Verse 1
Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna overwhelmed with compassion, his eyes flowing with tears, and his mind overcome by sorrow, Krishna consoled him.
BG 2.1 - 72
Verse 2
Krishna asked: How has this delusion overcome you in this hour of peril? This is a crude mentality, practiced by those who do not reach the higher abodes.
Verse 3
Do not yield to impotence, Arjuna. This does not befit you. Arise above this petty weakness of the heart and conquer your enemies.
Verse 4
Arjuna replied: How can I shoot an arrow at Grandsire Bhishma or my teacher Dronacharya, men who are worthy of my worship?
Verse 5
It would be better to live as a beggar than to kill my exalted teachers. Anything gained from killing my elders would be always be stained by their blood.
Verse 6
We do not know if it is better for us to conquer or to be conquered. The sons of Dhritarashtra, who we do not want to kill, stand ready to kill us.
Verse 7
My heart is besieged by cowardice, and I need your guidance on what my duty is. Tell me the best course of action, as I am your disciple and have completely surrendered to your wisdom.
Verse 8
I do not see this overwhelming grief going away even if I were the most prosperous king in the world, or even if I were to gain sovereignty over all of heaven.
Verse 9
Having spoken his dilemma to Krishna, Arjuna repeated "I will not fight" and became silent.
Verse 10
From a chariot in the middle of two great armies, Krishna smiled at the grief-stricken Arjuna, and spoke these words.
Verse 11
Krishna said: You speak these words that sound of wisdom, yet you are grieving for those who should not be grieved for. The wise do not grieve for the living nor do they grieve for the dead.
Verse 12
There was never a time in the past, and there will never be a time in the future, when any of us cease to exist.
Verse 13
Just as the soul travels in one body from childhood and youth into old age, it passes into a new body after one's death - the wise have no delusions about this.
Verse 14
The contact of the senses with the sense objects produce cold and heat, happiness and sorrow. They rise and fall. They are impermanent. Learn to tolerate them, Arjuna.
Verse 15
Only the person who is not distressed by these sensations, who can accept both pain and pleasure with equanimity, is eligible for liberation.
Verse 16
Those who have seen the truth know that the unreal does not exist, and that which is real never ceases to exist.
Verse 17
There is an imperishable entity that pervades all things. Nothing can destroy it.
Verse 18
These material bodies have an end, while the soul they carry is eternal, indestructible, and incomprehensible. Therefore, Arjuna, fight in this battle!
Verse 19
One who considers themself the slayer, and another who considers themself slain, are both wrong. The soul can neither kill nor be killed.
Verse 20
It is never born, and it never dies. Having come into existence, it never ceases to exist. It is immortal, and does not die when the body dies.
Verse 21
One who knows the soul to be indestructible and eternal - how does such a person cause anyone to be killed, and who do they kill?
Verse 22
As one would cast off worn-out garments and put on new ones, the soul casts off its worn-out bodies and enters new ones.
Verse 23
The soul cannot be cut by weapons, burned by fire, drenched by water or dried by the wind.
Verse 24
This soul cannot be broken, burned, drowned, or dried. It is eternal, all-pervasive, and unchanging.
Verse 25
This soul is said to be unchanging and inconceivable. Therefore, knowing this, you have no reason to grieve.
Verse 26
Even if you think of this soul as constantly cycling through birth and death, even then you should not grieve.
Verse 27
For one who has been born, death is certain. For one who dies, rebirth is certain. Therefore, you should not grieve over the inevitable.
Verse 28
All beings have an unknown beginning, a known middle, and an unknown end. What is there to grieve in this?
Verse 29
Someone sees this soul as a wonder; another speaks of it as a wonder; another hears of it as a wonder; yet, even having heard, none understand it.
Verse 30
The soul is always immortal, and therefore, you should not mourn for any living beings.
Verse 31
Further, your duty as a soldier compels you not to waver. For a warrior, there is no higher duty than fighting a righteous war.
Verse 32
The doors of heaven are wide open to such warriors, who rejoice to come across such a war.
Verse 33
On the other hand, refusing to fight in this righteous war is a sinful act, a dereliction of your duty, and will destroy your reputation.
Verse 34
People will always remember your dishonor. For a respectable person, infamy is worse than death.
Verse 35
The great warriors will think you have fled out of fear. Those who hold you in high esteem will no longer do so.
Verse 36
Your enemies will use harsh words to defame you further. What could be more painful than this?
Verse 37
If you are slain, you will attain heaven. If you win, you will enjoy a kingdom on Earth. Therefore, stand up and fight with determination.
Verse 38
Happiness and sadness, gain and loss, victory and defeat - all should be treated alike. In this way, you will never be acting sinfully when fighting.
Verse 39
Having imparted this philosophy concerning the body and soul, I will now tell you how one may use their intellect to release themselves from the bondage of action.
Verse 40
One does not lose anything by doing this, nor do they trigger any adverse results. Even a small amount of practice protects one from great danger.
Verse 41
The mind must remain resolute and single-pointed. The minds of the irresolute have many endless branches.
Verse 42
Those with limited understanding get attracted to the flowery language of the Vedas. They advocate for ostentatious rituals to please their senses, project opulence, and gain the results of righteous conduct. They only progress further toward gratifying their desires with luxury and opulence.
Verse 43
Desiring sensual gratification as well as the heavenly abodes, they devise pompous ceremonies to collect the result of good deeds, only moving further toward enjoyment of the senses.
Verse 44
With their mind deeply attached to worldly pleasures, and their intellect unstable, they are unable to summon the resolute determination to achieve enlightenment.
Verse 45
The Vedas deal with the three modes of material nature. Transcend these three modes, Arjuna - become free from dualities, remain eternally fixed in truth, stay unconcerned with material gain and preservation, and remain situated within the self.
Verse 46
The purpose of a small well is also served by a large lake. Similarly, one who realizes the absolute truth also achieves complete knowledge of the Vedas.
Verse 47
You have a right to perform your duty, but you are not entitled to the fruit of your actions. Do not let results be your motivation, and avoid attachment to inaction.
Verse 48
Be steadfast in performing your duties, abandoning all attachment to success and failure - such equanimity is called Yoga.
Verse 49
Stay far away from inferior actions which seek reward, and seek to establish the intellect in the refuge of divine wisdom. Miserly are those whose only motive is the fruit of their actions.
Verse 50
Those who are equanimous can eradicate both good and bad deeds. Therefore, strive for Yoga - the art of working skillfully.
Verse 51
The wise, with equanimous minds, relinquish the fruit of their actions and are freed from the bondage of life and death, attaining a state that is devoid of suffering.
Verse 52
When your intellect is freed from delusion, you will attain indifference toward what has been heard and what has yet to be heard.
Verse 53
When your intellect remains steadfast in divine consciousness, you will have attained Yoga.
Verse 54
Arjuna asked: What does a person with steady intellect speak of? How does such an enlightened person sit, and how do they walk?
Verse 55
Krishna replied: When one renounces all desires of the mind and is content in the self alone, they are said to possess steady wisdom.
Verse 56
A sage of steady wisdom is undisturbed by misery, does not crave pleasure, and remains free from attachment, fear, and anger.
Verse 57
One who remains unattached, who is neither delighted nor dejected by finding either good or evil, has steady wisdom.
Verse 58
When one is able to withdraw their senses from external stimulation like a tortoise retracts its limbs, one establishes steady wisdom.
Verse 59
One might restrain the senses, but cravings do not change until one recognizes the supreme consciousness.
Verse 60
The senses are so strong and turbulent that they can even carry away the mind of someone who practices discrimination and self-control.
Verse 62
When one thinks of sense objects, attachment to them arises; from attachment, desire is born; from desire, anger arises.
Verse 63
Anger clouds judgement and bewilders one's memory. When memory is bewildered, the intellect is destroyed, and the self is ruined.
Verse 64
When one can control their mind and perceive the world with senses that are free from craving and aversion, they achieve divine serenity.
Verse 65
In that serenity, all sorrows are destroyed, and wisdom becomes firmly established.
Verse 66
There is no wisdom, contemplation, or peace for the troubled person. How can such a person ever be happy?
Verse 67
The mind's roaming follows the wandering senses, just as a ship is carried away by the winds.
Verse 68
Therefore, one whose senses are restrained from the sense objects of their environment is fixed in steady wisdom.
Verse 69
What all beings consider as day is the night of ignorance for the wise, and what all creatures see as night is the day for the introspective sage.
Verse 70
Just as the ocean remains undisturbed by the incessant flow of waters from rivers merging into it, likewise the sage who is unmoved despite the flow of desirable objects all around him attains peace, and not the person who strives to satisfy desires.
Verse 71
That person, who gives up all material desires and lives free from a sense of greed, proprietorship, and egoism, attains perfect peace.
Verse 72
Such is the realization of Brahma. By attaining this, one attains freedom from delusion in life and liberation from reincarnation in death.
Next chapter
3. Selfless Service
Karm Yog