The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

╭ chapter eighteen
47
It is better to perform one’s own duties
imperfectly than to master the duties of another.
By fulfilling the obligations he is born with, a
person never comes to grief. 48 No one should
abandon duties because he sees defects in them.
Every action, every activity, is surrounded by
defects as a fire is surrounded by smoke.
49
One who is free from selfish attachments, who
has mastered himself and his passions, attains
the supreme perfection of freedom from action.
50
Listen and I shall explain now, Arjuna, how one
who has attained perfection also attains Brahman,
the supreme consummation of wisdom.
51
Unerring in discrimination, sovereign of
the senses and passions, free from the clamor
of likes and dislikes, 52 such a one leads a
simple, self-reliant life based on meditation,
controlling speech, body, and mind.
53
Free from self-will, aggressiveness, arrogance, anger,
and the lust to possess people or things, they are at
peace with themselves and others and enter into the
unitive state. 54 United with Brahman, ever joyful,
beyond the reach of desire and sorrow, they have equal
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