The Bhagavadgîtâ, with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ — SBE Vol. 8 (trans. K. T. Telang, 1882)
The translator’s English as printed (K. T. Telang). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
If again you think your power over our objects 1s constant’, then take in colours by the nose, take in tastes by the eye, take in smells by the ear, take in (objects of) touch by the tongue, and take in sounds by the skin, and also (objects of)* touch by the understanding. For those who are powerful have no rules (to govern them); rules are for the weak. You should accept enjoyments unenjoyed before; you ought not to enjoy what has been tasted⁵ (by others). As a pupil goes to a preceptor for Vedic learning, and having acquired Vedic learning from him, performs the directions of the Vedic texts, so you treat as yours⁶ objects shown⁷ by us, both past and future⁸, in sleep and likewise wakefulness. Besides, when creatures of little intelligence are distracted in mind, life is seen to be supported, when our objects* perform their functions. And even after having carried on numerous mental operations, and indulged in dreams, a creature, when troubled by desire to enjoy, does run to objects of sense only. One entering upon enjoyments, resulting from mental operations (alone), and not connected with objects of sense, (which is) like entering a house without a door*, always meets death, on the exhaustion of the life-winds*, as a fire which is kindled (is extinguished) on the exhaustion of fuel. Granted, that we have connexions with our (respective) qualities, and granted that we have no perception of each others qualities; still, without us, you have no perception*, and so long no happiness can accrue to you.
1 Le. if you can enjoy objects independently of the senses, whenever you choose to perform your operations. This, says Arguna Misra, meets an objection which might be made, that the mind at the time stated does not desire objects.
2 Sic in original. It comes twice.
8 Eating what has been tasted by another is a cause of degradation. Cf. Khândogya, p. 81; Maitrf, p. 103; and p. 363 infra. # You incorrectly attribute to yourself the quality of apprehending them.
5 T.e. presented before you by us.
6 This is not quite clear. Arguna Misra has, ‘not past, not future ;’ literally, ‘not come, not gone.’
7 Viz. smell, sound, &c.; not by the mere operations of the mind, but by obtaining the objects, is life supported.
If again you think your power over our objects is constant, then take in colours through the nose, take in tastes through the eye, take in smells through the ear, take in objects of touch through the tongue, take in sounds through the skin, and take in objects of touch through the understanding as well. For those who are truly powerful have no rules governing them; rules are for the weak. You should accept enjoyments you have never tasted⁵ before; you ought not to enjoy what others have already tasted. Just as a pupil goes to a teacher to learn the Veda, and having learned it from him carries out what the Vedic texts direct, so you treat as your own⁶ the objects we reveal⁷ to you—past and future⁸ alike, in sleep and in waking. Moreover, when creatures of little intelligence are troubled in mind, life is seen to be sustained only when our objects perform their proper functions. And even after carrying on countless mental operations and indulging in dreams, a creature tormented by the desire for enjoyment runs back, in the end, to objects of sense alone. One who enters upon enjoyments arising from mental operations alone, with no connection to objects of sense—like entering a house that has no door—always meets death when the life-winds are exhausted, just as a kindled fire goes out when the fuel is spent. Granted that we have connexions with our respective qualities, and granted that we have no perception of each other's qualities; still, without us you have no perception at all, and so long as that is so, no happiness can come to you.
1 That is, if you can enjoy objects independently of the senses, whenever you choose to exercise your faculties. This, says Arjuna Misra, answers a possible objection that at the time in question the mind feels no desire for objects.
2 Sic in original. It comes twice.
8 Eating what another has already tasted is a cause of degradation. Cf. Khândogya, p. 81; Maitrf, p. 103; and p. 363 infra. # You wrongly claim for yourself the quality of perceiving them.
5 T.e. presented before you by us.
6 This is not quite clear. Arjuna Misra has, 'not past, not future;' literally, 'not come, not gone.'
7 That is, by smell, sound, and so on; life is sustained not by the mere operations of the mind, but by actually obtaining its objects.