will then proclaim thy eternal infamy, and to one that
is held in respect, infamy is greater (as an evil)
than death itself. All great car-warriors will
regard thee as abstaining from battle from fear, and
thou wilt be thought lightly by those that had (hitherto)
esteemed thee highly. Thy enemies, decrying thy
prowess, will say many words which should not be said.
What can be more painful than that? Slain, thou
wilt attain to heaven; or victorious, thou wilt enjoy
the Earth. Therefore, arise, O son of Kunti,
resolved for battle. Regarding pleasure and pain,
gain and loss, victory and defeat, as equal, do battle
for battle’s sake and sin will not be thine.[141]
This knowledge, that hath been communicated to thee
is (taught) in the Sankhya (system). Listen now
to that (inculcated) in Yoga (system). Possessed
of that knowledge, thou, O Partha, wilt cast off the
bonds of action. In this (the Yoga system) there
is no waste of even the first attempt. There are
no impediments. Even a little of this (form of)
piety delivers from great fear.[142] Here in this
path, O son of Kuru, there is only one state of mind,
consisting in firm devotion (to one object, viz.,
securing emancipation). The minds of those, however,
that are not firmly devoted (to this), are many-branched
(un-settled) and attached to endless pursuits.
That flowery talk which, they that are ignorant, they
that delight in the words of the Vedas, they, O Partha,
that say that there is nothing else, they whose minds
are attached to worldly pleasures, they that regard
(a) heaven (of pleasures and enjoyments) as the highest
object of acquisition,—utter and promises
birth as the fruit of action and concerns itself with
multifarious rites of specific characters for the attainment
of pleasures and power,—delude their hearts
and the minds of these men who are attached to pleasures
and power cannot be directed to contemplation (of
the divine being) regarding it as the sole means of
emancipation.[143] The Vedas are concerned with three
qualities, (viz., religion, profit, and pleasure).
Be thou, O Arjuna, free from them, unaffected by pairs
of contraries (such as pleasure and pain, heat and
cold, etc.), ever adhering to patience without
anxiety for new acquisitions or protection of those
already acquired, and self-possessed, whatever objects
are served by a tank or well, may all be served by
a vast sheet of water extending all around; so whatever
objects may be served by all the Vedas, may all be
had by a Brahmana having knowledge (of self or Brahma).[144]
Thy concern is with work only, but not with the fruit
(of work). Let not the fruit be thy motive for
work; nor let thy inclination be for inaction.
Staying in devotion, apply thyself to work, casting
off attachment (to it), O Dhananjaya, and being the
same in success or unsuccess. This equanimity
is called Yoga (devotion). Work (with desire
of fruit) is far inferior to devotion, O Dhananjaya.
Seek thou the protection of devotion. They that