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KRISHNA - BHAGAVAD GITA
- (trans. Barbara Stoler Miller)
Excerpt
I desire no fruit of actions,
and actions do not defile me;
one who knows this about me
is not bound by actions.
Knowing this, even ancient seekers
of freedom performed action-
do as these seers
did in ancient times.
What is action? What is inaction?
Even the poets were confused-
what I shall teach you of action
will free you from misfortune.
One should understand action,
understand wrong action,
and understand inaction too;
the way of action is obscure.
A man who sees inaction in action
and action in inaction
has understanding among me,
disciplined in all action he performs.
The wise say a man is learned
when his plans lack constructs of desire,
when his actions are burned
by the fire of knowledge.
Abandoning attachment to fruits
of action, always content, independent,
he does nothing at all
even when he engages in action.
He incurs no guilt if he has no hope,
restrains his thought and himself,
abandons possessions,
and performs actions with his body only.
Content with whatever comes by chance,
beyond dualities, free from envy,
impartial to failure and success,
he is not bound even when he acts.
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