The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
BhagavadGita-Wilkinson.jpg
SENIOR MERCHANT IN THE SERV(CE OF THE. HONOURABLE THE EAST INDIA COMPANY., ON
THEIR BENGAL ESTABLISHMENT
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR C. NOURSE.,
OPPOSITE CATHERINE-STREET, IN THE STRAND
M.DCC.LXXXV.
MAT 3Oth, 1785.
THE following Work is published under the authority of the Court of Directors of
the East India Company, by the particular desire and recommendation of the
Governor General of India; whose letter to the Chairman of the Company will
sufficiently explain the motives for its publication, and furnish
the best testimony of the fidelity, accuracy, and merit of the Translator.
The antiquity of the original, and the veneration in which it hath been held for
so many ages, by a very considerable portion of the human race, must render it
one of the greatest curiosities ever presented to the literary world.
TO
NATHANIEL SMITH, ESQUIRE.
SIR.
To you, as to the first member of the first commercial body, not only of the
present age, but of all the known generations of mankind, I presume to offer,
and to recommend through you, for an offering to the public, a very curious
specimen of the Literature, the Mythology, and Morality of the ancient Hindūs.
It is an episodical extract from the " Mahabharat," a most voluminous poem,
affirmed to have been written upwards of four thousand years ago, by Krishna
Dwypayana Vyasa, a learned Brahmin; to whom is also attributed the compilation
of “The Four " Vedas (Bēdes), the only existing original scriptures of the
religion of Brahma; and the composition of all the Puranas, which are to this
day taught in their schools, and venerated as poems of divine inspiration. Among
these, and of superior estimation to the rest, is ranked the Mahabharat. But if
the several books here enumerated be really the productions of their reputed
author, which is greatly to be doubted, many argument & may be adduced to
ascribe to the fame source the invention of the religion
itself, as well as its promulgation: and he must, at all events.,.
claim-
[ 6 ]
aim the merit of having first reduced the gross and scattered tenet&
of their former faith into a scientific and allegorical system.
The Mahabharat contains the genealogy and general history of the house of
Bharata, so called from Bharata its founder; the epithet Maha, or Great, being
prefixed in token of distinction: but its more particular object is to relate
the dissentions and wars of the two great collateral branches of it, called
Kurus and Pandavas; both lineally descended in the second degree from
Vichitravirya, their common ancestor, by their respective fathers Dhṛitarāshṭra
and Pandu.
The Kurus, which indeed is sometimes used as a term comprehending the whole
family, but most frequently applied as the patronymic of the elder branch alone,
are said to have been one hundred in number, of whom Duryodhana was esteemed the
head and representative even during the life of his father,. who was
incapacitated by blindness. The sons of Pandu were five; Yudhishthira, Bhima,
Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva who, through the artifices of Duryodhana, were
banished, by their uncle and guardian Dhṛitarāshṭra, from Hastinapura, at that
time the seat of government of Hindustan.
The exiles, after a series of adventures, worked up with a won derful fertility
of genius and pomp of language into a thousand sublime descriptions, returned
with a powerful army to avenge their wrongs, and assert their pretensions to the
empire in right of their father; by whom, though the younger brother, it had
been held while he lived, on account of the disqualification already mentioned
of Dhṛitarāshṭra.
In this fiat the episode opens, and is called "The Gītā of "Bhagvat," which is
one of the names of Kṛṣṇa. Arjuna. Is represented as the favorite and pupil of
Kṛṣṇa, here taken for God himself, in his last Avatar, or descent to earth in a
mortal form.
[ 7 ]
The Preface of the Translator will render any further explanation of the Work
unnecessary. Yet something it may be allowable for me to add respecting my own
judgment of a Work, which I have thus informally obtruded on your attention, as
it is the only ground on which I can defend the liberty which I have taken.
Might I, an unlettered man, venture to prescribe bounds to the latitude of
criticism, I should exclude, in estimating the merit of such a production, all
rules drawn from the ancient or modern literature of Europe, all references to
such sentiments or manners as are become the standards of propriety for opinion
and action i11 our own modes of life, and equally all appeals to our revealed
tenets of religion, and moral duty. I should exclude them, as by no means
applicable to the language. sentiments, manners, or morality appertaining to a
system of society with which we have been for ages unconnected, and of an
antiquity preceding even the first efforts of civilization in our own quarter of
the globe, which inspect to the general diffusion and common participation of
arts and sciences, may be now considered as one community.
I would exact from every reader the allowance of obscurity, absurdity, barbarous
habits, and a perverted morality. Where the reverse appears, I would have him
receive it (to use a familiar phrase) as so much clear gain, and allow it a
merit proportioned to the disappointment of a different expectation.
In effect, without bespeaking this kind of indulgence, I could hardly venture to
persist in my recommendation of this production for public notice.
Many passages will be found obscure, many will seem redundant ; others will be
found clothed with ornaments of fancy unsuited to our taste, and some elevated
to a track of sublimity into. which our habits of judgment will find it
difficult to pursue them; but few which will shock either our religious faith or
moral sentiments. Something too must be allowed to the subject itself, which
[ 8 ]
is highly metaphysical, to the extreme difficulty of rendering abstract terms by
others exactly corresponding with them in another language, to the arbitrary
combination of ideas, in words expressing unsubstantial qualities, and more, to
the errors of interpretation. The modesty of the Translator would induce him to
defend the credit of his work, by laying all its apparent defects to his own
charge, under the article last enumerated; but neither does his accuracy merit,
nor the work itself require that concession.
It is also to be observed, in illustration of what I have premised, that the
Brahmans are enjoined to perform a kind of spiritual discipline, not, I believe,
unknown to some of the religious orders of Christians in the Roman Church. This
consists in devoting a certain period of time to the contemplation of the Deity,
his at.. tributes, and the moral duties of this life. It is required of those
who practice this exercise, not only that they divest their minds of all sensual
desire, but that their attention be abstracted from every external object, and
absorbed, with every sense, in the prescribed subject of their meditation. I
myself was once a witness of a man employed in this species of devotion, at the
principal temple of Banaras. His right hand and arm were enclosed in a loose
sleeve or bag of red cloth, within which he passed the beads of his rosary, one
after another, through his fingers, repeating with the touch of each (as I was
informed) one of the names of God, while his mind labored to catch and dwell on
the idea of the quality which appertained to it, and hewed the violence of its
exertion to attain this purpose_ by the convulsive movements of all his
features, his eyes being at the same time closed, doubtless to affect the
abstraction. The importance of this duty cannot be better illustrated, nor
stronger marked, than by the last sentence· with which Krishna closes his
instruction to Arjuna, and which is properly the conclusion of the Gītā: _"Hath
what I have been. " speaking. O Arjuna, been heard with the mind fixed to one
point .
[ 9. ] .
" Is the distraction of thought, which arose from thy ignorance, removed?"
To those who have never been accustomed to this separation of the mind from the
notices of the senses, it may not be easy to conceive by what means such a power
is to be attained; since even the most studious men of our hemisphere will find
it difficult to restrain their attention but that it will wander to some object
of present sense or recollection; and even the buzzing of a fly will sometimes
have the power to disturb it. But if we are told that there have been men who
were successively, for ages past, in the daily habit of abstracted
contemplation, begun in the earliest period. of youth, and continued in many to
the maturity of age, each adding some portion of knowledge to the store
accumulated by his predecessors; it is not assuming too much to conclude, that,
as the mind ever gathers strength, like the body, by exercise, so in such an
exercise it may in each have acquired the faculty to which they aspired, and
that their collective studies may have led them to the discovery of new tracks
and combinations of sentiment, totally different from the doctrines with which
the learned of other nations are acquainted: doctrines, which however
speculative and subtle, stil1, as they possess the advantage of being derived
from a source so free from every adventitious mixture, may be equally founded in
truth with the most simple of our own. But as they must differ, yet more than
the most abstruse of ours, from the common modes of thinking, so they will
require consonant modes of expression, which it may be impossible to render by
any of the known terms of science in our language, or even to make them
intelligible by definition. This is probably the cafe with some of the Englsh
phrases, as those of "Action," "Application,'' " Practice," &c. which occur in
Mr. Wilkins's translation; and others, for the reasons which I have recited, he
has left with the same sounds in which he found them.. When the text is rendered
obscure from such causes, candor requires
[ IO ]
that credit be given to it for some accurate meaning, though we may not be able
to discover it ; and that we ascribe their obscurity to the incompetency of our
own perceptions, on so novel an application of them, rather than to the less
probable want of perspicuity in the original composition.
With the deductions, or rather qualifications, which I have thus premised, I
hesitate not to pronounce the Gītā a performance of great originality; of a
sublimity of conception, reasoning, and diction, almost unequalled; and a single
exception, among all the known religions of mankind, of a theology accurately
corresponding with that of the Christian dispensation., and most powerfully
illustrating its fundamental doctrines.
It will not be fair to try its relative worth by a comparison with the original
text of the first standards of European composition; but let these be taken even
in the most esteemed of their prose translations; and in that equal scale let
their merits be weighed. I should not fear to place, in opposition to the best
French versions of the most admired passages of the Iliad or Odyssey, or of the
1st and 6th Books of our own Milton, highly as I venerate the latter, the
English translation of the Mahabharat.
One blemish will be found in it, which will scarcely fail to make its own
impression on every correct mind.; and which for that reason I anticipate. I
mean, the attempt to describe spiritual ·existences by terms and images which
appertain to corporeal forms. Yet even. in this respect it will appear lefs
faulty than other works with which I have placed it in competition; and,
defective as it may at first appear, I know not whether a doctrine so elevated
above common perception did not require to be introduced by such ideas as were
familiar to the mind, to lead it by a gradual advance to the pure and abstract
comprehension of the subject: This will seem to have been, whether intentionally
or accidentally., the order which is followed by the author of the Gītā;
and so far at least he soars
[ 11 ]
far beyond all competitors in this species of composition. Even the frequent
recurrence of the same sentiment, in a variety of dress, may have been owing to
the same consideration of the extreme intricacy of the subject, and the
consequent necessity of trying different kinds of exemplification and argument,
to impress it with due conviction on the understanding. Yet I believe it will
appear, to an attentive reader, neither deficient in method, nor in perspicuity.
On the contrary, I thought it at the first reading, and more so at the second,
clear beyond what I could have reasonably expected, in a discussion of points so
far removed beyond the reach of the senses, and explained through so foreign a
medium.
It now remains to say something of the Translator, Mr. Charles Wilkins. This
Gentleman two whose ingenuity, unaided by models for imitation, and by artists
for his direction, your government is indebted for its printing-office, and for
many official purposes to which it has been profitably applied, with an extent
unknown in Europe, has united to an early and successful attainment of the
Persian and Bengal languages, the study of the Sanskrit. To this he dev-oted
himself with a perseverance of which there are few examples, and with a success
which encouraged him to _under take the translation of the Mahabharat. This book
is said to consists _of more than one hundred thousand metrical stanzas, of
which he has at this time translated more than a third; and, if I may trust to
the imperfect tests by which I myself have tried a very small portion of it,
through the medium of another language; he has rendered it with great accuracy
and fidelity. Of its elegance, and the skill with which he has familiarized (if
I may so express it) his own native language to so foreign an original, I may
not speak, as from the specimen herewith presented, whoever reads it will judge
for himself
[ 12 ]
Mr. Wilkins's health having suffered a decline from the fatigues of business,
from which his gratuitous labors allowed him no relaxation, he was advised to
try a change of air for his recovery. I myself recommended that of Banaras, for
the fake of the additional advantage which he might derive from a residence in a
place which is considered as the first seminary of Hindu learning; and I
promoted his application to the Board, for their permission to repair thither,
without forfeiting his official appointments during the term of his absence.
I have always regarded the encouragement of every species of life useful
diligence, in the servants of the Company, as a duty appertaining to my office;
and have severely regretted that I have possessed such scanty means of
exercising it, especially to such as required an exemption from official
attendance; there being few emoluments in this service but such as are annexed
to official employment., and few offices without employment. Yet I believe I may
take it upon me to pronounce, that the service has at no period more abounded
with men of cultivated talents, of capacity for business, and liberal knowledge;
qualities which reflect the greater luster on their possessors, by having been
the fruit of long and labored application, at a season of life, and with a
license of conduct, more apt to produce dissipation than excite the desire of
improvement.
Such studies, independently of their utility, tend, especially when the pursuit
of them is general, to disuse a generosity of sentiment:, and a disdain of the
meaner occupations of such minds as are left nearer to the state of uncultivated
nature; and you, Sir, will believe me, when I assure you, that it is on the
virtue, not the ability of their servants, that the Company must rely for the
permanency of their dominion.
Nor is the cultivation of language and science, for such are the studies to
which I allude., useful only in forming the moral character and habits of the
service.
[ 13 ]
Every accumulation of knowledge,. and especially such as is obtained by social
communication with people over whom we exercise a dominion founded on the right
of conquest, is useful to the state : it is the gain of humanity: in the
specific instance which I have stated, it attracts and conciliates distant
affections; it lessens the weight of the chain by which the natives are held in
subjection; and it imprints on the hearts of our own countrymen the sense and
obligation of benevolence. Even in England, this effect of it is greatly
wanting. It is not very long since the inhabitants of India were considered by
many, as creatures scarce elevated above the degree of savage life; nor, I fear,
is that prejudice yet wholly eradicated, though surely abated. Every instance
which brings their real character home to observation will impress us with a
more generous sense of feeling for their natural rights, and teach us to
estimate them by the measure of our own. But such instances can only be obtained
in their writings and these will survive when the British dominion in India will
have long ceased to exist, and when the sources which it once yielded of wealth
and power are left to remembrance.
If you, Sir, on the perusal of Mr. Wilkins's performance, shall judge it worthy
of so honorable a patronage, may I take the further liberty to request that you
will be pleased to present it to the Court of Directors, for publication by
their authority, and to use your interest to obtain it its public reception will
be the test of its real merit, and determine Mr. Wilkins in the prosecution or
cessation of his present laborious studies. It may, in the first event, clear
the way to a wide and unexplored field of fruitful knowledge; and suggest, to
the generosity of his honorable employers,. a desire to encourage the first
persevering ad venturer in a service in which his example will have few
followers, and most probably none, if it is to be performed with the gratuitous
labor of years left to the provision of future subsistence:
the:
[ 14 ]
: for the study of the Sanskrit cannot, like the Persian language, be applied to
official profit, and improved with the official exercise of it. It can only
derive its reward, beyond the breath of fame, in a fixed endowment. Such bas
been the fate of his predecessor, Mr. Halhed, whose labors and incomparable
genius, in two useful productions, have been crowned with every success that the
public estimation could give them; nor will it detract from the no less original
merit of Mr. Wilkins, that I ascribe to another the title of having led the way,
when I add that this example held out to him no incitement to emulate it, but
the prospect of barren applause. To say more, would be disrespect; and I believe
that I address myself to a gentleman who possesses talents congenial with those
which I am so anxious to encourage, and a mind too liberal to confine its
beneficence to such arts alone as contribute to the immediate and substantial
advantages of the state.
I think it proper to assure you, that the subject of this address, and its
design, were equally unknown to the person who is the object of it; from whom I
originally obtained the translation for another purpose, which on a second
revisal of the work I changed, from a belief that it merited a better
destination.
A mind rendered susceptible by the daily experience of unmerited reproach, may
be excused if it anticipates even unreasonable or improbable objections. This
must be my plea for any apparent futility in the following
observation. I have seen an extract from a foreign work of great literary
credit, in which my name is mentioned, with very undeserved applause, for an
attempt to introduce the knowledge of Hindu literature into the European world,
by forcing or corrupting the religious consciences of the Pundits, or professors
of their sacred doctrines. This reflexion was produced by the publication of Mr.
Halbed's translation of the Poottee, or code
of
[ 15 ]
of Hindoo laws; and is totally devoid of foundation. For myself I can declare
truly, that if the acquisition could not have been obtained but by such means as
have been supposed, I shouId never have fought it. It was contributed both
cheerfully and gratuitously, by men of the most respectable characters for
sanctity and learning in Bengal, who refused to accept more than the moderate
daily subsistence of one rupee each, during the term that they were employed on
the compilation; nor will it much redound to my credit, when I add, that they
have yet received no other reward for their meritorious labors. Very natural
causes may be ascribed for their reluctance to communicate the mysteries of
their learning to strangers, as those to whom they have been for some centuries
in subjection, never enquired into them, but to turn their religion into
derision, or deduce from them arguments to support the intolerant principles of
their own. From our nation they have received a different treatment, and are no
less eager to impart their knowledge than we are to receive it. I could say much
more in proof of this fact, but that it might look too much like self
commendation.
I have the honor to be, with respect,
SIR,
Your most obedient, and Most humble Servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
Calcutta, 3d Dec, 1784
P. S. Since the above was written, Mr. Wilkins has transmitted to me a corrected
copy of his Translation, with the Preface and Notes much enlarged and improved.
In the former I meet with some complimentary
[ 16 ]
complimentary passages, which are certainly improper for a work published at my
own solicitation. But he is at too great a defiance to allow of their being sent
back to him for correction, without losing the opportunity, which I am unwilling
to lose, of the present dispatch; nor could they be omitted; if I thought myself
at liberty to expunge them, without requiring confiderable alterations in the
context. They must therefore stand ; and I hope that this explanation will be
admitted as a valid excuse for me in passing them.
W. H.
THE B H A G V A T- G E E T A,
O R DIALOGUES O F Krishna and Arjun
[ 19 ]
TO THE HONORABLE
WA R REN H A S T I N G S, EsQ.
GOVERNOR GENERAL, &c. &c.
HONORABLE SIR,
UNCONSCIOUS of the liberal purpose for which you intended the Gītā, when, at
your request, I had the honor to present you with a copy of the manuscript, I
was the less felicitous about its imperfections, because I knew that your
extensive acquaintance
[ 2O ]
with the customs and religious tenets of the Hindus would elucidate every
passage that was obscure, and I had so often experienced approbation from your
partiality, and correction from your pen : It was the theme of a pupil to his
preceptor .and patron. But since I received your commands to prepare it for the
public view, I feel all that anxiety which must be inseparable from one who, for
the first time, is about to appear before that awful tribunal ; and I should
dread the event, were I not convinced that the liberal sentiments expressed in
the letter you have done me honor to write, in recommendation of the work, to
the Chairman of the Direction, if permitted to accompany
[ 21 ]
it to the presss, would screen me, under its own intrinsic merit, from all
censure. The world, Sir, is so well acquainted with your boundless patronage in
gen eral, and of the personal encouragement you have constantly given to my
fellow-servants in _particular, to render themselves more capable of performing
their duty in the ..various branches of commerce, revenue, and policy, by the
study of the languages; with the laws and customs of the natives, that it must
deem the . first fruit of every genius you have raised a tribute justly due to
the source from which it sprang. As that personal encouragement alone first
excited emulation in my breast; and urged me to prosecute my particular studies,
[ 22 ]
even beyond the line of pecuniary reward, I humbly request you will permit me,
in token of my gratitude, to lay the Gītā
publicly at your fee_t.I have the honor to.fubfcrjbe myfelf, with great refpea,
Honorable Sir,
Your most obedient, and Most humble Servant,
Banaras,
19th November, 1734.
CHA WILKINS.
[ 23 ]
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
HE following work, forming part of the Mahabharat, an ancient Hindu poem, is a
dialogue supposed to have passed between Krishna, an incarnation of the Deity,
and his pupil and favorite Arjuna, one of the five sons of Pāndu, who is said to
have reigned about five thousand years ago, just before the commencement of a
famous battle fought on the plains of Kurushetra, near Delhi, at the beginning
of the Kaliyuga, or fourth and present age of the world, for the empire of
Bhārat-varsha, which, at that time, included all the countries that, in the
present division of the globe, are called India, extending from the borders of
Persia to the extremity of China; and from the snowy mountains to the southern
promontory.
The Brahmans esteem this work to contain all the grand mysteries of their
religion; and so careful are they to conceal it from the knowledge of those of a
different persuasion, and even the vulgar of their own, that the Translator
might have fought in vain for assistance, had not the liberal treatment they
have of late years ex perienced from the mildness of our government, the
tolerating principle's of our faith, and, above all, the personal attention paid
to the learned men of their order by him under whom auspicious administration
they have so long enjoyed,· in the midst of surrounding
[ 24 ]
troubles, the blessings of internal peace, and his exemplary encouragement, at
length happily created in their breasts a confidence in his countrymen
sufficient to remove almost every jealous prejudice from their minds.
It seems as if the principal design of these dialogues was to unite all the
prevailing modes of worship of those days; and, by setting up the doctrine of
the unity of the Godhead, in opposition to idolatrous sacrifices, and the
worship of images, to undermine the tenets inculcated by the Vedas; for although
the author dared not make a direct attack, either upon the prevailing prejudices
of the people, or the divine authority of those ancient books ; yet, by offering
eternal happiness to such as worship Brahman, the Almighty, whilst he declares
the reward of such as follow other Gods shall be but a temporary enjoyment of an
inferior heaven, for a period measured by the extent of their virtues, his
design was to bring about the downfall of Polytheism; or, at least, to induce
men to believe God present in every image before which they bent., and the
object of all their ceremonies and sacrifices.
The most learned Brahmans of the present times are Unitarians according to the
doctrines of Krishna; but, at the same time that they believe but in one God, an
universal spirit., they so far comply with the prejudices of the vulgar, as
outwardly to perform all the ceremonies inculcated by the Vedas, such as
sacrifices, ablutions, &c. They do this, probably, more for the support of their
own consequence, which could only arise from the great ignorance of the people,
than in compliance with the dictates of Krishna: indeed, this ignorance, and
these ceremonies, are as much the bread of the Brahmans, as the superstition of
the vulgar is the support of the priesthood in many other countries.
The reader will have the liberality to excuse the obscurity of many passages,
and the confusion of sentiments which runs through the whole in its present
form. It was the Transistor’s business to remove as much of this obscurity and
confusion as his knowledge
[ 25 ]
and abilities would permit. This he hath attempted in his Notes ; but as he is
conscious they are still insufficient to remove the veil of mystery, he begs
leave to remark, in his own justification·, that the text is but imperfectly
understood by the most learned Brahmans of the present times; and that, small as
the work may appear, it has had more comments than the Revelations. These have
not been totally disregarded; but, as they were frequently found more obscure
than the original they were intended to elucidate, it was thought better to
leave many of the most difficult passages for the exercise of the reader's own
judgment, than to mislead him by such wild opinions as no one syllable of the
text could authorize.
Some apology is also due for a few original words and proper names that are left
untranslated, and unexplained. The Translator was frequently too diffident of
his own abilities to hazard a term that did but nearly approach the sense of the
original, and too ignorant, at present, of the mythology of this ancient people,
to venture any very particular account, in his Notes, of such Deities, Saints,
and Heroes, whose names are but barely mentioned in the text. But 1hould the
fame Genius, whose approbation first kindled emulation in his breast, and who
alone hath urged him to undertake, and sup ported him through the execution of
far more laborious tasks than this, find no cause to withdraw his countenance,
the Translator may be encouraged to prosecute the study of the theology and
mythology of the Hindus, for the future entertainment of the curious.
It is worthy to be noted, that Krishna throughout the whole, mentions only three
of the four books of the Vedas, the most ancient scriptures of the Hindus, and
those the three first, according to the present order. This is a very curious
circumstance, as it is the present belief that the whole four were promulgated
by Brahma at the creation. The proof then of there having been but three before
his time, is more than presumptive, and that so many actually existed before his
appearance; and as the fourth mentions the name of Krishna, it is equally proved
that it is a posterior work.
[ 26 ]
This observation has escaped all the commentators. and was received with great
astonishment by the Pandit1 who was consulted in the translation.
The Transistor has not as yet had leisure to read any part of the ancient
scriptures. He is told, that a very few of the original num ber of chapters are
now to be found, and that the study of these is so difficult, that there are but
few men in Banaras who understand any part of them. If We may believe the
Mahahharat, they were almost lost five thousand years ago ; when Vyasa, so named
from having superintended the compilation of them, collected the scattered
leaves, and, by the assistance of his disciples, collated and preserved them in
four books.
As a regular mode hath been followed in the orthography of the proper names, and
other original words, the reader may be guided in the pronunciation of them by
the following explanation.
(g) has always the hard found of that letter in gun.
(j) the soft found of (g), or of (J) in James.·
(y) is generally to be considered as a consonant, and to be pronounced as that
letter before a vowel, in the word yarn.
(h) preceded by another consonant, denotes it to be aspirated.
(a) is always to be pronounced short, like (u) in Butter.
(ā) long, and broad, like (a) in all, call.
(ee) short, as (i) in it.
(ēē) long.
(oo) short, as (oo) in faot.
(ōō) long.
(ē) open and long.
(ī) as that letter is pronounced in our alphabet.
(ō) long, like (6) in over.
(ow) long, like (ow) in how.
[ 27 ]
THE BHAGAVAD-GITA
OR DIALOGUES OF KRISHNA AND ARJUN
LECTURE 1 . Chapter 1
THE GRIEF OF ARJUNA
Dḥṛtarāṣṭra
said,
“TELL me, O Sanjay, what the people of my own party, and those of the Pāṇḍu, who
are assembled at Kuru-ṣetra resolved for war, have been doing
[ 28 ]
SAṀJAYA v replied,
"Duryodhana having seen the army of the Pāṇḍus Drawn up for battle, went to his
Preceptor, and addressed him in the following words:''
" Behold O master, said he, the mighty army of the sons of Pāṇḍu drawn forth by
thy pupil, the experienced son of Drupada. In it are heroes, such as Bhīma or
Arjuna : there is Yuyudhāna, and Vīrāṭa, and Drūpada, and Dhṛṣṭaketu, and
Chekītana, and the valiant prince of Kāśi, and Purujit, and Kuntibhoja, and
Śaibya a mighty chief, and Yudhāmanyu-Pīkranta,. and the daring Uttamauja; so
the son of Subhadrā, and the sons of Krishnā the daughter of Drūpada, all of
them great in arms. Be acquainted also with the names of those of our party who
are the most distinguished. I will mention a few of those who are among my
generals, by way of example. There is thyself, my Preceptor, and Bhīṣma, and
Kṛpa the conqueror in battle, and As vatthāma, and Vikarṇa, and the son of
Somadatta,8.
with others in vast numbers who for my service have forsaken the love of life.
They are all of them practiced in the use of arms, and experienced in every mode
of fight. Our innumerable forces are commanded by Bhīṣma,. and the
inconsiderable army of our foes is led by Bhīma.1O
[ 29 )
Let all the generals, according to their respective divisions,. stand in their
posts, and one and all resolve Bhīṣma to support."
The ancient chief 1 , and brother of the grandsire of the Kurus, then,
shouting with a voice like a roaring lion, blew his shell to raise the spirits
of the Kuru. chief; and instantly innumerable shells2, and other warlike instruments, were struck up on all sides, so that the clangor · was excessive. At this
time Krishna and Arjun were standing in a splendid chariot drawn by white
horses. They also sounded their shells, which were of celestial form: the name
of the one which was blown by Krishna, was Panchajanya, and that of Arjuna was
called Deva-datta. Bhīma, of dreadful deeds, blew his ca pacious shell Pouṇḍra,
and Yudhiṣṭhira, the royal son of Kuntee, sounded Anantavijaya. Nakula and
Sahadeva blew their shells : Sughoṣa and Maṇipuṣpaka.16 The prince of Kāśi of
the mighty bow, Śikhaṇḍin, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Virāṭa, Sātyaki of invincible arm
Drupada and the sons of his royal daughter Krishna, with the son of Subhadrā,
and all the other chiefs and nobles, blew also their respective shells; so that
their shrill sounding voices pierced the hearts.
[ 3O ]
of the Kurus, and re-echoed with a dreadful noise from heaven to earth. In the
meantime Arjuna, perceiving that the sons of Dḥṛtarāṣṭra ready to begin the
fight, and that the weapons began to fly abroad, having taken up his bow,
addressed Krishna3 in the following words:
ARJUNA4
I pray thee, Krishna, cause my chariot to be driven and placed between the two
armies, that I may behold who are the men that stand ready, anxious to commence
the bloody fight; and with whom it is that I am to fight in this ready field;
and who they are that are here assembled to support the vindictive son of
Dḥṛtarāṣṭra in the battle."
Krishna being thus addressed by Arjuna, drove the chariot; and, having caused it
to halt in the midst of the space in front of the two armies, Arjuna cast his
eyes towards the ranks of the Kurus, and behold where stood the aged Bhīṣma, and
Drona, with all the chief° nobles of their party. He looked at both the armies,
and beheld, on either side, none but grandsires, uncles, cousins, tutors, sons,
and brothers, near relations, or bosom friends; and, when he had gazed for a
while, and beheld such friends
[ 31 ]
as these prepared for the fight, he was seizcd with extreme pity and
compunction, and uttered his sorrow in the following words :
Arjuna
" Having beheld, O Krishna my kindred thus standing anxious for the fight, my
members fail me, my coun tenance withereth, the hair standeth an end upon my
body, and all my frame trembleth with horror. Even Gāṇḍiva9 my bow escapeth from
my hand, and my skin is parched and dried up. I am not able to stand; for my
understanding, as it were, turneth round, and I behold inauspicious omens on all
sides. When I shall have destroyed my kindred, shall I longer look for
happiness? I. wish not for victory, Krishna; I want not dominion ; I want not
pleasure; for what is dominion, and the enjoy ments of life, or even life
itself, when those, for whom dominion, pleasure, and enjoyment were to be
coveted. have abandoned life and fortune and stand here in the field ready for
the battle ? Tutors, sons and fathers, grandsires and grandsons, uncles and
nephews, cousins. kindred, and friends I Although they would kill me, I will not
to fight them; no not even for the dominion of the three regions of the
universe, much less for this little earthI Having killed the sons of
Dhṛitarāshṭra, what
[ 32 ]
pleasure, O Krishna, can we enjoy ? Should we destroy them, tyrants as they are,
sin would take refuge with us. It therefore behoveth us not to kill such near
relations as these. How, O Krishna, can we be happy hereafter, when we have been
the murderers of our race? What if they, whose minds are depraved by the lust of
power, feel no sin in the extirpation of their race, no crime in the murder of
their friends, is that a reason why we should not resolve to turn away from such
a crime, we who abhor the sin of extirpating the kindred of our blood ? In the
destruction of a family, the ancient virtue of the family is lost. Upon the loss
of virtue, vice and impiety overwhelm the whole of a race. From the influence of
impiety the females of a family grow vicious; and from women that are become
vicious are born the spurious brood called Varṇasaṁkara. The saṁkara provideth
Hell 5 both for those which are slain and those which survive; and their
forefathers6 being deprived of the ceremonies of cakes and water offered to
their manes, sink into the infernal regions. By the crimes of those who murder
their own relations, fore cause of contamination and birth of Varṇasaṁkara, the
family virtue, and the virtue of a whole tribe is for ever done away; and we
have been told, O Krishna, that the habitation of those
[ 33 ]
mortals whose generation hath lost its virtue, shall be in Hell. Woe is me I
what a great crime are we prepared to commit I ·Alas! that for the lust of the
enjoyments of dominion we stand here ready to murder the kindred of our own
blood I I would rather patiently suffer that the sons of Dhṛitarāshṭra, .with
their weapons in their hands, should come upon me, and, unopposed, kill me
unguarded in the field."
When Arhuna had ceased to speak, he sat down in the chariot between the two
armies; and having put away his bow and arrows, his heart was overwhelmed with
affliction,
L E C T U R E. II.
Sāṁkhya Theory and Yoga Practice
Charles Wilkins 1785
OF THE NATURE OF THE SOUL AND SPECULATIVE DOCTRINES.
Krishna beholding him thus influenced by compunction, his eyes
overflowing with a flood of tears, and his heart oppressed with deep affliction,
addressed him in the following words :
KRISHNA
" Whence, O Arjuna, cometh unto thee, thus standing in the field of battle, this
folly and unmanly weakness ? It is disgraceful, contrary to duty7, and the
foundation of dishonour. Yield not thus to unmanliness, for it ill becometh one
like thee. Abandon this despicable weakness of thy heart, and stand up."
ARJUNA Said
O Krishna,
“Shall I resolve to fight with my arrows in the field against such as Bhīṣma and
Droṇa, who, of all men, are most worthy of my respect ? I would rather beg my
bread about the world, than be the murderer of my preceptors, to whom such awful
reverence is due. Should I destroy such friends as these,
[35 ]
should partake of possessions, wealth, and pleasures, polluted with their
'blood. We know not whether it would be better that we should defeat them, or
they us ; for those, whom having killed, I should not wish to live, are even the
sons and people of Dhṛitarāshṭra who are here
drawn up before us. My compassionate nature is overcome by the dread of sin.
Tell me truly what may be left for me to do. I am thy disciple, wherefore
instruct me in my duty, who am under thy tuition; for my understanding is
confounded by the dictates of my duty8, and I see nothing that may assuage the
grief which drieth up my faculties, although I were to obtain a kingdom without
a rival upon earth,. . or dominion over the hosts of heaven."
Arjuna having thus spoken to Krishna, and declared that he would not fight, was
silent.
Krishna smiling;
addressed the afflicted prince, standing in the midst. of the two armies, in the
following words :
KRISHNA
" Thou ' grievest for those who are unworthy to be lamented, whilst thy
sentiments are those of the wise men9. The wise neither grieve for the dead
nor for the living. I myself never was not, nor thou, nor all the princes of the
earth; nor shall we ever hereafter cease to be. As the
[ 36 ]
soul in this mortal frame findeth infancy, youth, and old age; so, in some
future frame, will it find the like. One who is confirmed in this belief, is not
disturbed by anything that may come to pass. The sensibility of the faculties
giveth heat and cold, pleasure and pain; which come and go, and are transient
and inconstant. Bear them with patience, O Son of Bharat; for the wise man, whom
these disturb not, and to whom pain and pleasure are the fame, is formed for
immortality. A thing imaginary hath no existence, whilst that which- is true is
a stranger to non-entity. By those who look into the principles of things, the
design· of each is seen. Learn that he by whom all things were formed is
incorruptible, and that no one is able to effect the destruction of this thing
which is inexhaustible. These bodies, which envelope the souls which inhabit
them, which are eternal, incorruptible, arid surpassing all conception, are
declared to be finite beings ; wherefore, O Arjuna, resolve to fight. The man
who believeth that it is the soul which killeth, and he· who thinketh that the
soul may be destroyed, are both alike deceived; for it neither killeth, nor is
it killed. It is not a thing of which a man may say, it hath been, it is about
to be, or is to be hereafter; for it is a thing without birth ; it is ancient,
constant, and eternal,
[ 37 ]
and is not to be destroyed in this its mortal frame.
How can the man, who believeth that this thing is incorruptible, eternal,
inexhaustible, and without birth, think that he can either kill or cause it to
be killed ? As a man
throweth away old garments, and putteth on new, even so the soul, having quitted
its old mortal frames, entereth into others which are new. The weapon divideth
it not, the fire burneth it not, the water corrupteth it not, the wind drieth it
not away ; for it is indivisible, inconsumable, incorruptible, and is not to be
dried away: it is eternal, universal, permanent, immoveable; it is invisible,
inconceivable, and unalterable ; therefore, believing it to be thus, thou should
not grieve. But whether thou believeth it of eternal birth and duration, or that
it dieth with the body, still thou hast no cause to lament it. Death is certain
to all things which are subject to birth, and regeneration to all things which
are mortal; wherefore it doth not behove thee to grieve about that which is
inevitable. The former state of beings is unknown; the middle state is evident,
and their future state is 'not to be discovered. Why then shouldst thou trouble
thyself about such things as these? Some regard the soul as a wonder, whilst
some speak, and others hear of it with astonishment; but no one knowest it,
although he may
[ 38 ]
have heard it described. This spirit being never to be destroyed in the mortal
frame which it inhabiteth, it is unworthy for thee to be troubled for all these
mortals. Cast but thy eyes towards the duties of thy particular tribe, and it
will ill become thee to tremble. A soldier of the Kṣatriya tribe hath no duty
superior to fighting.
Just to thy wish the door of heaven is found open before thee. Such soldiers
only as are the favorites of Heaven obtain such a glorious fight as this. But,
if thou wilt not perform the duty of thy calling, and fight out the field, thou
wilt abandon thy duty and thy honor, and be guilty of a crime. Mankind speak of
thy renown as infinite and inexhaustible. The fame of one who hath been
respected in the world is extended even beyond the dissolution of the body. The
generals of the armies will think that thy retirement from the field arose from
fear, and thou wilt become despicable, even amongst those by whom thou wert wont
to be respected. Thy enemies will speak of thee in words which are unworthy to
be spoken, and depreciate thy courage and abilities: what can be more dreadful
than this. If thou art slain thou wilt obtain heaven; if thou art victorious
thou wi1t enjoy a world for thy reward; wherefore, Son of Kunti, arise and be
determined for the battle. Make pleasure and
[ 39 ]
pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, the fame, and then prepare for battle;
or if thou dost not, thou wilt be criminal in a high degree. Let thy reason be
thus applied in the field of battle.
This thy judgment is formed upon the speculative doctrines of the Sankhya Sāstra;
hear what it is in the practical with which being endued thou shalt forsake the
bonds of action10. A very small portion of this duty delivereth a man from great
fear. In this there is but one judgment; but that is of a definite nature,
whilst the judgments of those of indefinite principles are infinite and of many
branches.
Men of confined notions, delighting in the controversies of the Vedas, tainted
with worldly lusts, and preferring a transient enjoyment of heaven to eternal
absorption, whilst they declare there is no other reward, pronounce, for the
attainment of worldly riches and enjoyments, flowery sentences, ordaining
innumerable and manifold ceremonies, and promising rewards for the actions of
this life. The determined judgment of such as are attached to riches and
enjoyment, and whose reason is led astray by this doctrine, is not formed upon
mature consideration and meditation. The objects of the Vedas11 are of a threefold
nature. Be thou free from a threefold nature; be
[ 4O ]
free from duplicity, and stand firm in the path of truth; be free from care and
trouble, and turn thy mind to things which are spiritual. The knowing divine
findeth as many uses in the whole Vedas collectively, as in a reservoir full
flowing with water.
Let the motive be in the deed, and not in the event. Be not one whose motive for
action is the hope of reward. Let not thy life be spent in inaction. Depend upon
application, perform thy duty, abandon all thought of the consequence, and make
the event equal, whether it terminate in good or evil ; for such an equality is
called Yoga12.
The action stands at a distance inferior to the application of wisdom. Seek an
asylum then in wisdom13 alone ; for the miserable and unhappy are so on account
of the event of things. Men who are endued with true wisdom are unmindful of
good or evil in this world. Study then to obtain this application of thy
understanding, for such application in business is a precious art.
Wise men, who have abandoned all thought of the fruit which is produced from
their actions, are freed from the chains of birth, and go to the regions of
eternal happiness.
When thy reason shall get the better of the gloomy weakness of thy heart, then
shall thou have attained all
[ 41 -]
knowledge which hath been, or is worthy to be taught. When thy understanding, by
study brought to maturity, shall be fixed immovably in contemplation, then shall
it obtain true wisdom."
ARJUNA
What, O Krishna, is the distinction of that wise and steady man who is fixed in
contemplation? What may such a sage declare? Where may he dwell ? How may he
act?
KRISHNA.
A man is said to be confirmed in wisdom, when he forfaketh every desire which
entereth into his heart, and of himself is happy, and contented in himself. His
mind is undisturbed in adversity, he is happy and contented in prosperity, and
he is a stranger to anxiety, fear, and anger. Such a wise man is called a Mauni.
The wisdom of that man is established, who in all things is without affection;
and, having received good or evil, neither rejoiceth at the one, nor is cast
down by the other. His wisdom is confirmed, when, like the tortoise, he can draw
in all his members, and restrain them from their wonted purposes. The hungry man
loseth every other object but the gratification of his appetite, and when he is
become acquainted with the Supreme, he loseth even that_.
[ 42 ]
The tumultuous senses hurry away, by force, the heart even of the wise man who
striveth to restrain them. The inspired man, trusting in me, may quell them and
be happy. The man who hath his passions in subjection, it possessed of true
wisdom.
The man who attendeth to the inclinations of the senses, in them hath a concern;
from this concern is created passion, from passion anger, from anger is produced
folly14, from folly a depravation of the memory, from the loss of memory the loss
of reason, and from the loss of reason the loss of all. A man of a governable
mind, enjoying the objects of his senses, with all his faculties rendered
obedient to his will, and freed from pride and malice, obtaineth happiness
supreme. In this happiness is born to him an exemption from all his troubles ;
and his mind being thus at ease wisdom presently floweth to him from all sides.
The man who attendeth not to this, is without wisdom or the power of
contemplation. The man who is incapable of thinking, hath no rest. What
happiness can he enjoy who hath no rest? The heart, which followeth the dictates
of the moving passions, carrieth away his reason, as the storm the bark in the
raging ocean. The man, therefore, who can restrain all his passions from their
inordinate desires, is endued with true
[ 43 ]
wisdom. Such a one walketh but in that night when all things go to rest, the
night of time. The contemplative Muni sleepeth but in the day of time, when all
things wake.
The man whose passions enter his heart as waters run into the unswelling passive
ocean, obtaineth happiness; not he who lusteth in his lusts. The man who, having
abandoned all lusts of the flesh walketh without inordinate desires, unassuming,
and free from pride, obtaineth happiness. This is divine dependence. A man being
possessed of this confidence in the Supreme, goeth not astray: even at the hour
of death, should he attain it, he shall mix with the incorporeal nature of
Braḥman.
This is the end of Chapter 02 The Yoga of Knowledge (Entry by editor)
L E C T U R E III |
Bhagavadgita Chapter 03 |
OF WORKS (Karma Yoga) |
By CHARLES WILKINS 1785 |
|
ARJUNA.
According to thy opinion, the use of the understanding be superior to the
practice of deeds15, why then dost thou urge me to engage in an undertaking so
dreadful as this? Thou, as it were, confoundest my reason with a mixture of
sentiments; wherefore choose one amongst them, by which I may obtain happiness,
and explain it unto me.
KRISHNA
It hath before been observed by me, that in this world there are two institutes
: That of those who follow the Saṁkhya, or speculative science, which is the
exercise of reason in contemplation ; and the practical, or exercise of the
moral and religious duties.
The man enjoyeth not freedom from action, from the non-commencement of that
which he hath to do; nor doth he obtain happiness from a total inactivity. No
one ever refreth a moment inactive. Every man is involunta-
[ 45 ]
rily urged to ad: by those principles which are inherent in his nature. The man
who refraineth his active faculties, and fitteth down with his mind attentive to
the objects of his senses, is called one of an astrayed soul, and the practiser
of deceit. So the man is praised, who, having subdued all his passions,
performeth with his active faculties of all the functions of life, unconcerned
about the event. Perform the settled functions: action is preferable to
inaction. The journey of thy mortal frame may not succeed from inaction. This
busy world is engaged from other motives than the worship of the Deity. Abandon
then, O Son of Kunti, all selfish motives, and perform thy duty for him alone.
When in ancient days Brahma16 , the lord of the creation, had formed mankind,
and, at the same time, appointed his worship, he spoke and said: '' With this
worship pray for increase, and let it be that on which ye shall depend for the
accomplishment of all your wishes. "With this remember the Gods, that the Gods
may 'remember you. Remember one another, and ye shall obtain supreme happiness.
The Gods being remembered " in worship, will grant you the enjoyment of your
wishes. " He who enjoyeth what hath been given unto him by them, and offereth
not a portion unto them, is even as
a thief. Those who eat not but what is left of the offerings, shall be purified
of all their transgressions. '' Those who dress their meat but for themselves,
eat the '' bread of sin, All things which have life are generated from the bread
which they eat. Bread is generated from rain ; rain from divine worship, and
divine worship from good works. Know that good works come from Brahman, whose
nature is incorruptible; wherefore the omnipresent Brahman is present in the
worship.
The sinful mortal, who delighteth in the gratification of his passions, and
followeth not the wheel, thus revolving in the world, liveth but in vain.
But the man who may be self-delighted and self-satisfied, and who may be happy
in his own soul, hath no occasion17 He hath no interest either in that which
is done, or that which is not done; and there is not, in all things which have
been created, any object on which he may place dependence. Wherefore, perform
thou that which thou hast to do, at all times, unmindful of the event ; for the
man who doeth that which he hath to do, without affection, obtaineth the Supreme
Janaka. and others have attained perfection
18 even by Works. Thou should also
observe what is the practice of mankind, and act accordingly. The man of low
degree
[ 47 ]
followeth example of him who is above him, and doeth that which he doeth. I
myself, Arjuna, have not, in. · the three regions of the universe, anything
which is necessary for me to perform, nor anything to obtain which is not
obtained; and yet I live in the exercise of the moral duties. If I were not
vigilantly to attend to these duties,all men would presently follow my example.
If I were not to perform the moral actions, this world would fail in their duty;
I should be the cause of spurious births, and should drive the people from the
right way. As the ignorant perform the duties of life from the hope of reward,
so the wise man, out of respect to the opinions and prejudices of mankind,
should perform the same without motives of interest. He should not create a
division in the understandings of the ignorant, who are inclined to outward
works. The learned man,, by industriously performing all the duties of life,
should induce the vulgar to attend to them.The man whose mind is led astray by
the pride of self-sufficiency, thinketh that he himself is the executor
-of all tbose actions which are performed by the principles of his constitution.
But the man who is acquainted with the nature of the two distinctions cause. and
effect, having considered that principles will act according to their natures,
giveth himself no trouble. Men who are led astray by the principles of their
natures, are interested in the works of the faculties. The man who is acquainted
with the whole, should not drive those from their works who are slow of
comprehension, and less experienced than himself.
Throw every deed on me, and with a heart, over which the soul presideth, be
free from hope, be unpresuming, be free·fron1 trouble, and resolve to fight
Those who with a firm belief, and without reproach, shall constantly follow
this my doctrine, shall be saved even by works; and know that those who, holding
it in contempt, follow not this my counsel, are astrayed from all wisdom,
deprived of reason, and are lost.
But the wise man also seeketh for that which is homogeneous to his own nature.
All things aa according to their natures, what then will restraint effect? In
every purpose of the senses are fixed affection and dislike. A wise man should
not put· himself in their power, for both of them are his opponents. A man's own
religion, though contrary to, is better than the faith of another, let it be
ever so well followed. It is good
[ 49 ]
to die in one's own faith, for another’s faith beareth fear.
ARJUN ·
By what, O Krishna, is man propelled to commit offences? He seems as if,
contrary to his wishes, he was impelled by some secret force.
KRISHNA
Know that it is the enemy lust, or passion, offspring of the carnal principle,
insatiable and full of sin, by which this world is covered as the flame by the
smoke, as the mirror by dust, or as the fetus by its membrane. The understanding
of the wise man is obscured by inveterate foe, in the shape of desire19, who rageth like fire, and is hard to be appeased. It is said that the senses, the
heart, and the understanding are the places where he delighteth most to rule. By
the assistance of these he overwhelmeth reason, and stupifieth the soul. Thou
shouldst, therefore, first subdue thy passions, and get the better of this
sinful destroyer of wisdom and knowledge.
The organs are esteemed great, but the mind is greater than they. The
resolution20 is greater than the mind, and who is superior to the resolution is
he21. When thou
[ 5O ]
hast resolved what is superior to the resolution, and fixed thyself by thyself,
determine to abandon the enemy in the shape of desire, whose objects are hard to
be accomplished.
BhagavadgitaWilkins04
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 4.
OF THE FORSAKING OF WORK.
(The Way of Knowledge)
[51]
L E C T U R E IV.
OF THE FORSAKING OF WORKS.
KRISHNA
THIS never-failing discipline I formerly taught unto Vivasvān, and Vivasvān
communicated it to Manu, and Manu made it known to Ikṣvāku; being delivered down
from one unto another, it was studied by the RajaRṛṣis; until at length, in the
course of time, the mighty art was lost: It is even the same discipline which I
have this day communicated unto thee, because thou art my servant and my friend.
It is an ancient and a supreme mystery.
ARJUN.
Seeing thy birth is posterior to the life of
Ikṣvāku,
how am I to understand that thou hadst been formerly the teacher of this
doctrine?
KRISHNA
Both I and thou have passed many births. Mine are known unto me; but thou
knowest not of thine. Although I am not in my nature subject to birth or decay,
and am the lord of all created beings; yet, having
[ 52 ]
command over my own nature, I am made evident by my own power; and as often as
there is a decline of virtue, and an insurrection of vice and injustice, in the
world, I make myself evident ; and thus I appear, from age to age, for the
preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment
of virtue.
He, O Arjuna, who, from conviction, acknowledgeth my divine birth and actions to
be even so, doth not, upon his quitting his mortal frame, enter into another,
for he entereth into me. Many who were free from affection, fear, and anger,
and, filled with my spirit, depended upon me, having been purified by the power
of wisdom, have entered into me.· I assist those men who in all things walk in
my path, even as they serve me.
Those who wish for success to their works in this life, worship the Devatās22.
That which is achieved in this life, from works, speedily cometh to pass.
Mankind was created by me of four kinds, distinct in their principles, and in
their duties. Know me then to be the creator of mankind, uncreated, and without
decay. Works affect not me, nor have I any expectations from the fruits of
works. He who believeth me to be even so is not bound by works. The ancients,
who longed for
[ 53 ]
eternal salvation, having discovered this, still performed works. Wherefore
perform thou works, even as they were performed by the ancients in former times.
The learned even are puzzled to determine what is work, and what is not. I will
tell thee what that work is, by knowing which thou wilt be delivered from
misfortune.. It may be defined--action, improper action, and inaction. The path
of action is full of darkness.
He who may behold, as it were, inaction in action, and action in inaction, is
wise amongst mankind. He is a perfect performer of all duty.
Wise men call him a Pundit, whose every undertaking is free from the idea of
desire, and whole actions are consumed by the fire of wisdom. He abandoneth the
desire of a reward of his actions; he is always contented and independent; and
although he may be engaged in a work, he, as it were, doeth nothing. He is
unsolicitous, of a subdued mind and spirit, and exempt from every perception;
and as he doeth only the offices of the body, he committeth no offence. He is
pleased with whatever he may by chance obtain; he hath gotten the better of
duplicity, and he is free from envy. He' is the same in prosperity and
adversity;· and although he acteth, he is not confined in the action. The work
of him, who hath
[ 54 ]
lost all anxiety for the event who is freed from the bonds of action, and
standeth with his mind subdued by spiritual wisdom, and who performeth it for
the sake of worship, cometh altogether unto nothing. God is the gift of charity
; God is the offering; God is in the fire of the altar ; by God is the sacrifice
performed; and God is to be obtained by him who maketh God alone the object of
his works.
Some of the devout attend to the worship of the Devatās, or angels ; others,
with offerings, direct their worship unto God in the fire; others sacrifice
their ears, and other organs, in the fire of constraint; whilst some sacrifice
found, and the like, in the fire of their organs. Some again sacrifice the
actions of all their organs and faculties in the fire of self-constraint,
lighted up by the spark of inspired wisdom. There are also the worshippers with
offerings, and the worshippers with mortifications; and again the worshippers
with enthusiastic devotion; so there are those, the wisdom of whose reading is
their worship, men of subdued passions and severe manners. Some there are who
sacrifice their breathing spirit, and force it downwards from its natural
course; others force the spirit which is below back with the breath; and while a
few, with whom these two faculties are held in great
[ 55 ]
esteem, close up the door of each ; and there are some, who eat but by rule, who
sacrifice their lives in their lives. All their different kinds of Worshippers
are, by their particular modes of worship, purified from their offences. He who
enjoyeth but the Amrta which is left of his offerings, obtaineth the eternal
spirit -Of Brahman the supreme. This world is not for him who doth not worship;
and where, O Arjuna, is there another?23
A great variety of modes of worship like these are displayed in the mouth of
God. Learn that they are all the offsprings of action. Being convinced of this,
thou shalt obtain an eternal release; for know that the worship of spiritual
wisdom is far better than the worship with offerings of thin In wisdom is to be
found every work without exception. Seek then this wisdom with prostrations·,
with questions, and with attention, that those learned men who see its
principles may instruct: thee in its rules; which having learnt, thou shalt not
again, O Son of Pāndū, fall into folly; by which thou shalt behold all nature in
the spirit; that is, in me24. Although thou wert the greatest of all offenders,
thou shalt be able to cross the gulf of sin with the bark (boat) of wisdom. As
the natural fire, O Arjuna, reduceth the wood to ashes, so may the fire of
wisdom reduce all moral actions to ashes.
[56]
There is not anything in this world to be compared with wisdom for purity. He
who is perfected by practice, in due time findeth it in his own soul. He who
hath faith findeth wisdom; and, above all, he who hath gotten the better of his
passions; and having obtained this spiritual wisdom, he shortly enjoyeth
superior happiness; whilst the ignorant, and the man without faith, whose spirit
is full of doubt, is loft. Neither this world, nor that which is above, nor
happiness, can be enjoyed by the man of a doubting mind.. The human actions have
no power to confine25 the spiritual mind, which; by study; hath forsaken works,
and which, by wisdom, hath cut asunder the bonds of doubt. Wherefore, O Son of Bharat, resolve to cut asunder this doubt, offspring of ignorance, which hath
taken possession of thy mind, with the edge of the wisdom of thy own soul, and
arise and attach thyself to the discipline.
BhagavadgitaWilkins05
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 5.
OF THE FORSAKING OF WORK.
(True Renunciation)
LECTURE V.
OF FORSAKING THE FRUITS OF WORKS.
[ 57 ]
ARJUNA
THOU now speakest, O Krishna, of the forsaking of works, and now again of
performing them. Tell me positively which of the two is best (sic).
KRISHNA
Both the desertion and the practice of works are equally the means of extreme
happiness; but of the two the practice of works is to be distinguished above the
desertion. The perpetual recluse, who neither longeth nor complaineth, is worthy
to be known. Such a one is free from duplicity, and is happily freed from the
bond of action. Children only, and not the learned, speak of the speculative and
the practical doctrines as two. They are but one, for both obtain the self-fame
end, and the place which is gained by the followers of the one, is gained by
the. followers of the other. That man seeth, who seeth that the speculative
doctrines and the practical are but one. To be a Saṁnyāsi, or recluse, without
application, is to obtain pain and trouble; whilst the Muni,
[ 58 ]
who is employed in the practice of his duty, presently obtaineth Braḥman, the
Almighty, The man who, employed in the practice of works, is of a purified soul,
a subdued spirit and restrained passions, and whose soul is the universal soul,.
is not affected by so being. The attentive man, who is acquainted with the
principles of things, in feeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving,
sleeping, breathing, talking quitting, taking, opening, and closing his eyes,
thinketh that he doeth nothing; but that the faculties are only employed in
their several objects. The man who, performing the duties of life, and quitting
all interest in them, placeth them upon Braḥman, the Supreme is not tainted by
sin; but remaineth like the leaf of the lotus unaffected by the waters.
Practical men, who perform the offices of life but with their bodies, their
minds, their understandings, and their senses, and forsake the consequence for
the purification of their souls; and, although employed, forsake the fruit of
action, obtain infinite happiness; whilst the man who is unemployed, being
attached to, the fruit by the agent desire is in the bonds of confinement. The
man who, hath his passions in subjection, and with his mind forsaketh all works,
his soul fitteth at rest in the nine-gate city of its abode26, neither acting nor
causing to act.
[ 59 ]
The Almighty createth neither the powers nor the deeds of mankind27, nor the
application of the fruits of action : nature prevaileth.
The Almighty receiveth
neither the vices nor the virtues of any one.
Mankind are led astray by
their reasons being obscured by ignorance; but when that ignorance of their
souls is destroyed by the force of reason, their wisdom shineth forth again with
the glory of the sun, and causcth the Deity to appear. Those whose
understandings are in him, whose souls are in him, whose confidence is in him,
and whose asylum is in him, are by wisdom purified from all their offences, and
go from whence they shall never return.
The learned behold him alike in the
reverend Braḥman
perfected in knowledge, in the ox, in the elephant, in the dog, and in him who eateth
of the flesh of dogs. (See below bg05.h1.jpg)
Those whose minds are fixed on the equality, gain eternity even in this world.
They put their trust in Braḥm,, the eternal, because he is every where alike,
free from fault.
The man who knoweth Braḥm and confideth in Braḥm, and whose mind is steady and
free from folly, should neither. rejoice in prosperity, nor complain in
adversity. He whose soul is unaffected by the impressions
[ 6O ]
made upon the outward feelings, obtaineth what is pleasure in his own mind. Such
an one, whose soul is thus fixed upon the study of Brahm, enjoyeth pleasure
without decline. The enjoyments which proceed from the feelings are as the wombs
of future pain. The wise man, who is acquainted with the beginning and the end
of things, delighteth not in these. He who can bear up against the violence
which is produced from lust and anger in this mortal life, is properly employed
and a happy man. The man who is happy in his heart, at rest in his mind, and
enlightened within, is a Yogi, or, one devoted to God, and of a godly spirit;
and obtaineth the immaterial na
ture of Brahm, the Supreme. Such Ṛṣis as are purified from their offences, freed
from doubt, of subdued minds, and interefted in the good of all mankind; obtain
the incorporeal Brahm. The incorporeal Brahm is pre pared, from the beginning,
for such as are free from lust and anger, of humble minds and subdued spirits,
and who are acquainted with their own souls.
The man who keepeth the outward accidents from entering his mind, and his eyes
fixed in contemplation between his brows; who maketh· the breath to pass through
both his nostrils alike in expiration and inspiration;
[ 61 ]
who is of subdued faculties, mind, and understanding, and hath set his heart
upon salvation; and who is free from lust, fear, and anger, is forever blessed
in this life; and, being convinced that I am the cherisher of religious zeal,
the lord of all worlds, and the friend of all nature, he shall obtain me and be
blessed.
BhagavadgitaWilkins06
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 6.
OF THE EXERCISE OF SOUL.
(The True Yoga)
(Renunciation and Action are One)
LE C T U R E VI.
OF THE EXERCISE OF SOUL.
KRISHNA.
HE is both a Yogi and a Saṁnyāsi who performeth that which he hath to do
independent of the fruit thereof; not he who liveth without the sacrificial fire
and without action. Learn, O Son of Pāndū, that what they call saṁnyās, or a
forsaking of the world, is the fame with Yoga or the practice of devotion. He
cannot be a Yogi, who, in his actions, hath not abandoned all intentions. Works
are said to be the means by which a man who wisheth, may attain devotion; so
rest is called the means for him who hath attained devotion. When the
allcontemplative Saṁnyāsi is not engaged in the objects of the senses, nor in
works, then he is called one who hath attained devotion. He should raise himself
by himself: he should not suffer his soul to be depressed. Self is the friend of
self; and, in like manner, self is its own enemy. Self is the friend of him by
whom the spirit is subdued with the spirit; so self, like a foe, delighteth in
the enmity
[ 63 ]
of him who hath no soul. The soul of the placid conquered spirit is the fame
collected in heat and cold, in and pleasure, in honor disgrace. The man whose
mind is replete with divine wisdom and learning, who standeth upon the pinnacle,
and hath subdued his passions, is said to be devout. To the Yogi, gold, iron,
and stones, are the same. The man is distinguished whose resolu
tions, whether amongst his companions and friends; in the midst of enemies, or
those who stand aloof or go between ; with those who love and those who hate; in
the company of saints or sinners, is the fame.
TheYogi constantly exerciseth the spirit in private. He is recluse, of a subdued
mind and spirit; free from hope, and free from perception. He planteth his own
feet on a spot that is undefiled, neither too high nor too low, and fitteth upon
the sacred grass which is called Kusa, (grass: Desmostachya bipinnata) covered
with a skiin and a cloth. There he, whose business is: the restraining of his
passions, should fit, with his mind fixed on one object alone, in the exercise
of his devotion, for the purification of his soul, keeping his head, his neck,
and body, steady without motion, his eyes fixed on the point of his nose,
looking at no other place around.
The peaceful soul, released from fear, who would keep in • the path of one who followeth God, should restrain the mind, and, fixing it on me, depend on me
alone. The Yogi of an humbled mind, who thus constantly exerciseth his soul,
obtaineth happiness incorporeal and supreme in me.
This divine discipline, Arjuna, is not to be attained by him who eateth more
than enough, or less than enough; neither by him who hath a habit of sleeping
much, nor by him who sleepeth not at all. The discipline which destroyeth pain
belongeth to him who is moderate in eating and in recreation, whose inclinations
are moderate in action, and ,who is moderate in sleep. A man is-called devout
when his mind remaineth thus regulated within himself, and he is exempt from
every lust and inordinate desire. The Yogi of a subdued mind, thus employed in
the exercise of his devotion, is compared to a lamp, standing in a place without
wind, which waveth not. He delighteth in his own soul, where, the mind,
regulated by the service of devotion, is pleased to dwell, and where by the
assistance of the spirit, he beholdeth the soul. He becometh acquainted with
that boundless pleasure which is far more worthy of the understanding than that
which ariseth from the senses; depending upon which, the mind moveth not from
its principles; which having obtained, he respecteth no other acquisition so
great as it; in which depending,
[ 65 ]
he is not moved by the severest pain. This disunion from the conjunction of pain
may be distinguished by the appellation Yogi, spiritual union or devotion. It is
to be attained by resolution, by the man who knoweth his own mind. When he hath
abandoned every desire that ariseth from the imagination, and_ subdued with his
mind every inclination of the senses, he may, by degrees, find reand having, by
a steady resolution, fixed his mind within himself, he should think of nothing
else. Wheresoever the unsteady mind roameth, he should subdue it, bring it back,
and place it in his own breast. Supreme happiness attendeth the man whose mind
is thus at peace; whose carnal affections and passions are thus subdued; who is
thus in God, and free from sin. The man who is thus constantly in the exercise
of the soul, and free from sin, enjoyeth eternal happiness, united with Braḥman
the Supreme. The man whose mind is endued with this devotion, and looketh on all
things alike, beholdeth the supreme soul in all things, and all things in the
supreme soul. He who beholdeth me in all things, and beholdeth al things in me,
I forsake not him, and he forfaketh not me. The Yogi who believeth in unity, and
worshippeth me present in all things, dwelleth in me in all respects, even
whilst he liveth. The man, O Arjuna, who, from what
[ 66 .]
passeth in his own breast, whether it be pain or pleasure, beholdeth the same in
others, is esteemed a supreme Yogi.
ARJUNA
From the restlessness of our natures, I conceive not the permanent duration of
·this doctrine of equality which thou hast told me. The mind, O Krishna, is
naturally unsteady, turbulent, strong, and stubborn. I esteem it as difficult to
restrain as the wind.
KRISHNA
The mind, O valiant youth, is undoubtedly unsteady, and difficult to be
confined; yet, I think it may be restrained. by practice and temperance. In my
opinion, this - divine discipline which is called Yoga is hard to be attained,
by him who hath not his soul in subjection; but it may be acquired by him who
taketh pains, and hath his soul in his own power.
ARJUNA
Whither, O Krishna, doth the man go after death, who, although he be endued with
faith, hath not obtained perfection in his devotion, because his unsubdued mind
wandered from the discipline? Doth not the fool who is found not standing in the
path of Braḥman, and is thus, as it were, fallen between good and evil, like a
broken cloud,
[67]
come to nothing ? Thou, Krishna, canst entirely clear up these my doubts; and
there is no other person to be found able to remove these difficulties.
KRISNA.
His destruction is found neither here nor in the world above. No man who hath
done good goeth unto an evil place. A man whose devotions have been broken off
by death, having enjoyed for an immensity of years the rewards of his virtues in
the regions above, at length is born again in some holy and respectable family;
or perhaps in the house of some learned Yogi. But such a regeneration into this
life is the most difficult to attain. Being thus born again, he is endued with
the same degree of application and advancement of his understanding that he held
in his former body; and here he begins again to labour for perfection in
devotion. The man28 sa who is desirous of learning this devotion, this spiritual
application of the soul, exceedeth even the word of Braḥman. The Yogi who,
laboring with all his might, is purified of his offences, and, after many
births, made perfect, at length goeth to the supreme abode. The Yogi is more
exalted than Tapasvis, those zealots who harrass themselves in performing
penances, respected above the learned in science, and superior to those who are
attached to moral
[ 68 ]
works; wherefore, O Arjuna, resolve thou to become a Yogi. Of all Yogis, l
respect him as the most devout, who hath faith in me, and who ferveth me with a
soul possessed of my spirit.
BhagavadgitaWilkins07
OF THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURE, AND THE VITAL SPIRIT.
(God and the World; God is Nature and Spirit.)
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
(Sanskrit)
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 07.
L E. C T U R E VII.
OF THE PRINCI LES OF NATURE, AND THE VITAL SPIRIT.
KRISHNA
HEAR, O Arjuna, how having thy mind attached to me, being in the exercise of
devotion, and making me alone thy asylum, thou wilt, at once, and without doubt,
become acquainted with me. I will instruct thee in this wisdom and learning
without reserve ; which having learnt, there is not in this life any other that
is taught worthy to be known.
A few amongst ten thousand mortals strive for perfection; and but a few of those
who strive and become perfect, know me according to my nature. My principle is
divided into eight distinctions: earth, water, fire, air, and ether (Khaṁ);
together with mind, understanding, and Ahaṁkāra, (self-consciousness) but
besides this, know that I have another principle distinct from this, and
superior, which is of a vital nature29 and by which this world is supported. Learn
that these two are the womb of all nature.
[7O]
I am the creation and the dissolution of the whole universe. There is not any
thing greater than I; and all things hang on me, even as precious gems upon a
string. I am moisture in the water, light in the sun and moon, invocation in the
Vedas, found in the firmament, human nature in mankind, sweet-smelling flavor in
the earth, glory in the source of light; in all things I am life, and I am zeal
in the zealous; and know, O Arjuna, that I am the eternal feed of all nature. l
am the understanding of the wise, the glory of the proud, the strength of the
strong, free from lust and anger; and in animals I am desire regulated by moral
fitness. But know that I am not in those natures which are of the three
qualities called Satva, Raja, and Tamas30, although they proceed from me. yet,
they are in me. The whole of this world being bewildered by the influence of
these three-fold qualities, knoweth not that I am distinct from these and
without decline. This my divine and supernatural power endued with these
principles and properties, is hard to be overcome. They who come unto me get the
better of this supernatural influence. The wicked, the foolish, and the
low-minded come not unto me, because their understandings, being bewildered by
the supernatural power, they trust in the principles of evil spirits.
[71 ]
I am, O Arjuna, served by four kinds of people who are good the distressed, the
inquisitive, the wishers after wealth31, and the wise. But of all these the wise
man, who is constantly engaged in my service, and is a servant but of one, is
the most distinguished. I am extremely dear to the wise man, and he is dear unto
me. All these are exalted; but I esteem the wise man even as myself, because his
devout spirit dependeth upon me alone as his ultimate resource. The wise man
proceedeth not unto me until after many births; for the exalted mind, who
believeth that the Son of Vāsudēvā is all, is hard to be found. Those whose
understandings are drawn away by this and that pursuit, go unto other Dēvatās.
They depend upon this and that rule of conduct, and are governed by their own
principles32. Whatever image any supplicant is desirous of worshipping in faith,
it is I alone who inspire him with that steady faith; with which being endued,
he endeavoureth to render that image propitious, and at length he obtaineth the
object of his withes as it is appointed by me. But the reward of such
short-sighted men is finite. Those who worship the Dēvatās go unto them, and
those who worship me alone go unto me. The ignorant, being unacquainted with my
supreme nature, which is superior to all things, and exempt from decay,
[ 72 ]
believe me, who am invisible, to exist in the visible form under which they see
me. I am not visible to all, because I am concealed by the supernatural power
that is in me. The ignorant world do not discover this, that I am not subject to
birth or decay. I know, O Arjuna, all the beings that have passed, all that are
present, and all that shall hereafter be; but there is not one amongst them who
knoweth me. All beings in birth find their reason fascinated and perplexed by
the wiles of contrary sensations, arising from love and hatred.. Those men of
regular lives, whose sins are done away, being freed from the fascination
arising from those contending passions, enjoy me. They who put their trust in me
and labor for a deliverance from decay and death, know Brahman, the whole
Adhyātma, and every Karma. The devout souls who know me to be the Adhi-būta, the
Adhi-daiva, and the Adhi-yagna, know me also in the time of their departure.
BhagavadgitaWilkins08
OF PURUṢA
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 08.
[ 73 ]
LECTURE VIII.
OF PURUṢA
ARJUNA
what is that Brahman? What is Adhyātmam33?, What is Karma?, O first of men ? What
also is Adhibhūtam called? What is Adhidaivam? How is Adhiyajñam, and who is
here in this body? How art thou to be known in the hour of departure by men of
subdued minds?
Krishna
Brahman is that which is supreme and without corruption ; Adhyātmam is Svabhāva
or particular constitution, disposition, quality, or nature; Karma is that
emanation from which proceedeth the generation of natural beings; Adhibhūta is
the destroying nature; Adhidaiva is Puruṣa; and Adhiyajñam, or superintendent
of worship, is myself in this body. At the end of time, he, who having abandoned
his mortal frame, departeth thinking only of me, without doubt goeth unto me; or
else, whatever other nature he shall call upon, at
[ 74 ]
the end of life, when he shall quit his mortal shape, he shall ever go unto it.
Wherefore at all times think of me alone and fight. Let thy mind and
understanding be placed in me alone, and thou shalt, without doubt, go unto me.
The man who longeth after the Divine and Supreme Being, with his mind intent
upon the practice of devotion, goeth unto him. The man who shall the last hour
call up the ancient Prophet, the prime director, the most minute atom, the
preserver of all things, whose countenance is like the sun, and who is distinct
from darkness, with a steady mind attached to his service, with the force of
devotion, and his whole soul fixed between his brows, goeth unto that divine
Supreme Being, who is called Paramaṁ Puruṣaṁ.
I will now summarily make thee acquainted with that path which the doctors of
the Vēdās call never-failing; which the men of subdued minds and conquered
passions enter; and which, desirous of knowing, they live the lives of
Brahmacharyas or godly pilgrims. He who, having closed up all the doors of his
faculties, locked up his mind in his own breast, and fixed his spirit in his
head, standing firm in the exercise of devotion, repeating in silence Om34 the
mystic sign of Brahman, thence called "Ekākṣar" shall, on his quitting this
mortal >
Note: The life of a Brāhmaṇa (These are four:ब्रह्मचर्य the life of a student;
गार्हस्थ्य the life of a house-holder; वानप्रस्थ the life of an anchorite or
hermit, and न्यास the life of a Bhikṣu or beggar. Kṣatriyas (and Vśiyas also)
can enter, upon the first three Āśramas. Krishnaraj notes.) एकाक्षरं Ekākṣar =
Monosyllable. Sanskrit Dictionary.
[ 75 ]
>frame calling upon me, without doubt go the
journey of supreme happiness. He who thinketh constantly of me, his mind
undiverted by another object, I will at all times be easily found by that
constant adherent to devotion ; and those elevated souls, who have thus attained
supreme perfection, come unto me, and are no more born in the finite mansion of
pain and sorrow. Know, O Arjuna, that all the regions between this and the abode
of Brahman afford but a transient residence ; but he who findeth me, returneth
not again to mortal birth.
They who are acquainted with day and night, know that the day of Brahman is as
a
thousand revolutions of the Yugās35
, and that his night extendeth for a thousand
more. On the coming of that day, all things proceed from invisibility to
visibility; so, on the approach of night, they are all dissolved away in that
which is called invisible. The universe, even, having existed, is again
dissolved; and now again, on the approach of day, by divine necessity, it is
reproduced. That which, upon the dissolution of all things else, is not
destroyed, is superior and of another nature from that visibility: it is
invisible and eternal. He who is thus called invisible and incorruptible, is
even he who is called the Supreme Abode; which men having once obtained, they
never more return to earth: that is my mansion. That Supreme Being is to be
obtained by him who worshippeth no other Gods. In him is included all nature; by
him all things are spread abroad.
[76]
I will now speak to thee of that time in which should a devout man die, he will
never return; and of that time, in which dying, he shall return again upon the
earth. Those holy men who are acquainted with Brahman, departing this life in
the fiery light of day, in the bright season of the moon, within the six months
of the sun's northern course, go unto him ; but those who depart in the gloomy
night of the moon's dark season, and whilst the sun is yet within the southern
path of his journey, ascend for a while into the regions of the moon, and again
return to mortal birth. These two, light and darkness, are esteemed the world's
eternal ways: he who walketh in the former path returneth not ; whilst he who
walketh in the latter cometh back again upon the earth. A Yogi, who is
acquainted with these two paths of action, will never be perplexed; wherefore, O
Arjuna, be thou at all times employed in devotion. The fruit of this surpasseth
[77]
all the rewards of virtue pointed out in the Vedas, in worshipping, in
mortifications, and even in the gifts of charity. The devout Yogi, who knoweth
all this, shall obtain a supreme and prior place.
BhagavadgitaWilkins09
'OF THE CHIEF OF SECRETS AND PRINCE OF SCIENCE'
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 09.
The Lord is more than His creation.
LECTURE lX
OF THE CHIEF OF SECRETS AND PRINCE OF SCIENCE.
[78]
KRISHNA.
I will now make known unto thee, who findest no fault, a most mysterious secret,
accompanied by pro found learning, which having studied thou shalt be de
livered from misfortune. It is a sovereign art, a sovereign mystery, sublime and
immaculate; clear unto the fight, virtuous, inexhaustible, and early to be
performed. Those who are infidels to this faith, not finding me, return again
into this world, the mansion of death.
This whole world was spread abroad by me in my invisible form. All things are
dependent on me,36 and I am not dependent on them; and all things are not
dependent on me 36.Behold my
divine connection! My creative spirit is the keeper of all things, not the
dependent. Understand that all things rest in me, as the mighty air, which
passeth every where, resteth for ever in the etherial space. At the end of the
period Kalp37 all things,
[ 79 ]
O son of Kunti, return into my primordial source, and at the beginning of
another Kalpa 1 create them all again. I plant myself on my own nature, and
create, again and again, this assemblage of beings, the whole, from the power of
nature, without power38. Those
works confine not me, because I am like one who fitteth aloof uninterested in
those works. By my supervision nature produceth both the moveable and the
immoveable. It is from this sources 39
, O Arjun, that the universe resolveth.
The foolish, being unacquainted with my supreme and divine nature, as lord of
all things, despite me in this human form, trusting to the evil, diabolic, and
deceitful principle within them. They are of vain hope, of vain endeavours, of
vain wisdom, and void of reason; whilst men of great minds, trusting to their
divine natures, discover that I am before all things and incorruptible, and
serve me with their hearts undiverted by other Gods40.
Men of rigid and laborious lives come before me humbly bowing down, forever
glorifying my name; and they are constantly employed in my service; but others
serve me, worshipping me, whose face is turned On all sides, with the worship of
wisdom, unitedly, separately,
[ 80 ]
in various shapes. I am the sacrifice; I am the worship; I am the sacrifice; I
am the invocation; I am the ceremony to the manes of the ancestors; I am the
provisions; I am the fire, and I am the victim: I am the father and the mother
of this world, the grandsire, and the preserver. I am the holy one worthy to be
known; the mystic figure Om; the Ṛk, the Sāma, and Yajurr Vedas
41 I am the journey of the good; the
comforter; the creator; the witness; the nesting-place; the asylum, and the
friend. I am generation and dissolution; the place where all things are
reported, and the inexhaustible seed of all nature. I am sunshine, and I am rain
; I now draw in, and now let forth. I am death and immortality: I am entity and
non-entity.
The followers of the three Vedas, who drink of the juice of the Soma42
being purified of their offences, address me in sacrifices, and petition for
heaven. These obtain the regions of Indra 43
the prince of celestial beings, in which heaven they feast upon celestial food
and divine enjoyments; and when they have partaken of that spacious heaven for a
while, in proportion to their virtues, they sink again into this mortal life, as
soon as their stock of virtue is expended. In this manner those, who, longing
for the accomplishment of their wishes, follow the religion
[ 81 ]
pointed out by the three Vedas, obtain a transient reward. But those who,
thinking of no other, serveth me alone, I bear the burden of the devotion of
those who are thus constantly engaged in my service. They also who serve other
Gods with a firm. belief, in doing so, involuntarily worship even me. I am he
who partaketh of all worship, and I am their reward. Because mankind
unacquainted with my nature, they fall again from heaven. Those who wordship the
Devatas go unto the Devatas; the worshippers of the Pitṛus, or patriarchs, go
unto the Pitṛus; the servants of the Bhūtas or spirits, go unto the Bhūtas; and
they who worship me go unto me.
I accept and enjoy the holy offerings of the humble soul, who in his worship
presenteth leaves and flowers, and fruit and water unto me. Whatever thou doest,
O Arjun; whatever thou eatest:, whatever thou sacrificeth, whatever thou giveth:,
whatever thou shalt be zealous about, make each an offering unto me. Thou shalt
thus be delivered with good and evil fruits, and with the bonds of works. Thy
mind being joined in the practice of a Saṁnyāsi44, thou shalt come unto me. I am
the fame to all mankind: there is not one who is worthy of my love or hatred.
They who serve me with adoration.
[ 82 ]
I am in them, and they in me. If one, whose ways are ever so evil, serve me
alone, he is as respectable as the just man; he is altogether well employed; he
soon becometh of a virtuous spirit, and obtaineth eternal happiness. Recollect,
O son of Kunti, that my servant doth not perish. Those even who may be of the
womb of sin; women45, the tribes of Vaiṣya and Śūdra; shall go the supreme
journey, if they take sanctuary with me; how much more my holy servants the
Brahmans and the Rajarṣayas46. Consider this world as a finite and joyless
place, and serve me. Be of my mind, my servant, my adorer, and bow down before
me. Unite thy soul, as it were, unto me, make me thy asylum, and thou shalt go
unto me.
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. I0.
OF THE DIVERSITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE.
(God is the Source of All; to know Him is to Know All.)
[ 83 ]
LECTURE X.
OF THE DIVERSITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE.
KRISHNA.
Hear again, O valiant. youth, my supreme words, which I will speak unto thee,
who art well pleased, because I am anxious for thy welfare.
Neither the hosts of Suras47 nor the
Mahaṛṣis48, know of my birth, because I am
before all the Devatas and Mahaṛṣis. Whoso, free from folly, knoweth me to be
without birth, before all things and the mighty ruler of the universe, he shall,
amongst mortals, be saved with all his transgressions. The various qualities
incident to natural beings, such as reason, knowledge unembarrassed judgment,
patience, truth, humility, meekness, pleasure and pain ; birth and death, fear
and courage ; mercy, equality, gladness, charity, zeal, renown and infamy, all
distinctly come from me. So in former days . the seven Mahaṛṣis and the four
Manus49 who are of my nature, were born of my mind of whom are
[84]
descended all the inhabitants of the earth. He who knoweth this my distinction
and my connexion, according to their principles, is without doubt endued with an
unerring devotion. I am the creator of all things, and all things proceed from
me. Those who are endued with spiritual wisdom, believe this and worship me:
their very hearts and minds are in me; they rejoice amongst themselves, and
delight in speaking of my name, and teaching one another my doctrine. I gladly
inspire those, who are constantly employed in my service, with that use of
reason, by which they come unto me; and, in compassion, I stand in my own
nature, and dissipate the darkness of their, ignorance with the light of the
lamp of wisdom.
ARJUN
All the Rajaṛṣis50 and
Devaṛṣis51, and the prophet
Nārada52, call thee the
supreme Brahman; the supreme abode; the most holy; the highest God; the eternal Puruṣa, the divine being before all other Gods, without birth, the mighty Lord!
Thus say Asita, Devata, Vyāsa, and thou thyself hast told me so; and I firmly
believe, O Kesava, all thou tellest me. Neither the Devās nor the Danavās53 are
acquainted, O Lord, with thy appearance. Thou alone, O first of men54! knowest
thy own spirit; thou, who art the production of all nature, the ruler of
[85]
all things, the God of Gods, and the universal Lord. Thou art now able to make
me acquainted with those divine portions of thyself, by which thou possessest
and dwellest in this world. How shall I, although I constantly think of thee, be
able to know thee? In what particular natures art thou to be found? Tell me
again in full what is thy connection, and what thy distinction; for I am not yet
satisfied with drinking of the living water of thy words.
KRISHNA.
Blessings be upon thee I I will make thee acquainted with the chief of my divine
distinctions, as the extent of my nature is infinite.
I am the soul which standeth in the bodies of all beings. I am the beginning;
the middle, and the end of all things. Amongst the ādityas55, I am
Viṣṇu56, and
the radiant Ravi57 amongst the stars ; I am
Marici58 amongst the Maruts59, and
śaśī60 (Moon) amongst the
Nakṣatras61 (Stars), amongst the Vedas, I am the
Sāma62,
and I am vāsavaḥ63 amongst the Dévas, Amongst the faculties I am the mind, and
amongst animals I am reason. I am Śaṁkara64 amongst the
Rudrās65, and Vitteśa
(Kubera)66 amongst the Yakṣas and Rakṣasās. I am
Pāvaka (Fire)67 amongst the
Vasus68 and Meru69 amongst the aspiring mountains.
BG 10.23. udrāṇām1 = Of the Rudras; asmi4 = I am; śaṁkaraḥ2 = Siva; ca3 = and;
yakṣa-rakṣasām6 = of the Yaksas and Raksasas; vitteśaḥ5 = kubera, the Lord of
Treasury; vasūnām7 = of the Vasus; asmi10 = I am; pāvakaḥ8 = Fire; ca9 = and;
śikhariṇām12 = of the mountain peaks;aham13 = I [am]; meruḥ11 = Meru. 10.23
[86]
Amongst teachers know that I am their chief Bṛhaspati70 ; amongst warriors I am
Skanda71; and amongst floods I am the ocean. I am
Bhṛgu72 amongst the Maharisahis,
and I am the amongst words. I am amongst worships the Tip 74 or
silent worship, and amongst immovables the mountain Himālaya. Of all the trees
of the forest I am the monosyllable73
amongst words. I am amongst worship Japa74
or silent worship, and amonst immovablews the mountain Himalaya75.
Of all the trees in the forest I am the Asvatta76,
and of all the Devarṣīs, I am Nārada. I am
Chitraratha amongst Gandharvas77 and the Kapila Muni amongst the saints. Know
that amongst horses I am Uccaiḥśrava, who arose with the Amrtam from out the
ocean78 Among elephants I am Airāvata, and the sovereign amongst men. Amongst
weapons I am the Vajra or thunderbolt, and amongst cattle the cow Kāmadhuk79. |
am the prolific Kandarpa the God of love ; and amongst serpents I am Vāsuki
their chief. I am Ananta amongst the Nāgās80, and
Varuṇa81 amongst the inhabitants
of the waters. I am Aryamā amongst the subduers, and I am Yama82 amongst all those
who rule. Amongst the Daityas (evil spirits) I am Prahalāda83 , and Kāla (time)
amongst computations. Arnongst beasts I am the king of beasts, and Vinateya- Garuda84
amongst the feathered tribe, Amongst purifiers I am Pavana the air, Rama amongst
those who carry arms. Amongst fish I am the Makara85 and
[87]
amongst rivers I am Ganga86 the daughter of Jahnu, Of things transient I am the
beginning, the middle, and the end. Of all science I am the knowledge of the
ruling spirit, and of all speaking I am the oration. Amongst letters I am the
vowel a, and of all compound words I am the Dwandva87 I am also never-failing time
; the preserver, whose face is turned on all sides. I am all-grasping death; and
I am the resurrection of those who are about to be. Amongst feminines I am fame,
fortune, eloquence, memory, understanding, fortitude, patience. Amongst
harmonious measures I am the Gāyatrī, and among Sāma Veda, I am the Brhatsama.
Amongst the months I am the month margasirasa88, and amongst seasons the season
Kusumākara (flower-bearer)89. Amongst frauds I am gaming; and of all things
glorious I am the glory. I am victory, I am industry, and I am the essence of
all qualities. Of the race of Vṛṣṇīs am the son of Vasudeva90, and amongst the Pāndūs Arjun-Dhananjaya. I am
Vyāsa91 amongst the Munis, and amongst the
Bards92 I
am the prophet Uśanā93. Amongst rulers I am the rod, and amongst those who seek
for conquest I am policy. Amongst the secrets I am silence, and amongst the wife
I am wisdom. I am, in like manner, O Arjuna that which is the seed of all things
in nature; and there is
[88]
is not anything, whether animate or inanimate, that is without me. My divine
distinctions are without end, and the many which I have mentioned are by way of
example. And learn, O Arjuna, that every being which is worthy of distinction
and preeminence, is the produce of the portion of my glory. But what, O Arjuna,
hast thou to do with this manifold wisdom ? I planted this whole universe with a
single portion and stood still.
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. I1.
Display of the Divine Nature in The Form of the Universe.
(The Lord's Transfiguration)
[ 89 ]
LECT URE XI.
DISPLAY OF THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE FORM OF THE UNIVERSE.
ARJUN.
THIS supreme mystery, distinguished by the name of the Adiātma or ruling spirit, which, out of loving kindness, thou hast made known unto me hath dissipated my ignorance and perplexity. I have heard from thee a full account of the creation and destruction of all things, and of the mightiness of thy inexhaustible spirit. It is even as thou half described thyself, O mighty Lord, I am now, most elevated of men, anxious to behold thy divine countenance; wherefore, if thou thinkest I may behold it, shew me thy never-failing spirit.
KRISHNA.
Behold, O Arjuna, my million forms divine, of various species, and diverse shapes and colours. Behold the Āditya
, and the Vasus., and the Rūdras, and the Maruts, and the-twins Asvin and Kumar94. Behold things wonderful, never seen before. Behold, in this my body,
[90 ]
the whole world animates and inanimate, and all things else thou hast a mind to see. But as thou art unable to see with· these thy natural eyes, I will give thee a heavenly eye, with which behold my divine connection.
SANJAY.
The mighty compound and divine being Hari, having, O Raja, thus spoken, made evident unto Arjun his supreme and heavenly form; of many a mouth and eye; many a wondrous fight; many a heavenly· ornament; many an up-raised weapon; adorned with celestial robes and, chaplets; anointed with heavenly _essence; _ covered with every marvelous thing; the eternal God, - whose countenance is turned · on every side. The glory and amazing splendor of this mighty being may be likened to the sun rising at once into the heavens, with a thousand times more than usual brightness. The son of Pāṇḍu then beheld within the body of the God of Gods standing together, the whole universe divided forth into its vast variety. He was overwhelmed with wonder, and every hair was raised on end. He bowed down his head before the God, and thus addressed him with joined hands.
Arjun
I behold, O God I within thy breast, the Devas assembled, and every specific tribe of beings. I see Brahma,
[ 91 ]
that Deity sitting on his lotus-throne; all this is and heavenly Oragass95 ( uragān = Snakes
I see thyself, on all sides, of infinite shape, formed with abundant arms, and bellies, mouths, and eyes; but I can neither discover thy beginning, thy middle, nor again thy end, O universal Lord, form of the universe I see thee with a crown, and armed with club and Chakra96, a mass of glory, darting refulgent beams around. I see thee, difficult to be seen shining on sides with light immeasurable, like the ardent fire or glorious sun.
Thou art the Supreme Being incorruptible and worthy to be known! Thou art prime supporter of the universal orb. I Thou art the never-failing and eternal guardian of religion. Thou art from all beginning, and. l esteem thee Puruṣa97. I see thee without beginning, without middle, and without end; of velour infinite; of arm innumerable; the sun and the moon thy eyes; thy mouth a flaming fire, and the whole world shining with thy reflected. Glory. The space between the heavens and the earth is possessed by thee alone, and. every point around: the three regions of the Universe O mighty spirit l behold the wonders of thy awful countenance with troubled minds. Of the celestial bands, some I see fly to thee for refuge; whilst some afraid, with joined hands sing fort h thy praise.
[ 92]
The Mahaṛṣis, holy bands, hail thee, and glorify thy name with adorating praises. The Rūdras, the Ādityas, the Vasus, and all those beings the world esteemeth good; Asvin and Kumar, the Maruts and the Uṣmapas; the Gandharvas and the Yakṣas, with the holy tribes of Suras, all stand gazing on thee, and alike amazed. The worlds, alike with me, are terrified to behold thy wondrous form gigantic; with many mouths and eyes; with many arms, and legs, and breasts; with many bellies, and with rows of dreadful teeth. Thus, as I see thee, touching the heavens, and shining with such glory; of such various hues, with widely-opened mouths, an. d bright expanded eyes, I am disturbed within me; my resolution faileth me, O Vishnu and I find no rest. Having beholden thy dreadful, teeth, and gazed on thy countenance, emblem of Time’s last fire, I know not which way I turn I find no peace! Have mercy then, O God of Gods! thou mansion of the universe! The sons of Dhṛitarāshṭra, now, with all those rulers of the land, Bhīṣma, Drona, the son of Suta, and even the fronts of our army, seem to be precipitating themselves hastily into thy mouths discovering such frightful rows of teeth! Whilst some appear to stick between thy teeth with their bodies sorely mangled. As the rapid streams of full-flowing
[ 93 ]
rivers roll on to meet the ocean's bed; even so these heroes of the ·human race rush on towards thy flaming mouths. As troops of insects with increasing speed seek their own destruction in the flaming fire; even so these people, with swelling fury, seek their own destruction. Thou involvest and swallowest them altogether, even unto the last, with thy flaming mouths; whilst the whole world is filled with thy glory, as thy awful beams, O Vishnu, shine forth on all sides! Reverence be unto thee, thou most exalted! Deign to make known unto me who is this God of awful figure! I am anxious to learn thy source, and ignorant of what thy presence here portendeth.
KRISHNA.
I am Time, the destroyer of mankind, matured, come hither to seize at once all these who stand before us. Except thyself98 not one of all these warriors, destined against us in these numerous ranks, shall live. Wherefore, arise! seek honor and renown! defeat the foe, and enjoy the full-grown kingdom! They are already, as it were, destroyed by me. Be thou alone the immediate agent99. Be not disturbed I Kill Drona, and Bishma, and Jayadratha, and Karna, and all the other heroes of the
[ 94 ]
war already killed by me. Fight! and thou shalt defeat thy rivals in the field.
S A N J A Y.
W h e n the trembling Arjun heard these words from. the mouth of Krishna, he saluted him with joined hands, and addressed him in broken accents, and bowed down terrified before him.
Arjun
Hṛṣīkeśa the universe rejoiceth because of thy renown, and is filled with zeal for thy service. The evil spirits are terrified and flee on all sides; whilst the holy tribes bow down in adoration before thee. And wherefore should they not, O mighty Being! bow down before thee, who, greater than Brahma, art the prime Creator! eternal God- of Gods! the world’s mansion! Thou art the incorruptible Being, distinct from all things transient! Thou art before all Gods, the ancient Puruṣa, and the supreme supporter of the universe! Thou knowest all things, and art worthy to be known; thou art the supreme mansion, and by thee, O infinite form! the universe was spread abroad. Thou art Vāyu the God of wind; Agni the God of fire, Varuṇa the God of oceans, Śaśānka the moon, Prajāpati the God of nations, and Prapitāmaha
[ 95 ]
the mighty ancestor. Reverence! Reverence be unto thee a thousand times repeated! Again, and again Reverence! Reverence be unto thee! Reverence be Un to thee before and behind! Reverence be unto thee on all sides, O thou who art overall! Infinite is thy power and thy glory! Thou includest all things, wherefore thou art all things! Having regarded thee as my friend, I forcibly called thee Krishna, Yadava, Friend! but, alas! I was ignorant of this thy greatness, because I was blinded by my affection and presumption. Thou hast, at times, also in sport been treated ill by me; in thy recreations, in thy bed, on thy chair, and at thy meals; in private and in public; for which, O Being inconceivable! I humbly crave thy forgiveness.
Thou art the father of all things animates and inanimate; thou art the sage instructor of the whole, worthy to be adored! There is non-e like unto thee; where then, in the three worlds, is there. one above thee? Wherefore I bow down; and, with my body prostrate upon the ground, crave thy mercy, Lord! worthy to be adored; for thou shouldst bear with me, even as a father with his son, a friend with his friend, a lover with his beloved. I am well pleased with having beheld things before never seen; yet my mind is overwhelmed with awful fear.
[96]
Have mercy, then, O heavenly Lord! O mansion of the universe! And shew n1e thy celestial form. I wish to behold thee with the diadem on thy head, and thy hands armed with the club and Chakra; assume then, O God of a thousand arms, image of the universe! thy four-armed form100.
KRISHNA.
Well pleased, O Arjuna, I have shewn thee, by my divine power, this my supreme form the universe in all its glory, infinite and eternal, which was never seen by anyone except thyself; for no one, O valiant Kuru! In the three worlds, except thyself, can such a fight of me obtain; nor by the Vedas, nor sacrifices, nor profound study; nor by charitable gifts, nor by deeds, nor by the most severe mortifications of the flesh. Having beholden my form, thus awful, be not disturbed, nor let thy faculties be cofounded. When thou art relieved from thy fears, and thy mind is restored to peace, then behold this my wondrous form again.
SANJAY.
The son of Vasudeva having thus spoken unto Arjuna, shewed him again his natural form; and having re-affirmed his milder shape, he presently assuaged the fears of the affrighted Arjuna.
[ 97 ]
Having beheld they placid human shape, I am again collected; my mind is no more disturbed, and I am once more returned to my natural state.
Krishna
Thou hast beholden this my marvelous shape, so very difficult to be seen, which even the Devas are constantly anxious to behold. But I am not to be seen, as thou hast seen me, even by the assistance of the Vedas, by mortifications, by sacrifices, by charitable gifts; but I am to be seen, to be known in truth, and to be obtained by means of that worship which is offered up to me alone; and he goeth unto me whose works are done for me; who esteemeth me supreme; who is my servant only; who hath abandoned all consequences, and who liveth amongst all men without hatred.
BhagavadgitaWilkins12
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 12.
OF SERVING THE DEITY IN HIS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE FORMS.
(Worship of the Personal Lord is better than Meditation
of the Absolute. Title by Dr. Radhakrishnan)
LECTURE XII.
OF SERVING THE DEITY IN HIS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE FORMS.
[98]
ARJUN
Of those thy servants who are always thus employed, which know their duty best? those who worship thee as thou now art; or those who serve thee in thy invisible and incorruptible nature?
KRISHNA
Those who having placed their minds in me, serve me with constant zeal, and are endued with steady faith, are esteemed the best devoted. They too who, delighting in the welfare of all nature, serve me in my incorruptible, ineffable, and invisible form; omnipresent, incomprehensible, standing on high fixed and immoveable, with subdued passions and understandings, the same in all things, shall also come unto me. Those whose minds are attached to my invisible nature have the greater labour to encounter; because an invisible path is difficult to be found by corporeal beings. They also who, preferring me, leave
[ 99 ]
All works for me, and, free from the worship of all others contemplate and serve me alone, I presently raise them up· from the ocean of this region of mortality, whose minds are thus attached to me. Place then thy heart on me, and penetrate me with thy understanding, and thou shalt, without doubt, hereafter enter unto me. But if thou shouldst be unable, at once, steadfastly to fix thy mind on me, endeavor to find me by means of constant practice. If after practice thou art still unable, follow me m my works supreme; for by performing works for me, thou shalt attain perfection. But shouldst thou find thyself unequal to this task, put thy trust in me alone, be of humble spirit and forsake the fruit of every action. Knowledge is. better than practice, meditation is distinguished from knowledge€, forsaking the fruit of action from meditation, for happiness. hereafter is derived from such forsaking.
He my servant is dear unto me, who is free from enmity, the friend of all nature, merciful, exempt from pride and selfishness, the same in pain and pleasure, patient of wrongs, contented, constantly devout, of subdued passions, and firm resolves, and whose mind and understanding are fixed on me alone. He also is my beloved of whom mankind are not afraid, and who of
[ 100 ]
mankind is not afraid; and who is free from the influence of joy, impatience, and the dread of harm. He my servant is dear unto n1e who is unexpecting, just and pure, impartial, free from distraction of mind, and who hath forsaken every enterprise. He also is worthy of my love, who neither rejoiceth nor findeth fault; who neither lamenteth nor coveteth, and, being my servant, hath forsaken both good and evil fortune. He also is my beloved servant, who is the same in friendship and in hatred, in honor and in dishonor, in cold and in heat, in pain and pleasure; who is unsolicitous about the event of things; to whom praise and blame are as one; who is of little speech, and pleased with whatever cometh to pass; who owneth no home, and who is of a steady mind. They who seek this Amṛta101 of religion even as I have said, and serve me faithfully before all others, are, moreover, my dearest friends.
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 13.
EXPLANATION OF THE TERM ‘KṢETRA AND KṢETRAJÑA’.
(The Body called the Field, the Soul called the Knower of the Field, and the Discrimination between them.
Title Dr.Radhakrishnan)
[ 101 ]
LECTURE XIII.
EXPLANATION OF THE TERM ‘KṢETRA AND KṢETRAJÑA’.
ARJUNA
I NOW am anxious to be informed, O Keśava! what is Prakṛti, who is Puruṣa; what is meant by the
words Kṣetra and Kṣetrajña, and what by Jñāna and
Jñeyam.
KRISHNA
Learn that by the word Kṣetra is implied this body, and that he who is acquainted with· it is called Kṣetrajña. Know that I am that Kṣetrajña in every mortal frame. The knowledge of the Kṣetra and the Kṣetrajña is by me esteemed Jñāna or wisdom. ·
Now hear what that Kṣetra or body is, what it resembleth, what are its different parts, what it proceedeth from, who he is who knoweth it, and what are its productions. Each hath been manifold sung by the Ṛṣis in various measures, and in verses containing divine precepts, including arguments and proofs.
[ 102 ]
●This Kṣetra or body, then, is made up of the five Mahābhūtā (elements), Ahaṁkāra (self-consciousness), Buddhi (understanding), Avyaktam (invisible spirit), the eleven Indriyas (organs), and the five Indriya-gocarā (faculties of the five senses); with Icchā and Dveṣa (love and hatred), Sukhā and Duḥkha (pleasure and pain), Cētana
(sensibility), and Dhṛti (firmness).
●Thus, have I made known. unto thee what that Kṣetra or body is, and what are its component parts.
Jñāna, or wisdom , is freedom from self-esteem, hypocrisy and injury; patience, rectitude, respect for masters. and teachers, chastity, steadiness, self-constraint, disaffection for the objects of the senses, freedom from pride, and
And a constant attention102 to birth, death, decay, sickness, pain and defects, exemption from attachments and affection103 for children, wife, and home; a constant evenness of temper upon the arrival of every event, whether longed for or not; a constant and invariable worship paid to me alone; worshipping in a private place, and a dislike for the society of man; a constant study of superior spirit104; and the inspection of the advantage to be derived from the knowledge of the Tattva or first principle.
This is what is distinguished by the name of Jñānam or wisdom. Ajñānam, or ignorance, is the reverse of this.
[103]
I will now tell thee what is Jñeyam, or the object of wisdom, from understanding which thou wilt enjoy immortality. It is that which hath no beginning, and is supreme, even Brahman, who can neither be called Sat (ens = an existing or real thing; an entity.) nor Asat (non ens)105. It is all hands and feet; it is all faces, heads, and eyes; and, all ear, it fitteth during the world possessing the vast whole. Itself exempt from every organ, it is the reflected light of every faculty of the organs. Unattached, it containeth all things; and without quality it partaketh of every quality. It is the inside and the outside, and it is the moveable and immoveable of all nature. From the minuteness of its parts it is inconceivable. It standeth at a distance, yet is it present. It is undivided, yet in all things it standeth divided. It is the ruler of all things: it is that which now destroyeth, and now produceth. It is the light of lights, and it is declared to be free from darkness. It is wisdom, that which is the object of wisdom, and that which is to be obtained by wisdom; and it presideth in every breast.
Thus, hath been described together what is Kṣetra or body, what is Jñānam or wisdom, and what is Jñeyam or the
object of wisdom. He my servant. who thus conceiveth me obtaineth my nature.
[ 104 ]
Learn· that both Prakṛti and Puruṣa are without beginning. Know also that the various component parts·
of matter and their qualities are co-existent with Prakṛti.
Prakṛti is that principle which operateth in the agency of the instrumental cause of action.
Puruṣa is that Hetu or principle which operateth in the sensation of pain and pleasure. The Puruṣa presideth in the Prakṛti and partaketh of those qualities which proceed from the Prakṛti. The consequences arising from those qualities, are the cause which operated in the birth of the Puruṣa106, and determineth whether it shall be in a good or evil body. Puruṣa is that superior being, who is called Maheśvara, the great God, the highest spirit, who in this body is the observer, the director, the protector, the partaker. ·
He who conceiveth the Puruṣa and the Prakṛti, together with the Guṇas or qualities, to be even so as I have described them, whatever mode of life he may lead, he is not again subject to mortal birth.
Some men, by meditation, behold, with· the mind, the spirit within themselves; others, according to the discipline of the Sāṁkhya (contemplative doctrines), and the
[105]
discipline which is called Karma-Yoga (practical doctrines); others again, who are not acquainted with this, but have heard it from others, attend to it. But even these, who act but from the report of others, pass beyond the gulf of death.
●Know, O chief of the race of Bharat. that everything which is produced in nature, whether animate or inanimate, is produced from the union of Kṣetra and Kṣetrajña, matter and spirit. He-who beholdeth the Supreme Being alike in all things, whilst corrupting, itself uncorrupting; and conceiving that God in all things is the same, doth not of himself injure his own soul, goeth the journey of immortality. He who beholdeth all his actions performed by Prakṛti nature, at the same time perceiveth that the Ātmā or soul is inactive in them. When he beholdeth all the different species in nature comprehended in one alone, and so from it spread forth into their vast variety, he then conceiveth Brahman, the Supreme Being. This supreme spirit and incorruptible Being, even when it is in the body, neither acteth, nor is. it affected, because its nature is without beginning and without quality. As the all-moving Ākāsa, or ether, from the minuteness of its parts, passeth everywhere unaffected, even so the omnipresent spirit remaineth in the
[ 106 ]
body unaffected. As a single sun illuminateth the whole world, even so doth the spirit enlightens everybody. They who, with the eye of wisdom, perceive the body and the spirit to be thus distinct, and that there is a final release from the animal nature, go to the Supreme.
BhagavadgitaWilkins14
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 14.
OF THE THREE GUṆAS OR QUALITIES
107 ]
LECTURE XIV.
OF THE THREE GUṆAS OR QUALITIES (The mystical Father of All Beings-Dr.
Radhakrishnan)
KRISHNA
I will now reveal unto thee a most sublime knowledge, superior to all others,
which having learnt, all the Munis have passed from it to supreme perfection.
They take sanctuary under this wisdom, and, being arrived to that virtue which
is similar to my own, they are not disturbed on the day of the confusion of all
born again on their renovation.
The great Brahma (Prakṛti) is my womb. In it I place my fetus; and from it is
the production of all nature. The great Brahma is the womb of all those various
forms which are conceived in every natural womb, and I am the father who soweth
the seed.
There are three Guṇas or qualities arising from Prakṛti or nature: Sattva truth,
Rajass passion, and Tamas
darkness; and each of them confineth the incorruptible spirit in the body. The
Sattva-Guṇa, because of its purity, is clear and free from defect, and entwined
the soul
[ 108 ]
with sweet and pleasant consequences, and the fruit of wisdom. The Rajassa Guṇa
is of a passionate nature, arising from the effects of worldly thirst, and
imprisoneth the soul with the consequences produced from action. The Tamas Guṇa
is the offspring of ignorance, and the confounder of all the faculties of the
mind; and- it imprisoneth the soul with.intoxication, sloth, and idleness. The
Sattva Guṇa prevaileth in felicity, the Ra jas in action, and the Tamas, having
possessed the soul, prevaileth in intoxiation. When the Tamas, and the Rajas
have been overcome, then the Sattva appeareth; when the Rajas and the Sattva,
the Tama; and when the Tama and the Sattva the Rajas. When Jñāna or wisdom,
shall become evident in this body at all its gates, then shall it be known that
the Sattva-Guṇa is prevalent within. The love of gain, industry, and the
commencement of works; intemperance, and inordinate desire, are produced from
the prevalence of the Rajas Guṇa; whilst the tokens of the Tamas-Guṇa are
gloominess, idleness, sluggishness, and distraction of thought. When the body is
dissolved whilst the Sattva-Guṇa prevaileth, the soul proceedeth to the regions
of those immaculate beings who are acquainted with the Most High. When the body
findeth dissolution whilst the Rajas-Guṇa is predominant, the soul is born
[ 109 ]
again amongst those. who are attached to the fruits of their actions. So, in
like manner, should the body be dissolved while the Tama-Guṇa is prevalent, the
spirit is conceived again in the wombs of irrational beings. The fruit of good
works is called pure and holy;. the fruit of the Rāja-Guṇa is pain; and the
fruit of the Tama-Guṇa is ignorance. From the Sattva is produced wisdom, from
the Rajas covetousness, and from the Tama madness; distraction, and ignorance.
Those of the Sattva Guṇa mount on high, those of the Rajas stay in the middle,
while those abject followers of the Tama-Guṇa sink below.
When he who beholdeth perceiveth no other agent than these qualities, and
discovereth that there is a being superior to them, he at length findeth my
nature; and when the soul has surpassed these three qualities, which are
co-existent with the body, it is delivered from birth and death, old-age and
pain, and drinketh of the water of immortality.
ARJUN.
By what tokens is it known that a man hath surpassed these three qualities? What
is his practice? What are the means by which he overcometh them..
[110 ]
KRISHNA.
He, O son of Pāndu, who despiseth not the light of wisdom, the attention to
worldly things, and the distrac
tion of thought when they come upon him, nor longeth for them when they
disappear; who, like one who is of no party, fitteth unagitated by the three
qualities; who, whilst the qualities are present, findeth still and moveth not;
who is self-dependent and the same in ease and pain and to whom iron, stone, and
gold are as one; firm alike in love and dislike, and the same whether praised or
blamed; the same in honor and disgrace; the fame on the part of the friend and
the foe, and who forfaketh all enterprise; such a one hath surmounted the
influence of the qualities. And he, my servant, who serveth me alone with due
attention, having overcome the influence of the qualities, is· formed to be
absorbed in Brahman, the Supreme. I am the emblem of the immortal, and of the
incorruptible; of the eternal; of justice, and of endless bliss.
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 15.
'Of Puruṣottama'
[Page 111 ]
LECTURE XV.
Of Puruṣottama
KRISHNA.
THE incorruptible being is likened unto the tree Aśvattha, whose root is above and whose branches are below, and whose leaves are the Vedas. He who knoweth that, is acquainted with the Vedas. Its branches growing from the three Guṇa or qualities, whose lesser roots are the objects of the organs of sense, spread forth some high and some low. The roots which are spread abroad below, in the regions of mankind, are restrained by action. Its form is not to be found her, neither its beginning, nor its end, nor its likeness. When a man hath cut down this
Aśvattha, whose root is so firmly fixed, with the strong ax of disinterest, from that time that place is to be fought from whence there is no return for those who find it; and I make manifest that first Puruṣa from whom is produced the ancient progression of all things.
Those who are free from pride and ignorance, have prevailed over those faults which arise from the consequences
[ 112 ]
of action, have their minds constantly employed in watching over and restraining the inordinate desires, and are freed from contrary causes, whose consequences bring both pleasure and pain, are no longer confounded in their minds, and ascend to that place which endureth forever. Neither the fun, nor the moon, nor the fire enlighteneth that place from whence there is no return, and which is the supreme mansion of my abode.
It is even a portion of myself that in this animal world is the universal spirit of all things. It draweth together the five organs and the mind, which is the sixth, that it may obtain a body, and that it may leave it again; and Īśvara, having taken them under his charge, accompanieth them from his own abode as the breeze the fragrance from the Bower. He presideth over the organs of hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting, and smelling together with the mind, and attendeth to their objects. The foolish see it not, attended by the Guṇa or qualities, in expiring, in being, or in enjoying; but those who are endued with the eye of wisdom behold it. Those also who industriously apply their minds in meditation may perceive it planted in their own breasts, whilst those of unformed minds and weak judgments, laboring find it not.
[ 113 ]
Know that the light which proceedeth from the fun and illuminateth the whole world, and the light which is in the moon, and in the fire, are mine. I pervade all things in nature, and guard them with my beams. I am the moon, whose nature it is to give the quality of taste and relish, and to cherish the herbs and plants of the field. I am the fire residing in the bodies of all things which have life, where, joined with the two spirits which are called Prāṇa and Apāna.107 I digest the food which they eat, which is of four kinds 108 • I penetrate into the hearts of all men; and from me proceed memory, knowledge, and the loss of both. I am to be known by all the Vedas or books of divine knowledge: I am he who formed the Vedanta 109 , and I am he who knoweth the Vedas.
There are two kinds of Puruṣa in the world, the one corruptible, the other incorruptible. The corruptible Puruṣa is the body of all things in nature; the incorruptible is called Kūṭastha , or he who standeth on the pinnacle110 . There is another Puruṣa111 most high; the Paramātma or supreme soul, who inhabiteth the three regions of the world, even the incorruptible Īśvara. Because I am above corruption, so also am I superior to in corruption; wherefore in this world, and in the Vedas, I am called Puruṣottama. The man of a sound judgment,
[ 114 ]
who conceiveth me thus to be the Puruṣottama, knoweth all things, and serveth me in every principle.
Thus, O Arjuna, have I made known· unto thee this most mysterious Sāstra112; and he who understandeth it shall be a wise man, and the performer of all that is fit to be done.
BhagavadgitaWilkins16
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 16.
'OF GOD AND EVIL DESTINY'
[115]
LECTURE XVI.
OF Good AND EVIL DESTINY.
(The nature of Godlike and Demonic Mind-Dr. Radhakrishnan)
Kṛṣṇa (KRISHNA)
T HE man who is born with divine destiny is endued with the following qualities: exemption from fear, a _purity of heart, a constant attention to the discipline of his understanding; charity, self-restraint, religion, study, penance, rectitude, freedom from doing wrong, Veracity, freedom from anger, resignation, temperance, freedom from slander, universal compassion, emption from the desire of slaughter, mildness, modesty, discretion, dignity, patience, fortitude, chastity, unrevengefulness, and freedom. From vainglory: whilst those who come into life under the in influence of the evil destiny a.re distinguished by hypocrisy, pride, presumption, anger, harshness of speech, and ignorance. The_ divine destiny is for Mokṣa, or eternal absorption in the divine nature; and the evil destiny confineth the soul to mortal birth. Fear not Arjun, for thou t born with the divine destiny before thee. Thus, there are two kinds of destiny
( 116 ]
prevailing in the world. The nature of the good destiny hath been fully explained. Hear what is the nature of the evil.
Those who are born under the influence of the evil destiny know not what it is to proceed in virtue, or recede from vice; nor is purity, veracity, or the practice of morality to be found in them. They say the world is without beginning, and without end, and without an Īśvara; that all things are conceived by the junction of the sexes; and that love is the only cause. These lost souls, and men of little understandings, having fixed upon this vision, are born of dreadful and inhuman deeds for the destruction of the world. They trust to their carnal appetites, which are hard to be satisfied; are hypocrites, and overwhelmed with madness and intoxication. Because of their folly they adopt false doctrines, and continue to live the life of impurity. They abide by their inconceivable opinions, even unto the day of confusion, and determine within their own minds that the gratification of the sensual appetites is the supreme good fast bound by the hundred cords of hope, and placing all their trust in lust and anger, they seek by injustice the accumulation of wealth, for the gratification of their inordinate desires. “This, today, hath been acquired by
[ I 17 ]
me. I shall obtain this object of my heart. This wealth I have, and this shall I have also. This foe have I have already slain, and others will forthwith vanquish. I am Īśvara, and I enjoy; I am consummate, I am powerful, and I am happy; I am rich, and I am endued with precedence amongst men; and where is there another like unto me? I will, make presents at the feasts and be merry." In this manner do those ignorant men talk, whose minds are thus gone astray. Confounded with various thoughts and designs, they are entangled in the net of folly; and being firmly attached to the gratification of their lusts, they sink at length into the Naraka of impurity. Being self-conceited, stubborn, and ever in pursuit of wealth and pride, they worship with the name of worship and hypocrisy, and not according to divine ordination; and, placing all their trust in pride, power, ostentation, lust, and anger, they are overwhelmed with calumny and detraction, and hate me in themselves and others: wherefore I cast down upon the earth those furious abject wretches, those evil beings who thus despise me, into the wombs of evil spirits and unclean beasts. Being doomed to the wombs of Asuras from birth to birth, at length not finding me, they go unto the most infernal regions. There are these three passages to Naraka or the
[ 118 ]
the infernal regions; lust, anger, and avarice, which are the destroyers of the soul; wherefore a man should avoid them; for, being freed from these gates of sin, which arise from the influence of the Tama-Guṇa, he advanceth his own happiness; and at length he goeth the journey of the Most High. He who abandoneth the dictates of the Śāstra to follow the dictates of his lusts, attaineth neither perfection, happiness, nor the regions of the Most High. Wherefore, O Arjuna, having made thyself acquainted with the precepts of the Śāstra, in the establishment of what is fit and unfit to be done, thou shouldst perform those works which are declared by the commandments of the Śāstra.
BhagavadgitaWilkins17
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 17.
'OF FAITH DIVIDED INTO THREE SPECIES.'
[ 119 ]
LECT URE XVII.
OF FAITH DIVIDED INTO THREE SPECIES.
Three Kinds of Faith (Dr. Radhakrishnan)
ARJUNA
What is the guide of those men, who, although they neglect the precepts of the Śāstra, yet worship with faith? Is it the Sattva, the Raja or Tama Guṇa?
KRISHNA
The faith of mortals is of three kinds, and is produced from the constitution. It is denominated after the three Guṇas, Sattvic, Rajasic, or Tamasic. Hear what these are. The faith of every one is a copy of that which is produced from the Sattva-Guṇa. The mortal Puruṣa being formed with faith, of whatever nature he may be, with that kind of faith is he endued. Those who are of the disposition which ariseth from the Sattva-Guṇa worship the Devās; those of the Raja-Guṇa the Yakṣas, and the Rākṣasa; and those of the Tama-Guṇa worship the departed spirits and the tribe of Bhūta Gaṇas. Those men who perform severe mortifications of the flesh, not authorized
[ 120 ]
by the Śāstra, are possessed of hypocrisy and pride, and overwhelmed with lust, passion, and tyrannical strength. Those fools torment the spirit that is in the body, and myself also who am in them. Know what are the resolutions of those who are born under the influence of the evil spirit.
There are three kinds of food which are dear unto all men. Worship, zeal 111, and charity are each of them also divided into three species. Hear what are their distinctions.
The food that is dear unto those of the Sattva-Guṇa is such as increases their length of days, their power and their strength, and keeps them free from sickness, happy and contented. It is pleasing to the palate, nourishing, permanent, and congenial to the-body. It is neither too bitter, too sour, too salt(y), too hot, too pungent, too astringent, nor too inflammable. The food that is coveted by those of the Raja-Guṇa giveth nothing but pain and misery and the delight of those in whom the Tama-Guṇa prevaileth, is such as was dressed the day before, and is out of season; hath lost its taste, and is grown putrid; the leavings of others, and all things that are impure.
That worship which is directed by divine precept, and is performed without' the desire of reward, as necessary
[ I 21 ]
to be done, and with an attentive mind, is of the Sattva Guṇa.
The worship which is performed with a view to the fruit, and with hypocrisy, is of the Tama-Guṇa.
The worship which is performed without regard to the precepts of the law, without the distribution of bread, without the usual invocations, without gifts to the Brahmans at the conclusion, and without faith, is of the Raja Guṇa.
Respect to the Devās, to Brahmans, masters, and learned men; chastity, rectitude, the worship of the Deity, and a freedom from injury, are called bodily zeal.
Gentleness, justness, kindness, and benignity of speech, and attention to one's studies, are called verbal zeal.
Content of mind, mildness of temper, devotion, restraint of the passions, and a purity of soul, are called mental zeal.
This threefold zeal being warmed with supreme faith, and performed by men who long not for the fruit of action, is of the Sattva-Guṇa.
The zeal which is shewn by hypocrisy, for the fake of the reputation of sanctity, honor, and respect, is said to
[ 122 ]
be of the Raja-Guṇa; and it is inconstant and uncertain.
The zeal which is exhibited with self-torture, by the fool, without examination, or for injuring another, is of the Tama-Guṇa.
That charity which is bestowed by the disinterested, because it is proper to be given, in due place and season, and to proper objects, is of the Sattva-Guṇa.
That which is given in expectation of a return, or for the sake of the fruit of the action, and with reluctancy, is of the Raja-Guṇa.
That which is given out of place and season, and to unworthy objects, and, at the same time, ungraciously and scornfully, is pronounced to be of the Tama-Guṇa.
Om, Tat, and Sat, are the three mystic characters used to denote the Deity.
By him in the beginning were appointed the Brahmans·, the Vedas, and religion: hence the sacrificial, charitable, and zealous ceremonies of the expounders of the word of God, as they are ordained by the law, constantly proceed after they have pronounced Om!
Tat having been pronounced by those who long for immortality, without any inclination for a temporary
[ 123 ]
reward of their actions, then are performed the ceremonies of worship and zeal, and the various deeds of charity. The word Sat is used for qualities which are true, and for qualities that are holy. The word Sat is also applied to deeds which are praiseworthy. Attention in worship, zeal, and deeds of charity, are also called Sat Deeds which are performed for Sat are also to be esteemed Sat.
Whatever is performed without faith, whether it be sacrifices, deeds of charity, or mortifications of the flesh, is called Asat; and is not for this world or that which is above.
BhagavadgitaWilkins18
The Bhagavad-Gītā
Or
Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
The Eighteen Lectures
With Notes
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL
IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN
By CHARLES WILKINS
1785
L E C T U R E. 18.
OF FORSAKING THE FRUITS OF ACTION FOR OBTAINING ETERNAL SALVATION.
LECTURE XVIII.
OF FORSAKING THE FRUITS OF ACTION FOR OBTAINING ETERNAL SALVATION.
(Renunciation not to Work but to Fruits of Work)
ARJUN.
I WISH much to comprehend the principle of saṁnyāsa and also of Tyāga, each separately.
KRISHNA.
The bards conceive 114 that the word saṁnyāsa implieth the forsaking of all actions which are desirable; and they call Tyāga, the forsaking of the fruits of every action. Certain philosophers have declared that works are as much to be avoided as crimes; whilst others say that deeds of worship, mortifications, and charity should not be forsaken. Hear what is my decree upon the term Tyāga.
Tyāga, or forsaking, is pronounced to be of three natures. But deeds of worship, mortification, and charity are not to be forsaken: they are proper to be performed. Sacrifices, charity, and mortifications are purifiers of the philosopher. It is my ultimate opinion and decree, that such works are absolutely to be performed,
[ 125 ]
with a forsaking of their consequences and the prospect of their fruits. The retirement from works, which are appointed to be performed, is improper.
The forsaking of them through folly and distraction of mind, ariseth from the influence of the Tama-Guṇa.
The forsaking of a work because it is painful, and from the dread of bodily affliction, ariseth from the Raja Guṇa; and he who thus leaveth undone what he ought to do, shall not obtain the fruit of forsaking.
The work which is performed because it is appointed and esteemed necessary to be done, and with a forsaking of the consequences and the hope of a reward, is, with such a forsaking, declared to be of the Sattva-Guṇa. The man who is possessed of the Sattva-Guṇa is thus a Tyāgi, or one who forfaketh the fruit of action. He is of a sound judgment, and exempt from all doubt; he complaineth not in adversity, nor exulteth in the success of his undertakings.
No corporeal being is able totally to refrain from works. He is properly denominated a Tyāgi who is a forsaker of the fruit of action.
The fruit of action is threefold: that which is coveted, that which is not coveted, and that which is neither one nor the other. Those who do not abandon works
[ 126 ]
obtain a final release; not those who withdraw from action, and are denominated Saṁnyāsa.
Learn, O Arjuna, that for the accomplishment of every work five agents115 are necessary, as is further declared in the Sāṁkhya and Vedānta-Śāstras attention and supervision, the actor, the implements of various sorts, distinct and manifold contrivances, and lastly the favor of Providence. The work which a man undertaketh, either with his body, his speech, or his mind, whether it be lawful or unlawful, hath these five agents engaged in the performance. He then who after this, because of the imperfection of his judgment, beholdeth no other agent than himself, is an evil-thinker and seethe not at all. He who hath no pride in his disposition, and whose judgment is not affected, although he should destroy a whole world, neither killed nor is he bound thereby 116.
In the direction of a work are three things: Jñāna, Jñeya, and Parijñātā117. The accomplishment of a work is also threefold: the implement, the action, and the agent. The Jñāna, the action, and the agent are each distinguished by the influence of the three Guṇas. Hear in what manner they are declared to be after the order of the three Guṇas
[ 127 ]
That Jñāna, or wisdom, by which one principle alone is seen prevalent in all nature, incorruptible and infinite in all things finite; is of the Sattva-Guṇa.
That Jñāna, or wisdom, is of the Raja-Guṇa, by which a man believeth that there are various and manifold principles prevailing in the natural world of created beings.
That Jñāna, or wisdom, which is mean, interested in one single object alone as if it were the whole, without any just motive or design, and without principle or profit, is pronounced to be of the Tama-Guṇa.
The action which is appointed by divine precept, is perforn1ed free from the thought of its consequences and without passion or despite, by one who hath no regard for the fruit thereof, is of the Sattva-Guṇa.
The action which is performed by one who is fond of the gratification of his lusts, or by the proud and selfish and is attended with unremitted pains, is of the Raja Guṇa.
The action which is undertaken through ignorance and folly, and without any foresight of its fatal and injurious consequences , is pronounced to be of the Tama-Guṇa.
The agent who is regardless of the consequences, is free from pride and arrogance, is endued with fortitude
[ 128 ]
and resolution, and is unaffected whether his work succeed or not, is said to be of the Sattva-Guṇa.
That agent is pronounced to be of the Raja-Guṇa who is a slave to his passions, who longeth for the fruit of action, who is avaricious, of a cruel disposition, of impure principles, and a slave to joy and grief.
The agent who is inattentive, indiscreet, stubborn, dissembling, mischievous, indolent, melancholy, and dilatory, is of the Tama-Guṇa.
Hear also what are the threefold divisions of understanding and firmness, according to the influence of the three Guṇas, which are about to be explained to thee distinctly and without reserve.
The understanding which can determine what it is to proceed in a business, and what it is to recede; what is necessary and what is unnecessary; what is fear and what is not; what is liberty and what is confinement, is of the Sattva Guṇa.
The understanding which doth not conceive justice and injustice; what is proper and what is improper; as they truly are, is of the Raja-Guṇa.
The understanding which, being overwhelmed in darkness, mistaketh injustice for justice, and all things contrary
[ 129 J
to their true intent and meaning, is of the Tama Guṇa.
That steady firmness, with which a man, by devotion, reftraineth every action of the mind and organs, is of the Sattva-Guṇa.
That interested firmness by which a man, from views of profit, persisteth in the duties of his calling, in the gratification of his lusts, and the acquisition of wealth, is declared to be of the Raja-Guṇa.
That stubborn firmness, by which a man of low capacity departeth not from sloth, fear, grief, melancholy, and intoxication, is of the Tama-Guṇa.
Now hear what is the threefold division of pleasure. That pleasure which a man enjoyeth from his labour, and wherein he findeth the end of his pains; and that which, in the beginning, is as poison, and in the end the as the water of life, is declared to be of the Sattva-Guṇa, and to arise from the consent of the understanding.
That pleasure which ariseth from the conjunction of the organs with their objects, which in the beginning is as sweet as the water of life, and in the end as a poison, is of the Raja-Guṇa.
That pleasure which in the beginning and the end
[130]
tendeth to stupefy the soul, and ariseth from drowsiness, idleness, and intoxication, is pronounced to be of the Tama Guṇa.
There is not anything either in heaven or earth, or amongst the hosts of heaven, which is free from the influence of these three Guṇas or qualities, which arise from the first principles of nature.
The respective duties of the four tribes, of Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya 119, Vaiśya, and Śūdrā120, are also determined by the qualities which arc in their constitutions.
The natural duty of the Brahman is peace, self-restraint, zeal, purity, patience, rectitude, wisdom, learning, and theology.
The natural duties of the Kṣatriya are bravery, glory, fortitude, rectitude, not to flee from the field, generosity, and princely conduct.
The natural duty of the Vaiśya is to cultivate the land, tend the cattle, and buy and sell.
The natural duty of Śūdrā is servitude·
A man being contented with his own particular lot and duty obtaineth perfection. Hear how that perfection is to be accomplished.
The man who maketh an offering of his own works
( 131 ]
to that being from whom the principles of all being proceed, and by whom the whole universe was spread forth, by that means obtaineth perfection.
The duties of a man's own particular calling although not free from faults, is far preferable to the duty of another, let it be ever so well pursued. A man by following the duties which are appointed by his birth, doeth no wrong. A man's own calling, with all its faults, ought not to be forsaken. Every undertaking is involved in its faults, as the fire in its smoke. A disinterested mind and conquered spirit, who, in all things, is free from in-. ordinate desires, obtaineth a perfection unconnected with work by that resignation and retirement which is called Saṁnyāsa; and having attained that perfection, learn from me, in brief, in what manner he obtaineth Brahman, and what is the foundation of wisdom.
A man being endued with a purified understanding, having humbled spirit by resolution, and abandoned the objects of the organs; who hath freed himself from passion and dislike; who worshippeth with discrimination, eateth with moderation, and is humble of speech, of body, and of mind; who preferreth the devotion of meditation, and who constantly placeth his confidence in dispassion; who is freed from ostentation, tyrannical
[ 132 ]
strength, vain-glory, lust, anger, and avarice; and who is exempt from selfishness, and in all things temperate, is formed for being Brahman. And thus, being as Brahman, his mind is at ease, and he neither longeth nor lamenteth. He is the same in all things, and obtaineth my supreme assistance; and by· my divine aid he knoweth, fundamentally; who I am and what is the extent of my existence; and having thus discovered who I am, he at length is absorbed in my nature.
A man also being engaged in every work, if he put his trust in me alone; shall, by my divine pleasure, obtain the eternal and incorruptible mansion of my abode.
With thy heart place all thy works on me; prefer me to all things else; depend upon the· use of thy understanding, and think constantly of me; for by doing so thou shalt, by my divine favor, surmount every difficulty which surroundeth thee. But if, through pride, thou wilt not listen unto my words, thou shalt undoubtedly be lost. From a confidence in thy own self-sufficiency thou mayst think that thou wilt not fight. Such is a fallacious determination, for the· principles of thy nature will impel thee. Being confined to action by the duties of thy natural calling, thou wilt involuntarily do that from necessity, which thou wantest, through ignorance, to avoid..
. [ 1 3 3 ]
Īśvara resideth in the breast of every mortal being, revolving with his supernatural power all things which are mounted upon the universal wheel of time. Take sanctuary then, upon all occasions, with him alone, O offspring of Bharata; for by his divine pleasure thou shalt obtain supreme happiness and an eternal abode.
Thus, have I made known unto thee a knowledge which is a superior mystery. Ponder it well in thy mind, and then act as it seemeth best unto thee.
Attend now to these my supreme and most mysterious words, which I will now· for thy good reveal ·unto thee, because thou art dearly beloved of me. Be of my mind, be my servant, offer unto me alone and bow down humbly before me, and thou shalt verily come unto me; for I approve thee, and thou art dear unto me. Forsake every other religion, and fly to me alone. Grieve not then, for I will deliver thee from all thy transgressions.
This is never to be revealed by thee to anyone who hath not subjected his body by devotion, who is not my servant, who is not anxious to learn; nor unto him who despiseth me.
He who shall teach this supreme mystery unto my servant, directing his service unto me, shall undoubtedly go un_to me; and there shall not be one amongst mankind
[ 134 ]
who doeth me a greater kindness; nor shall there be in all the earth one more dear unto me. He also who shall read these our religious dialogues, by him I may be sought with the devotion of wisdom. This is my resolve.
The man too who may only hear it without doubt, and with due faith, may also be saved, and obtain the regions of happiness provided for those whose deeds are virtuous.
Hath what I have been speaking, O Arjuna, been heard with thy mind fixed to one point? Is the distraction of thought, which arose from thy ignorance, removed?
ARJUNA
By thy divine favor, my confusion of mind is lost and I have found understanding. I am now fixed in my principles, and am freed from all doubt; and I will henceforth act according to thy words.
SANJAY
In this manner have I been an ear-witness of the astonishing and miraculous conversation that hath passed between the son of Vāsudeva, and the magnanimous son of Pāṇḍu; and I was enabled to hear this supreme and miraculous doctrine, even as revealed from the mouth of Kṛṣṇa himself, who is the God of religion, by the
[ 135 ]
favor of Vyāsa121, As, O mighty Prince I recollect again and again this holy and wonderful dialogue of Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, I continue more and more to rejoice; and as I recall to my memory the more than miraculous form of Hari us, my astonishment is great, and I marvel and rejoice again and again ! Wherever Kṛṣṇa the God of devotion may be, wherever Arjuna the mighty bowman may be, there too, without doubt, are fortune, riches, victory, and good conduct. This is my firm belief.
THE END OF THE GĪTĀ.
N O☻ T E s.
NOTES
PageXX Index. XX
Page 29 1.THE ancient chief.-Bhīṣma,
brother of विचित्रवीर्य, vicitravīrya, grandfather of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍus.
.
Page 029 2 Shell.-The
conch or chank.
3
Kṛṣṇa.-An incarnation of the Deity. Krishna
4 Arjun.-The third son of
Pānḍu , and the favorite of Krishna.
031 Gāṇḍīva
my bow.-The gift of varuṇa the God of the Ocean.
032. 5
Hell.- In the original Naraka. The infernal regions, supposed to
be situated at the bottom of the earth, where those whose virtues are less than
their vices are doomed to dwell for a period proportioned to their crimes, after
which they rise again to inhabit the bodies of unclean beings.
6 Forefathers, &,-The
Hindus are enjoined by the Vedas to offer a cake, which is called Pinda, to the
ghosts of their ancestors, as far back as the third generation. This ceremony is
performed on the day of the new moon in every month. The offering of water is in
like manner commanded to be performed daily, and this ceremony is called Tarpana,
to satisfy, appease. The souls of such men as have left children to continue
their generation, are supposed to be transported, immediately upon quitting
their bodies, into a certain region called the pitṛ-loka, where they may
continue in proportion to their former virtues, provided these ceremonies be not
neglected; otherwise they are precipitated into Naraka, and
bodies of unclean beasts; and until, by repeated regenerations, all their sins
are done away, and they attain such a degree of perfection as will entitle them
to what is called Mukti, eternal salvation, by which is understood a release
from future transmigration, and an absorption in the nature of the Godhead,
who is called Brahman. These ceremonies, which are called Śrāddha, were not
unknown to the Greeks and Romans, and are still practiced by the followers of
Mahomed.
3+ 7 Contrary
to duty. Contrary to the duty of a soldier.
35 8
By the dictates of my duty.-The
duty of a soldier, in opposition to the dictates of the general moral duties.
9 the wise men.-Pandits,
or expounders of the law; or in a more general sense, such as by meditation have
attained that degree of perfection which is called Jñānam, or inspired wisdom.
39 10 the bonds of action.-The
Hindus believe that every action of the body, whether good or evil, confineth
the soul to mortal birth; and that an eternal release, which they call Mōkṣa, is
only to be attained by a total neglect of all sublunary things, or, which is the
same thing according to the doctrine of Karma, the abandonment of all hopes of
the reward of our actions; for such reward, they say, can only be a short
enjoyment of a place in heaven, which they call Svarga; because no man can,
merely by his actions, attain perfection, owing to the mixture of good and evil
which is implanted in his constitution.
11 the objects of
the Vedas are of a threefold nature.
The commentators do not agree with respect to the signification of this passage;
but, as the Vedas teach three distinct systems of religion, it is probable that
it refers to this circumstance.
12 Yoga.-There is no word in the
Sanskrit language that will bear so many interpretations as this. Its first
signification is junction or union. It is also used for bodily or mental
application; but in this work it is generally used as a theological term, to
express the application of the mind in spiritual things, and the performance of
religious ceremonies. The word Yogi, a devout man, is one of its derivatives.
If the word devotion be confined to the performance of religious duties, and a
contemplation of the Deity, it will
[ 141 ]
generally serve to express the sense of the original; as will devout and devoted
for its derivatives.
40 13 Wisdom. -
Wherever the word wisdom is used in this Translation, is to be understood
inspired wisdom, or a knowledge of the Divine Nature. The original word is
Jñāna, or as it is written Jñāna.
42 14 Folly.-In
the original M oha, which signifies an embarrassment of the faculties, arising
from the attendant qualities of the principles of organized matter.
44 15 The practice of deeds.-The
performance of religious ceremonies and moral duties, called Karma-Yoga.
45 16 Brahma.-The Deity in
his creative quality.
46 17 Hath no occasion.-
Hath no occasion to perform the ceremonial parts of religion.
18 Attained perfection.-That degree of
perfection which is necessary to salvation.
49 · 19 Desire.-The will, as
presiding over the organs, the heart and the understanding.
20 The resolution.- In this place resolution
means the power of distinguishing the truth of a proposition: the
understanding.
21. He.-The soul, or universal spirit, of
which the vital soul is supposed to be a portion.
52. 22 Worship the
Devatas.-The word Devatā is synonymous with Dev, Dew or Deb, as it is
sometimes pronounced. The Angels, or subordinate celestial beings; all the
attributes of the Deity; and everything in Heaven and Earth which has been
personified by the imagination of the Poets.
5 5. 23 And where, O
Arjun, is there another?- fit f or him is understood. The sentence
would perhaps read better in this form : " He who neglecteth the duties of life
is not for this world, much less for “that which is above." But the other
translations is literally correct.
55. 24 In me.-In
the Deity, who is the universal spirit.
56. 25 Have no
power to confine. - Have no power to confine the soul to mortal
birth.
58. 26 In the
nine-gate city of its abode.- The body, as furnished with nine
passages for the action of the faculties : the eyes, nose, mouth, &c.
5 9. 27 The powers
nor the deeds of mankind.-To understand this, and many
[ 142 ]
similar passages, it is necessary to be apprized that the Hindus believe that
all our actions, whether good or evil, arise from the inherent qualities of the
principles of our constitutions.
67. 28 The man,
&c.-i.e. That the desire of becoming a devout man is equal to the
study of the Vedas.
69. 29 Of a vital
nature.-The vital soul. 1. ult. Learn that these two. -Matter and
spirit.
70. 30 Sattva,
Raja, Tama.-Truth, passion, darkness; or, as the words are sometimes
used, white, red, black.
71 31 The wishers
after wealth.-Such as pray for worldly endowments.
32 And
are governed by their own principles. -By the three ruling qualities
already explained.
73 33 Adhyātma, &c.-As
Krishna's answer to the several questions of Arjun has something mysterious in
it, I will endeavor to render it
more comprehensible:
Adhyātma-literally signifies the over-ruling spirit, by which is implied the
divine nature.
Karma-signifies action, whereby is to be understood his creative quality.
Adhibhūta- signifies he who ruleth over created beings: the power of the Deity
to destroy.
Adhidaiva - literally means Superior to fate; and is explained by the word
Puruṣa, which, in vulgar language, means no more than man; but in this work it
is a term in theology used to express the vital soul, or portion of the
universal spirit of Brahman inhabiting a body. So by the word Maha-Puruṣa is
implied the Deity as the primordial Source. These terms are used in a
metaphysical work called Pa tanjal, wherein God is represented under the figure
of Maba-Puruṣa, the great man or prime progenitor; in conjunction with Prakṛti,
nature or first principle, under the emblem of a female engendering the world
with his Māyā or supernatural power.
74
74 34-This mystic
emblem of the Deity is forbidden to be pronounced but in silence. It
is a syllable formed of the letters, AUM which in composition coalesce, and
make OM, and the nasal consonant m. The first letter stands for the Creator;
the second for the Preserver, and the third for the Destroyer.
75 35 is A
thousand revolutions of the Yuga.- 1s equal to 4320,000,000 years.
[ 143 ]
An ingenious mathematician, who is now in India, supposes that these Yugas
are nothing more than astronomical periods formed from
the coincidence of certain cycles, of which those of the precession of the
equinoxes and the moon are two. The word Yuga, which signifies a juncture or
joining, gives good grounds for such an hypothesis.
78 36 And all things are not dependent on me.- This ambiguity is removed by the
following simile of the air in the ether.
- 37
Kalpa.- The same as the day of Brahma, a thousand revolutions of the
Yugas. The word literally signifies formation.
79 38 The whole, from the power of nature, without power.-This passage is
agreeable to the doctrine of the influence of the three Guṇa , or qualities,
over all our actions.
- 39
It is from this Source.-Because of the fupervifion of the Supreme Being.
- 40 Other Gods.-Wherever the word Gods is used in this Translation, the
subordinate supernatural beings are implied.
80 41 Vedas.-The word Veda signifies learning. The sacred volumes of the Hindus,
of which there are four, supposed to have been revealed from the four mouths of
Brahma remarkable that Krishna mentions only the three first; it may therefore
be presumed that no more existed in his time.
42 Soma -is the name of a creeper, the juice of which is commanded to be drank
at the conclusion of a sacrifice, by the person for whom and at whose expense it
is performed, and by the Brahmans who officiate at the altar.
- 43 Indra-is a personification of the visible heavens, or the power of the
Almighty over the elements. He is the sprinkler of the rain, the roller of
the thunder, and director of the winds. He is represented with a thousand eyes,
grasping the thunderbolt.
81 44 Saṁnyāsi:- One who totally forfaketh all worldly actions; but
Krishna,in order to unite the various religious opinions which prevailed
in those days, confines the word S Saṁnyās to a forsaking of the hope· of
reward.
82 45 Women.-In the Vedas it is declared, that the souls of women, and of the
inferior tribes, are doomed to transmigration till they can be regenerated in
the body of a Braḥman.
82 46 Rājaṛṣis = Rajarṣayas46 - from Rāja and Ṛṣi, Prince and Saint.
83 47 Surās.- Good angels.
48 Mahaṛṣis.-Great saints, of whom there are reckoned seven, who were at the
creation produced from the mind of Brahma.
49
Manus.-Four other beings produced at the creation from the mind of Brahma.
84 50 Ṛṣis.- Saints.
5l Devaṛṣis.-Deified saints .
52 Nārada.-One of the Devaṛṣis, and a great Prophet, who is supposed to be
still wandering about the world. Nara signifies a thread or clew, a precept; and
Da Giver.-Wherever he appears he is constantly employed in giving good counsel..
53 Danavās/ Danūs - Evil spirits, or fallen angels, the offsprings of Danu
(fem).
54 O first of men!-Arjun makes use of this expression as addressing the
Deity in human shape.
85 55 Ādityas._:_The offsprings of Āditi (f.) (that may not be cut off.) There
are reckoned twelve, and are nothing more than emblems of the sun for each·
month of the year. Their names are Varuna, Surya, Vedang, Bhanu,
Indra, Ravi, Gabasti, Yama,
Swarna-reta, Divakar, Meetra, Vishnu.
Bhagavata Purana |
Linga Purana |
Vedanta and Purana |
Brahmana |
Vishnu |
Vishnu |
Vishnu ( |
Yama |
Aryama |
Aryaman |
Aryaman |
Aryaman |
Indra |
Indra (The head of Ādityas) |
Śakra |
Indra |
Tvashtha |
Tvaṣṭṛ |
Tvaṣṭṛ |
Ravi |
Varuna |
Varuṇa |
Varuṇa |
Varuṇa |
Dhata |
Dhata |
Dhūti |
Dhātṛ |
Bhaga |
Bhaga |
Bhaga |
Bhaga |
Parjanya (Savitr?) |
Savitṛ |
Savitṛ |
Savitṛ |
Vivasvan |
Vivasvat |
Vivasvat |
Sūrya or Arka |
Amshuman |
Amshuman |
Aṃśa |
Aṃśa |
Mitra |
Mitra |
Mitra |
Mitra |
Pushya |
Pūṣan |
Pūṣan |
Dakṣa |
Tables introduced by Veeraswamy Krishnaraj
11.27-49) A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami prabhupada
harekrsna.de/surya/12adityas.htm
|
56 Viṣṇu.-He who filleth or possesseth all space. One of the twelve suns, and
the name of the Deity in his preserving quality.
57 Ravi.-The riser-one of the names of the sun.
58 Marchi.- O ne of the eight points _of the heavens.
59 Maruts. - -
The winds.
60 śaśī-The moon.
61 Nakṣatras.-Dispellers of darkness. The 18 constellations through which the
moon passes in its monthly course. Constellations in general. .
85: 62 sāma.-The first of the four books of the Vedas, composed to be chanted or
sung.
63 Vāsavaḥ.- One of the names of Indra.
64
Śaṁkara.-One of the names of Śiva, or Fate.
- 65 Rūdras.- - Eleven distinctions of Śiva, or Fate.
85: 66 Vitteśa (Kubera).-The God of riches, otherwise called Kubera. He is said
to preside over the regions of the north, and to be the chief of the Yakṣās and
the Rākṣasās, two species of good and evil Genii.
[ 145 l
85 67 Pāvaka.-The God of fire. He is supposed to preside
over the South east quarter.
68 Vasus.-Eight of the first created Beings of Brahmā, the creator.
69 Meru.-The north pole of the terrestrial globe, fabled by the poets to be the
highest mountain in the world. It is sometimes, by way of pre-eminence, called Sumeru सुमेरु. It is remarkable that the word Meru signifies a centre or axis.
86 70 Bṛhaspati = बृहस्पति.- The preceptor of the Devas or Dews, the planet
Jupiter and Dies Javis.
- 71 Skanda.- Otherwise called Kârttikeya,
the general of the celestial armies.
(“Leaper” or “Attacker”)
72 Bhṛgu. One of the first created beings produced from the mind of Brahma.
- 73 monosyllable.- The mystic word or monosyllable Om! already explained.
74 Japa.-A silent repetition of the name of God.
75 Himalaya.-The chain of snowy mountains which divide India from Tartary, and
which, from the immense distance they may be seen, are supposed to be as high as
any upon the face of the globe.
- 76 Asvatta......:.The Peepal tree.
- 77 Chitraratha amongst Gandharvas.-The title of chief of the Gandharvas or
celestial choirs : the Gandharva of the painted chariot.
In the Mahabbarat is to be found a very entertaining story of a combat between
him and Arjun, wherein he is defeated; and, his
painted chariot being destroyed by a fiery arrow shot from the bow of his
opponent, he resolves to change his name to Dagdha-rath (Burnt chariot), or the
Gandharva of the burnt chariot.
- 78 Uccaiḥśrava, who arose with the Amrta from out the ocean, or the water of
life, from the ocean.-The story of churning the ocean for· what are called the
Cbowda Rattan, or fourteen jewels, is of such a curious nature, and, in some
parts bears such a wonderful affinity to Milton's description of the war in
heaven, that the Translator thinks it will afford the reader an agreeable
contrast to the subject: of this work, and serve as a further specimen of his
version of the Mababharat, from which both are extracted.
AN EPISODE FROM THE
MAHABHARAT,
Book I. CHAP, 15•
“THERE is a fair and stately mountain, and its name is Meru, a most exalted
mass of glory, reflecting the sunny rays from the splendid surface of its gilded
horns. It is clothed in gold, and is the respected haunt of Devas and Gandharvas.
It is inconceivable, and not to be encompassed by sinful man; and it is guarded
by dreadful serpents. Many celestial medicinal plants adorn its sides, and it
stands, piercing the heavens with its aspiring summit, a mighty hill
inaccessible even by the human mind! It is adorned with trees and pleasant
streams, and resoundeth with the delightful songs of various birds.
The Suras, and all the glorious hosts of heaven, having ascended to the summit
of this lofty mountain, sparkling with precious gems, and for eternal ages
raised, were fitting, in solemn synod, meditating the discovery of the Amrita,
or water of immortality. The Dev Narayana being also there, spoke unto Brahma,
whilst the Suras were thus consulting together, and said, "Let the ocean, as a
pot of milk, be churned by the united labour of the Suras and Asuras; and
when the mighty waters have been stirred up, the Amrta shall be found. Let
them collect together every medicinal herb and every precious thing, and let
them stir the ocean, and they shall discover the Amrta.
There is also another mighty mountain whose name is Mandar, and its rocky
summits are like towering clouds. It is cloathed in a net of the entangled
tendrils of the twining creeper, and resoundeth with the harmony of various
birds. Innumerable savage beasts infest its borders, and it is the respected
haunt of Kinnaras, Devas,and Apsasras. It standeth eleven thousand Yojanas above
the earth, and eleven thousand more below its surface.
As the united bands of Devas were unable to remove this mountain, they went
before Vishnu, who was sitting with Brahma, and addressed them in these words: "
Exert, O masters, your most superior wisdom to remove the mountain Mandar, and
employ your utmost power for our good.''
Vishnu and Brahma having said," It shall be according to your wish," he with the
lotus eye directed the King of Serpents to appear; and Ananta arose, and was
instructed in that work by Brahma, and commanded by Narayana to perform it.
Then Ananta, by his power, took up that king of mountains, together
[ 147 ]
with all its forests and every inhabitant thereof; and the Suras accompanied him
into the presence of the Ocean, whom they addressed, saying, “We will stir up
thy waters to obtain the Amrta." And the Lord of the waters replied- "Let me
also have a share, seeing I am to bear the violent in agitations that will be
caused by the whirling of the mountain." Then the Suras and the Asuras spoke
unto Kūrma-raj, the King of the Tortoises, upon the strand of the ocean, and
said-" My Lord is able to be the supporter of this mountain." The Tortoise
replied, " Be it so :" and it was placed upon his back.
So the mountain being set upon the back of the Tortoise, Indra began to whirl it
about as it were a machine. The mount Mandar served as a churn, and the serpent
Vasuki for the rope; and thus in former days did the Devas, the Asuras, and the
Danavas, begin to stir up the waters of the ocean for the discovery of the Amrta.
The mighty Asuras were employed on the side of the serpent's head, whilst all
the Suras assembled about his tail. Ananta, that dovereign Devas, stood near
Narayana.
They now pull forth the serpent's head repeatedly, and as often let it go;
whilst there issued from his mouth, thus violently drawing to and fro by the
Suras and Asuras, a continual stream of fire, and smoke, and wind; which
ascending in thick clouds replete with lightning, it began to rain down upon the
heavenly bands, who were already fatigued with their labour; whilst a shower of
flowers was shaken from the top of the mountain, covering the heads of all, both
Suras and Asuras In the mean time the roaring of the ocean, whilst violently
agitated with the whirling of the mountain Mandara by the Suras and Asuras, was
like the bellowing of a mighty cloud.-Thousands
of the various productions of the waters were torn to pieces by the mountain,
and confounded with the briny flood; and every specific being of the deep, and
all the inhabitants of the great abyss which is below the earth, were
annihilated; whilst, from the violent agitation of the mountain, the forest
trees were dashed against each other, and precipitated from its utmost height,
with all the birds thereon; from whose violent conflagration a raging fire was
produced, involving the whole mountain with smoke and flame, as with a dark blue
cloud, and the lightning's vivid flash. The lion and the retreating elephant are
overtaken by the devouring flames, and every vital being, and every specific
thing, are consumed in the general conflagration.
The raging flames, thus spreading destruction on all sides, were at length
quenched by a shower of cloud-borne water poured down by the immortal Indra.
And now a heterogeneous stream of the concocted juices of various trees and
plants ran down into the briny flood.
It was from this milk-like stream of juices produced from those trees and
plants, and a mixture of melted gold, that the Suras obtained their immortality.
The waters of the ocean now being assimilated with those juices, were con..
verted into milk, and from that milk a kind of butter was presently produced;
when the heavenly bands went again into the presence of Brahma, the granter of
boons, and addressed him, saying-" Except Narayanaa, every other " Sura and
Asura is fatigued with his labour, and still the Amrta doth not
appear; wherefore the churning of the ocean is at a stand." Then Brahma said
unto Narayana-" Endue them with recruited strength, for thou art their
support." And Narayana answered and said-"I will give fresh vigour to such
-as co-operate in the work. Let Mandara be whirled about, and the bed of the
ocean be kept steady."
When they heard the words of Narayana, they all returned again to the work, and
began to stir about with great force that butter of the ocean; when there
presently arose from out the troubled deep-first the moon, with a pleasing
countenance, shining with ten thousand beams of gentle light; next followed Srī,
the Goddess of fortune, whose seat is the white lily of the waters; then Sura-Devi,
the Goddess of wine, and the white horse called Uccaiḥśravas . And after these
there was produced, from the unctuous mass, the jewel Kustubha, that glorious
sparkling gem worn by Narayana on his breast.
To Pārijāta (Sanskrit: पारिजात), the tree of plenty, and Surabhi, the cow that
granted every heart's desire The moon, Sura-Devi, the Goddess Srī, and the
horse as swift as thought, instantly marched away towards the Devas, keeping in
the path of the sun.
Then the Deva Dhanvantari, in human shape, came forth, holding in his hand a
white vessel filled with the immortal juice Amrta. When the Asuras beheld these
wondrous things appear, they raised their tumultuous voices for the Amrta, and
each of them clamorously exclaimed-" This of right is "mine!" In the mean time
Irāvati, a mighty elephant, arose, now kept by the God
[ 149 1
of thunder; and as they continued to churn the ocean more than enough, that
deadly poison issued from its bed, burning like a raging fire, whose dreadful
fumes in a moment spread throughout the world, confounding the three regions of
the universe with its mortal stench; until Śiva, at the word of Brahma,
swallowed the fatal drug to save mankind; which remaining in the throat of that
sovereign Deva of magic form, from that time he hath been called Nīla-Kantha,
because his throat was stained bl ue.
When the Asuras beheld this miraculous deed, they became desperate, and the
Amrta and the Goddess Srī became the source of endless hatred.
Then Narayana assumed the character and person of Mohini Maya,the power of
enchantment, in a female form of wonderful beauty, and stood before the Asuras;
whose minds being fascinated by her presence, and deprived of reason, they
seized the Amrta, and gave it unto her.
The Asuras now clothe themselves in costly armor, and, seizing their various
weapons, rush on together to attack the Suras. In the meantime Narayana, in the
female form, having obtained the Amrta from the hands of their leader, the hosts
of Suras, during the tumult and confusion of the Asuras, drank of the living
water.
And it so fell out that whilst the Suras were quenching their thirst for im
mortality, Rāhu, an Asura, assumed the form of a Sura, and began to drink also.
And the water had but reached his throat, when the sun and moon, in friendship
to the Suras, discovered the deceit; and instantly Narayana cut off his head, as
he was drinking, with his splendid weapon Chakra. And the gigantic head of the
Asura, emblem of a mountain's summit, being thus separated from his body by the
Cbakra's edge, bounded into the heavens with a dreadful cry, whilst his
ponderous trunk fell cleaving the ground asunder, and shaking the whole earth
unto its foundation, with all its islands, rocks, and forests. And from that
time the head of Rāhu resolved an eternal enmity, and continueth, even unto this
day, at times to seize upon the sun and moon.
Now Narayana, having quitted the female figure he had assumed, began to disturb
the Asuras with sundry celestial weapons; and from that instant a dreadful
battle was commenced , on the ocean's briny strand and, between the Asuras and
the Suras. Innumerable sharp and missile weapons were hurled, and thousands of
piercing darts and battle-axes. fell on all sides. The Asuras vomit blood from
the wounds of the Chakra, and fall upon the ground
[ 150 ]
pierced by the sword, the spear, and spiked club.-Heads, glittering with
polished gold, divided by the Patti’s blade, drop incessantly; and mangled bo•
dies, wallowing in their gore, lay like fragments of mighty rocks sparkling
with gems and precious ores. Millions of sighs and groans arise on every side;
and the sun is overcast with blood, as they clash their arms, and wound each
other with their dreadful instruments of destruction.
Now the battle's fought with the iron-spiked club, and, as they close, with
clenched fist; and the din of war ascendeth to the heavens! They cry " Pursue !
strike ! fell to the ground!" so that a horrid and tumultuous noise is heard on
all sides.
In the midst of chis dreadful hurry and confusion of the fight, Nara and
Narayana entered the field together. Narayana beholding a celestial bow in the
hand of Nara, it reminded him of his Chakra, the destroyer of the Asuras. The
faithful weapon, by name Sudarsan, ready at the mind's call, flew down from
heaven with direct and refulgent speed, beautiful, yet terrible to behold.
And being arrived, glowing like the sacrificial flame, and spreading terror
around, Narayana, with his right arm formed like the elephantine trunk, hurled
forth the ponderous orb, the speedy messenger, and glorious ruin of hostile
towns; who, raging like the final all-destroying fire, shot bounding with
desolating force, killing thousands of the Asuras in his rapid flight, burning
and involving, like the lambent flame, and cutting down all that would oppose
him. Anon he climbeth the heavens, and now again darteth into the field like a
Piśāca to feast in blood.
Now the dauntless Asuras strive with repeated strength to cru1h the Suras with
rocks and mountains, which, hurled in vast numbers into the heavens, appeared
like scattered clouds, and fell,with all the trees thereon, in millions of
fear-exciting torrents, striking violently against each other with a mighty
noise; and in their fall the earth, with all its fields and forests, is driven
from its foundation : they thunder furiously at each other as they roll along
the field, and spend their strength in mutual conflict.
Now Nara, feeing the Suras overwhelmed with fear, filled up the path to heaven
with flowers of golden-headed arrows, and split the mountain sum mits with his
unerring shafts; and the Asuras, finding themselves again fore pressed by the
Suras, precipitately flee: some rush headlong into the briny waters of the
ocean, and others hide themselves within the bowels of the earth.
[ 151 J
The rage of the glorious Chakra, Sudarsansa, which for a while burnt like the
oil-fed fire, now grew cool, and he retired into the heavens from whence he
came. And the Suras having obtained the victory, he mountain Mnndar was carried
back to its former station with great respect; whilst the waters also retired,
filling the firmament and the heavens with their dreadful roarings.
The Suras guarded the Amrita with great care, and rejoiced exceedingly because
of their success; and Indra, with all his immortal bands, gave the water of life
unto Narayana, to keep it for their use."
Page 86 Index #79 Kāma-dhuk.-One of the names of the Cow of Plenty, produced in
churning the ocean.
80 Ananta amongst the Nags.-The Nags are serpents fabled with many heads. Ananta fignifies eternal, and may be an emblem of eternity. There are some very
wonderful stories told of these serpents in the original from which these
Dialogues are taken.
- 81Varun.-The God of the Ocean.
#82 Yama.-The judge of hell.
83 Prahalād.-An evil spirit who was converted by Krishna.
84 Vinateya- Garuda.-A bird fabled to be of wonderful aize, and the
vehicle of Vishnu, the Deity in his preserving quality, and who is otherwise
called Garudar.
- #85 Makar.-A fish represented with a long snout something like the
proboscis of an elephant; and the sign Capricornus.
Page 87
#86 Ganga.-The Ganges. When the river was first conducted from its source, by a
Prince whose name was Bhagīrathi, towards the ocean, it so fell out that Jabnoo
was at his devotions at the mouth of the Mahanadu, at a place now called
Navobgunge.-The Goddess in
passing swept away the utensils for his ablutions, which so enraged him, that he
drank up her stream; but after a while his anger was appeased, and he let her
escape from an incision made in his thigh; and from this circumstance of her
second birth, she was afterwards called Jahnavee, or the offspring of Jahnoo
(sic).
- 87 Dwandva.-A term in grammar, used where many nouns are put
[ 152 ]
together without a copulative, and the case subjoined to the last only, which is
a mode of composition much admired by the Poets.
88 Margasirasa.-The month beginning with the middle of October, when the
periodical rains have subsided, and the excessive heats are abated.
89 Kusumākara (flower-bearer).-The season of flowers, otherwise called Vasant.
The two months between the middle of March and May.-The Hindus divide the year
into six Ritu, or seasons, of two months each, which are thus denominated:
śiśira.-Dewy season.
hemanta.-Cold season (Winter)
vasanta.-Mild Spring season .
grīṣma.- Hot season.
varṣā.-Rainy season.
śarad.-Breaking (up of the rains). Autumn
vasanta-,"spring"; grīṣma-,"the hot season"; varṣā-s (f. pluralNominal
verb ),"the rainy season" śarad-,"autumn"; hemanta-,"winter";and śiśira-,"the
cool season";the seasons are not unfrequently personified, addressed
in mantra-s, and worshipped by libations)
- 90 vasudevaḥ.-The father of Krishna in his incarnation.
91 Vyāsa.-The reputed author or compiler of the Mababharat.
92 Bards.-The Poets of India, like the Bards of Britain, were re vered as
Saints and Prophets.
93 Uśanā.-Otherwise called śukra, esteemed the preceptor of the evil
spirits; the planet Venus, and dies Veneris.
Page 89
#94 Aśvin and Kumāra.-Reputed the twin offsprings of the Sun, and physcians of
the Gods.
91 #95 Uragas.--Who crawl upon their b: ellies :-serpents.
96 Chakra.-A kind of d!fcus with a fharp edge, hurled in battle from the point
of the fore-finger, for which there is a hole in the centre. -See the story of
the churning of the ocean, p. 146.
97 Puruṣah.-Already explained.
93 98 Except thyself.-'Thyself should include his brothers, who were also
saved.
- 99 the immediate agent.-The inftrument to execute the decree of Fate.
96 100 T'hy four-armed farm.-In which the Deity is usually represented in his
incarnations, the images of which Arjun had been accustomed to behold without
emotion.
100 101 Amṛta.-The water of immortality, the Ambrosia of the Hindu Gods.-See the
story of churning the ocean, p. 146.
Page. No. 102
[153 ]
102
102 And a constant attention to birth &c.-To look upon them as evils.
- 103
Exemption from attachments and affection, &c.-i. e. That no attachments
or affections should draw a man from the exercise of his devotion; or that all
worldly cares must be abandoned for the attainment of that wisdom which is to
free the soul from future birth.
104 The superior spirit.-God, the universal soul.
103 105 Sat(ens) nor Asat(non ens).-The opposite meanings of these two words
render this passage peculiarly mysterious; and even the commentators differ
about their true signification. The most rational interpretation of them is,
that the Deity in his works is a substance, or a material Being, and in his
essence immaterial; but as he is but one, he cannot positively be denominated
either one or the other.
104 106 are the cause which operated in the birth of the Puruṣa, & c.-That is,
The influence of the three Guṇa -, or qualities, over the human mind, not only
determines the future birth of the soul, but into what rank of beings it shall
transmigrate; for to transmigrate it is doomed, until it hath attained a degree
of wisdom more powerful than the influence of those qualities.
113 107 Prāṇa and Apāna.-The breathing spirit, and the spirit which acteth
in the bowels to expel the faeces.
- 108 which is of four kinds.-Either to be masticated with the teeth, lapped
in with the tongue, sucked in by the lips, or imbibed by the throat.
- 109 The Vedanta.-A metaphysical treatise on the nature of God, which teacheth that matter .is a mere delusion, the supposed author of which is Vyasa.
110 Kūṭastha , or he who standeth on the pinnacle.-The divine essence, which,
according to the opinion of some of their philosophers, is without quality, and
fitteth aloof inactive.
- 111 There is another Puruṣa, &c. &c.- This, and the following period,are so
full of mystery, that the Translator despairs of revealing it to the
satisfaction of the reader. Perhaps Krishna only means to colkct into one view
the several appellations Kūṭastha, Puruṣah, Paramātma, Īśvara, and Puruṣottama,
by which the Deity is
[ 154 .]
described by as many different theologies, in order to expose their various
opinions respecting his nature, and unite them in one.
114 112 Śāstra.-Any book of Divine authority.
120 113 .Zeal, in the vulgar acceptation of the word signifies the voluntary
infliction of pain, the modes of doing which, as practiced to this day by the
zealots of India, are as various as they are horrible and aston- ishing.
Krishna, by pointing out what true zeal is, tacitly condemns those extravagant
mortifications of the flesh.
124 114 The bards conceive &c.-The meaning of this period is too evident to
require a note. But, in order to shew that the commentators of India are not
less fond of searching for mystery, and wandering from the simple path of
their author into a labyrinth of scholastic jargon, than some of those of more
enlightened nations, who for ages have been labouring to entangle the plain
unerring clew of our holy religion, the Translator, in this place, will intrude
the following literal version of the comment written upon it by one Sreedhar
Swami, whose notes upon the whole are held in as much esteem as the text, which
at this day, they say, is unintelligible without them. It can seldom happen that
a com mentator is inspired with the same train of thought and arrange ment of
ideas as the author whose sentiments he presumes to ex pound, especially in
metaphysical works. The Translator hath seen a comment, by a zealous Persian,
upon the wanton odes of their favorite Poet Hafiz, wherein every obscene
allusion is sublimated into a divine mystery, and the host and the tavern are
as ingenuity metamorphosed into their Prophet and his holy temple.
NOTE BY SREE-DHAR SWAMI,
TO THE PASSAGE ABOVE ALLUDED TO.
" The Bards, & c.- The Vedas say-"Let him who longeth for children make
offerings. Let him who songeth for heaven make offerings, &c. &c." The Bards
understand Saṁnyāsa to be a forsaking, that is, a total abandonment, of such
works as
[ 155 ]
are performed for the accomplishment of a wish, such works as care bound with
the cord of desire. The Pandits know, that is, they understand, Saṁnyāsa to
imply also a forsaking of all cc wo_ks together with all their fruits. The
disquisitors, that is, such as expound or make clear, call Tyāga forsaking of
the fruit only of every work that is desirable, whether such as are ordained to
be performed constantly, or only at stated periods; and not a forsaking of the
work itself. But how can there be a forsaking of the fruit of such constant and
stated works as have no particular fruit or reward annexed to them ? The
forsaking of a barren woman's child cannot be conceived.-It is said-- Although
one who longeth for heaven, or for a store of cattle, &c. should all his life
perform the ceremonies which are called Sandyā, or feed the fire upon the altar,
and in these and the like ceremonies, no particular reward has ever been heard
of; yet whilst the law is unable to engage a provident and wary man in a work
where no human advantage is to be seen, at, the same time it ordaineth that even
he who hath conquered the universe, &c. shall perform sacrifices; still for
these, and the like religious duties, it hath appointed some general re ward.
But it is the opinion of Guru, that the law intended these works merely for its
own accomplishment. Such a tenet is unworthy of notice, because of the
difficulty of obliging men to pay attention to those works.- It is also said,
that there is a reward annexed to - the general and particular duties;
that they who perform them shall become inhabitants of the Puniya-lok; that by
works the Pitṛ-lok is to be attained; that by good works crimes are done away,
&c. &c. Wherefore it is properly said,-that they call Tyaga a forsaking of the
fruits of every action.
126 115 Fi v e agents, &c.- The five agents here implied, are probably the
soul, as supervisor; the mind, as actor or director; the organs, as
implements,&c.
,·
- 116 Nor is he bound thereby.- He is not confined to mortal birth.
117 Jñāna, Jñeya, and Parijñātā.-Wisdom, the object of wisdom, and the
superintending spirit.
[ 156 ]
130 118 Brahman is a derivative from the word Brahm, the Deity, and signifies a Theologist or Divine.
119 Kṣatriya is der1ved from !he word Kṣetra, land.
120 Vaiśya, and Śūdrā of doubtful
origin.
135 121 favor of Vyāsa who had endued Sanjaya, with an omniscient and prophetic
spirit, by which he might be enabled to recount all the circumftances of the war
to the blind Dhṛitarāshṭra.
- 122 Hari.-One of the names of the Deity.
F I N I
S.