CHAPTER 16: THE YOGA DISCRIMINATING THE QUALITIES OF THE ENLIGHTENED AND THE UNENLIGHTENED

About the qualities of the divine and the godless

(1-3) The Supreme Lord said: 'Fearless, good of heart, persevering in the knowledge of yoga, compassionate, of restraint, willing to sacrifice, studious, austere and simple; nonviolent, truthful, free from anger, renounced, peaceful, unmalicious, merciful to all, without greed, gentle, modest and determined; arduous, forgiving, steadfast, clean, without envy and not striving for honor, are the qualities of one who is born of the divine. (4) Deceit, pride, conceit and anger and surely violence and ignorance are the qualities that are the consequence of the unenlightened, oh son of Prithâ. (5) The divine characteristics are of liberation while the qualities of the godless result from bondage. Do not worry, oh son of Pându, as your life is the consequence of transcendental wealth.

(6) There are two types of conditioned beings in this world: the godly and indeed the unenlightened. About the divine I spoke at length; just hear about the godless from Me. (7) The disorderly ones do not know how to begin or where to stop, they are unclean, do not know to behave and have no truth in them. (8) They say that the universe does not really have a purpose, that it has no ruler, that it did not come into existence from a certain cause and that there is no other cause than that of lust. (9) Less intelligent, having lost themselves being complacent with this outlook, do the less favorable activities flourish and does their work lead to the unfortunate of destroying the planet. (10) Confiding in lusts that are insatiable, in hypocrisy, arrogance and driven by false pride, one, led by illusion, takes to the non-permanent of material things and thrives in dedication to the impure. (11-12) Their fears and anxieties are endless and to the point of death they trust in sense gratification as the supreme goal of life. Thus in this way they ascertain themselves of being bound to the lust and anger, entangled in a network of expectations and of that mentality they, for the enjoyment of their senses, desire to accumulate wealth by unfair means.

(13-15) 'Today I have won this and that I shall get; this is what Ì want, that is mine and tomorrow I will even have more of it. That enemy I beated today and those I shall destroy too. For sure I am the Lord. I am the enjoyer, the perfection and I am the happy one to be in power. I am the wealthy one of noble company, I am the one and only, who would there be else but me; I shall sacrifice and give in charity, I am the one to be happy'; this is how they are deluded by their ignorance. (16) Thus perplexed by countless worries they are caught in a pool of illusions and addicted to sensual pleasure they slide down into a hell of disarray. (17) Blasé, shameless of their wealth and imagined they in the full of their delusion engage in so-called sacrifices they perform out of pride with no regard for rules and regulations. (18) Materially identified in their pride, strength, lust and anger they enviously fell into mocking Me being situated in themselves and in others.

(19) Those who are envious and mischievous with Me I always cast into the ocean of matter as the lowest of mankind who for sure inauspiciously are born from the wombs of the degenerates. (20) Life after life the foolish, thus attaining to births from the godless, for sure will have to do without Me, oh son of Kuntî, as they head for the worst destinations. (21) In this selfdestruction there are three gates of hell: lust, anger and greed. Therefore one must give up these three. (22) Liberated from these three gates of ignorance, oh son of Kuntî, a person is in respect with the soul and blessed with that does he go for the supreme destination. (23) The one who gives up on the regulations of the scriptures will be acting according to his own whims and never attain perfection, happiness or the goal of transcendence. (24) Therefore it is the scriptural authority that determines what should and should not be done. Knowing the regulations declared by the scripture, you should do your duty here.'

   

   

 



 

 

 



 
Filognostic* understanding of the Bhagavad Gîtâ of Order

Text 1-3

The Supreme Lord said: 'Fearless, good of heart, persevering in the knowledge of yoga, compassionate, of restraint, willing to sacrifice, studious, austere and simple; nonviolent, truthful, free from anger, renounced, peaceful, unmalicious, merciful to all, without greed, gentle, modest and determined; arduous, forgiving,steadfast, clean, without envy and not striving for honor, are the qualities of one who is born of the divine.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

The fortunate one said: 'When one is fearless, good of heart, persevering in the knowledge of unifying consciousness, compassionate, of restraint, charitable, studious, austere and simple; when one is nonviolent, truthful, free from anger, renounced, peaceful, benevolent, merciful to all, non-possessive, gentle, modest and determined; when one is arduous, forgiving, steadfast, clean, non-envious and not striving for honor, one has the qualities of someone who found his life in the divine. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 4

Deceit, pride, conceit and anger and surely violence and ignorance are the qualities that are the consequence of the unenlightened, oh son of Prithâ.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Deceit, conceit, insidiousness, anger and certainly violence and ignorance too, are the qualities of the one who found his life in the unenlightened state, oh son of Prithâ. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 5

The divine characteristics are of liberation while the qualities of the godless result from bondage. Do not worry, oh son of Pându, as your life is the consequence of transcendental wealth.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

The divine characteristics are meant to liberate from bondage, while the qualities of the unenlightened on the contrary are the result of being bound. But do not worry, oh son of Pându, for you have found a life in the divine. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 6

There are two types of conditioned beings in this world: the godly and indeed the unenlightened. About the divine I spoke at length; just hear about the godless from me.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

There are two types of conditioned beings in this world: the divine ones and the unenlightened. About the divine I spoke at great length; just hear from me about the ones possessed by the material interest, oh son of Prithâ. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 7

The disorderly ones do not know how to begin or where to stop, they are unclean, do not know to behave and have no truth in them.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

The ones of darkness do not know how to progress, nor where to stop; they miss the integrity and purity, do not know how to behave and are full of lies. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 8

They say that the universe does not really have a purpose, that it has no ruler, did not come into existence from a certain cause and that there is no other cause than that of lust.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Missing the point they say that the universal manifestation has no controller or foundation, that it rose without any cause and that there is no other cause than the cause of lust. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 9

Less intelligent, having lost oneself being complacent with this outlook do the less favorable activities flourish and does ones work lead to the unfortunate of destroying the planet.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Adhering to this outlook having lost themselves, with the unintelligent the less beneficial activities flourish that lead to the destruction of the world. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 10

Confiding in lusts that are insatiable, in hypocrisy, arrogance and driven by false pride, one, led by illusion, takes to the non-permanent of material things and thrives in dedication to the impure.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Confiding in lusts that are insatiable and fooling themselves with boasting and prestige, they, led by illusion, take to the impermanent of material things and thrive in dedication to the impure. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 11-12

Their fears and anxieties are endless and to the point of death they trust in sense gratification as the supreme goal of life. Thus in this way they ascertain themselves of being bound to the lust and anger, entangled in a network of expectations and of that mentality they, for the enjoyment of their senses, desire to accumulate wealth by unfair means.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

There's no end to their fears and anxieties, and to the point of death they confide in sense-gratification as the supreme goal to settle for in life. Bound in a network of countless expectations they, being lusty and angry to satisfy their senses and sexual appetites, wish to accumulate wealth by unfair means with that mentality. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 13-15

'Today I have won this and that I shall get; this is what Ì want, that is mine and tomorrow I will even have more of it. That enemy I beated today and those I shall destroy too. For sure I am the Lord. I am the enjoyer, the perfection and I am the happy one to be in power. I am the wealthy one of noble company, I am the one and only, who would there be else but me; I shall sacrifice and give in charity, I am the one to be happy'; this is how they are deluded by their ignorance.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Today I won this and that I'll get as well; this is what I want, that is mine and tomorrow I'll even have more of it. That enemy I defeated now and the other ones I'll also destroy. I am the master and controller. I'm the one to enjoy, I'm perfect as I am and the lucky one to be in power. I'm the wealthy one of good company, I'm the one and only, who compares to me? I'll sacrifice and donate, I'm the one to be happy'; this is how they are deluded in their ignorance. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 16

Thus perplexed by countless worries they are caught in a pool of illusions and addicted to senseual pleasure they slide down into a hell of disarray.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Thus perplexed by innumerable worries they are caught in a pool of illusions and land, addicted to sense gratification, in a hell of sorrow. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 17

Blasé, shameless about their wealth and imagined they in the full of their delusion engage in so-called sacrifices they perform out of pride with no regard for rules and regulations.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Arrogant and rigid about their wealth and status, they engage, in the full of their delusion, in so-called sacrifices they perform out of vanity, with disregard for the rules and regulations. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 18

Materially identified in their pride, strength, lust and anger they enviously fell into mocking Me being situated in themselves and in others.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Materially identified, vainglorious, manipulative, frantic and lusty, they fell enviously into mocking me, I who reside in their hearts as also in the hearts of others. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 19

Those who are envious and mischievous with Me I always cast into the ocean of matter as the lowest of mankind who for sure inauspiciously are born from the wombs of the degenerates.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

The lowest of mankind, being that envious and deceptive, are time and again cast by me into the material ocean to find an unfavorable new life in the wombs of doubtful mothers. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 20

Life after life the foolish, thus attaining to births from the godless, for sure will have to do without Me, oh son of Kuntî, as they head for the worst destinations

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

The ones being that unintelligent will, birth after birth achieving lives of darkness, in that way never reach Me o son of aunt Kunti, and be heading for the worst destinations. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 21

In this selfdestruction there are three gates of hell: lust, anger and greed. Therefore one must give up these three.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Lust, anger and greed are in this self-destruction the three gates of hell, and thus one must give up on these three. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 22

Liberated from these three gates of ignorance, oh son of Kuntî, a person is in respect with the soul and blessed with that does he go for the supreme destination.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Freed from these gates of hell is a person of respect for the soul, oh son of Kuntî, and heads he, thus being blessed, for the supreme destination. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 23

The one who gives up on the regulations of the scriptures will be acting according to his own whims and never attain perfection, happiness or the goal of transcendence.

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Anyone who forsakes the regulative principles3 as laid down in the scriptures, will be acting according to his own whims and never attain the perfection, the happiness or the goal of  transcendence. (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

Text 24

Therefore it is the scriptural authority that determines what should and should not be done. Knowing the regulations declared by the scripture, you should do your duty here.'

FILOGNOSTIC TRANSLATION

Thus seen are it the scriptures which set the standard for you to determine what and what not would be your duty; with the regulations explained in the scriptures you should know what type of work must be performed in this world.' (Sanskrit & tradition)

 

 

 

 

 

Versions consulted:

- A Song of Fortune One - A modern Gîtâ - the modern version of filognosy (also in mp3-audio).

- A Song of Fortune - A Classical Gîtâ - the classical version of filognosy.

- The Bhagavad Gîta-as-it-is by Swami Bhaktivedânta Prabhupâda (PDF-download).

- The Bhagavad Gîtâ-as-it-is: online (version 1.0).

- The Bhagavad Gita As It Is By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (pdf-download).

- The Bhagavad Gita by the Bhagavad Gita Trust.

- Bhagavad Gita by Sanderson Beck.

- Bhagavad Gita by Ramanad Prasad (American Gita society).

- Srimad Bhagavad-gita - The Hidden Treasure of the Sweet Absolute (from the Vaishnav' S'rî Caitanya Saraswath math).

Sanskrit dictionary: (Monier-Williams' 'Sanskrit-English Dictionary').

 

 

 

 

Production and copyright of this translation: Anand Aadhar Prabhu                   
The filognostic translations are of the same author.                   
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