At the beginning of the third Discourse,- Arj una, seeing that knowledge and action could not coexist in one man, asked the- Lord *' tell me that which is the better of the two;" and in reply the Lord declared decisively that devotion in the path of knowledge was meant for the Sankhyas — the renouncers, the Samnyasins. — and that devotion in the path of action was meant for the Yogins. And from the statement " nor by mer e * He thinks that he has yet to learn what the Vedanias or the Upanishads teach, to reason about it and to meditate upon it. He has renounced only those actions which are specially enjoined on the grihasthas or the second religious order (asraraa) This sort of renuncia* tion is thus partial and is meant to afford to the aspirant greater leisure to apply himself to the acquisition of spiritual wisdom.
renunciation does he attain perfection " (iii. 4) it is clear that, in the view of the Lord, renunciation with knowledge is a means of attaining perfection. And Karma- Yoga, too, must lead to perfection, inasmuch as it has been enjoined (iv. 42)* Arjuna now asks with a view to know as to which one of them, Karm-Yoga or Samnyasa, is better for a man who has no knowledge.
Arjuna said: i. Renunciation of actions, O Knsh^a, Thou praisest, and again Yoga. Tell me conclusively that which is the better of the two.
Thou teachest renunciation of those actions which are enjoined in the sastras, and Thou teachest also that per- formance of those very actions is necessary. I have, there- fore, a doubt as to which of them is better, performance of (prescribed) actions or renunciation of those actions. It is the better course which must be followed. Wherefore tell me conclusively that one, — it being impossible for one man to resort to both at the same time, — he it performance of actions or renunciation of actions, by which you think I may attain to perfection. Karma-Yoga suits the ignorant better than Samnyasa.
To state His own opinion with a view to clear the doubt, the Lord says: 160 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS V.
The Blessed Lord said: 2. Renunciation and Yoga through action both lead to the highest bliss: but, of the two, Yoga through action is esteemed more than renunciation of action.
Samnyasa and Karma-yoga, renunciation of actions and performance of actions, both lead to moksha, as giving rise to (spiritual) knowledge. Though both lead to moksha, yet, of the two means of attaining moksha, Karma- Yoga is better than mere — i.e., unaccompanied with knowledge — Karma- samnyasa. Thus the Lord has praised Karma- Yoga.* Wherefore? — The answer follows: 3. He should be known as a perpetual renouocer who neither hates nor desires: for, free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed, he is easily set free from bondage.
The Karma- Yogin who neither hates pain and the objects causing pain, nor desires pleasure and the objects causing pleasure, should be known as a perpetual renouncer (sa»*- nyasin), though he is engaged in action.
Sankkya and Yoga lead to the same goal.
(Objection): — Sawnyasa and Karma-Yoga, which are meant for two distinct classes of people and are opposed to each other, should, properly speaking, be mutually opposed in * Ihe Lord does not of course mean that Karma-Yoga is superior to true Karma-safMnyasa. True Karma-samnyasa. that which is accompani- ed with kuowledge, is a far higher path than Karma- Yoga, though the atter is easier than, and therefore preferable to, that Karma-samnyasa which is unaccompanied with knowledge.
2—4] SAMNYASA YOGA. 161 their results also- They should not, on the other hand, both lead to moksha alike.
(Answer): — The Lord says: 4. Children, not the wise, speak of Sankhya and Yoga as distinct. He who is rightly devoted to even one obtains the fruits of both.
It is children who speak of Sankhya and Yoga as pro- ducing distinct and opposite results- But the wise, men of knowledge, believe that they produce but one harmonious result. He who rightly observes even one of them, Sankhya or Yoga, obtains the fruits of both. Both lead to the same result, 1Hz., moksha. Wherefore, there is no diversity in the result.
(Objection); — Having started with the words * Samnyasa * and * Karma- Yoga ', how is it that He speaks of Sankhya and Yoga — with which we are not at present concerned — as producing the same results?
(Answer): — There is no fault here. Arjuna indeed asked the Question with reference to simple Sawnyasa and simple Karma- Yoga- But the Lord, without leaving these, has added to them some additional conceptions of His own and has answered the question, speaking of them under other names^ Sankhya and Yoga. In the opinion of the Lord, Samnyasa and Karma- Yoga are themselves termed Sankhya and Yoga when knowledge of the Self (j?zana) and equanimity (sama- buddhitvaj are added to them respectively. Hence na irrelevant topic.
How can a man obtain the results of both by the right observance of only one? — The answer follows; 162 THE BHAGAVAD GIT A. [DlS. V.
5 That state which is reached by Sankhyas is reached by Yogins also. He sees, who sees Sankhya and Yoga as one.
Sankhyas are those who are devoted to knowledge and have renounced the world* They reach the state called moksha. The same state is reached by Yogins also, — but indirectly through, the attainment of true knowledge and renunciation, — by those who perform their duties as a means of attaining knowledge, dedicating them to the Isvara, and having no selfish end in view. That man sees rightly who sees that Sankhya and Yoga are one, as leading to an identical result.
(Question): — If so Sawnyasa must be superior to Yoga. How then is it that it has been declared that Karma-Yoga is better than Karma-sawnyasa?
(Answer) i — Listen why it is so. It is the simple Karma- saw-nyasa and the simple Karma- Yoga with reference to which you have asked me " which one is the better of the two? M. In accordance with the question, My answer has been given — without having regard to knowledge — that Karma-Yoga is superior to Karma_sawnyasa. But that Sawayasa which is based upon knowledge is regarded by Me as Sankhya, and Sankhya itself is the true (paramartha) Yoga- It is only by a figure that the Yoga through Vedic rites is called Yoga or Sa^nyasa, inasmuch as it conduces to that (true Yoga or Sa«»nyasa)i Karma-Yoga is a means to Samnyasa.
How is it that the aim of the Karma-Yoga is that (true Yoga or Samnyasa)?— Listen: 5—7] SAMNYASA YOGA. 163 6. But renunciation, O mighty-armed, is hard to attain except by Yoga; a sage equipped with Yoga ere long reaches Brahman.
Renunciation (Sawnyasa) here spoken of is the true (faramarthika) Satnnyasa; and Yoga is the Vedic Karma- Ybga (performance of Vedic ritual) dedicated to the Is vara and entirely free from motives. A sage (muni) is so called because of his meditation (manana) on the form of the Isvara. "* • i ahman ' here means renunciation (samnyasa, which is now being spoken of), because renunciation consists in the know- ledge of the Highest Self (Paramatman); and the sruti says: " What is called Nyasa is Brahman; and Brahman is verily the Great." {Tait. Up. 4-78).
A sage equipped with Yoga soon reaches Brahman, the true renunciation, which consists in steady devotion to right knowledge. Wherefore, I have said that Karma- Yoga is better.
A sage's actions do not affect him. When the devotee resorts to Yoga, as a means of attaining Tight knowledge: 7. He who is equipped with Yoga, whose mind is quite pure, by whom the self has been conquer- ed, whose senses have been subdued, whose Self has become the Self of all beings,— though doings he is not tainted.
164 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. V.
He who is equipped with Yoga, whose mind (afcman, sattva) has been purified, who has conquered the body (atman, the self) and the senses, who sees rightly, whose Inner Concsi- ousness, the Self, has formed the Self of all beings from Brahma down to a clamp of grass, — he will not be tainted, i.e., he will not be bound by actions, though he may continue to perform them for the protection of the masses, i.e., with a view to set an example to the masses.
A sage's actions are really no actions.
Neither does he really do anything. Wherefore, 8—9. ' I do nothing at all*; thus would the truth-knower think, steadfast,— -though seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go5 seizing, opening and closing the eyes, — remembering that the senses move among sense-objects.
The truth-knower is he who knows the true nature of the Self, who sees the Supreme Reality. — When and how would he think so ever intent on the.truth P — The answer is given thus: * though seeing, etc.'
The duty of the man who, thus knowing the truth and thinking rightly, sees only inaction in actions — in all the movements of the body and the senses — consists in renounc- ing all actions; for, he sees the absence of action. The man, for instance, who thinks of quenching his thirst in a mirage, mistaking it for water, will not. even after knowing that it is no water, resort to the same place for the purpose of quenching his thirst. Kartna-Yogin is untainted by the results of his action.
But as to the man who is not a truth-knower and is •engaged in action: io# He who does actions, offering them to Brahman, abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, as a lotus leaf by water.
He offers all actions to the Isvara, in the faith that { I act for His sake', as a servant acts for the sake of the master. He has no attachment for the result, even for moksha. The result of actions so done is only purity of the mind, and nothing else.
Because, Because, ii. By the body, by the mind, by the intellect* by mere senses also, Yogins perform action, without attachment, for the purification of the self.
Mere: free from egotism, resolute in the faith that * I act only for the sake of the Lord, not for my benefit,' ' Mere * should be construed along with * body * &c„ with each one of them separately, Yogins are those who are devoted to works, free from egotism in all their acts, without attach- ment for their results. They act only for the purification of the mind (sattva). Wherefore, as thy duty lies only there, do thou only perform action.
166 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. V.
Also because, 12. The steady-minded one, abandoning the fruit of action, attains the peace born of devotion. The unsteady one, attached to the fruit through the action of desire, is firmly bound.
The steady-minded man who, resolved that " I do actions for the sake of the Lord, not for my benefit," abandons the fruit of action attains the peace called moksha, as the result of devotion, through the following stages: first, purity of the mind; then, attainment of knowledge; then, renunci- ation of all actions; and lastly, devotion to knowledge. But he who is unsteady is led by desire and is attached to the fruit, thinking ' I do this act for my benefit.' He is firmly bound. Wherefore, be thou steady-minded.
The blissful embodied life of a sage.
But as to the man who sees the Supreme Being.
crs 13. Renouncing, all actions by thought, and Self-controlled, the embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither at all acting nor causing to act.
Actions are either the obligatory duties (nitya-karma«i)k or those arising on the occurrence of some special events (naimittika-karma^zi), or those intended for securing some special ends, and which are only optional (kamya-karmawi), 12—13] SAMNYASA YOGA. 167 of those which are forbidden (pratishiddha-karmawi). The man who has subdued the senses, renounces all actions in speech, thought, and deed, by discrimination, by seeing inac- tion in action, and rests happily. He rests happily because he has given up all action in speech, thought and deed, be- cause he is without worry, because his mind is calm, because, excepting the Self, all interests (foreign to the Self) have departed from his mind, — Where and how does he rest? — ■ In the body which has nine openings; seven in the head, be- ing the organs of sensation; two nether ones for the passage of the urine and the dung. As having these nine openings, the body is said to be a nine-gated city. It is like a city,, with the Self for its monarch, inhabited by the citizens of the senses, mind, inlellect, as well as their objects, — all working for the sole benefit of their Lord and producing consciousness of various objects. In such a nine-gated city the embodied one rests, having renounced all action.
{Objection): — Of what use is the qualification u he rests in the body "? Every man, be he a samnyasin or not, rests in the body only. So, the qualification is meaningless.
(Answer): — He that is ignorant identifies himself with the mere aggregate of the body and the senses, and thinks: " I rest in a house, on the ground, on a seat." Such a man regarding the mere body as himself, cannot indeed cherish the idea that he rests in the body as in a house. But in the case of a man who regards the Self as distinct from the ag- gregate of the body, &c, the idea that he rests in the body is quite possible. And it is also right that he should renouce by thought— by knowledge, by discriminative wisdom— the action attributed to the Self through ignorance, but which really pertains to the not Self. Though a man has attained discriminative wisdom (i.e., has realised his true Self as distinguished from the not-Self) and has renounced all concern 168 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. V.
with action, still, it may be said that he rests in the nine-gated city of the body as in a house, inasmuch as his personal consciousness (of resting arises only with reference to the body in virtue of the traces of the unspent portion of the prarabdha-karma — the karma which brought the present body into existence— still continuing to be felt- Thus the qualification ' he rests in the body ' has a meaning, as point- ing to a distinction between the respective standpoints of the wise and the ignorant.
(Objection): — It is true that he renounces the actions of the body and of the senses attributed falsely to the Self through ignorance; still, the power of acting and of causing to act may be inherent in the Self and may remain in him who has renounced actions.
(Answer): — The Lord says: He neither acts himself, nor causes the body and the senses to act.
(Question): — Do you mean that the power of acting and of causing to act is inherent in the Self and that it ceases by renunciation, like the motion of a moving person: or that the power is not inherent in the Self?
{Answer): — The power of acting or of causing to act is not inherent in the Self; for, the Lord has taught that the Self is unchangeable (il 25;, and " though seated in the body, he acts not, nor is he tainted " (xiii. 31). The sruti says, " It thinks as it were and moves as it were." (Bri. Up. 4-3-7), JSFatnre is the source of activity.
Moreover, 14. Neither agency nor objects does the Lord create for the world, nor union with the fruits of actions. But it is the nature that acts.
13—15] SAMNYASA YOGA. 169 The Self, the Lord (of the body), does not create agency i.e., does not of Himself urge any one to action, ' do this.* Neither does the Self create cars, jars, mansions, and other objects of desire- Nor does the Self unite him who makes a car or the like with the fruit of the act, (Question) '— ~li the Self in the body does not Himself act nor cause others to act, what then is it that acts and causes others to act?
(Answer): — Listen- It is Nature, Svabhava, Praknti, Hayat ' the Divine Maya made up of guwas' * (vii. 14).
Wisdom and Unwisdom.
In reality, 15. The Lord takes neither the evil nor even the good deed of any; wisdom is enveloped by un- wisdom; thereby mortals are deluded.
Of any: even of His devotees.
{Question): — With what object then is done by devotees any meritorious act, — an act of worship, sacrifice, or charity, the offering of an oblation into the fire, or the like?
(Answer): — The Lord says in reply; Discriminative knowledge is enveloped by ignorance- mortal creatures in sawsara are deluded and think, "I act, I cause to act, I shall enjoy, I cause to enjoy," and so on.
* That is to say, ^tman forms the agent, the enjoyer, and the Lord •of Creation, through avidya— (A).
170 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. V.
16. But to those whose unwisdom is destroy- ed by wisdom of the Self, like the sun wisdom illuminates that Supreme.
When that unwisdom by which the mortals are envelop- ed and deluded is destroyed by wisdom or discriminative knowledge of the Self, then, as the sun illuminates all objects, so wisdom illuminates the whole of the Knowable, the Su- preme Reality.
The sage has no more births.
The Supreme Reality having been illuminated by wis- dom.
17. Wilh their consciousness in That, their Self being That, intent on That, with That for their supreme goal, they go never again to return,, their sins shaken off by means of wisdom.
Fixing their consciousness in Brahman and realising that the very Supreme Brahman is their Self, they renounce all actions and dwell in Brahman alone, — the Supreme Brah- man being their highest goal, their delight being solely in the unconditioned Self. In the case of such men* all sins and other causes of mundane existence (samsara) are destroyed by wisdom described above, and they depart from here, never returning to embodied life.
16—18] SAMNYASA YOGA. 171 The sage sees the One in all beings.
How do those wise men see truth whose ignorance of the Self has been removed by knowledge? — Listen: 18. In a Brahma^a endued with wisdom and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, as also in a dog and in a dog-eater * the wise see the same.
Humility is tranquillity, the condition of a well -disciplin- ed soul. Of the creatures mentioned, the highest is the brah- ma«a who is spiritually regenerated, and highly Sattvic (i.e., in whom the energy of Sattva predominates). Next comes the cow, not spiritually regenerated, and Rajasic 6". e-% in which the energy of Bajas predominates) Last come the elephant, &c.» which are purely Tamasic (the energy of Tamas predominating). In all of them the sages see the same, the One who is immutable in Himself and quite un- touched by Sattva and other energies, or by the tendencies born of those energies, whether Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic.
The sage is liberated while still on earth.
(Objection):— They (the sages just spoken of) are sinful persons, whose food should not be eaten by others. For, the Law says: " Where one's equals are honored in a different man- ner, and where persons who are not one's equals are honored in the same manner as oneself, a dinner must not be eaten." (Gautama's Institutes, xvii, 20.)
(Answer) • — They are not sinful; for, * A ch&nd&ld,, an outcaste.
172 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. V.
19. Even here birth is overcome by them whose mind rests on equality. Spotless, indeed, and equal is Brahman; wherefore in Brahman they rest. Even while living here on earth, birth has been brought under control by those sages who see the One, and whose intuition (antafr-kararca) rests unwavering on the equality (». e.i homogeneity) of Brahman in all creatures. Though, to the ignorant, Brahman in such impure bodies as those of dog-eaters and the like appears to be contaminated by their impurities, yet He is unaffected by them and is therefore spotless. Further, He is not heterogeneous either, owing to any heterogeneous attributes inherent in Himself; for, cons- ciousness (chaitanya) has no attributes. And the Lord speaks of desire and the like as the attributes of the Kshetra— of the body, of the not-Self (xiii. 6), — and He speaks also of the Self as beginningless and without attributes (xiii. 31). Nor are there what are called * ultimate particulars (antyavise- shas) * as the basis of individual distinctions in the Self, since no evidence can be adduced to prove their existence in rela- tion to the several bodies.* Hence Brahman is homogeneous * According to the Vaiseshika system of philosophy ' antyavisesha is that indefinable peculiar attribute inherent in an eternal substance which distinguishes it from another eternal substance. It is that in an eternal substance which marks its individual identity. The existence of such an attribute is only inferred in order to account for a distinction which is otherwise perceived. The eternal substances are thus* enumera- ted:— The atoms of Earth, of Water, of Light, and of Air; <4kasa (ether), Time, Space, Atraan (soul) and Manas (mind). The antya viseshas in the Atmanis only inferable from a distinction in the Self, for which Vedanta sees no evidence. Distinctions in the body cannot certainly point to distinctions in the Self since a yogin can simultaneously assume various bodies.
19—20] SAMNYASA YOGA. 173 and one. Wherefore they (the sages) rest in Brahman only. Not in the slightest can blemishes of bodies affect them, since they have no egotism and do not identify themselves with the aggregate of the body and the like. It is only to those who are egotistic and who identify the Self with the aggregate of the body and the like, that the institute quoted above is ap- plicable, since it refers to persons who are the objects of honor. In honoring and giving gifts, some special qualifica- tions are taken into account, such as a knowledge of Brah- man, knowledge of the six auxiliary sciences (a^gas), a knowledge of the four Vedas and the like. But Brahman is free from all attributest good and bad. Hence the statement i they rest in Brahman.' Moreover, the institute quoted above is taken from a section which is concerned with works (Karma), whereas this portion of the Gita (from v- 13 to the end of the adhyaya) is a section treating of renunciation of all works* The sage is free from grief and rejoicing.
Because Brahman, the Self, is blemishless and homoge- neous, therefore, 20. He who knows Brahman can neither rejoice on obtaining the pleasant, nor grieve on obtaining the unpleasant, — steady-minded, un- deluded, resting in Brahman.
Pleasant and unpleasant objects can cause pleasure and pain to them only who regard the body as the Self, not to him who sees the pure Self, since the latter never comes by plea- sant and unpleasant objects. He is undoubtingly conscious that the Self is free from delusion. He rests in Brahman 174 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. V.
described above; that is, he does no action, he has renounced all action.. m The sage's infinite joy.
Moreover, resting in Brahman, 21. With the self unattached to external contacts, he finds the joy which is in the Self; with the Self engaged in the contemplation of Brahman he attains the endless joy.
When his intuition (antafr-karawa) is uncontam mated by attachment to things contacted by the senses, to the sound and other sense-objects which are all external (to the Self), the sage realises the joy which there is in the Self. "When his intuition (antak-karana) is engaged in Yoga, in Samadhi, in a deep and steady contemplation of Brahman, then the sage attains the imperishable bl iss. Therefore, he who seeks for the endless joy of the Self should withdraw the senses from the momentary pleasure of external objects.
For the following reason also he should withdraw (the senses from external objects): — 22. For, those delights which are born of contacts are only generators of pain, having a be- ginning and an end, O son of Kunti *, a wise man rejoices not in them.
•The pleasures that are caused by contacts of the senses with sense-objects are only generators of pain, since those 21—23] SAMNYASA YOGA. 175 delights are caused by nescience (avidyaj. We do find that all troubles arising in the body (adhyatmika). etc, are traceable to them (delights) only. As in this world, so in the other, — as the word ' only ' indicates. Seeing that there is no trace of joy in the sawsara, the devotee should withdraw the senses from the mirage of sense-objects. Not only do the delights cause pain, but also they have a beginning and an end. The contact of a sense with its object marks the begin- ning of a pleasure, and their separation its end. Delights are temporary, occurring in the moment of interval (between the origin and the end.) A man who possesses discrimina- tion and who has realised the Supeme Reality does not rejoice in them. It is only quite ignorant persons that are, like cattle and the like, found to rejoice in the sense-objects. The path of Nirvana. And there is also a a wicked thing, an enemy on the path to Bliss, a most difficult thing to deal with, the source of all evil, very difficult to ward off, so that, very mighty efforts should be made, says the Lord, to repel the enemy: *\ V *\ V 23. He that is able, while still here5 to with- stand, before liberation from the body, the impulse of desire and anger, he is a Yogin, he is a happy man.
While still here: while yet living. Before liberation frcm the body: up to the point of death. By thus marking death as the limit, the Lord teaches that the impulse of desire and anger is unavoidable during life, since its causes, are innumerable, and that till the very moment of death it should 176 THE BHAGAVAD GITA, [DlS. V.
not be trusted. Desire (Kama) is the longing for a pleasure- giving agreeable object of our experience when coming with- in the ken of our senses, heard of, or remembered; and anger (krodha) iis«the aversion for the disagreeable, for the cause of pain, when being seen, heard of, or remembered. The im- pulse of desire (kama) is the agitation of the, mind (anta&- karana) as indicated by hairs standing on end and by a joyful countenance; and the impulse of anger is the mental agi- tation indicated by the trembling of the body, by perspiration, lip-biting, fiery eyes, and the like. He who can withstand the impulses of desire and anger is a Yogin, and he is a happy man here on earth.
What sort of a man resting in Brahman attains BralT man? — The Lord says: 24. Whoso has his joy within and his pastime within, and whoso has his light within only, that Yogin attains Brahman's bliss, himself be- coming Brahman.
Within: in the Self. He attains the bliss (nirvana) in Brahman, — i e., he attains moksha,— while still living here on earth.
Moreover, 25. The sages attain Brahman's bliss, — they whose sins have been destroyed and doubts remov- ed, who are self-controlled and intent on the welfare of all beings.
26—28] SAMNYASA YOGA. 177 Sages (Sishis): men of right knowledge and renunciation. Intent, etc.: injuring none. Moreover, 26. To the devotees who are free from desire and anger, who have controlled their thought, and who have known the Self, Brahman's bliss exists everywhere.
Those who have renounced all actions and attained right knowledge are liberated, whether living or dead.
Realisation of the Lord by Bhy ana-Yoga.
It has been said that those who, renouncing all actions, remain steady in right knowledge obtain instant liberation. It has often been and will be declared by the Lord that Karma-Yoga, which is performed in complete devotion to the Lord and dedicated to Him, leads to moksha step by step: first the purification of the mind, then knowledge, then renunciation of all actions, and lastly moksha. And now, with a view to propound at length the Dhyana-Yoga, the proximate means to right knowledge, the Lord teaches the Dhyana-Yoga in the following few aphoristic verses: 27-28. Shutting out all external contracts and fixing the sight between the eye-brows, equalising the out-going arid the in-going breaths which pass through the nostrils, controlling the senses, mind and intellect, having moksha as his highest goal, free from desire, fear and anger, — the sage who ever (remains thus) is verily liberated.
The sound and other sense-objects enter the mind within through the respective organs. These objects which are external are kept outside when a man does not think of them. A sage (muni) is one who is given to contemplation (manana) and who renounces all actions. Keeping the body in the posture described, he should always look up to moksha as his supreme goal. "When the sage leads constantly this kind of life, renouncing all, he is no doubt liberated: he has nothing else to do for liberation.
What has he — he whose mind, is thus steadily balanced—, to know and meditate upon in the Dhyana-Yoga?
29. On knowing Me, — the Lord of all sacrifices and austerities, the Great Lord of all Worlds, the Friend of all beings,— he goes to Peace.