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The Path of Knowledge- Part
2
37. "O
Kaunteya, if you are killed ( in the battle) you will ascend to
heaven. On the contrary if you win the war you will enjoy the
comforts of earthly kingdom. Therefore get up and fight with
determination.
38. "With
equanimity towards happiness and sorrow, gain and loss, victory and
defeat , fight. This way you will not incur any sin.
39. "So far I
have described to you the knowledge of Samkhya yoga. Now listen O
Partha, to that (path) which is suitable to your intelligence by
which you can be released from the bondage of karma.
40. "There is
no loss in this effort, no reverse effect. Even a small effort
releases you from the fear of death.
41. "Those
whose intellect is turned inward into their inner selves, have only
one aim in this world, O Kurunandana, while the intelligence of
those who are not engaged thus run in many directions.
42. "Men of
superficial knowledge who take delight in the debate of the Vedas
using flowery words, say that there is nothing else
besides.
43. "Hearts
filled with desires, they engage in many specific religious with a
desire to gain heavenly life, good birth and attainment of sensuous
life and material wealth.
44. "Their
attachment to worldly pleasures and material wealth takes away their
intelligence and they cannot achieve mental discipline.
45. "The Vedas
speak of the three gunas (qualities). Transcend the three gunas and
go beyond the dualities, ever established in sattva( purity),
indifferent to personal welfare and ever established in the
self.
46. "Of what
use water in great reservoir to a man who has well water with him?
Similarly of what use knowledge of all the Vedas to a person who has
gained the knowledge of Brahman ?
47. "You have
a right to perform your assigned duty, but not to the results of
your actions at any time. Let there be no desire in you for the
fruits of your actions. Nor should you ever get attached to inaction
or non-performance of duty.
48.
"Established in (karma) Yoga, do your duties O Arjuna sacrificing
all attachment, with the same attitude towards success and failure.
Equanimity of mind in all situations is called yoga.
49. "Actions
that bind are far inferior to actions that are performed with
equanimity of mind . Therefore O Dhananjaya, take refuge in Buddhi
yoga (equanimity of mind). Only the wretched yearn for the fruits of
their actions.
50. "The yogi
of equal mindedness can get rid of both his good and bad gains in
this very life. Therefore engage yourself in this yoga , for yoga is
but skill in performing actions.
51.
"Performing activities with equanimity of mind, leaving aside the
concern for the results, great men are liberated for ever from the
bonds of birth and death and go beyond the world of
illusions.
52. "When your
intelligence crosses the mire of illusions, you will become
disinterested in what is heard and what is yet be heard.
53. "When your
mind remains impervious to the conflicting statements of the Vedas
and becomes stable and fixed in samadhi (absorbed in the self), you
have then achieved the perfect state of buddhi yoga.
54. Arjuna
asked," He who is established firmly in the equanimity of his mind
(samadhi) and has attained skill in the stability of mind
(sthithapragna)- what is his language? How does he speak and how
does he sit and walk?
55. "Said Lord
Supreme like this," When a person gives up all the desires in his
waking mind and when his self is turned inward and satisfied within
itself, at that time he is said to be a 'sthithapragna' (one who is
stabilized in intelligence).
56.
"Undisturbed when there is adversity, indifferent to happiness, free
from attachment, fear and anger, he is called a sage of stable
mind.
57. "Who is
everywhere free from relationships, who does not praise or loathe
favorable or unfavorable circumstances, his mind is
stabilized.
58. "He who
can withdraw his senses completely from the sense objects the way a
tortoise withdraws its limbs , his intelligence is firmly
established.
59. "Sense
object cease to torment him who practices abstention, although the
taste for them still remains in his consciousness. Even that feeling
will also disappear completely when he experiences the Supreme
State.
60. "The sense
forcibly throw out of balance even the mind of a man who has
complete knowledge of discrimination and is trying his best to
control them.
61. "Therefore
he who subjugates all his senses by keeping them firmly under his
full control, and seated properly meditates upon Me, his
intelligence is stabilized.
62. "By
constantly thinking of sense objects, one develops attachment with
them. From attachment is born desire and from desire comes
anger.
63. "From
anger develops delusion, from delusion comes confusion of memory,
from confusion of memory loss of intelligence and when intelligence
is lost, the breath of life is also lost.
64. "But a man
whose mind is under control, even if moving among the sense objects,
as his senses are also under his control, he is freed from passion
and anger and attains Divine Mercy.
65. "On
achieving God's mercy, all his suffering is destroyed and he becomes
cheerful. In that cheerful state his buddhi (intelligence) is
sufficiently established.
66. "(Without
God's mercy) there cannot be intelligence or happiness. And the one
who is not established in peace, where is happiness for
him?
67. "The
senses certainly drive away the intelligence of a person whose mind
is constantly engaged even if on only one of the roaming senses,
just as the winds blow away a boat floating on the
waters.
68. "Therefore
O mighty armed Arjuna, when the senses are controlled from all
directions from the sense objects, his intelligence is firmly
established.
69. "The state
which is considered as night (unknown) by all the beings is a state
of enlightenment for the awakened soul but the state in which all
beings think they are awake is perceived as night by enlightened
seer.
70. "As the
ocean which is though full of water remains unagitated when the
river waters continue to flow into it, the awakened soul remain
undisturbed to the stream of desires flowing into him. Not him who
is desirous of fulfilling his desires.
71. "He who
gives up all his desires and lives without the awareness of any
need, without any sense of ownership and egoism, he attains
peace.
72. "This is the state of
realization, O Partha, after achieving which one is not deluded.
At the time of death if one remains in this
state of consciousness one achieves the state of Brahma nirvana
(the state of Supreme realization.)
Thus ends the
second chapter named Yoga of Knowledge in the Upanishad of the
divine Bhagavad-Gita , the knowledge of the Absolute, the yogic
scripture, and the debate between Arjuna and Lord
Krishna.
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