Dekhiya Arjune Sei Asrujale

Sanjaya said: Seeing
Arjuna full of compassion and very sorrowful, his eyes brimming with tears, Madhusudana,
Krsna, spoke the following words.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sanjaya said: Having
spoken thus, Arjuna, chastiser of enemies, told Krsna, "Govinda, I shall
not fight," and fell silent.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Know that which
pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one is able to destroy the
imperishable soul.

Only the material body
of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is subject to
destruction; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.

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.

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.

O Partha, how can a
person who knows that the soul is indestructible, unborn, eternal and immutable,
kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?

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.

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.

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.

It is said that the
soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you
should not grieve for the body.

If, however, you think
that the soul is perpetually born and always dies, still you still have no
reason to lament, O mighty-armed.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Be steadfast in yoga, O
Arjuna. Perform your duty and abandon all attachment to success or failure. Such
evenness of mind is called yoga.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

One who restrains his
senses and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady
intelligence.

While contemplating the
objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such
attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Therefore, O mighty-armed,
one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady
intelligence.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thus Bhaktivedanta
sings the song of Sri Gita, with the hope that hearing this, Krsna conscious
pure devotees will be pleased.