Bhagwad Gita - Post 217

Chapter 18

THE YOGA OF LIBERATION BY RENUNCIATION

(…continued)

Verse 17

He who is ever free from the egoistic notion, whose intelligence is not tainted by (good or evil), though he slays these people, he slayeth not, nor is he bound (by the action).

Verse 18

Knowledge, the knowable and the knower form the threefold impulse to action; the organ, the action and the agent form the threefold basis of action.

Verse 19

Knowledge, action and the actor are declared in the science of the Gunas (the Sankhya philosophy) to be of three kinds only, according to the distinction of the Gunas. Hear them also duly.

Verse 20

That by which one sees the one indestructible Reality in all beings, not separate in all the separate beings—know thou that knowledge to be Sattwic (pure).

Verse 21

But that knowledge which sees in all beings various entities of distinct kinds as different from one another—know thou that knowledge to be Rajasic (passionate).

Verse 22

But that which clings to one single effect as if it were the whole, without reason, without foundation in Truth, and trivial—that is declared to be Tamasic (dark).

Verse 23

An action which is ordained, which is free from attachment, which is done without love or hatred by one who is not desirous of any reward—that action is declared to be Sattwic.

Verse 24

But that action which is done by one longing for the fulfilment of desires or gain, with egoism or with much effort—that is declared to be Rajasic.

Verse 25

That action which is undertaken from delusion, without regard to the consequences of loss, injury and (one’s own) ability—that is declared to be Tamasic.

Verse 26

He who is free from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with firmness and enthusiasm and unaffected by success or failure, is called Sattwic.

Verse 27

Passionate, desiring to obtain the rewards of actions, cruel, greedy, impure, moved by joy and sorrow, such an agent is said to be Rajasic.

Verse 28

Unsteady, dejected, unbending, cheating, malicious, vulgar, lazy and procrastinating—such an agent is called Tamasic.

Verse 29

Hear thou the threefold division of the intellect and firmness according to the Gunas, as I declare them fully and distinctly, O Arjuna!

Verse 30

That which knows the path of work and renunciation, what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation—that intellect is Sattwic, O Arjuna!

Verse 31

That by which one incorrectly understands Dharma and Adharma, and also what ought to be done and what ought not to be done—that intellect, O Arjuna, is Rajasic!

Verse 32

That which, enveloped in darkness, views Adharma as Dharma and all things perverted—that intellect, O Arjuna, is called Tamasic!

Continued...

Love.