Chapter 18: Freedom through Surrender
मोक्षसंन्यासयोग
The closing teaching: give up attachment, not duty, and surrender to Krishna. Arjuna’s doubts are gone, and he is ready to act.
Verse 18.1Arjuna said: I desire, O mighty-armed, to know severally the essence of renunciation, O Hrishîkesha, and of relinquishment, O Keshinishûdana.Verse 18.2The Blessed Lord said: Sages have known as renunciation the renouncing of works with desire; the relinquishing of the fruit of all actions is called relinquishment…Verse 18.3"Action should be relinquished as an evil," declare some thoughtful men; "acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be relinquished," say others.Verse 18.4Hear my conclusions as to that relinquishment, O best of the Bhâratas; since relinquishment, O tiger of men, has been explained as threefold.Verse 18.5Acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be relinquished, but should be performed; sacrifice, gift and also austerity are the purifiers of the intelligent.Verse 18.6But even these actions should be done leaving aside attachment and fruit, O Pârtha; that is my certain and best belief.Verse 18.7Verily renunciation of actions that are prescribed is not proper; the relinquishment thereof from delusion is said to be of darkness.Verse 18.8He who relinquisheth an action from fear of physical suffering, saying "Painful," thus performing a passionate relinquishment, obtaineth not the fruit of relinquishment.Verse 18.9He who performeth a prescribed action, saying, "it ought to be done," O Arjuna, relinquishing attachment and also fruit, that relinquishment is regarded as pure.Verse 18.10The relinquisher pervaded by purity, intelligent and with doubts cut away, hateth not unpleasurable action nor is attached to pleasurable.Verse 18.11Nor indeed can embodied beings completely relinquish action; verily he who relinquisheth the fruit of action, he is said to be a relinquisher.Verse 18.12Good, evil and mixed—threefold is the fruit of action hereafter for the non-relinquisher; but there is none ever for the renouncer.Verse 18.13These five causes, O mighty-armed, learn of Me as declared in the Sâñkhya system for the accomplishment of all actions:Verse 18.14The body, the actor, the various organs, the diverse kinds of energies, and the presiding deities also, the fifth.Verse 18.15Whatever action a man performeth by his body, speech and mind, whether right or the reverse, these five are the cause thereof.Verse 18.16That being so, he verily who—owing to untrained Reason —looketh on his Self, which is isolated, as the actor, he of perverted intelligence, seeth not.Verse 18.17He who is free from the egoistic notion, whose Reason is not affected, though he slay these peoples, he slayeth not, nor is bound.Verse 18.18Knowledge, the knowable and the knower, the threefold impulse to action; the organ, the action, the actor, the threefold constituents of action.Verse 18.19Knowledge, action and actor in the category of qualities are also said to be severally threefold, from the difference of qualities; hear thou duly these also.Verse 18.20That by which one indestructible Being is seen in all beings, inseparate in the separated, know thou that knowledge as pure.Verse 18.21But that knowledge which regardeth the several manifold existences in all beings as separate, that knowledge know thou as of passion;Verse 18.22While that which clingeth to each one thing as if it were the whole, without reason, without grasping the reality, narrow, that is declared to be dark.Verse 18.23An action which is ordained, done by one undesirous of fruit, devoid of attachment, without love or hate, that is called pure.Verse 18.24But that action that is done by one longing for desires, or again with egoism, or with much effort, that is declared to be passionate.Verse 18.25The action undertaken from delusion, without regard to capacity and consequences—loss and injury to others—that is declared to be dark.Verse 18.26Liberated from attachment, not egoistic, endued with firmness and confidence, unchanged by success or failure, that actor is called pure.Verse 18.27Impassioned, desiring to obtain the fruit of actions, greedy, harmful, impure, moved by joy and sorrow, such an actor is pronounced passionate.Verse 18.28Discordant, vulgar, stubborn, cheating, malicious, indolent, despairful, procrastinating, that actor is called dark.Verse 18.29The division of Reason and of firmness also, threefold according to the qualities, hear thou related, unreservedly and severally, O Dhananjaya.Verse 18.30That which knoweth energy and abstinence, what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation, that Reason is pure, O…Verse 18.31That by which one understandeth away Right and Wrong and also what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, that Reason, O Pârtha, is passionate.Verse 18.32That which, enwrapped in darkness, thinketh wrong to be right and seeth all things subverted, that Reason, O Partha, is of darkness.Verse 18.33The unwavering firmness by which, through Yoga, one restraineth the activity of the mind, of the life breaths and of the sense-organs, that firmness, O Partha, is pure.Verse 18.34But the firmness, O Arjuna, by which, from attachment desirous of fruit, one holdeth fast duty, desire and wealth, that firmness, O Pârtha, is passionate.Verse 18.35That by which one from stupidity doth not abandon sleep, fear, grief, despair, and also vanity, that firmness, O Pârtha, is dark.Verse 18.36And now the threefold kinds of pleasure hear thou from Me, O bull of the Bhâratas. That in which one by practice rejoiceth, and which putteth an end to pain;Verse 18.37Which at first is as venom but in the end is as nectar; that pleasure is said to be pure, born of the blissful knowledge of the Self.Verse 18.38That which from the union of the senses with their objects at first is as nectar, but in the end is like venom, that pleasure is accounted passionate.Verse 18.39That pleasure which both at first and afterwards is delusive of the self, arising from sleep, indolence and heedlessness, that is declared dark.Verse 18.40There is not an entity, either on the earth or again in heaven among the Shining Ones, that is liberated from these three qualities, born of Matter.Verse 18.41Of Brâhmanas, Kshattriyas, Vaishyas and Shûdras, O Parantapa, the duties have been distributed, according to the qualities born of their own natures.Verse 18.42Serenity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness and also uprightness, wisdom, knowledge, belief in God, are the Brâhmana duty, born of his own nature.Verse 18.43Prowess, splendour, firmness, dexterity, and also not flying from battle, generosity, the nature of a ruler, are the Kshattriya duty, born of his own nature.Verse 18.44Ploughing, protection of kine, and trade are the Vaishya duty, born of his own nature. Action of the nature of service is the Shûdra duty, born of his own nature.Verse 18.45Man reacheth perfection by each being intent on his own duty. Listen thou how perfection is won by him who is intent on his own duty.Verse 18.46He from whom is the emanation of beings, by Whom all This is pervaded, by worshipping Him in his own duty a man winneth perfection.Verse 18.47Better is one's own duty though destitute of merits than the well-executed duty of another. He who doeth the duty laid down by his own nature incurreth not sin.Verse 18.48Congenital duty, O son of Kunti, though defective, ought not to be abandoned. All undertakings indeed are clouded by defects as fire by smoke.Verse 18.49He whose Reason is everywhere unattached, the self-subdued, dead to desires, he goeth by renunciation to the supreme perfection of freedom from obligation.Verse 18.50How he who hath attained perfection obtaineth the Eternal, that highest state of wisdom, learn thou from Me only succinctly, O Kaunteya.Verse 18.51United to this Reason, purified, controlling the self by firmness, having abandoned sound and the other objects of the senses, having laid aside passion and malice,Verse 18.52Dwelling in solitude, abstemious, speech, body and mind subdued, constantly fixed in meditation and yoga, taking refuge in dispassion,Verse 18.53Having cast aside egoism, violence, arrogance, desire, wrath, covetousness, selfless and peaceful—he is fit to become the Eternal.Verse 18.54Becoming the Eternal, serene in the Self, he neither grieveth nor desireth; the same to all beings, he obtaineth supreme devotion unto Me.Verse 18.55By devotion he knoweth Me in essence, who and what I am; having thus known Me in essence he forthwith entereth into the Supreme.Verse 18.56Though ever performing all actions, taking refuge in Me, by My grace he obtaineth the eternal indestructible abode.Verse 18.57Renouncing mentally all works in Me, intent on Me, resorting to the yoga of discrimination, have thy thought ever on Me.Verse 18.58Thinking on Me, thou shalt overcome all obstacles by My grace: but if from egoism thou wilt not listen, thou shalt be destroyed utterly.Verse 18.59Entrenched in egoism, thou thinkest, "I will not fight;" to no purpose thy determination; nature will constrain thee.Verse 18.60O son of Kuntî, bound by thine own duty born of thine own nature, that which from delusion thou desirest not to do, even that helplessly thou shalt perform.Verse 18.61The Lord dwelleth in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, by His illusive Power causing all beings to revolve, as though mounted on a potter's wheel.Verse 18.62Flee unto Him for shelter with all thy being, O Bhârata; by His grace thou shalt obtain supreme peace, the everlasting dwelling-place.Verse 18.63Thus hath wisdom, more secret than secrecy itself, been declared unto thee by Me; having reflected on it fully, then act thou as thou listest.Verse 18.64Listen thou again to My supreme word, most secret of all; beloved art thou of Me, and steadfast of heart, therefore will I speak for thy benefit.Verse 18.65Merge thy mind in Me, be my devotee, sacrifice to Me, prostrate thyself before Me, thou shalt come even to Me. I pledge thee My troth; thou art dear to Me.Verse 18.66Abandoning all duties come unto Me alone for shelter; sorrow not, I will liberate thee from all sins.Verse 18.67Never is this to be spoken by thee to anyone who is without asceticism, nor without devotion, nor to one who desireth not to listen, nor yet to him who speaketh…Verse 18.68He who shall declare this supreme secret among My devotees, having shown the highest devotion for Me, without doubt he shall come to Me.Verse 18.69Nor is there any among men who performeth dearer service to Me than he, nor any other shall be more beloved by Me on earth than he.Verse 18.70And he who shall study this sacred dialogue of ours, by him I shall be worshipped with the sacrifice of wisdom. Such is My mind.Verse 18.71The man also who, full of faith, merely heareth it unreviling, even he, freed from evil, obtaineth the radiant worlds of the righteous.Verse 18.72Hath this been heard, O son of Prithâ, with one-pointed mind? Has thy delusion, caused by unwisdom, been destroyed, O Dhananjaya?Verse 18.73Arjuna said: Destroyed is my delusion. I have gained knowledge through Thy grace, O Immutable one. I am firm, my doubts have fled away. I will do according to Thy word.Verse 18.74Sanjaya said: I heard this marvellous dialogue of Vâsudeva, and of the great-souled Partha, causing my hair to stand on end.Verse 18.75By the favour of Vyâsa I listened to this secret and supreme yoga from the Lord of Yoga, Krishna Himself, speaking before mine eyes.Verse 18.76O King, remembering, remembering this marvellous and holy dialogue between Keshava and Arjuna, I rejoice again and again.Verse 18.77Remembering, remembering, also that most marvellous form of Hari, great is my wonder, O King. I rejoice, again and again.Verse 18.78Wherever is Krishna, Yoga's Lord, wherever is Pârtha, the archer, assured are there prosperity, victory and happiness. So I think.