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BHAGAVAD GITA
Vyavasaayaatmikaa buddhih samaadhau na vidheeyate.
44. For those who are much attached to pleasure and to power, whose minds are drawn away by such teaching, that determinate faculty is not manifest that is steadily bent on meditation and Samadhi (the state of Superconsciousness).
Traigunyavishayaa vedaa nistraigunyo bhavaarjuna; Nirdwandwo nityasatwastho niryogakshema aatmavaan.
45. The Vedas deal with the three attributes (of Nature); be thou above these three attributes, O Arjuna! Free yourself from the pairs of opposites and ever remain in the quality of Sattwa (goodness), freed from the thought of acquisition and preservation, and be established in the Self.
COMMENTARY: Guna means attribute or quality. It is substance as well as quality. Nature is made up of three Gunas-Sattwa (purity, light, harmony), Rajas (passion, restlessness, motion), and Tamas (inertia, darkness). The pairs of opposites are pleasure and pain, heat and cold, gain and loss, victory and defeat, honour and dishonour, praise and censure.
Yaavaanartha udapaane sarvatah samplutodake; Taavaan sarveshu vedeshu braahmanasya vijaanatah.
46. To the Brahmana who has known the Self, all the Vedas are of as much use as is a reservoir of water in a place where there is a flood.
COMMENTARY: Only for a sage who has realised the Self are the Vedas of no use, because he is in possession of knowledge of the Self. This does not, however, mean that the Vedas are useless. They are useful for neophytes or aspirants who have just started on the spiritual path.
Karmanyevaadhikaaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana; Maa karmaphalahetur bhoor maa te sango'stwakarmani.
47. Thy right is to work only, but never with its fruits; let not the fruits of actions be thy motive, nor let thy attachment be to inaction.
COMMENTARY: Actions done with expectation of its rewards bring bondage. If you do not thirst for them, you get purification of heart and ultimately knowledge of the Self.
Yogasthah kuru karmaani sangam tyaktwaa dhananjaya; Siddhyasiddhyoh samo bhootwaa samatwam yoga uchyate.
48. Perform action, O Arjuna, being steadfast in Yoga, abandoning attachment and balanced in success and failure! Evenness of mind is called Yoga.
Doorena hyavaram karma buddhiyogaad dhananjaya; Buddhau sharanamanwiccha kripanaah phalahetavah.
