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48
BHAGAVADGITA.
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talk) which those unwise ones utter, who are ena. moured of Vedic words, who say there is nothing else, who are full of desires, and whose goal is heaven? The Vedas (merely) relate to the effects of the three qualities o; do you, O Arguna! rise above those effects of the three qualities, and be free from the pairs of opposites, always preserve courage*, be free from anxiety for new acquisitions or protection of old acquisitions, and be self-controlled. To the instructed Brâhmana, there is in all the Vedas as much utility as in a reservoir of water into which waters flow from all sides. Your business is with action alone; not by any means with fruit. Let not the fruit of action be your motive (to action). Let not your attachment be (fixed) on inaction?. Having recourse to devotion, O Dhanañgaya! perform actions, casting off (all) attachment, and being equable in success or illsuccess; (such) equability is called devotion. Action,
"This is a merely temporary good, and not therefore deserving to be aspired to before final emancipation.
* I.e. the whole course of worldly affairs. As to qualities, see chapter XIV.
• Heat and cold, pain and pleasure, and so forth. Cf. Janu I, 26. • Cf. Sutta Nipata, p. 17 and other places. • Keeping the mind from worldly objects.
• The meaning here is not easily apprehended. I suggest the following explanation :-Having said that the Vedas are concerned with actions for special benefits, Krishna compares them to a reservoir which provides water for various special purposes, drinking, bathing, &c. The Vedas similarly prescribe particular rites and ceremonies for going to heaven, or destroying an enemy, &c. But, says Krishna, man's duty is merely to perform the actions prescribed for him, and not entertain desires for the special benefits named. The stanza occurs in the Sanatsugitiya, too.
'Doing nothing at all.
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