And let go those-- Rites and writ duties! Fly to Me alone! Make Me thy single refuge! I will free Thy soul from all itssins! Be of good cheer! [Hide, the holy Krishna saith, This from him that hath no faith, Him that worships not, nor seeks Wisdom's teaching when she speaks: Hide it from all men who mock; But, wherever, 'mid the flock Of My lovers, one shall teach Thisdivinest, wisest, speech-- Teaching in the faith to bring Truth to them, and offering Of all honour unto Me-- Unto Brahma cometh he! Nay, and nowhere shall ye find Any man of all mankind Doing dearer deed for Me; Nor shall any dearer be In My earth. Yea, furthermore, Whoso reads this converse o'er, Held by Us upon the plain, Pondering piously and fain, He hath paid Me sacrifice! (Krishna speaketh in this wise!) Yea, and whoso, full of faith, Heareth wisely what it saith, Heareth meekly,--when he dies, Surely shall his spirit rise To those regions wherethe Blest, Free of flesh, in joyance rest.]
Hath this been heard by thee, O Indian Prince! With mind intent? hath all the ignorance-- Which bred thy trouble--vanished, My Arjun?
Arjuna. Trouble and ignorance are gone! the Light Hath come unto me, by Thy favour, Lord! Now am I fixed! my doubt is fled away! Accordingto Thy word, so will I do!
Sanjaya. Thus gathered I the gracious speech of Krishna, O my King! Thus have I told, with heart a-thrill, this wise and wondrous thing By great Vyasa's learning writ, how Krishna's self made known The Yoga, being Yoga's Lord. So is the high truth shown! And aye, when I remember, O Lord my King, again Arjuna and the God in talk, and all this holy strain, Great is my gladness: when I muse that splendour, passing speech, Of Hari, visible and plain, there is no tongue to reach My marvel and my love and bliss. O Archer-Prince! all hail! O Krishna, Lord of Yoga! surely there shall not fail Blessing, and victory, and power, for Thy most mighty sake, Where this song comes of Arjun, and how with God he spake.
HEREENDS,WITHCHAPTERXVIII.,Entitled
"Mokshasanyasayog," Or "The Book of Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation,"
THE BHAGAVAD-GITA.
[FN#1] Some repetitionary lines are here omitted.
[FN#2] Technical phrases of Vedic religion.
[FN#3] The whole of this passage is highly involved and difficult to render.
[FN#4] I feel convinced sankhyanan and yoginan must be transposed here in sense.
[FN#5] I am doubtful of accuracy here.
[FN#6] A name of the sun.
[FN#7] Without desire of fruit.
[FN#8] That is,"joy and sorrow, success and failure, heat and cold,"&c.
[FN#9] i.e., the body.
[FN#10] The Sanskrit has this play on the double meaning of Atman.
[FN#11] So in original.
[FN#12] Beings of low and devilish nature.
[FN#13] Krishna. [FN#14] I read here janma, "birth;" not jara,"age"
[FN#15] I have discarded ten lines of Sanskrit text here as an undoubted interpolation by some Vedantist
[FN#16] The Sanskrit poem here rises to an elevation of style and manner which I have endeavoured to mark by change of metre.
[FN#17] Ahinsa.
[FN#18] The nectar of immortality.
[FN#19] Called "The Jap."
[FN#20] The compound form of Sanskrit words.
[FN#21] "Kamalapatraksha"
[FN#22] These are all divine or deified orders of the Hindoo Pantheon.
[FN#23] "Hail to Thee, God of Gods! Be favourable!"
[FN#24] The wind. [FN#25] "Not peering about,"anapeksha.
[FN#26] The Calcutta edition of the Mahabharata has these three opening lines.
[FN#27] This is the nearest possible version of Kshetrakshetrajnayojnanan yat tajnan matan mama.
[FN#28] I omit two lines of the Sanskrit here, evidently interpolated by some Vedantist.
[FN#29] Wombs.
[FN#30] I do not consider the Sanskrit verses here- which are somewhat freely rendered--"an attack on the authority of the Vedas," with Mr Davies, but a beautiful lyrical episode, a new "Parable of the fig-tree."
[FN#31] I omit a verse here, evidently interpolated.
[FN#32] "Of the Asuras,"lit.
[FN#33] I omit the ten concluding shlokas, with Mr Davis.
[FN#34] Rakshasas and Yakshas are unembodied but capricious beings of great power, gifts, and beauty, same times also of benignity.
[FN#35] These are spirits of evil wandering ghosts.
[FN#36] Yatayaman, food which has remained after the watchesof the night. In India this would probably "go bad."
[FN#37]I omit the concluding shlokas, as of very doubtful authenticity.
