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Bhagavad
Gita - February 01, 2008
Chapter
2, Verses: 33-38
Swami
Yogatmananda
Vedanta
Society of Providence
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II.33-36:
On
the other hand, if you will not fight this righteous battle, then forsaking
your own duty and fame, you will incur sin.
People will also speak of your unedning infamy. And to an honored
person infamy is worse than death. The great chariot-riders will think
of you as having desisted from the fight out of fear; and you will fall
into disgrace before them to whom you had been estimable. And your enemies
will speak many indecent words while denigrating your might. What can
be more painful than that?
II.37:
Either by being killed you will attain heaven, or by winning you will
enjoy earth. Therefore, O Arjuna, rise up with determination for fighting.
II.38:
Treating happiness and sorrow, gain and loss and conquest and defeat
with equanimity, then engage in battle. Thus, you will not incur sin.
The
above image is from Gita Darshan by courtesy of Sri
Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad.
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Summary
of this lecture:
Sri Krishna knows that Arjuna (and most of us too) are not capable of
feeling the immortal indwelling self and thus cannot act on the basis
of its existence. The mundane social considerations govern our behavior
more than the spiritual concerns. So Sri Krishna is telling Arjuna:
look at your duty! The idea of duty is held very high in our mundane
concerns; whether we like it or not, we all have to do our duty. The
whole social fabric heavily depends on concept of duty. So Arjuna is
told that you should not quit the war because it is your duty to fight;
you have pledged the war on the Kauravas, you have your brothers, mother,
wife - the whole family -- looking up to you; and now at the last moment
you want to run away! That is terrible dereliction of duty.
Then you will have to put up with the ridicule that your enemies will
be hurling at you. They will be calling you a coward who chickened out.
A highly respected champion warrior that you are - this ridicule will
sting you worse than death and it will stick to you forever. Even if
you die fighting, it will bring you heavenly hereafter since you died
fighting for the righteous cause; on the other hand, if you quit, you
will not be doing duty, inviting severe criticism and sin.
So, transcending the considerations of pleasure-pain, gain-loss, victory
-defeat determinedly stand up to fight the battle.
Now will begin the discussion on practicalizing the self-knowledge
through Yoga!
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