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.