The Bhagavad Gita

Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.
I am the beginning, middle, and end of creation.
Set thy heart upon thy work but never its reward.
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.
Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.
You are only entitled to the action, never to its fruits.
For him who has no concentration, there is no tranquility.
I continue to act, but I am not driven by any need of my own.
I am time, the destroyer of all; I have come to consume the world.
All the scriptures lead to me; I am their author and their wisdom.
Even the wise are confused about what is action and what is inaction.
With a drop of my energy I enter the earth and support all creatures.
Strive to still your thoughts. Make your mind one-pointed in meditation.
The wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought for themselves.
You are what you believe in. You become that which you believe you can become.
I am death, which overcomes all, and the source of all beings still to be born.
One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men.
You should perform your duty with a view to guide people and for universal welfare.
It is better to strive in one’s own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another.
I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to reestablish dharma.
Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path.
The spirit is beyond destruction. No one can bring an end to spirit which is everlasting.
Pleasure from the senses seems like nectar at first, but it is bitter as poison in the end.
You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction.
No one who does good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come.
As the heat of a fire reduces wood to ashes, the fire of knowledge burns to ashes all karma.
The immature think that knowledge and action are different, but the wise see them as the same.
Through selfless service, you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires.
Just remember that I am, and that I support the entire cosmos with only a fragment of my being.
You and I have passed through many births, Arjuna. You have forgotten, but I remember them all.
When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place.
He who sees Me everywhere, and sees everything in Me, I am not lost to him, nor is he lost to me.
Calmness, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, and purity: these are the disciplines of the mind.
There are three gates to this self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Renounce these three.
Every creature in the universe is subject to rebirth, Arjuna, except the one who is united with me.
I am heat; I give and withhold the rain. I am immortality and I am death; I am what is and what is not.
Sever the ignorant doubt in your heart with the sword of self-knowledge. Observe your discipline, arise.
There is more happiness in doing one’s own (path) without excellence than in doing another’s (path) well.
As the kindled fire consumes the fuel, so in the flame of wisdom the embers of action are burnt to ashes.
Faithful, intent, his senses subdued, he gains knowledge; gaining knowledge, he soon finds perfect peace.
No purifier equals knowledge, and in time the man of perfect discipline discovers this in his own spirit.
You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions.
Let the motive be in the deed and not in the event. Be not one whose motive for action is the hope of reward.
Entering the earth I support all beings with My energy; becoming the sap-giving moon I nourish all the plants.
Because the fool wants to become God, He never finds him. The master is already God, Without ever wishing to be.
A Karma-yogi performs action by body, mind, intellect, and senses, without attachment, only for self-purification.
The brightness of the sun, which lights up the world, the brightness of the moon and of fire – these are my glory.
The offering of wisdom is better than any material offering, Arjuna; for the goal of all work is spiritual wisdom.
Work for work’s sake, not for yourself. Act but do not be attached to your actions. Be in the world, but not of it.
The actions of a great man are an inspiration for others. Whatever he does becomes a standard for others to follow.
Even if you were the most sinful of sinners, Arjuna, you could cross beyond all sin by the raft of spiritual wisdom.
It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.
Those who always practice this teaching of Mine, with faith and free from cavil, are freed from the bondage of Karma.
As you put on fresh new clothes and take off those you’ve worn, You’ll replace your body with a fresh one, newly born.
The embodied soul is eternal in existence, indestructible, and infinite, only the material body is factually perishable.
Death is as sure for that which is born, as birth is for that which is dead. Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable.
The deluded ones, who restrain their organs of action but mentally dwell upon the sense enjoyment, are called hypocrites.
Death is as sure for that which is born, as birth is for that which is dead. Therefore, grieve not for what is inevitable.
For the senses wander, and when one lets the mind follow them, it carries wisdom away like a windblown ship on the waters.
The self-controlled soul, who moves amongst sense objects, free from either attachment or repulsion, he wins eternal Peace.
Fill your mind with me; love me; serve me; worship me always. Seeking me in your heart, you will at last be united with me.
The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought for themselves.
Whatever the state of being that a man may focus upon at the end, when he leaves his body, to that state of being he will go.
Whatever you do, make it an offering to me—the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering.
This divine illusion of Mine, caused by the qualities, is hard to pierce; they who come to Me, they cross over this illusion.
What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. The standards such people create will be followed by the whole world.
If you perform the sacrifice of doing your duty, you do not have to do anything else. Devoted to duty, man attains perfection.
The peace of God is with them whose mind and soul are in harmony, who are free from desire and wrath, who know their own soul.
All works are being done by the energy and power of nature, but due to delusion of ego people assume themselves to be the doer.
When one’s mind dwells on the objects of Senses, fondness for them grows on him, from fondness comes desire, from desire anger.
Actions do not cling to me because I am not attached to their results. Those who understand this and practice it live in freedom.
To those who have conquered themselves, the will is a friend. But it is the enemy of those who have not found the Self within them.
As the soul experiences in this body childhood, youth, and old age, so also it acquires another body; the sage in this is not deluded.
He who has faith has wisdom; Who lives in self-harmony, Whose faith is his life; And he who finds wisdom, Soon finds the peace Supreme.
When a man dwells on the objects of sense, he creates an attraction for them; attraction develops into desire, and desire breeds anger.
Approach those who have realized the purpose of life and question them with reverence and devotion; they will instruct you in this wisdom.
That which seems like poison at first, but tastes like nectar in the end – this is the joy of sattva, born of a mind at peace with itself.
Always perform your duty efficiently and without attachment to the results, because by doing work without attachment one attains the Supreme.
They live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and sense-craving tormenting the heart.
Blessed is the human birth; even the dwellers in heaven desire this birth; for true knowledge and pure love may be attained only by a human being.
A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.
That one is dear to me who runs not after the pleasant or away from the painful, grieves not, lusts not, but lets things come and go as they happen.
The soul who meditates on the Self is content to serve the Self and rests satisfied within the Self; there remains nothing more for him to accomplish.
The one who has faith, and is sincere, and has mastery over the senses, gains this knowledge. Having gained this, one at once attains the supreme peace.
Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps, and whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.
My true being is unborn and changeless. I am the Lord who dwells in every creature. Through the power of my own maya, I manifest myself in a finite form.
On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.
Those who possess this wisdom have equal regard for all. They see the same Self in a spiritual aspirant and an outcaste, in an elephant, a cow, and a dog.
Free from anger and selfish desire, unified in mind, those who follow the path of yoga and realize the Self are established forever in that supreme state.
I am the ritual and the sacrifice; I am true medicine and the mantram. I am the offering and the fire which consumes it, and the one to whom it is offered.
One who has control over the mind is tranquil in heat and cold, in pleasure and pain, and in honor and dishonor; and is ever steadfast with the Supreme Self.
Having hands and feet everywhere; having eyes, head, and face everywhere; having ears everywhere; the creator exists in the creation by pervading everything.
Valour, glory, firmness, skill, generosity, steadiness in battle and ability to rule – these constitute the duty of a soldier. They flow from his own nature.
Delusion arises from anger. The mind is bewildered by delusion. Reasoning is destroyed when the mind is bewildered. One falls down when reasoning is destroyed.
One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus is untouched by water.
Let a man lift himself by his own self alone, let him not lower himself; for this self alone is the friend of oneself and this self alone is the enemy of oneself.
Anger leads to bewilderment, bewilderment to loss of memory of true Self, and by that intelligence is destroyed, and with the destruction of intelligence he perishes.
When a person is devoted to something with complete faith, I unify his faith in that. Then, when his faith his completely unified, he gains the object of his devotion.
One who neither rejoices nor grieves, neither likes nor dislikes, who has renounced both the good and the evil, and who is full of devotion, such a person is dear to Me.
When a man dwells on the pleasure of sense, attraction for them arises in him. From attraction arises desire, the lust of possession, and this leads to passion, to anger.
All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?
As Prince Arjuna sought answers to his questions and disillusionment about the war, Krishna has provided the light through profound advice filled with wisdom and inspiration.
At the beginning of time I declared two paths for the pure heart: jnana yoga, the contemplative path of spiritual wisdom, and karma yoga, the active path of selfless service.
The wise see that there is action in the midst of inaction and inaction in the midst of action. Their consciousness is unified, and every act is done with complete awareness.
There are two ways of passing from this world – one in light and one in darkness. When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns.
Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.
The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument.
Delivered from selfish attachment, fear, and anger, filled with me, surrendering themselves to me, purified in the fire of my being, many have reached the state of unity in me.
From passion comes confusion of mind, then loss of remembrance, the forgetting of duty. From this loss comes the ruin of reason, and the ruin of reason leads man to destruction.
Whenever dharma declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth. I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to reestablish dharma.
Reshape yourself through the power of your will; never let yourself be degraded by self-will. The will is the only friend of the Self, and the will is the only enemy of the Self.
In this world three gates lead to hell — the gates of passion, anger and greed. Released from these three qualities one can succeed in attaining salvation and reaching the highest goal.
The Lord dwells in the hearts of all creatures and whirls them round upon the wheel of maya. Run to him for refuge with all your strength, and peace profound will be yours through his grace.
It is better to strive in one’s own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another. Nothing is ever lost in following one’s own dharma. But competition in another’s dharma breeds fear and insecurity.
The egoistic man thinks, I am the doer. In reality Prakriti does everything. A Jnani who remains as a silent witness and who knows the essence of the division of the quality and functions is not bound.
The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. There was never a time when you and I and all the kings gathered here have not existed and nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist.
Your right is only to perform your duty. You do not have right to expect any consequences there of.You should neither be motivated by the fruits of your action, nor should they encourage you to be inactive.
We all have been for all time…and we shall be for all time…As the Spirit of our mortal body wanders on in childhood, and youth and old age, the Spirit wanders on to a new body: of this the sage has no doubts.
Those who are interested in self-realization, in terms of mind and sense control, offer the functions of all the senses, as well as the vital force (breath), as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind.
He who wherever he goes is attached to no person and to no place by ties of flesh; who accepts good and evil alike, neither welcoming the one nor shrinking from the other – take it that such a one has attained Perfection.
Seek refuge in the attitude of detachment and you will amass the wealth of spiritual awareness. The one who is motivated only by the desire for the fruits of their action, and anxious about the results, is miserable indeed.
The meaning of Karma is in the intention. The intention behind action is what matters. Those who are motivated only by desire for the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do.
Those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.
Your enemies will speak many unmentionable words and scorn your ability. What could be more painful than this? You will go to heaven if killed, or you will enjoy the earth if victorious. Therefore, get up with a determination to fight, O Arjuna.
I am ever present to those who have realized me in every creature. Seeing all life as my manifestation, they are never separated from me. They worship me in the hearts of all, and all their actions proceed from me. Wherever they may live, they abide in me.
Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never; Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams! Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit forever; Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems.
The senses are higher than the body, the mind higher than the senses; above the mind is the intellect, and above the intellect is the Atman. Thus, knowing that which is supreme, let the Atman rule the ego. Use your mighty arms to slay the fierce enemy that is selfish desire.
I am the goal of life, the Lord and support of all, the inner witness, the abode of all. I am the only refuge, the one true friend; I am the beginning, the staying, and the end of creation; I am the womb and the eternal seed. I am heat; I give and withhold the rain. I am immortality and I am death; I am what is and what is not.
When a man dwells on the pleasure of sense, attraction for them arises in him. From attraction arises desire, the lust of possession, and this leads to passion, to anger. From passion comes confusion of mind, then loss of remembrance, the forgetting of duty. From this loss comes the ruin of reason, and the ruin of reason leads man to destruction.
It is both near and far, both within and without every creature; it moves and is unmoving. In its subtlety it is beyond comprehension. It is invisible, yet appears divided in separate creatures. Know it to be the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer. Dwelling in every heart, it is beyond darkness. It is called the light of the lights, the object and goal of knowledge, and knowledge itself.
Salvation of the Dawn Look to this day, For it is life, The very life of life. In its brief course lie all the truths And realities of your existence; The bliss of growth The glory of action, and The splendor of beauty; For yesterday is but a dream And tomorrow is only a vision, But today well lived makes Every yesterday a dream of happiness And every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day. Such is the salvation of the dawn.
You have the right to work, but for the work’s sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either. Perform every action with you heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even-tempered in success and failure: for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga. Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahma. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.
Every selfless act, Arjuna, is born from Brahman, the eternal, infinite Godhead. He is present in every act of service. All life turns on this law, O Arjuna. Whoever violates it, indulging his senses for his own pleasure and ignoring the needs of others, has wasted his life. But those who realize he Self are always satisfied. Having found the source of joy and fulfillment, they no longer seek happiness from the external world. They have nothing to gain or lose by any action; neither people nor things can affect their security. Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.

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The Bhagavad Gita

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