Indian stream·Bhagavad Gita·Discourse 18: The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation

Source context

Theme

renunciation, the three gunas as determinants of action, and liberation through surrender to the supreme

Soul-faculty

Consciousness Soul

Steiner

• GA 146, 1913-06-05Steiner treats the three gunas — sattwa, rajas, tamas — as cosmic principles governing the quality of human action and soul-development, directly engaging the classificatory doctrine that structures Discourse 18's analysis of renunciation, knowledge, duty, and liberation.
• GA 142, 1912-12-28Steiner identifies the Bhagavad Gita as the harmonious interpenetration of Vedic wisdom-streams, situating its culminating teaching on surrender and liberation within the broader trajectory from ancient clairvoyance toward self-conscious spiritual striving.

Cross-tradition

• Advaita VedantaShankara's commentary on the Gita treats the final verse's injunction to abandon all dharmas and surrender to the supreme (sarva-dharman parityajya) as pointing to the non-dual recognition that the individual self is identical with Brahman, offering a cross-tradition congruence with Discourse 18's liberation-through-knowledge strand.
• Stoic philosophyThe Stoic distinction between what is 'up to us' (eph' hēmin) and what is not, and the consequent injunction to act according to one's nature without attachment to outcomes, shows cross-tradition congruence with Discourse 18's nishkama karma teaching on duty performed without fruit-seeking.
• Christian mysticism (Meister Eckhart)Eckhart's doctrine of Gelassenheit — letting-go of will and self — as the condition of union with the Godhead parallels structurally the Gita's final teaching on surrender of all action to the supreme Person, constituting a cross-tradition congruence across renunciation-as-liberation doctrines.

Discourse 18: The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation

18:1Arjuna said: I desire to know severally the essence of renunciation, O mighty-
armed, and of abandonment, O Hrishikesha, as also of each apart, O slayer of Keshi.

18:2The Blessed Lord said: Sages understand as renunciation the renouncing of
works with desire; the wise declare the abandonment of the fruit of all works as abandonment.

18:3"Action should be abandoned as an evil," say some learned men; "acts of
sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be abandoned," say others.

18:4Hear My conclusions as to that abandonment, O best of the Bharatas;
abandonment, verily, O tiger of men, has been explained as threefold.

18:5Acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be abandoned, but should be
performed; sacrifice, gift and also austerity are the purifiers of the intelligent.

18:6But even these actions should be performed under the abandonment of
attachment and the fruit; such, O Partha, is My certain and best belief.

18:7Verily renunciation of a required action is not proper; the abandonment thereof
from delusion is said to be of darkness.

18:8He who abandoneth an action from fear of physical suffering, saying "it is
painful," thus performing a passionate abandonment, obtaineth not the fruit of abandonment.

18:9He who performeth a required action, O Arjuna, saying, "it ought to be done,"
abandoning attachment and fruit also, that abandonment is regarded as pure.

18:10The abandoner, filled with purity, intelligent, with various doubts dispelled,
hateth not unpleasurable action, nor is attached to pleasurable.

18:11For verily it is not possible for an embodied being to abandon actions
completely; but he who abandoneth the fruit of action is said to be an abandoner.

18:12Good, evil and mixed—threefold is the fruit of action hereafter for the non-
abandoners; but there is none ever for the renouncers.

18:13Learn from Me, O mighty-armed, these five causes, as declared in the Sankhya
system, for the accomplishment of all actions:

18:14The body, the actor, the various organs, the diverse kinds of energies, and the
presiding deities also, the fifth.

18:15Whatever action a man performeth by his body, speech and mind, whether
right or the reverse, these five are the causes thereof.

18:16That being so, he verily who—owing to untrained Reason—looketh on the
Self, which is isolated, as the actor, he seeth not, a man of perverted intelligence.

18:17He who is free from the egoistic notion, whose Reason is not affected, though
he slay these peoples, he slayeth not, nor is he bound by the action.

18:18Knowledge, the knowable and the knower, the threefold impulse to action; the
organ, the action, the actor, the threefold constituents of action.

18:19Knowledge, action and actor in the category of qualities are also said to be
threefold, from the difference of qualities; hear thou also these duly.

18:20That by which one indestructible Being is seen in all beings, inseparate in the
separated, know thou that knowledge as pure.

18:21But that khowledge which regardeth the several existences of various kinds in
all beings as separate, know thou that knowledge as passionate.

18:22While that which clingeth to each one thing as if it were the whole, without
reason, without its real object and narrow, that is declared to be dark.

18:23An action which is ordained, done by one is unattached to fruit, devoid of
attachment or repulsion, that is called pure.

18:24But that action that is done by one longing for desires, or again with egoism, or
with much effort, that is declared to be passionate.

18:25The action undertaken from delusion, without regard to capacity and to
consequences—loss and injury to others—that is declared to be dark.

18:26Liberated from attachment, not egoistic, endued with firmness and confidence,
unchanged by success or failure, that actor is called pure.

18:27Passionate, desiring to obtain the fruit of action, greedy, harmful, impure,
moved by joy and sorrow, such an actor is pronounced passionate.

18:28Discordant, vulgar, stubborn, cheating, malicious, indolent, despairful and
procrastinating, such an actor is called dark.

18:29The threefold division of Reason and of firmness also, according to the
qualities, hear thou related unreservedly and severally, O Dhananjaya.

18:30That which knoweth energy and abstinence, what ought to be done and what
ought not to be done, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation, that Reason is pure, O Partha.

18:31That by which one wrongly understandeth Right and Wrong, and also what
ought to be done and what ought not to be done, that Reason, O Partha, is passionate.

18:32That which, enwrapped in darkness, thinketh wrong to be right, and seeth all
things subverted, that Reason, O Partha, is dark.

18:33The firmness by which one holdeth fast the functions of the mind, of the life-
breaths and of the senses, through yoga, unswerving, that firmness, O Partha, is pure.

18:34But the firmness, O Arjuna, by which one holdeth fast duty, pleasure and
wealth from attachment, desiring the fruit, that firmness, O Partha, is passionate.

18:35That by which one from stupidity doth not abandon sleep, fear, grief, despair
and also vanity, that firmness, O Partha, is dark.

18:36And now the threefold happiness hear thou from Me, O bull of the Bharatas.
That in which one rejoiceth by practice, and in which he findeth the end of pain;

18:37That which at first is as venom but in the end is as nectar; that happiness is
said to be pure, born of the blissful knowledge of the Self.

18:38That happiness which from the union of the senses with their objects at first is
as nectar, but in the end is as venom, that is held to be passionate.

18:39That happiness which in the beginning and in its consequence is delusive of
the self, arising from sleep, indolence and heedlessness, that is declared dark.

18:40There is not an entity on earth, or again in heaven among the Shining Ones,
that is liberated from these three qualities born of Matter.

18:41Of Brahmanas, Kshattriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, O Parantapa, the duties
have been distributed, according to the qualities born of their own natures.

18:42Serenity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness and also uprightness,
wisdom, knowledge, belief in God, are the Brahmana-duty, born of his own nature.

18:43Prowess, splendour, firmness, dexterity, and also not flying from battle,
generosity, the nature of a ruler, are the Kshattriya-duty, born of his own nature.

18:44Ploughing, protection of kine, and trade, are the Vaishya-duty, born of his own
nature. Action of the nature of service is the Shudra-duty, born of his own nature.

18:45Man reacheth perfection by each being intent on his own duty. How he findeth
perfection who is intent on his own duty, that hear thou.

18:46He from whom is the emanation of beings, by whom all This is pervaded, by
worshipping Him in his own duty, a man winneth perfection.

18:47Better is one’s own duty though destitute of merit than the duty of another
well-performed. He who doeth the duty laid down by his own nature incurreth not sin.

18:48Congenital duty, O son of Kunti, though defective, ought not to be abandoned.
All undertakings indeed are clouded by defects as fire by smoke.

18:49He whose Reason is everywhere unattached, the self subdued, dead to desires,
he by renunciation attaineth the supreme perfection of freedom from action.

18:50How he who hath attained perfection also attaineth to the Eternal, hear thou,
only in brief, O Kaunteya, for that is the supreme state of wisdom.

18:51United to the Reason, purified, controlling the self by firmness, having
abandoned sound and the other objects of the senses, having laid aside passion and malice,

18:52Dwelling in solitude, abstemious, speech, body and mind subdued, constantly
united by yoga to meditation, taking refuge in dispassion,

18:53Having cast aside egoism, violence, arrogance, desire, wrath, covetousness,
selfless and peaceful—he is fit to become the Eternal.

18:54Becoming the Eternal, serene in the Self, he neither grieveth nor desireth; the
same to all beings, he obtaineth supreme devotion unto Me.

18:55By devotion he knoweth Me in essence, who and what I am; having thus
known Me in essence, he forthwith entereth into the Supreme.

18:56Though ever performing all actions, taking refuge in Me, by My favour he
obtaineth the eternal indestructible abode.

18:57Mentally renouncing all actions in Me, intent on Me, taking refuge in the yoga
of discrimination, have thy thought ever on Me.

18:58Thinking on Me, thou shalt overcome all obstacles by My favour; but if from
egoism thou wilt not hear, thou shalt be destroyed utterly.

18:59Entrenched in egoism, thou thinkest, "I will not fight"; to no purpose is thy
determination; nature will constrain thee.

18:60O son of Kunti, bound by thine own duty born of thine own nature, that which
from delusion thou desirest not to do, even that helplessly thou shalt perform.

18:61The Lord dwelleth in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, by His illusive power
causing all beings to revolve, as though mounted on a potter’s wheel.

18:62Flee unto Him for shelter with all thy being, O Bharata; by His favour thou
shalt obtain supreme peace and the everlasting dwelling-place.

18:63Thus hath wisdom, more secret than secrecy itself, been declared unto thee by
Me; having reflected on it fully, then act as thou listest.

18:64Listen thou again to My supreme word, most secret of all; beloved art thou of
Me, and steadfast in heart, therefore will I speak for thy benefit.

18:65Merge thy mind in Me, be My devotee, sacrifice to Me, prostrate thyself
before Me, thou shalt come even to Me. I pledge thee My troth; thou art dear to Me.

18:66Abandoning all duties, come unto Me alone for shelter; sorrow not, I will
liberate thee from all sins.

18:67Never is this to be spoken by thee to anyone who is without asceticism, nor
without devotion, nor one who desireth not to listen, nor yet to him who speaketh evil of Me.

18:68He who shall declare this supreme secret among My devotees, having shown
the highest devotion for Me, without doubt he shall come to Me.

18:69Nor is there any among men who performeth dearer service to Me than he, nor
any other shall be more beloved by Me on earth than he.

18:70And he who shall study this sacred dialogue of ours, by him I shall be
worshipped with the sacrifice of wisdom. Such is My mind.

18:71The man also who, full of faith, merely heareth it uncarping, even he, freed
from evil, shall attain the happy regions of the righteous.

18:72Has this been heard, O son of Pritha, with one-pointed mind? Has thy
delusion, caused by unwisdom, been destroyed, O Dhananjaya?

18:73Arjuna said: Destroyed is my delusion. I have gained knowledge through Thy
favour, O Immutable one. I am firm, my doubts have fled away. I will do according to Thy word.

18:74Sanjaya said: I heard this marvellous dialogue of Vasudeva and of the great-
souled Partha, causing my hair to stand on end.

18:75By the favour of Vyasa I listened to this secret and supreme yoga from the
Lord of Yoga, Krishna Himself speaking before mine eyes.

18:76O King, remembering, remembering this marvellous and holy dialogue
between Keshava and Arjuna, I rejoice again and again.

18:77Remembering, remembering, also that most marvellous form of Hari, great is
my wonder, O King. I rejoice, again and again.

18:78Wherever is Krishna, Yoga’s Lord, wherever is Partha, the archer, assured are
there prosperity, victory and happiness. So I think.

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