Compiled by Akrita Reyar
On the circle of Life
Na tv evāhaḿ jātu nāsaḿ na tvaḿ neme janādhipāḥ na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve vayam ataḥ param
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
Dehino `smin yathā dehe kaumāraḿ yauvanaḿ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptirdhīras tatra na muhyati
As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.
Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ āgamāpāyino `nityās tāḿs titikṣasva bhārata
.
O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
Nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ ubhayor api dṛṣṭo `ntas tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ
Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.
On the nature of Soul
Na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaḿ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ ajo nityaḥ śāśvato `yaḿ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
Vāsāḿsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro `parāṇi tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny anyāni saḿyāti navāni dehī
As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Nainaḿ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaḿ dahati pāvakaḥ na cainaḿ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ
The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.
Acchedyo `yam adāhyo `yam akledyo `śoṣya eva ca nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur acalo `yaḿ sanātanaḥ
This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.
The ideal state of Mind
Trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-kṣema ātmavān
The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature (goodness, passion, & ignorance). O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self.
Duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita- dhīr munir ucyate
One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.
Tāni sarvāṇi saḿyamya yukta āsīta mat-paraḥ vaśe hi yasyendriyāṇi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
Niyataḿ kuru karma tvaḿ karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ śarīra-yātrāpi ca te na prasiddhyed akarmaṇaḥ
Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain one`s physical body without work.
On knowledge & austerity
Amānitvam adambhitvam ahiḿsā kṣāntir ārjavam ācāryopāsanaḿ śaucaḿ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ
Indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam anahańkāra eva ca janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha- oṣānudarśanam
Asaktir anabhiṣvańgaḥ putra-dāra-gṛhādiṣu nityaḿ ca sama-cittatvam iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu Cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī vivikta-deśa-sevitvam aratir jana-saḿsadi Adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvaḿ tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam etaj jñānam iti proktam ajñānaḿ yad ato `nyathā
Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth — all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.
Deva-dvija-guru-prājña-pūjanaḿ śaucam ārjavam brahmacaryam ahiḿsā ca śārīraḿ tapa ucyate
Austerity of the body consists in worship of the Supreme Lord, the brāhmaṇas, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father and mother, and in cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence.
Anudvega-karaḿ vākyaḿ satyaḿ priya-hitaḿ ca yat svādhyāyābhyasanaḿ caiva vāń-mayaḿ tapa ucyate
Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature.
Manaḥ-prasādaḥ saumyatvaḿ maunam ātma-vinigrahaḥ bhāva-saḿśuddhir ity etat tapo mānasam ucyate
And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one`s existence are the austerities of the mind.
On Himself
Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaḿ sṛjāmy aham
Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāḿ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saḿsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself.
To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.
Raso `ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaḿ nṛṣu
O son of Kuntī, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable Oḿ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.
Puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāḿ ca tejaś cāsmi vibhāvasau jīvanaḿ sarva-bhūteṣu tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu
I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the heat in fire. I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics.
Bījaḿ māḿ sarva-bhūtānāḿ viddhi pārtha sanātanam buddhir buddhimatām asmi tejas tejasvinām aham
O son of Pṛthā, know that I am the original seed of all existences, the intelligence of the intelligent, and the prowess of all powerful men.
Ahaḿ kratur ahaḿ yajñaḥ svadhāham aham auṣadham mantro `ham aham evājyam aham agnir ahaḿ hutam
But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering.
Pitāham asya jagato mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ vedyaḿ pavitram oḿkāra ṛk sāma yajur eva ca
I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oḿ. I am also the Ṛig, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.
Gtir bhartā prabhuḥ sākṣī nivāsaḥ śaraṇaḿ suhṛt prabhavaḥ pralayaḥ sthānaḿ nidhānaḿ bījam avyayam
I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge, and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed.
Vedāhaḿ samatītāni vartamānāni cārjuna bhaviṣyāṇi ca bhūtāni māḿ tu veda na kaścana
O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows.
On who achieves Krishna
Na prahṛṣyet priyaḿ prāpya nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam sthira-buddhir asammūḍho brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ
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.
Labhante brahma-nirvāṇam ṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇa-kalmaṣāḥ chinna-dvaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ
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.
Samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu samaḥ sańga- vivarjitaḥ
Tulya-nindā-stutir maunī santuṣṭo yena kenacit aniketaḥ sthira-matir bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ
One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn`t care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service — such a person is very dear to Me.
Vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ
The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste.
Sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaḿ sarva-bhūtāni cātmani īkṣate yoga-yuktātmā sarvatra sama-darśanaḥ
A true yogī observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere.
Anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaḿ yāti nāsty atra saḿśayaḥ
And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.
On worship and his devotee
Patraḿ puṣpaḿ phalaḿ toyaḿ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaḿ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.
Api cet su-durācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ
Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination.
Kṣipraḿ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiḿ nigacchati kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati
He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.
