|| The Supreme Being ||
The Supreme Lord Said:
"In the beings I become Vaishwanara (fire) and stay in the body. United with prana and apana I digest the four kinds of food."
[Chapter 15 Verse 14]
"I am situated in the heart of all. From Me come memory, knowledge and also wrong understanding. I am all that is to be known from the Vedas. I am the author of the Vedas and scholar of the Vedas as well."
[Chapter 15 Verse 15]
"Two types of Purusha are there in this world, the perishable and the imperishable. All the living beings are perishable, but the innermost Soul is said to be imperishable."
[Chapter 15 Verse 16]
"Another Supreme Self besides (these two) said to enter the three worlds and rule them. He is the inexhaustible Iswara."
[Chapter 15 Verse 17]
"Because I am beyond degradation and also Supreme among the degradable, I am renowned in the world and in the Vedas as the Highest Being."
[Chapter 15 Verse 18]
"He who knows Me thus without delusion as the Supreme Purusha, he, the all knowing, worships Me in all respects O Bharata."
[Chapter 15 Verse 19]
|| Manifestation of the God ||
The Supreme Lord Said:
"He who understands Me as the One without birth, without beginning, as the Lord of all the worlds, he is undeluded among the mortal men and is freed from all sins."
[Chapter 10 Verse 3]
"I am the originator of all. From Me manifest all this. Knowing thus men of wisdom worship Me with concentrated attention."
[Chapter 10 Verse 7]
"With their minds fully established in Me, with their lives devoted to Me, narrating My greatness to one another, they remain happy and delightful."
[Chapter 10 Verse 8]
"To those who worship Me always with loving devotion, I give the real wisdom by which they come to Me."
[Chapter 10 Verse 9]
"Out of mercy to them I destroy their inner darkness born out of their ignorance with the lamp of wisdom shining in their hearts."
[Chapter 10 Verse 10]
|| The Supreme Knowledge ||The Supreme Lord Said:
"Those who worship gods go to gods. Those who worship ancestors go their ancestors. Those who worship the elements go to the elements. But those who worship Me come to Me only."
[Chapter 9 Verse 25]
"Whatever that is offered to me with great devotion whether it is a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, that offering of the pure soul I accept."
[Chapter 9 Verse 26]
"O Kaunteya, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, whatever penances you perform, O Kaunteya, offer all that to Me."
[Chapter 9 Verse 27]
"Thus established in the yoga of renunciation you will become free from the bondage of karma caused by the fruits of good and bad actions and, being liberated, you will come to Me."
[Chapter 9 Verse 28]
"I am equally situated in all beings. There is none who is particularly hateful to me or dearer to Me. But those who worship Me with devotion I am in them and they are in Me."
[Chapter 9 Verse 29]
"Even if a man of sinful conduct worships Me with undisturbed devotion, he should be regarded as a saintly person because he is has made the right resolve."
[Chapter 9 Verse 30]
"Such a person promptly becomes a righteous soul and attains eternal peace. O Kaunteya, know for sure that My devotees shall never perish."
[Chapter 9 Verse 31]
"O Partha, by taking refuge in Me, even those born of sinful wombs, women, vaishyas, sudras also attain the highest state."
[Chapter 9 Verse 32]
|| The Imperishable Bhraman ||
Said the Supreme Lord:
"O Son of Kunti, whatever a person thinks of at the time of leaving his body , he attains that alone remembering it."
[Chapter 8 Verse 6]
"Therefore all the time keep remembering Me and engage in the battle. By offering your mind and intelligence to Me, you will undoubtedly attain Me."
[Chapter 8 Verse 7]
"Through the practice of Yoga and meditation with the mind not moving in other directions, one can attain the Supreme Purusha, O Partha."
[Chapter 8 Verse 8]
|| Devotion ||
Arjuna said:
"Those devotees who are always engaged in Your worship or those who worship the Inexhaustible and the Unmanifested, which of these two know the Yoga better?"
[Chapter 12 Verse 1]
Said the Supreme Lord:
"With their minds fixed on Me, those who worship Me always, with faith and sincerity, they are considered to be the most qualified in the Yoga by Me."
[Chapter 12 Verse 2]
"But those who are engaged in the worship of the Imperishable, the Indefinable, the Invisible, the Omnipresent, the Unthinkable, the Immutable, the Immovable, and fixed"
"Controlling all the senses, maintaining equanimity everywhere, engaged in the welfare of all beings, they also come to Me only."
[Chapter 12 Verse 3 & 4]
"If you are unable to concentrate your mind steadily upon Me, then strive to attain Me by practicing (Bhakti) Yoga, O Arjuna."
[Chapter 12 Verse 9]
"If you are not competent to practice Yoga, then do My work dedicating it to Me. By doing work for My sake you will achieve (spiritual ) perfection."
[Chapter 12 Verse 10]
"If you are not interested in doing even this, then seek refuge in My Yoga, renouncing the fruit of all your actions, established in the self."
[Chapter 12 Verse 11]
"Certainly knowledge is better than practice, but better than knowledge is meditation, superior to which is renunciation of the fruits of actions. Indeed after renunciation there is only peace."
[Chapter 12 Verse 12]
|| The Path of Knowledge ||
The supreme Lord said:
"You are grieving for that which is not to be grieved for. Yet you are speaking like a great scholar. A true scholar would not worry about life that has ended or not ended."
[Chapter 2 Verse 11]
"There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings. Nor will we ever cease to exist in future."
[Chapter 2 Verse 12]
"Just as the embodied soul passes from childhood to youth to old age, it also passes from one body to another. The undaunted person therefore is not deluded."
[Chapter 2 Verse 13]
"Heat and cold, pleasure and pain arise merely because of the contact of the senses with the sense objects. They are fleeting. Therefore O Arjuna, try to tolerate them."
[Chapter 2 Verse 14]
|| Renunciation of Action ||Said the Supreme Lord:
"Both the yoga of action and the renunciation of action are both good for liberation. But of the two, the yoga of action is superior"
[Chapter 5 Verse 2]
"O Mighty armed, He who neither hates nor desires should be known as the real sanyasi. Such a person, free from the sense of dualities, is happily and completely liberated from all bondage."
[Chapter 5 Verse 3]
"The knower of truth who is established in the yoga thinks," I am not doing anything at all", while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, walking, dreaming and breathing."
[Chapter 5 Verse 8]
"And while speaking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing of eyes, believes that only his senses are occupied with sense objects."
[Chapter 5 Verse 9]
"He who acts, offering all his actions to Brahman, giving up all attachment, is never touched by sin, like the lotus leaf which is untouched by water."
[Chapter 5 Verse 10]
"The karma yogis perform their actions, for the sake of self-purification, using only their bodies, minds, intelligence and senses, giving up all attachment."
[Chapter 5 Verse 11]
"By renouncing the fruit of his actions, the karma yogi attains the transcendental state of peaceful of mind. But he who works with an intent to enjoy the fruit of his actions, attached thus, becomes entangled in worldly life."
[Chapter 5 Verse 12]
The Supreme Lord Said:
"Although I am unborn and inexhaustible, and although I am the Lord of all beings, keeping nature under My control, I manifest Myself by My own self induced illusion."
[Chapter 4 Verse 6]
"Whenever and wherever there is decline of dharma (righteousness) and ascendance of adharma (unrighteousness), at that time I manifest Myself in visible form."
[Chapter 4 Verse 7]
"For the protection of the righteous and destruction of the wicked, and for the sake of establishing dharma again , I incarnate Myself on earth from time to time."
[Chapter 4 Verse 8]
"He who knows correctly the truth of My divine birth and actions, on leaving his body, would never take birth again. He would certainly come to Me."
[Chapter 4 Verse 9]
|| The Path of Karma ||Said the Supreme Lord:
"O Sinless one(Arjuna), I declared two kinds of worship in the world before. One is the path of knowledge pursued by the Sankhyas and the other, the path of action meant for men of action."
[Chapter 3 Verse 3]
"But O Arjuna, he is better who, regulating his senses by his mind, unattached, begins karma yoga with his organs of action."
[Chapter 3 Verse 7]
"Therefore do your prescribed work, for doing some work is better than doing no work at all. Without work it is not possible to even maintain the physical body."
[Chapter 3 Verse 8]
"Works in this world can cause bondage unless done with a sense of sacrifice. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your actions for the sake of sacrifice only, free from attachment."
[Chapter 3 Verse 9]
"In the beginning, at the time of creation, Brahma created people along with sacrifice and declared that by performing sacrifices they would become more prosperous and also that sacrifice would be their wish fulfilling Kamadhenu"
[Chapter 3 Verse 10]
|| The Three Gunas ||The Blessed Lord Said:
"Sattva (purity), Rajas (passion) and Tamas (ignorance) are the qualities arising out of Prakriti. They bind the soul with the body, O mighty armed."
[Chapter 14 Verse 5]
"Of them Sattva is of the purest nature, illuminating and without any debility. Through attachment with happiness and knowledge it binds , O sinless one."
[Chapter 14 Verse 6]
"Know that Rajas is full of passion born out of attachment with thirst (insatiable desire). It binds the embodied, O son of Kunti, through attachment with works."
[Chapter 14 Verse 7]
"But know that Tamas is born out of ignorance, deludes all embodied beings. Through recklessness, laziness and sleep, it binds (the soul), O Bharata."
[Chapter 14 Verse 8]
"When a seer recognizes appropriately none other than these three qualities in the performance of actions, he knows the Supreme beyond the gunas and comes to My consciousness."
[Chapter 14 Verse 9]
"Going beyond these three gunas, the embodied is freed from these ills originating from the body - birth, death, old age and sorrow, and attains immortality."
[Chapter 14 Verse 20]
|| Opposite Qualities ||The Blessed Lord said:
"Fearlessness, excessive Sattva (purity), preoccupied with knowledge and yoga, charity, self-control, rituals and worship, study of scriptures, penance and simplicity."
"Non-cruelty, truthfulness, without anger, self-sacrificing nature, peace of mind, being non-critical, compassionate to all beings, without greed, gentle, modest, firm-minded."
"Intelligence, forgiving nature, fortitude, cleanliness, without envy, without egoistic pride- these O Bharata are the riches (virtues) of those born with divine nature."
[Chapter 16 Verse 1, 2 & 3]
"Pomposity, exaggerated self-importance, pride in one self, anger, rudeness and ignorance, are the property (vices ) of the those born with undivine nature."
[Chapter 16 Verse 4]
"Divine virtues are for liberation, but undivine qualities are regarded as binding. O Pandava, do not worry for you are born with divine qualities."
[Chapter 16 Verse 5]
"He who discards the scriptural methods and indulges in desire driven actions, neither attains spiritual success, nor happiness nor the Supreme Goal."
[Chapter 16 Verse 23]
"Therefore let the scriptures be your guide in deciding appropriate and inappropriate actions. Knowing the scriptural injunctions properly you should perform your actions."
[Chapter 16 Verse 24]
|| Division of Qualities ||Arjuna said:
"Those who give up the scriptural injunctions, but continue to worship you with full faith, what is their devotion O Krishna? Is it sattvic, rajasic or tamasic?"
[Chapter 17 Verse 1]
Replied the Supreme Lord:
"In three ways exists the faith of the embodied according to their own nature- sattva, rajas and also tamas. Now hear that from Me."
[Chapter 17 Verse 2]
"Everywhere O Bharata, faith is in accordance with ones nature. A person's faith is according to his nature."
[Chapter 17 verse 3]
"The charity that is worth giving, given without any expectation, according to the time and place and to the deserving person, is remembered as sattvic."
[Chapter 17 Verse 20]
"The charity which is given for the sake of a reciprocal advantage or with the expectation of a result, or given in return (for some advantage or gain), or given grudgingly or with difficulty, that charity is to be remembered as rajasic."
[Chapter 17 Verse 21]
"That charity which is given without consideration for the time and place, to undeserving persons, without due respects, without proper knowledge, is said to be tamasic in nature."
[Chapter 17 Verse 22]
|| The Path of Liberation by Renunciation ||The Blessed Lord siad:
"O Best of the Bharatas, now hear from Me with certainty about renunciation. O Tiger among men, renunciation is stated to be of three kinds."
[Chapter 18 Verse 4]
"Acts of charity, penance, should not be renounced, but performed . Yagna, charity and penance purify even the great men among people."
[Chapter 18 Verse 5]
"All these acts should be performed renouncing the attachment to the fruit of actions. They should also be done as duty. And this in my opinion, O Partha is the best."
[Chapter 18 Verse 6]
"Renunciation of prescribed duties is not appropriate. Renunciation of such activities due to illusion is declared as tamas (ignorance)."
[Chapter 18 Verse 7]
"Renunciation of action due to unhappiness and the fear that they cause physical discomfort is called rajasic renunciation and he will not gain the fruit of renunciation."
[Chapter 18 Verse 8]
"He who performs the prescribed actions considering them as obligatory duty and renounces all attachment to the fruit of his actions, such renunciation in my opinion is sattvic in nature."
[Chapter 18 Verse 9]
n a large city in a distant part of the country a daimyo of great wealth and power ruled over the people, and was both envied, hated, loved and respected for his actions and his decrees. Some considered him a fair and loving lord, while others thought of him as a power-hungry daimyo with the only interest being the throne of the shogun. As he was fairly new to this part of the country, however, most people shrugged it off with the explanation, that the daimyo was still merely ignorant and unversed in the ways of the local traditions.
he Samurai was on his way to the capital city of his Daimyo's neighbouring country, carrying an invitation to the wedding of his master's daughter. He had been walking on foot for quite a few days now, and was beginning to feel a bit weary after all this travelling. However, he felt that his journey was soon coming to an end, and felt light at heart and hurried his steps.
nce the Samurai came across a small village, where a tailor had his little shop. As he quenched his thirst at a local tavern, he couldn't but overhear how impopular the tailor seemed. He apparently did his best to become rich at the poor villagers' expense. Since he was the only tailor in the area, he was able to have much higher prices than he actually needed for making ends meet.
