1Krishna.     Therefore, who doeth work rightful to do,     Not seeking gain from work, that man, O Prince!     Is Sanyasi and Yogi--both in one     And he is neither who lights not the flame     Of sacrifice, nor setteth hand to task.          Regard as true Renouncer him that makes     Worship by work, for who renounceth not     Works not as Yogin. So is that well said:     "By works the votary doth rise to faith,     And saintship is the ceasing from all works;     Because the perfect Yogin acts--but acts     Unmoved by passions and unbound by deeds,     Setting result aside.          Let each man raise     The Self by Soul, not trample down his Self,     Since Soul that is Self's friend may grow Self's foe.     Soul is Self's friend when Self doth rule o'er Self,     But Self turns enemy if Soul's own self     Hates Self as not itself.          The sovereign soul     Of him who lives self-governed and at peace     Is centred in itself, taking alike     Pleasure and pain; heat, cold; glory and shame.     He is the Yogi, he is Yukta, glad     With joy of light and truth; dwelling apart     Upon a peak, with senses subjugate     Whereto the clod, the rock, the glistering gold     Show all as one. By this sign is he known     Being of equal grace to comrades, friends,     Chance-comers, strangers, lovers, enemies,     Aliens and kinsmen; loving all alike,     Evil or good.          Sequestered should he sit,     Steadfastly meditating, solitary,     His thoughts controlled, his passions laid away,     Quit of belongings. In a fair, still spot     Having his fixed abode,--not too much raised,     Nor yet too low,--let him abide, his goods     A cloth, a deerskin, and the Kusa-grass.     There, setting hard his mind upon The One,     Restraining heart and senses, silent, calm,     Let him accomplish Yoga, and achieve     Pureness of soul, holding immovable     Body and neck and head, his gaze absorbed     Upon his nose-end, rapt from all around,     Tranquil in spirit, free of fear, intent     Upon his Brahmacharya vow, devout,     Musing on Me, lost in the thought of Me.     That Yojin, so devoted, so controlled,     Comes to the peace beyond,--My peace, the peace     Of high Nirvana!          But for earthly needs     Religion is not his who too much fasts     Or too much feasts, nor his who sleeps away     An idle mind; nor his who wears to waste     His strength in vigils. Nay, Arjuna! call     That the true piety which most removes     Earth-aches and ills, where one is moderate     In eating and in resting, and in sport;     Measured in wish and act; sleeping betimes,     Waking betimes for duty.          When the man,     So living, centres on his soul the thought     Straitly restrained--untouched internally     By stress of sense--then is he Yukta. See!     Steadfast a lamp burns sheltered from the wind;     Such is the likeness of the Yogi's mind     Shut from sense-storms and burning bright to Heaven.     When mind broods placid, soothed with holy wont;     When Self contemplates self, and in itself     Hath comfort; when it knows the nameless joy     Beyond all scope of sense, revealed to soul--     Only to soul! and, knowing, wavers not,     True to the farther Truth; when, holding this,     It deems no other treasure comparable,     But, harboured there, cannot be stirred or shook     By any gravest grief, call that state "peace,"     That happy severance Yoga; call that man     The perfect Yogin!          Steadfastly the will     Must toil thereto, till efforts end in ease,     And thought has passed from thinking. Shaking off     All longings bred by dreams of fame and gain,     Shutting the doorways of the senses close     With watchful ward; so, step by step, it comes     To gift of peace assured and heart assuaged,     When the mind dwells self-wrapped, and the soul broods     Cumberless. But, as often as the heart     Breaks--wild and wavering--from control, so oft     Let him re-curb it, let him rein it back     To the soul's governance; for perfect bliss     Grows only in the bosom tranquillised,     The spirit passionless, purged from offence,     Vowed to the Infinite. He who thus vows     His soul to the Supreme Soul, quitting sin,     Passes unhindered to the endless bliss     Of unity with Brahma. He so vowed,     So blended, sees the Life-Soul resident     In all things living, and all living things     In that Life-Soul contained. And whoso thus     Discerneth Me in all, and all in Me,     I never let him go; nor looseneth he     Hold upon Me; but, dwell he where he may,     Whate'er his life, in Me he dwells and lives,     Because he knows and worships Me, Who dwell     In all which lives, and cleaves to Me in all.     Arjuna! if a man sees everywhere--     Taught by his own similitude--one Life,     One Essence in the Evil and the Good,     Hold him a Yogi, yea! well-perfected!

2Arjuna.     Slayer of Madhu! yet again, this Yog,     This Peace, derived from equanimity,     Made known by thee--I see no fixity     Therein, no rest, because the heart of men     Is unfixed, Krishna! rash, tumultuous,     Wilful and strong. It were all one, I think,     To hold the wayward wind, as tame man's heart.

3Krishna.     Hero long-armed! beyond denial, hard     Man's heart is to restrain, and wavering;     Yet may it grow restrained by habit, Prince!     By wont of self-command. This Yog, I say,     Cometh not lightly to th' ungoverned ones;     But he who will be master of himself     Shall win it, if he stoutly strive thereto.

4Arjuna.     And what road goeth he who, having faith,     Fails, Krishna! in the striving; falling back     From holiness, missing the perfect rule?     Is he not lost, straying from Brahma's light,     Like the vain cloud, which floats 'twixt earth and heaven     When lightning splits it, and it vanisheth?     Fain would I hear thee answer me herein,     Since, Krishna! none save thou can clear the doubt.

5Krishna.     He is not lost, thou Son of Pritha! No!     Nor earth, nor heaven is forfeit, even for him,     Because no heart that holds one right desire     Treadeth the road of loss! He who should fail,     Desiring righteousness, cometh at death     Unto the Region of the Just; dwells there     Measureless years, and being born anew,     Beginneth life again in some fair home     Amid the mild and happy. It may chance     He doth descend into a Yogin house     On Virtue's breast; but that is rare! Such birth     Is hard to be obtained on this earth, Chief!     So hath he back again what heights of heart     He did achieve, and so he strives anew     To perfectness, with better hope, dear Prince!     For by the old desire he is drawn on     Unwittingly; and only to desire     The purity of Yog is to pass     Beyond the Sabdabrahm, the spoken Ved.     But, being Yogi, striving strong and long,     Purged from transgressions, perfected by births     Following on births, he plants his feet at last     Upon the farther path. Such as one ranks     Above ascetics, higher than the wise,     Beyond achievers of vast deeds! Be thou     Yogi Arjuna! And of such believe,     Truest and best is he who worships Me     With inmost soul, stayed on My Mystery!