Patience through obstacles
When progress feels impossible, find wisdom in persistence. Learn to work steadily without demanding immediate results.
Karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kadacana, ma karma-phala-hetur bhur ma te sango 'stv akarmani
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva samatvam yoga ucyate
Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.
Niyatam kuru karma tvam karma jyayo hy akarmanah, sharira-yatrapi ca te na prasiddhyed akarmanah
You should thus perform your prescribed Vedic duties, since action is superior to inaction. By ceasing activity, even your bodily maintenance will not be possible.
Tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samachara, asakto hy acharan karma param apnoti purushah
Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform action which is duty, for by performing action without attachment, one attains the Supreme.
Tam vidyad duhkha-samyoga-viyogam yoga-samjnitam, sa nishchayena yoktavyo yogo 'nirviinna-chetasa
The state of freedom from all miseries is known as yoga. This yoga should be practiced with determination and an undepressed mind.
Sa nishchayena yoktavyo yogo 'nirvinna-cetasa, sankalpa-prabhavan kamams tyaktva sarvan asheshatah, manasaivendriya-gramam viniyamya samantatah
Yoga should be practiced with firm determination and without despondency; desires born of imagination should be completely abandoned and the multitude of senses restrained on all sides by the mind alone. Firm determination — not wavering or discouragement — is the attitude required for the long journey of meditation.
Saha-jam karma kaunteya sa-dosham api na tyajet, sarvarambha hi dosena dhumenagnir ivavritah
One should not abandon one's natural work, even if it has some fault, O Arjuna. Indeed, all undertakings are enveloped by some fault, as fire is by smoke.
Matra-sparshas tu kaunteya shitoshna-sukha-duhkha-dah, agamapayino 'nityas tams titikshasva bharata
O son of Kunti, the contact between the senses and sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress. These are impermanent, and come and go like the winter and summer seasons. O descendant of Bharata, one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
Sukha-duhkhe same kritva labhalabhau jayajayau, tato yuddhaya yujyasva naivam papam avapsyasi
Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin.
Tyaktva karma-phalasangam nitya-tripto nirasrayah, karmany abhipravrittoapi naiva kimcit karoti sah
Having abandoned all attachment to the fruits of action, always content and without any dependence, such a person, even while engaged in action, does not do anything at all.
Shanaih shanair uparamed buddhya dhriti-grihitaya, atma-samstham manah kritva na kinchid api chintayet
Gradually, step by step, with the intellect endowed with steadiness, one should bring the mind to stillness, and think of nothing else.
Shreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj jnanad dhyanam vishishyate, dhyanat karma-phala-tyagas tyagac chantir anantaram
If you cannot practice knowledge, then devote yourself to meditation. Better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for peace immediately follows such renunciation.
Mayi sarvani karmani sannyasyadhyatma-cetasa, nirashir nirmamo bhutva yudhyasva vigata-jvarah
Therefore, surrendering all your works unto Me, with mind intent on the self, free from desire and possessiveness, and cured of mental fever, fight.
karyam ity eva yat karma niyatam kriyate 'rjuna sangam tyaktva phalam caiva sa tyagah sattviko matah
When obligatory action is performed simply because it ought to be done, with attachment and desire for results abandoned, that renunciation is considered sattvic. This is the highest form of tyaga and the one Krishna recommends.
na dvesty akusalam karma kusale nanusajjate tyagi sattva-samavisto medhavi chinna-samsayah
The sattvic renunciant, filled with goodness and free from doubt, neither hates disagreeable action nor clings to agreeable action. Such a wise person has cut through all doubts and acts with equanimity in all situations.
Yam hi na vyathayanty ete purusham purusharshabha, sama-duhkha-sukham dhiram so 'mritatvaya kalpate
O best among men, the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.
Asanshayam maha-baho mano durnigraham calam, abhyasena tu kaunteya vairagyena ca grhyate
The mind is restless and difficult to restrain, but it is subdued by practice and detachment.
mukta-sango 'naham-vadi dhrityutsaha-samanvitah siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikarah karta sattvika ucyate
The doer who is free from attachment, free from the language of ego, filled with steadiness and enthusiasm, and unaffected by success or failure is called a sattvic doer. This is the portrait of the ideal karma yogi.
Duhkhesv anudvigna-manah sukhesu vigata-sprhah, vita-raga-bhaya-krodhah sthita-dhir munir ucyate
One who is not disturbed in spite of miseries, who doesn't crave happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.
Na prahrisyet priyam prapya nodvijet prapya capriyam, sthira-buddhir asammudho brahma-vid brahmani sthitah
One who is not elated upon receiving the pleasant and not disturbed upon receiving the unpleasant, with steady intellect and undeluded — such a knower of Brahman is established in Brahman. Emotional equanimity in both pleasure and pain is the sign of the Brahman-knower.
Read slowly and contemplate. Don't rush through these verses. Pick one that resonates and sit with it for a few minutes.
Return regularly. Ancient wisdom reveals itself gradually. Come back to these verses when you need them.
Apply to your situation. Consider how each teaching relates specifically to what you're experiencing right now.
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