THE THIRD TEACHING
DISCIPLINE OF ACTION
Arjuna
If you think understanding
is more powerful than action,
why, Krishna, do you urge me
to this horrific act?
1
You confuse my understanding
with a maze of words;
speak one certain truth
so I may achieve what is good.
2
Lord Krishna
Earlier I taught the twofold
basis of good in this world—
for philosophers, disciplined knowledge;
for men of discipline, action.
3
A man cannot escape the force
of action by abstaining from actions;
he does not attain success
just by renunciation.
4
No one exists for even an instant
without performing action;
however unwilling, every being is forced
to act by the qualities of nature.
5
When his senses are controlled
but he keeps recalling
sense objects with his mind,
he is a self-deluded hypocrite.
6
When he controls his senses
with his mind and engages in the discipline
of action with his faculties of action,
detachment sets him apart.
7
Perform necessary action;
it is more powerful than inaction;
without action you even fail
to sustain your own body.
8
Action imprisons the world
unless it is done as sacrifice;
freed from attachment, Arjuna,
perform action as sacrifice!
9
When creating living beings and sacrifice,
Prajapati, the primordial creator, said:
“By sacrifice will you procreate!
Let it be your wish-granting cow!
10
Foster the gods with this,
and may they foster you;
by enriching one another,
you will achieve a higher good.
11
Enriched by sacrifice, the gods
will give you the delights you desire;
he is a thief who enjoys their gifts
without giving to them in return.”
12
Good men eating the remnants
of sacrifice are free of any guilt,
but evil men who cook for themselves
eat the food of sin.
13
Creatures depend on food,
food comes from rain,
rain depends on sacrifice,
and sacrifice comes from action.
14
Action comes from the spirit of prayer,
whose source is OM, sound of the imperishable;
so the pervading infinite spirit
is ever present in rites of sacrifice.
15
He who fails to keep turning
the wheel here set in motion
wastes his life in sin,
addicted to the senses, Arjuna.
16
But when a man finds delight
within himself and feels inner joy
and pure contentment in himself,
there is nothing more to be done.
17
He has no stake here
in deeds done or undone,
nor does his purpose
depend on other creatures.
18
Always perform with detachment
any action you must do;
performing action with detachment,
one achieves supreme good.
19
Janaka and other ancient kings
attained perfection by action alone;
seeing the way to preserve
the world, you should act.
20
Whatever a leader does,
the ordinary people also do.
He sets the standard
for the world to follow.
21
In the three worlds,
there is nothing I must do,
nothing unattained to be attained,
yet I engage in action.
22
What if I did not engage
relentlessly in action?
Men retrace my path
at every turn, Arjuna.
23
These worlds would collapse
if I did not perform action;
I would create disorder in society,
living beings would be destroyed.
24
As the ignorant act with attachment
to actions, Arjuna,
so wise men should act with detachment
to preserve the world.
25
No wise man disturbs the understanding
of ignorant men attached to action;
he should inspire them,
performing all actions with discipline.
26
Actions are all effected
by the qualities of nature;
but deluded by individuality,
the self thinks, “I am the actor.”
27
When he can discriminate
the actions of nature's qualities
and think, “The qualities depend
on other qualities,” he is detached.
28
Those deluded by the qualities of nature
are attached to their actions;
a man who knows this should not upset
these dull men of partial knowledge.
29
Surrender all actions to me,
and fix your reason on your inner self;
without hope or possessiveness,
your fever subdued, fight the battle!
30
Men who always follow my thought,
trusting it without finding fault,
are freed
even by their actions.
31
But those who find fault
and fail to follow my thought,
know that they are lost fools,
deluded by every bit of knowledge.
32
Even a man of knowledge
behaves in accord with his own nature;
creatures all conform to nature;
what can one do to restrain them?
33
Attraction and hatred are poised
in the object of every sense experience;
a man must not fall prey
to these two brigands lurking on his path!
34
Your own duty done imperfectly
is better than another man's done well.
It is better to die in one's own duty;
another man's duty is perilous.
35
Arjuna
Krishna, what makes a person
commit evil
against his own will,
as if compelled by force?
36
Lord Krishna
It is desire and anger, arising
from nature's quality of passion;
know it here as the enemy,
voracious and very evil!
37
As fire is obscured by smoke
and a mirror by dirt,
as an embryo is veiled by its caul,
so is knowledge obscured by this.
38
Knowledge is obscured
by the wise man's eternal enemy,
which takes form as desire,
an insatiable fire, Arjuna.
39
The senses, mind, and understanding
are said to harbor desire;
with these desire obscures knowledge
and confounds the embodied self.
40
Therefore, first restrain
your senses, Arjuna,
then kill this evil
that ruins knowledge and judgment.
41
Men say that the senses are superior
to their objects, the mind superior to the senses,
understanding superior to the mind;
higher than understanding is the self.
42
Knowing the self beyond understanding,
sustain the self with the self.
Great Warrior, kill the enemy
menacing you in the form of desire!
43