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← The Law of Sacrifice and the Lord of Works

VerseThe Delight of Krishna

Verse 3·17

Transcending attachment and inaction

Verse

यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्याद् आत्मतृप्तश्च मानवः ।आत्मन्येव च संतुष्टस् तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते ॥

yastvātmaratireva syād ātmatṛptaśca mānavaḥātmanyeva ca saṃtuṣṭas tasya kāryaṃ na vidyate

But the man whose delight is in the Self and who is satisfied with the enjoyment of the Self and in the Self he is content, for him there exists no work that needs to be done.

Gītā 3·17

But the highest only comes when the sacrifice is no longer to the gods, but to the one all-pervading Divine established in the sacrifice, of whom the gods are inferior forms and powers, and when he puts away the lower self that desires and enjoys and gives up his personal sense of being the worker to the true executrix of all works, Prakriti, and his personal sense of being the enjoyer to the Divine Purusha, the higher and universal Self who is the real enjoyer of the works of Prakriti. In that Self and not in any personal enjoyment he finds now his sole satisfaction, complete content, pure delight; he has nothing to gain by action or inaction, depends neither on gods nor men for anything, seeks no profit from any, for the self-delight is all-sufficient to him, but does works for the sake of the Divine only, as a pure sacrifice, without attachment or desire.

CWSA 19 · Essays on the Gita · p. 118

From The Delight of Krishna · Bhagavad Gītā · in the light of Sri Aurobindo · incarnateword.in