Chapter 18

Liberation

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Gita 18.1
अर्जुन उवाच संन्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम्। त्यागस्य च हृषीकेश पृथक्केशिनिषूदन॥

arjuna uvāca sannyāsasya mahā-bāho tattvam icchāmi veditum tyāgasya ca hṛṣīkeśa pṛthak keśi-niṣūdana

"Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the truth about renunciation (sannyasa) and about relinquishment (tyaga), O Hrishikesha, O slayer of Keshi."

All 78 verses of Chapter 18

  1. 18.1Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the truth about renunciation (sannyasa) and about...
  2. 18.2The Blessed Lord said: The sages understand sannyasa as the renunciation of desire-prompted actions; the...
  3. 18.3Some learned ones declare that all action should be abandoned as evil; others say that acts of sacrifice...
  4. 18.4Hear from Me the conclusion about tyaga, O best of the Bharatas. Tyaga, O tiger among men, has been...
  5. 18.5Acts of sacrifice, charity, and austerity should not be abandoned; they must certainly be performed...
  6. 18.6But even these actions should be performed giving up attachment and fruits, this is My definite and...
  7. 18.7Renunciation of obligatory duties is not proper. Abandoning them through delusion is declared to be tamasic.
  8. 18.8One who abandons action merely because it is painful or from fear of bodily discomfort, such renunciation...
  9. 18.9When obligatory action is performed simply because it ought to be done, O Arjuna, abandoning attachment...
  10. 18.10The wise renouncer, imbued with sattva and free from doubt, neither hates unpleasant work nor is attached...
  11. 18.11It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to abandon actions entirely. But one who relinquishes the...
  12. 18.12The threefold fruit of action, undesirable, desirable, and mixed, accrues after death to those who have...
  13. 18.13Learn from Me, O mighty-armed, these five causes as declared in the Sankhya philosophy for the...
  14. 18.14The body (seat of action), the doer, the various instruments, the many kinds of efforts, and divine...
  15. 18.15Whatever action a person performs with body, speech, or mind, whether right or wrong, these five are its...
  16. 18.16This being so, one who due to impure understanding sees oneself alone as the doer does not truly see, such...
  17. 18.17One who is free from egoistic notion, whose intelligence is not tainted, even though slaying these people...
  18. 18.18Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower, these three impel action. The instrument, the action...
  19. 18.19Knowledge, action, and the agent are declared to be threefold according to the distinction of gunas in the...
  20. 18.20Know that knowledge to be sattvic by which one sees the one imperishable Reality in all beings, undivided...
  21. 18.21But that knowledge which sees in all beings various distinct entities of different kinds as separate from...
  22. 18.22But that knowledge which clings to one single effect as if it were the whole, which is irrational, without...
  23. 18.23Action that is ordained, performed without attachment, without love or hate, by one not desiring fruit...
  24. 18.24But action performed with desire for fruits, or with egoism, or with much effort, that is declared to be...
  25. 18.25Action undertaken from delusion, without considering consequences, loss, injury to others, or one's own...
  26. 18.26The agent who is free from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with fortitude and enthusiasm, and unchanged...
  27. 18.27The agent who is passionate, desirous of the fruits of action, greedy, harmful, impure, and subject to joy...
  28. 18.28The agent who is undisciplined, vulgar, stubborn, deceitful, malicious, lazy, despondent, and...
  29. 18.29Hear now, O Dhananjaya, the threefold distinction of intellect and also of fortitude according to the...
  30. 18.30That intellect which knows when to act and when to withdraw, what ought to be done and what not, what to...
  31. 18.31That intellect which incorrectly understands dharma and adharma, and what ought to be done and what ought...
  32. 18.32That intellect which, enveloped in darkness, regards adharma as dharma and sees all things in a perverted...
  33. 18.33The fortitude by which one holds firm the activities of mind, prana, and senses through unswerving yoga...
  34. 18.34But the fortitude by which one holds to dharma, desire, and wealth with attachment, craving their fruits...
  35. 18.35The fortitude by which a fool does not give up excess sleep, fear, grief, depression, and arrogance, that...
  36. 18.36Now hear from Me, O bull among the Bharatas, about the threefold happiness. That happiness in which one...
  37. 18.37That happiness which is like poison in the beginning but like nectar in the end, born from the clarity of...
  38. 18.38That happiness which arises from the contact of senses with objects, which is like nectar in the beginning...
  39. 18.39That happiness which deludes the self both in the beginning and in consequence, arising from sleep...
  40. 18.40There is no being on earth or in heaven among the gods that is free from these three gunas born of prakriti.
  41. 18.41The duties of Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, O scorcher of foes, are distributed according...
  42. 18.42Serenity, self-control, austerity, purity, patience, uprightness, knowledge, wisdom, and faith, these are...
  43. 18.43Valor, brilliance, fortitude, skillfulness, not fleeing from battle, generosity, and lordly nature, these...
  44. 18.44Agriculture, cattle-rearing, and trade are the natural work of the Vaishya. Service is the natural work of...
  45. 18.45Each person devoted to their own duty attains perfection. Hear how one engaged in their own work finds...
  46. 18.46From whom all beings arise and by whom all this is pervaded, worshipping Him through one's own duty, a...
  47. 18.47Better is one's own dharma, though imperfectly performed, than the dharma of another well performed...
  48. 18.48One should not abandon one's natural duty, O son of Kunti, even though it has defects. For all...
  49. 18.49One whose intellect is unattached everywhere, who has conquered the self, and is free from desire, attains...
  50. 18.50Learn from Me in brief, O son of Kunti, how one who has attained perfection also attains Brahman, that...
  51. 18.51Endowed with purified intellect, controlling the self with fortitude, relinquishing sense objects...
  52. 18.52Dwelling in solitude, eating lightly, controlling speech, body, and mind, constantly engaged in meditation...
  53. 18.53Abandoning ego, force, arrogance, desire, anger, and possessiveness, free from 'mine-ness' and peaceful...
  54. 18.54Established in Brahman, serene in self, one neither grieves nor desires. Equal to all beings, one attains...
  55. 18.55Through devotion one comes to know Me, what and who I am in truth. Then, knowing Me in truth, one enters...
  56. 18.56Performing all actions always, one who takes refuge in Me, by My grace attains the eternal, imperishable...
  57. 18.57Mentally renouncing all actions in Me, devoted to Me as the supreme goal, resorting to buddhi yoga, be...
  58. 18.58With your mind fixed on Me, you will cross over all difficulties by My grace. But if, because of ego, you...
  59. 18.59If, taking shelter in ego, you think 'I will not fight,' that resolve is vain. Your own nature will compel...
  60. 18.60Bound by your own karma born of your nature, O son of Kunti, what through delusion you wish not to do, you...
  61. 18.61The Lord dwells in the heart of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings to revolve by His maya, as if...
  62. 18.62Take refuge in Him alone with your whole being, O Bharata. By His grace you will attain supreme peace and...
  63. 18.63Thus, I have imparted to you knowledge more secret than all secrets. Reflect on this fully, and then do as...
  64. 18.64Hear again My supreme word, the most secret of all. You are dearly beloved to Me, therefore I will speak...
  65. 18.65Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, bow to Me. You shall certainly come to Me. I promise...
  66. 18.66Abandoning all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.
  67. 18.67This teaching should never be spoken to one without austerity, nor to one without devotion, nor to one who...
  68. 18.68One who shares this supreme secret with My devotees, showing utmost devotion to Me, will without doubt...
  69. 18.69No one among humans does dearer service to Me than such a person, and there will never be anyone on earth...
  70. 18.70And one who will study this sacred dialogue of ours, by that sacrifice of knowledge, I shall be...
  71. 18.71And anyone who listens to this with faith and without envy, even such a person, being liberated, will...
  72. 18.72Have you heard this with one-pointed mind, O Partha? Has your delusion born of ignorance been destroyed, O...
  73. 18.73Arjuna said: My delusion is destroyed, and I have regained my memory through Your grace, O Achyuta. I...
  74. 18.74Sanjaya said: Thus I have heard this wonderful dialogue between Vasudeva and the great-souled Partha...
  75. 18.75By the grace of Vyasa, I have heard this supreme secret yoga directly from Krishna, the Lord of Yoga...
  76. 18.76O King, remembering again and again this wonderful and sacred dialogue between Keshava and Arjuna, I...
  77. 18.77And remembering again and again that most wonderful form of Hari, great is my amazement, O King, and I...
  78. 18.78Where there is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, and where there is Arjuna, the wielder of the bow, there will...