The Bhagavad Gita · 2 of 2 · tr. Kashinath Trimbak Telang
Chapter IV, Section 1b
The acts of one who is devoid of attachment, who is free , whose mind is fixed on knowledge, and who performs action for (the purpose of) the sacrifice are all destroyed.
Brahman is the oblation; with Brahman (as a sacrificial instrument) it is offered up; Brahman is in the fire; and by Brahman it is thrown; and Brahman, too, is the goal to which he proceeds who meditates on Brahman in the action .
Some devotees perform the sacrifice to the gods, some offer up the sacrifice by the sacrifice itself in the fire of Brahman .
Others offer up the senses, such as the sense of hearing and others, in the fires of restraint ; others offer up the objects of sense, such as sound and so forth, into the fires of the senses .
Some again offer up all the operations of the senses and the operations of the life-breaths into the fire of devotion by self-restraint , kindled by knowledge.
Others perform the sacrifice of wealth, the sacrifice of penance, the sacrifice of concentration of mind, the sacrifice of Vedic study , and of knowledge, and others are ascetics of rigid vows.
Some offer up the upward life-breath into the downward life-breath, and the downward life-breath into the upper life-breath, and stopping up the motions of the upward and downward life-breaths, devote themselves to the restraint of the life-breaths .
Others, who (take) limited food, offer up the life-breaths into the life-breaths.
All of these, conversant with the sacrifice, have their sins destroyed by the sacrifice.
Those who eat the nectar-like leavings of the sacrifice repair to the eternal Brahman .
This world is not for those who perform no sacrifice, whence (then) the other, O best of the Kauravas!
Thus sacrifices of various sorts are laid down in the Vedas.
Know them all to be produced from action , and knowing this you will be released (from the fetters of this world).
The sacrifice of knowledge, O terror of (your) foes!
is superior to the sacrifice of wealth, for action, O son of P ri thâ!
is wholly and entirely comprehended in knowledge.
That you should learn by salutation, question, and service .
The men of knowledge who perceive the truth will teach knowledge to you.
Having learnt that, O son of Pâ nd u!
you will not again fall thus into delusion; and by means of it, you will see all beings, without exception, first in yourself, and then in me .
Even if you are the most sinful of all sinful men, you will cross over all trespasses by means of the boat of knowledge alone.
As a fire well kindled, O Ar g una!
reduces fuel to ashes, so the fire of knowledge reduces all actions to ashes .
For there is in this world no means of sanctification like knowledge , and that one perfected by devotion finds within one's self in time.
He who has faith, whose senses are restrained, and who is assiduous, obtains knowledge .
Obtaining knowledge, he acquires, without delay, the highest tranquillity.
He who is ignorant and devoid of faith, and whose self is full of misgivings, is ruined.
Not this world, not the next, nor happiness, is for him whose self is full of misgivings.
Actions, O Dhanañ g aya!
do not fetter one who is self-possessed , who has renounced action by devotion, and who has destroyed misgivings by knowledge.
Therefore, O descendant of Bharata!
destroy, with the sword of knowledge, these misgivings of yours which fill your mind, and which are produced from ignorance.
Engage in devotion.
Arise!
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
The text opens by describing the ideal state as being 'devoid of attachment' and free, emphasizing that actions performed without attachment are destroyed (do not bind).
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The text explicitly elevates the 'sacrifice of knowledge' above all other forms of action and ritual, stating that knowledge alone burns away sins and leads to liberation.
Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.
The text mentions 'concentration of mind' and 'meditates on Brahman in the action' as key practices for spiritual realization.
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The goal described is proceeding to Brahman and seeing all beings within oneself and the divine, implying a merging of individual identity with the ultimate reality.
The passage extensively uses the metaphor of fire to describe various forms of sacrifice, including the 'fire of Brahman,' 'fires of restraint,' and the 'fire of knowledge.'
The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.
The passage teaches that through knowledge one sees 'all beings... first in yourself,' indicating that recognizing the divine within oneself is the primary path to truth.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The passage repeatedly identifies all aspects of reality (oblation, instrument, fire, goal) as Brahman, asserting a non-dualistic identity where the divine permeates everything.