattva clearly understand the meaning of renunciation and do not waver. They are not intimidated by unpleasant work, nor do they seek a job because it is pleasant.

As long as one has a body, one cannot renounce action altogether.

The person who is free from ego, who has attained purity of heart, though he slays these people, he does not slay and is not bound by his actions.

Sattvic workers are free from egotism and selfish attachments, full of enthusiasm and fortitude in success and failure alike.

No one should abandon duties because he sees defects in them. Every action, every activity, is surrounded by defects as a fire is surrounded by smoke. The Lord dwells in the hearts of all creatures and whirls them round upon the wheel of Maya. Run to him for refuge with all your strength, and peace profound will be yours through his grace.