Bhagavad Gita · 16.24 · Yoga through Discerning the Divine and Demoniac Natures·24 of 24
तस्माच्छास्त्रं प्रमाणं ते कार्याकार्यव्यवस्थितौ।ज्ञात्वा शास्त्रविधानोक्तं कर्म कर्तुमिहार्हसि ॥
tasmāch chhāstraṁ pramāṇaṁ te
kāryākārya-vyavasthitau jñātvā śhāstra-vidhānoktaṁ karma kartum ihārhasi
Sanskrit recitation
Choose a guide wiser than impulse · 16.17–16.24 · Teaching
Translation
Therefore, let the scripture be thy authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance of the scriptures, thou shouldst act in this world.
Meaning
He who desires the welfare of the Self should not disregard the ,nds of the scriptures. A man who is anxious to obtain eternal bliss should respect the Vedas and the Smritis which lay down the code of right conduct. He should readily renounce whatever the scriptures teach him to abandon and accept whatever he is directed to accept.He who is thus entirely devoted to the Vedas cannot meet with misfortune, grief or delusion. No mother is more kind than the scriptures for they restrain us from doing evil and bestow on us the greatest good (liberation or Moksha). Therefore treat the scriptures with great respect. Renounce all that the scriptures prohibit. Whatever is worthy of being done, that thou shouldst do thoroughly with all thy heart and all thy strength.
After Swami Sivananda
Choose a guide wiser than impulse· 16.17–16.24→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 16.17Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform sacrifices in name only for ostentation, contrary to scriptural ordinances.
- 16.18Given over to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust, and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own bodies and in the bodies of others.
- 16.19Those cruel haters, the worst among men in the world, I hurl those evil-doers into the wombs of demons only.
- 16.20Entering into demoniacal wombs and deluded, birth after birth, they do not attain Me, thus falling, O Arjuna, into a condition still lower than that.
- 16.21There are three gates to this hell, destructive of the self: lust, anger, and greed; therefore, one should abandon these three.
- 16.22A person who is liberated from these three gates of darkness, O Arjuna, practices what is beneficial for them and thus goes to the Supreme Goal.
- 16.23He who, having cast aside the ordinances of the scriptures, acts under the impulse of desire, does not attain perfection, nor happiness, nor the Supreme Goal.
16.24Therefore, let the scripture be thy authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance of the scriptures, thou shouldst act in this world.
Word-by-word→
- te
- your
- iha
- in this world
- karma
- actions
- uktam
- as revealed
- arhasi
- you should
- kartum
- perform
- kārya
- duty
- akārya
- forbidden action
- tasmāt
- therefore
- vidhāna
- injunctions
- jñātvā
- having understood
- śhāstra
- scriptures
- śhāstram
- scriptures
- pramāṇam
- authority
- vyavasthitau
- in determining
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