śhrī-bhagavān uvācha

कुतस्त्वा कश्मलमिदं विषमे समुपस्थितम्

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

Where has this faintness come from, Arjuna, at such an hour? It is unworthy of you, it leads nowhere good, and it brings you no honour.

अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and you speak, meanwhile, like a wise man. The wise mourn neither the living nor the dead.

प्रजहाति यदा कामान् सर्वान् पार्थ मनोगतान्

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — The Supreme Lord said

When a person lets go of every desire that has entered the mind, and is content within the self by the self — then that one is called steady in wisdom.

लोकेऽस्मिन्द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Blessed Lord said

In this world there are two paths, as I have said before, sinless one: the path of knowledge, for those who reason; and the path of action, for those who act.

इमं विवस्वते योगं प्रोक्तवानहमव्ययम्

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna said

I taught this imperishable yoga to Vivasvan; Vivasvan taught it to Manu; and Manu to Ikshvaku.

बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

Many births of mine have passed, Arjuna, and of yours. I know them all; you do not.

संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

Both renunciation and the yoga of action lead to the highest. But of the two, the yoga of action is the better.

अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

One who does the work that must be done without depending on its fruit — that one is both a renouncer and a practitioner of yoga; not the one who lights no fire and does nothing.

असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — Lord Krishna said

No doubt the mind is hard to restrain and restless, mighty-armed one. But by practice and by dispassion it can be held, son of Kunti.

पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

There is no destruction for such a person, son of Pritha, either here or beyond. No one who does good ever comes to a bad end.

प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः

śhrī-matām — of the prosperous

Having reached the worlds of the virtuous and dwelt there for many ages, one who has fallen from yoga is born again in the house of the pure and the prosperous;

मय्यासक्तमनाः पार्थ योगं युञ्जन्मदाश्रयः

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

With your mind attached to me, son of Pritha, practising yoga and taking refuge in me — hear how you will know me completely and without doubt.

अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Blessed Lord said

The imperishable is the highest Brahman. One's own nature is called the self. The bringing forth of beings and their states is called action.

इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्ष्याम्यनसूयवे

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

To you, who do not carp, I will declare this deepest secret — knowledge together with what is realised through it, knowing which you will be released from harm.

भूय एव महाबाहो श्रृणु मे परमं वचः

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Blessed Lord said

Hear again my highest word, mighty-armed one, which I speak to you because you are dear to me and for your good.

हन्त ते कथयिष्यामि दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Blessed Lord spoke

Very well — I will tell you of my divine glories, but only the chief of them, Arjuna, for there is no end to them.

मृत्युः सर्वहरश्चाहमुद्भवश्च भविष्यताम्

śhrīḥ — prospective

I am death, which carries everything off, and the origin of what is yet to be. Among what is feminine I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, wisdom, steadfastness and patience.

यद्यद्विभूतिमत्सत्त्वं श्रीमदूर्जितमेव वा

śhrī-mat — beautiful

Whatever is glorious, whatever is beautiful, whatever is mighty — know that it comes from a fragment of my splendour.

पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

Behold my forms, son of Pritha, by hundreds and by thousands — of many kinds, divine, of many colours and shapes.

कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

I am time, the destroyer of worlds, grown mighty; I have come forth to bring their ending. Even without you, none of these warriors drawn up in the opposing ranks will remain.

मया प्रसन्नेन तवार्जुनेदं रूपं परं दर्शितमात्मयोगात्

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Blessed Lord said

Out of grace toward you, Arjuna, I have shown you by my own power this highest form — radiant, universal, endless, primal — which no one before you has seen.

सुदुर्दर्शमिदं रूपं दृष्टवानसि यन्मम

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Lord said

The form you have seen is very hard to see. Even the gods long constantly to see it.

मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Blessed Lord said

Those who fix their minds on me and worship me, always steady, with the highest faith — I hold them to be the best joined.

इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Divine Lord said

This body, son of Kunti, is called the field; and one who knows it is called the knower of the field.

परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम्

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Divine Lord said

I will declare again the highest knowledge, best of all knowledge, by knowing which those who practise have reached perfection.

प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Divine Personality said

Light, busyness and delusion — one who does not hate them when they arise, and does not long for them when they cease;

ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम्

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Divine Personality said

They speak of an imperishable sacred fig with its roots above and its branches below, whose leaves are the Vedas. One who knows it knows.

अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिः ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Divine Personality said

Fearlessness, purity of being, steadiness in knowledge and practice, giving, restraint, offering, study, austerity, straightness;

त्रिविधा भवति श्रद्धा देहिनां सा स्वभावजा

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Personality said

The faith of the embodied is of three kinds, arising from their own nature: of clarity, of restlessness and of inertia. Hear of them.

काम्यानां कर्मणां न्यासं संन्यासं कवयो विदुः

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — the Supreme Divine Personality said

The wise know renunciation to be the giving up of actions driven by desire; and letting go, the giving up of the fruit of all action.

यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः

śhrīḥ — opulence

Wherever Krishna is, the master of yoga, and wherever Arjuna is, the archer — there, I am certain, are fortune, victory, prosperity and steadfastness.