CHAPTER XVII

ARJUNA:

IF men forsake the holy ordinance,

Heedless of Shastras, yet keep faith at heart
And worship, what shall be the state of those,
Great Krishna! Sattwan, Rajas, Tamas? Say!

KRISHNA:

Threefold the faith is of mankind, and springs
From those three qualities,-becoming "true,"
Or "passion-stained,” or “dark," as thou shalt hear!

The faith of each believer, Indian Prince!
Conforms itself to what he truly is.

Where thou shalt see a worshiper, that one
To what he worships lives assimilate,
[Such as the shrine, so is the votary,]

The "soothfast" souls adore true gods; the souls
Obeying Rajas worship Rakshasas1

Or Yakshas; and the men of Darkness pray
To Pretas and to Bhutas. Yea, and those
Who practise bitter penance, not enjoined
By rightful rule-penance which hath its root
In self-sufficient, proud hypocrisies-
Those men, passion-beset, violent, wild,
Torturing the witless ones-My elements
Shut in fair company within their flesh,
(Nay, Me myself, present within the flesh!)
Know them to devils devoted, not to Heaven!
For like as foods are threefold for mankind
In nourishing, so is there threefold way
Of worship, abstinence, and almsgiving!

Hear this of Me! there is a food which brings

Rakshasas and Yakshas are unembodied but capricious beings of great power, gifts, and beauty, sometimes also of benignity.

These are spirits of evil, wandering ghosts.

Force, substance, strength, and health, and joy to live,

Being well-seasoned, cordial comforting,

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The Soothfast" meat. And there be foods which

bring

Aches and unrests, and burning blood, and grief,
Being too biting, heating, salt, and sharp,
And therefore craved by too strong appetite
And there is foul food-kept from over-night,
Savorless, filthy, which the foul will eat,
A feast of rottenness, meet for the lips
Of such as love the “Darkness."

Thus with rites;

A sacrifice not for rewardment made,
Offered in rightful wise, when he who vows
Sayeth, with heart devout, "This I should do!"
Is "Soothfast" rite. But sacrifice for gain,
Offered for good repute, be sure that this,
O Best of Bharatas! is Rajas-rite,
With stamp of "passion." And a sacrifice
Offered against the laws, with no due dole
Of food-giving, with no accompaniment
Of hallowed hymn, nor largesse to the priests,
In faithless celebration, call it vile.
The deed of "Darkness!"-lost!

Worship of gods

Meriting worship; lowly reverence
Of Twice-borns, Teachers, Elders; Purity,
Rectitude, and the Brahmacharya's vow,
And not to injure any helpless thing,-
These make a true religiousness of Act.

Words causing no man woe, words ever true,
Gentle and pleasing words, and those ye say
In murmured reading of a Sacred Writ,-
These make the true religiousness of Speech.

Yâtayaman, food which has remained after the watches of the night. In India this would probably

go bad."

Serenity of soul, benignity,

Sway of the silent Spirit, constant stress
To sanctify the Nature,-these things make
Good rite, and true religiousness of Mind.

Such threefold faith, in highest piety
Kept, with no hope of gain, by hearts devote,
Is perfect work of Sattwan, true belief.

Religion shown in act of proud display To win good entertainment, worship, fame, Such-say I—is of Rajas, rash and vain.

Religion followed by a witless will
To torture self, or come at power to hurt
Another, 'tis of Tamas, dark and ill.

The gift lovingly given, when one shall say "Now must I gladly give!" when he who takes Can render nothing back; made in due place, Due time, and to a meet recipient,

Is gift of Sattwan, fair and profitable.

The gift selfishly given, where to receive
Is hoped again, or when some end is sought,
Or where the gift is proffered with a grudge,
This is of Rajas, stained with impulse, ill.

The gift churlishly flung, at evil time,
In wrongful place, to base recipient,
Made in disdain or harsh unkindliness,
Is gift of Tamas, dark; it doth not bless!"

Here endeth Chapter XVII. of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, entitled "Sraddhatrayavibhagayôg," or

"The Book of Religion by the Three-
fold Kinds of Faith"

I omit the concluding shlokas, as of very doubtful authenticity.

CHAPTER XVIII

ARJUNA:

FAIN would I better know, Thou Glorious One!
The very truth-Heart's Lord!—of Sannyâs,
Abstention; and Renunciation, Lord!
Tyâga; and what separates these twain!

KRISHNA:

The poets rightly teach that Sannyâs
Is the foregoing of all acts which spring
Out of desire; and their wisest say
Tyâga is renouncing fruit of acts.

There be among the saints some who have held All action sinful, and to be renounced;

And some who answer " Nay! the goodly acts-
As worship, penance, alms-must be performed!"
Hear now My sentence, Best of Bharatas!

'Tis well set forth, O Chaser of thy Foes! Renunciation is of threefold form,

And Worship, Penance, Alms, not to be stayed;
Nay, to be gladly done; for all those three
Are purifying waters for true souls!

Yet must be practised even those high works In yielding up attachment, and all fruit

Produced by works. This is My judgment, Prince! This My insuperable and fixed decree!

Abstaining from a work by right prescribed Never is meet! So to abstain doth spring From "Darkness," and Delusion teacheth it. Abstaining from a work grievous to flesh, When one saith ""Tis unpleasing!" this is null !

Such an one acts from "passion; " nought of gain
Wins his Renunciation! But, Arjun!

Abstaining from attachment to the work,
Abstaining from rewardment in the work,
While yet one doeth it full faithfully,
Saying, "'Tis right to do!" that is "true" act
And abstinence! Who doeth duties so,
Unvexed if his work fail, if it succeed
Unflattered, in his own heart justified,

Quit of debates and doubts, his is "true" act:
For, being in the body, none may stand
Wholly aloof from act; yet, who abstains
From profit of his acts is abstinent.

The fruit of labors, in the lives to come,
Is threefold for all men,-Desirable,
And Undesirable, and mixed of both;
But no fruit is at all where no work was.

Hear from me, Long-armed Lord! the makings five Which go to every act, in Sânkhya taught As necessary. First the force; and then The agent; next, the various instruments; Fourth, the especial effort; fifth, the God. What work soever any mortal doth Of body, mind, or speech, evil or good, By these five doth he that. Which being thus, Whoso, for lack of knowledge, seeth himself As the sole actor, knoweth nought at all And seeth nought. Therefore, I say, if oneHolding aloof from self-with unstained mind Should slay all yonder host, being bid to slay, He doth not slay; he is not bound thereby!

Knowledge, the thing known, and the mind which knows,

These make the threefold starting-ground of act.
The act, the actor, and the instrument,

These make the threefold total of the deed.

But knowledge, agent, act, are differenced