novelraw Arc 2 - Bhagavad Gītā Parva - Chapter 23 - The Yoga of Renunciation and Surrender (BG XVI)
Arc 2 - Bhagavad Gītā Parva - Chapter 23 - The Yoga of Renunciation and Surrender (BG XVI)
Mokṣa–Sannyāsa Yoga
Vaiśampāyana said
When the teachings on faith had settled like calm upon the Gāṅgā’s face, Arjuna, the son of Pṛthā, bowed again upon the chariot-bannered field. Desiring to discern the final path—how to lay down the burden of doership and how to offer the fruit—he questioned Śrī Bhagavān, the Lord who delights in the hearts of beings.
Arjuna asks of Renunciation and Abandonment
Arjuna said
“O Lord of the senses, I wish to know precisely the truth of sannyāsa
(renunciation) and tyāga (abandonment). How shall the wise walk between them?”
Renunciation and the Threefold Abandonment
Śrī Bhagavān said
“Renunciation is the laying down of actions born of desire. Abandonment is the relinquishing of the fruit of all works. Some declare that all works should be given up; others teach that sacrifice, gift, and austerity must never be abandoned. Hear My firm conclusion, O Bhārata sacrifice, gift, and austerity purify the wise; they should indeed be performed—but without attachment and without craving for result. This is My settled word.
Abandonment is threefold
To cast aside scripturally enjoined duty out of delusion—this is tamas.To drop duty from fear of discomfort—this is rajas; it bears no bright fruit.To do what ought to be done, relinquishing attachment and result—this is sattva; it is pure.”
“Duty done for duty’s sake,
With no thought of ‘mine’ or ‘gain,’
That bright letting-go the wise
Call the gold that frees from stain.”
Since embodied beings cannot wholly desist from action, he is true renouncer who abandons the fruit. For those who clutch at fruits, the harvest is mixed—pleasant, painful, and confused. For the tyāgin who lets results dissolve, there is none.
The Five Causes and the Error of Doership
“Know from Sāṅkhya the fivefold causes of every act the body as substratum, the agent, the various instruments (organs), the diverse efforts, and the presiding deities
—these five. Whatever a man performs by body, speech, or mind—righteous or otherwise—is occasioned by these.He whose understanding is crude imagines the Self alone to be the sole doer—he sees not. But he who is free from egoism and whose mind is untainted—though he should slay these warriors—neither slays nor is bound.”
“Five the strings that strike the chord,
One the Witness, still and bright;
He who knows the doer’s mask
Falls not bound in karma’s night.”
Threefold Knowledge, Action, and Agent
“Knowledge, action, and agent are threefold by the guṇas
Sattvic knowledge sees the One imperishable Reality dwelling undivided in the divided.Rajasic knowledge grasps multiplicity, holding each thing apart.Tamasic knowledge clings to a fragment as the whole—irrational, paltry, untrue.Sattvic action is scripturally guided, done without attachment, free of love and hate, without hankering for fruit.Rajasic action is driven by desire and ego, pursued with strain.Tamasic action is born of delusion—heedless of consequence, loss, harm, or capacity.Sattvic agent is detached, self-possessed, resolute, unshaken in success and failure.Rajasic agent is grasping, cruel, impure, and swayed by joy and sorrow.Tamasic agent is dull, obstinate, deceitful, slothful, despondent, and delaying.”Buddhi (Intellect) and Dhṛti (Constancy), Threefold
“The intellect that discerns right action and restraint, fear and fearlessness, bondage and release, is sattvic.
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The intellect that imperfectly distinguishes right and wrong is rajasic
.
The intellect that in darkness takes wrong for right is tamasic.
The constancy by which one steadies mind, life-breaths, and senses in Yoga is sattvic.
The constancy that clings to duty-and-desire for reward is rajasic.
The constancy that refuses to abandon sleep, fear, sorrow, and folly is tamasic.”
Threefold Happiness
“Bitter first and nectar last—
The taste of Self serene and vast—
This is Sattva’s joy.
Honey first and poison late—
Sense-delight that turns to weight—
This is Rajas’ ploy.
Fog at dawn and fog at eve,
Born of sloth and make-believe—
Tamas’ joy is joyless void.”
“There is none on earth or heaven free from Nature’s triple strands.”
Svadharma Duties by Nature
“The duties of Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, and Śūdra are born of their own guṇas
Brāhmaṇa tranquillity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness, uprightness, knowledge, wisdom, and faith.Kṣatriya heroism, vigor, steadfastness, skill, lordship, liberality, and refusal to flee in battle.Vaiśya agriculture, cattle-tending, and trade.Śūdra service.Each man, devoted to his own duty, attains perfection. Better one’s own dharma, though limping, than another’s dharma flawlessly performed. All action is touched by flaw—as fire by smoke.”
Perfection through Duty and the Rise to Brahman
“He whose mind is unattached everywhere, who has mastered himself and from whom desire has departed—by renunciation he attains the supreme perfection of freedom from the compulsion of works.
Hear briefly how, perfected thus, one reaches Brahman
With purified understanding, steady in the Self, renouncing sense-objects, casting off love and hate, dwelling in solitude, temperate in food, restraining speech, body, and mind, ever absorbed in meditation; abandoning egoism, violence, pride, lust, anger, and possessiveness—serene, he becomes fit to realize Brahman.
Becoming Brahman, tranquil, he neither grieves nor craves; equal to all beings, he wins the highest bhakti to Me. By that devotion he truly knows Me—who I am—and knowing Me in truth, he enters Me at once.”
“Self made still and senses stilled,
Ego dropped and passions nilled—
Knowing Me, he comes to Me,
Shoreless in My liberty.”
The Lord within the Heart
“Even while performing all actions, taking refuge in Me, he attains, by My grace, the eternal, changeless seat. Dedicate to Me all acts; with mind fixed on Me, be devoted; through meditation keep thy thought in Me. Thus shalt thou cross all difficulties by My grace. But if, from ego’s pride, thou wilt not listen, thou art lost.
If, in delusion, thou sayest, ‘I will not fight,’ thy resolve is vain; thy own nature will compel thee. The Lord, O Arjuna, dwells in the hearts of beings, turning them as if mounted on a machine by His Māyā. Seek refuge wholly in Him; by His grace thou shalt gain supreme peace and the eternal abode.”
The Supreme Secret of Surrender
“Thus have I told thee wisdom more secret than secrets. Reflect fully—and then act as thou wilt. Yet hear My highest word, most dear
Set thy heart on Me; be My devotee; sacrifice to Me; bow to Me. Thou shalt come to Me—this is My promise, for thou art beloved.
Abandon all dharmas and take refuge in Me alone. I will free thee from all sins. Do not grieve.
Speak not this to one devoid of tapas, not to the unfaithful, nor to the scorner of Me, nor to him who serves not the teacher.
He who shares this supreme secret with My devotees, offering Me the highest love—none among men does Me a dearer service, nor shall any be dearer. He who studies this dialogue worships Me by the sacrifice of knowledge; even he who listens with faith, free from caviling, attains the blessed worlds of the righteous.”
Śrī Bhagavān said (gentle) “Has this been heard, O Pārtha, with a mind gathered? Has thy delusion born of ignorance been destroyed?”
Arjuna said
“By Your grace my delusion is destroyed; memory has returned. I stand firm, doubt dispelled. I will do Your bidding.”
Sañjaya said
“Thus did I hear the wondrous, hair-raising dialogue between Vāsudeva
and the high-souled son of Pṛthā. Through Vyāsa’s favor I heard this supreme Yoga from Śrī Bhagavān, the Lord of Yoga, Himself declaring it. Remembering again and again that holy conversation, I rejoice ever anew; and recalling again and again the marvellous universal Form of Hari, my amazement deepens, my joy increases.
Where Śrī Bhagavān, the Lord of Yoga, abides, and where Pārtha, the mighty archer, stands—there, in my judgment, are fortune, victory, prosperity, and steadfast dharma.”
“Lay down the fruit, take up the bow,
Give Me thy heart and onward go;
In surrender’s simple, sacred art—
I bear thee home within My heart.”
Thus ends the Eighteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā,
Mokṣa–Sannyāsa Yoga, the crowning teaching wherein renunciation ripens into surrender, and surrender flowers into the peace of Śrī Bhagavān.