novelraw Arc 2 - Bhagavad Gītā Parva - Chapter 6 - The Battlefield and the Word of the Divine (Bhagavad Gītā)
Arc 2 - Bhagavad Gītā Parva - Chapter 6 - The Battlefield and the Word of the Divine (Bhagavad Gītā)
Vaiśampāyana said:
Then, O King Janamejaya, when Arjuna, the son of Kuntī, beheld his grandsire Bhīṣma and his revered preceptor Droṇa standing before him, his limbs grew weak, his bow slipped from his hand, and his heart was overcome by sorrow. His eyes were filled with tears; compassion clouded his courage. Seeing him thus, the slayer of Madhu, radiant as a thousand suns, addressed him gently in the midst of the two armies.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Whence, O Arjuna, hath arisen this faint-heartedness in thee?
It is unworthy of a warrior, it bringeth neither fame nor heaven.
Cast off this weakness of spirit, son of Kuntī!
Arise, O scorcher of foes, and stand for battle!”
Vaiśampāyana said, “Thus did the Lord of all beings rebuke Arjuna’s despair, reminding him that grief and indecision are unfit for a kṣatriya, whose path is courage and duty. To yield to sorrow is to lose one’s dharma and one’s honor.”
Arjuna’s Doubt
Arjuna, bowing his head in anguish, answered the Lord of the Universe:
“How, O Mādhava, shall I contend in battle
With Bhīṣma and Droṇa, my elders and guides?
Better to live on alms in peace
Than win blood-stained joys through their death.”
Arjuna’s heart, bound by affection, wavered between dharma and compassion. He could not raise arms against those who had once taught him virtue. Thus he stood trembling, caught in the net of attachment.
“We know not what is better for us—
That we should conquer them or they should conquer us.
Those sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, for whose sake we desire victory,
Stand before us, and we would not wish to live if they are slain.”
Then with folded hands he spoke again:
“My nature is weighed down by pity; my mind is confused about duty.
I am thy disciple, O Kṛṣṇa; instruct me, for I seek refuge in thee.
Even the kingdom of the gods cannot drive away this grief
That withers my senses and darkens my soul.”
Having spoken thus, the mighty-armed Arjuna laid down his bow and fell silent.
The Revelation Begins
Vaiśampāyana said:
Then, O King, Hr̥ṣīkeśa, seeing the son of Pṛthā cast down by sorrow, spoke amid the armies that waited for war. His voice, serene and timeless, echoed through heaven and earth.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Thou grievest for those who deserve not grief,
And speakest words of seeming wisdom.
The truly wise mourn neither for the living
Nor for the dead, O conqueror of foes.”
The Lord begins to unfold the eternal doctrine of the Self, teaching that sorrow arises from ignorance of the soul’s immortality. The body perishes, but the ātman neither dies nor is born.
Śrī Bhagavān continued:
“It is not that I, nor thou, nor these kings, ever were not;
Nor shall we ever cease to be hereafter.
As the embodied soul passes through childhood, youth, and age,
So it takes on another body— the wise are not deluded by this.”
The embodied being journeys through forms as one moves through stages of life. The soul endures; only its coverings change. Thus, Arjuna is urged to look beyond the transitory.
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Śrī Bhagavān said:
“The senses meet their objects, O son of Kuntī,
Bringing heat and cold, pleasure and pain;
They come and go—impermanent, fleeting;
Endure them, O Bharata, with equanimity.”
Pleasure and pain are waves on the surface of existence. He who endures them without agitation attains steadiness and draws near to liberation.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“That which pervades all beings can never perish;
None can destroy the imperishable soul.
These bodies are finite, but the indwelling Spirit is eternal—
Therefore, arise, O Bharata, and fight!”
Kṛṣṇa reminds him that slaying or being slain pertains only to the mortal sheath. The eternal self is untouched, unhurt, unbound.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“He who deems the Self a slayer,
And he who thinks it slain, both err.
It slays not, nor is it slain;
It is unborn, undying, changeless, and ancient.”
The soul neither acts nor is acted upon; birth and death are illusions born of ignorance. Knowing this, one becomes fearless in duty.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“As a man casts off worn-out garments
And puts on others that are new,
So the embodied soul discards old bodies
And enters into others fresh and fair.”
Through this metaphor, the Lord teaches the ease with which the soul transcends bodily death. What perishes is but the garment, not the wearer.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Weapons cleave it not, nor fire burns it,
Water wets it not, nor wind dries it.
It is firm, eternal, unchangeable,
Beyond destruction, invisible, and pure.”
The ātman is beyond the reach of all material forces—it is the witness of all, untouched by decay or dissolution.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Even if thou deemest it ever-born and ever-dying,
Still, O mighty-armed, thou shouldst not grieve.
For to one that is born, death is certain,
And to one that dies, birth is certain again.”
The cycle of birth and death is inevitable for embodied beings. Knowing this, grief serves no purpose; duty alone remains eternal.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Before birth, beings are unmanifest;
Between birth and death, manifest;
After death, again unmanifest—
What cause for sorrow in this?”
The Lord reveals the illusion of individuality: manifestation and dissolution are waves in the same ocean of being. Thus, Arjuna must not lament.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Some behold the Self as a marvel,
Others speak of it as a marvel,
Others hear of it as a marvel,
Yet none truly knows it.”
Even the wise stand in awe of the mystery of consciousness. It can be spoken of, but not captured by speech; it is the seer, not the seen.
The Dharma of the Warrior
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Look to thy own duty, O son of Kuntī;
For a warrior, nothing is higher than righteous battle.
Fortunate are those kṣatriyas who meet such a war—
An open gate to heaven stands before them.”
A battle fought for justice is not sin but sacrifice. To abandon it out of fear or sorrow is to forsake dharma.
“If thou withdraw from this righteous war,
Thou shalt incur sin, lose honor and fame.
Dishonor to the noble is worse than death;
The world will scorn thee as one who feared.”
Kṛṣṇa appeals to Arjuna’s nobility—fame and righteousness are gained by courage; cowardice stains the soul. Whether slain or victorious, a hero attains heaven.
Equanimity and the Path of Yoga
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Regard pleasure and pain, gain and loss,
Victory and defeat alike, O Arjuna.
Engage in battle for battle’s sake—
Thus no sin shall touch thee.”
Detached action, free of desire for result, is the essence of Yoga. In such balance, all karma is purified.
Knowledge and Devotion
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Thy right is to action alone, not to the fruits thereof.
Let not the fruit of work be thy motive,
Nor let thy heart incline to inaction.
Stand firm in Yoga and perform thy duty.”
Here, Kṛṣṇa introduces the immortal doctrine of karma-yoga—acting without attachment. Action is thy field; the outcome belongs to the Divine.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Work done with desire is far inferior to work in Yoga.
Seek refuge in equanimity, O Dhananjaya.
They who crave fruits are miserable indeed;
The wise, through devotion, are free from bondage.”
When one acts with selfless devotion, both good and evil deeds lose their binding power. Freedom lies not in renunciation of work but in renouncing attachment to its result.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“When thy mind crosses the maze of delusion,
Thou shalt grow indifferent to the words once heard.
When thy reason stands steady in contemplation,
Then shalt thou attain true devotion.”
Thus, O King, the Blessed One concluded this portion of His teaching—revealing that steadfast understanding, undisturbed by the play of opposites, is the gateway to liberation.