ARJUNA questioned :
"O Janardana ! Thou Final Goal-
Solicited by those who seek the Highest End !
If thou deemst that disciplined intelligence,
Free from the threefold attributes
Within the bounds of time and space,
Is loftier than Karma-action,
Why then dost Thou, Keshava !
Controller of Creator Brahma and Destroyer Rudra !
Prompts me to engage in this terrific war ?
The advice Thou hast given me
Seems misleading and ambiguous,
Not because Thou, my Lord and Friend, doth mean
it so,
But to my limited intelligence it appears so.
Tell Thou me therefore finally
What path is good for me.
Somewhere Karma-Yoga is the choice,
Socio-religious duties or fruitive acts ;
Again Thou hast advised me
On the selfless discharge of my duties
Or Niskama Karma-Yoga :
Thou hast also told me of the concentration
Of the mind and meditation, Yoga,
And how intelligence may be applied
And aimed at Brahman, Jnana-Yoga.
Above all Thou hast pointed out to me
How the relationship of loving service
Is awakened when we realise the true
Nature of the pure soul and the Supreme Soul
By following the path of pure devotion.
BEWILDERED, what I understood is this :
Sattwika-duty ranks above the Rajas-duty,
Yet is inferior in wisdom;
But Bhakti which transcends the attributes
Of limited phenomena, to all these is superior.
If I am as yet unfit for this,
How may I follow Sattwika-Jnana,
And discard the yoke of worldly bondage ?
Those who are intent on action
Limited by mundane time and space
Are best advised to follow Karma;
They who seek emancipation from such bondage,
Should Jnana-Yoga choose ;
While Bhakti-Yoga is the only path
For those who earnestly desire
Eternal union with Divinity
In loving service to the Personality of God,
Which service is the innate and normal function
Of every pure soul.
Tell me, therefore, Krishna,
What course is best for me."
THE Blessed Lord replied :
"What I have said before
Does not imply that either Karma or Sankhya-Yoga
Can of itself lead to salvation or self-realisation.
There is no second path but Bhakti to that end.
In this pursuit of Bhakti,
Aspirants of two kinds appear.
The wise are known as "Sankhyas"
And those whose hearts are purified
Ascend the path of abstract knowledge
And steadfastly adhere to Jnana-Yoga.
But those whose hearts are not so purified
And are incapable of rising above empiric knowledge,
Are known as Karma-Yogins,
Their tendency is normally directed
To the path of selfless actions,
The fruits of which they dedicate
To Me, the Sole Divine Recipient.
THE path of selfless action
Which they consecrate to God
Leads to attainment of pure knowledge
Which, when cherished in a sinless heart
Helps them to realise the nature
Of the unalloyed soul and Over-soul,
And ultimately reach the Realm
Of unalloyed Devotion.
Verily the process is but one,
Varying according to aspirants' aptitudes
At diverse stages of advancement
Towards the Final Goal.
Karmins do purify their hearts by selfless Karma-
And, thus purified, ascend the plane of Jnana.
Jnana can unfetter from the bonds
Of time and space, when pure devotion
Leads them to the final aim :
Endless, ageless bond that binds
All individuals to the Supreme-
The Fountain-head of all things sentient and
insentient.
"This", said Krishna to Arjuna,
"The essence of My Speech".
THAT stage of perfect selflessness,
When all life's fruits and actions become
offerings to God,
Can be attained by faithfull discharge of thy duties
As laid down in the Scriptures.
Neglect of spiritual Ordinace
Swiftly defiles the heart,
And a heart impure is, from the perfect goal,
debarred
Setting at naught the codified injunctions of the
Scriptures,
They who perform the wordly duties
Forced upon them by the qualities of Maya,
Are men of impure heart.
They should observe most faithfully
The duties which the Scriptures have ordained,
That they may cleanse their hearts of all impurity.
Of what avail for him whose heart is thus impure
To try to curb his fleshy senses ?
He who controls his fleshy organs,
Mentally enjoys phenomena by means of spurious
meditation
And such an one is but a hypocrite.
He whose senses have been controlled
And has engaged his fleshy senses in conformity
With the duties of domestic life,
Without attachment to it,
Stands far superior to such a hypocrite.
An undeserving novice should accept
The course of action, rather than become
Inactive by neglect of duties.
As the soul and body cannot be preserved
Except by action, how can relief from Karma then
be possible ?
Therefore, leaving aside all the fruitive acts,
Purify thy mind by doing daily duties
Such as fighting, governing and prayer.
Thus wilt thou reach the plane of pure intelligence
Whence thou shalt finally attain
The path of true devotion that will lead thee
To an understanding of thine innermost self.
CONSECRATING all the fruits
Resulting from thy selfless Karma
To Godhead Hari, is called Yajna.
All forms of Karma done
With motives other than Yajna
Are only ties of bonfage in this world,
Proceeding fruitive acts.
Thus, for the satisfaction of Hari,
The Lord of all sacrificial rites,
Act, thou, son of Kunti ! nor desire thou
To enjoy thine action's fruits.
Deeds that are shackled with desires
Even when offered to the Lord, God of all,
Are but a source of bondage.
Disinterested acts are helpfull to the progress
And smooth the path that ultimately leads
To real devotion.
HE of the impure heart
Must still perform unselfish actions ;
He must not cease to act,
For such cessation has no inherent virtue.
If selfless actions be impossible to him,
He may yet offer his action's fruits to God
Expecting the fulfilment of his hearts desires.
But let him beware of welcoming Akarma and
Vikarma
Denying the injuctions of the Scriptures.
In the Adi-Sarga or the Primitive Creation
After creating mankind as his progeny
Brahma said unto them :
Thrive ye step by step by means of this same
Yajna ;
May this Yajna give ye your desired end !
May your hearts be purified
And your bodies nourished by this Yajna.
It shall lead you to eternal liberation.
MAY you please the gods with this same Yajna
And they being pleased with thee
Bless thee with thy desired boons
And give thee happiness thereby.
May this mutual satisfaction bring thee
To a knowledge of thy real self.
He who enjoys his food and drink,
Produced and given by the gods
And does not offer them
By way Yajna, sacrificial rites,
To them, is reckoned as a thief.
Learn ye the sacrificial rites due to the gods,
The Yanjna; they are five :
Brahma-Yajna-performed by studying the Vedas;
Priti-Yajna-oblations of sesame and water to
ancestors who are dead ;
Daiva-Yajna-offering butter to the gods by burning
it in holy fire ;
Bhuta-Yajna-offering of food to needy beings ;
And lastly Nri-Yajna-offering hospitality to guests.
They who solely accept
The residue of offerings as food
Can free themselves from all sin,
But those who eat and drink for selfish pleasure,
Suffer from those very sins,
Such are the sins of Pancha-suna,
Committed by taking lives in sundry diverse ways :
Kandanee-in the pestle and the mortar ;
Peshanee-with the grinding stones as means ;
Chullee-the method in the furnace ;
Under a water-jar-Udakumbhee ;
Marjanee-by the agency of a broom.
Ye may destroy the sins committed
In gaining sustenance
By the performance faithful
Of the sacrificial rites.
BEINGS are brought into existence by food,
Food is produced by rain ;
Rain pours as a result of Yajna
And Yajna arises out of Karma ;
Karma follows from Brahma or the Vedas,
The Vedas originated from
The Transcendental Name "Achuta", the Unborn.
Therefore the All-Pervading Brahman
Is present in all Yajna.
People of this stage of evolution
Should thus adhere to Yajna,
The causal factor of the cycle of the universe.
O Partha ! he who refrains
From performing this sacrament,
The stimulator of the Universe,
Lives a lascivious life in vain
Among the selfish doers of fruitive acts.
Selfless Karma-duties done for God
Are free from all tinge of virtue or of vice,
For that is the right way to reach Nirguna-Bhakti.
This is the loving service
To the Personality of God
Free from the limited atmosphere
Of worldly time and space,
As laid down in the Scriptures.
BY following this path
Man can easily purify his heart.
But they who have eschewed it,
Are swayed by sinful appetites :
Their very life is desicration.
Yet they may curb profanity
By pious deeds and deep atonement.
Prescribed Yajna is Dharma or pious acts.
Piety is the performance of such deeds
As bring about the good of the majority,
Ensuring the continuance of the cosmic cycles.
Such piety redeems inevitable sins,
Born of Pancha-Suna, the five-fold sins, described
before,
Personal joy, promoting universal good,
Can count as pious deeds and Yajna.
They who enact unseen
The universal good, are known as 'gods',
Born of the cosmic potency of God.
Sins can be washed away
By gaining the contentment of these gods
And satisfying them.
This is called Karma-chakra,
The mighty "Wheel of action".
Acceptance of thy Karma by worshipping these gods
Is known as "consecrated action to the Lord".
They who advocate mere ethics
Think these scriptural injunctions only mundane,
And so act accordingly.
Even with duties well performed,
They offer not the fruits to Vishnu,
He Who preserves the universe entire.
Better for such in their peculiar station
To offer to God the fruits of their own Karma.
THEY who revolve mechanically
With the wheel of Karma
Perform their duties under harsh compulsion,
But he who finds delight in the truest self,
Who can distinguish between this and the non-self,
Content therewith, has no Karma to perform under
compulsion.
He moves within the plane of pure intelligence
By virtue of his own true self.
Though he may work to keep together soul and body
Yet he does naught that can be claimed
As daily duties-Nitya-Karma,
Causal or occasional-Naimittika-Karma-
Of gift-desired Karma-Kamya-Karma.
For him no irksome toiling with the wheel of action
But all the bliss and dignity
Of work without attachment.
Hence do his deeds not fall within the Karma's
category,
But in their own condition,
Are either Jnana-Yoga, purely intellectual,
Or loving devout as Bhakti-Yoga,
Loving service to the Personality of God.
WHO has discerned the blameless soul's felicity,
Is not responsible for vice or virtue
Due to the performance or neglect of duties.
Depends he not on any entity alive
Or man or god,
For the fulfilment of his ends,
For he has attained perfection
By self-realisation.
What he does or fails to do
Results in bliss and eternal good,
For he transcends the limitations
Of all mundane relativities.
Even in this stage, none the less
He must attend to the performance or neglect of
Karma.
Perform thy duties ever, then,
Without attachment to their fruits,
For by degrees the engrossed soul
May come to know its real nature,
Free from the coverings of mind and body,
By the detached performance of its Karma.
Salvation is but the knowledge
Of the soul's eternal function
Of single-minded service to the Lord,
Which is the climax of all duties,
Commanded by the Scriptures.
JNANINS like Janaka only realised their nature
After their hearts are purified by fulfilling Karma.
Be thou a teacher of mankind.
Thou deem'st thyself a Jnani or knower of the
Truth,
Then must thou work for the world's enlightenment
By adopting Karma likewise.
Howe'er the great behave in life,
The masses follow them accordlngly;
That which is held to be authentic
As a standard of the great
Is accepted by the mass as truth.
See thou, Partha ! in this triple world
I have naught incumbent on Me as a duty.
I am the Lord Supreme,
No object is beyond My reach,
Yet have I had recourse to Karma.
Where I to cease performing duties,
Others by following Me would also shirk their debt.
THOUGH I am Lord of all, I manifest
In the family of Yadavas who are rulers,
And were I to fail to show them now
By example of My personal life
The duties that devolve on them,
They, too, would fail and thereby would be ruined.
Thus though I am beyond all regulations
Yet must I set an example to others.
Thou also art My friend
And therefore beyond all human duties,
Yet thou must teach the others
Who are juniors, by thine example.
Condescend thou to a lower plane
For the good of those who occupy it
Though thou be not bound by Karma's dictates.
If I were to cease to work,
People would go to wreck and ruin
By neglecting their respective duties,
And if a rupture were created
In the regulated life by Me,
That would contaminate the people's minds
By striking at the roots of pure and gradual growth.
O BHARATA !
As the ignorant become attached to Karma,
So should the wise adopt it, but without attachment
For the good of the people.
The difference of the Karma of the two
Lies not in the mode, but in the motive:
Whether it be selfishness or otherwise.
An ignoramus understands not that the aim of
Karma
Is to wake the dormant nature of the soul,
And he who in his unintelligent heart
Cherishes attachment for his Karma
Is called a Karmasangi or fruit-seeker.
Such ignoramuses have no avidity for knowledge
Even when it is explained to them.
The wise, therefore, should teach them selfless
Karma
That it may purify their hearts
Setting a fine example for them
By following a Karma aloof from worldly interest.
PREMATURE attempt to prove the difference
That lies between Karma and pure intelligence
Would but distract the mind.
No good results would e'er accrue
From forcing knowledge ere its time.
Remember this My dictum
To them who teach the Jnana-Yoga.
But these directions are not meant
For preachers of a pure devotion unto Me.
Because such knowledge is dependent
On the purging of the heart,
Which is again contingent
Upon unselfish Karma,
But Bhakti, loving service rendered unto Me
Depends on the heart's purification,
For, that occurs in just degree to the devotion.
Now let me tell wherein the wise
And ignorant differ.
PRAKRITI, the cosmic Energy or Maya-Nescience,
And he who identifies himself with the perverted
ego,
May think he is the arbiter of every act,
Which, as a matter of fact, is performed
Beneath the influence of Maya,-
For, God is the Essential Cause,
As Maya is the material cause
Of every action limited by time and space.
That is the sign of ignorance.
But O thou Mighty-armed !
The sage who knows the truth
Knows that the soul is self
Apart from mundane qualities and actions,
Knows himself a sentient being
Of concentrated bliss
With the everlasting faculty of serving God
And that as fortune wills
He is enveloped in the gross and subtle bodies
Which are the outcome of external Maya-potency
And must not dominate him,
Though they have forced him in the present state
To yould to the dictates of Maya
In the material world.
NO perfect independence ever signalizes his
activities,
For he alone is not the doer of all that he is known
to do.
And thus thinking, he stands detached from them.
Every material act is guided
By the vanity of Maya-glamoured souls.
The Cosmic Energy
And the Indwelling Lord of all-
All three together.
A truly wise man is not guided
By his body or his mind,
With which an ignoramus identifies himself,
But on the contrary he guides them
To his destination of Eternal Bliss.
There is a distinction between qualities and action.
The qualities are three: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas:
The actions form three groups respectively
According to which quality prevails.
Sattwika refers to the duties of the gods,
Rajasika the acts of the eleven senses,
And Tamasika, action directed towards to objects
of the senses.
Yet the soul is neither guna-nor guna-karya,
Which means objects of the senses,
Nor has it any true relation to them.
Therefore he who is truly wise is unconcerned with
them.
THE ignorant who are infatuated
By the triple qualities of Maya
Think they are born of matter
And identify themselves
With qualities of Prakriti-the cosmic energy.
Let not the wise bewilder these unfortunates.
Rather should they be advised to follow
A gradual process to the higher knowledge
Beginning with strict adherence to Karma-Yoga.
Just as a person obsessed by evil spirits
Identifies himself with all that evil,
So does he who is overshadowed by the qualities of
Maya
Think himself born of Maya.
As exorcising by the act of invocation
Is the remedy of one posessed of evil spirits,
So also practical selfless Karma
Is advised by sages to the ignorant
As the remedy to rid them
Of the influence of actions.
The wise should not attempt an explanation
Of the self and non-self and their functions
But should mention only selfless action,
Just as a scorcerer applies his incantations
Rather than try to convince a man posessed
That he is not a ghost, in order to affect acure.
Thus realising, Arjuna,
The nature of true wisdom and thy real self,
Dedicate thy Karma unto Me,
Forsaking all the egotism of the world
And earthly consequences.
Absolve thyself from all thoughts of results
Thinking thou: "I do this as desired by my Lord."
Forget anxieties and lamentation
O'er loss of friends and relatives
That may result from war,
And fight out this battle
As is thy bounden duty being a Kshatriya.
THOSE who perform Niskama-Karma or unselfish
Karma-Yoga,
Offering the fruits of their activities to Me,
Are freed forever from the bondage of all Karma ;
And those who are unable to perform this Karma
But yet have faith and confidence insuch
Bereft of any spite or malice,
Also attain that end,
Acquiring freedom from Karma's bondage.
Know thou for certain that they
Who not follow this My principle
Of selfless Karma-Yoga, out of malice,
Deprive themselves of all true knowledge
And their intellect is blunted.
BELIEVE not thou,
That if a wise man turns ascetic
Suddenly denying mundane qualities and acts
After adjudging of the self and the non-self,
This will do him any good.
Those who are slaves to senses,
Though intelligent and wise,
Are aften all but fallen souls ;
And near to follow out the course of long accustom-
ed habits
They have become entangled
By the mighty laws that govern
Cosmic Energy-Prakriti.
To rid themselves of long accustomed inclinations,
They should with watchful eyes upon the goal
Perform such Karmic deeds as are prescribed
For that special status and condition
In which they find themselves within the bounds of
time and space.
Unselfish Karma with its fruits
Presented unto Me, should be
The only beneficial path
For one whose heart is not awake,
Yet longing to perform unselfish services to Me,
Albeit genuine and balanced in spirit ;
For, observance and amelioration of socio-religious
duties
Are simultaneously served by practising Niskama-
Karma.
The non-performance of these duties
Leads man astray upon immoral paths.
But when true and loving Bhakti
Is enkindled in the heart by both My Grace
And that of My Associates,
No need is there further for happy souls like these
To tread the path of selfless Karma
In order to fulfill the duties of society
Since they have realised a far
Superior path, the Bhakti-Yoga,
Linking them in close touch with Me.
IF thou shouldst argue that association
With the senses and their objects
Will make thee more attached to them,
Then listen thou to Me :
Sense perceptions of themselves
Are never detrimental to the soul,
But love and hatred for them are the greatest foes.
The love which is forbidden for another's wife,
Arrests the progress of the soul
As much as an aspirant's weak reluctance
For worship at the Feet of the Preceptor.
So, love and hatred e'er must be controlled
Whilst coming into contact with the sense-
perceptions.
For thereby thou wilt not be shackled
By these object of the senses
Even when they meet with thee.
MAN has to grapple with phenomena while
fleshy bodies last;
Yet diminishing his love and hate of objects born
of Maya,
He may achieve a certain non-attachment
Though he associates with them.
This firm control of love and hate for objects
Is essential that man not be enslaved by them,
Whereas a vastly different aim is comprehended
When speaking of My service ;
Thus temporal significance does not apply
To objects that assist the spirit's progress;
In other words, love for those things and deeds
Which stimulate devotion,
Must be supported by aversion,
To those things that hinder deeds to me
Cherish the wish to serve me lovingly;
Banish the sense-perceptions that engender self-
importance.
FOUR castes there are in which embodied souls
Discharge their duty to society :
The teachers, warriors, peasants and the servants.
Swa-Dharma or the duty of a Brahmana
Is to expound the Vedas,
Living on the charity of men,
Controlling all his senses.
That of a Kshatriya, to fight his enemies,
Protect his kingdom and collect his revenues.
That of a Vaisya is to till the land,
To trade and deal with agriculture.
Swa-Dharma of a Sudra is to serve the other three
castes.
Duties outside one's rightful status in society are
Para-Dharma.
So that the duties of a Brahmana or Vaisya or a
Sudra
Would be Para-Dharma for Kshatriyas.
Both Swa-Dharma and Para-Dharma are socio-
religious duties
Allotted to the person of a fallen soul.
That which is different from these is Atma-Dhama,
Endless function of the soul.
Hence, in assessing fruits of Karma dedicated unto
Me,
Swa-Dharma though imperfectly discharged
Is more acceptible than perfect Para-Dharma.
If thou shouldst meet with death performing thy
Swa-Dharma,
Ere thou canst reach a higher plane,
That were acceptible,
For, Para-Dharma is unstable always.
NOW, when the dormant nature of the soul is
once awakened,
For the normal function of the soul is Bhakti
Untrammelled by all mundane attributes,
Then there remains no further need
To do the duties ordered by Swa-Dharma,
For, Swa is Atman and Dharma, function ;
And the eternal function of the pure soul
Is as Swa-Dharma then revealed.
Thus of this stage, the past Swa-Dharma of a fallen
soul
Concerning mind and body
In his own place in society
Becomes the Para-Dharma to the awakend soul."
ARJUNA spoke: "O Barshneya !
Thou Scion of the family of Brishni !
Who prompts a Jiva-soul to sin though it be quite
against his will ?
Since Thou hast told me that a soul
Is an ever-pure, self-conscious entity
Free from the yoke of mundane relativities
And that to sin is foreign to its nature,
Pray tell me plainly, who does incite to wicked acts
The souls of this world that revel in foul sin?"
Bhagavan replied: "Arjuna ! know thou that Kama,
The devouring fierce desire,
And flaming anger born of Rajas,
Tempt souls to sin and therefore are
The greatest enemy of mankind in this world.
Kama is desire to lord it over earth's phenomena
According to the hankerings of former births.
Kama it is that takes another form
As anger, when conditions differ.
Rajas principle gives birth to Kama,
Which, when redressed in its fulfilment
Is profaned by Tamas and manifests as anger.
Kama is very fierce and insatiable.
All that the world contains of wealth and woman
Fails to content the lust of a voluptuous man;
Hence it is the greatest foe.
As a fire is withheld from sight by smoke
And a mirror obscured by dust
And the womb is enveleped by the uterus,
So fallen souls are engulfed by this Kama.
Kama has sceened the world with ignorance-
Sometimes but lightly, at other times more deeply
And sometimes with extreme density.
JUST as the flame of fires lurking behind the
smoke
May readily be seen,
So also a fallen human being
Can meditate on God
Even though the normal function of his pure self
Be influenced by Kama;
At this stage the fallen soul
Like a blossom still in bud
Engages in a selfless Karma-Yoga.
A worse condition is as dust upon a mirror,
Obscuring the reflection upon it;
At this stage a soul is deeply involved in Kama
Nor can he remember God nor think of Him,
Even though born in human form,
And lead a moral but atheistic life;
This shrinking condition of the innate function of
the human soul
May be compared with that of birds and beasts.
The worst and last state of existence of the soul
Is spent beneath the influence complete of Kama
As the womb enveloped by the uterus,
And lives with consciousness enshrouded
Like the trees and other vegetation.
O Son of Kunti ! this Kama
Is man's eternal enemy, which in the form of
ignorance
Saps his wisdom in discerning self and non-self.
Lust cannot satisfy the fire of Kama (desire)
Any more than grease can extinguish blazing fire.
Kama is nescience, man's greatest enemy
And, like a burning fire, consumes
The soul's own consciousness of its real nature.
God, the Over-soul, and individual Jiva-souls are
both self-conscious ;
God is the Omnipotent Entire Being,
While the individual soul is an atomic spirit,
Self-conscious and possessing faculties
Cognitional, of will and emotion.
All these are in relation to the potency of the
Supreme.
THE Jiva's function is eternal service to the Lord
Which is known as Love Divine.
Spirit or sentient being has free will
In contrast to insentient matter.
Souls may make a proper use of free will or abuse it.
Kama or nescience is the misuse of free will
And a base perversion of the holy principle of Love.
Those who abuse their free will and forget
Their nature of eternal service to the Lord,
Do welcome Kama.
The more they are attracted by the lure of Kama,
Thicker grows the screen of their illusion.
This is the worldly bondage of the soul
Which throws man on the rolling wheel of births
and deaths.
Souls fettered by the bondage of their gross and
subtle bodies
Are deluded by this Kama;
Their pure intelligence held fast within its fortress
of the senses.
When such a soul of pure intelligence and
spirituality
Is held within the form of flesh and blood,
It is called Dehi ;
Intelligence, called Buddhi,
Is the heart's discriminating faculty ;
Manas, the inclination, that wavers from doubt to
firm decision.
CONSIDER now the veils of ignorance
With which the Cosmic Energy, Avidya,
Tends to clothe the soul.
The first which is the subtlest form of Kama
Offered to the spiritual ego
Is a perverted and circumscribing egotism.
This is the outer wall of Kama's fortress,
Known as perverted Buddhi or intelligence.
Once it matures, it forms the second barrier
That which is mind or Manas, linking with it
Faculties of will, cognition and emotion.
Mind then constructs the third enclosure,
That of the senses, when it attunes itself
To objects of phenomena.
Into the vortex of the world,
Strengthened by this triple fortress,
Kama immerses souls.
This egotism, child of Kama,
Causes aversion to the service of the lord.
Kama is therefore known as nescience or ignorance.
When such a fallen soul abandons Maya
Turning his face to God with wish to serve Him,
Rightly exerts he his free will,
By choosing Vidya or true intelligence,
Whereas the misuse of free will
Is called Avidya or delusion.
THEREFORE Bharatashava !
Thou must triumph over Kama
The great sin and destroyer,
Spoiler of Jnana, pure intelligence
And Vijnana, the love of Me.
Regulating thy mind and senses,
Kama that dominated thee and thy self-consciousness
Must be destroyed.
Attune thyself to the love and basic harmony.
The broad path for a fallen soul to follow
Is that of Karma-Yoga.
Practise the duties of Swa-Dharma
Incumbent on thy status in society,
Then offer the results of these to Me,
Keeping in view a genuine asceticism,
That is, acceptance of the objects of phenomena
When they promote My service
Rejecting them when detrimental to My cause.
Be thou detached from them in either case,
Then shalt thou follow by degrees
The path of loving service rendered to My satisfaction
Which is beyond the scope of mind and body,
Only attainable by My Grace and that of My
Associates.
KNOW thyself to be a soul,
Whose real nature is divine,
Though still identified with senses,
Manas which is mind and Buddhi, thine intelli-
gence.
All this is due to thy delusion
Caused by Avidya, the Cosmic Energy of the
Deluding Potency.
The grossest principle is Matter ;
More subtle are the senses, hence a state superior ;
Mind is more subtle and superior still,
Yet infinitely far above the mind, is Buddhi.
But thine immortal soul is infinitely subtler than
intelligence itself
And therefore worlds above it.
THUS, O Mighty-armed ! equipped now
With the transcendental truth anent thy self,
Kill the destroying enemy, called Kama.
Pure self is the eternal servant of the Lord and I am
He,
Cast off all thoughts of mundane relativety
And personalities.
Remember thou art spirit in thy liberated state
And My eternal servant ;
Sustain thyself by this conception of thine inmost
self,
And by the grace of My Indwelling Spirit
Shalt thou follow, step by step, the Way Devout
And slay this fierce Kama which hinders now
The consummation of thy greater Self."
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