BhagavadgitaWilkins09  

'OF THE CHIEF OF SECRETS AND PRINCE OF SCIENCE'                            

                                      The Bhagavad-Gītā
                                                                                                               Or
                                  Dialogues of Krishna and Arjuna
                                                            The Eighteen Lectures
                                                                                           With Notes
                                             TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL 

                              IN THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF THE BRAHMAN


                                 By CHARLES WILKINS     1785                                        

                                                                                   L E C T U R E. 08.   

The Lord is more than His creation.            

                                       


 

 

LECTURE lX
OF THE CHIEF OF SECRETS AND PRINCE OF SCIENCE.
[78]
KRISHNA.
I will now make known unto thee, who findest no fault, a most mysterious secret, accompanied by pro­ found learning, which having studied thou shalt be de­ livered from misfortune. It is a sovereign art, a sovereign mystery, sublime and immaculate; clear unto the fight, virtuous, inexhaustible, and early to be performed. Those who are infidels to this faith, not finding me, return again into this world, the mansion of death.
This whole world was spread abroad by me in my invisible form. All things are dependent on me,, and I am not dependent on them; and all things are not dependent on me 36.Behold my divine connection! My creative spirit is the keeper of all things, not the dependent. Understand that all things rest in me, as the mighty air, which passeth every where, resteth for ever in the etherial space. At the end of the period Kalp 37 all things,
[ 79 ]
O son of Kunti, return into my primordial source, and at the beginning of another Kalpa 1 create them all again. I plant myself on my own nature, and create, again and again, this assemblage of beings, the whole, from the power of nature, without power38. Those works confine not me, because I am like one who fitteth aloof uninterested in those works. By my supervision nature produceth both the moveable and the immoveable. It is from this sources 39 , O Arjun, that the universe resolveth.
The foolish, being unacquainted with my supreme and divine nature, as lord of all things, despite me in this human form, trusting to the evil, diabolic, and deceitful principle within them. They are of vain hope, of vain endeavours, of vain wisdom, and void of reason; whilst men of great minds, trusting to their divine natures, discover that I am before all things and incorruptible, and serve me with their hearts undiverted by other Gods40.
Men of rigid and laborious lives come before me humbly bowing down, forever glorifying my name; and they are constantly employed in my service; but others serve me, worshipping me, whose face is turned On all sides, with the worship of wisdom, unitedly, separately,

[ 80 ]
in various shapes. I am the sacrifice; I am the worship; I am the sacrifice; I am the invocation; I am the ceremony to the manes of the ancestors; I am the provisions; I am the fire, and I am the victim: I am the father and the mother of this world, the grandsire, and the preserver. I am the holy one worthy to be known; the mystic figure Om; the Ṛk, the Sāma, and Yajurr Vedas 41 I am the journey of the good; the comforter; the creator; the witness; the nesting-place; the asylum, and the friend. I am generation and dissolution; the place where all things are reported, and the inexhaustible seed of all nature. I am sunshine, and I am rain ; I now draw in, and now let forth. I am death and immortality: I am entity and non-entity.

The followers of the three Vedas, who drink of the juice of the Soma42 being purified of their offences, address me in sacrifices, and petition for heaven. These obtain the regions of Indra 43 the prince of celestial beings, in which heaven they feast upon celestial food and divine enjoyments; and when they have partaken of that spacious heaven for a while, in proportion to their virtues, they sink again into this mortal life, as soon as their stock of virtue is expended. In this manner those, who, longing for the accomplishment of their wishes, follow the religion


[ 81 ]
pointed out by the three Vedas, obtain a transient reward. But those who, thinking of no other, serveth me alone, I bear the burden of the devotion of those who are thus constantly engaged in my service. They also who serve other Gods with a firm. belief, in doing so, involuntarily worship even me. I am he who partaketh of all worship, and I am their reward. Because mankind unacquainted with my nature, they fall again from heaven. Those who wordship the Devatas go unto the Devatas; the worshippers of the Pitṛus, or patriarchs, go unto the Pitṛus; the servants of the Bhūtas or spirits, go unto the Bhūtas; and they who worship me go unto me.
I accept and enjoy the holy offerings of the humble soul, who in his worship presenteth leaves and flowers, and fruit and water unto me. Whatever thou doest, O Arjun; whatever thou eatest:, whatever thou sacrificeth, whatever thou giveth:, whatever thou shalt be zealous about, make each an offering unto me. Thou shalt thus be delivered with good and evil fruits, and with the bonds of works. Thy mind being joined in the practice of a Saṁnyāsin, thou shalt come unto me. I am the fame to all mankind: there is not one who is worthy of my love or hatred. They who serve me with adoration.

[ 82 ]
I am in them, and they in me. If one, whose ways are ever so evil, serve me alone, he is as respectable as the just man; he is altogether well employed; he soon becometh of a virtuous spirit, and obtaineth eternal happiness. Recollect, O son of Kunti, that my servant doth not perish. Those even who may be of the womb of sin; women45, the tribes of Vaiṣya and Śūdra; shall go the supreme journey, if they take sanctuary with me; how much more my holy servants the Brahmans and the Rajarṣayas46. Consider this world as a finite and joyless place, and serve me. Be of my mind, my servant, my adorer, and bow down before me. Unite thy soul, as it were, unto me, make me thy asylum, and thou shalt go unto me.