Chapter 2, Verse 1.
Sanjaya
said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion and very sorrowful, his eyes
brimming with tears, Madhusudana, Krsna, spoke the following words.
Chapter 2, Verse 2.
The
Supreme Person [Bhagavan] said: My dear Arjuna, how have these
impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows
the progressive values of life. They do not lead to higher planets, but
to infamy.
Chapter 2, Verse 3.
O
son of Prtha, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not
become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser
of the enemy.
Chapter 2, Verse 4.
Arjuna
said: O killer of Madhu [Krsna], how can I counterattack with arrows in
battle men like Bhisma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship?
Chapter 2, Verse 5.
It
is better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of
the lives of great souls who are my teachers. Even though they are
avaricious, they are nonetheless superiors. If they are killed, our
spoils will be tainted with blood.
Chapter 2, Verse 6.
Nor
do we know which is better--conquering them or being conquered by them.
The sons of Dhrtarastra, whom if we kill we should not care to live,
are now standing before us on this battlefield.
Chapter 2, Verse 7.
Now
I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of
weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is
best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You.
Please instruct me.
Chapter 2, Verse 8.
I
can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my
senses. I will not be able to destroy it even if I win an unrivaled
kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven.
Chapter 2, Verse 9.
Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus, Arjuna, chastiser of enemies, told Krsna, "Govinda, I shall not fight," and fell silent.
Chapter 2, Verse 10.
O
descendant of Bharata, at that time Krsna, smiling, in the midst of
both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.
Chapter 2, Verse 11.
The
Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for
what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the
living nor the dead.
Chapter 2, Verse 12.
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
Chapter 2, Verse 13.
As
the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to
youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A
self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.
Chapter 2, Verse 14.
O
son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress,
and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and
disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense
perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them
without being disturbed.
Chapter 2, Verse 15.
O
best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness
and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.
Chapter 2, Verse 16.
Those
who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent there
is no endurance, and of the existent there is no cessation. This seers
have concluded by studying the nature of both.
Chapter 2, Verse 17.
Know that which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.
Chapter 2, Verse 18.
Only
the material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal
living entity is subject to destruction; therefore, fight, O descendant
of Bharata.
Chapter 2, Verse 19.
He
who thinks that the living entity is the slayer or that he is slain,
does not understand. One who is in knowledge knows that the self slays
not nor is slain.
Chapter 2, Verse 20.
For
the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he
ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and
primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
Chapter 2, Verse 21.
O
Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible,
unborn, eternal and immutable, kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?
Chapter 2, Verse 22.
As
a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul
accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Chapter 2, Verse 23.
The
soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned
by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.
Chapter 2, Verse 24.
This
individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned
nor dried. He is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable
and eternally the same.
Chapter 2, Verse 25.
It
is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and
unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.
Chapter 2, Verse 26.
If,
however, you think that the soul is perpetually born and always dies,
still you still have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed.
Chapter 2, Verse 27.
For
one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead,
birth is certain. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty,
you should not lament.
Chapter 2, Verse 28.
All
created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their
interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what
need is there for lamentation?
Chapter 2, Verse 29.
Some
look at the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some
hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him,
cannot understand him at all.
Chapter 2, Verse 30.
O
descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body is eternal and can
never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature.
Chapter 2, Verse 31.
Considering
your specific duty as a ksatriya, you should know that there is no
better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so
there is no need for hesitation.
Chapter 2, Verse 32.
O
Partha, happy are the ksatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities
come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.
Chapter 2, Verse 33.
If,
however, you do not fight this religious war, then you will certainly
incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a
fighter.
Chapter 2, Verse 34.
People will always speak of your infamy, and for one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death.
Chapter 2, Verse 35.
The
great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think
that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will
consider you a coward.
Chapter 2, Verse 36.
Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and scorn your ability. What could be more painful for you?
Chapter 2, Verse 37.
O
son of Kunti, either you will be killed on the battlefield and attain
the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom.
Therefore get up and fight with determination.
Chapter 2, Verse 38.
Do
thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or
distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat--and, by so doing, you shall
never incur sin.
Chapter 2, Verse 39.
Thus
far I have declared to you the analytical knowledge of sankhya
philosophy. Now listen to the knowledge of yoga whereby one works
without fruitive result. O son of Prtha, when you act by such
intelligence, you can free yourself from the bondage of works.
Chapter 2, Verse 40.
In
this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement
on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.
Chapter 2, Verse 41.
Those
who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O
beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute
is many-branched.
Chapter 2, Verse 42-43.
Men
of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the
Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to
heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being
desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is
nothing more than this.
Chapter 2, Verse 44.
In
the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material
opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute
determination of devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take
place.
Chapter 2, Verse 45.
The
Vedas mainly deal with the subject of the three modes of material
nature. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of
them. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and
safety, and be established in the Self.
Chapter 2, Verse 46.
All
purposes that are served by the small pond can at once be served by the
great reservoirs of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can
be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.
Chapter 2, Verse 47.
You
have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled
to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the
results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your
duty.
Chapter 2, Verse 48.
Be
steadfast in yoga, O Arjuna. Perform your duty and abandon all
attachment to success or failure. Such evenness of mind is called yoga.
Chapter 2, Verse 49.
O
Dhananjaya, rid yourself of all fruitive activities by devotional
service, and surrender fully to that consciousness. Those who want to
enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.
Chapter 2, Verse 50.
A
man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad
actions even in this life. Therefore strive for yoga, O Arjuna, which is
the art of all work.
Chapter 2, Verse 51.
The
wise, engaged in devotional service, take refuge in the Lord, and free
themselves from the cycle of birth and death by renouncing the fruits of
action in the material world. In this way they can attain that state
beyond all miseries.
Chapter 2, Verse 52.
When
your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you
shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to
be heard.
Chapter 2, Verse 53.
When
your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas,
and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you
will have attained the divine consciousness.
Chapter 2, Verse 54.
Arjuna
said: What are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged
in Transcendence? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does
he sit, and how does he walk?
Chapter 2, Verse 55.
The
Blessed Lord said: O Partha, when a man gives up all varieties of sense
desire which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind finds
satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure
transcendental consciousness.
Chapter 2, Verse 56.
One
who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not
elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear
and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.
Chapter 2, Verse 57.
He
who is without attachment, who does not rejoice when he obtains good,
nor lament when he obtains evil, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge.
Chapter 2, Verse 58.
One
who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise
draws its limbs within the shell, is to be understood as truly situated
in knowledge.
Chapter 2, Verse 59.
The
embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste
for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing
a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.
Chapter 2, Verse 60.
The
senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry
away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to
control them.
Chapter 2, Verse 61.
One who restrains his senses and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
Chapter 2, Verse 62.
While
contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment
for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger
arises.
Chapter 2, Verse 63.
From
anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When
memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is
lost, one falls down again into the material pool.
Chapter 2, Verse 64.
One
who can control his senses by practicing the regulated principles of
freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord and thus become free
from all attachment and aversion.
Chapter 2, Verse 65.
For
one who is so situated in the Divine consciousness, the threefold
miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such a happy state,
one's intelligence soon becomes steady.
Chapter 2, Verse 66.
One
who is not in transcendental consciousness can have neither a
controlled mind nor steady intelligence, without which there is no
possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?
Chapter 2, Verse 67.
As
a boat on the water is swept away by a strong wind, even one of the
senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man's intelligence.
Chapter 2, Verse 68.
Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence.
Chapter 2, Verse 69.
What
is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the
self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for
the introspective sage.
Chapter 2, Verse 70.
A
person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires--that
enter like rivers into the ocean which is ever being filled but is
always still--can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to
satisfy such desires.
Chapter 2, Verse 71.
A
person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives
free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is
devoid of false ego--he alone can attain real peace.
Chapter 2, Verse 72.
That
is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man
is not bewildered. Being so situated, even at the hour of death, one
can enter into the kingdom of God.
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