The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War
Traducere de Barbara Stoler-Milleren Limba Engleză Paperback – 30 iun 1986
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9780553213652
ISBN-10: 0553213652
Pagini: 162
Dimensiuni: 107 x 175 x 13 mm
Greutate: 0.09 kg
Editura: Bantam Classics
ISBN-10: 0553213652
Pagini: 162
Dimensiuni: 107 x 175 x 13 mm
Greutate: 0.09 kg
Editura: Bantam Classics
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Extras
THE FIRST TEACHING
ARJUNA'S DEJECTION
Dhritarashtra
Sanjaya, tell me what my sons
and the sons of Pandu did when they met,
wanting to battle on the field of Kuru,
on the field of sacred duty? 1
Sanjaya
Your son Duryodhana, the king,
seeing the Pandava forces arrayed,
approached his teacher Drona
and spoke in command. 2
"My teacher, see
the great Pandava army arrayed
by Drupada's son,
your pupil, intent on revenge. 3
Here are heroes, mighty archers
equal to Bhima and Arjuna in warfare,
Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada,
your sworn foe on his great chariot. 4
Here too are Dhrishtaketu, Cekitana,
and the brave king of Benares;
Purujit, Kuntibhoja,
and the manly king of the Shibis. 5
Yudhamanyu is bold,
and Uttamaujas is brave;
the sons of Subhadra and Draupadi
all command great chariots. 6
Now, honored priest, mark
the superb men on our side
as I tell you the names
of my army's leaders. 7
They are you and Bhishma,
Karna and Kripa, a victor in battles,
your own son Ashvatthama,
Vikarna, and the son of Somadatta. 8
Many other heroes also risk
their lives for my sake,
bearing varied weapons
and skilled in the ways of war. 9
Guarded by Bhishma, the strength
of our army is without limit;
but the strength of their army,
guarded by Bhima, is limited. 10
In all the movements of battle,
you and your men,
stationed according to plan,
must guard Bhishma well!" 11
Bhishma, fiery elder of the Kurus,
roared his lion's roar
and blew his conch horn,
exciting Duryodhana's delight. 12
Conches and kettledrums,
cymbals, tabors, and trumpets
were sounded at once
and the din of tumult arose. 13
Standing on their great chariot
yoked with white stallions,
Krishna and Arjuna, Pandu's son,
sounded their divine conches. 14
Krishna blew Pancajanya, won from a demon;
Arjuna blew Devadatta, a gift of the gods;
fierce wolf-bellied Bhima blew Paundra,
his great conch of the east. 15
Yudhishthira, Kunti's son, the king,
blew Anantavijaya, conch of boundless victory;
his twin brothers Nakula and Sahadeva
blew conches resonant and jewel toned. 16
The king of Benares, a superb archer,
and Shikhandin on his great chariot,
Drishtadyumna, Virata, and indomitable Satyaki,
all blew their conches. 17
Drupada, with his five grandsons,
and Subhadra's strong-armed son,
each in his turn blew
their conches, O King. 18
The noise tore the hearts
of Dhritarashtra's sons,
and tumult echoed
through heaven and earth. 19
Arjuna, his war flag a rampant monkey,
saw Dhritarashtra's sons assembled
as weapons were ready to clash,
and he lifted his bow. 20
He told his charioteer:
"Krishna,
halt my chariot
between the armies! 21
Far enough for me to see
these men who lust for war,
ready to fight with me
in the strain of battle. 22
I see men gathered here,
eager to fight,
bent on serving the folly
of Dhritarashtra's son." 23
When Arjuna had spoken,
Krishna halted
their splendid chariot
between the armies. 24
Facing Bhishma and Drona
and all the great kings,
he said, "Arjuna, see
the Kuru men assembled here!" 25
Arjuna saw them standing there:
fathers, grandfathers, teachers,
uncles, brothers, sons,
grandsons, and friends. 26
He surveyed his elders
and companions in both armies,
all his kinsmen
assembled together. 27
Dejected, filled with strange pity,
he said this:
"Krishna, I see my kinsmen
gathered here, wanting war. 28
My limbs sink,
my mouth is parched,
my body trembles,
the hair bristles on my flesh. 29
The magic bow slips
from my hand, my skin burns,
I cannot stand still,
my mind reels. 30
I see omens of chaos,
Krishna; I see no good
in killing my kinsmen
in battle. 31
Krishna, I seek no victory,
or kingship or pleasures.
What use to us are kingship,
delights, or life itself? 32
We sought kingship, delights,
and pleasures for the sake of those
assembled to abandon their lives
and fortunes in battle. 33
They are teachers, fathers, sons,
and grandfathers, uncles, grandsons,
fathers and brothers of wives,
and other men of our family. 34
I do not want to kill them
even if I am killed, Krishna;
not for kingship of all three worlds,
much less for the earth! 35
What joy is there for us, Krishna,
in killing Dhritarashtra's sons?
Evil will haunt us if we kill them,
though their bows are drawn to kill. 36
Honor forbids us to kill
our cousins, Dhritarashtra's sons;
how can we know happiness
if we kill our own kinsmen? 37
The greed that distorts their reason
blinds them to the sin they commit
in ruining the family, blinds them
to the crime of betraying friends. 38
How can we ignore the wisdom
of turning from this evil
when we see the sin
of family destruction, Krishna? 39
When the family is ruined,
the timeless laws of family duty
perish; and when duty is lost,
chaos overwhelms the family. 40
In overwhelming chaos, Krishna,
women of the family are corrupted;
and when women are corrupted,
disorder is born in society. 41
This discord drags the violators
and the family itself to hell;
for ancestors fall when rites
of offering rice and water lapse. 42
The sins of men who violate
the family create disorder in society
that undermines the constant laws
of caste and family duty. 43
Krishna, we have heard
that a place in hell
is reserved for men
who undermine family duties. 44
I lament the great sin
we commit when our greed
for kingship and pleasures
drives us to kill our kinsmen. 45
If Dhritarashtra's armed sons
kill me in battle when I am unarmed
and offer no resistance,
it will be my reward." 46
Saying this in the time of war,
Arjuna slumped into the chariot
and laid down his bow and arrows,
his mind tormented by grief. 47
THE SECOND TEACHING
PHILOSOPHY AND
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE
Sanjaya
Arjuna sat dejected,
filled with pity,
his sad eyes blurred by tears.
Krishna gave him counsel. 1
Lord Krishna
Why this cowardice
in time of crisis, Arjuna?
The coward is ignoble, shameful,
foreign to the ways of heaven. 2
Don't yield to impotence!
It is unnatural in you!
Banish this petty weakness from your heart.
Rise to the fight, Arjuna! 3
Arjuna
Krishna, how can I fight
against Bhishma and Drona
with arrows
when they deserve my worship? 4
It is better in this world
to beg for scraps of food
than to eat meals
smeared with the blood
of elders I killed
at the height of their power
while their goals
were still desires. 5
We don't know which weight
is worse to bear--
our conquering them
or their conquering us.
We will not want to live
if we kill
the sons of Dhritarashtra
assembled before us. 6
The flaw of pity
blights my very being;
conflicting sacred duties
confound my reason.
I ask you to tell me
decisively--Which is better?
I am your pupil.
Teach me what I seek! 7
I see nothing
that could drive away
the grief
that withers my senses;
even if I won kingdoms
of unrivaled wealth
on earth
and sovereignty over gods. 8
Sanjaya
Arjuna told this
to Krishna--then saying,
"I shall not fight,"
he fell silent. 9
Mocking him gently,
Krishna gave this counsel
as Arjuna sat dejected,
between the two armies. 10
Lord Krishna
You grieve for those beyond grief,
and you speak words of insight;
but learned men do not grieve
for the dead or the living. 11
Never have I not existed,
nor you, nor these kings;
and never in the future
shall we cease to exist. 12
Just as the embodied self
enters childhood, youth, and old age,
so does it enter another body;
this does not confound a steadfast man. 13
Contacts with matter make us feel
heat and cold, pleasure and pain.
Arjuna, you must learn to endure
fleeting things--they come and go! 14
When these cannot torment a man,
when suffering and joy are equal
for him and he has courage,
he is fit for immortality. 15
Nothing of nonbeing comes to be,
nor does being cease to exist;
the boundary between these two
is seen by men who see reality. 16
Indestructible is the presence
that pervades all this;
no one can destroy
this unchanging reality. 17
Our bodies are known to end,
but the embodied self is enduring,
indestructible, and immeasurable;
therefore, Arjuna, fight the battle! 18
He who thinks this self a killer
and he who thinks it killed,
both fail to understand;
it does not kill, nor is it killed. 19
It is not born,
it does not die;
having been,
it will never not be;
unborn, enduring,
constant, and primordial,
it is not killed
when the body is killed. 20
Arjuna, when a man knows the self
to be indestructible, enduring, unborn,
unchanging, how does he kill
or cause anyone to kill? 21
As a man discards
worn-out clothes
to put on new
and different ones,
so the embodied self
discards
its worn-out bodies
to take on other new ones. 22
Weapons do not cut it,
fire does not burn it,
waters do not wet it,
wind does not wither it. 23
It cannot be cut or burned;
it cannot be wet or withered;
it is enduring, all-pervasive,
fixed, immovable, and timeless. 24
It is called unmanifest,
inconceivable, and immutable;
since you know that to be so,
you should not grieve! 25
If you think of its birth
and death as ever-recurring,
then too, Great Warrior,
you have no cause to grieve! 26
Death is certain for anyone born,
and birth is certain for the dead;
since the cycle is inevitable,
you have no cause to grieve! 27
Creatures are unmanifest in origin,
manifest in the midst of life,
and unmanifest again in the end.
Since this is so, why do you lament? 28
Rarely someone
sees it,
rarely another
speaks it,
rarely anyone
hears it--
even hearing it,
no one really knows it. 29
The self embodied in the body
of every being is indestructible;
you have no cause to grieve
for all these creatures, Arjuna! 30
Look to your own duty;
do not tremble before it;
nothing is better for a warrior
than a battle of sacred duty. 31
The doors of heaven open
for warriors who rejoice
to have a battle like this
thrust on them by chance. 32
If you fail to wage this war
of sacred duty,
you will abandon your own duty
and fame only to gain evil. 33
People will tell
of your undying shame,
and for a man of honor
shame is worse than death. 34
The great chariot warriors will think
you deserted in fear of battle;
you will be despised
by those who held you in esteem. 35
Your enemies will slander you,
scorning your skill
in so many unspeakable ways--
could any suffering be worse? 36
If you are killed, you win heaven;
if you triumph, you enjoy the earth;
therefore, Arjuna, stand up
and resolve to fight the battle! 37
Impartial to joy and suffering,
gain and loss, victory and defeat,
arm yourself for the battle,
lest you fall into evil. 38
Understanding is defined in terms of philosophy;
now hear it in spiritual discipline.
Armed with this understanding, Arjuna,
you will escape the bondage of action. 39
No effort in this world
is lost or wasted;
a fragment of sacred duty
saves you from great fear. 40
This understanding is unique
in its inner core of resolve;
diffuse and pointless are the ways
irresolute men understand. 41
Undiscerning men who delight
in the tenets of ritual lore
utter florid speech, proclaiming,
"There is nothing else!" 42
Driven by desire, they strive after heaven
and contrive to win powers and delights,
but their intricate ritual language
bears only the fruit of action in rebirth. 43
Obsessed with powers and delights,
their reason lost in words,
they do not find in contemplation
this understanding of inner resolve. 44
Arjuna, the realm of sacred lore
is nature--beyond its triad of qualities,
dualities, and mundane rewards,
be forever lucid, alive to your self. 45
For the discerning priest,
all of sacred lore
has no more value than a well
when water flows everywhere. 46
Be intent on action,
not on the fruits of action;
avoid attraction to the fruits
and attachment to inaction! 47
Perform actions, firm in discipline,
relinquishing attachment;
be impartial to failure and success--
this equanimity is called discipline. 48
Arjuna, action is far inferior
to the discipline of understanding;
so seek refuge in understanding--pitiful
are men drawn by fruits of action. 49
Disciplined by understanding,
one abandons both good and evil deeds;
so arm yourself for discipline--
discipline is skill in actions. 50
Wise men disciplined by understanding
relinquish the fruit born of action;
freed from these bonds of rebirth,
they reach a place beyond decay. 51
When your understanding passes beyond
the swamp of delusion,
you will be indifferent to all
that is heard in sacred lore. 52
When your understanding turns
from sacred lore to stand fixed,
immovable in contemplation,
then you will reach discipline. 53
Arjuna
Krishna, what defines a man
deep in contemplation whose insight
and thought are sure? How would he speak?
How would he sit? How would he move? 54
Lord Krishna
When he gives up desires in his mind,
is content with the self within himself,
then he is said to be a man
whose insight is sure, Arjuna. 55
When suffering does not disturb his mind,
when his craving for pleasures has vanished,
when attraction, fear, and anger are gone,
he is called a sage whose thought is sure. 56
When he shows no preference
in fortune or misfortune
and neither exults nor hates,
his insight is sure. 57
When, like a tortoise retracting
its limbs, he withdraws his senses
completely from sensuous objects,
his insight is sure. 58
Sensuous objects fade
when the embodied self abstains from food;
the taste lingers, but it too fades
in the vision of higher truth. 59
Even when a man of wisdom
tries to control them, Arjuna,
the bewildering senses
attack his mind with violence. 60
Controlling them all,
with discipline he should focus on me;
when his senses are under control,
his insight is sure. 61
Brooding about sensuous objects
makes attachment to them grow;
from attachment desire arises,
from desire anger is born. 62
From anger comes confusion;
from confusion memory lapses;
from broken memory understanding is lost;
from loss of understanding, he is ruined. 63
But a man of inner strength
whose senses experience objects
without attraction and hatred,
in self-control, finds serenity. 64
In serenity, all his sorrows
dissolve;
his reason becomes serene,
his understanding sure. 65
Without discipline,
he has no understanding or inner power;
without inner power, he has no peace;
and without peace where is joy? 66
If his mind submits to the play
of the senses,
they drive away insight,
as wind drives a ship on water. 67
ARJUNA'S DEJECTION
Dhritarashtra
Sanjaya, tell me what my sons
and the sons of Pandu did when they met,
wanting to battle on the field of Kuru,
on the field of sacred duty? 1
Sanjaya
Your son Duryodhana, the king,
seeing the Pandava forces arrayed,
approached his teacher Drona
and spoke in command. 2
"My teacher, see
the great Pandava army arrayed
by Drupada's son,
your pupil, intent on revenge. 3
Here are heroes, mighty archers
equal to Bhima and Arjuna in warfare,
Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada,
your sworn foe on his great chariot. 4
Here too are Dhrishtaketu, Cekitana,
and the brave king of Benares;
Purujit, Kuntibhoja,
and the manly king of the Shibis. 5
Yudhamanyu is bold,
and Uttamaujas is brave;
the sons of Subhadra and Draupadi
all command great chariots. 6
Now, honored priest, mark
the superb men on our side
as I tell you the names
of my army's leaders. 7
They are you and Bhishma,
Karna and Kripa, a victor in battles,
your own son Ashvatthama,
Vikarna, and the son of Somadatta. 8
Many other heroes also risk
their lives for my sake,
bearing varied weapons
and skilled in the ways of war. 9
Guarded by Bhishma, the strength
of our army is without limit;
but the strength of their army,
guarded by Bhima, is limited. 10
In all the movements of battle,
you and your men,
stationed according to plan,
must guard Bhishma well!" 11
Bhishma, fiery elder of the Kurus,
roared his lion's roar
and blew his conch horn,
exciting Duryodhana's delight. 12
Conches and kettledrums,
cymbals, tabors, and trumpets
were sounded at once
and the din of tumult arose. 13
Standing on their great chariot
yoked with white stallions,
Krishna and Arjuna, Pandu's son,
sounded their divine conches. 14
Krishna blew Pancajanya, won from a demon;
Arjuna blew Devadatta, a gift of the gods;
fierce wolf-bellied Bhima blew Paundra,
his great conch of the east. 15
Yudhishthira, Kunti's son, the king,
blew Anantavijaya, conch of boundless victory;
his twin brothers Nakula and Sahadeva
blew conches resonant and jewel toned. 16
The king of Benares, a superb archer,
and Shikhandin on his great chariot,
Drishtadyumna, Virata, and indomitable Satyaki,
all blew their conches. 17
Drupada, with his five grandsons,
and Subhadra's strong-armed son,
each in his turn blew
their conches, O King. 18
The noise tore the hearts
of Dhritarashtra's sons,
and tumult echoed
through heaven and earth. 19
Arjuna, his war flag a rampant monkey,
saw Dhritarashtra's sons assembled
as weapons were ready to clash,
and he lifted his bow. 20
He told his charioteer:
"Krishna,
halt my chariot
between the armies! 21
Far enough for me to see
these men who lust for war,
ready to fight with me
in the strain of battle. 22
I see men gathered here,
eager to fight,
bent on serving the folly
of Dhritarashtra's son." 23
When Arjuna had spoken,
Krishna halted
their splendid chariot
between the armies. 24
Facing Bhishma and Drona
and all the great kings,
he said, "Arjuna, see
the Kuru men assembled here!" 25
Arjuna saw them standing there:
fathers, grandfathers, teachers,
uncles, brothers, sons,
grandsons, and friends. 26
He surveyed his elders
and companions in both armies,
all his kinsmen
assembled together. 27
Dejected, filled with strange pity,
he said this:
"Krishna, I see my kinsmen
gathered here, wanting war. 28
My limbs sink,
my mouth is parched,
my body trembles,
the hair bristles on my flesh. 29
The magic bow slips
from my hand, my skin burns,
I cannot stand still,
my mind reels. 30
I see omens of chaos,
Krishna; I see no good
in killing my kinsmen
in battle. 31
Krishna, I seek no victory,
or kingship or pleasures.
What use to us are kingship,
delights, or life itself? 32
We sought kingship, delights,
and pleasures for the sake of those
assembled to abandon their lives
and fortunes in battle. 33
They are teachers, fathers, sons,
and grandfathers, uncles, grandsons,
fathers and brothers of wives,
and other men of our family. 34
I do not want to kill them
even if I am killed, Krishna;
not for kingship of all three worlds,
much less for the earth! 35
What joy is there for us, Krishna,
in killing Dhritarashtra's sons?
Evil will haunt us if we kill them,
though their bows are drawn to kill. 36
Honor forbids us to kill
our cousins, Dhritarashtra's sons;
how can we know happiness
if we kill our own kinsmen? 37
The greed that distorts their reason
blinds them to the sin they commit
in ruining the family, blinds them
to the crime of betraying friends. 38
How can we ignore the wisdom
of turning from this evil
when we see the sin
of family destruction, Krishna? 39
When the family is ruined,
the timeless laws of family duty
perish; and when duty is lost,
chaos overwhelms the family. 40
In overwhelming chaos, Krishna,
women of the family are corrupted;
and when women are corrupted,
disorder is born in society. 41
This discord drags the violators
and the family itself to hell;
for ancestors fall when rites
of offering rice and water lapse. 42
The sins of men who violate
the family create disorder in society
that undermines the constant laws
of caste and family duty. 43
Krishna, we have heard
that a place in hell
is reserved for men
who undermine family duties. 44
I lament the great sin
we commit when our greed
for kingship and pleasures
drives us to kill our kinsmen. 45
If Dhritarashtra's armed sons
kill me in battle when I am unarmed
and offer no resistance,
it will be my reward." 46
Saying this in the time of war,
Arjuna slumped into the chariot
and laid down his bow and arrows,
his mind tormented by grief. 47
THE SECOND TEACHING
PHILOSOPHY AND
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE
Sanjaya
Arjuna sat dejected,
filled with pity,
his sad eyes blurred by tears.
Krishna gave him counsel. 1
Lord Krishna
Why this cowardice
in time of crisis, Arjuna?
The coward is ignoble, shameful,
foreign to the ways of heaven. 2
Don't yield to impotence!
It is unnatural in you!
Banish this petty weakness from your heart.
Rise to the fight, Arjuna! 3
Arjuna
Krishna, how can I fight
against Bhishma and Drona
with arrows
when they deserve my worship? 4
It is better in this world
to beg for scraps of food
than to eat meals
smeared with the blood
of elders I killed
at the height of their power
while their goals
were still desires. 5
We don't know which weight
is worse to bear--
our conquering them
or their conquering us.
We will not want to live
if we kill
the sons of Dhritarashtra
assembled before us. 6
The flaw of pity
blights my very being;
conflicting sacred duties
confound my reason.
I ask you to tell me
decisively--Which is better?
I am your pupil.
Teach me what I seek! 7
I see nothing
that could drive away
the grief
that withers my senses;
even if I won kingdoms
of unrivaled wealth
on earth
and sovereignty over gods. 8
Sanjaya
Arjuna told this
to Krishna--then saying,
"I shall not fight,"
he fell silent. 9
Mocking him gently,
Krishna gave this counsel
as Arjuna sat dejected,
between the two armies. 10
Lord Krishna
You grieve for those beyond grief,
and you speak words of insight;
but learned men do not grieve
for the dead or the living. 11
Never have I not existed,
nor you, nor these kings;
and never in the future
shall we cease to exist. 12
Just as the embodied self
enters childhood, youth, and old age,
so does it enter another body;
this does not confound a steadfast man. 13
Contacts with matter make us feel
heat and cold, pleasure and pain.
Arjuna, you must learn to endure
fleeting things--they come and go! 14
When these cannot torment a man,
when suffering and joy are equal
for him and he has courage,
he is fit for immortality. 15
Nothing of nonbeing comes to be,
nor does being cease to exist;
the boundary between these two
is seen by men who see reality. 16
Indestructible is the presence
that pervades all this;
no one can destroy
this unchanging reality. 17
Our bodies are known to end,
but the embodied self is enduring,
indestructible, and immeasurable;
therefore, Arjuna, fight the battle! 18
He who thinks this self a killer
and he who thinks it killed,
both fail to understand;
it does not kill, nor is it killed. 19
It is not born,
it does not die;
having been,
it will never not be;
unborn, enduring,
constant, and primordial,
it is not killed
when the body is killed. 20
Arjuna, when a man knows the self
to be indestructible, enduring, unborn,
unchanging, how does he kill
or cause anyone to kill? 21
As a man discards
worn-out clothes
to put on new
and different ones,
so the embodied self
discards
its worn-out bodies
to take on other new ones. 22
Weapons do not cut it,
fire does not burn it,
waters do not wet it,
wind does not wither it. 23
It cannot be cut or burned;
it cannot be wet or withered;
it is enduring, all-pervasive,
fixed, immovable, and timeless. 24
It is called unmanifest,
inconceivable, and immutable;
since you know that to be so,
you should not grieve! 25
If you think of its birth
and death as ever-recurring,
then too, Great Warrior,
you have no cause to grieve! 26
Death is certain for anyone born,
and birth is certain for the dead;
since the cycle is inevitable,
you have no cause to grieve! 27
Creatures are unmanifest in origin,
manifest in the midst of life,
and unmanifest again in the end.
Since this is so, why do you lament? 28
Rarely someone
sees it,
rarely another
speaks it,
rarely anyone
hears it--
even hearing it,
no one really knows it. 29
The self embodied in the body
of every being is indestructible;
you have no cause to grieve
for all these creatures, Arjuna! 30
Look to your own duty;
do not tremble before it;
nothing is better for a warrior
than a battle of sacred duty. 31
The doors of heaven open
for warriors who rejoice
to have a battle like this
thrust on them by chance. 32
If you fail to wage this war
of sacred duty,
you will abandon your own duty
and fame only to gain evil. 33
People will tell
of your undying shame,
and for a man of honor
shame is worse than death. 34
The great chariot warriors will think
you deserted in fear of battle;
you will be despised
by those who held you in esteem. 35
Your enemies will slander you,
scorning your skill
in so many unspeakable ways--
could any suffering be worse? 36
If you are killed, you win heaven;
if you triumph, you enjoy the earth;
therefore, Arjuna, stand up
and resolve to fight the battle! 37
Impartial to joy and suffering,
gain and loss, victory and defeat,
arm yourself for the battle,
lest you fall into evil. 38
Understanding is defined in terms of philosophy;
now hear it in spiritual discipline.
Armed with this understanding, Arjuna,
you will escape the bondage of action. 39
No effort in this world
is lost or wasted;
a fragment of sacred duty
saves you from great fear. 40
This understanding is unique
in its inner core of resolve;
diffuse and pointless are the ways
irresolute men understand. 41
Undiscerning men who delight
in the tenets of ritual lore
utter florid speech, proclaiming,
"There is nothing else!" 42
Driven by desire, they strive after heaven
and contrive to win powers and delights,
but their intricate ritual language
bears only the fruit of action in rebirth. 43
Obsessed with powers and delights,
their reason lost in words,
they do not find in contemplation
this understanding of inner resolve. 44
Arjuna, the realm of sacred lore
is nature--beyond its triad of qualities,
dualities, and mundane rewards,
be forever lucid, alive to your self. 45
For the discerning priest,
all of sacred lore
has no more value than a well
when water flows everywhere. 46
Be intent on action,
not on the fruits of action;
avoid attraction to the fruits
and attachment to inaction! 47
Perform actions, firm in discipline,
relinquishing attachment;
be impartial to failure and success--
this equanimity is called discipline. 48
Arjuna, action is far inferior
to the discipline of understanding;
so seek refuge in understanding--pitiful
are men drawn by fruits of action. 49
Disciplined by understanding,
one abandons both good and evil deeds;
so arm yourself for discipline--
discipline is skill in actions. 50
Wise men disciplined by understanding
relinquish the fruit born of action;
freed from these bonds of rebirth,
they reach a place beyond decay. 51
When your understanding passes beyond
the swamp of delusion,
you will be indifferent to all
that is heard in sacred lore. 52
When your understanding turns
from sacred lore to stand fixed,
immovable in contemplation,
then you will reach discipline. 53
Arjuna
Krishna, what defines a man
deep in contemplation whose insight
and thought are sure? How would he speak?
How would he sit? How would he move? 54
Lord Krishna
When he gives up desires in his mind,
is content with the self within himself,
then he is said to be a man
whose insight is sure, Arjuna. 55
When suffering does not disturb his mind,
when his craving for pleasures has vanished,
when attraction, fear, and anger are gone,
he is called a sage whose thought is sure. 56
When he shows no preference
in fortune or misfortune
and neither exults nor hates,
his insight is sure. 57
When, like a tortoise retracting
its limbs, he withdraws his senses
completely from sensuous objects,
his insight is sure. 58
Sensuous objects fade
when the embodied self abstains from food;
the taste lingers, but it too fades
in the vision of higher truth. 59
Even when a man of wisdom
tries to control them, Arjuna,
the bewildering senses
attack his mind with violence. 60
Controlling them all,
with discipline he should focus on me;
when his senses are under control,
his insight is sure. 61
Brooding about sensuous objects
makes attachment to them grow;
from attachment desire arises,
from desire anger is born. 62
From anger comes confusion;
from confusion memory lapses;
from broken memory understanding is lost;
from loss of understanding, he is ruined. 63
But a man of inner strength
whose senses experience objects
without attraction and hatred,
in self-control, finds serenity. 64
In serenity, all his sorrows
dissolve;
his reason becomes serene,
his understanding sure. 65
Without discipline,
he has no understanding or inner power;
without inner power, he has no peace;
and without peace where is joy? 66
If his mind submits to the play
of the senses,
they drive away insight,
as wind drives a ship on water. 67
Notă biografică
Barbara Miller