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Mounts to his highest bliss. By works alone Janak and ancient saints reached blessedness! Moreover, for the upholding of the kind, Action thou should'st embrace.”
The same two slokas have been translated by R. C. Zaehner, who was a Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford and had compiled Hiudu Scriptures in the following manner :
"And so, detached, perform unceasingly The works that must be done For the man detached who labours on (karma),
To the Highest must win through. "For only by working on (karma) did Janaka And his like attain perfection Or if again for the welfare (control) of the world thou carest
Then shouldst thou work (and act).” During the forties, when the Second World War was on, Christoplier Isherwood, a creative English writer came under the benign influence of Swami Prabhavananda of the Ramakrishna Mission in the United States. They collaborated on a fresh transalation of Bhagavadgita and called it The Song of God. Aldoux Huxley, who was a protagonist of the "Perennial Philosophy" wrote the introduction to this book, published in 1947.
The two slokas on the philosophy of Karma Yoga were translated by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood thus :
"Do your duty, always; but without attachment. That is how a man reaches the ultimate truth; by working without anxiety about results. In fact, Janaka (a royal saint mentioned in the Upanishads) and many others reached enlightenment, simply because they did their duty in this spirit. Your motive in working should be to set otliers, by your example, on the path of duty." Juan Mascaro's version from the Penguin Classic is as follows:
"19. In liberty from the bonds of attachment, do thou therefore the work to be done : l'or the man whose work is pure attains indeed the Supreme.
20. King Janaka and other warriors reached perfection by the path of action; Let thy aim be the good of all, and then carry on thy task in Lile."
