BhG 12.3

Bhagavad Gita · translated by Edwin Arnold

Yet, hard The travail is for such as bend their minds To reach th' Unmanifest That viewless path Shall scarce be trod by man bearing the flesh! But whereso any doeth all his deeds Renouncing self for Me, full of Me, fixed To serve only the Highest, night and day Musing on Me--him will I swiftly lift Forth from life's ocean of distress and death, Whose soul clings fast to Me. Cling thou to Me! Clasp Me with heart and mind! so shalt thou dwell Surely with Me on high. But if thy thought Droops from such height; if thou be'st weak to set Body and soul upon Me constantly, Despair not! give Me lower service! seek To reach Me, worshipping with steadfast will; And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly, Work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me! For he that laboureth right for love of Me Shall finally attain! But, if in this Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! find Refuge in Me! let fruits of labour go, Renouncing hope for Me, with lowliest heart, So shalt thou come; for, though to know is more Than diligence, yet worship better is Than knowing, and renouncing better still. Near to renunciation--very near-- Dwelleth Eternal Peace!

BhG 12.3 · Bhagavad Gita

Themes in this passage

Work Service The Soul Worship Charity Death The Divine Hope

Work in other traditions

The same theme, as Christianity, Islam, Hellenism and Buddhism address it.

Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.

Psalms 104:23 · Bible · Psalms

Toil cometh not unto them there, nor will they be expelled from thence.

Quran 15:48 · Quran · The Rock

A field deep furrow’d next the god design’d,[256] The third time labour’d by the sweating hind; The shining shares full many ploughmen guide, And turn their crooked yokes on every side. Still as at either end they wheel around, The master meets them with his goblet crown’d; The hearty draught rewards, renews their toil, Then back the turning ploughshares cleave the soil: Behind, the rising earth in ridges roll’d; And sable look’d, though form’d of molten gold.

Iliad 18.43 · Iliad · 18

A Bhikshu who, though he receives little, does not despise what he has received, even the gods will praise him, if his life is pure, and if he is not slothful.

Dhp 25.366 · Dhammapada · The Bhikshu (Mendicant)

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