Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (19 page)

Bg 2.32

TEXT 32

TEXT

yadṛcchayā copapannaṁ

svarga-dvāram apāvṛtam

sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ pārtha

labhante yuddham īdṛśam

SYNONYMS

yadṛcchayā-
by its own accord;
ca-
also;
upapannam-
arrived at;
svarga-
heavenly planet;
dvāram-
door;
apāvṛtam-
wide open;
sukhinaḥ-
very happy;
kṣatriyāḥ-
the members of the royal order;
pārtha-
O son of Pṛthā;
labhante-
do achieve;
yuddham-
war;
īdṛśam-
like this.

TRANSLATION

O Pārtha, happy are the kṣatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.

PURPORT

As supreme teacher of the world, Lord Kṛṣṇa condemns the attitude of Arjuna who said, "I do not find any good in this fighting. It will cause perpetual habitation in hell." Such statements by Arjuna were due to ignorance only. He wanted to become nonviolent in the discharge of his specific duty. For a
kṣatriya
to be in the battlefield and to become nonviolent is the philosophy of fools. In the
Parāśara-smṛti
or religious codes made by Parāśara, the great sage and father of Vyāsadeva, it is stated:

kṣatriyo hi prajā rakṣan śastra-pāṇiḥ pradaṇḍayan
nirjitya parasainyādi kṣitiṁ dharmeṇa pālayet.

"The
kṣatriya's
duty is to protect the citizens from all kinds of difficulties, and for that reason he has to apply violence in suitable cases for law and order. Therefore he has to conquer the soldiers of inimical kings, and thus, with
religious principles,
he should rule over the world."

Considering all aspects, Arjuna had no reason to refrain from fighting. If he should conquer his enemies, he would enjoy the kingdom; and if he should die in the battle, he would be elevated to the heavenly planets whose doors were wide open to him. Fighting would be for his benefit in either case.

Bg 2.33

TEXT 33

TEXT

atha cet tvam imaṁ dharmyaṁ

saṅgrāmaṁ na kariṣyasi

tataḥ sva-dharmaṁ kīrtiṁ ca

hitvā pāpam avāpsyasi

SYNONYMS

atha-
therefore;
cet-
if;
tvam-
you;
imam-
this;
dharmyam-
religious duty;
saṅgrāmam-
fighting;
na-
do not;
kariṣyasi-
perform;
tataḥ-
then;
svadharmam-
your religious duty;
kīrtim--
reputation;
ca-
also;
hitvā-
losing;
pāpam-
sinful reaction;
avāpsyasi-
do gain.

TRANSLATION

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.

PURPORT

Arjuna was a famous fighter, and he attained fame by fighting many great demigods, including even Lord Śiva. After fighting and defeating Lord Śiva in the dress of a hunter, Arjuna pleased the Lord and received as a reward a weapon called
pāśupata-astra.
Everyone knew that he was a great warrior. Even Droṇācārya gave him benediction and awarded him the special weapon by which he could kill even his teacher. So he was credited with so many military certificates from many authorities, including his adopted father Indra, the heavenly king. But if he abandoned the battle, he would not only neglect his specific duty as a
kṣatriya,
but he would lose all his fame and good name and thus prepare his royal road to hell. In other words, he would go to hell, not by fighting, but by withdrawing from battle.

Bg 2.34

TEXT 34

TEXT

akīrtiṁ cāpi bhūtāni

kathayiṣyanti te 'vyayām

sambhāvitasya cākīrtir

maraṇād atiricyate

SYNONYMS

akīrtim-
infamy;
ca-
also;
api-
over and above;
bhūtāni-
all people;
kathayiṣyanti-
will speak; te-of you;
avyayām-
forever;
sambhāvitasya-
for a respectable man;
ca-
also;
akīrtiḥ-
ill fame;
maraṇāt-
than death;
atiricyate-
becomes more than.

TRANSLATION

People will always speak of your infamy, and for one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death.

PURPORT

Both as friend and philosopher to Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa now gives His final judgement regarding Arjuna's refusal to fight. The Lord says, "Arjuna, if you leave the battlefield, people will call you a coward even before your actual flight. And if you think that people may call you bad names but that you will save your life by fleeing the battlefield, then My advice is that you'd do better to die in the battle. For a respectable man like you, ill fame is worse than death. So, you should not flee for fear of your life; better to die in the battle. That will save you from the ill fame of misusing My friendship and from losing your prestige in society."

So, the final judgement of the Lord was for Arjuna to die in the battle and not withdraw.

Bg 2.35

TEXT 35

TEXT

bhayād raṇād uparataṁ

maṁsyante tvāṁ mahā-rathāḥ

yeṣāṁ ca tvaṁ bahu-mato

bhūtvā yāsyasi lāghavam

SYNONYMS

bhayāt-
out of fear;
raṇāt-
from the battlefield;
uparatam-
ceased;
maṁsyante-
will consider;
tvām-
unto you;
mahā-rathāḥ-
the great generals;
yeṣām-
of those who;
ca-
also;
tvam-
you;
bahu-mataḥ-
in great estimation;
bhūtvā-
will become;
yāsyasi-
will go;
lāghavam-
decreased in value.

TRANSLATION

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.

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa continued to give His verdict to Arjuna: "Do not think that the great generals like Duryodhana, Karṇa, and other contemporaries will think that you have left the battlefield out of compassion for your brothers and grandfather. They will think that you have left out of fear for your life. And thus their high estimation of your personality will go to hell."

Bg 2.36

TEXT 36

TEXT

avācya-vādāṁś ca bahūn

vadiṣyanti tavāhitāḥ

nindantas tava sāmarthyaṁ

tato duḥkhataraṁ nu kim

SYNONYMS

avācya-
unkind;
vādān-
fabricated words;
ca-
also;
bahūn-
many;
vadiṣyanti-
will say;
tava-
your;
ahitāḥ-
enemies;
nindantaḥ-
while vilifying;
tava-
your;
sāmarthyam-
ability;
tataḥ-
thereafter;
duḥkhataram-
more painful;
nu-
of course;
kim-
what is there.

TRANSLATION

Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and scorn your ability. What could be more painful for you?

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa was astonished in the beginning at Arjuna's uncalled-for plea for compassion, and He described his compassion as befitting the non-Aryans. Now in so many words, He has proved His statements against Arjuna's so-called compassion.

Bg 2.37

TEXT 37

TEXT

hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṁ

jitvā vā bhokṣyase mahīm

tasmād uttiṣṭha kaunteya

yuddhāya kṛta-niścayaḥ

SYNONYMS

hataḥ-
being killed;
vā-
either;
prāpsyasi-
you gain;
svargam-
the heavenly kingdom;
jitvā-
by conquering;
vā-
or;
bhokṣyase-
you enjoy;
mahīm-
the world;
tasmāt-
therefore;
uttiṣṭha-
get up;
kaunteya
-O son of Kuntī;
yuddhāya-
to fight;
kṛta-
determination;
niścayaḥ-
uncertainty.

TRANSLATION

O son of Kuntī, 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.

PURPORT

Even though there was no certainty of victory for Arjuna's side, he still had to fight; for, even being killed there, he could be elevated into the heavenly planets.

Bg 2.38

TEXT 38

TEXT

sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā

lābhālābhau jayājayau

tato yuddhāya yujyasva

naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi

SYNONYMS

sukha-
happiness;
duḥkhe-
in distress;
same-
in equanimity;
kṛtvā-
doing so;
lābhālābhau-
both in loss and profit;
jayājayau-
both in defeat and victory;
tataḥ-
thereafter;
yuddhāya-
for the sake of fighting;
yujyasva-
do fight;
na-
never;
evam-
in this way;
pāpam-
sinful reaction;
avāpsyasi
-you will gain.

TRANSLATION

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.

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa now directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of fighting because He desires the battle. There is no consideration of happiness or distress, profit or gain, victory or defeat in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That everything should be performed for the sake of Kṛṣṇa is transcendental consciousness; so there is no reaction to material activities. He who acts for his own sense gratification, either in goodness or in passion, is subject to the reaction, good or bad. But he who has completely surrendered himself in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is no longer obliged to anyone, nor is he a debtor to anyone, as one is in the ordinary course of activities. It is said:

devarṣi-bhutāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṝṇāṁ
na kiṅkaro nāyamṛṇī ca rājan
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam

(Bhag. 11.5.41)

"Anyone who has completely surrendered unto Kṛṣṇa, Mukunda, giving up all other duties, is no longer a debtor, nor is he obliged to anyone-not the demigods, nor the sages, nor the people in general, nor kinsmen, nor humanity, nor forefathers." That is the indirect hint given by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna in this verse, and the matter will be more clearly explained in the following verses.

Bg 2.39

TEXT 39

TEXT

eṣā te 'bhihitā sāṅkhye

buddhir yoge tv imāṁ śṛṇu

buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha

karma-bandhaṁ prahāsyasi

SYNONYMS

eṣā-
all these;
te-
unto you;
abhihitā-
described;
śāṅkhye-
by analytical study;
buddhiḥ-
intelligence;
yoge-
work without fruitive result;
tu-
but; imām-this;
śṛṇu-
just hear;
buddhyā-
by intelligence;
yuktaḥ-
dovetailed;
yayā-
by which;
pārtha-
O son of Pṛthā;
karma-bandham-
bondage of reaction;
prahāsyasi-
you can be released from.

TRANSLATION

Thus far I have declared to you the analytical knowledge of sāṅkhya philosophy. Now listen to the knowledge of yoga whereby one works without fruitive result. O son of Pṛthā, when you act by such intelligence, you can free yourself from the bondage of works.

PURPORT

According to the
Nirukti,
or the Vedic dictionary,
saṅkhya
means that which describes phenomena in detail, and
saṅkhya
refers to that philosophy which describes the real nature of the soul. And
yoga
involves controlling the senses. Arjuna's proposal not to fight was based on sense gratification. Forgetting his prime duty, he wanted to cease fighting because he thought that by not killing his relatives and kinsmen he would be happier than by enjoying the kingdom by conquering his cousins and brothers, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. In both ways, the basic principles were for sense gratification. Happiness derived from conquering them and happiness derived by seeing kinsmen alive are both on the basis of persona1 sense gratification, for there is a sacrifice of wisdom and duty. Kṛṣṇa, therefore, wanted to explain to Arjuna that by killing the body of his grandfather he would not be killing the soul proper, and He explained that all individual persons, including the Lord Himself, are eternal individuals; they were individuals in the past, they are individuals in the present, and they will continue to remain individuals in the future, because all of us are individual souls eternally, and we simply change our bodily dress in different manners. But, actually, we keep our individuality even after liberation from the bondage of material dress. An analytical study of the soul and the body has been very graphically explained by Lord Kṛṣṇa. And this descriptive knowledge of the soul and the body from different angles of vision has been described here as
sāṅkhya, in
terms of the
Nirukti
dictionary. This
sāṅkhya
has nothing to do with the
sāṅkhya
philosophy of the atheist Kapila. Long before the imposter Kapila's
sāṅkhya,
the
sāṅkhya
philosophy was expounded in the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
by the true Lord Kapila, the incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who explained it to His mother, Devahūti. It is clearly explained by Him that the
Puruṣa,
or the Supreme Lord, is active and that He creates by looking over the
prakṛti.
This is accepted in the
Vedas
and in the
Gītā.
The description in the
Vedas
indicates that the Lord glanced over the
prakṛti,
or nature, and impregnated it with atomic individuals souls. All these individuals are working in the material world for sense gratification, and under the spell of material energy they are thinking of being enjoyers. This mentality is dragged to the last point of liberation when the living entity wants to become one with the Lord. This is the last snare of
māyā
or sense gratificatory illusion, and it is only after many, many births of such sense gratificatory activities that a great soul surrenders unto Vāsudeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa, thereby fulfilling the search after the ultimate truth.