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The Path of
Knowledge
1.Said Sanjaya," Seeing Arjuna thus
filled with compassion, his tearful eyes and melancholic mood,
Madhusudhana spoke these words."
2.The Supreme
Lord said, " From where did these impure thoughts came to you at
this critical juncture, thoughts of a disrespectful man, that cause
infamy and disqualify one from heavenly life?
3."O Chastiser
of Enemies, do not succumb to cowardliness. It does not suit you.
Give up the lowly weakness of your heart and stand up."
4.Arjuna said,
" O Madhusudhana, how can I fight against persons like Bhishma and
Drona, countering them with arrows, when they are fit for
worship?
5."It is
better to lead the life of a beggar in this world than to kill these
great souls who are my teachers and superiors. If we kill them we
have to live and enjoy the rest of our lives with blood stained
hands.
6."Nor do we
know what is good for us, whether to conquer them or be conquered by
them. Certainly by killing the sons of Dhritarashtra, we would not
wish to live. Yet they are all now standing there in front of us in
the battle field.
7."Afflicted
with the impurity of meekness and confused in my heart as to my duty
(dharma), I am beseeching you to tell me clearly what is in my
interest. I am now your disciple. Please do instruct me and help me
as I have now surrendered to you.
8."Even if I
have sovereignty over an unrivalled and prosperous kingdom of the
divinities in heaven, I do not think I will be able to drive away my
grief that is now drying up my senses."
9.Sanjaya
said, "Thus expressing (his grief) to Krishna, Arjuna said to Him,'
I will not fight,' and became silent.
10."O
Dhritarashtra, at that time, amidst the battle filed, with a gentle
smile, Krishna spoke the following words to the grief stricken
Arjuna."
11.The supreme
Lord said, "You are grieving for that which is not to be grieved
for. Yet you are speaking like a great scholar. A true scholar would
not worry about life that has ended or not ended.
12."There was
never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings. Nor
will we ever cease to exist in future.
13."Just as
the embodied soul passes from childhood to youth to old age, it also
passes from one body to another. The undaunted person therefore is
not deluded.
14."Heat and
cold, pleasure and pain arise merely because of the contact of the
senses with the sense objects. They are fleeting. Therefore O
Arjuna, try to tolerate them.
15."O chief
among men, that person is eligible for immortality who is not
troubled by the sense and who is equal in both happiness and sorrow.
16."Asat
(unreality) knows nothing about existence while Sat (reality) of
non-existence. The seers who had the vision of both concluded thus
about the two.
17."Know that
which is pervading all this as indestructible. No one is capable of
destroying it.
18."This
physical body is perishable. But the embodied soul is described as
indestructible, eternal and immeasurable. Therefore do fight O
Bharata.
19."Neither
the one who thinks it kills nor the one who thinks it is killed do
not know the truth. This neither kills nor gets killed.
20."The soul
is never born nor does it die at any time. It has neither past nor
future. It is unborn, ever existing, permanent and ancient. When the
body is slain neither it is killed not it kills.
21."O Partha,
he who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and
inexhaustible, how can he injure or kill any one?
22."Just as a
man discards worn out clothes and puts on new clothes, the soul
discards worn out bodies and wears new ones.
23."The soul
cannot be pierced by weapons, burnt by fire, moistened by water or
dried by wind.
24."The soul
is impenetrable, incombustible, unchangeable, , certainly ever
existing, all-pervading, fixed, immovable, and ever
continuing.
25."It is said
that the soul is unmanifest, incognizible,and immutable. Knowing
this about the soul you should not grieve.
26."Even if
you think that the soul is subject to birth and death, then also
there is no cause for worry, O mighty armed.
27."It is a
fact that that which is born is certain to die and that the one
which has died is bound to take birth. There do not worry about
doing an unavoidable.
28."All
created beings were unmanifest in the beginning, manifest themselves
in the middle and become unmanifest again when they die in the end.
If this is so then where is the need for lamentation?
29."Some
behold the soul with amazement, some speak of it with amazement.
Some hear of it with amazement, yet some even after hearing about it
know it not.
30."The soul
that exists in the body of everyone cannot be slaughtered. Therefore
you need not have to lament over the death any living being.
31."Besides
considering your duty as a warrior also, you should not dither since
for the sake of your duty as a warrior there is no better engagement
for you than fighting.
32."Happy
indeed are those warriors, who reach unexpectedly the wide open
portal of heaven unsought by getting an opportunity like this to
fight. Therefore O Partha, take advantage of this situation and
fight.
33."Besides,
if you do not fight this righteous war and perform your prescribed
duty as a warrior, you will lose your reputation as a famous warrior
and incur sin.
34."People
will narrate forever stories of your infamy. For a respectable man
infamy is worse than death.
35."The great
charioteers, who hold you in great esteem, would say that you ran
away from the battle field out of fear. Thus your reputation will go
down.
36."Your
enemies will blame your abilities using many unkind words. What
could be more painful than this?
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