|
CHAPTER FIVE Karma-yoga – Action in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness
TEXT 1: Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You
recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of
the two is more beneficial? TEXT 2: The Personality of Godhead replied: The renunciation of
work and work in devotion are both good for liberation. But, of the two, work
in devotional service is better than renunciation of work. TEXT 3: One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his
activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, free from all
dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated, O
mighty-armed Arjuna. TEXT 4: Only the ignorant speak of devotional service [karma-yoga]
as being different from the analytical study of the material world [Sāṅkhya]. Those who are actually learned
say that he who applies himself well to one of these paths achieves the
results of both. TEXT 5: One who knows that the position reached by means of
analytical study can also be attained by devotional service, and who
therefore sees analytical study and devotional service to be on the same
level, sees things as they are. TEXT 6: Merely renouncing all activities yet not engaging in the
devotional service of the Lord cannot make one happy. But a thoughtful person
engaged in devotional service can achieve the Supreme without delay. TEXT 7: One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who
controls his mind and senses is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to
him. Though always working, such a man is never entangled. TEXTS 8-9: A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged
in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and
breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all.
Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his
eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their
objects and that he is aloof from them. TEXT 10: One who performs his duty without attachment,
surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful
action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water. TEXT 11: The yogīs, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind,
intelligence and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification. TEXT 12: The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace
because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is
not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor,
becomes entangled. TEXT 13: When the embodied living being controls his nature and
mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates
[the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done. TEXT 14: The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does
not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create
the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature. TEXT 15: Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious
activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance
which covers their real knowledge. TEXT 16: When, however, one is enlightened with the knowledge by
which nescience is destroyed, then his knowledge reveals everything, as the
sun lights up everything in the daytime. TEXT 17: When one’s intelligence, mind, faith and refuge are all
fixed in the Supreme, then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through
complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation. TEXT 18: The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with
equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]. TEXT 19: Those whose minds are established in sameness and
equanimity have already conquered the conditions of birth and death. They are
flawless like Brahman, and thus they are already situated in Brahman. TEXT 20: A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something
pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is
self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God is
already situated in transcendence. TEXT 21: Such a liberated person is not attracted to material
sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this
way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates
on the Supreme. TEXT 22: An intelligent person does not take part in the sources
of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kuntī,
such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not
delight in them. TEXT 23: Before giving up this present body, if one is able to
tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and
anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world. TEXT 24: One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices
within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic. He is
liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme. TEXT 25: Those who are beyond the dualities that arise from
doubts, whose minds are engaged within, who are always busy working for the
welfare of all living beings and who are free from all sins achieve liberation
in the Supreme. TEXT 26: Those who are free from anger and all material desires,
who are self-realized, self-disciplined and constantly endeavoring for
perfection, are assured of liberation in the Supreme in the very near future. TEXTS 27-28: Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the
eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward
and outward breaths within the nostrils, and thus controlling the mind,
senses and intelligence, the transcendentalist aiming at liberation becomes
free from desire, fear and anger. One who is always in this state is
certainly liberated. TEXT 29: A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries. |