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Part II: The Inner Doctrine.1407
thou avoid the temptation of Inaction, which cometh often to him who has
lost the illusion of the hope of reward for action.
“Stand thou between these two extremes, O Prince, and perform thy
Duty because it is Duty, freeing thyself from all desire of reward for the
performance, and concerning not thyself whether the consequences seem
good or evil; success or failure. Do thy best, according to the dictates of thy
Duty, and then maintain that equal-mindedness which is the mark of the
Yogi.
“Important though Right Action be, yet it yields precedence to Right
Thinking. Therefore take thou refuge in the peace and calm of Right Thinking,
O Arjuna, for they who stake their well-being upon action alone must needs
lose happiness and peace, and find themselves possessed only of misery
and discontent.
“He who hath attained the Yogi consciousness is able to rise above good
and evil results. Strive to attain unto this consciousness; for it is the key to
the mystery of action.
“Those who have so far attained that they mentally relinquish the possible
fruit of the Right Action, are on the road to the mastery of Karma. Their
chains, which bind them to the round of involuntary rebirth, become
loosened, and in the end drop from their limbs and leave them free. Eternal
bliss is in sight for these.
“When thou shalt rise beyond the plane of illusion, then shalt thou cease
to disturb thyself regarding doctrines, theology, disputations concerning
rites or ceremonies, and other useless trimmings upon the cloth of spiritual
thought. Then shalt thou be liberated from attachments to sacred books, to
writings of learned theologians, or to those who would interpret that which
they fail themselves to understand; but instead, shalt thou fix thy mind in
earnest contemplation of the Spirit, and thus reach the harmony with thy
Real Self, which underlies all.”
Arjuna: “Tell me, O Krishna, thou whose knowledge includes all wisdom—
tell me, I pray, the distinguishing characteristics of the Wise Man, who, stable