Red Eye       

Arjuna's Conversion:
Dhritarashtra said:
1. O Sanjaya! What indeed did my people and the followers of the Pandavas do after having
assembled in the holy land of Kurukshetra, eager to join battle?
Sanjaya said:
2. Then seeing the army of the Pandavas arrayed in battle order. King Duryodhana for his
part approached the teacher Drona and spoke to him the following words:
3. O Teacher! Behold this great army of the sons of Pandu, arrayed in battle order by your
talented disciple, the son of Drupada.
4. Here (in that army) are many brave bow-men of note who are equal to Bhima and
Arjuna in battle - great car-warriors like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada;
5. Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana and the brave king of Kashi; Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Shaibya
the best of men;
6. The powerful Yudhamanyu, the brave Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra, and the sons of
Draupadi - all these are indeed noted car-warriors.
... Read more »

Yoga of Knowledge
Sanjaya said:
1. To him who was thus overcome with pity and whose eyes were full of tears and bore a
bewildered look, Shri Krishna spoke as follows:
The Blessed Lord said:
2. O Arjuna! Whence has this loathsome stupidity come upon you in this crisis? It (this
attitude) is unworthy of a noble personage; it is a bar to heaven and a cause of much
disrepute.
3. O Partha! Yield not to unmanliness! It befits thee not. Abandoning this base faint-
heartedness, rise up, O dreaded hero!
Arjuna said:
4. O Krishna! How can I attack Bhishma and Drona in battle with my arrows? They are,
indeed worthy of worship, O destroyer of foes!
5. It is indeed better to live here in this world on a beggar's fare than to prosper by killing
these venerable teachers. The enjoyment of pleasure and power obtained through the
slaughter of these teachers and elders will surely be bloodstained.
... Read more »

Yoga of Action
Arjuna said:
1. O Janardana, if, according to Thee, discriminative insight is superior to action, why dost
Thou enjoin on me this terrible action (of engagement in war)?
2. By seemingly conflicting words, Thou art confusing my understanding. Speak to me only
about that which will definitely lead to my highest good.
The Blessed Lord said:
3. In times of yore a twofold spiritual path was taught by me, O sinless one - that of
knowledge for Samkhyas (who are pure contemplatives), and that of action for Yogis (who
combine detached work with devotion).
4. By non-performance of action a man does not gain the state of spiritual passivity (or the
state of egoless actionlessness called Naishkarmya). By mere external abandonment
(Samnyasa), he does not attain to perfection.
5. No man can ever remain even for a moment without performing any action. The
impulses of nature deprive him of ... Read more »

Renunciation of Action in Knowledge
The Blessed Lord said:
1. I imparted this immortal Yoga to Vivasvan, Vivasvan to Manu, and Manu to Ikshvaku.
2. O scorcher of foes! This Yoga handed down from teacher to disciple in succession, was
known to the Rajarishis (royal sages). But owing to long lapse of time, it was lost to the
world.
3. You are My devotee and friend - thinking thus, I have today declared to you even that
ancient Yoga. For, it is a noble secret (imparted by a teacher only to a worthy disciple).
Arjuna said:
4. Thy life-time is later, that of Vivasvan was much earlier. How then am I to understand
that Thou didst impart this doctrine to him?
The Blessed Lord said:
5. O Arjuna! You and I have passed through many births; I remember them all, but you do
not, O scorcher of foes!
6. Though birthless and deathless, and the Lord of all beings as well, yet I (the Eternal
Being) ta ... Read more »

Yoga of Renunciation
Arjuna said:
1. O Krishna! Thou praisest in one breath both abandonment of works and communion
through their performance. Now tell me with certainty which of them leads to one's good.
The Blessed Lord said:
2. Both abandonment of works and communion through works lead to liberation. But of
them, communion through work excels abandonment of work.
3. O mighty-armed one! Whoever hates not, nor desires, should be known as one
established in renunciation. Indeed, one who is above such contraries is easily liberated
from bondage.
4. It is only the childish and not the wise that speak of Samkhya (or Knowledge
accompanied by abandonment of work) and Yoga (or communion through detached and
dedicated work) as different. A person well-established in even one of these, attains the
end that is the common goal of both. (That is, in the means they employ, they look
different, but the ... Read more »

Communion Through Meditation
The Blessed Lord said:
1. It is the man who performs his duties without dependence on the fruits that deserves to
be called a Sannyasin (renouncer) and a Yogin, not the one who keeps no fire or avoids
works.
2. O son of Pandu! What is called Sannyasa or renunciation know that to be identical with
Yoga or disciplines of selfless action. For, whoever has not abandoned subtle hankerings
and self-centred objectives, can never become a Yogi, or a practitioner of spiritual
communion through works.
3. For one who desires to ascend the path leading to the heights of spiritual communion
(Yoga), detached work is the means. For one who has ascended it, quiescence is verily the
means.
4. When one ceases to be attached to sense objects and to one's actions, then that one, who
has thus abandoned all subtle hankerings and self-centred objectives, is said to have
ascended the ... Read more »

Communion Through Knowledge
The Blessed Lord said:
1. Hear now, O son of Pritha, how one resigned to Me and absorbed in love of Me, attains
to full knowledge of Me through the practice of spiritual communion.
2. I shall now declare to you in fullness that Knowledge along with Special Knowledge, (its
higher development), by means of which there will remain nothing more for you to
understand.
3. Among thousands of men, there will just be one here or there striving for spiritual
perfection. From among the aspirants so striving, one perchance knows Me in truth.
4. My Nature is divided into eight categories - earth, water, fire, air, sky (ether), mind
(manas), understanding (buddhi), and I-sense (ahamkara).
5. This, O mighty armed, is My lower Nature. Know that, as different from it, is My higher
Nature forming the source of all Jivas and the support of the whole universe.
6. Know that all beings have ... Read more »

Way to Brahman
Arjuna said:
1. O Supreme Lord! What is Brahman (the Absolute)? What is the Spirit (the Adhyatma)?
What is work (Karma)? And what is that which underlies the material manifestations
(Adhibhuta), and what, the divinities (Adhidaiva)?
2. O Slayer of Madhu! Who is the Adhiyajna (the spirit underlying sacrifices) that resides in
this body, and how does he do so? How should a man of a self-restraint meditate on the
Supreme Being at the time of death?
The Blessed Lord said:
3. Brahman is Akshara, the Immutable Being than whom there is none higher. Brahman's
power manifested in every body as the transmigrating self (the Jiva), is the Adhyatma. The
creative act (identified with sacrificial offering), which brings all beings into existence, is
Karma (work).
4. O noble one! The perishable Nature is the material aspect (Adhibhuta). The cosmic soul
is the basis of all divine manifestati ... Read more »

Sovereign Secret
The Blessed Lord said:
1. I shall now declare to you, who are endowed with reverence, that profoundest of all
mystic doctrines and the way to its experience, by which you will be free from the baneful
life of Samsara.
2. It is a sovereign science, and a profound mystery. Supremely sanctifying, demonstrable
by experience, and yielding imperishable results, it is also easy to perform and is in
agreement with the moral law.
3. Men without faith in this sacred doctrine (who continue to look upon the body as the
self) fail to attain Me. They remain caught up in Samsara, the eternally recurring cycle of
births and deaths.
4. All this world is pervaded by Me, the Unmanifested Being. All objects subsist in Me, but
not I in them.
5. And yet objects do not abide in Me! Behold My mysterious Divine Power! Source and
support of all objects, and yet not abiding in (i.e.not limited by) t ... Read more »

Divine Glories
The Blessed Lord said:
1. Hear again, O mighty armed one, My words on the Supreme Truth. Desirous of your
good, I want to declare it to you, who are so beloved of Me.
2. Neither the hosts of gods nor Maharishis (great sages) know my origin, for I am Myself
the origin of all those gods and great sages.
3. He who knows Me as the beginningless, the unborn and the Master of the worlds - he
among mortals becomes undeluded, and he is freed from all sins.
4-5. Intelligence, knowledge, sanity, patience, truth, sense-control, mind-control, pleasure,
pain, birth, death, fear and also fearlessness; non-injury, same-sightednsss, contentment,
austerity, benevolence, fame and obloquy - all these diverse modes of the mind seen in all
beings proceed from Me alone, their ultimate sanctioner.
6. The seven great sages (beginning with Marichi) as also the four earlier ones like Sanaka
and the rest and ... Read more »

The Cosmic Form
Arjuna said:
1. Thy instructions on the grand Mystery, the highest spiritual Truth, imparted to me out
of Thy abounding grace, have dispelled my delusion.
2. O lotus-eyed One! From Thee I have heard at length about the origin and dissolution of
creatures as also about Thy greatness that knows no decay.
3. Thou art, O Lord Supreme, even as what Thou hast declared Thyself to be. (I understand
and accept it.) Yet I now desire to see that form of Thine as the Lord of all.
4. If, O Lord, Thou thinkest me worthy of experiencing that immutable form of Thine, then
deign to reveal the same to me, O Thou Master of all Yoga!
The Blessed Lord said:
5. Behold, O Partha, My manifold forms in their hundreds and thousands - all divine and all
of varied hues and shapes.
6. Behold the Adityas and the Vasus, the Rudras and the Ashvins, and the Maruts likewise -
behold these marvels unseen by ... Read more »

Loving Devotion
Arjuna said:
1. There are Thy ever-steadfast devotees who love and worship Thee in the above way (as
the Divine Person); there are again others who contemplate on Thee as the Imperishable
Unmanifest (Impersonal Absolute) - which of these has a greater understanding of Yoga.
The Blessed Lord said:
2. Those I consider as the most perfect in Yoga, who, with their minds fixed intently on Me
in steadfast love, worship Me with absolute faith.
3-4. Those who are devoted to the Imperishable (the Impersonal Absolute) - who is the firm
support of the world and is also undefinable, unmanifested, transcendent, motionless,
eternal and all-pervading, - even they reach Me alone, striving with their senses controlled,
and with mind tranquillised and set on the welfare of all.
5. The obstacles facing those devoted to the Impersonal Absolute are far greater; for the way
of any unclear ideal is diff ... Read more »

The Knower and The Known
The Blessed Lord said:
1. This body, O son of Kunti, is called the Ksetra, the field (because the fruits of action are
reaped in it). He who knows it (as his property) is the Ksetrajna or the Spirit who knows
the field. So say those versed in this subject.
2. Know Me, O scion of the Bharata race, to be the Ksetrajna (the Spirit) in all Kshetras
(bodies). The knowledge of the distinction between Ksetra and Ksetrajna alone is real
knowledge according to Me.
3. Hear from Me in brief what the Kshetra is, of what nature it is, what its modifications
are, and from what causes what effects have sprung. Also know who the Kshetrajna is and
what his powers are.
4. In many and different ways have the Rishis sung about this subject in metres of varying
description. The well-reasoned and definitive aphorisms of the Brahma-sutras too have
discussed it.
5-6. The five great elemen ... Read more »

The Three Gunas
The Blessed Lord said:
1. I shall now expound to you again that knowledge relating to the Supreme Being, the most
exalted of all forms of knowledge, by gaining which all sages passed from this state of
bondage into the highest perfection.
2. Those who have attained unity with My nature through this knowledge are not born
again even at the beginning of a new creative cycle, nor are they subjected to the distress of
dissolution.
3. The Great Nature Prakriti is like a womb to Me. I deposit therein the germ of creation,
the creative impulse, out of which everything comes into being.
4. O son of Kunti! All creatures. whatever might be the womb from which they are born,
have really the Great Nature as the womb - the source of their origin. And I am their
father, the bestower of the seed.
5. The three Gunas as Sattva, Rajas and Tamas born of Prakriti, bind down the immortal
soul t ... Read more »

All-Pervading Divine Person
The Blessed Lord said:
1. The scriptures speak of the eternal Ashvattha, the World Tree, whose roots are in the
Most High, branches in the lower regions, and leaves in Vedic hymns. He who knows it,
understands the Veda really.
2. Nourished by the Gunas and covered with the budding foliage of sense objects, its
branches spread into regions high and low. Stretching forth on the ground below in the
world of men, are its secondary roots, entangling man in the bondage of action.
3-4. For one involved in worldly life, the form of the World-Tree is not visible, nor its
origin, nor its end, nor its foundation. Cutting asunder the firmly rooted Ashvattha (World-
Tree) with the powerful axe of non-attachment, and saying, "I seek refuge in that Primeval
Person from whom this eternal cosmic activity has streamed forth", man should seek that
Status, attaining to which there is no more ret ... Read more »

Divine and Demoniac Types The Blessed Lord said:
1. Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and devotion, benevolence, control of the senses, worship, study of scriptures, austerity, uprightness;
2. Non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, tranquillity, aversion to slander, compassion to living beings, freedom from sensuality, gentleness, modesty, steadfastness;
3. Vigour, patience, fortitude, harmlessness, freedom from vanity - all these, O scion of the Bharatas, are present in those born to a divine heritage.
4. O son of Pritha! Pretentiousness, arrogance, overweening pride, wrath, rudeness, as also insensitiveness to spiritual values - all these are found in those born to a demoniac heritage.
5. It is deemed that the divine heritage leads to liberation and the demoniac to bondage. Grieve not, O son of Pandu! You are born to a divine heritage.
6. In this world there are two types of creation, the divine ... Read more »