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Chapter II |  |
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Chapters
sanjaya uvaca tam tatha krpayavistam Sanjaya said: 1. Madhusudana spoke these words to him who was thus overwhelmed with compassion and drowned in distress, and whose eyes were drenched in tears of despondency. sri-bhagavan uvaca kutas tva kasmalam idam The Blessed Lord Said: 2. Whence has this unmanly, heaven-barring and shameful dejection come upon you, at this juncture, O Arjuna? klaibyam ma sma gamah partha 3. Yield not, O Partha, to feebleness. It does not befit you. Cast off this petty faint-heartedness. Wake up, O vanquisher of foes! arjuna uvaca katham bhismam aham sankhye Arjuna said: 4. O slayer of Madhu, O slayer of foes, how shall I with arrow counter-attack Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of worship? gurun ahatva hi mahanubhavan 5. It would be better to live in this world by begging than to slay these great-soul who are my teachers. But if I kill them, my enjoyment of wealth and desires in this world itself will be stained with blood. na caitad vidmah kataran no gariyo 6. Whether we should conquer them, or they conquer us - I do not know which would be better. These very sons of Dhrtarashtra stand before us after slaying whom we should not care to live. karpanya-dosopahata-svabhavah 7. My nature is weighed down with the taint of feeble-mindedness; my understanding is confused as to duty. I entreat you, say definitely what is good for me. I am your disciple, who has taken refuge in you. Do instruct me. na hi prapasyami mamapanudyad 8. I do not find any means to drive away this grief that parches my senses. I will not be able to dispel it even though I was to gain unrivalled and prosperous monarchy on earth or even sovereignty over the celestials. sanjaya uvaca evam uktva hrsikesam Sanjaya said: 9. After addressing the Lord of the senses thus, Gudakesa, the terror to the foes, submitted to Govinda, 'I shall not fight,' and held silence. tam uvaca hrsikesah 10. O Bharata, then smiling, as it were, Hrshikesa spoke these words to the desponding one placed between the two armies. sri-bhagavan uvaca asocyan anvasocas tvam The Blessed Lord said: 11. You grieve for those who should not be grieved for; yet you spell words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. na tv evaham jatu nasam 12. Nor I, nor you, nor any of these ruling princes was ever non-existent before; nor is it that we shall cease to be in the future. dehino 'smin yatha dehe 13. As the indweller in the body experiences childhood, youth and old age in the body, the soul similarly passes on to another body at death. The serene one is not affected thereby by such a change. matra-sparsas tu kaunteya 14. O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress [pleasure and pain], and their disappearance in due course are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They come and go and are impermanent. Bear them patiently, O Bharata. yam hi na vyathayanty ete 15. That man, O the best among men, is eligible for immortality [liberation], whom these do not torment, who is balanced in pain and pleasure and steadfast. nasato vidyate bhavo 16. The unreal [material body] has no existence; the real [the soul] never ceases to be. The seers have realized the truth about both. avinasi tu tad viddhi 17. Know that to be verily indestructible by which all this is pervaded. None can effect the destruction of the Immutable [imperishable soul]. antavanta ime deha 18. These bodies of the Indweller, who is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, are said to have an end. Fight therefore, O Bharata. ya enam vetti hantaram 19. He who holds Atman [the soul] as slayer and he who considers It as the slain, both of them are ignorant. It slays not, nor is It slain. na jayate mriyate va kadacin 20. The Atman [the soul] is neither born nor does It die. Coming into being and ceasing to be do not take place in it. Unborn, eternal, constant and ancient, It is not killed when the body is slain. vedavinasinam nityam 21. He who cognizes the Atman [the soul] as indestructible, eternal, unborn and changeless, how can he slay, O Partha, or cause another to slay? vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya 22. As a man casting off worn-out garments puts on new ones, so the embodied, casting off worn-out bodies enters into others that are new. nainam chindanti sastrani 23. Weapons do not cleave the Atman [the soul], fire burns It not, water wets It not, wind dries It not. acchedyo 'yam adahyo 'yam 24. This Self is uncleavable, incombustible and neither wetted nor dried. It is eternal, all pervading, stable, immovable and everlasting. avyakto 'yam acintyo 'yam 25. This Atman [the soul] is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable, and immutable. Therefore, knowing It as such, you should not grieve for the body. atha cainam nitya-jatam 26. Or, if however you conceive of Atman [the soul] as always born and dies, even then, O mighty armed, you should not lament. jatasya hi dhruvo mrtyur 27. Death is certain of that which is born; birth is certain of that which is dead. You should not therefore lament over the inevitable. avyaktadini bhutani 28. Beings are all, O Bharata, unmanifested in their origin, manifested in their mid-state and unmanifested again in their end. What is the point then for anguish? ascarya-vat pasyati kascid enam 29. One beholds the Self as wonderful; another mentions of It as marvelous; another again hears of It as strange; though hearing about It, cannot understand It at all. dehi nityam avadhyo 'yam 30. This, the indweller in the bodies of all is ever invulnerable [can never be slain], O Bharata. Therefore you should not grieve for any living being. sva-dharmam api caveksya 31. Again, looking at your own duty as well, you should not waver; for, there is nothing better to a Kshatriya than fighting on religious principles. yadrcchaya copapannam 32. Happy are the Kshatriyas, O Partha, who obtain such a warfare that comes unsought as an open gateway to heaven. atha cet tvam imam dharmyam 33. But if you will not wage this righteous warfare, then forfeiting your own duty and honor, you will incur sin. akirtim capi bhutani 34. People will ever recount your infamy. To the honored, infamy [dishonor] is surely worse than death. bhayad ranad uparatam 35. The great chariot-warriors will view you as one fled from the war out of fear; you that were highly esteemed by them will be lightly held. avacya-vadams ca bahun 36. Your enemies will also slander your strength and speak many unseemly words. What could be more painful than that? hato va prapsyasi svargam 37. Slain you will gain heaven; victorious you will enjoy the earth. Therefore get up with determination, O son of Kunti, resolve to fight. sukha-duhkhe same krtva 38. Treating alike pain and pleasure, gain and loss, victory and defeat, engage yourself in the battle. Thus you will incur no sin. esa te 'bhihita sankhye 39. The ideal of Self-knowledge has been presented to you. Now listen as I explain now to the practice thereof. Endowed with it, O Partha, you will break through the bonds of karma [work]. nehabhikrama-naso 'sti 40. In this endeavor there is no loss of attempt; nor is there any adverse effect. The practice of even a little of this dharma protects one from great fear. vyavasayatmika buddhir 41. To the firm-in-mind, O joy of the Kurus, there is in this but one decision; many branching and endless are the decisions of the infirm-in-mind. yam imam puspitam vacam 42. The unwise that delight in the flowery words disputing about the Vedas say that there is nothing other than this. kamatmanah svarga-para 43. Who are desire-ridden, who hold the attainment of heaven as the goal of birth and its activities, whose words are laden with specific rites bringing pleasure and lordship. bhogaisvarya-prasaktanam 44. There is no fixity of mind for them who cling to pleasure and power and whose discrimination for devotional service to the Lord does not take place. trai-gunya-visaya veda 45. The Vedas enumerate the three Gunas. You transcend the three Gunas, O Arjuna. Be free from the pairs of opposites, ever-balanced, unconcerned with getting and keeping and be centered in the Self. yavan artha udapane 46. To an enlightened Brahmana all the Vedas are as useful as a tank of water when there is a flood everywhere. karmany evadhikaras te 47. Seek to perform your duty; but lay not claim to its fruits. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. yoga-sthah kuru karmani 48. Perform action, O Dhananjaya [Arjuna], being fixed in yoga, renouncing attachments, and even-minded in success and failure; such equanimity is called yoga. durena hy avaram karma 49. Motivated karma is, O Dhananjaya, far inferior to that performed in the equanimity of mind; take refuge in the evenness of the mind; wretched are the result-seekers [those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work]. buddhi-yukto jahatiha 50. The one fixed in equanimity of mind frees oneself in this life from vice and virtue alike; therefore devote yourself to yoga; work done to perfection is verily yoga. karma-jam buddhi-yukta hi 51. The wise, imbued with evenness of mind, renouncing the fruits of their actions, freed from the cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all miseries, verily go to the stainless state [back to Godhead]. yada te moha-kalilam 52. When your understanding transcends the dense forest of delusion, then shall you gain indifference to all things heard and those yet to be heard. sruti-vipratipanna te 53. When your intellect, is no longer tossed about by the conflict of opinions, when it has become poised and firmly fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness. arjuna uvaca sthita-prajnasya ka bhasa Arjuna said: 54. What, O Kesava, are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendenc? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk? sri-bhagavan uvaca prajahati yada kaman The Blessed Lord said: 55. When a man abandons, O Partha, all the desires of the heart and is satisfied in the Self, by the Self, then he is said to be one stable in wisdom [pure transcendental consciousness]. duhkhesv anudvigna-manah 56. He whose mind is not perturbed by adversity, who does not crave for happiness, who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is the Muni [sage] of constant wisdom. yah sarvatranabhisnehas 57. He who is unattached everywhere, who is not delighted at receiving good nor dejected at coming by evil, is poised in wisdom. yada samharate cayam 58. When also, like a tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, he can withdraw the senses from sense-objects his wisdom is then set firm. visaya vinivartante 59. The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though not the longing for them. His longing also ceases when he experiences a higher taste; he is fixed in the Supreme. yatato hy api kaunteya 60. The excited senses, O son of Kunti, impetuously carry away the mind of even a wise man, who is striving for perfection. tani sarvani samyamya 61. The yogi, having controlled them all, sits focused on Me as the supreme goal. His wisdom is constant whose senses are under subjugation. dhyayato visayan pumsah 62. Brooding on the objects of senses, man develops attachment to them; from attachment comes desire [lust]; from desire anger sprouts forth. krodhad bhavati sammohah 63. From anger proceeds delusion; from delusion comes confused memory; from confused memory the ruin of reason [intelligence is lost]; due to the ruin of reason he perishes. raga-dvesa-vimuktais tu 64. But the disciplined yogi, moving among objects with the senses under control, and free from attraction and aversion, gains in tranquility. prasade sarva-duhkhanam 65. In tranquility, all his sorrow is destroyed. For the intellect of the tranquil-minded is soon anchored in equilibrium. nasti buddhir ayuktasya 66. There is no wisdom in the fickle-minded; nor is there meditation in him. To the unmeditative there is no peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace? indriyanam hi caratam 67. Just as a gale pushes away a ship on the waters, the mind that yields to the roving senses carries away his discrimination. tasmad yasya maha-baho 68. Therefore, O mighty-armed, his cognition is well poised, and whose senses are completely restrained from their objects. ya nisa sarva-bhutanam 69. That, which is night to all beings, is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings, is night to the Atman-cognizing Muni [introspective sage]. apuryamanam acala-pratistham 70. A person who is is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires - that enters like rivers flow 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. vihaya kaman yah sarvan 71. That man attains Peace who lives devoid of longing, freed from all desires and without the feeling of "I" and "mine." esa brahmi sthitih partha 72. This, O Partha, is the Brahman state. Attaining this, none is bewildered. Being established in it even at the death-hour, a man gets oneness with Brahman. In the Upanishad of the Bhagavad Gita, the knowledge of Brahman, the Supreme, the science of Yoga and the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, this is the second discourse designated: THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE |
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