Public domain translation by Sir Edwin Arnold (1885), via Project Gutenberg. Presented unabridged.
Arjuna.<br/> Lord! of the men who serve Thee--true in heart--<br/> As God revealed; and of the men who serve,<br/> Worshipping Thee Unrevealed, Unbodied, Far,<br/> Which take the better way of faith and life?
Krishna.<br/> Whoever serve Me--as I show Myself--<br/> Constantly true, in full devotion fixed,<br/> Those hold I very holy. But who serve--<br/> Worshipping Me The One, The Invisible,<br/> The Unrevealed, Unnamed, Unthinkable,<br/> Uttermost, All-pervading, Highest, Sure--<br/> Who thus adore Me, mastering their sense,<br/> Of one set mind to all, glad in all good,<br/> These blessed souls come unto Me.
Yet, hard<br/> The travail is for such as bend their minds<br/> To reach th' Unmanifest That viewless path<br/> Shall scarce be trod by man bearing the flesh!<br/> But whereso any doeth all his deeds<br/> Renouncing self for Me, full of Me, fixed<br/> To serve only the Highest, night and day<br/> Musing on Me--him will I swiftly lift<br/> Forth from life's ocean of distress and death,<br/> Whose soul clings fast to Me. Cling thou to Me!<br/> Clasp Me with heart and mind! so shalt thou dwell<br/> Surely with Me on high. But if thy thought<br/> Droops from such height; if thou be'st weak to set<br/> Body and soul upon Me constantly,<br/> Despair not! give Me lower service! seek<br/> To reach Me, worshipping with steadfast will;<br/> And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly,<br/> Work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me!<br/> For he that laboureth right for love of Me<br/> Shall finally attain! But, if in this<br/> Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! find<br/> Refuge in Me! let fruits of labour go,<br/> Renouncing hope for Me, with lowliest heart,<br/> So shalt thou come; for, though to know is more<br/> Than diligence, yet worship better is<br/> Than knowing, and renouncing better still.<br/> Near to renunciation--very near--<br/> Dwelleth Eternal Peace!
Who hateth nought<br/> Of all which lives, living himself benign,<br/> Compassionate, from arrogance exempt,<br/> Exempt from love of self, unchangeable<br/> By good or ill; patient, contented, firm<br/> In faith, mastering himself, true to his word,<br/> Seeking Me, heart and soul; vowed unto Me,--<br/> That man I love! Who troubleth not his kind,<br/> And is not troubled by them; clear of wrath,<br/> Living too high for gladness, grief, or fear,<br/> That man I love! Who, dwelling quiet-eyed,[FN#25]<br/> Stainless, serene, well-balanced, unperplexed,<br/> Working with Me, yet from all works detached,<br/> That man I love! Who, fixed in faith on Me,<br/> Dotes upon none, scorns none; rejoices not,<br/> And grieves not, letting good or evil hap<br/> Light when it will, and when it will depart,<br/> That man I love! Who, unto friend and foe<br/> Keeping an equal heart, with equal mind<br/> Bears shame and glory; with an equal peace<br/> Takes heat and cold, pleasure and pain; abides<br/> Quit of desires, hears praise or calumny<br/> In passionless restraint, unmoved by each;<br/> Linked by no ties to earth, steadfast in Me,<br/> That man I love! But most of all I love<br/> Those happy ones to whom 'tis life to live<br/> In single fervid faith and love unseeing,<br/> Drinking the blessed Amrit of my Being!
HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XII. OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,<br/> Entitled "Bhaktiyog,"<br/> Or"The Book of the Religion of Faith."