(39) 'Thus
far
about
being
intelligent in analyzing
matters, now listen how in association with this intelligence, oh son
of
Prithâ, you may be freed from being bound to your karma. (40) In
this spirit then, you won't corrupt, nor be lost, and just serving this
a little you'll avert the greatest danger. (41) Because of being
mindful about the soul one is unified in intelligence, oh child of the
Kurus, but if one, on the other hand, is not of such a conscience, one
has a mind that is constantly diverted. (42) People faithful to the
Vedas also say things like this oh son of Prithâ, but they are
quite ignorant in thinking that there's nothing else to it. (43) With
their shiny ceremonies they hope to go to heaven and have a better
life, but their hearts are full of desire to please their senses and to
be rich. (44) That way all too attached to material pleasures and
luxuries, their minds are fuzzy of a poor logic and they never get a
real grip on matters. (45) The Vedic literature dealing with the
material affair and the way we're affected by its threefold nature in
the sense of 1 - having passions, 2 - being dull-witted and 3 - lusting
in goodness, tells us to transcend these modes of nature, because
outside of the opposites they form, absorbed in what is really good and
pure, the soul is found which is unconcerned about possessing and
acquiring possessions. (46) In a sip of water one finds the same as in
a lake, similarly in the soul of a single man of spiritual virtue the
entirety of classical wisdom is found.
(47) It is your perfect right to serve the cause,
but you must never claim the results of that service for yourself. Do
not consider yourself the cause; so never develop any attachment in
holy matters like these. (48) Keep in touch, stay connected, in
forsaking such conceit and desire, oh winner of the wealth, and be
equal-minded in the face of success and failure, for that equanimity is
the secret of staying united in consciousness. (49) Thus being united
in full surrender to the intelligence, don't give in to the
feeblemindedness; know that it are the miserly ones who want to win and
acquire. (50) Aligned with this intelligence you can, in this life,
escape from the consequences of which you unjustly thought they were
good, as also the ones you had to suffer. So, for the sake of this
science, engage undaunted in your being connected with the soul that
endures and is happy in the wisdom. That's the art of the matter with
all you do! (51) To be immersed in serving this purpose, to be in line
with the intelligence of not desiring any advantage, that is what freed
the wise as also the devoted from the misery of repeated failure and
the need to start all over time and again. (52) Once you, free from any
desire, respect it the way it is with the soul, you will, at that time,
no longer worry about all this you now heard about nor about that what
you'll be hearing more. (53) With a mind clear about the advantage of
your actions the way I disclosed it to you, you will, unmoved risen
above matters with a fixed intelligence, be able to find the happy life
you wish yourself and others.'
(54) Arjuna said: 'What characterizes the one who
is on top of matters, who is fixed in a consciousness of being
connected? And what kind of things does such a person all say, how does
he
keep his distance and what are his moves?'
(55) Krishna, as the master, said: 'The moment one
forsakes the desires and the worries belonging to them, oh son of
Prithâ, one will, to the good of that mindfulness, become steady
in one's consciousness, so confirm also other authorities. (56) They
who free from worries face miseries, free from desire face happiness
and, not being of any attachment, are free from fear and anger, are
considered sages steady in their meditation. (57) He who, whether
things turn out good or bad in this, stays unaffected in whatever
situation and hates nor praises, is fixed in knowing it perfectly. (58)
Like a tortoise withdrawing its legs and head, he who fixes himself in
consciousness withdraws his senses from the sense objects. (59) Anyone
not of this mindfulness, may refrain just the same, but such a one then
keeps the material taste, the taste which only ends with the stronger
experience of the higher taste one has when one is of transcendence.
(60) Irrespective
one's
intelligence,
when one endeavors, the senses draw the attention away
and the mind is stirred. (61) To keep the busy senses under control is
something which is achieved by positively relating to the position of
meditation one has in the beyond, and thus having mastered them, one is
then established in wisdom. (62) The wrong way it works like this:
first you get attached to what the senses perceive, from that the lust
develops to enjoy it whenever you want and what follows is the anger
upon the inevitable frustration of realizing that that is not possible.
(63) From that anger of one's predilection one no longer sees things in
proportion, and thus one is, with that being illusioned, not mindful of
what should be remembered. Consequently the intelligence fails and from
no longer understanding matters one loses control: one falls down. (64)
But not being of any aversion or attachment one is, having the busy
senses under control, thus regulated, of a clear mind. (65) In that
peace all miseries find their end, and with such an open mind soon the
intuition is sufficiently established. (66) Not being aligned this way
the intelligence has no chance and there is, missing the connectedness
in the soul, no steadiness of one's respect; how can one, discontented
not being of any peace, find happiness then? (67) The mind in following
the senses is of an intelligence as fickle as a boat drifting away on
the wind. (68) And so, as you'll understand, the intelligence is steady
when the senses are drawn away from their objects. (69) What the common
people attend to is as night for the man of wisdom, and to what to the
common man is as dark as the night the wise are wakeful. (70) Contrary
to a man of desire, a man of peace is just as steady with what is
perceived by his senses as the ocean that is never filled by all the
water of the rivers ending in it. (71) A person attains peace when he -
free from longing - has forsaken his desires, when he's not striving
for possessions, and, instead of identifying himself with the body,
identifies himself with the soul. (72) Therefore, don't be afraid that
this position in the beyond will bewilder you oh son of Prithâ,
you rather attain heaven with it, even if you deferred this mindfulness
until the moment you die.'
Modern
version
Ch
2b
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