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ARJUNA:
LORD! of the men who serve Thee—true in heart— |
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| As God revealed; and of the men who serve, |
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| Worshipping Thee Unrevealed, Unbodied, far, |
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| Which take the better way of faith and life? |
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KRISHNA:
Whoever serve Me—as I show Myself— |
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| Constantly true, in full devotion fixed, |
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| These hold I very holy. But who serve— |
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| Worshipping Me The One, The Invisible, |
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| The Unrevealed, Unnamed, Unthinkable, |
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| Uttermost, All-pervading, Highest, Sure— |
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| Who thus adore Me, mastering their sense, |
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| Of one set mind to all, glad in all good, |
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These blessed souls come unto Me.
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| Yet, hard |
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| The travail is for whoso bend their minds |
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| To reach th’ Unmanifest. That viewless path |
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| Shall scarce be trod by man bearing his flesh! |
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| But whereso any doeth all his deeds, |
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| Renouncing self in Me, full of Me, fixed |
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| To serve only the Highest, night and day |
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| Musing on Me—him will I swiftly lift |
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| Forth from life’s ocean of distress and death |
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| Whose soul clings fast to Me. Cling thou to Me! |
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| Clasp Me with heart and mind! so shalt thou dwell |
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| Surely with Me on high. But if thy thought |
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| Droops from such height; if thou be’st weak to set |
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| Body and soul upon Me constantly, |
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| Despair not! give Me lower service! seek |
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| To read Me, worshipping with steadfast will; |
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| And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly, |
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| Work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me! |
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| For he that laboreth right for love of Me |
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| Shall finally attain! But, if in this |
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| Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! find |
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| Refuge in Me! let fruits of labor go, |
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| Renouncing all for Me, with lowliest heart, |
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| So shalt thou come; for, though to know is more |
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| Than diligence, yet worship better is |
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| Than knowing, and renouncing better still |
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| Near to renunciation—very near— |
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Dwelleth Eternal Peace!
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| Who hateth nought |
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| Of all which lives, living himself benign, |
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| Compassionate, from arrogance exempt, |
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| Exempt from love of self, unchangeable |
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| By good or ill; patient, contented, firm |
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| In faith, mastering himself, true to his word, |
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| Seeking Me, heart and soul; vowed unto Me,— |
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| That man I love! Who troubleth not his kind, |
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| And is not troubled by them; clear of wrath, |
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| Living too high for gladness, grief, or fear, |
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| That man I love! Who, dwelling quiet-eyed, |
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| Stainless, serene, well-balanced, unperplexed, |
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| Working with Me, yet from all works detached, |
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| That man I love! Who, fixed in faith on Me, |
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| Dotes upon none, scorns none; rejoices not, |
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| And grieves not, letting good and evil hap |
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| Light when it will, and when it will depart, |
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| That man I love! Who, unto friend and foe |
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| Keeping an equal heart, with equal mind |
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| Bears shame and glory, with an equal peace |
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| Takes heat and cold, pleasure and pain; abides |
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| Quit of desires, hears praise or calumny |
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| In passionless restraint, unmoved by each, |
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Linked by no ties to earth, steadfast in Me,
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| That man I love! But most of all I love |
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| Those happy ones to whom ’tis life to live |
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| In single fervid faith and love unseeing, |
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| Eating the blessèd Amrit of my Being! |
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Here endeth Chapter XII. of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ,
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entitled “Bhakityôgô,” or “The Book of
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the Religion of Faith”
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