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“O Janardhana, if you consider wisdom to be superior to action, why then do you ask me to wage this terrible war? O Keshava, my intellect is bewildered by your ambiguous advice. Please tell me decisively the one path by which I may attain the highest good” | |
“One cannot achieve freedom from action by avoiding (dutiful) action; nor by mere renunciation can one attain perfection” | |
“No one can remain without action even for a moment. Helpless, all beings act by the qualities born of Nature” | |
“Those who restrain the faculties of action, while continuing to dwell on sense objects in the mind are called hypocrites who delude themselves”. | |
"But that man succeeds supremely, O Arjuna, who unattached, disciplines the senses and keeps his organs of activity steadfast on the path of God-uniting actions." | |
“Therefore you should perform your prescribed duties, since action is superior to inaction. By ceasing activity, even maintenance of your body will not be possible.” | |
"Worldly actions lead to bondage unless performed as yajna to God. Therefore, O son of Kunti, work in the spirit of yajna and detachment to results, offering actions as oblations" | |
"In the beginning of creation, Brahma created mankind and said, “Prosper in the performance of these yajñas, for they shall bestow upon you all you wish to achieve. With this yajna, meditate on the devas, and may those devas think of you. Communing with one another, you shall receive great prosperity. The celestial ones will grant you desires of life but those who enjoy benefactions of the universal deities without due offerings are thieves.``''. | |
"The saints who eat food that is first offered in yajna, are freed from all kinds of sin. Others who cook food for their own enjoyment feast only on sin." | |
“All living beings subsist on food, food comes from rain, rain comes from Yajna, Yajna arises from Karma, Karma is performed by Brahma and Brahma is created by God. Therefore, Brahma is inseparably present in Yajna” | |
"O Partha, those who do not follow the wheel set into motion and live only for the delight of their senses live in vain!" | |
"But he who rejoices in the Self, who is content and satisfied in the Self, has no work to perform. Such a person has nothing to gain or lose by performing or renouncing actions. He is not dependent on anyone for anything " | |
"Therefore, giving up attachment, perform action as a duty. By working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme." | |
"By performing their duties, Janaka and others like him reached perfection. You should also perform duties to set an example for the welfare of the people. Your actions will set a standard for people of the world." | |
"There is no duty for Me to do in all the three worlds, O Partha, nor do I have anything to gain or attain. Yet, I am engaged in performing duties." | |
"If I am not carefully engaged in action without pause, men will follow my path in every way, O Arjuna! If I stop performing actions, all these worlds would perish. I would be responsible for the pandemonium and destruction of the world". | |
"Arjuna, as the ignorant people perform actions with attachment and hope of reward, so the wise should act with dispassionate nonattachment, to serve gladly as a guide to lead people on the right path" | |
"Under no circumstances should the wise disturb the understanding of ignorant people. Instead, the illumined being, by conscientiously performing activities, should inspire in the ignorant a desire for dutiful actions." | |
"All activities are carried out by the influence of the three modes of Nature. But he who is deluded by false identification with the body, thinks of himself as the doer." | |
"O mighty-armed Arjuna, illumined people perceive that it is only the gunas that interact with gunas and thus they do not get entangled in them." | |
"Those who are deluded by the gunas become attached to the results of their actions. But the wise who understand these truths should not unsettle such people who do not have knowledge" | |
"Renounce all actions unto Me. Devoid of egotism and expectation, with your attention concentrated on Me and free from feverish worry, be engaged in the battle" | |
"Those who unceasingly practice My precepts, filled with devotion and without finding fault, become free from all karma" | |
"But those who find fault in My teachings and do not follow them bring about their own ruin, with total loss of wisdom and discrimination" | |
"Even wise people act according to their nature, for all living beings are propelled by their natural tendencies. What will one gain by suppression?" | |
"The natural inclination of senses is to have attachment and aversion to the perceptions. Do not be controlled by them, for they are enemies" | |
"One’s prescribed duty, though deficient with faults, is superior to others' duty, even if done perfectly. It is preferable to die in Svadharma; Paradharma is fraught with fear and danger." | |
Arjuna asked, "Why is a person impelled to commit sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if by force, O descendent of Vrishni (Krishna)?" | |
"As fire is obscured by smoke, mirror is covered by dust, embryo is enveloped by the womb, so this (wisdom) is covered by that (desire)" | |
"O Son of Kunti, the constant enemy of wise men is the insatiable flame of desire, by which wisdom is concealed." | |
"Indriyas, manas and buddhi are the breeding grounds of desire. Through them, desire deludes the embodied soul and clouds wisdom" | |
"Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, first bring the senses under control and then slay this enemy called desire, the sinful destroyer of wisdom and realization." | |
"Indriyas are superior to the physical body; manas is superior to the indriyas; buddhi is superior to manas; but That is superior to buddhi" | |
"Thus knowing the soul to be superior to the intellect, O mighty-armed Arjuna, subdue the self by the Self, and kill this formidable enemy called desire" . |