| 28. Whatever
is sacrificed, given, or done, and whatever austerity is practiced, without
faith, it is called asat, O Partha ; it is naught here or hereafter.Given:
to the brahmanas. Deed: such as adoration and obeisance. sat: as they are
quite outside the path by which I (the Isvara) may be reached. It is naught:
though costing much trouble, it is of no use here as it is despised by the
wise; nor can it produce any effect hereafter. The teaching of the discourse
summed up.The teaching of this discourse may be thus summed up:There are
devotees, who, though ignorant of the scriptures, are yet endued with faith,
and who, according to the nature of their faith, may be classed as Sattvic,
Rajasic, or Tamasic. These should cultivate pure Sattva by avoiding Rajasic
and Tamasic kinds of food, worship, gift and austerity, and resorting exclusively
to Sattvic ones. When their acts of worship, gift, and austerity are found
defective, they may be perfected by uttering the three designations of Brahman,
Om, Tat, and Sat With their reason buddhi) thus purified, they should engage
in the study of scriptures and in the subsequent stages of investigation
into the nature of Brahman. Thereby they attain a direct perception of Truth
and are finally liberated: |
