1764 verses · verified Sanskrit text · IAST · English translation
sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava । sthitadhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kimāsīta vrajeta kim ॥
“'What is the mark of one steady in wisdom, merged in concentration, O Keśava? How does the steady-minded speak, sit, walk?'”
prajahāti yadā kāmānsarvānpārtha manogatān । ātmanyevātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthitaprajñastadocyate ॥
“'When a man renounces all desires settled in the mind, O Pārtha, content in the self by the self alone, then he is called steady in wisdom.'”
duḥkheṣvanudvignamanāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ । vītarāgabhayakrodhaḥ sthitadhīrmunirucyate ॥
“'One whose mind is untroubled amid sorrows, free of longing amid pleasures, rid of passion, fear and anger — the sage steady in mind is so called.'”
yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehastattatprāpya śubhāśubham । nābhinandati na dveṣṭi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ॥
“'Whoever is without affection anywhere, meeting this or that good or ill, neither rejoicing nor hating — his wisdom stands firm.'”
yadā saṃharate cāyaṃ kūrmo'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ । indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyastasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ॥
“'And when one withdraws the senses from sense-objects on all sides, as a tortoise draws in its limbs, his wisdom stands firm.'”
viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ । rasavarjaṃ raso'pyasya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate ॥
“'Objects fall away from the abstinent embodied self, but not the relish; even the relish falls away on seeing the supreme.'”
yatato hyapi kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ । indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ ॥
“'For even of the striving wise man, O son of Kuntī, the turbulent senses forcibly carry off the mind.'”
tāni sarvāṇi saṃyamya yukta āsīta matparaḥ । vaśe hi yasyendriyāṇi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ॥
“'Restraining all of them, one should sit disciplined, intent on Me; for whoever has the senses under control, his wisdom stands firm.'”
dhyāyato viṣayānpuṃsaḥ saṅgasteṣūpajāyate । saṅgātsaṃjāyate kāmaḥ kāmātkrodho'bhijāyate ॥
“'Brooding on objects, man gets attached to them; from attachment springs desire, from desire springs anger.'”
krodhādbhavati saṃmohaḥ saṃmohātsmṛtivibhramaḥ । smṛtibhraṃśādbuddhināśo buddhināśātpraṇaśyati ॥
“'From anger comes bewilderment, from bewilderment wandering of memory; from failure of memory ruin of thought, from ruin of thought one perishes.'”
rāgadveṣaviyuktaistu viṣayānindriyaiścaran । ātmavaśyairvidheyātmā prasādamadhigacchati ॥
“'But moving among objects with senses free from likes and dislikes, under the self's control, the self-mastered man attains clarity.'”
prasāde sarvaduḥkhānāṃ hānirasyopajāyate । prasannacetaso hyāśu buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate ॥
“'In clarity arises the end of all his sorrows; for the clear-minded, thought soon stands steady.'”
nāsti buddhirayuktasya na cāyuktasya bhāvanā । na cābhāvayataḥ śāntiraśāntasya kutaḥ sukham ॥
“'The undisciplined has no thought, and the undisciplined has no contemplation; for the unreflecting there is no peace, and for the peaceless how can there be joy?'”
indriyāṇāṃ hi caratāṃ yanmano'nu vidhīyate । tadasya harati prajñāṃ vāyurnāvamivāmbhasi ॥
“'When the mind runs after the roaming senses, it carries off one's wisdom, as wind carries off a ship on the waters.'”
tasmādyasya mahābāho nigṛhītāni sarvaśaḥ । indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyastasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ॥
“'So whoever has the senses fully restrained from sense-objects, O mighty-armed, his wisdom stands firm.'”
yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṃ tasyāṃ jāgarti saṃyamī । yasyāṃ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ ॥
“'What is night for all beings, in that the restrained man wakes; wherein beings wake, that is night for the seeing sage.'”
āpūryamāṇamacalapratiṣṭhaṃ samudramāpaḥ praviśanti yadvat । tadvatkāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarve sa śāntimāpnoti na kāmakāmī ॥
“'As waters enter the sea, ever filling yet standing unmoved, so all desires enter him — he attains peace, not the craver of desires.'”
vihāya kāmānyaḥ sarvānpumāṃścarati niḥspṛhaḥ । nirmamo nirahaṃkāraḥ sa śāntimadhigacchati ॥
“'The man who abandons all desires and moves free of longing, without mine-ness, without ego — he attains peace.'”
eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha naināṃ prāpya vimuhyati । sthitvāsyāmantakāle'pi brahmanirvāṇamṛcchati ॥
“'This is the fixed state of Brahman, O Pārtha; reaching it, one is not deluded. Abiding in it even at the end, one reaches extinction in Brahman.'”
jyāyasī cetkarmaṇaste matā buddhirjanārdana । tatkiṃ karmaṇi ghore māṃ niyojayasi keśava ॥
“If wisdom is deemed by you superior to action, O Janārdana, why do you urge me to this dreadful deed, O Keśava?”
vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena buddhiṃ mohayasīva me । tadekaṃ vada niścitya yena śreyo'hamāpnuyām ॥
“With seemingly tangled speech you bewilder my thought; tell me one settled thing by which I may reach the good.”
loke'smindvividhā niṣṭhā purā proktā mayānagha । jñānayogena sāṃkhyānāṃ karmayogena yoginām ॥
“In this world a twofold path was taught by Me of old, O sinless one — by knowledge-discipline for the contemplatives, by action-discipline for the active.”
na karmaṇāmanārambhānnaiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo'śnute । na ca saṃnyasanādeva siddhiṃ samadhigacchati ॥
“Not by abstaining from deeds does a man win deedlessness, nor by renunciation alone does he reach perfection.”
na hi kaścitkṣaṇamapi jātu tiṣṭhatyakarmakṛt । kāryate hyavaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛtijairguṇaiḥ ॥
“For no one ever stands even a moment without doing deeds; every being is helplessly made to act by the qualities born of nature.”
karmendriyāṇi saṃyamya ya āste manasā smaran । indriyārthānvimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate ॥
“Whoever sits restraining the organs of action while mentally recalling sense-objects is a deluded self, a hypocrite, it is said.”
yastvindriyāṇi manasā niyamyārabhate'rjuna । karmendriyaiḥ karmayogamasaktaḥ sa viśiṣyate ॥
“But whoever, restraining the senses by the mind, O Arjuna, undertakes action-discipline with the organs of action, unattached — he excels.”
niyataṃ kuru karma tvaṃ karma jyāyo hyakarmaṇaḥ । śarīrayātrāpi ca te na prasiddhyedakarmaṇaḥ ॥
“Do the appointed deed, for action is better than inaction; even the body's upkeep could not succeed for you without action.”
yajñārthātkarmaṇo'nyatra loko'yaṃ karmabandhanaḥ । tadarthaṃ karma kaunteya muktasaṅgaḥ samācara ॥
“Apart from deeds done for sacrifice, this world is bound by deeds — for that purpose, O son of Kuntī, do your deeds free from attachment.”
sahayajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā purovāca prajāpatiḥ । anena prasaviṣyadhvameṣa vo'stviṣṭakāmadhuk ॥
“Creating beings together with sacrifice, of old Prajāpati said: by this shall you propagate; let this be your wish-yielding cow.”
devānbhāvayatānena te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ । parasparaṃ bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ paramavāpsyatha ॥
“Cherish the gods with this, and may the gods cherish you; cherishing one another, you shall win the highest good.”
iṣṭānbhogānhi vo devā dāsyante yajñabhāvitāḥ । tairdattānapradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ ॥
“Cherished by sacrifice, the gods will grant you the enjoyments you desire; whoever enjoys their gifts without giving to them is a thief indeed.”
yajñaśiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarvakilbiṣaiḥ । bhuñjate te tvaghaṃ pāpā ye pacantyātmakāraṇāt ॥
“The good who eat the leavings of sacrifice are freed from all sins; but the wicked who cook for their own sake eat sin.”
annādbhavanti bhūtāni parjanyādannasambhavaḥ । yajñādbhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karmasamudbhavaḥ ॥
“From food come beings, from rain comes food, from sacrifice comes rain, and sacrifice springs from deeds.”
karma brahmodbhavaṃ viddhi brahmākṣarasamudbhavam । tasmātsarvagataṃ brahma nityaṃ yajñe pratiṣṭhitam ॥
“Know deeds as born of the sacred word, and the sacred word as born of the imperishable; so the all-pervading sacred word ever rests on sacrifice.”
evaṃ pravartitaṃ cakraṃ nānuvartayatīha yaḥ । aghāyurindriyārāmo moghaṃ pārtha sa jīvati ॥
“Whoever does not follow the wheel thus set turning here, O Pārtha — living a sinful life, delighting in the senses — he lives in vain.”
yastvātmaratireva syādātmatṛptaśca mānavaḥ । ātmanyeva ca santuṣṭastasya kāryaṃ na vidyate ॥
“But the man who delights only in the self, content in the self, satisfied in the self alone — for him there is nothing to do.”
naiva tasya kṛtenārtho nākṛteneha kaścana । na cāsya sarvabhūteṣu kaścidarthavyapāśrayaḥ ॥
“For him there is no gain in doing, none in not doing here; nor has he any interest resting on any beings.”
tasmādasaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara । asakto hyācarankarma paramāpnoti pūruṣaḥ ॥
“So ever do the deed that must be done, unattached; for doing deeds unattached, a man reaches the highest.”
karmaṇaiva hi saṃsiddhimāsthitā janakādayaḥ । lokasaṃgrahamevāpi saṃpaśyankartumarhasi ॥
“By deeds alone did Janaka and others reach perfection; and you should act too, with an eye to holding the world together.”
yadyadācarati śreṣṭhastattadevetaro janaḥ । sa yatpramāṇaṃ kurute lokastadanuvartate ॥
“Whatever the best man does, other men do likewise; whatever standard he sets, the world follows.”
na me pārthāsti kartavyaṃ triṣu lokeṣu kiṃcana । nānavāptamavāptavyaṃ varta eva ca karmaṇi ॥
“For Me, O Pārtha, there is nothing to do in the three worlds, nothing unattained to attain — yet I keep working at deeds.”
yadi hyahaṃ na varteyaṃ jātu karmaṇyatandritaḥ । mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ ॥
“For if I did not tirelessly keep working at deeds, O Pārtha, men would follow my path in all ways.”
utsīdeyurime lokā na kuryāṃ karma cedaham । saṃkarasya ca kartā syāmupahanyāmimāḥ prajāḥ ॥
“These worlds would perish if I did not do deeds; I would cause caste-mixture and ruin these beings.”
saktāḥ karmaṇyavidvāṃso yathā kurvanti bhārata । kuryādvidvāṃstathāsaktaścikīrṣurlokasaṃgraham ॥
“As the ignorant act attached to deeds, O Bhārata, so should the wise act unattached, seeking to hold the world together.”
na buddhibhedaṃ janayedajñānāṃ karmasaṅginām । joṣayetsarvakarmāṇi vidvānyuktaḥ samācaran ॥
“Let the wise man not unsettle the minds of the ignorant who are attached to deeds; he should get them to do all deeds, himself disciplined and performing them.”
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ । ahaṃkāravimūḍhātmā kartāhamiti manyate ॥
“Deeds are done in all ways by nature's qualities; one whose self is deluded by ego thinks 'I am the doer.'”
tattvavittu mahābāho guṇakarmavibhāgayoḥ । guṇā guṇeṣu vartanta iti matvā na sajjate ॥
“But the knower of truth, O mighty-armed, about the divisions of qualities and deeds, holds that qualities move among qualities, and is not attached.”
prakṛterguṇasaṃmūḍhāḥ sajjante guṇakarmasu । tānakṛtsnavido mandānkṛtsnavinna vicālayet ॥
“Those deluded by nature's qualities get attached to deeds of the qualities; the man of perfect knowledge should not unsettle the dull of imperfect knowledge.”
mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi saṃnyasyādhyātmacetasā । nirāśīrnirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigatajvaraḥ ॥
“Surrendering all deeds to Me with a God-centred mind, free of hope and mine-ness, fight, rid of fever.”
ye me matamidaṃ nityamanutiṣṭhanti mānavāḥ । śraddhāvanto'nasūyanto mucyante te'pi karmabhiḥ ॥
“Men who ever follow this teaching of Mine, full of faith and free of cavil — they too are freed by their deeds.”