41-42. Whatever was rashly said by me from carelessness or love, addressing Thee as <e O Krishna, O Yadava, O friend," looking on Thee merely as a friend, ignorant of this Thy greatness, — in whatever way I may have insulted Thee for fun while at play, on bed, in an assembly, or at meals, when alone, O Achyuta, or in company — that I implore Thee, Immeasurable, to forgive.
Looking on Thee merely as a friend: owing to mis- conception. Greatness r The Universal Form as Isvara, Carelessness: the mind being attracted elsewhere. Love z confidence born of affection. That: all those offences.
For, 43. Thou art the Father of this world, moving and unmoving. Thou art to be adored by this (world), Thou the Greatest Guru; (for) Thy equal exists not; whence another, superior to Thee, in the three worlds, O Being of unequalled greatness?
296 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XI, Thy equal exists not: for there cannot be two Iavaras or Lords; if there were more than one Isvara, the world could not get on as it now does.* When even Thy equal exists mot, how can there exist a being superior to Thee P Because it is so, m^r!P^ ^* ^3* 44, Therefore, bowing down, prostrating my body, I implore Thee9 adorable Lord, to forgive. It is meet Thou shouldst bear with me as the father with the son, as friend with friend, as the lover with the beloved.
As the father, etc, As a father forgives his son's offences.
Ar jnaa's prayer for the Lord's resumption of His usual form * When one Iswara desires.to create, another may desire to destroy. There is no guarantee that all the different Isvaras would he of one mind; and as they would all be independent of each other, the effort of one Isvara in one direction would be neutralised by that of another in the opposite direction. The world could not exist as it exists now. — (A).
44—47] THE UNIVERSAL FORM. 297 45. I am delighted, having seen what was unseen before; and (yet) my mind is confounded with fear. Show me that form only, O God; have mercy, O God of Gods, O Abode of the Universe.
What was unseen hefore; the Universal Form never before seen by me or anybody else. Therefore show me only *hat form (which Thou wearest) as my friend.
46. I wish to see Thee as before, crowned, possessd of the club, with the discus in. the hand, in Thy former form only, having four arms, O Thousand-armed, O Universal Form.
Thy former form: as the son of Vasudeva. Thousand- armed: referring to the Universal Form manifested at present. Withdrawing Thy Universal Form, do Thou put on Thy former one.
The Lord resumes His usual form.
Seeing Arjuna afraid, the Lord withdrew the Universal Form; and consoling Arjuna with sweet words, He said: 298 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XL The Blessed Lord said: 47. By Me, gracious to thee, O Arjuna, this Supreme Form has been shown, — by my sovereigu power — full of splendour, the All, the Boundless, the Original Form of Mine, never before seen by any other than thyself.
The Lord praises that Form on the ground that ' Thou (Arjuna) shouldst be considered to.have attained all thy ends by this vision of My Form-* 48. Not by study of the Vedas and of the sacrifices, nor by gifts, nor by rituals, nor by severe austerities, can I be seen in this Form in the world of man by any other than thyself, O hero of the Kurus.
Though a regular study of the four Vedas includes that of the sacrifices also, the study of the sacrifices is separately mentioned in order to imply that a knowledge of the sacrifices is necessary* Rituah: such as Agnihotra* Austerity * such as Chandraya«a.f # Some believe that the study of the Vedas consists in learning the texts by rote without understanding the meaning. It is therefore neces- sary to separately enjoin that the meaning of the Vedas. i.e., of the nature of the sacrifices treated of in them, should also be learnt, — (B.)
f * It consists in ' diminishing the daily consumption of food by one mouthful, every day for the dark half of the month beginning with 15th at the full moon until the quantity is reduced to zero at the new moon and then increasing it in like manner during the fortnight of the moon's increase,' 49. Be not afraid nor bewilderd on seeing such a terrible form of Mine as this; free from fear and cheerful at heart, do thou again see this My former form.
Former form: which is so dear to you, — four-arme d5 wearing a conch, discus and a club; Sawjaya said: 50. Having thus spoken to Arjuna, Vasudeva again showed His Own form; and the Mighty Being, becoming ' gentle in form, consoled him who was terrified.
His Own: as born in Vasudeva's family.
300 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XL Arjuna said.
51. Having seen Thy gentle human form, O Janardana, now I have grown serene, and returned to my nature.
Devotion as the sole means to the realization of the Universal form.
The Blessed Lord said: 52. Very hard to see is this Form of Mine which thou hast seen; even the Devas ever long to behold this Form.
Long to behold: though they long to see the form, yet they have not seen It as you have done, nor shall they ever see It.
53- Not by Vedas, nor by austerity, nor by gifts, nor by sacrifice, can I be seen in this Form as thou hast seen Me.
How canst Thou be seen? — Listen: 54. But by undistracted devotion can, I, of this Form, be known and seen in reality, and entered into, O harasser of thy foes.
51—55] THE UNIVERSAL FORM. 301 Undistraoted devotion (Bhakti): that devotion which never seeks any other object except the Lord, and in virtue of which no object other than Vasudeva is cognised by any of the senses. Of this Form: of the Universal Form. By this sort of devotion it is possible not only to know Me as declared in the sastras, but also to intuitively realise Me as I am, and to enter into Me, i.e., to obtain liberation.
The essence of the whole teaching of the Gita Now the essential teaching of the whole Gita-sastra which conduces to Highest Bliss will be summed up here, the teaching being such. as every one should follow: 55. He who does works for. Me, who looks on Me as the Supreme, who is devoted to Me, who is free from attachment, who is without hat- red for any being, he comes to Me, O Paw*2ava.
A servant works for his master, but he does not look upon that master as the highest goal for him to reach after death; but My devotee works for Me aud also looks on Me as the Supreme Goal; I am this Supreme Goal. He is devoted to me; he serves Me alone in all manner of ways, with his heart and soul. He is not attached to wealth, to progeny, to friends, to wife, to kinsmen, or to pleasures; for them he has no attachment or love. He cherishes no feeling of enmity for any of the creatures, even though these latter may have done, great injury to him. Such a man comes to Me. I am his highest Goal, and he seeks nothing else. This is the teaching I have to offer to thee, O Pa«<2ava.
TWELETH DISCOURSE. BHAKTI-YOGA.
Wlio are superior— tlie worshippers of Isvara, or the worshippers of Akshara?
Now Arjuna is supposed to have addressed the Lord thus: — In the discourses beginning with the second and ending with the tenth which treats of Divine Glories,' Thou hast taught the worship of the Supreme Self, the Imperish- able (Akshara) Brahman, devoid of all upadhis (conditions); and Thou hast also taught here and there worship of Thyself as the Lord of the Universe, associated with the upadhi (condition) of that energy (sattva) which has the power of carrying on all evolutionary process. and of knowing every- thing. And in the (eleventh) Discourse treating of the Universal Form, Thy Primal Form as Isvara manifesting itself as the whole Universe has also been shown by Thee for the same purpose of worship. And having shown that Form, Thou hast exhorted me to do works for Thy sake only (xi- 55)* and so on. Wherefore, I ask of Thee with a desire to know which of these two ways is the better. « __ Arjuna said: i. Those devotees who, always devout, thus contemplate Thee, and those also who (contem- plate) the Imperishable, the Unmanif est,— which of them are better versed in Yoga?
Thus: referring to what -was said in the last preceding Terse. ' He who does works for Me ' (xi. 55) -and so on. Always devout: engaged without intermission in doing works for the Lord's sake and in doing other things taught before, steadfast in mind. These devotees, seeking nobody else for their refuge, meditate on Thee in the Universal Form just manifested. There are others who, having abandoned all desires and renounced all actions, meditate on the Imperish- able (akshara) Brahman — also described above,— who is unmanifest (avyakt'a, ie.f incomprehensible to the senses), as devoid of all upadhis or conditions. — That indeed is said to be manifested (vyakta) which is visible to the senses, as the root of the word 'vyakta1 implies; but this, the Imperishable (Akshara), is not so. — These others meditate on the Imperish- able, the Unmanifested, as defined by other attributes to be enumerated below. Of the two classes, who are better versed in Yoga?
The worshippers of Isvara.
The Lord says: As to the worshippers of the Imperish- able (Akshara) who see rightly and have abandoned desires, let them remain; we shall say later on what has to be said regarding them. But as regards the others: The Blessed Lord said: 2. Those who, fixing their thought on Me, contemplate Me, always devout,, endued with supreme faith, those in my opinion are the best Yogins.
304 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIL Those devotees (bhaktas) who fix their mind on Me in the Universal Form, the Supreme Lord, and worship Me as the Governing Lord of all Masters of Yoga, who is omni- scient, whose vision is free from the timim (purblindness) of attachment and other evil passions, — they who always contemplate Me steadfastly (in the manner described in the closing verse of the preceding discourse), endowed with supreme faith, — these, I think, are the best Yogins. Indeed, they pass their days and nights in incessant thought of Me. Wherefore it is but proper to speak of them as' the best Yogins.
The worshippers of Akshara Are not the others, then, the best Yogins?— Stop; hear thou what I have to say regarding them: 3 — 4. Those who ever contemplate the Imperishable, the Indefinable, the Unmanifest, the Omnipresent and the Unthinkable, the Unchange- able, the Immutable, the Eternal,— having res- trained all the senses, always equanimous, intent on the welfare of all beings, — they reach Myself.
Because the Imperishable (Akshara) is unmanifest, He is not accessible to words and cannot therefore be deBned. He is unmanifest, not manifest to any of the organs of knowledge. They contemplate the Imperishable everywhere all round.— Contemplation (Upasana) consists in approaching the object of worship by way of meditating it according to the Teaching (sastra) and dwelling for a long time steadily in the current of same thought (continuous) like a thread of descending oil. — The Imperishable who is the object of contemplation is thus qualified: He is omnipresent, pervading all like the akasa. He is unthinkable, because He is unmanifest. Whatever is visible to the senses can be thought of by the mind also j but the Akshara is invisible to the senses and. is therefore unthinkable. He is unchangeable (Kutfastha)— •' Kufo' means a thing which is good to all appearance but evil within. Accordingly it refers here to that seed of samsara — including avidya (nescience) and other things, — which is full of evil within, designated by various terms such as Maya,, Avyakrita (undifferentiated), as ia Svetasvataropanishad (iv. 10) and in the Gita (vii. 14,) c Kufestha ' means He who is seated in Maya as Its Witness, as Its Lord. — Or. 'Kufastha' may mean * remaining like a heap.' Hence He is immutable and eternal. They who contemplate the Imperishable, curbing all their senses, and always equanimous whether they come by the desirable or the undesirable, — they come to Myself. — It needs indeed no saying that they come to Me; for, it has been said that ' the wise man is deemed My very Self (vii. 18). Neither is it necessary to say that they are the best Yogins,— seeing that they are one with the Lord Himself. But, 5. Greater is their trouble whose thoughts are set on the Unmanifest; for, the Goal* the Un- manifest, is very hard for the embodied to reach. Great indeed is the trouble of those who are engaged irt 306 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIL doing works for My sake, and so on; but greater still is the trouble of those who identify themselves with the Imperish- able and contemplate the Supreme Reality, — the trouble arising from the necessity of having to abandon their attach- ment for the body. The Goal, the Imperishable, is very hard for the embodied to reach, — for those who are attached to their bodies. Therefore* their trouble is greater. Salvation by worship of Isvara. Later on, we shall describe the conduct in life of the worshippers of the Imperishable (Akshara-Upasakas.)
6—7. But those who worship Me, renouncing all actions in Me, regarding Me Supreme, meditat- ing on Me with exclusive devotion (Yoga); for them whose thought is fixed on Me, I become ere long, O son of Pritha, the deliverer out of the ocean of the mortal samsara.
Me: the Isvara, the Lord. Exclusive: having no other object of worship except Myself, God in the Universal Form. Devotion (Toga): samadhi or steadfastness of mind. Those who are engaged in contemplating Me exclusively, I, the Lord, will lift up from the ocean of mortal sswwsara, since their thoughts are fixed on Me in the Universal Form.— - Samsaraisan ocean, because it is very hard to cross beyond it.
Because it is so, therefore, * Because of the necessity there is for abandoning attachment to tie body, fv\ 8. Fix thy mind in Me exclusively, apply thy reason to Me. Thoa shalt no doubt live in Me alone hereafter.
Fix thy mind (manas) — thy purposes and thoughts— in Me, the Lord in the Universal Form. Fix in me thy reason (buddhi) also which resolves and determines. — What will be the result?— Listen: Thou shalt without fail abide in Me as Myself, on the death of this body. Thou shalt not doubt it.
Abhyasa-Yoga.
g. If thou art unable to fix thy thought steadily on Me, then by yoga of constant practice do thou seek to reach Me, O Dhanawjaya.
If you cannot fix your thought on Me steadily in the manner I have mentioned, then seek thou to reach Me in the Universal Form, by yoga of constant practice (abhyasa-yoga). Practice (abhyasa) consists in withdrawing thought from all quarters and fixing it again and again on one particular object * Abhyasa-yoga ' means samadhana or steadfastness of mind acquired by such practice.
Service of the Lord, Upshift wlfa fip€T%^I^T% it <« If io. (If) thou art not equal to practise either, then be thou intent on (doing) actions for My sake* Even doing actions for My sake, thou shalt attain perfection.
Even if thou doest mere actions for My sake without practising yoga, thou shalt attain perfection; — thou shalt first attain purity of mind, then yoga or steadfastness, then know- ledge, and then perfection (moksha).
Abandonment of the fruits of actions.
ii. If thou art unable to do even this, then refuged in devotion to Me, do thou abandon the fruits of all actions, self controlled.
If thou canst not even be intent on doing actions for My sake as thou hast just been taught, then do thou perform actions renouncing them all in Me, and abandon the fruit of those actions.
Now He extols the abandoning of the fruits of all actions: 12. Better indeed is knowledge than prac- tice; than knowledge is meditation more esteemed; than meditation the abandonment of the fruits of actions • on abandonment, peace follows immedi- ately.
Knowledge is better than practice* accompanied with ignorance; t better than that knowledge is meditation idhyana) with knowledge; better than meditation with knowledge is the abandonment of the fruits of actions, From such an abandonment of the fruits of actions, accompanied with the qualification + mentioned above, cessation of samsara and of the cause thereof follows immediately; it admits of no delay. Abandonment of the fruit of all actions is taught as a means to Bliss in the case of an ignorant person engaged in action, oniy when unable to tread the paths taught before, but not at first. Wherefore the act of abandoning the fruit of all actions is merely extolled by the declaration, in this ■verse, of the superiority of one over another; for it has been taught as the course to be adopted when a man is unable to follow the paths already taughtlf In what way does it (the declaration) form a mere praise P In the Kaftiopanishad (vi. 34) it is said that immortality results from the abandonment of all objects of desire; and this is a truth quite familiar *f to all. And all objects of desire are fruits of actions enjoined in the sruti and in the smriti. In the case of the enlightened person who is steadily * Abhyasa (practice) — occuring in the text and the commentary — may mean either (1) the act of listening to the teaching of the srutis with a view to obtain knowledge, or, (2) the practice of dhyana with a firm resolve. — (A.)
f Two different readings are found here in the MSS. of the bhashya: (1) viveka-purvakat, and (2) aviveka-purvakat. The former would mean 'accompanied with discrimination.'
I The qualification being 'self-controlled.' (xii. 11}.— -(A-) «J The abandonment of the fruits of actions forms here the subject of praise, because it is the path intended to be taught iu this connectioa -(A.)
F As taught in the sruti. (Vide Br'u Up 4— 4r~6)—£A.)
310 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XlL engaged in contemplation, peace immediately follows the abandonment of desires. Now mere abandonment of desires constitutes a factor of even an ignorant man's abandonment of the fruits of actions; and because of this point of similarity, mere abandonment of the fruits of all actions is praised— with a view to create a desire to follow the course— in the same way that, in saying that the ocean was drunk by the brahma;*a sage Agastya, even the brahmanas of this age are praised for the mere reason that they too are brahmanas.
Thus, it has been taught that Karma-yoga accompanied with the abandonment oJ the fruits of actions is a means to Bliss.
The life of tbe Akshara-upasakas.
Here, it is by presupposing a distinction between Isvara and Atman, the Lord and the Self, that Yoga — which consiste in concentrating thought on the Lord, on the Universal Form,— and the performance of works for the sake of the Lord have been taught. As it is hinted — in the words ' If thou art unable to do this either' (xii. 11)— 'that Karma- Yoga is associated with ignorance (ajnana), we should understand that the Lord here means to say that Karmayoga is not meant for the worshipper of the Akshara, for him who sees no distinc- tion (between the Lord and the Self). Similarly, the Lord shows the impossibility of the worship of the Akshara to a Karma-yogin. To explain: Having — in the words ' They reach Myself (xii. 3) — declared that the worshippers of the Akshara are independent as regards the attainment of libe- ration (kaivalya), the Lord (xii. 7) has shewn — in the words ' for them I become the deliverer * (xii. 7^— that the others are dependent on the Lord, on a external Being. If these were deemed as the very Self of the Lord, they would be the very Akshara themselves owing to their realisation of the identity; so that it would have been inappropriate to speak of them as persons to be delivered by the Lord. Moreover * the Lord who is preeminently a well-wisher of Arjuna recommends to him only Karma-yoga (iv. 15) based on an idea of distinction and quite dissociated from right knowledge. Nor would any man like to be subordinate to another after knowing himself to be the Lord through proper sources of right knowledge; for, the two are mutually opposed states, Therefore t it is with reference to the worshippers of the Akshara, to the sawnyasins who are devoted to right know- ledge and have abandoned all desires, that He proceeds to teach those attributes — such as ' absence of hatred of any- being * — which form the direct means to immortality.
i3-I4. He who hates no single being, who is friendly and compassionate to all, who is free from attachment and egoism, to whom pain and pleasure are equal, who is enduring, ever content and balanced in mind, self-controlled, and possessed of firm conviction, whose thought and reason are directed to Me, he who is (thus) devoted to Me is dear to Me.
* This is another reason why Karmayoga cannot be combined witht Akshara-Upasana in one and the same person at one and the same time.— (A).
t Because the attributes mentioned below cannot, all of them, be cultivated by the followers of Karma, who are ignorant of the Sell — (A).
312 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. XII.
He hates nothing, not even that which causes him pain. He regards all beings as himself. He is friendly and com- passionate. He is full of compsssion for the distressed t\e,, lie has offered security of life to all beings, he is a samnyasin. He does not regard anything as ' mine ' and is free from egoism, from the notion of ' I '. Pain and pleasure do not cause in him hatred and attachment. He remains unaffected When abused or beaten. He is always content; he thinks he has enough "whether he obtains or not the means of bodily ■sustenance. He is also satisfied whether he comes by a good thing or not. He is a yogin, always steadfast in thought. He has a firm conviction regarding the essential nature of the Self. This samnyasin has directed to Me exclusively his Manas — purposes and thoughts — as well as his Buddhi — the faculty of determining. Such a devotee is dear to Me. The same truth which was indicated in vii. 17—' I am very dear to the wise man and he is dear to Me ' — is here described at length.
15. He by whom the world is not afflicted and who is not afflicted by the world, who is free from joy, envy, fear and sorrow, he is dear to Me.
He: the samnyasin. Joy consists in the elation or exhilaration of the mind (anta&~&arawa) on attaining an object of desire, and is indicated by horripilation, tears, and so on- 16. He who is free from wants, who is pure, clever, unconcerned, untroubled} renouncing all undertakings, he who is (thus) devoted to Me is dear to Me.
He is indifferent to the body, the senses, the sense-objects and their mutual connections- He is possessed of purity both internal and external. He is able to decide rightiy on the spot in matters demanding prompt attention. He does not take the side of a friend and the like. He habitually renounces all actions calculated to secure objects of desire, whether of this world or of the next Moreover, 17, He who neither rejoices, nor hates, nor grieves, nor desires, renouncing good and evil, he who is full of devotion is dear to Me.
He does not rejoice on attaining what is desirable. Ha does not fret on attaining what is undesirable. He does not grieve on having to part with a beloved object. He does not desire the unattained.
18-19. He who is the same to foe and friend, and also in honor and dishonor; who is the same in co)d and heat, in pleasure and pain; who is free from attachment; to whom censure and praise are 314 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. XIL equal; who is silent, content with anything, home- less, steady-minded, full of devotion; that man is dear to me.
He has no attachment for objects of any kind. He is content with the bare means of bodily sustenance. It is said (in the Mahabharata): ' Who is clad with anything, who is fed on any food, who lies down anywhere, him the Gods call a brahmana. (ScwU-parua, Moksha*Dhrma, 245-1 2) He has no fixed abode, he is ' houseless ' as has been said in another smriti. His thought is fixed steadily on the Supreme Reality.
The enumeration, which was commenced in xii. 13, of the various attributes of the sa^nyasins — to the worshippers the Akshara who are constantly devoted to the knowledge of the Supreme Reality — is concluded as follows: ft § Wpprmt toWs qgqrair I 20. They, verily, who follow this immortal Law described above, endued with faith, looking up to me as the Supreme, and devoted, they are exceedingly dear to Me.
They: the samnyasins. Immortal: as leading to im- mortality. Above.* in the portion beginning with xii. 13» Looking "up to Me as the Superme: whose highest unsurpass- ed goal is Myself, the Imperishable Self. Devoted: resorting to the highest devotion, which consists in the knowledge of 19—20] BHAKTI YOGA. 315 the Supreme Reality. What was implied in the words * I am exceedingly dear to the wise man ' (vii. 12) has been explained at length and concluded here thus: ' They are exceedingly dear to me.' The meaning of the verse is * Because he who follows the Immortal Law which has been now described becomes exceedingly dear to Vishnu, the Supreme Lord, therefore this Immortal Law should be zealouly followed by every seeker of Liberation, by every one who desires to attain to the Supreme Abode of Vishwu.
THIRTEENTH DISCOUBSE.
MATTER AND SPIEIT The main subject of the discourse.
In the Seventh Discourse two Prakfitis (Natures) of the Supreme Lord were shown, — the one composed of the three gnnsis and divided eightfold, forming the inferior (apara) Praknti, because of its being the cause of samsara or mun~ dane life; and the other, the superior (para) Praknti, forming the very life (jiva), the Kshetrajwa or ' the Knower of Matter > being essentially one with the Lord Himself. And through these two Prakritis, the Lord becomes the cause of the origin, sustenance and dissolution of the Universe. Now this dis- course on Kshetra (Matter) is commenced with a view — by way of describing the two Prakritis of Kshetra and' Kshetraj»a — to determine the essential nature of their possessor, the Lord (Isvara).
Again, in the last preceding discourse, from verse 13 to the end, the path of the samnyasins who possess the know- ledge of Truth, — j.e., what sort of life they lead, — has beeO described Now arises the question: Fossessed of what sj of knowledge of truth do they become dear to the Lord by following the rule of life set forth above? — -The presea discourse is also intended as an answer to this question.
The body and the soul.
That Praknti which is composed of the three gu» transforms itself into all objective forms, such as the bodies ( karya), the senses (karana), and sense-objects (vishaya), and is combined into various aggregates of the body and the 1—2] MATTER AND SPIRIT. 317 senses, to subserve the two ends of Purusha or Spirit, viz,9 enjoyment and liberation. Such an aggregate is this, our body. In reference to this body, the Lord says: The Blessed Lord said: I. This, the body, O son of Kunti, is called Kshetra; him who knows it, they who know of them call Kshetrajwa.