Cady Wang’s Reviews > By Stephen Mitchell - The Bhagavad Gita > Status Update

to see action in the midst of inaction and inaction in the midst of action

guna = nature’s 3 strands, actions are performed by the nature of 3 gunas, the deluded man attached action to himself (“i am the doer” or “mine”). desire/anger (the guna called rajas) and attachment to sense-objects destroy wisdom. the man cannot reach the highest good (bliss/perfect peace). some cool metaphors: fire obscured by smoke, mirror by dust, fetus by membrane, wisdom by desire. they are enemies.

krishna — the blessed one — describes how the unmoved man, the wise man, the man of firm wisdom is indifferent to winds and tides, victories or defeats. he must know his duty and act without hesitation (for arjuna it is to fight), lest there be dishonor. he must know how to withdraw his senses, like a tortoise back into its shell, and find peace. each being is rebirthed so grief over action is unreasonable.