God's Advice to a Warrior

Yield all acts to Me,
Intent on worship, meditation,
And undistracted discipline.

I will redeem from death
Those who have joined themselves
With the eternal, changeless Mind.

Abide only in Me,
Place your intellect in Me,
And I will be your only home.

If you cannot join your mind with Me,
Unify yourself with all of Creation,
Which is filled with Me.

If you cannot join with Nature,
Be intentional in your actions,
Dedicating all you do to Me alone.

If you cannot act for Me alone,
Do not act at all,
Abandoning all desire for gratification.

Know Me first,
Unite with Me secondly,
Renounce yourself, lastly, and find peace.

Those who abandon hatred,
Who live in friendship and compassion,
Refusing possessions and satisfactions,

Find that joy and grief are the same,
Living contentedly,
Resolved, and dead to selfishness.

Whose mind is fixed on Me is dear to Me.
Who unites with all of Creation is dear to me.
Who rejects the illusion of living for the substance of life is dear to Me.

Who neither hates nor rejoices,
Who neither grieves nor desires,
Who finds no difference between pleasant and unpleasant,

Who is one with foe and friend,
Who is one in honor and disgrace,
Who is one in cold and heat and anguish and joy,

Freed from attachments to what is received for actions,
Contented with whatever comes,
Silent, homeless, and steady in mind,

All who honor this immortal code,
Keeping faith, devout, intent on Me alone,
Are dear to me.

(BG, 12:6--20)