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Others, by abstaining from food, sacrifice life in their life. All of these indeed, being versed in sacrifice, have their sins destroyed by these sacrifices. Those who eat of the ambrosia left from a sacrifice pass into the eternal Supreme Spirit. This world is not for the neglecter of sacrifice. How should the other be so, 0 best of Kurus ? Sacrifices of so many kinds (as the above) are performed in the presence of the Supreme Spirit. Know that all these spring from action. Knowing this, thou wilt be (finally) emancipated. The sacrifice of spiritual knowledge is better than a material sacrifice, 0 harasser of thy foes ! Every action, without exception, is comprehended in spiritual know- ledge, 0 son of Prith&I Acquire this (knowledge) by doing honour, 26 BHAGAVAD-GiTi. CHAPTER THE FOURTH. by inquiry, and by service. Those gifted with this knowledge, who perceive the truth of things, will teach thee this knowledge. Knowing which, thou wilt not, 0 son of Pandu ! thus again incur an error. By this knowledge thou wilt recognize all things whatsoever in thyself, and then in me. If thou wert even the most sinful of all sinners, thou wouldest cross over all sin in the bark of spiritual knowledge. As fire, when kindled, reduces fuel to ashes, Aijuna, so does the fire of know- ledge bum to ashes all actions. For there is no purifier in the world like knowledge. A man who is perfected in devotion finds it spontane- ously in himself in the progress of time. He who possesses faith acquires spiritual knowledge, if intent on it, and restraining his senses. Having acquired spiritual knowledge, he soon attains to supreme tran- quillity. He who ignores the truth, and is devoid of faith, and of doubtful mind, perishes. The man of doubtful mind enjoys neither this world nor the other, nor final beatitude. No actions bind the man who trusts his actions to devotion, who hag dispersed doubt by knowledge^ and is self-possessed, 0 despiser of wealth ! Therefore sever this doubt which exists in thy heart, and springs from ignorance, with thy sword of knowledge ; turn to devotion, and arise, son of Bharata ! Thus in the Upanishads, etc., (stands) the Fourth Chapter, by name “devotion through spiritual knowledge.” COMMENTARY. REASON. You and I have gone through many births. Turn your attention towards the world for a moment, and you will find that no human being, from creation to the present time, has been without me, nor will be ; for I am the essence of man, and it is by possessing me that a being is recognized as human or rational, and distinguished as such from other beings of the world. I know all this, and my birth is by a mystic power of my Father, the Supreme God, the Creator of the Universe ; and you can only know His mystic power and approach Him by your entire adherence to me and complete victory over Passion. Your liability to temptation, and the ignorance by which you are surrounded, render you unable to comprehend what I naturally know in my state of perfection. The word “ regeneration ” means new bicth’. This should be under- BHAOAVAD-GiTi. CHAPTER THE FOURTH. 27 stood in two ways : First, better birth, or change of state from evil to good in the living life ; second, birth after death. The latter cannot be understood well unless the former is gained. If you do not conquer evil, in all its phases, in your living state, you cannot comprehend what takes place after death. Wherever there is relaxation of self-duty, there has always been, in different ages, production or rise of individuals endowed with highly-developed reason to undergo any kind of trial, in order to establish self-duty. Mankind endeavour to approach towards the Supreme God in varieties of ways, in different nations, and they are accordingly recompensed in different states — viz., good, better, and best. Does not experience attest this, from a king down, to a peasant ? Castes are my creation, instituted according to the natural inherent qualities in mankind. This is a division of labour necessary for the harmony and peace in the body politic of humanity, as experience teaches every man in his own individual system. Action is necessary to gain knowledge ; a subject of great confusion and misunderstanding is what constitutes action and what inaction. The nature of action, forbidden action, and inaction, must therefore be well understood. He who comprehends the real nature of action knows that it is not himself who acts, but the natural qualities which accomplish their office ; and, again, when he is apparently inactive, the vital action still proceeds. He who acts from interested motives seeks, whenever he commits a crime, refuge from the consequences ; but a man acting with devotion may even commit a bad deed without fear of its results, since he does so without any intention, simply by necessity or as a duty. A soldier who slays at the command of his officer, cannot be said to commit murder. The different dog- matical actions a man indulges in, peculiar to his faith, to gain spiritual knowledge, are not only full of sufferings and mortifying to his body, but make him almost as lifeless as if dead, and he even, during life, offers life as a sacrifice. All sacrifices spring from action. The know- ledge of this brings final emancipation. The true sacrifice is a humble and contrite heart. As fire reduces fuel to ashes, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all actions. Knowledge is the best purifier. Therefore sever this doubt which exists within you with the sword of knowledge ; rise, and turn to devotion. CHAPTER THE FIFTH. TEXT. ARJUNA SrOKE. “Thou praisest, Krishna, the renunciation of works, and on the other hand devotion (through them). Declare to me with precision that one only which is the better of these two.” COMMENTARY. MIND. Reason, you have explained the renunciation of works, and also suggested, on the other hand, devotion, which is better. TEXT. KRISHNA SPOKE. “ Renunciation of, and devotion through works are both means of final emancipation. But of these two, devotion through works is more highly esteemed than renunciation of them. He who neither hates nor loves, is to be considered a constant renouncer of actions. For he who is free from the influence of opposites, 0 strong-armed one ! is liberated from the bonds of action without any trouble. Boys, but not wise men, speak of the Sankhya (rational) and Yoga (devotional) doctrines as different. For he who is devoted to one (of these) only, experiences at the same time the fruits of both. That place which is gained by the followers of the Sankhya, is also attained by those of the Yoga system. He who sees that the Sankhya and Yoga are one, sees indeed. But renunciation of actions is difficult to obtain without devotion. The anchorite who practises devotion approaches the Supreme Spirit in no long time. The practiser of devotion, whose spirit is purified, who has subdued himself and vanquished his senses, whose soul participates in the souls of all creatures, is not polluted even by action. The devotee bhagavad-gitA. chapter the fifth. 29 who knows the Divine truth should think, * I am doing nothing/ when- ever he looks, hears, touches, eats, walks, sleeps, or breathes, even when he speaks, lets go or takes, opens or shuts his eyes, believing that the senses move (by natural impulse) towards the objects of the senses. He who, in acting, offers his actions to the Supreme Spirit, and puts aside self-interest, is not polluted by sin, even as a lotus-leaf is not so by water. Devotees perform actions by their bodies, hearts, or intellects, merely through the medium of the senses, putting away self-interest, and for the sake of purification. The man who is devoted, and regardless of the reward of his actions, obtains steady tranquillity. He who is not devoted, and is intent on the reward, by the impulse of passion, is. bound (with the bonds of action). The self-restrained, renouncing all actions with his heart, can, without difficulty, rest (tranquil) within a city with nine gates, neither acting himself nor causing (others) to act. The lord of the world creates neither the faculty of acting nor actions, nor yet the desire for the fruits of actions. But each man’s own nature produces them. The Lord receives no one’s vice or virtue. Knowledge is sur- rounded by ignorance. Therefore creatures err. But the knowledge of those in whose souls that ignorance is destroyed by knowledge, lights up that supreme one, like the sun. Those whose thoughts are on that spirit, whose souls are in it, who exist in it, and are intent on it, their sins being put away by knowledge, attain to that place whence there is no return. The wise regard a Brahman gifted with knowledge and modesty, a cow, an elephant, and even a dog and a Slvwapaka, as the same. Even in this life, those whose hearts persist in equability, sur- mount the tendencies of their natures. For the Supreme Being is free from sin and equal-minded. Therefore they partake of the nature of the Supreme Being. One should not be oveijoyed when one obtains what one loses, nor grieve when one meets with what one desires not, but should be of unwandering thoughts, not deluded (by the world), seeking to know the Supreme Being, remaining within the Supreme Being. Ho whose soul is not attached to the contact of external objects, and who finds pleasure within himself, whose soul is united, by means of devotion, to the Supreme Being, enjoys imperishable happiness. For those en- joyments which arise from external contacts are also the wombs of pain, since they have a beginning and an end, 0 son of Kunti ! The wise 30 bhagavad-gItA. chapter the fifth. man does not take pleasure in them.