निर्मानमोहा जीतसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मविद्या विनिवृत्तकामाः । द्वन्द्वैर् विमुक्तास् सुखदुःखसञ्ज्ञैर् गच्छन्त्य् अमूढाः पदम् अव्ययं तत्
Free from pride and delusion, having conquered the faults of attachment, knowing the Self, desireless, released from the pairs of opposites called pleasure and pain, they go, unconfused, to that imperishable state.
भूय एव महाबाहो शृणु मे परमं वचः । यत् ते ऽहं प्रीयमाणाय वक्ष्यामि हितकाम्यया
Once again, mighty-armed one, listen to my supreme words, which I will speak to you, who are dear to me, out of a wish for your welfare.
मात्रास्पर्शास् तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः । आगमापायिनो ऽनित्यास् तांस् तितिक्षस्व भारत
Contact with sense objects, O Kaunteya, gives rise to cold, heat, pleasure, and pain; they come and go, are impermanent—endure them, O Bharata.
ते तु नैकात्मनश् चान्ये क्वातो दुःखं क्व वा सुखम् । अनाद्यन्ते ऽनवयवे कुतः पूरणखण्डने
But those are not of a single essence; where, then, is pain or pleasure? In that which has no beginning or end, no parts, how can there be fullness or division?
संस्थिता स्पर्शमात्राख्या कलास्मिन् परमात्मनि । अनन्ते ऽसन्निवेशादौ हेम्नीव कटकादिता
These modes, known as mere contact, are established in the Supreme Self; in the infinite, at the outset of manifestation, like ornaments in gold.
यं हि न व्यथयन्त्य् एते मात्रास्पर्शा भ्रमात्मकाः । समदुःखसुखो धीरस् सो ऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते
He whom these sense contacts, which are of the nature of illusion, do not disturb, who is steady in pleasure and pain, that wise one is fit for immortality.
सर्वत्वाद् आत्मनस् त्व् एते आभासास् संस्थिता इव । असद्रूपास् त्व् असद्रूपं कथं सोढुं न शक्यते
Because the Self is all, these appearances seem to be established; but since they are unreal, how can what is unreal endure the unreal?
मनाग् अपि न विद्येते सुखदुःखे असर्वगे । सर्वत्वाद् आत्मतत्त्वस्य सत्ता कथम् इवानयोः
Pleasure and pain do not exist at all in the non-all-pervading; since the essence of Self is all-pervading, how could these two have any existence?
नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः । नास्त्य् एव सुखदुःखादि परमात्मास्ति सर्वगः
There is no existence for the unreal, nor non-existence for the real; indeed, pleasure, pain, and the like do not exist, but the supreme Self, all-pervading, does.
सत्त्वासत्त्वमती त्यक्त्वैवैतयोर् जगदात्मनोः । त्यक्त्वा नकिञ्चिन् मध्यं च शेषे बद्धपदो भव
Abandon both existence and non-existence regarding the world and the Self; having let go of both and the middle, remain firmly established in what remains.
न हृष्यति सुखेनात्मा दुःखैर् ग्लायति नार्जुन । दृषद्वच् चेतनात्मापि शरीरान्तर्गतो ऽपि सन्
The Self is not elated by pleasure nor distressed by pain, O Arjuna; even if the conscious Self is within the body, it is unmoved, like a rock.
जडं चित्तादि दुःखस्य भाजनं देहतां गतम् । न चैतस्मिन् क्षते क्षीणे किञ्चिद् एवात्मनः क्षतम्
The inert mind and such, which have become the body, are the vessels of suffering; but when these are injured or destroyed, nothing of the Self is harmed.
जडं देहादि दुःखादेर् यद् इदं भोक्त्र् इति स्थितम् । तन् मायाभ्रमम् एवाङ्ग विद्ध्य् अबोधवशोत्थितम्
This idea that the inert body and so on are the enjoyers of suffering is only a delusion born of ignorance, O dear one; know it to be a trick of illusion.
न किञ्चिद् एव देहादि न च दुःखादि विद्यते । आत्मनो यत् पृथग्भूतं किं केनातो ऽनुभूयते
There is truly no body or anything like suffering; whatever is imagined as separate from the Self—how could it be experienced by whom?
यद् इदं कथयाम्य् अत्र तेनैषा ते विनश्यति । भ्रान्तिर् दुरवबोधोत्था सम्यग्बोधेन भारत
By what I am telling you here, that delusion—arising from difficult-to-understand ignorance—will be destroyed for you, through true understanding, O Bharata.
यथा रज्ज्वाम् अहिभयं बोधान् नश्यत्य् अबोधजम् । तथा देहादि दुःखादि बोधान् नश्यत्य् अबोधजम्
Just as the fear of a snake on a rope, born of ignorance, is dispelled by knowledge, so too, suffering and the like, arising from the body and such, are destroyed by knowledge.
विष्वग् विश्वम् अजं ब्रह्म न नश्यति न जायते । इति सत्यं परं विद्धि बोधः परम एष सः
Everywhere, the unborn Brahman, the universe, neither perishes nor is born; know this as the highest truth—this is supreme knowledge.
ब्रह्मार्णवतरङ्गस् त्वं किञ्चिद् भूत्वा विलीयसे । ब्रह्मावर्ते स्फुरस्य् अद्य ब्रह्मैवासि निरामयम्
You are a wave in the ocean of Brahman; becoming something for a while, you dissolve again. Today, you shine forth in the whirlpool of Brahman; you are Brahman alone, free from all affliction.
जगत् कालः क्रिया देशस् त्वम् अहं सैनिका इति । ब्रह्मण्य् एवं परिस्पन्दो नात्र स्तस् सदसत्क्रमौ
World, time, action, place, you, I, and the armies—all this is but movement within Brahman; here, there is no sequence of real and unreal.
जहि मानं मदं शोकं भयम् ईर्ष्यां सुखासुखे । द्वैतम् एतद् असद्रूपम् एकस् सद्रूपवान् भव
Abandon pride, arrogance, sorrow, fear, envy, pleasure and pain; this duality is unreal—be one, possessing the true nature.
पुरुषाक्षौहिणीनां त्वं क्षयेणानुभवात्मना । ब्रह्मणा बृंहितं युद्धं ब्रह्म ब्रह्ममयं कुरु
As the destruction of the armies of men is experienced by you, make the battle, which is magnified by Brahman, into a battle of Brahman, composed of Brahman alone.
असंविदन् सुखं दुःखं लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ । युद्धब्रह्मैकतां गच्छ ब्रह्मादिस्तम्भ भारत
Without awareness, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat—attain unity with the battle that is Brahman, O Bharata, from Brahma down to a blade of grass.
लाभालाभसमो भूत्वा भूत्वा नूनं नकिञ्चन । जडो वात इव स्पन्दी प्रसृतं कार्यम् आचर
Be equal in gain and loss, becoming truly free of possessions; act, like the wind moves, without attachment, carrying out what is to be done.
यत् करोषि यद् अश्नासि यज् जुहोषि ददासि यत् । यत् करिष्यसि कौन्तेय तद् आत्मेति स्थिरो भव
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give, whatever you undertake, O Kaunteya, do it with the thought: 'This is the Self,' and remain steady.
यन्मयो यो भवत्य् अन्तस् स तद् आप्नोत्य् असंशयम् । ब्रह्मसत्यम् अवाप्तुं त्वं ब्रह्मसत्यमयो भव
Whatever one is filled with within, that he surely attains; to realize the truth of Brahman, become filled with the truth of Brahman.
अनपेक्ष्य फलं ब्रह्म भूत्वा ब्रह्मेति भावितम् । क्रियते केवलं कर्म ब्रह्मज्ञेन यथागतम्
Without seeking the result, having become Brahman and contemplating 'I am Brahman,' action is performed simply as it comes, by one who knows Brahman.
कर्मण्य् अकर्म यः पश्यत्य् अकर्मणि च कर्म यः । स बुद्धिमान् मनुष्येषु स चोक्तस् सर्वकर्मकृत्
He who sees action in inaction and inaction in action, he is wise among men, and is said to be the doer of all actions.
मा कर्मफलहेतुर् भूर् मा ते सङ्गो ऽस्त्व् अकर्मणि । योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय
Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction; established in yoga, perform actions, abandoning attachment, O Dhananjaya.
कर्मासक्तिम् अनाश्रित्य तथा नाश्रित्य मूढताम् । नैष्कर्म्यम् अप्य् अनाश्रित्य समस् तिष्ठ यथास्थितम्
Without relying on attachment to action, nor on dullness, nor even on the idea of non-action, remain equal, as you are, without dependence.
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः । कर्मण्य् अभिप्रवृत्तो ऽपि नैव किञ्चित् करोति सः
Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of action, always content and independent, even when engaged in action, he does nothing at all.