Thus knowing Him who is higher than the intellect, steadying the self by the Self, slay this enemy in the form of desire, so hard to conquer, mighty-armed one.
एवं बुद्धेः परं बुद्ध्वा संस्तभ्यात्मानमात्मना | जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो कामरूपं दुरासदम् ||३-४३||
The Bhagavad Gita, translated and commentated by S. Radhakrishnan, is one of the most scholarly and accessible English renderings of Hinduism's most beloved scripture — the dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Radhakrishnan, philosopher and statesman, brings both rigorous intellectual insight and genuine spiritual depth to his translation and notes. This edition is treasured for its ability to illuminate the Gita's universal spiritual teaching across cultural and philosophical boundaries.
Two birds, companions bound together, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit; the other looks on without eating.
द्वा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वृक्षं परिषस्वजाते । तयोरन्यः पिप्पलं स्वाद्वत्त्यनश्नन्नन्यो अभिचाकशीति ॥ १॥
Just as 'I' is not the house, similarly, 'I' is not the body even. 'I' is in fact a spirit originating and flowing from God, a ramification of the divine entity. The value of human life or importance of the human body comes from the very realisation of this fact.
Whoever is ignorant of himself is yet more ignorant of other things; and inasmuch as a man is bound to know God, he must first know himself, in order that by rightly perceiving his own temporality he may recognize the eternity of God.