Bhagavad Gita

भगवद् गीता

Text & Audio

with paraphrase

Chapter 6

1. Audio

By Swami Brahmananda
Duet
By Jagannath Vedalankar

श्रीभगवानुवाच:

अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः ।

स संन्यासी च योगी च न निरग्निर्न चाक्रियः ॥

śrībhagavānuvāca:

anāśritaḥ karmaphalaṃ kāryaṃ karma karoti yaḥ,

sa saṃnyāsī ca yogī ca na niragnirna cākriyaḥ.

The Blessed Lord said: Whoever does the work to be done without resort to its fruits, he is the Sannyasin and the Yogin, not the man who lights not the sacrificial fire and does not the works.

यं संन्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव ।

न ह्यसंन्यस्तसंकल्पो योगी भवति कश्चन ॥

yaṃ saṃnyāsamiti prāhuryogaṃ taṃ viddhi pāṇḍava,

na hyasaṃnyastasaṅkalpo yogī bhavati kaścana.

What they have called renunciation (Sannyasa), know to be in truth Yoga, O Pandava; for none becomes a Yogin who has not renounced the desire-will in the mind.

आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते ।

योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते ॥

ārurukṣormuneryogaṃ karma kāraṇamucyate,

yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva śamaḥ kāraṇamucyate.

For a sage who is ascending the hill of Yoga, action is the cause; for the same sage when he has got to the top of Yoga self-mastery is the cause.

यदा हि नेन्द्रियार्थेषु न कर्मस्वनुषज्जते ।

सर्वसंकल्पसंन्यासी योगारूढस्तदोच्यते ॥

yadā hi nendriyārtheṣu na karmasvanuṣajjate,

sarvasaṅkalpasaṃnyāsī yogārūḍhastadocyate.

When one does not get attached to the objects of sense or to works and has renounced all will of desire in the mind. then is he said to have ascended to the top of Yoga.

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।

आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥

uddharedātmanātmānaṃ nātmānamavasādayet,

ātmaiva hyātmano bandhurātmaiva ripurātmanaḥ.

By the self thou shouldst deliver the self, thou shouldst not depress and cast down the self (whether by self-indulgence or suppression); for the self is the friend of the self and the self is the enemy.

बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः ।

अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ॥

bandhurātmātmanastasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ,

anātmanastu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat.

To the man is his self a friend in whom the (lower) self has been conquered by the (higher) self, but to him who is not in possession of his (higher) self, the (lower) self is as if an enemy and it acts as an enemy.

जितात्मनः प्रशान्तस्य परमात्मा समाहितः ।

शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु तथा मानापमानयोः ॥

jitātmanaḥ praśāntasya paramātmā samāhitaḥ,

śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu tathā mānāpamānayoḥ.

When one has conquered one’s self and attained to the calm of a perfect self-mastery and self-possession, then is the supreme self in a man founded and poised (even in his outwardly conscious human being) in cold and heat, pleasure and pain as well as in honour and dishonour.

ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः ।

युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकांचनः ॥

jñānavijñānatṛptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ,

yukta ityucyate yogī samaloṣṭāśmakāṃcanaḥ.

The Yogin, who is satisfied with self-knowledge, tranquil and self-poised, master of his senses, regarding alike clod and stone and gold, is said to be in Yoga.

सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु ।

साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते ॥

suhṛnmitrāryudāsīnamadhyasthadveṣyabandhuṣu,

sādhuṣvapi ca pāpeṣu samabuddhirviśiṣyate.

He who is equal in soul to friend and enemy and to neutral and indifferent, also to sinner and saint, he excels.

योगी युञ्जीत सततमात्मानं रहसि स्थितः ।

एकाकी यतचित्तात्मा निराशीरपरिग्रहः ॥

yogī yuñjīta satatamātmānaṃ rahasi sthitaḥ,

ekākī yatacittātmā nirāśīraparigrahaḥ.

Let the Yogin practise continually union with I the Self (so that that may become his normal consciousness) sitting apart and alone, with all desire and idea of possession banished from his mind, self-controlled in his whole being and consciousness.

शुचौ देशे प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिरमासनमात्मनः ।

नात्युच्छ्रितं नातिनीचं चैलाजिनकुशोत्तरम् ॥

śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya sthiramāsanamātmanaḥ,

nātyucchritaṃ nātinīcaṃ cailājinakuśottaram.

तत्रैकाग्रं मनः कृत्वा यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रियाः ।

उपविश्यासने युञ्ज्याद्योगमात्मविशुद्धये ॥

tatraikāgraṃ manaḥ kṛtvā yatacittendriyakriyāḥ,

upaviśyāsane yuñjyādyogamātmaviśuddhaye.

He should set in a pure spot his firm seat, neither too high, nor yet too low, covered with a cloth, with a deer skin, with sacred grass, and there seated with a concentrated mind and with the workings of the mental consciousness and the senses under control, he should practise Yoga for self-purification.

समं कायशिरोग्रीवं धारयन्नचलं स्थिरः ।

संप्रेक्ष्य नासिकाग्रं स्वं दिशश्चानवलोकयन् ॥

samaṃ kāyaśirogrīvaṃ dhārayannacalaṃ sthiraḥ,

saṃprekṣya nāsikāgraṃ svaṃ diśaścānavalokayan.

प्रशान्तात्मा विगतभीर्ब्रह्मचारिव्रते स्थितः ।

मनः संयम्य मच्चित्तो युक्त आसीत मत्परः ॥

praśāntātmā vigatabhīrbrahmacārivrate sthitaḥ,

manaḥ saṃyamya maccitto yukta āsīta matparaḥ.

Holding the body, head and neck erect, motionless (the posture proper to the practice of Rajayoga), the vision drawn in and fixed between the eyebrows, not regarding the regions, the mind kept calm and free from fear and the vow of Brahmacharya observed, the whole controlled mentality turned to Me (the Divine), he must sit firm in Yoga, wholly given up to Me (so that the lower action of the consciousness shall be merged in the higher peace).

युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी नियतमानसः ।

शान्तिं निर्वाणपरमां मत्संस्थामधिगच्छति ॥

yuñjannevaṃ sadātmānaṃ yogī niyatamānasaḥ,

śāntiṃ nirvāṇaparamāṃ matsaṃsthāmadhigacchati.

Thus always putting himself in Yoga by control of his mind, the Yogin attains to the supreme peace of Nirvana which has its foundation in Me.

नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नतः ।

न चातिस्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन ॥

nātyaśnatastu yogo’sti na caikāntamanaśnataḥ,

na cātisvapnaśīlasya jāgrato naiva cārjuna.

Verily this Yoga is not for him who eats too much or sleeps too much, even as it is not for him who gives up sleep and food, O Arjuna.

युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु ।

युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा ॥

yuktāhāravihārasya yuktaceṣṭasya karmasu,

yuktasvapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkhahā.

Yoga destroys all sorrow for him in whom the sleep and waking, the food, the play, the putting forth of effort in works are all yukta.

यदा विनियतं चित्तमात्मन्येवावतिष्ठते ।

निःस्पृहः सर्वकामेभ्यो युक्त इत्युच्यते तदा ॥

yadā viniyataṃ cittamātmanyevāvatiṣṭhate,

niḥspṛhaḥ sarvakāmebhyo yukta ityucyate tadā.

When all the mental consciousness is perfectly controlled and liberated from desire and remains still in the self, then it is said. “he is in Yoga.”

यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेंगते सोपमा स्मृता ।

योगिनो यतचित्तस्य युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः ॥

yathā dīpo nivātastho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā,

yogino yatacittasya yuñjato yogamātmanaḥ.

Motionless like the light of a lamp in a windless place is the controlled consciousness (free from its restless action, shut in from its outward motion) of the Yogin who practises union with the Self.

यत्रोपरमते चित्तं निरुद्धं योगसेवया ।

यत्र चैवात्मनात्मानं पश्यन्नात्मनि तुष्यति ॥

yatroparamate cittaṃ niruddhaṃ yogasevayā,

yatra caivātmanātmānaṃ paśyannātmani tuṣyati.

That in which the mind becomes silent and still by the practice of Yoga: that in which the Self is seen within in the Self by the Self (seen, not as it is mistranslated falsely or partially by the mind and represented to us through the ego, but self-perceived by the Self, swaprakasha), and the soul is satisfied.

सुखमात्यन्तिकं यत्तद् बुद्धिग्राह्यमतीन्द्रियम् ।

वेत्ति यत्र न चैवायं स्थितश्चलति तत्त्वतः ॥

sukhamātyantikaṃ yattad buddhigrāhyamatīndriyam,

vetti yatra na caivāyaṃ sthitaścalati tattvataḥ.

That in which the soul knows its own true and exceeding bliss, which is perceived by the intelligence and is beyond the senses, wherein established, it can no longer fall away from the spiritual truth of its being.

यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं ततः ।

यस्मिन्स्थितो न दुःखेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते ॥

yaṃ labdhvā cāparaṃ lābhaṃ manyate nādhikaṃ tataḥ,

yasminsthito na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate.

That is the greatest of all gains and the treasure beside which all lose their value, wherein established he is not disturbed by the fieriest assault of mental grief.

तं विद्याद् दुःखसंयोगवियोगं योगसंज्ञितम् ॥

taṃ vidyād duḥkhasaṃyogaviyogaṃ yogasaṃjñitam.

It is the putting away of the contact with pain, the divorce of the mind’s marriage with grief. The firm winning of this inalienable spiritual bliss is Yoga; it is the divine union. This Yoga is to be resolutely practised without yielding to any discouragement by difficulty or failure (until the release, until the bliss of Nirvana is secured as an eternal possession).

स निश्चयेन योक्तव्यो योगोऽनिर्विण्णचेतसा ।

संकल्पप्रभवान्कामांस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वानशेषतः ।

मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्ततः ॥

sa niścayena yoktavyo yogo’nirviṇṇacetasā,

saṅkalpaprabhavānkāmāṃstyaktvā sarvānaśeṣataḥ,

manasaivendriyagrāmaṃ viniyamya samantataḥ.

शनैः शनैरुपरमेद् बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया ।

आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किंचिदपि चिन्तयेत् ॥

śanaiḥ śanairuparamed buddhyā dhṛtigṛhītayā,

ātmasaṃsthaṃ manaḥ kṛtvā na kiṃcidapi cintayet.

Abandoning without any exception or residue all the desires born of the desire-will and holding the senses by the mind so that they shall not run to all sides (after their usual disorderly and restless habit), one should slowly cease from mental action by a buddhi held in the grasp of fixity, and having fixed the mind in the higher Self one should not think of anything at all.

यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चंचलमस्थिरम् ।

ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ॥

yato yato niścarati manaścaṃcalamasthiram,

tatastato niyamyaitadātmanyeva vaśaṃ nayet.

Whenever the restless and unquiet mind goes forth, it should be controlled and brought into subjection in the Self.

प्रशान्तमनसं ह्येनं योगिनं सुखमुत्तमम् ।

उपैति शान्तरजसं ब्रह्मभूतमकल्मषम् ॥

praśāntamanasaṃ hyenaṃ yoginaṃ sukhamuttamam,

upaiti śāntarajasaṃ brahmabhūtamakalmaṣam.

When the mind is thoroughly quieted, then there comes upon the Yogin stainless, passionless, the highest bliss of the soul that has become the Brahman.

युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी विगतकल्मषः ।

सुखेन ब्रह्मसंस्पर्शमत्यन्तं सुखमश्नुते ॥

yuñjannevaṃ sadātmānaṃ yogī vigatakalmaṣaḥ,

sukhena brahmasaṃsparśamatyantaṃ sukhamaśnute.

Thus freed from stain of passion and putting himself constantly into Yoga, the Yogin easily and happily enjoys the touch of the Brahman which is an exceeding bliss.

सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि ।

ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शनः ॥

sarvabhūtasthamātmānaṃ sarvabhūtāni cātmani,

īkṣate yogayuktātmā sarvatra samadarśanaḥ.

The man whose self is in Yoga, sees the self in all beings and all beings in the self, he is equal-visioned everywhere.

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति ।

तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि स च मे न प्रणश्यति ॥

yo māṃ paśyati sarvatra sarvaṃ ca mayi paśyati,

tasyāhaṃ na praṇaśyāmi sa ca me na praṇaśyati.

He who sees Me everywhere and sees all in Me, to him I do not get lost, nor does he get lost to Me.

सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः ।

सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते ॥

sarvabhūtasthitaṃ yo māṃ bhajatyekatvamāsthitaḥ,

sarvathā vartamāno’pi sa yogī mayi vartate.

The Yogin who has taken his stand upon oneness and loves Me in all beings, however and in all ways he lives and acts, lives and acts in Me.

आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन ।

सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं स योगी परमो मतः ॥

ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṃ paśyati yo’rjuna,

sukhaṃ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṃ sa yogī paramo mataḥ.

He, O Arjuna, who sees with equality everything in the image of the self whether it be grief or it be happiness, him I hold to be the supreme Yogin.

अर्जुन उवाच:

योऽयं योगस्त्वया प्रोक्तः साम्येन मधुसूदन ।

एतस्याहं न पश्यामि चंचलत्वात्स्थितिं स्थिराम् ॥

arjuna uvāca:

yo’yaṃ yogastvayā proktaḥ sāmyena madhusūdana,

etasyāhaṃ na paśyāmi caṃcalatvātsthitiṃ sthirām.

Arjuna said: This Yoga of the nature of equality which has been described by Thee, O Madhusudana, I see no stable foundation for it, owing to restlessness.

चंचलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद् दृढम् ।

तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम् ॥

caṃcalaṃ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛḍham,

tasyāhaṃ nigrahaṃ manye vāyoriva suduṣkaram.

Restless indeed is the mind, O Krishna; it is vehement, strong and unconquerable; I deem it as hard to control as the wind.

श्रीभगवानुवाच:

असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् ।

अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥

śrībhagavānuvāca:

asaṃśayaṃ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṃ calam,

abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate.

The Blessed Lord said: Without doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is restless and very difficult to restrain; but, O Kaunteya, it may be controlled by constant practice and non-attachment.

असंयतात्मना योगो दुष्प्राप इति मे मतिः ।

वश्यात्मना तु यतता शक्योऽवाप्तुमुपायतः ॥

asaṃyatātmanā yogo duṣprāpa iti me matiḥ,

vaśyātmanā tu yatatā śakyo’vāptumupāyataḥ.

By one who is not self-controlled, this Yoga is difficult to attain; but by the self-controlled, it is attainable by properly directed efforts.

अर्जुन उवाच:

अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः ।

अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिं कां गतिं कृष्ण गच्छति ॥

arjuna uvāca:

ayatiḥ śraddhayopeto yogāccalitamānasaḥ,

aprāpya yogasaṃsiddhiṃ kāṃ gatiṃ kṛṣṇa gacchati.

Arjuna said: He who takes up Yoga with faith, but cannot control himself with the mind wandering away from Yoga, failing to attain perfection in Yoga, what is his end, O Krishna?

कच्चिन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति ।

अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मणः पथि ॥

kaccinnobhayavibhraṣṭaśchinnābhramiva naśyati,

apratiṣṭho mahābāho vimūḍho brahmaṇaḥ pathi.

Does he not, O mighty-armed, lose both this life (of human activity and thought and emotion which it has left behind) and the Brahmic consciousness to which it aspires and failing from both perish like a dissolving cloud?

एतन्मे संशयं कृष्ण छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः ।

त्वदन्यः संशयस्यास्य छेत्ता न ह्युपपद्यते ॥

etanme saṃśayaṃ kṛṣṇa chettumarhasyaśeṣataḥ,

tvadanyaḥ saṃśayasyāsya chettā na hyupapadyate.

This my doubt, O Krishna, please dispel completely without leaving any residue; for there is none else than Thyself who can destroy this doubt.

श्रीभगवानुवाच:

पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते ।

न हि कल्याणकृत्कश्चिद् दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ॥

śrībhagavānuvāca:

pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśastasya vidyate,

na hi kalyāṇakṛtkaścid durgatiṃ tāta gacchati.

The Blessed Lord said: O son of Pritha, neither in this life nor hereafter is there destruction for him; never does anyone who practises good, O beloved, come to woe.

प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः ।

शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे योगभ्रष्टोऽभिजायते ॥

prāpya puṇyakṛtāṃ lokānuṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ,

śucīnāṃ śrīmatāṃ gehe yogabhraṣṭo’bhijāyate.

Having attained to the world of the righteous and having dwelt there for immemorial years, he who fell from Yoga is again born in the house of such as are pure and glorious.

अथवा योगिनामेव कुले भवति धीमताम् ।

एतद्धि दुर्लभतरं लोके जन्म यदीदृशम् ॥

athavā yogināmeva kule bhavati dhīmatām,

etaddhi durlabhataraṃ loke janma yadīdṛśam.

Or he may be born in the family of the wise Yogin; indeed such a birth is rare to obtain in this world.

तत्र तं बुद्धिसंयोगं लभते पौर्वदेहिकम् ।

यतते च ततो भूयः संसिद्धौ कुरुनन्दन ॥

tatra taṃ buddhisaṃyogaṃ labhate paurvadehikam,

yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ saṃsiddhau kurunandana.

There he recovers the mental state of union (with the Divine) which he had formed in his previous life: and with this he again endeavours for perfection, O joy of the Kurus.

पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः ।

जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते ॥

pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva hriyate hyavaśo’pi saḥ,

jijñāsurapi yogasya śabdabrahmātivartate.

By that former practice he is irresistibly carried on. Even the seeker after the knowledge of Yoga goes beyond the range of the Vedas and Upanishads.

प्रयत्नाद्यतमानस्तु योगी संशुद्धकिल्बिषः ।

अनेकजन्मसंसिद्धस्ततो याति परां गतिम् ॥

prayatnādyatamānastu yogī saṃśuddhakilbiṣaḥ,

anekajanmasaṃsiddhastato yāti parāṃ gatim.

But the Yogin, endeavouring with assiduity, purified from sin, perfecting himself through many lives attains to the highest goal.

तपस्विभ्योऽधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्योऽपि मतोऽधिकः ।

कर्मिभ्यश्चाधिको योगी तस्माद्योगी भवार्जुन ॥

tapasvibhyo’dhiko yogī jñānibhyo’pi mato’dhikaḥ,

karmibhyaścādhiko yogī tasmādyogī bhavārjuna.

The Yogin is greater than the doers of askesis, greater than the men of knowledge, greater than the men of works; become then the Yogin, O Arjuna.

योगिनामपि सर्वेषां मद्गतेनान्तरात्मना ।

श्रद्धावान्भजते यो मां स मे युक्ततमो मतः ॥

yogināmapi sarveṣāṃ madgatenāntarātmanā,

śraddhāvānbhajate yo māṃ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ.

Of all Yogins he who with all his inner self given up to me, for me has love and faith, him I hold to be the most united with me in Yoga.