Essence Of Gita In Poems

by Swami Sivananda

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Book Code: ES299
Paperback:
64 pages
ISBN:  NA
Book Dimensions: 7.0 x 5.0 x 0.12 inches
Shipping Weight: 60 grams

Table of Contents

Publishers’ Note (3)
Invocation (5)
   
I THE YOGA OF THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 8
II SANKHYA YOGA 9
III THE YOGA OF ACTION 11
IV THE YOGA OF DIVISION OF WISDOM 14
V THE YOGA OF RENUNCIATION OF ACTION 17
VI THE YOGA OF MEDITATION 20
VII THE YOGA OF WISDOM AND REALISATION 24
VIII THE YOGA OF IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN 27
IX THE YOGA OF THE KINGLY SCIENCE AND THE KINGLY SECRET 30
X THE YOGA OF THE DIVINE GLORIES 32
XI THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM 35
XII THE YOGA OF DEVOTION 39
XIII THE YOGA OF DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE FIELD AND THE KNOWER OF THE FIELD 43
XIV THE YOGA OF THE DIVISION OF THE THREE GUNAS 46
XV THE YOGA OF SUPREME SPIRIT 50
XVI THE YOGA OF THE DIVISION BETWEEN THE DIVINE AND THE DEMONIACAL 53
XVII THE YOGA OF THE DIVISION OF THE THREEFOLD FAITH 56
XVIII THE YOGA OF LIBERATION BY RENUNCIATION 60

Publishers’ Note

The writings of Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj have become so much known to the spiritually inclined public, both in the East and the West, that to speak of them or of their author seems to us as superfluous as showing a candle before the blazing tropical sun.

The Bhagavad Gita has been acclaimed to be a gospel of life. It embodies in itself a solution to the immediately pressing problems of man and carries a wonderful message of encouragement, hope, cheer and consolation. It is a direct approach to divinise the entire nature of man.

As a writer of poetry, Sri Swamiji Maharaj occupies undoubtedly an unique place. His versification has a pulse of its own, and it is ever fresh in the vitality that echoes the song of a realised soul. Each verse, when read with a slow full voice, lifts us into the domain of its rhythmical beauty and grandeur and makes us feel the presence of the Lord bestowing on His devout disciple, Arjuna, the celestial teachings of the Gita.

We hope that our numerous readers will accord this book a very warm reception.

THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY


             
I bow to Thee, O Indweller of our hearts!
Thy teachings constitute the Holy Vedas;
Nothing can exist without Thee;
The whole universe is Thy body.

Thou art the Light of Knowledge;
Thou art the only sole Refuge;
Thou art the Supreme Guru;
Through Thy Grace may we realise the Truth.

Live in the spirit of the GITA,—
The essence of the Upanishads,
Drink this nectar of Immortality
And attain Eternal Bliss and Peace.


CHAPTER I

ARJUNA VISHADA YOGA
(The yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna)

l. Drona, Bhishma, Karna and others
Arrayed themselves in a line;
Yuyudhana, Bhima, Drupada and others
Were also ready to fight.

2. They all blew their conches
They were ready to fight;
At this critical juncture
Arjuna was moved by pity.

3. He said: “O Lord! I will not fight against
My Gurus, friends, relations;
It is a great sin
It will entail my troubles.”

4. He threw away his bow and arrow
He was overcome with grief;
He became despondent
He sank down on the seat of chariot.


CHAPTER II

SANKHYA YOGA
(Vedanta)

l. Lord Krishna encouraged Arjuna
He taught him Wisdom;
He spoke about the Immortality of the Soul
He said: “This Atman is birthless, deathless and eternal.”

The Blessed Lord said:

2. O Arjuna! Stand up! Be bold!
Just as a man throws his old cloaks
And puts on new clothes
This Jiva casts off old body and takes a new body.

3. The soul cannot be cut by weapons
Fire cannot burn It
Water cannot wet It
Wind cannot dry It.

4. O Arjuna! Do your duty.
Fight, thou art a Kshatriya;
Do not bring disgrace on thee
Slain, thou wilt obtain Heaven.

5. Be balanced in victory and defeat
In gain and loss, pleasure and pain;
Sin will not touch thee,
Work but never expect fruit.

Arjuna said:

6. What is the state of a Sthitaprajna
How does he talk, sit and walk;
What are his characteristics
How can I recognise him?

The Blessed Lord said:

7. He is free from desires, I-ness and mine-ness
He is satisfied in his own Inner Self;
He is free from attachment, fear and anger,
He is balanced in pleasure and pain.

8. He has neither likes nor dislikes
His understanding is well-poised;
He has control over his mind and the senses,
He ever rests in his own Self or Brahman.


CHAPTER XVIII

MOKSHA SANNYASA YOGA
(The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation)

Arjuna said:

1. I desire to know severally
The essence of Sannyasa,
And also of Tyaga,
O Kesinishudana!

Lord Krishna said:

2. Renouncing works whose motive is desire,
The sages know to be Sannyasa;
Abandonment of fruits of works
Is called Tyaga by the wise.

3. Sacrifice, charity and austerity
Should not be relinquished,
But surely to be done;
They are purifiers of the wise.

4. These are the five causes
For the fulfilment of all works,
The body, the actor,
The various organs,
Separate manifold functions,
And the presiding deity, also, the fifth.

5. He who is free from egoistic notion,
Whose reason is not affected,
Though he kills these people
He kills not, nor is he bound by the action.

6. An action which is ordained,
That is done without attachment, love or hate,
By one who seeks not fruit,
Is called Sattvic.

7. But that action which is done
By one who seeks to win his desires,
Or again with egoism, or much effort,
Is declared to be Rajasic.

8. Heedless of consequences,
Loss, injury (to others) or capacity,
Action done under delusion,
Is called Tamasic.

9. That which knows action and inaction,
What ought to be done
And what ought not to be done,
Fear and fearlessness,
Bondage and liberation,
That intellect is Sattvic, O Partha!

10. That by which one wrongly understands
Right and wrong,
What ought to be done
And what ought not to be done,
That intellect is Rajasic, O Partha!

11. That which, enveloped in darkness,
Conceives wrong as right,
Sees all things perverted,
That intellect is Tamasic, O Partha!

12. Which is at first like poison,
But like nectar in the end,
That happiness is Sattvic
Born of the blissful knowledge of the Self.

13. That pleasure which arises
From the union of the senses with objects,
Is at first like nectar
But in the end like poison;
That is declared to be Rajasic.

14. That pleasure which at first
And in its consequence
Is delusive of the self,
And is the product of sleep,
Indolence and heedlessness,
Is called Tamasic.

15. Dwelling in solitude,
Eating but little,
Speech, body and mind disciplined,
Ever engaged in the Yoga of meditation,
Fully established in dispassion,

16. Forsaking egoism, violence, arrogance, Desire, anger and covetousness,
Without mine-ness and serene,
He is fit for becoming Brahman.

17. Becoming Brahman,
Serene in the Self,
He neither grieves nor desires,
The same to all beings,
He attains supreme devotion to Me.

18. By devotion he knows Me in truth,
What and who I am.
Then knowing Me in truth,
Forthwith he enters into Me.

19. The Lord dwells
In the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna!
Causing all beings by His Maya
To revolve, as if mounted on a machine.

20. Take refuge in Him
With all thy heart, O Bharata!
Thou shalt attain by His grace
Supreme Peace and Eternal Abode.

21. Fix thy mind in Me;
Be My devotee;
Sacrifice to Me;
Bow down to Me;
Thou shalt reach My Self;
Truly do I promise unto thee,
For thou art dear to Me.

22. All duties abandon;
In Me alone take refuge.
From all sins I will liberate thee,
Grieve not, O Arjuna.

23. Has this been heard by thee
With an attentive mind? O Partha!
Has thy delusion bred of ignorance
Been destroyed? O Dhananjaya!

Arjuna said:

24. Destroyed is my delusion;
By Thy grace have I gained knowledge;
Firm am I, O Achyuta!
My doubts are gone;
I will do Thy word.

25. Wherever is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga,
Wherever is Partha, the bow-man,
There are prosperity, victory,
Happiness and sound policy;
So I think.

OM TAT SAT
Om Shanti! Shanti! Shantih!

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