I have read the translated version of Gita, translated by Winthrop Sargeant, to whom I feel indebted for giving me the opportunity to imbibe the sea of invaluable knowledge. My sincere gratitude and credits to him for the thoughts flowing in this article and in my daily life activities.
Bhagavad Gita is one of the most sacred books in India which is prayed upon like a true expression of unrealized god as it lights the lamp of knowledge and wisdom in the life of its’ reader and practitioner of its’ teachings.
Gita is called to be the spoken words of lord Sri Krishna, spoken 5000 years ago and written between 300–600 CE. The verses are in the form of dialogue between prince Arjun and lord Sri Krishna. Arjuna in the face of war is consumed with conflicting thoughts and ethical dilemmas. Lord Sri Krishna then speaks to bring him enlightenment and liberation.
Below I have consolidated the most practical, action taking verses from all the chapters of Bhagavad Gita. Some directly taken from book.
I find them to be of practical application in all the domains and phases of life whether it be business, relationship, sports etc. and hence are like universal laws.
A. The Yoga of Knowledge
1. “The wise do not mourn for the dead or living.” The wise one is not deluded about the impermanence of body and physical sensations causing cold, heat, pleasure or pain, which come and go.
2. The wise one is not afflicted by the temporary experiences in life. The happiness and unhappiness are same for such a person.
3. One should perceive his true duty and undertake the actions faithfully, never avoiding the duty and glory from acting upon.
4. “The thoughts of the irresolute have many branches and are, indeed, endless.” Hence, one should be resolute in his thoughts.
5. Action alone is the only right one has. Never should fruits of action be the motivation, which can lead to the habit of inaction.
6. One who is content in self by the self is said to have attained steady wisdom.
7. “From anger arises delusion; from delusion, loss of the memory; from loss of the memory, destruction of discrimination; from destruction of discrimination one is lost.”
8. The tranquil-minded is indifferent to possessions and free from egotism making his intellect steady.
B. The Yoga of Action
9. Abstention from action is not possible. Everyone is forced to perform action, even action which is against his will, by the qualities of material nature/world.
10. Action indeed should be taken to perform his duty because even maintenance of this body depends on action. Inaction moves one towards atrophy and decay.
11. Wise should act without attachment, intending to maintain the welfare of the world. That is, performing actions in a disciplined manner and knowing that, he is not the doer, but the qualities of material nature.
12. Action should never be performed under the power of passion/desire and hatred.
13. One should perform his own duty and not other’s even if proficient in that and deficient in his own.
C. The Yoga of Wisdom
14. One must understand the nature of action, the nature of wrong action and also the nature of inaction.
15. He is wise, who perceives inaction in action and action in inaction.
16. Wisdom is to perform action without any ulterior motives, with thought established in knowledge, and work done as a sacrifice.
17. “As the kindled fire reduces firewood to ashes, so the fire of knowledge reduces all actions to ashes.”
18. One who possesses faith attains knowledge. The one who has a doubting nature, the world is a difficult place and happiness is far from his reach. Be ever trusting.
D. The Yoga of Renunciation of Action
19. The wise one renounces all action with the mind i.e; all actions prompted by desire, attached to fruit must be renounced to be spotless and impartial in all actions.
20. The wise man is not content with the pleasures born of contact.
E. The Yoga of Meditation
21. “One should uplift oneself by the Self; one should not degrade oneself; for the Self alone can be a friend to oneself, and the Self alone can be an enemy of oneself.”
22. “The highest Self of him who has conquered himself and is peaceful, is steadfast in cold, heat, pleasure, and pain; thus also in honor and dishonor.”
23. Meditation is about concentrating constantly on the Self. Directing mind to a single object, with thought and activity of senses controlled, one should practise yoga for self-purification.
24. Yoga is practising moderation. “For him, who is moderate in food and diversion, whose actions are discilplined, who is moderate in sleep and waking, yoga destroys all sorrow.”
25. The mind is unsteady and difficult to restrain, but by practise and indifference to worldly objects, it is restrained.
F. The Yoga of Wisdom and Realization
26. The material nature is divided into 8 parts — earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and egoism.
27. Realization is about experiencing something beyond the material nature.
G. The Yoga of Sovereign Knowledge
28. The deluded despise this world and the creations of the creator. The wise are full of gratitude, reverence and honor towards what can be called as god, energy, creator, and towards his creations, which are the observable manifestations.
H. The Yoga of Devotion
29. To be fully devoted, one has to be freed from attachments, egotism, envy, fear, distress, anxiety, hatres. One should be indifferent to blame or praise, indifferent to enemy and friend, indifferent to any opposites like good and evil. And always contented and balanced in mind.
I. The Yoga of Distinction between the Field and the Knower of the Field
30. The body is said to be the field. He who knows this is called the knower of the field.
31. The knowledge of the field and of the knower of the field is considered to be the true knowledge.
32. “The great elements, egoism, intellect and the unmanifest, the senses, ten and one, and the five objects of the senses, desire, hatres, pleasure, pain, the body, intelligence, steadfastness — this briefly is described as the field with its modifications.”
33. “Material nature is said to be the cause in the producing of cause and effect.” Cause and effect thus, is a universal law, working out in our physical world and must be involved in all our actions.
J. The Yoga of the Differentiation of the Three Qualities
34. Sattva, rajas and tamas are the qualities born of material nature, bind fast in the body.
35. All the three qualities are continuously working inside us, sometimes sattva prevailing over rajas and tamas, sometimes rajas over other two and sometimes tamas.
36. “When the light of knowledge shines through all the gates of this body, then it should be known that sattva is dominant.”
37. “Greed, activity and the undertaking of actions, restlessness, desire; these are born when rajas is dominant.”
38. “Darkness and inertness, heedlessness and confusion; these are born when tamas is dominant.”
K. The Yoga of the distinction between the Divine and the Demoniacal
39. Divine and demoniacal can be two categories of beings based on the qualities with which they perform actions in major part of their life.
40. “Demoniacal men do not understand when to act and when to refrain from action.” The common belief among is that the universe is without truth, without basis, without god, and world is caused by lust alone.
L. The Yoga of the Threefold Division of Faith
41. “Promoting life, virtues, strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction, which are savoury, smooth, firm and pleasant to the stomach; such foods are dear to sattvic.
M. The Yoga of Liberation of Renunciation
42. “Acts of sacrifice, giving, and austerity are not to be abandoned, but rather to be performed; sacrifice, giving and austerity are purifiers of those who are wise.” But these actions should be performed abandoning any attachment to the fruits or ulterior motives.
My sole intention in writing this is to elevate as many lives as possible towards the life of health, happiness and abundance.
I strongly believe in these ancient sayings in Indian scriptures due to my own experiences over the period of past 5 years from reading several books and practising meditation. Bhagavad Gita, I found, is the sum total of what I have already done in last 5 years and how I would be maintaining the rest of my life.
If this has helped you, surely it would be helpful to your fellow human beings.
