Arjuna.Thou whom all mortals praise, Janardana! If meditation be a nobler thing Than action, wherefore, then, great Kesava! Dost thou impel me to this dreadful fight? Now am I by thy doubtful speech disturbed! Tell me one thing, and tell me certainly; By what road shall I find the better end?
Krishna.I told thee, blameless Lord! there be two paths Shown to this world; two schools of wisdom.
First The Sankhya's, which doth save in way of works Prescribedby reason; next, the Yog, which bids Attain by meditation, spiritually: Yet these are one! No man shall 'scape from act By shunning action; nay, and none shall come By mere renouncements unto perfectness.Nay, and no jot of time, at any time, Rests any actionless; his nature's law Compels him, even unwilling, into act; Therefore, thy task prescribed With spirit unattached gladly perform, Since in performance of plain duty man Mounts to his highest bliss.By works alone Janak and ancient saints reached blessedness! Moreover, for the upholding of thy kind, Action thou should'st embrace.What the wise choose The unwise people take; what best men do The multitude will follow.Look on me, Thou Son of Pritha! in the three wide worlds I am not bound to any toil, no height Awaits to scale, no gift remains to gain, Yet I act here! and, if I acted not-- Earnest and watchful--those that look to me For guidance, sinking back to sloth again Because I slumbered, would decline from good, And I should break earth's order and commit Her offspring unto ruin, Bharata! Even as the unknowing toil, wedded to sense, So let the enlightened toil, sense-freed, but set To bring the world deliverance, and its bliss; Not sowing in those simple, busy hearts Seed of despair.Yea! let each play his part In all he finds to do, with unyoked soul.All things are everywhere by Nature wrought In interaction of the qualities.The fool, cheated by self, thinks, "This I did" And "That I wrought; "but--ah, thou strong-armed Prince!-- A better-lessoned mind, knowing the play Of visible things within the world of sense, And how the qualities must qualify, Standeth aloof even from his acts.Th' untaught Live mixed with them, knowing not Nature's way, Of highest aims unwitting, slow and dull.Those make thou not to stumble, having the light; But all thy dues discharging, for My sake, With meditation centred inwardly, Seeking no profit, satisfied, serene, Heedless of issue--fight! They who shall keep My ordinance thus, the wise and willing hearts, Have quittance from all issue of their acts; But those who disregard My ordinance, Thinking they know, know nought, and fall to loss, Confused and foolish.'Sooth, the instructed one Doth of his kind, following what fits him most: And lower creatures of their kind; in vain Contending 'gainst the law.Needs must it be The objects of the sense willstir the sense To like and dislike, yet th' enlightened man Yields not to these, knowing them enemies.Finally, this is better, that one do His own task as he may, even though he fail, Than take tasks not his own, though they seem good.To die performing duty is no ill; But who seeks other roads shall wander still.
Arjuna.Yet tell me, Teacher! by what force doth man Go to his ill, unwilling; as if one Pushed him that evil path?
Krishna.Kama it is! Passion it is! born of the Darknesses, Which pusheth him.Mighty of appetite, Sinful, and strong is this!--man's enemy! As smoke blots the white fire, as clinging rust Mars the bright mirror, as the womb surrounds The babe unborn, so is the world of things Foiled, soiled, enclosed in this desire of flesh.The wise fall, caught in it; the unresting foe It is of wisdom, wearing countless forms, Fair but deceitful, subtle as a flame.Sense, mind, and reason--these, O Kunti's Son! Are booty for it; in its play with these It maddens man, beguiling, blinding him.Therefore, thou noblest child of Bharata! Govern thy heart! Constrain th' entangled sense! Resist the false, soft sinfulness which saps Knowledge and judgment! Yea, the world is strong, But what discerns it stronger, and the mind Strongest; and high o'er all the ruling Soul.Wherefore, perceiving Him who reigns supreme, Put forth full force of Soul in thy own soul! Fight! vanquish foes and doubts, dear Hero! slay What haunts thee in fond shapes, and would betray!
HEREENDETHCHAPTERIII.OFTHEBHAGAVAD-GITA,
Entitled "Karma-Yog," Or "The Book of Virtue in Work."
