The Bhagavad-Gita | Page 7

all we have, or need;" being weak at heart
With wants, seekers of Heaven: which comes--they say-- As "fruit of good deeds done;"
promising men Much profit in new births for works of faith; In various rites abounding;
following whereon Large merit shall accrue towards wealth and power; Albeit, who
wealth and power do most desire Least fixity of soul have such, least hold On heavenly
meditation. Much these teach, From Veds, concerning the "three qualities;" But thou, be
free of the "three qualities," Free of the "pairs of opposites,"[FN#2] and free From that
sad righteousness which calculates; Self-ruled, Arjuna! simple, satisfied![FN#3] Look!
like as when a tank pours water forth To suit all needs, so do these Brahmans draw Text
for all wants from tank of Holy Writ. But thou, want not! ask not! Find full reward Of
doing right in right! Let right deeds be Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them.
And live in action! Labour! Make thine acts Thy piety, casting all self aside, Contemning
gain and merit; equable In good or evil: equability Is Yog, is piety!
Yet, the right act Is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind. Seek refuge in thy soul;
have there thy heaven! Scorn them that follow virtue for her gifts! The mind of pure
devotion--even here-- Casts equally aside good deeds and bad, Passing above them. Unto
pure devotion Devote thyself: with perfect meditation Comes perfect act, and the
right-hearted rise-- More certainly because they seek no gain-- Forth from the bands of
body, step by step, To highest seats of bliss. When thy firm soul Hath shaken off those
tangled oracles Which ignorantly guide, then shall it soar To high neglect of what's
denied or said, This way or that way, in doctrinal writ. Troubled no longer by the priestly
lore, Safe shall it live, and sure; steadfastly bent On meditation. This is Yog--and Peace!
Arjuna. What is his mark who hath that steadfast heart, Confirmed in holy meditation?
How Know we his speech, Kesava? Sits he, moves he Like other men?
Krishna. When one, O Pritha's Son! Abandoning desires which shake the mind-- Finds in
his soul full comfort for his soul, He hath attained the Yog--that man is such! In sorrows
not dejected, and in joys Not overjoyed; dwelling outside the stress Of passion, fear, and
anger; fixed in calms Of lofty contemplation;--such an one Is Muni, is the Sage, the true
Recluse! He who to none and nowhere overbound By ties of flesh, takes evil things and
good Neither desponding nor exulting, such Bears wisdom's plainest mark! He who shall
draw As the wise tortoise draws its four feet safe Under its shield, his five frail senses
back Under the spirit's buckler from the world Which else assails them, such an one, my
Prince! Hath wisdom's mark! Things that solicit sense Hold off from the self-governed;

nay, it comes, The appetites of him who lives beyond Depart,--aroused no more. Yet may
it chance, O Son of Kunti! that a governed mind Shall some time feel the sense-storms
sweep, and wrest Strong self-control by the roots. Let him regain His kingdom! let him
conquer this, and sit On Me intent. That man alone is wise Who keeps the mastery of
himself! If one Ponders on objects of the sense, there springs Attraction; from attraction
grows desire, Desire flames to fierce passion, passion breeds Recklessness; then the
memory--all betrayed-- Lets noble purpose go, and saps the mind, Till purpose, mind,
and man are all undone. But, if one deals with objects of the sense Not loving and not
hating, making them Serve his free soul, which rests serenely lord, Lo! such a man comes
to tranquillity; And out of that tranquillity shall rise The end and healing of his earthly
pains, Since the will governed sets the soul at peace. The soul of the ungoverned is not
his, Nor hath he knowledge of himself; which lacked, How grows serenity? and, wanting
that, Whence shall he hope for happiness?
The mind That gives itself to follow shows of sense Seeth its helm of wisdom rent away,
And, like a ship in waves of whirlwind, drives To wreck and death. Only with him, great
Prince! Whose senses are not swayed by things of sense-- Only with him who holds his
mastery, Shows wisdom perfect. What is midnight-gloom To unenlightened souls shines
wakeful day To his clear gaze; what seems as wakeful day Is known for night, thick night
of ignorance, To his true-seeing eyes. Such is the Saint!
And like the ocean, day by day receiving Floods from all lands, which never overflows
Its boundary-line not leaping, and not leaving, Fed by the rivers, but unswelled by
those;--
So is the perfect one! to his soul's ocean The