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Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.2 Life Goes On... and On

Life Goes On... and On By Daniel Lindley

Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra, fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, as recorded in the Mahabharata epic.

In the middle of a battlefield at Kurukshetra, barely 100 miles north of what’s now the city of New Delhi, the great archer Arjuna becomes paralyzed. Not by fear of his enemy —though its army is huge and menacing—but by the unsettling task he faces. His opponents, the Kauravas, are evildoers who have relentlessly harassed, cheated, and hounded his family, the Pandavas, for years. They have stolen the Pandavas’ land and dishonored them and their women. But they are also his cousins, acquaintances, and teachers.

Beside Arjuna is his charioteer, Lord Krishna, an avatar of the great Hindu god Vishnu. Krishna has frozen the combatants in time, allowing the two to survey the armies braced

for bloody battle. “Overcome by deep compassion”1—his limbs heavy, his mouth dry, his mind confused—Arjuna slumps helplessly in the chariot and asks Krishna for guidance.

Thus begins the Bhagavad Gita, or Song of the Lord, a tale contained within one of the world’s greatest and certainly longest epic poems, the Mahabharata. Attributed to the divine guru Viyasa but produced over centuries [ca. 400 BCE–400 CE] by numerous authors, the Mahabharata recounts the increasing frictions and ultimate internecine war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, a story likely based on a real battle in northern India sometime in the first or second millennium BCE. This devastating narrative—can there be anything more tragic than war between blood relatives?— describes countless cruel episodes, with Arjuna’s clan typically on the losing end.

The Gita, the philosophical crux of the epic, has come down the ages as one of the most revered texts in India and the world. Also written by multiple authors but likely incorporated as an addition to the Mahabharata, it describes two wars—one physical, on the battlefield where Arjuna and Krishna have stopped their chariot—and another spiritual, within Arjuna and all humans. But the Gita goes beyond mere description; it offers an answer. To resolve those twin conflicts, Arjuna seeks—and gets— enlightenment from his godly mentor.

As a great warrior and archer, Arjuna isn’t physically afraid. The fact that he stresses over whether to fight shows uncommon sensitivity, in fact, given that in previous books of the Mahabharata the rival Kaurava clan had repeatedly wronged the Pandava clan, which includes Arjuna and his four brother princes. The Kauravas, on the other hand, come off as villains who deserve what’s coming to them. The clan’s 100 siblings sprang from a lump of their mother’s hard flesh, the Mahabharata tells us. One, Duryodhana, came into this life “howling like a wild jackal that feeds on carrion, foretelling his own lust for destruction.”2 Later, after cheating Arjuna’s eldest brother in a crooked dice game, the Kauravas exiled the Pandavas from their land for 12 years, only to double- cross them when they returned to reclaim it. Worse, these evil cousins abused and dishonored the brothers’ shared wife, Draupadi.

Nevertheless, Arjuna is wracked by worry over what to do. The Kauravas might be vicious, but they are family. Fortunately, he has God on his side—literally. When Arjuna turns to Krishna in despair, the avatar gives him plenty of reasons, some practical and some spiritual, to fight.

In Indian philosophy, Krishna explains, life is endless, a recurring series of incarnations revolving around the cycle of life and death. Thus, all who die will be reborn—including all the warriors who stand still before Arjuna and Krishna on the battlefield. People are “eternally unkillable,”3 Krishna informs Arjuna; much as one tosses off worn-out

clothes for a new set, a man casts off his body and attains a new one for the next life. Man’s fate is an infinite cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Endless suffering is transcended only by those who achieve ultimate enlightenment; that is, those who cast off corporeal form and become pure spirits at one with the universe.

Krishna presses his argument in more practical terms. People will talk: refusing to fight will make Arjuna seem cowardly, a concern for anyone, but a graver one for a renowned Pandava warrior. “People will recount your limitless disgrace,” Krishna informs Arjuna, for shunning his “inherent duty and renown.”4

The avatar then returns to matters more spiritual. The path to enlightenment, he explains, is reached by performing one’s duty without attachment. Since attachment to things and to others is the main cause of suffering, to be detached is to liberate oneself.5

Arjuna responds with a logical question. How, he asks, can Krishna reconcile the seeming passivity of detachment with the very active process of attacking and killing his relatives?

Choosing not to act is itself an action, Krishna says. Moreover, action makes the world go round. “Always do whatever action has to be done,” Krishna commands in the third chapter of the Gita. “It is through acting without attachment that a man attains the highest.”6 As a god, Krishna himself doesn’t need to act; but without his action, the world would slip into anarchy. Arjuna has his own responsibility to act. “Freedom,” Sanskrit scholar Barbara Stoler Miller wrote, “resides not in renunciation of the world, but in disciplined action.”7

One’s passions generate misguided action, but intellect and right thinking govern proper action. Arjuna is here for a reason: to take definitive action. He must take karmic action and do what has to be done, though without attachment to his passions or even the outcome. Arjuna will not save the Kauravas from death by refusing to fight them—he will just delay it. Thus it is better for all if he does his duty now.

Many have cited inspiration from the Gita, and figures as diverse as Ralph Waldo Emerson and J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, have drunk from its wells of thought. Perhaps the most compelling evidence of the Gita’s power in our own age has been the example of Mahatma Gandhi, who put its words into action to overcome British colonial rule. How to reconcile Krishna’s apparent acceptance of war with Gandhi’s nonviolent strategy of overcoming oppressors? Gandhi, one of many who have translated the Gita from the original Sanskrit, explained that “under the guise of physical warfare, [the Gita] described the duel that perpetually went on in the hearts of mankind.”8 The work’s real point, he wrote, is the “self-realization” of man, who “is not at peace with himself till he has become like unto God.”9 The path to self-realization “is

renunciation of the fruits of action.”10 “After forty years’ unremitting endeavor fully to enforce the teaching of the Gita in my own life,” he concluded, “I have, in all humility, felt that perfect renunciation is impossible without perfect observance of ahimsa [nonviolence] in every shape and form.”11

Late in the Gita, at Arjuna’s request, Krishna reveals himself in his godly form, “divine, infinite, facing in every direction,” brighter than “the light of a thousand suns.”12 Here is ultimate and literal enlightenment—the truth of the universe so enlightening that it’s unbearable for mortal man to behold. In taking the form of the almighty Vishnu, Krishna shows Arjuna what no man has seen: the awful eternity and impassivity of the universe in its infinite cycles. The vision of Vishnu is so overwhelming that Arjuna has to ask Krishna to retake human form.

While he’s regarding this terrible sight, however, Arjuna says that he still doesn’t understand. The reply is at once terrifying and enlightening: “I am time run on, destroyer of the universe, risen here to annihilate worlds.”13 Arjuna is a mere speck in the universe and time, both beyond the understanding of mere mortals; regardless of what he does, Vishnu will annihilate all in the continual cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The ultimate sacrifice, he informs Arjuna, is to devote himself entirely to him—without passion, anger, or hatred, but with love and self-sacrifice. Only then can he transcend the confines of mortality.

1 The Bhagavad Gita, trans. W. J. Johnson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008),

5 [I:28].

2 Barbara Miller, Masterworks of Asian Literature in Comparative Perspective: A Guide for Teaching (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1994), 126.

3 Bhagavad Gita, 9 [II:30].

4 Ibid, 9-10 [2:34; 2:33].

5 Wilfried Huchzermeyer and Jutta Zimmermann, The Bhagavad Gita as Living Experience (New York: Lantern Books, 2002), 54.

6 Bhagavad Gita, 16 [III:19].

7 Barbara Miller, The Bhagavad-Gita (New York: Random House, 2004), 9.

8 Mahatma Gandhi, The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi (Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2010), xvii.

9 Ibid., xviii.

10 Ibid., xix.

11 Ibid., xxiv.

12 Bhagavad Gita, 49-50 [XI:11, 13].

13 Ibid., 51 [XI; 32].

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.3 Bhagavad Gita: Ch 3

The Bhagavad Gita Translated by W.J. Johnson

Editor’s note: The Bhagavad Gita begins with a description of a chaotic battle that is about to begin. Two rival groups of cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, are nearly upon each other. On both sides there are archers, charioteers, and warriors, many of them “battle­hardened combatants, armed to the teeth.” To the audience, it seems like a bloodbath is about to ensue. Just before the clash, however, the Lord Krishna intervenes, invoking his godly power to freeze time (and all of the warriors assembled on the battlefield). He directs his attention to the Pandava warrior Arjuna, who, deeply reluctant to shed his cousins' blood, drops his bow and refuses to fight. Through the pair’s exchange, Krishna presents his sacred wisdom.

Two brief pointers about the epic’s narration, which can be tricky to get a handle on: 1) though the Gita focuses on the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna, the epic is actually narrated by a sage named Sanjaya, who is relaying details of the battle (and Arjuna and Krishna’s exchange) to a blind king named Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kauravas. 2) Additionally, Krishna and Arjuna are often referred to by various names and honorifics (“Son of Kunti” and “Partha,” for example, are common for Arjuna). Don't worry too much, however, about keeping all of the names straight. The heart of the Gita lies more in its ideas than its specific details.

Chapter 3

Arjuna said: (1) Krishna, if it is your belief that the way of intelligence is superior to action, then why do you enjoin me, Keshava, to this terrible undertaking?

(2) With such equivocal words you seem to confuse my intelligence. Describe clearly an unambiguous way through which I may attain what is best.

The Lord said: (3) Blameless one, I have taught of old that in this world two ways are open: the discipline of knowledge for Sankhya theorists, and the discipline of action for yogins.

(4) A man does not attain freedom from the results of action by abstaining from actions, and he does not approach perfection simply by renunciation.

(5) For no one ever, even for a moment, exists without acting; everyone, regardless of their will, is made to perform actions by the constituents which originate from material nature.

(6) The man who, having restrained his action organs, then sits with his mind preoccupied with sense objects, is called a self-deluding hypocrite.

(7) But the man who, controlling his senses with his mind, undertakes through his action organs the discipline of action without attachment, distinguishes himself, Arjuna.

(8) You should perform enjoined action, for action is better than non-action; even the minimum of bodily subsistence would be impossible without action.

(9) The entire world is bound by actions; the only exception is action undertaken for sacrificial purposes. Therefore, Son of Kunti, free from attachment, you should perform that kind of action.

(10) When he created creatures in the beginning, along with the sacrifice, Prajapati said: ‘May you be fruitful by this sacrifice, let this be the cow which produces all you desire.

(11) ‘You should nourish the gods with this so that the gods may nourish you; nourishing each other, you shall achieve the highest good.

(12) ‘For nourished by the sacrifice, the gods will give you the pleasures you desire. The man who enjoys these gifts without repaying them is no more than a thief.’

(13) The virtuous who eat the remainder of the sacrifice are released from all faults; the wicked who cook for the sake of themselves consume impurity.

(14) Beings exist through food, the origin of food is rain, rain comes from sacrifice, sacrifice derives from action.

(15) Know that action originates from Brahman—Brahman whose source is the imperishable. Therefore all-pervading Brahman is eternally established in the sacrifice.

(16) Whoever in this world does not turn the wheel thus set in motion, Partha, lives in vain, making a pleasure garden of his senses, intent upon evil.

(17) But it is clear that, for the man who delights in the self, and is satisfied with the self, and fulfilled only in the self, there is nothing that has to be done.

(18) For him there is no significance whatsoever in what has been done or has not been done in this world, and he has no kind of dependence at all on any being.

(19) Therefore, without attachment, always do whatever action has to be done; for it is through acting without attachment that a man attains the highest.

(20) Indeed, it was by action alone that King Janaka and others attained perfection. Looking only to what maintains the world, you too must act.

(21) Whatever the superior man does, so do the rest; whatever standard he sets, the world follows it.

(22) Partha, as for me there is nothing whatever that has to be done in the three worlds; there is nothing unaccomplished to be accomplished. Yet I still engage in action.

(23) For were I not to engage tirelessly in action, humans everywhere would follow in my wake, Partha.

(24) If I did not engage in action, these worlds would fall into ruin; I should be the instrument of anarchy; I should destroy these creatures.

(25) Just as the ignorant act out of attachment to action, Bharata, so the wise should also act, but without attachment, intent upon maintaining the world.

(26) The wise man should not disturb the minds of those ignorant people who are attached to action; acting in a disciplined manner himself, he should encourage involvement in all actions.

(27) In every case, actions are performed by the constituents of material nature; although the man who is deluded by egotism thinks to himself, ‘I am the actor.’

(28) But he who knows the principle underlying the division of constituents and actions, understanding that it is constituents that are acting on constituents, is not attached, Great Arm.

(29) The person whose knowledge is comprehensive should not agitate those dullards whose knowledge is not so great—those who are deluded by the constituents of material nature and attached to the actions of the constituents.

(30) Giving up all actions to me, with your mind on what relates to the self, desireless and not possessive, fight! Your fever is past.

(31) Faithful, uncontentious men, who constantly practise this doctrine of mine, are also released from the results of action.

(32) But you should know that those who object to this, who do not follow my doctrine, and who are blind to all knowledge, are mindless and lost.

(33) Even the one who knows acts in accordance with his own material nature. Creatures conform to material nature—what good will repression do?

(34) In the case of a sense, desire and aversion adhere to the object of that sense; you should not fall into the power of those two, for they will block your path.

(35) It is better to practise your own inherent duty deficiently than another’s duty well. It is better to die conforming to your own duty; the duty of others invites danger.

Arjuna said: (36) So what is it that impels a man to do evil, Varshneya, even unwillingly, as though compelled to it by force?

The Lord said: (37) It is desire, it is anger, produced from the constituent of passion, all-consuming, all-injuring; know that that is the enemy here.

(38) As a fire is covered by smoke and a mirror by dust; as an embryo is covered by a sac, this world is enveloped by that.

(39) By this perpetual enemy of the wise, by this insatiable fire in the form of desire, knowledge is obscured, Son of Kunti.

(40) It is said that the senses, the mind, and the intelligence are its locality; having obscured a man’s knowledge with these, it deludes the embodied self.

(41) Therefore, having first restrained the senses, Bull of the Bharatas, strike down this evil thing, the destroyer of insight and knowledge.

(42) They say that the senses are great; the mind is greater than the senses. Yet greater than the mind is the intelligence; but he is that which is still greater than the intelligence.

(43) So, Great Arm, having learned what is higher than the intelligence, and having strengthened yourself through the self, kill that enemy in the shape of desire, so difficult to pin down.

The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Johnson (1994) pp 15-18, 23-25, 41­43, 49-53, 79-81.

By permission of Oxford University Press.

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.4 Bhagavad Gita: Ch 5

Chapter 5

Arjuna said: (1) Krishna, you approve the renunciation of actions, and then again the practice of yogic discipline. Tell me unambiguously, which is the better of these two?

The Lord said: (2) Both renunciation and the practice of yogic action lead to ultimate bliss, but, of the two, the practice of yogic action is superior to the renunciation of action.

(3) Great Arm, the man who neither desires nor hates is considered a perpetual renouncer; free from duality, he is easily liberated.

(4) Fools hold that the way of Sankhya and the practice of yogic action are different, but not those who know. Through either one of them, carried out properly, one attains the reward of both.

(5) The state achieved by Sankhyas is also achieved by yogic actors; whoever sees the ways of Sankhya and yogic action as one truly sees.

(6) But renunciation, Great Arm, is hard to attain without yogic practice; the sage disciplined in yogic practice swiftly reaches Brahman.

(7) Even when he is acting, the man who is disciplined in yogic practice, whose self is pure, whose self and senses are controlled, whose self is the self of all beings, is not defiled.

(8-9) The disciplined man, who knows the underlying principle of reality, thinks: ‘I really don’t do anything at all,’ certain that whether seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, talking, excreting, grasping, opening or shutting the eyes, it is merely the senses acting on the objects of sense.

(10) The man who acts, having rendered his actions to Brahman and abandoned attachment, is untainted by evil, in the same way that a lotus leaf is untainted by water.

(11) Having abandoned attachment, yogins undertake action with the body, mind, and intelligence, even with the senses alone, for the sake of self-purification.

(12) The disciplined man, having abandoned the result of action, attains complete peace; the undisciplined man, whose action is impelled by desire, and who is attached to the result, is bound.

(13) Having renounced all actions with the mind, the embodied self sits easily, ruler in its nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing action.

(14) The lord of the body does not create agency or actions for the world, or the connection of action and result; rather it is inherent nature that accomplishes this.

(15) The all-pervading lord does not take on the merit or demerit of anyone’s actions. Knowledge is concealed by ignorance—and in that way people are deluded.

(16) But for those whose ignorance of the self has been destroyed by knowledge, their knowledge is like the sun, flooding the highest reality with light.

(17) With their intelligences on it, their selves in it, grounded in it, wholly devoted to it, they go never again to be reborn, their impurities shed by knowledge.

(18) Those who know see the same thing in a wise and disciplined Brahmin as in a cow or an elephant, or even in a dog or an outcast.

(19) The created world is overcome even here for those whose minds are firmly impartial; for since Brahman is faultless and the same in everything, so they are established in Brahman.

(20) A man should no more rejoice on obtaining what is pleasant than he should become agitated when suffering what is unpleasant. Undeluded, with firm intelligence, the knower of Brahman is established in Brahman.

(21) He whose self is unaffected by outside contact finds his happiness in the self; united through yogic discipline with Brahman, he reaches inextinguishable happiness.

(22) For pleasures deriving from outside contact are sources of unhappiness, Son of Kunti, because they have a beginning and an end; the wise man takes no delight in them.

(23) The man able to withstand in this world, before liberation from the body, the violent disturbance caused by desire and anger is disciplined and happy.

(24) He who has inner happiness, inner delight, and thereby inner radiance—that yogin, being Brahman, achieves the nirvana of Brahman.

(25) Seers whose impurities have been destroyed, whose doubts have been dispelled, who have restrained themselves, who delight in the welfare of all beings, reach the nirvana of Brahman.

(26) For those ascetics whose thought is controlled, who have separated themselves from desire and anger, who know themselves, the nirvana of Brahman lies close.

(27) Having excluded outside contacts, fixing his gaze between his eyebrows, making the inward and outward breaths even within the nostrils,

(28) The wise man, whose senses, mind, and intelligence are controlled, who is wholly intent upon release, whose desire, fear, and anger have vanished, is liberated forever.

(29) Realizing that I am the consumer of sacrifices and austerities, the great lord of all the worlds, the companion of all creatures, he attains peace.

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.5 Bhagavad Gita: Ch 9

Chapter 9

The Lord said: (1) But I shall relate to you, who are free of ill will, the most secret knowledge and insight; knowing it you shall be freed from harm.

(2) It is royal knowledge, a royal secret, the greatest purification, directly experienced, conforming to what is right, easy to practise, permanent.

(3) Men who have no faith in this truth, Incinerator of the Foe, fail to reach me and are returned to the rut of recurrent death.

(4) This entire universe is displayed on me in my unmanifest form; all creatures exist in me, but I do not exist in them.

(5) And yet creatures do not exist in me—behold my super human yogic power! My self causes creatures to exist, and maintains them, but it does not exist in them.

(6) In the way that the great wind blows everywhere and yet remains perpetually within space, so, you must suppose, all creatures exist within me.

(7) Son of Kunti, all creatures re-enter my material nature at the end of a world cycle, and at the beginning of a cycle I emit them again.

(8) Supported by my own material nature, time after time I emit this entire, powerless multitude of creatures through the power of nature.

(9) And these actions do not bind me, Dhananjaya; seated like a neutral, I am unattached to such actions.

(10) With me as a supervisor, material nature generates moving and unmoving creatures; that is the reason the universe goes round, Son of Kunti.

(11) When I take on a human form the deluded do not recognize me, ignorant of my higher state as the great lord of creatures.

(12) Dependent upon a deluding, demoniacal, and evil nature, their hopes, actions, and knowledge are futile and mindless.

(13) But the great-souled, Partha, grounded in divine material nature, worship me single-mindedly, realizing that I am the imperishable origin of creatures.

(14) There are those whose vows are solid who, continually glorifying me, striving, and bowing to me with devotion, ever-disciplined, worship me.

(15) And there are others, sacrificing with the sacrifice of knowledge, who worship me as the one, the separate, the various, facing in every direction.

A Nepalese Hindu boy dressed as Lord Krishna looks on during “Gai Jatra,” or Cow Festival, in Katmandu, Nepal. AP Photo / Niranjan Shrestha

(16) I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering to the ancestors, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, I am the oblation.

(17) I am the father of this world, the mother, the maintainer, the grandfather, the object of knowledge, the purifying filter, the syllable Om, the Rig, the Sama, and the Yajur Vedas too.

(18) Path, bearer, lord, witness, home, refuge, friend, origin, dissolution, continuity, repository, imperishable seed,

(19) I radiate, I withhold the rain, and I let it come down, I am immortality, and death, I am the existent, and the non-existent, Arjuna.

(20) The knowers of the three Vedas, soma-drinkers, whose sins have been cleansed, having offered to me with sacrifices, strive to attain the goal of heaven; and having reached the pure world of Indra, they partake in heaven of the divine pleasures of the gods.

(21) Thus having enjoyed that vast world of heaven, when their merit is used up they re- enter the mortal world, and so conforming to the three Vedas, desiring desires, they come and go.

(22) But to those men who honour me, concentrating on me alone, who are constantly disciplined, I bring gain and security.

(23) Even those who are devotees of other gods, and sacrifice to them full of faith, really sacrifice to me, Son of Kunti, albeit not according to the prescribed rules.

(24) For I am the lord, and the recipient of all sacrifices, although they do not truly recognize me, and so they slide.

(25) Those who have vowed themselves to the gods go to the gods, those whose vows are to the fathers go to the fathers, those worshipping spirits go to spirits, and those who sacrifice to me go to me.

(26) I accept a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water from the disciplined person who, with devotion, offers me that loving offering.

(27) Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever you give away, whatever asceticism you perform, Son of Kunti, do it as an offering to me.

(28) Thus you shall be liberated from good and evil results, from the bonds of action. With your self disciplined by the yoga of renunciation, liberated, you shall come to me.

(29) I am the same with regard to all creatures; I feel neither aversion nor affection. But whoever shares in me with devotion, they are in me and I am in them.

(30) Even the evil-doer, if he shares in me with single-minded devotion, may be thought of as good, for he has fixed on what is right.

(31) He quickly conforms to the true law and attains everlasting peace. You should realize, Son of Kunti, that no devotee of mine is lost.

(32) For whoever depends on me, Partha, however low their origins—whether they are women, farmers and merchants, or even labourers and serfs—they go by the highest path.

(33) How much more then deserving Brahmins and devoted royal seers. Since you have been born into this impermanent, unhappy world, devote yourself to me.

(34) Fix your mind on me; and so devoted to me, sacrificing to me, reverencing me, having disciplined your self, with me as your final resort, you shall come to me.

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.6 Bhagavad Gita: Ch 11

Chapter 11

Arjuna said: (1) What you have said, as a favour to me, about the supreme mystery in relation to the self, has dispelled my delusion.

(2) From you, lotus-eyed one, I have heard in full detail about the generation and dissolution of beings, and your indissoluble greatness.

(3) In this way, lord in the highest degree, you have described your self; I desire to see your supreme form, greatest of persons.

(4) Lord, if you think I am capable of seeing it, then, great lord of yoga, show me your indissoluble self.

The Lord said: (5) Partha, see my hundredfold and thousandfold forms—diverse, divine, variegated, and manifold.

(6) See the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, the twin Ashvins, and the Maruts. See, Bharata, many prodigious things, never witnessed before.

(7) Now see, Gudakesha, here in my body the entire universe of moving and unmoving things, and whatever else you desire to behold.

(8) But you will not be able to see me with your natural eye, so I give you a divine eye— behold my lordly power!

Sanjaya said: (9) Then, O king, Hari, the great lord of yoga, revealed to Partha his lordly, supreme form.

(10) It had many mouths and eyes, innumerable wonderful aspects, uncounted divine ornaments, countless divine weapons at the ready;

(11) It was wearing divine garlands and robes, divine perfumes and ointments; it was made up of every prodigious thing; divine, infinite, facing in every direction.

(12) If the light of a thousand suns should all at once rise into the sky, that might approach the brilliance of that great self.

(13) The son of Pandu saw the entire universe, in its multiplicity, gathered there as one in the body of the god of gods.

(14) Then Dhananjaya, confounded, his hair bristling, bowed his head to the god, and with his hands joined in reverence said:

Arjuna said: (15) O God, I see in your body the gods and all kinds of beings come together, Lord Brahma on his lotus seat, all the seers and the divine serpents.

(16) I see you everywhere, many-armed, many-stomached, many-mouthed, many-eyed, infinite in form; I cannot find out your end, your middle or your beginning—Lord of the universe, form of everything.

(17) I see you—so hard to behold—crowned, armed with a club, discus-bearing, a mass of radiant energy, blazing in all directions, unlimited, an all-consuming, fiery, solar brilliance.

(18) I acknowledge you as the imperishable, the highest object of knowledge: you are the repository of all this, the unchanging protector of the perpetual law. You are the primeval person.

(19) Without beginning, middle, or end, infinite in power, infinite in arms, sun and moon-eyed, I see you, your face a blazing fire, consuming the entire universe with your brilliance.

(20) This space between heaven and earth is filled by you alone, as is every direction. Having seen this, your marvellous, terrible form, the three worlds totter—Great Self!

(21) Those throngs of gods enter you; some, in dread, praise you with gestures of respect. Crying, ‘Hail!’ crowds of great seers and perfected beings praise you with resounding praise.

(22) Rudras and Adityas, Vasus and Sadhyas, the Vishva gods, the twin Ashvins, Maruts, steam-drinkers, crowds of celestial musicians, Yakshas, Asuras and perfected beings all gaze at you, dumbfounded.

(23) Great Arm, seeing your mighty form with its many mouths and eyes, its many arms, thighs, and feet, its many stomachs, its gaping mouths, full of tusks—the worlds reel, and so do I.

(24) Vishnu, seeing you touching the sky, shining, rainbow-hued, cavern-mouthed, with luminous distended eyes, I am shaken to the core; I can find neither resolution nor rest.

(25) Seeing your mouths dancing with tusks, like the flames of universal dissolution, I am disorientated and without shelter. Have mercy, lord of gods, home of the world!

(26) And all those sons of Dhritarashtra, with crowds of kings—Bhishma, Drona, and the charioteer’s son—together with our foremost warriors too,

(27) Flow into your terrifying fang-distended mouths. Some can be seen lodged between your teeth, their heads crushed to a pulp.

(28) As many river currents converge on the sea, so those heroes of the human world flow into your blazing mouths.

(29) As flying insects propel themselves to death in the brilliant flame, so the worlds impetuously hurl themselves to destruction between your jaws.

(30) Vishnu, you lap up all the worlds with your flaming mouths, ubiquitously devouring; your fierce rays engulf the entire universe in brilliance, roasting it.

(31) Tell me, terrible manifestation, who are you? Homage to you, supreme god—have mercy! First being, I need to understand you; I cannot discern your purpose.

The Lord said: (32) I am time run on, destroyer of the universe, risen here to annihilate worlds. Regardless of you, all these warriors, stationed in opposing ranks, shall cease to exist.

(33) Therefore go to it, grasp fame! And having conquered your enemies, enjoy a thriving kingship. They have already been hewn down by me: Savyasachin, simply be the instrument.

(34) Kill Drona, kill Bhisham, kill Jayadratha and Karna, and the other warrior heroes as well: they are killed by me. Don’t waver—you must fight! In battle you shall overcome your enemies.

Sanjaya said: (35) When he had heard Krishna’s speech, Arjuna, his palms joined in reverence, trembling, having saluted again, bowing low, terrified, stuttered in reply:

Arjuna said: (36) It is only right, Hrishikesha, that the world exults in and is devoted to your

celebration. Terrified demons scatter to the winds, and all the crowds of perfected beings bow down before you.

(37) And how should they not bow down to you, Great One? To the original creator, greater even than Brahma, infinite lord of gods, home of the world. You are the imperishable—being, non-being, and what is beyond.

(38) You are the original god, the primeval person; you are the receptacle of all this— knower, known, and ultimate condition. Infinite form, the entire universe was composed by you.

(39) You are Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, the moon, Prajapati, the great grandfather. Praise, a thousand times praise to you; again and again, praise and praise you.

(40) Praise to you openly, secretly, totally—the All! Infinite strength, unmeasured force, completing everything, you are everything.

(41) For whatever I uttered rashly, imagining you my equal, calling: ‘Hey Krishna! Hey Yadava! Hey friend!’ ignorant of your greatness, through familiarity, or out of affection —

(42) And if as a joke I treated you improperly when it came to sport, rest, sitting, or eating, alone or even in public, Achyuta—I ask you, the Immeasurable, forgiveness.

(43) You are the father of the world, of moving and unmoving things; you are its venerable teacher and object of worship. Nothing can be compared to you, so how, even in the three worlds, could there be anything greater? Unequalled power!

(44) Therefore, bowing down and prostrating myself, I ask forgiveness of you, praiseworthy lord. As father with son, friend with friend, lover with lover, have patience —if it pleases you—O god!

(45) I rejoice that I have seen what has never before been seen, but my mind is unhinged with fear. O god, show me that other form again. Be merciful, lord of gods, home of the world!

(46) I need to see you as you were before: crowned, with a club, and holding a discus. O thousand-armed one, whose material form is the universe, assume your four-armed shape.

The Lord said: (47) By showing favour to you, Arjuna, through my own power I have made manifest this supreme form of mine, lustrous, universal, infinite, primeval, which no one apart from you has ever seen.

(48) Not through the Vedas, not through sacrifice, not through study, not by giving alms, not by rituals, not by fierce asceticism, can I be seen in such a form in the human world; by you alone it can be seen, Prince of Kurus.

(49) Don’t tremble, don’t be confused because you have seen this so terrible form of mine. Your dread dispelled, your heart lightened, behold this, my familiar form.

Sanjaya said: (50) So saying, Vasudeva once more revealed his own familiar form to Arjuna; the Great One, resuming his mild appearance, allowed the terrified man to breathe again.

Arjuna said: (51) Seeing this agreeable, human form of yours, Janardana, I have now pulled myself together, and I am rational again.

The Lord said: (52) This form of mine, which you have seen, is very hard to see. Even the gods crave incessantly for a glimpse of this form.

(53) Neither through the Vedas, nor through asceticism, neither by alms-giving, nor by sacrifice is it possible to see me in the way you have seen me.

(54) But by exclusive devotion, Arjuna, I can be known and seen thus, as I really am, and entered into, Incinerator of the Foe.

(55) He who acts for me, who makes me the highest goal, who is devoted to me, who has abandoned attachment, who is without hatred for any being, comes to me, Pandava.

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.7 Bhagavad Gita: Ch 18

Chapter 18

[...]

(45) A man achieves perfection by contenting himself with his own work; hear how such a man, intent upon his own work, finds that perfection.

(46) A man attains perfection by reverencing, through his own specific activity, him from whom all creatures come into being, by whom all this is spread out.

(47) It is better to do one’s own duty inadequately than another’s well; no man is at fault performing an action enjoined by his own nature.

(48) Son of Kunti, a man should not abandon the work he was born into, even if it is faulty, for just as fire is wreathed in smoke all undertakings are attended by faults.

(49) A man whose intelligence is free of any attachment, who has conquered himself, whose desire has evaporated, attains the supreme perfection of freedom from action and its results through renunciation.

(50) Son of Kunti, learn from me in short how, having attained perfection, one also attains Brahman, which is the highest state of knowledge.

(51) Disciplined with a pure intelligence, having controlled the self with resolution, having abandoned sound and the other objects of the senses, and putting away attraction and aversion,

(52) Dwelling apart, eating little, controlling speech, body, and mind, continuously immersed in yogic concentration, cultivating dispassion,

(53) Having freed oneself from egoism, force, pride, desire, anger, and possessiveness, unselfish and serene, one is able to become Brahman.

(54) Having become Brahman, tranquil in the self, a man does not grieve and he does not desire; the same towards all creatures, he attains the highest devotion to me.

(55) Through devotion he recognizes me—how great I am, and who I am in reality; and then, having known me in reality, he enters me immediately.

Krishna meets Arjuna at Prabhasa Kshetra. Image courtesy of Ramanarayanadatta Astri / Wikimedia Commons

(56) Though continually performing all actions, his refuge is in me, and through my grace he attains the eternal, imperishable home.

(57) Having surrendered in thought all your actions to me, holding me supreme, depending upon the yoga of intelligence, be ever thinking on me.

(58) For thinking on me, you shall by my grace sail past all obstacles; but if, falling into egoism, you pay no heed, you shall perish.

(59) If, falling into such egoism, you suppose you will not fight, your resolution is quite pointless: your material nature will constrain you.

(60) Bound by your own activity, which springs from your own nature, ineluctably, Son of Kunti, you will do precisely what, in your delusion, you try to avoid.

(61) Arjuna, in the centre of the heart of all beings their lord stands still, mechanically revolving all creatures through his magical power.

(62) Bharata, go with your whole being to him alone for refuge; through his grace you will reach supreme peace, eternal home.

(63) Such is the knowledge I have imparted to you, the mystery of mysteries; consider it fully, then do what you will.

(64) Beyond that, listen to my final word, the most secret of all. You have been assuredly singled out by me, so I shall speak it for your benefit.

(65) Fix your mind on me, devote yourself to me, sacrifice to me, do homage to me, and so you shall in reality come to me. I promise you: you are dear to me.

(66) Abandoning all duties, vow yourself to me alone. Don’t agonize, I shall release you from all evils.

(67) You must never repeat this to one who neglects asceticism, to one who is not devoted, to one who has no desire to hear it, or to one who speaks ill of me.

(68) But he who propounds this supreme mystery to my devotees, having rendered the highest devotion to me, will, without a doubt, come to me.

(69) Among men there is no one who does more to please me than he, and no one on earth shall be dearer to me than he is.

(70) And I consider that he who commits this sacred dialogue of ours to memory, in effect worships me through a sacrifice of knowledge.

(71) And the man who listens to it, full of faith and without ill will, is also freed, and will attain the bright worlds of those whose actions have been meritorious.

(72) Partha, have you listened to this single-mindedly? Dhanajaya, has your delusion born of ignorance been dispelled?

Arjuna said: (73) My delusion has been obliterated, and through your grace, Achyuta, I have remembered myself. I stand, my doubt dispelled. I shall do as you say.

Sanjaya said: (74) Thus, shivers running down my spine, I have heard this astonishing dialogue between Vasudeva and the great-souled Partha.

(75) By Vyasa’s grace, I have heard this supreme mystery, yoga, from Krishna, from the lord of yoga himself, who taught it directly.

(76) O King, repeatedly calling to mind this astounding, auspicious dialogue between Keshava and Arjuna, time and again I exult.

(77) And repeatedly calling to mind that more than astounding form of Hari, I am greatly amazed, O King, and exult again and again.

(78) Wherever Krishna, the lord of yoga, and Partha, the bowman, are, I believe that there too there will be fortune, victory, prosperity, and lasting good counsel.

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.8 A New Prophet Arrives

A New Prophet Arrives By M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

The Qur’an is the supreme authority in Islam. It is the fundamental and paramount source of the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion. It is the book that “differentiates” between right and wrong, so that nowadays, when the Muslim world is dealing with such universal issues as globalization, the environment, combating terrorism and drugs, issues of medical ethics, and feminism, evidence to support the various arguments is sought in the Qur’an. This supreme status stems from the belief that the Qur’an is the word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad via the archangel Gabriel, and intended for all times and all places.

The Qur’an was the starting point for all the Islamic sciences: Arabic grammar was developed to serve the Qur’an, the study of Arabic phonetics was pursued in order to determine the exact pronunciation of Qur’anic words, the science of Arabic rhetoric was developed in order to describe the features of the inimitable style of the Qur’an, the art of Arabic calligraphy was cultivated through writing down the Qur’an, the Qur’an is the basis of Islamic law and theology; indeed, as the celebrated fifteenth-century scholar and author Suyuti said, “Everything is based on the Qur’an.” The entire religious life of the Muslim world is built around the text of the Qur’an. As a consequence of the Qur’an, the Arabic language moved far beyond the Arabian peninsula, deeply penetrating many other languages within the Muslim lands—Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, and others. The first sura (or section) of the Qur’an, al-Fatiha, which is an essential part of the ritual prayers, is learned and read in Arabic by Muslims in all parts of the world, and many other verses and phrases in Arabic are also incorporated into the lives of non- Arabic-speaking Muslims.

Muslim children start to learn portions of the Qur’an by heart in their normal schooling: the tradition of learning the entire Qur’an by heart started during the lifetime of the Prophet and continues to the present day. A person attaining this distinction becomes known as a hafiz, and this is still a prerequisite for admission to certain religious schools in Muslim countries. Nowadays the Qur’an is recited a number of times daily on the radio and television in the Muslim world, and some Muslim countries devote a broadcasting channel for long hours daily exclusively to the recitation and study of the

Qur’an. Muslims swear on the Qur’an for solemn oaths in the law courts and in everyday life.

The Life of Muhammad and the Historical Background

Muhammad was born in Mecca in about the year 570 CE. The religion of most people in Mecca and Arabia at the beginning of Muhammad’s lifetime was polytheism. Christianity was found in places, notably in Yemen, and among the Arab tribes in the north under Byzantine rule; Judaism too was practiced in Yemen, and in and around Yathrib, later renamed Madina (Medina), but the vast majority of the population of Arabia were polytheists. They believed in a chief god Allah, but saw other deities as mediators between them and him: the Qur’an mentions in particular the worship of idols, angels, the sun, and the moon as “lesser” gods. The Hajj pilgrimage to the Ka’ba in Mecca, built, the Qur’an tells us, by Abraham for the worship of the one God, was practiced, but that too had become corrupted with polytheism. Mecca was thus an important center for religion, and for trade, with the caravans that travelled via Mecca between Yemen in the south and Syria in the north providing an important source of income. There was no central government. The harsh desert conditions brought competition for scarce resources, and enforced solidarity within each tribe, but there was frequent fighting between tribes. Injustices were practiced against the weaker classes, particularly women, children, slaves, and the poor.

Few hard facts are known about Muhammad’s childhood. It is known that his father Abdullah died before he was born and his mother Amina when he was six years old; that his grandfather Abdul Muttalib then looked after him until, two years later, he too died. At the age of eight, Muhammad entered the guardianship of his uncle Abu Talib, who took him on a trade journey to the north when he was twelve years old. In his twenties, Muhammad was employed as a trader by a wealthy and well-respected widow fifteen years his senior named Khadija. Impressed by his honesty and good character, she proposed marriage to him. They were married for over twenty-five years until Khadija’s death when Muhammad was some forty-nine years old. Khadija was a great support to her husband. After his marriage, Muhammad lived in Mecca, where he was a respected businessman and peacemaker.

Muhammad was in the habit of taking regular periods of retreat and reflection in the Cave of Hira outside Mecca. This is where the first revelation of the Qur’an came to him in 610 CE, when he was forty years old. This initiated his prophethood. The Prophet was instructed to spread the teachings of the revelations he received to his larger family and beyond. However, although a few believed in him, the majority, especially the powerful, resented his calling them to abandon their gods. After all, many polytheist tribes came to Mecca on the pilgrimage, and the leaders feared that the new religion would threaten their own prestige and economic prosperity. They also felt it would disturb the social order, as it was quite outspoken in its preaching of equality between all people and its condemnation of the injustices done to the weaker members of the society.

The hostility of the Meccans soon graduated from gentle ridicule to open conflict and the persecution of Muhammad’s followers, many of whom Muhammad sent, from the fifth year of his preaching, to seek refuge with the Christian king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The remaining Muslims continued to be pressured by the Meccans, who instituted a total boycott against the Prophet’s clan, refusing to allow any social or economic dealings with them. In the middle of this hardship, Muhammad’s wife, Khadija, and his uncle, Abu Talib, died, so depriving the Prophet of their great support. This year became known as the Year of Grief. However, events were soon to take a change for the better. The Prophet experienced the event known as the Night Journey and Ascension to Heaven, during which Muhammad was accompanied by Gabriel from the sanctuary of Mecca first to Jerusalem and then to Heaven. Soon afterwards, some people from Yathrib, a town some 400 km north of Mecca, met Muhammad when they came to make the pilgrimage and some of these accepted his faith; the following year more returned from Yathrib, pledged to support him, and invited him and his community to seek sanctuary in Yathrib. The Muslims began to migrate there, soon followed by the Prophet himself, narrowly escaping an attempt to assassinate him. This move to Yathrib, known as the Migration (Hijra), was later adopted as the start of the Muslim calendar. Upon arrival in Yathrib, Muhammad built the first mosque in Islam, and he

spent most of his time there, teaching and remolding the characters of the new Muslims from unruly tribesmen into a brotherhood of believers. Guided by the Qur’an, he acted as teacher, judge, arbitrator, adviser, consoler, and father-figure to the new community. One of the reasons the people of Yathrib invited the Prophet to migrate there was the hope that he would be a good arbitrator between their warring tribes, as indeed proved to be the case.

Muslim pilgrims pray around the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.

Muhammad Hamed / Reuters

The Revelation of the Qur’an

Muhammad’s own account survives of the extraordinary circumstances of the revelation, of being approached by an angel who commanded him: “Read in the name of your Lord.” When he explained that he could not read, the angel squeezed him strongly, repeating the request twice, and then recited to him the first two lines of the Qur’an. For the first experience of revelation Muhammad was alone in the cave, but after that the circumstances in which he received revelations were witnessed by others and recorded. When he experienced the “state of revelation,” those around him were able to observe his visible, audible, and sensory reactions. His face would become flushed and he would fall silent and appear as if his thoughts were far away, his body would become limp as if he were asleep, a humming sound would be heard about him, and sweat would appear

on his face, even on winter days. This state would last for a brief period and as it passed the Prophet would immediately recite new verses of the Qur’an. The revelation could descend on him as he was walking, sitting, riding, or giving a sermon, and there were occasions when he waited anxiously for it for over a month in answer to a question he was asked, or in comment on an event: the state was clearly not the Prophet’s to command. The Prophet and his followers understood these signs as the experience accompanying the communication of Qur’anic verses by the Angel of Revelation (Gabriel), while the Prophet’s adversaries explained them as magic or as a sign of his “being possessed.”

It is worth noting that the Qur’an has itself recorded all claims and attacks made against it and against the Prophet in his lifetime, but for many of Muhammad’s contemporaries the fact that the first word of the Qur’an was an imperative addressed to the Prophet (“Read”) linguistically made the authorship of the text outside Muhammad. Indeed, this mode is maintained throughout the Qur’an: it talks to the Prophet or talks about him; never does the Prophet pass comment or speak for himself. The Qur’an describes itself as a scripture that God “sent down” to the Prophet (the expression “sent down,” in its various forms, is used in the Qur’an well over 200 times) and, in Arabic, this word conveys immediately, and in itself, the concept that the origin of the Qur’an is from above and that Muhammad is merely a recipient. God is the one to speak in the Qur’an: Muhammad is addressed, “Prophet,” “Messenger,” “Do,” “Do not do,” “They ask you,” “Say” (the word “say” is used in the Qur’an well over 300 times). Moreover, the Prophet is sometimes even censured in the Qur’an. His status is unequivocally defined as “Messenger” (rasul).

The Compilation of the Qur’an

With every new revelation, the Prophet would recite the new addition to the Qur’an to those around him, who would eagerly learn it and in turn recite it to others. Throughout his mission the Prophet repeatedly recited the Qur’an to his followers and was meticulous in ensuring that the Qur’an was recorded, even in the days of persecution. As each new piece was revealed, Gabriel instructed the Prophet as to where it should go in the final corpus. An inner circle of his followers wrote down verses of the Qur’an as they learned them from the Prophet and there are records of there being a total of twenty- nine scribes for this. By the end of the Prophet’s life (632 CE) the entire Qur’an was written down in the form of uncollated pieces. In addition, most followers learned parts of it by heart and many learned all of it from the Prophet over years spent in his company. They also learned from the Prophet the correct ordering of the Qur’anic material. They belonged to a cultural background that had a longstanding tradition of memorizing literature, history, and genealogy.

The Structure of the Qur’an: Suras and Ayas

As explained above, Qur’anic revelation came to the Prophet gradually, piece by piece, over a period of twenty-three years. Material was placed in different sections, not in chronological order of revelation, but according to how they were to be read by the Prophet and believers. The Qur’an is divided into 114 sections of varying lengths, the longest (section 2) being around twenty pages in Arabic, the shortest (sections 108 and 112) being one line in Arabic each. These sections are each known in Arabic as sura, and we will use this word to refer to them.

Each sura (with the exception of Sura 9) begins with “In the Name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy,” and a sura consists of a number of verses each known in Arabic as an aya. Again, an aya can run into several lines and consist of several sentences, or it can be one single word, but it normally ends in Arabic with a rhyme.

The titles of the suras require some explanation. Many suras combine several subjects within them, and the titles were allocated on the basis of either the main theme within the sura, an important event that occurs in the sura, or a significant word that appears within it. The introductions to the suras in this translation are intended to help the reader in this respect.

The essay above has been adapted from the introduction to The Qur’an (Oxford University Press, 2005).

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.9 Qur’an: Sura 2

The Qur’an Translated by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

A Muslim boy looks at a large Qur’an inside a mosque while waiting to break fast on the second day of the holy month of Ramadan in Makassar, Indonesia.

Yusuf Ahmad / Reuters

Sura 2

The Cow

In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

1Alif Lam Mim

2This is the Scripture in which there is no doubt, containing guidance for those who are mindful of God, 3who believe in the unseen, keep up the prayer, and give out of what We have provided for them; 4those who believe in the revelation sent down to you [Muhammad], and in what was sent before you, those who have firm faith in the Hereafter. 5Such people are following their Lord’s guidance and it is they who will prosper. 6As for those who disbelieve, it makes no difference whether you warn them or not: they will not believe. 7God has sealed their hearts and their ears, and their eyes are covered. They will have great torment.

8Some people say, ‘We believe in God and the Last Day,’ when really they do not believe. 9They seek to deceive God and the believers but they only deceive themselves, though they do not realize it. 10There is a disease in their hearts, to which God has added more: agonizing torment awaits them for their persistent lying. 11When it is said to them, ‘Do not cause corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are only putting things right,’ 12but really they are causing corruption, though they do not realize it. 13When it is said to them, ‘Believe, as the others believe,’ they say, ‘Should we believe as the fools do?’ but they are the fools, though they do not know it. 14When they meet the believers, they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say, ‘We’re really with you; we were only mocking.’ 15God is mocking them, and allowing them more slack to wander blindly in their insolence. 16They have bought error in exchange for guidance, so their trade reaps no profit, and they are not rightly guided. 17They are like people who [labour to] kindle a fire: when it lights up everything around them, God takes away all their light, leaving them in utter darkness, unable to see—18deaf, dumb, and blind: they will never return. 19Or [like people who, under] a cloudburst from the sky, with its darkness, thunder, and lightning, put their fingers into their ears to keep out the thunderclaps for fear of death—God surrounds the disbelievers. 20The lightning almost snatches away their sight: whenever it flashes on them they walk on and when darkness falls around them they stand still. If God so willed, He could take away their hearing and sight: God has power over everything.

21People, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you may be mindful [of Him] 22who spread out the earth for you and built the sky; who sent water down from it and with that water produced things for your sustenance. Do not, knowing this, set up rivals to God. 23If you have doubts about the revelation We have sent down to Our servant, then produce a single sura like it—enlist whatever supporters you have other than God—if you truly [think you can]. 24If you cannot do this—and you never will —then beware of the Fire prepared for the disbelievers, whose fuel is men and stones.

25[Prophet], give those who believe and do good the news that they will have Gardens graced with flowing streams. Whenever they are given sustenance from the fruits of these Gardens, they will say, ‘We have been given this before,’ because they were provided with something like it. They will have pure spouses and there they will stay.

26God does not shy from drawing comparisons even with something as small as a gnat, or larger: the believers know it is the truth from their Lord, but the disbelievers say, ‘What does God mean by such a comparison?’ Through it He makes many go astray and leads many to the right path. But it is only the rebels He makes go astray: 27those who break their covenant with God after it has been confirmed, who sever the bonds that God has commanded to be joined, who spread corruption on the earth—these are the losers. 28How can you ignore God when you were lifeless and He gave you life, when He will cause you to die, then resurrect you to be returned to Him? 29It was He who created all that is on the earth for you, then turned to the sky and made the seven heavens; it is He who has knowledge of all things.

[...]

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.10 Qur’an: Sura 35

Sura 35

The Creator

In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

1Praise be to God, Creator of the heavens and earth, who made angels messengers with two, three, four [pairs of] wings. He adds to creation as He will: God has power over everything. 2No one can withhold the blessing God opens up for people, nor can anyone but Him release whatever He withholds: He is the Almighty, the All Wise. 3People, remember God’s grace towards you. Is there any creator other than God to give you sustenance from the heavens and earth? There is no god but Him. How can you be so deluded?

4If they call you a liar [Prophet], many messengers before you were also called liars: it is to God that all things will be returned. 5People! God’s promise is true, so do not let the present life deceive you. Do not let the Deceiver deceive you about God: 6Satan is your enemy—so treat him as an enemy—and invites his followers only to enter the blazing fire. 7Those who disbelieve will be punished severely; those who believe and do good deeds will be forgiven, and richly rewarded. 8What about those whose evil deeds are made alluring to them so that they think they are good? God leaves whoever He will to stray and guides whoever He will. [Prophet], do not waste your soul away with regret for them: God knows exactly what they do.

9It is God who sends forth the winds; they raise up the clouds; We drive them to a dead land and with them revive the earth after its death: such will be the Resurrection. 10If anyone desires power, all power belongs to God; good words rise up to Him and He lifts up the righteous deed, but a severe torment awaits those who plot evil and their plotting will come to nothing. 11It is God who created you from dust and later from a drop of fluid; then He made you into two sexes; no female conceives or gives birth without His knowledge; no person grows old or has his life cut short, except in accordance with a Record: all this is easy for God.

12The two bodies of water are not alike—one is palatable, sweet, and pleasant to drink, the other salty and bitter—yet from each you eat fresh fish and extract ornaments to wear, and in each you see the ships ploughing their course so that you may seek God’s bounty and be grateful. 13He makes the night merge into the day and the day into the night; He has subjected the sun and the moon—each runs for an appointed term. Such is God your Lord: all control belongs to Him. Those you invoke beside Him do not even control the skin of a date stone; 14if you call them they cannot hear you; if they could hear, they could not answer you; on the Day of Resurrection they will disown your idolatry. None can inform you [Prophet] like the One who is all aware.

15People, it is you who stand in need of God—God needs nothing and is worthy of all praise—16if He wills, He can do away with you and bring in a new creation, 17that is not difficult for God. 18No burdened soul will bear the burden of another: even if a heavily laden soul should cry for help, none of its load will be carried, not even by a close relative. But you [Prophet] can only warn those who fear their Lord, though they cannot see Him, and keep up the prayer—whoever purifies himself does so for his own benefit— everything returns to God. 19The blind and the seeing are not alike, 20nor are darkness and light; 21shade and heat are not alike, 22nor are the living and the dead. God makes anyone He wills hear [His message]: you cannot make those in their graves hear. 23You are only here to warn them—24We have sent you with the Truth as a bearer of good news and warning—every community has been sent a warner. 25If they call you a liar, their predecessors did the same: messengers came to them with clear signs, scriptures, and enlightening revelation 26and afterwards I seized the disbelievers—how terrible My punishment was!

27Have you [Prophet] not considered how God sends water down from the sky and that We produce with it fruits of varied colours; that there are in the mountains layers of white and red of various hues, and jet black; 28that there are various colours among human beings, wild animals, and livestock too? It is those of His servants who have knowledge who stand in true awe of God. God is almighty, most forgiving. 29Those who recite God’s scripture, keep up the prayer, give secretly and openly from what We have

provided for them, may hope for a trade that will never decline: 30He will repay them in full, and give them extra from His bounty. He is most forgiving, most appreciative.

Exterior of the Dome of the Rock, Temple Mount, Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of Victorgrigas / Wikimedia Commons

31The Scripture We have revealed to you [Prophet] is the Truth and confirms the scriptures that preceded it. God is well informed about His servants, He sees everything. 32We gave the Scripture as a heritage to Our chosen servants: some of them wronged their own souls, some stayed between [right and wrong], and some, by God’s leave, were foremost in good deeds. That is the greatest favour: 33they will enter lasting Gardens where they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls, where they will wear silk garments. 34They will say, ‘Praise be to God, who has separated us from all sorrow! Our Lord is truly most forgiving, most appreciative: 35He has, in His bounty, settled us in the everlasting Home where no toil or fatigue will touch us.’ 36But those who reject the truth will stay in Hellfire, where they will neither be finished off by death, nor be relieved from Hell’s torment: this is how We reward hardened disbelievers. 37They will cry out loud in Hell, ‘Lord, let us out, and we will do righteous deeds, not what we did before!’—‘Did We not give you a life long enough to take warning if you were going to? The warner came to you, now taste the punishment.’ The evildoers will have nobody to help them.

38God knows all that is hidden in the heavens and earth; He knows the thoughts contained in the heart; 39it is He who made you [people] successors to the land. Those who deny the truth will bear the consequences: their denial will only make them more odious to their Lord, and add only to their loss. 40Say, ‘Consider those “partners” of yours that you call upon beside God. Show me! What part of the earth did they create? What share of the heavens do they possess?’ Have We given them a book that contains clear evidence? No indeed! The idolaters promise each other only delusion.

41God keeps the heavens and earth from vanishing; if they did vanish, no one else could stop them. God is most forbearing, most forgiving. 42[The idolaters] swore their most solemn oath that, if someone came to warn them, they would be more rightly guided than any [other] community, but when someone did come they turned yet further away, 43became more arrogant in the land, and intensified their plotting of evil—the plotting of evil only rebounds on those who plot. Do they expect anything but what happened to earlier people? You will never find any change in God’s practice; you will never find any deviation there. 44Have they not travelled in the land and seen how those before them met their end, although they were superior to them in strength? God is not to be frustrated by anything in the heavens or on the earth: He is all knowing, all powerful. 45If God were to punish people [at once] for the wrong they have done, there would not be a single creature left on the surface of the earth. He gives them respite for a stated time and, whenever their time comes, God has been watching His servants.

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.11 Qur’an: Sura 57

Sura 57

The Iron

In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

1Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies God—He is the Almighty, the Wise. 2Control of the heavens and earth belongs to Him; He gives life and death; He has power over all things. 3He is the First and the Last; the Outer and the Inner; He has knowledge of all things. 4It was He who created the heavens and earth in six Days and then established Himself on the throne. He knows what enters the earth and what comes out of it; what descends from the sky and what ascends to it. He is with you wherever you are; He sees all that you do; 5control of the heavens and earth belongs to Him. Everything is brought back to God. 6He makes night merge into day and day into night. He knows what is in every heart.

7Believe in God and His Messenger, and give out of what He has made pass down to you: those of you who believe and give will have a great reward. 8Why should you not believe in God when the Messenger calls you to believe in your Lord, and He has already made a pledge with you, if you have faith? 9It is He who has sent down clear revelations to His Servant, so that He may bring you from the depths of darkness into light; God is truly kind and merciful to you. 10Why should you not give for God’s cause when God alone will inherit what is in the heavens and earth? Those who gave and fought before the triumph are not like others: they are greater in rank than those who gave and fought afterwards. But God has promised a good reward to all of them: God is fully aware of all that you do.

11Who will make God a good loan? He will double it for him and reward him generously. 12On the Day when you [Prophet] see the believers, both men and women, with their light streaming out ahead of them and to their right, [they will be told], ‘The good news for you today is that there are Gardens graced with flowing streams where you will stay: that is truly the supreme triumph!’ 13On the same Day, the hypocrites, both men and women, will say to the believers, ‘Wait for us! Let us have some of your light!’ They will

be told, ‘Go back and look for a light.’ A wall with a door will be erected between them: inside it lies mercy, outside lies torment. 14The hypocrites will call out to the believers, ‘Were we not with you?’ They will reply, ‘Yes. But you allowed yourselves to be tempted, you were hesitant, doubtful, deceived by false hopes until God’s command came—the Deceiver tricked you about God. 15Today no ransom will be accepted from you or from the disbelievers: your home is the Fire—that is where you belong—a miserable destination!’

Photograph of eleven Muslim men bowed down and praying on stairs in the ruins of the Feroz Shah Kotla mosque in New Delhi. The men are all facing the same direction. The photo also shows two children sitting on the stairs.

Muslims offer Eid-al-Adha prayers at the ruins of the Feroz Shah Kotla mosque in New Delhi, India.

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

16Is it not time for believers to humble their hearts to the remembrance of God and the Truth that has been revealed, and not to be like those who received the Scripture before them, whose time was extended but whose hearts hardened and many of whom were lawbreakers? 17Remember that God revives the earth after it dies; We have made Our revelation clear to you so that you may use your reason. 18Charitable men and women who make a good loan to God will have it doubled and have a generous reward. 19Those who believe in God and His messengers are the truthful ones who will bear witness

before their Lord: they will have their reward and their light. But those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations are the inhabitants of Hell. 20Bear in mind that the present life is just a game, a diversion, an attraction, a cause of boasting among you, of rivalry in wealth and children. It is like plants that spring up after the rain: their growth at first delights the sowers, but then you see them wither away, turn yellow, and become stubble. There is terrible punishment in the next life as well as forgiveness and approval from God; the life of this world is only an illusory pleasure. 21So race for your Lord’s forgiveness and a Garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for those who believe in God and His messengers: that is God’s bounty, which He bestows on whoever He pleases. God’s bounty is infinite.

22No misfortune can happen, either in the earth or in yourselves, that was not set down in writing before We brought it into being—that is easy for God—23so you need not grieve for what you miss or gloat over what you gain. 24God does not love the conceited, the boastful, those who are miserly, and who tell other people to be miserly. If anyone turns away, remember that God is self-sufficient and worthy of praise. 25We sent Our messengers with clear signs, the Scripture and the Balance, so that people could uphold justice: We also sent iron, with its mighty strength and many uses for mankind, so that God could mark out those who would help Him and His messengers though they cannot see Him. Truly God is powerful, almighty.

26We sent Noah and Abraham, and gave prophethood and scripture to their offspring: among them there were some who were rightly guided, but many were lawbreakers. 27We sent other messengers to follow in their footsteps. After those We sent Jesus, son of Mary: We gave him the Gospel and put compassion and mercy into the hearts of his followers. But monasticism was something they invented—We did not ordain it for them —only to seek God’s pleasure, and even so, they did not observe it properly. So We gave a reward to those of them who believed, but many of them were lawbreakers. 28Believers, be mindful of God and have faith in His Messenger: He will give you a double share of His mercy; He will provide a light to help you walk; He will forgive you —God is most forgiving, most merciful. 29The People of the Book should know that they have no power over any of God’s grace and that grace is in the hand of God alone: He gives it to whoever He will. God’s grace is truly immense.

Early World Literature 3 THE SACRED / Page 3.12 Qur’an: Suras 90, 95, 107

Sura 90

The City

In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

1I swear by this city—2and you [Prophet] are an inhabitant of this city—3[I swear] by parent and offspring, 4that We have created man for toil and trial. 5Does he think that no one will have power over him? 6‘I have squandered great wealth,’ he says. 7Does he think no one observes him? 8Did We not give him eyes, 9a tongue, lips, 10and point out to him the two clear ways [of good and evil]? 11Yet he has not attempted the steep path. 12What will explain to you what the steep path is? 13It is to free a slave, 14to feed at a time of hunger 15an orphaned relative 16or a poor person in distress, 17and to be one of those who believe and urge one another to steadfastness and compassion. 18Those who do this will be on the right-hand side, 19but those who disbelieve in Our revelations will be on the left-hand side, 20and the Fire will close in on them.

The Kingdom Tower stands in the night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ali Jarekji / Reuters

Sura 95

The Fig

In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

1By the fig, by the olive, 2by Mount Sinai, 3by this safe town, 4We create man in the finest state 5then reduce him to the lowest of the low, 6except those who believe and do good deeds—7they will have an unfailing reward. After this, what makes you [man] deny the Judgement? 8Is God not the most decisive of judges?

Sura 107

Common Kindnesses

In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

1[Prophet], have you considered the person who denies the Judgement? 2It is he who pushes aside the orphan 3and does not urge others to feed the needy. 4So woe to those

who pray 5but are heedless of their prayer; 6those who are all show 7and forbid common kindnesses.