Of old Creation; for to Him come they From passion and from dreams who break away; Who part the bonds constraining them to flesh, And,-Him, the Highest, worshipping alway—
No longer grow at mercy of what breeze Of summer pleasure stirs the sleeping trees, What blast of tempest tears them, bough and stem To the eternal world pass such as these!
Another Sun gleams there! another Moon! Another Light,—a Light which none shall lack Whose eyes once see; for those return no more They have attained My Uttermost Abode!
When, in this world of manifested life, The undying Spirit, setting forth from Me, Taketh on form, it draweth to itself
From Being's storehouse,-which containeth all,Senses and intellect. The Sovereign Soul
Thus entering the flesh, or quitting it,
Gathers these up, as the wind gathers scents, Blowing above the flower-banks. Ear and Eye,
And Touch and Taste, and Smelling, these it takes,— Yea, and a sentient mind;-linking itself
Mark not that Spirit when he goes or comes, Nor when he takes his pleasure in the form, Conjoined with qualities; but those see plain Who have the eyes to see. Holy souls see Which strive thereto. Enlightened, they behold That Spirit in themselves; but foolish ones, Even though they strive, discern not, having hearts Unkindled, ill-informed!
Shineth the gathered glory of the sun
Which lightens all the world: from Me the moon
Draws silvery beams, and fire fierce loveliness. I penetrate the clay, and lend all shapes Their living force; I glide into the plant-
Its root, leaf, bloom-to make the woodland green With springing sap. Becoming vital warmth, I glow in glad, respiring frames, and pass With outward and with inward breath to feed The body with all meats."
Being is twofold: the Divided, one;
The Undivided, one. All things that live
The Highest, holding all whose Name is LORD, The Eternal, Sovereign, First! Who fills all worlds, Sustaining them. And-dwelling thus beyond Divided Life and Undivided-I
Am called of men and Vedas, God Supreme, The PURUSHOTTAMA.
With mind unclouded, knoweth all, dear Prince! And with his whole soul ever worshippeth Me.
Now is the sacred secret Mystery Declared to thee! Who comprehendeth this Hath wisdom! He is quit of works in bliss!
Here ends Chapter XV. of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ entitled "Purushottamapraptiyôgô,"
or "The Book of Religion by attaining the Supreme"
I omit a verse here, evidently interpolated.
FEARLESSNESS, singleness of soul, the will Always to strive for wisdom; opened hand And governed appetites; and piety And love of lonely study; humbleness, Uprightness, heed to injure nought which lives, Truthfulness, slowness unto wrath, a mind That lightly letteth go what others prize;
And equanimity, and charity
Which spieth no man's faults; and tenderness Towards all that suffer; a contented heart, Fluttered by no desires; a bearing mild, Modest, and grave, with manhood nobly mixed With patience, fortitude, and purity; An unrevengeful spirit, never given
To rate itself too high;-such be the signs, O Indian Prince! of him whose feet are set On that fair path which leads to heavenly birth!
Deceitfulness, and arrogance, and pride, Quickness to anger, harsh and evil speech, And ignorance, to its own darkness blind,— These be the signs, My Prince! of him whose birth Is fated for the regions of the vile.1
The Heavenly Birth brings to deliverance, So should'st thou know! The birth with Asuras Brings into bondage. Be thou joyous, Prince Whose lot is set apart for heavenly Birth.
Two stamps there are marked on all living men, Divine and Undivine; I spake to thee
By what marks thou shouldst know the Heavenly Man Hear from me now of the Unheavenly!
They comprehend not, the Unheavenly, How souls go forth from Me; nor how they come Back unto Me: nor is there Truth in these, Nor purity, nor rule of Life. "This world Hath not a Law, nor Order, nor a Lord," So say they: "nor hath risen up by Cause Following on Cause, in perfect purposing, But is none other than a House of Lust." And, this thing thinking, all those ruined ones- Of little wit, dark-minded-give themselves To evil deeds, the curses of their kind. Surrendered to desires insatiable, Full of deceitfulness, folly, and pride, In blindness cleaving to their errors, caught Into the sinful course, they trust this lie
As it were true-this lie which leads to death- Finding in Pleasure all the good which is, And crying "Here it finisheth!"
In nooses of a hundred idle hopes,
Slaves to their passion and their wrath, they buy Wealth with base deeds, to glut hot appetites; "Thus much, to-day," they say, "we gained! thereby Such and such wish of heart shall have its fill; And this is ours! and th' other shall be ours! To-day we slew a foe, and we will slay Our other enemy to-morrow! Look! Are we not lords? Make we not goodly cheer? Is not our fortune famous, brave, and great? Rich are we, proudly born! What other men Live like to us? Kill, then, for sacrifice! Cast largesse, and be merry!" So they speak Darkened by ignorance; and so they fall- Tossed to and fro with projects, tricked, and bound In net of black delusion, lost in lusts— Down to foul Naraka. Conceited, fond, Stubborn and proud, dead-drunken with the wine Of wealth, and reckless, all their offerings Have but a show of reverence, being not made
In piety of ancient faith. Thus vowed
To self-hood, force, insolence, feasting, wrath, These My blasphemers, in the forms they wear And in the forms they breed, my foemen are, Hateful and hating; cruel, evil, vile,
Lowest and least of men, whom I cast down Again, and yet again, at end of lives,
Into some devilish womb, whence-birth by birth- The devilish wombs re-spawn them, all beguiled; And, till they find and worship Me, sweet Prince! Tread they that Nether Road.
Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass,- The door of Lust, the door of Wrath, the door Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three! He who shall turn aside from entering
All those three gates of Narak, wendeth straight To find his peace, and comes to Swarga's gate.
Here endeth Chapter XVI. of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, entitled "Daivasarasau padwibhâgayôg," or "The Book of the Separateness of the Divine and Undivine"
SI omit the ten concluding shlokas, with Mr. Davies.
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