Chapter I

• Despondency can be an asset
• An unbalanced but open mind is amenable to improvement
• In a disturbed state of mind, intellect cannot be relied upon to suggest rational solutions

• Three yardsticks to judge future course of action:
• (A) example of noble persons
• (B) ultimate outcome
• (C) social reaction
• The enlightened never grieve
• We always exist; whether we have a body or not
• Rising above happiness and sorrow is the only way to realize immortality
• The real is always there; the unreal never exits
• Self is the real: it is never born and it never dies
• The bodies are unreal: they are born and they die
• In the path of yoga(union with divine) :
• * There are no setbacks
• * No effort is lost
• * A small headway leads to a big result
• To make an effort is a God-given discretion, but the outcome is not in our control
• It is the effort which leads to the ultimate goal, not the outcome of actions
• It is necessary to renounce all the desires of he mind to attain union with divine:the real self
• Grace or bliss can be felt only when one is free from attachment and aversion
• Even if the union with divine is achieved at the last moment, it makes no difference

Chapter III

• Merely by avoiding or abandoning an action, its outcome cannot be avoided
• Moreover, life cannot be sustained without performing actions
• Actions are performed by the attributes of nature, not by self
• When we know this, we are not attached to actions and we are free from ego
• Ego arises when we erroneously assume that we are performing actions

• Yajyna (actions in the spirit of sacrifice; as opposed to selfish actions) must be performed: otherwise, actions lead to bondage
• Powers of nature are strengthened by Yajyna and then they give the person whatever he requires
• When a person gets something after performing Yajyna, he should thank God for it and not attribute it to his effort

• Offering all actions to God, one should whole-heartedly engage in worldly activity, remaining free from expectation
• Everybody, even a saint, is bound by nature: one should not try to go against nature: only one should avoid attachment and aversion

• Whenever the balance of moral order is disturbed, God comes to the earth in a bodily form
• In whatever form people worship God, he reciprocates their worship in the same way
• People’s actions are always in accordance with divine activity
• Actions never bind God: He has nothing to do with the result of actions: hence, in spite of being a creator of the whole world, He is non-creator: knowing Him such is enough to deliver from the bondage of actions
• In the state of perfect enlightenment, there is no distinction between action and inaction
• Knowledge is the culmination of all actions
• There are many kinds of Yajyna, but the basic distinction is between material Yajyna and Yajyna of knowledge
• Yajyna of knowledge can be learnt from the enlightened by saluting them, serving them and by raising genuine queries
• Knowledge is a great purifier: it can burn the bondage of all actions in a moment
• Even the greatest sinner on earth can be instantly purified by knowledge
• Union with divine destroys bondage of actions
• Knowledge can cut asunder all doubts
• Hence, one should remove all the doubts by knowledge and then should get established in union with divine (yoga)

• Real renunciation consists in being free from desires and aversions, which easily delivers from bondage
• Whoever performs actions offering them to the divine, being free from attachment, never gets involved with sin
• Yogis perform actions only for self-purification
• God does not create actions, their doership or correlation between actions and their consequences :it is all according to nature
• God does not acknowledge anybody’s good or bad actions : people get deluded by ignorance
• Whoever has attained a balanced state of mind has conquered the world

• Renunciation and yoga are one and the same
• For someone who is striving to attain yoga, action is the means
• For someone who has already ascended to yoga, and for him only, calmness is the means
• One should elevate the self by the self, one should never degrade the self
• Self alone is the enemy of self and self alone is the friend of self
• Yogi should strive to constantly unite with the self, discarding expectations and sense of possession
• A yogi should avoid extremes and adopt moderation
• Yoga should be practiced untiringly: whenever the mind goes astray, it should be brought back to the state of balance
• Practice of yoga never goes waste : even if perfection is not attained in one life, one can continue the practice in subsequent births and finally attain perfection
• Even a mere curiosity about yoga assures perfection ultimately

• Nature is of two kinds:gross and subtle
• Gross Nature consists of all matter, energy and psychological entities
• Subtle Nature is the life principle
• The entire universe is made of these two kinds of Nature
• God is beyond everything and the essence of everything : nothing is beyond him
• God is inaccessible to everybody, being veiled by his Maya(power of delusion)
• Those who seek genuinely liberation, depending upon God, know the ultimate reality

• Whatever attachment one has at the time of leaving the body, he attains that only
• Whoever remembers God while leaving the body undoubtedly attains him : but this is impossible unless God’s remembrance has become deep-rooted while the body is intact and healthy
• Hence, one should always remember God and look after worldly duties
• After leaving the body, sometimes one has to eventually take rebirth and sometimes one does not have to return to this world
• One must know all this and remain ever united to the divine

• One must be free from the defect of fault- finding in order to be eligible to the supreme knowledge
• God permeates everything and is beyond causality: even contradictions abide in him harmoniously
• Nature creates and destroys all beings at the beginning and end of the universe respectively under the uninvolved supervision of God
• The delude do not know God and remain in bondage: those know God, worship him only
• Those who depend on God only, God looks after all their requirements
• God accepts whatever is offered to him with love
• But if everything is offered to God, one is delivered from bondage
• Even if a great sinner worships God sincerely, he becomes a saint

• When love and devotion develop for God, one becomes eligible for the highest knowledge
• No one knows the origin of God, be he is the original cause of everything
• The enlightened worship God constantly, knowing him to be the essence of everything

• The divine will is bound to be fulfilled: one must become the agent of God
• By unflinching devotion alone one can realize God fully
• Whoever does God’s work, free from attachment, having no aversion to anybody and having total devotion to God, attains God

• Devotion to an abstract form of God and to a personified form of God, both lead to him ; but the later is easier
• If both the mind and intellect reside in God, one resides in God
• If this is not possible, one should try to attain God by prescribed practice
• If this also is difficult, one should perform actions for the sake of God
• If this is also difficult, one should get detached from the consequences of all actions
• One should have proper conduct, have no conflict with the world and develop balanced behaviour: then one is dear to God

• Nature is like a field and the supreme person is the owner of the field : both are eternal
• Nature creates the circumstances and the supreme person is the enjoyer
• Attachment with the attributes of Nature is the cause of different births of the supreme person : otherwise he is a mere spectator : he is God himself
• When one sees the diversity situated in the one and also having come out from the same one: then one is situated in God

• God implants his seed in the womb of Nature, which is the cause of the universe
• The unbounded being gets bound on account of the binding contact of the three attributes of Nature
• Sattva, the first attribute of Nature is associated with attachment to knowledge and purity
• Rajas, the second attribute is associated with attachment to activity and greed
• Tamas, the third attribute is associated with attachment to worthless activity and laziness
• Sattva takes a person higher, Rajas leaves him trapped in the middle and Tamas leads to his downfall
• But when a person sees all actions being performed by these attributes of nature only and also knows the one beyond them, he attains God
• Then he neither resists the onslaught of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas ; nor longs for them when they subside
• This supreme divine condition is possible only by unflinching devotion

• This entire manifestation is like an inverted tree with its root above and branches downwards which constantly changes its form but still retains its basic features
• But it is not what it appears to be : though it has no beginning and no end and it is all-pervading, it has really no basis : it can be cut asunder by the weapon of ‘non-attachment’
• Having done that, one should worship God who is the root cause of everything
• There are two kinds of beings in the universe : destructible and indestructible
• All the manifestations are destructible and the the unmanifest is indestructible
• But the Supreme Being is beyond both who permeates everything :He is the Supreme Lord

• There are two kinds of human nature : divine and demonic
• Divine nature leads to liberation and demonic nature leads to bondage
• Those afflicted by demonic nature keep on falling lower and lower birth after birth
• Desire, anger and greed constitute the threefold gateway to the downfall : one should beware of these three
• Whoever is free from these three elevates himself and attains the supreme
• Whoever abandons the divine scriptures and pursues desires does not attain happiness, perfection or the supreme state
• Therefore on e should understand the course prescribed by divine scriptures and then act accordingly

• In between divine scriptures and desires is one’s faith which has to be followed if one has not reached the level of divine scriptures
• The faith, born out of one’s innate nature is of three kind: Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic
• The food-habits, Yajyna, austerities and donations of people differ according as their faith is Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic
• If actions are performed according to one’s faith, but remembering God and dedicating actions to him, the faith is gradually elevated to the level of divine scriptures

• Renunciation is of three type : Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic
• When duty itself is renounced, it is called Tamasic renunciation
• When actions are renounced because they are troublesome, it is called Rajasic renunciation
• When duty is performed while renouncing the consequences , it is called Sattvic renunciation
• Similarly, knowledge, action, doer, intellect, tenacity and happiness are divided into Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic types
• The tendencies of the Sattvic are praised by saints, those of the Rajasic are praised by the worldly wise, while the Tamasics are praised by no one
• Nothing in this universe is free from the three attributes of nature : Sattva, Rajas and Tamas
• One must perform one’s duty in the shape of Yajyna, austerities and donations: it is the best worship of God
• One who is free from ego and whose intellect is not contaminated, can never commit a sin