2.1 Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusudana, Krishna, spoke the following words.
Purport. Material compassion, lamentation and tears in the eyes are all signs of ignorance without any knowledge of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization. The word Madhusudana is significant in this connection. Lord Krishna killed the demon Madhu and Arjuna indicated that Krishna kill the demon of misunderstanding that overtook him in the discharge of his duty. Nobody knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is false. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress, the shirt and coat of the material body. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress is called a shudra or one who laments unnecessarily. Arjuna was a kshatriya, and such lamentation was not expected from him. Lord Krishna was entrusted to dissipate such lamentation of the ignorant man, and as a result the Bhagavad Gita was sung by Him. This chapter is meant for self-realization by analytical study of the material body and the spirit soul explained by the Supreme Authority, Lord Sri Krishna. This realization is possible by working without attachment to fruitive results, being situated in the fixed conception of the real self.
2.2 The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, wherefrom have these dirty things come upon you? They are not at all befitting men who know the values of life. They do not lead to higher planets but to infamy.
Purport. Krishna and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are identical. Therefore Krishna is directly depicted herein as he Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhagavan is the last word in the import of the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding, namely Brahman or impersonal spirit whole, Paramatma or the localized aspect of the Supreme within the heart of all living entities, and Bhagavan or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11) this conception of the Absolute Truth is explained as follows:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti shabdyate
“The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding by the knower of the Absolute Truth and all of them are identical. Such phases of the Absolute Truth are expressed as Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.”
Such three phases of understanding by different persons can be explained by the example of the sun. The sun is also experienced in three different phases, namely the sunshine, the sun disk and the sun planet. One who studies the sunshine only is the preliminary student. One who understands the sun disk is still further advanced and one who can enter into the sun planet is the highest. Ordinary students who are satisfied simply by understanding the sunshine, its universal expansion and glaring effulgence of impersonal nature may be compared with the persons who can realise only the Brahman feature of the Absolute Truth. The student who has further advanced in the matter can know the sun disc and such students are compared with persons who have realized the Paramatma feature of the Absolute Truth. Similarly, he who can enter into the heart of the sun planet is compared with the persons who have realized the personal feature of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Therefore the bhaktas or the transcendentalists who have realized the Bhagavan feature of the Absolute Truth are the topmost transcendentalists, although all students who are engaged in the studies of the sun or the Absolute Truth are engaged in the same subject matter. The sunshine, the sun disk and the inner affairs of the sun planet cannot be separated from one another. Similarly, neither of the three different phases of the Absolute Truth can be separated as different from one another and yet the students of the three different phases are not in the same category.
The word Bhagavan is explained by a great authority, Parashara Muni, the father of Vyasadeva. The Supreme Personality Who possesses all riches, all strength, all reputation, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation is called Bhagavan. There are many persons who may be very rich, very powerful, very beautiful, very famous, very learned and very much detached, but none of them can claim that he is the possessor of all riches, all strength etc. entirely. Such claim is applicable to Krishna only and as such He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No living entity, including Brahma can possess such opulence, neither can Lord Shiva. Nor even Narayana can possess such fullness of opulence as Krishna. And by analytical study of such assets, it is concluded in the Brahma Samhita by Lord Brahma himself that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nobody is equal to or above Him. He is the Primeval Lord or Bhagavan, known as Govinda and is the Supreme Cause of all Causes. It is stated as follows:
isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
“There are many personalities possessing the qualities of Bhagavan, but Krishna is the Supreme of all of them because nobody can excel Him. He is the Supreme Person and His body is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. He is the Primeval Lord Govinda and the cause of all causes.” (Brahma-samhita 5.1)
In the Bhagavatam also there is a list of many incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Krishna is described there as the Original Personality of Godhead, from Whom many, many incarnations and Personalities of Godhead expand. This is what we find:
ete camsha-kalah pumsah
krshnas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari-vyakulam lokam
mrdayanti yuge yuge
“All the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith are either plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.” (SB 1.3.28)
Therefore Krishna is the Original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, the source of both Paramatma and the impersonal Brahman.
In the presence of such Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna’s lamentation for the kinsmen is certainly a dirty thing and therefore Krishna expressed His surprise with the word “kutah” or “wherefrom”. Such dirty thing was never expected from a person belonging to the civilised class of men known as Aryans. The word Aryan is applicable to persons who know the value of life and thus they have a civilisation based on spiritual realisation. Persons who are led by the material conception of life do not know that the aim of life is realization of the Absolute Truth, Vishnu or Bhagavan. Such persons are captivated by the external features of the material world, and therefore they do not know what liberation is. Persons who have no knowledge of liberation from material bondage are called non-Aryans. Although he was a kshatriya, Arjuna, was trying to deviate from his prescribed duties, namely declining to fight. This act of cowardice is described herein as befitting the non-Aryan. Such action of deviating from duty does not help anyone in the progressive life, nor will it give one the opportunity to become famous in the world. Lord Krishna did not approve of the so-called compassion of Arjuna for his kinsmen.
2.3 O son of Kunti or Pritha, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not befit you. Please give up this poor weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.
Purport. Arjuna was addressed as the son of Pritha, who happened to be the sister of Krishna’s father Vasudeva. Therefore Arjuna had a blood relationship with Krishna. If the son of a kshatriya declines to fight, he is called the friend of a kshatriya and not the son of a kshatriya. Such a friend of a kshatriya or friend of a brahmin are unworthy sons of their fathers, and thus Krishna did not like the idea that Arjuna would be called an unworthy son of a kshatriya. Arjuna was the most intimate friend of Krishna, and Krishna was directly guiding him on the chariot; but in spite of all these credits, if he were to give up the battle it would be the most infamous act by Arjuna, along with Krishna, and thus He said that such attitude in Arjuna did not fit his personality. Arjuna might argue that he would give up the battle on the grounds of his magnanimous attitude for the most respectable Bhishma and his relatives, but Krishna liked to counter that such sort of magnanimity was only a weakness of his heart. That was false magnanimity, not approved by any authority. Therefore such kind of magnanimity or so-called non-violence should be given up by persons like Arjuna under the direct guidance of Krishna.
2.4 Arjuna said: O killer of enemies such as Madhu and others, how can I counter-attack in battle worshipful personalities like Bhishma and Drona?
Purport. Respectable superiors like Bhishma, the grandfather, and Dronacharya, the teacher, are always worshipful. Even if they attack, they should not be counterattacked. It is general etiquette that superiors are not to be offered even a verbal fight. Even if they are sometimes harsh in behaviour, they should not be similarly harshly treated. “Then how is it possible for me to counter attack them?” “Did you ever attack your grandfather, Ugrasena, and your teacher, Sandipani Muni?” These were some of the arguments offered by Arjuna to Krishna.
2.5 It is better to live by begging than to live at the cost of the lives of great souls who are my teachers. Even though desiring some profit, they are superiors. If they are killed then everything we enjoy will be tainted with blood.
Purport. According to scriptural codes a teacher who is engaged in something abominable and has lost his sense of discrimination is fit to be abandoned. Bhishma and Drona were obliged to take side with Duryodhana on account of his financial assistance. They should not have accepted such position simply on financial consideration. Under the circumstances, they have lost the respect due to a teacher. Nevertheless Arjuna thinks that still they remain his teachers and superiors, and as such to enjoy material profits after killing them means to enjoy spoils tainted with blood.
2.6 Nor do we know which is better for us – conquering them or being conquered by them. If we killed the sons of Dhritarashtra, we should not care to live. Yet they are are now standing before us on this battlefield.
Purport. Although fighting is the duty of the kshatriya, Arjuna became perplexed about whether he should execute the fighting with a risk of committing unnecessary violence or whether he would refrain from fighting and prefer to live by begging. If he did not conquer the enemy, begging would be his only means of subsistence. There was no certainty of victory either, because the victory may be on either side. They were forced to fight on the right side, for the right cause so even if victory was awaiting them and the sons of Dhrtarashtra were to die in the battle, it would be very difficult for them to live in their absence. That would be, under the circumstances, another kind of defeat for them. All these considerations by Arjuna definitely prove that Arjuna was not only a great devotee of the Lord but that he was highly enlightened and had complete control over his mind and senses. His desire to live by begging, although he was born in the royal household, is another sign of his detachment. It is evident that he fully exhibited the quality of forbearance, and all these qualities combined with his faith in the instruction of his spiritual master, Sri Krishna. It is concluded that Arjuna was quite fit for liberation. Without control of the senses there is no chance of being elevated to the platform of knowledge and without knowledge and devotion, there is no chance of liberation. Arjuna was competent in all these attributes, over and above his enormous attributes in material relationships.
2.7 Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure on account of my miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to kindly tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.
Purport. By nature’s own way the complete system of material activities is the source of perplexity for everyone. At every step there is perplexity and therefore it behooves one to approach the bonafide spiritual master to give one proper guidance for executing the purpose of life. All Vedic literatures advise us to approach a bonafide spiritual master to get free from the perplexities of life, which happen without our desiring them. They appear like the forest fire which takes place without being set by anyone. Similarly, the world situation is such that perplexities of life appear automatically, without our calling for such confusion. Nobody wants fire and yet it takes place and we are perplexed. The Vedic wisdom therefore advises that in order to solve the perplexities of life and to understand the science of the solution, one must approach a spiritual master for initiation with Samit or ingredients for initiation from the spiritual master, who is in the disciplic succession.
A person who has his bona fide spiritual master is supposed to know everything. The purpose of this verse is therefore that one should not remain in miserly perplexities, but must approach a spiritual master.
Who is the man in miserly perplexities? It is he who does not understand the problems of life. The Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad (3.8.10) puts it as follows:
yo va etad aksaram gargy aviditvasmal lokat praiti sa krpanah
“He is the miserly man, who in the human form of life does not make a solution of the problems of life and thus quits this world like the cats and the dogs without understanding the science of self-realization.” This human form of life is a most valuable asset for the living entity to utilise it for solving the problems of life, and one who does not utilise this opportunity properly is a miser. And the opposite number is called the brahmana or the brahmin, who is intelligent enough to utilise this body for making a solution of all problems of life.
atha ya etad aksaram gargi viditvasmal lokat praiti sa brahmanah
The kripanas, ot the miserly persons, waste their time in being overly affectionate for family, society, country etc. in the material conception of life. One is attached to family life, namely to wife, children and other members on the basis of “skin disease”. The kripanas thinks that they would be able to protect their family members from death; or the kripana thinks that his family or society can save him from the verge of death. Such family attachment can be found even in the lower animals, who take care of children also. So Arjuna could understand that his excessive affection for the family members and his eagerness to protect them from death are the causes of his perplexities. These sentiments were both due to his weakness of becoming a miserly man. Actually, he could understand that his duty to fight was awaiting him, and still on account of miserly weakness, he could not discharge his duties. He is aksing therefore Lord Krishna, the Supreme Spiritual Master to provide a definite solution. He offers himself to Krishna as a disciple, and he wants to stop friendly talks. Talks between the master and the disciple are very serious and now Arjuna wants to talk very seriously before the recognised spiritual master. Krishna is therefore the original spiritual master in the science of the Bhagavad Gita and Arjuna is the original disciple for understanding the Bhagavad Gita. How Arjuna understands the Bhagavad Gita is stated in the Bhagavad Gita itself. And yet the foolish mundane scholars explain that one need not submit to Krishna as a person, but to the unborn within Krishna. There is no difference between Krishna’s within and without. And one who has no sense of this understanding in the greatest fool trying to understand Bhagavad Gita. And one who attempts to comment on the Bhagavad Gita without knowing this science is the greatest pretender.
2.8 I can find no means to counteract this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous, unrivalled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven.
Purport. Although Arjuna was putting forward so many arguments on the basis of his knowledge of the principles of religion, moral codes and economic problems, it appears that he was unable to solve his real problem without the help of the spiritual master, Lord Sri Krishna. He can understand that his so-called knowledge is useless to drive away the causes of his lamentation, which were drying up his whole existence, and it was impossible for him to solve such perplexities without the help of a spiritual master like Lord Krishna. Our academic knowledge, scholarship and high position, etc. are all useless in the matter of solving the problems of life without being helped by a spiritual master like Krishna. Therefore, the conclusion is that a spiritual master who is one hundred percent Krishna conscious is the bona fide spiritual master, and he can solve the problems of life. Lord Caitanya said that one who is master in the science of Krishna consciousness, never mind what his position is, is the real spiritual master.
kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, shudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei ‘guru’ haya
“It does not matter whether a person is a vipra (learned scholar in Vedic wisdom) or is born in a lower family, or is in the renounced order of life, if he is master in the science of Krsna, he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual master.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 8.128) So without being a master in the science of Krsna consciousness, nobody is a bona fide spiritual master. It is also said in Vedic literature:
sat-karma-nipuno vipro
mantra-tantra-visharadah
avaishnavo gurur na syad
vaishnavah shva-paco guruh
“A scholarly brahmin, expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a Vaishnava, or expert in the science of Krishna consciousness. But a person born in a family of a lower caste can become a spiritual master if he is a Vaishnava, or Krishna conscious.” (Padma Purana)
Lamentation in the matter of our material existence cannot be counteracted by accumulation of wealth and economic development. In many parts of the world there are many states which are full with all facilities of life i. e. full of wealth and economic development, but yet the lamentation of material existence is present there. They are seeking peace in different ways and they can achieve real happiness if they prefer to consult Krishna or the Bhagavad Gita, or Srimad-Bhagavatam which constitute the science of Krishna, from the bona fide representative of Krishna, or the man in Krishna consciousness.
If economic development and material comforts could drive away the lamentations for family, social, national or international inebrieties, then Arjuna would not have said that even an unrivalled kingdom on earth or supremacy like that of the demigods in the heavenly planets would be unable to drive away his lamentation. He sought, therefore, refuge in Krishna consciousness and that is the right path for peace and harmony. Economic development or supremacy over the world can be finished at any moment by the freaks of material nature. Even elevation to a higher planetary situation, as earthlings are seeking a place on the moon planet, can also be finished at one stroke. The Bhagavad-gita confirms this as: “kshine punye martya-lokam vishanti” (Bg 9.21). When the results of pious activities are finished, one falls down again from the top of happiness to the lowest status of life. Many politicians of the world have fallen down in that way. Such downfalls are still more causes for lamentation. Therefore if we want to curb down lamentation for good, then we have to take shelter of Krishna, as Arjuna is seeking to do. So Arjuna asked Krishna to solve his problem definitely, and that is the way of Krishna consciousness.
2.9 Sanjaya said: Thereafter Arjuna, the chastiser of enemies and master at controlling ignorance informed the master of the senses, Krishna, thus: “O Govinda, reservoir of pleasure, I shall not fight,” and fell silent.
Purport. Dhritarashtra might have been very, very glad to understand that Arjuna was not going to fight, but was instead leaving the battlefield for the begging profession. But Sanjaya depressed him again by mentioning that Arjuna was competent to kill his enemies (Paran-tapah), and therefore, although he was for the time being overwhelmed with false grief on account of family affection, he surrendered as a disciple unto Krishna, the Supreme Spiritual Master. This indicated that he would be free from such false lamentation of family affection and would be enlightened with perfect knowledge of self-realization, or Krishna consciousness, when he would surely fight. Thus Dhritarashtra’s joy was foiled, when Arjuna became more enlightened by Krishna and would fight to the end.
2.10 O Dhritarashtra, descendant of Bharata, at that time Hrishikesha, smiling in the midst of the armies of both parties, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.
Purport. The talks were going on between intimate friends, namely the Hrishikesha and the Gudakesha. As friends both of them were on the same level, but one of them voluntarily came to the level of becoming the student of the other. The other, Lord Krishna, smiled because a friend had accepted to become a disciple. As Lord of all, He is always in the superior position of becoming the master of everyone, and yet the Lord accepts to be a friend, a son, or a lover of the devotee who wants Him in such relationship. But when He was accepted as the master, He at once assumed the position and talked with the disciple with gravity as it is required of the master. It appears that the talks between the master and the disciple were exchanged openly in the presence of both armies so that all of them were benefitted. The talks of Bhagavad Gita, therefore, are not specifically directed at any particular person, society or community, but they are for all, including friends or enemies.
2.11 The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: While speaking learned words, you are lamenting for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are learned lament neither for the dead nor the living bodies.
Purport. The Lord at once took the position of the teacher and chastised the student, calling him indirectly a fool. The Lord said: “You are talking like a learned person, but you do not know that one who is learned, or one who knows what is body and what is soul, does not lament for any stage of the body, whether in a living or dead condition. In later chapters, it will become clear that knowledge means to know matter, spirit and the controller of both. Arjuna argued that religious principles should be given more importance than politics or sociology. But he did not know that knowledge of matter, the soul and the Supreme are more important than religious formularies. And because he was lacking in that knowledge, he should not have posed himself as a very learned man. As he did not happen to be a very learned man, he was lamenting for something which is unworthy of lamentation. The body is born and is destined to be vanquished today or tomorrow. Therefore the body is not as important as the soul. One who knows this is actually learned and for him there is no cause for lamentation for any stage of the material body.
2.12 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.
Purport. In the Vedas, both in the Katha Upanishad, as well as in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the maintainer of innumerable living entities, in terms of their different situations, according to individual work and reaction of work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is also, by His plenary portions, alive in the heart of every living entity and saintly persons who can see within and without, the same Supreme Personality of Godhead can actually attain the perfect peace eternally and nobody else. In Katha Upanishad 2.2.13, we find the following statement:
nityo nityanam cetanash cetananam
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman
tam atma-stham ye ‘nupashyanti dhiras
tesham shantih shashvati netaresham
The same Vedic truth given to Arjuna is given to all persons in the world who pose themselves as very learned superficially but factually have but a poor fund of knowledge. The Lord says clearly that the Lord Himself, Arjuna, and all the kings who assembled on the battlefield are all eternally individual beings and eternally the Lord is the maintainer of the individual living entities, both in their conditioned as well as in their liberated situations. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Individual Person and so also Arjuna, the Lord’s eternal associate, and all the kings assembled there are all individual, eternal persons. It is not that they did not exist as individuals in the past and it is not that in the future also they would not remain as such eternal persons. Their individuality existed in the past and their individuality would continue in the future without any stoppage. Therefore, there is no cause for lamentation for anyone of the individual living entities.
The Mayavadi theory that after liberation the individual soul, separated from the covering of maya or illusion would merge into the impersonal Brahman, without any individual existence, is not supported herein by Lord Krishna, the Supreme Authority. Their theory that in the conditioned state only do we think of individuality is not supported herein. Krishna clearly says herein that in the future also the individuality of the Lord and others, will continue eternally, as it is confirmed in the Upanishads. This statement of Krishna is authoritative because Krishna cannot be in illusion and thus think of individuality. If individuality were not a fact, then Krishna would not have stressed it so much, even for the future. The Mayavadi may argue that the individuality spoken of by Krishna is not spiritual but is material. Even accepting the argument that the individuality is material, then how can one distinguish Krishna’s individuality?
Krishna affirms His individuality in the past and confirm His individuality in the future also. He has confirmed His individuality in so many ways and the impersonal Brahman has been declared as subordinate to Him. Krishna has maintained spiritual individuality all along, and if He is accepted as ordinary conditioned soul in individual consciousness, His Bhagavad Gita has no value for teaching purposes. A common man with all four defects of human frailties is unable to teach that which is worth hearing. Bhagavad Gita is above such literatures. No other book can compare with the Bhagavad Gita. When one accepts Krishna as an ordinary man, the Bhagavad Gita loses its whole importance. The Mayavadi argues that the plurality mentioned in this verse is conventional and refers to the body. But previous to this verse such bodily conception is already condemned. After condemning the bodily conception of the living entities, how was it possible for Krishna to place a conventional proposition on he body again. Therefore, individuality is maintained on spiritual grounds as it is confirmed by great Acharyas like Sri Ramanuja and others. It is clearly mentioned in many places of the Bhagavad Gita that it is understood by those who are devotees of the Lord. Those who are envious of Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead have no bona fide access to the great literature. The non-devotees approach to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita is something like bees licking on the bottle of honey. One cannot have any taste of honey unless one can taste the content of the bottle. Similarly, the mysticism of the Bhagavad Gita can be understood only by the devotees and nobody else, as it is stated in the fourth chapter of the book. Nor can the Bhagavad Gita be touched by such persons who envy the very existence of the Lord. Therefore the Mayavadi explanation of the Bhagavad Gita is the most misleading presentation of the whole truth. Lord Caitanya has forbidden to read any commentaries made by the Mayavadis and opines that one who takes to such understanding of the Mayavadi philosophyloses all potency for understanding the real mystery of the Bhagavad Gita. If the individuality has any reference to the empirical universe, then there was no need of teaching by the Lord. The plurality of the individual soul and that of the Lord is an eternal fact, and it is confirmed by the Vedas as mentioned above.
2.13 As the embodied soul changes his body at every moment from boyhood to youth and then to old age- similarly at the final change of body from one to another, a sober person does not become deluded by such change.
Purport. Every living entity being thus an individual soul, every one of them is changing his body every moment, manifesting sometimes in childhood, sometimes as youth, and sometimes as old man, although the same spirit soul is present without any change. This individual soul finally changes the body by transmigrating from one body to another, and as it is sure to have another body in the next birth-either material or spiritual-there was no cause for lamentation by Arjuna on account of the death either of Bhishma or Drona for whom he was so much concerned. Rather he should rejoice for their changing bodies from old to new ones, and thus rejuvenate their energy. Such changes of body are meant for varieties of enjoyment, or suffering of the living entity, according to one’s own work in this life. So Bhishma and Drona, being both noble souls, will surely have either spiritual bodies in the next life, or at least heavenly bodies for superior enjoyment of material existence. So, in either case there was no cause of lamentation.
Any man who has perfect knowledge of the constitution of the individual souls, the Supersoul and nature- both material and spiritual-is called a dhira or the best sober man. Such a sober man is never deluded by the change of bodies of the living entities.
The Mayavadi theory of oneness of the spirit soul cannot be entertained on the ground that the spirit soul can not be cut into pieces as fragmental portion. Such cutting into different individual souls would make the Supreme cleavable or changeable, against the principle of the Supreme Soul’s being unchangeable. As confirmed in the Bhagavad Gita, such fragmental portions exist eternally (sanatana) and are called “ksara” or having a tendency to fall down into the material nature. These fragmental portions are eternally so, and even after liberation they remain the same- fragmental- but live an eternal life in bliss and knowledge with the Personality of Godhead. The theory of reflection can be applied to the Supersoul, Who is present in each and every individual body of the living entity and He is known as the Paramatma, different from the individual living entity. When the sky is reflected on the water, the reflections represent both the sun or the moon, and the stars also. The stars are compared with the living entities and the sun or the moon is compared to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The individual fragmental spirit soul is represented by Arjuna and the Supreme Soul is the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. They are not on the same level as it will be clear in the beginning of the fourth chapter. If Arjuna is on the same level with Krishna, and Krishna is as good as Arjuna, than such relationship of instructor and being instructed becomes futile. If both of them are deluded by the illusory energy (maya), there is no need of one becoming the instructor and the other becoming the instructed. Such instructions are also useless because in the clutches of maya nobody can be instructor by pretension. Under the circumstances, it is admitted that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord, superior in position to the living entity Arjuna, who is apt to be a forgotten soul under the illusion of maya.
2.14 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 agitated.
Purport. In the matter of proper discharge of duty, one has to learn to tolerate non-permanent appearances and disappearances of happiness and distress. According to Vedic injunctions one has to take his bath early in the morning during the month of Magha (January-February). It is very cold at that time, but in spite of that a man who abides by the religious principles does not hesitate to take his bath at that time. Similarly, a woman does not hesitate to cook in the kitchen in the months of May and June, the hottest part of the summer season. One has to execute his duty in spite of climatic inconveniences. Similarly, to fight is the religious principle of the kshatriyas, and because one has to fight with some friend or relative, one should not deviate from his prescribed duty. One has to follow the prescribed rules and regulations of religious principles in order to rise up to the platform of knowledge, because by knowledge and devotion only can one liberate himself from the clutches of maya (illusion).
The two different names of address given to Arjuna are also significant. To address him as Kaunteya signifies his great blood relations from his mother’s side. And to address him as Bharata signifies his greatness from the father’s side. From both sides he is supposed to have a great heritage. Great heritage brings responsibility in the matter of proper discharge of duties and as such he cannot avoid fighting.
2.15 O best among men (Arjuna), the person who is not disturbed by such happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.
Purport. Anyone who is steady in his determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realisation, and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of distresses and happinesses is certainly the person eligible for liberation. In the institution of the varnashrama system, the fourth stage of life, namely the renounced order of life is a much painstaking situation. But one who is serious about making his life perfect, surely adopts the sannyasa order of life, in spite of all difficulties. The difficulties are not in his living conditions, but the difficulties are to cut off family relationships, to give up the connection of wife and children. But if anyone is able to tolerate such difficulties, surely his path to spiritual realisation is complete. Therefore, in the discharge of duties by Arjuna as a kshatriya he is advised to tolerate, even if there is some difficulty in the matter of fighting with his family members or similarly affectionate persons. Lord Caitanya took sannyasa at the age of twenty four and His dependents, young wife as well as old mother, had nobody else to look after them. Yet for a higher cause, he took sannyasa and was steady in the discharge of higher duties. That is the way of achieving liberation from material bondage.
2.16 By exhaustively studying the nature of both, persons who are seers of the truth, have concluded that there is no endurance of the nonexistent (the material body) and that there no change of the eternal soul.
Purport. There is no endurance of the changing body. That the body is changing every moment by actions and reactions of different corpuscles is admitted by modern medical science and thus growth and old age are taking place in the body. But the spirit soul is permanently existing, the same in all changing circumstances of the body or the mind. That is the difference between matter and spirit. By nature the body is ever changing, and the soul is eternal. This conclusion is established by all classes of seers of the truth, both the personalist and the impersonalist. In the Vishnu Purana (2.12.38) also this truth has been established. It is stated there that Vishnu and His abodes all have self-illuminated spiritual existence “jyotimsi vishnur bhuvanani vishnuh”. The words existent and non-existent only refer to spirit and matter always. That is the version of all seers of truth.
This is the beginning of the instructions by the Lord to the living entities who are bewildered by the influence of ignorance. Removal of this ignorance mean reestablishment of the eternal relationship between the worshiper and the worshipful, or the realisation of the difference between the part and parcel living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One can understand the nature of the Supreme by thorough study of oneself, and the difference between the two is understood as that between the part and the whole. In the Vedanta Sutras, as well as in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Supreme has been accepted as the origin of all emanations. Such emanations are experienced by superior and inferior natural sequences. The living entities belong to the superior nature as it will be revealed in the seventh chapter. Although there is no difference between the energy and the energetic, the energetic is accepted as the Supreme and nature is accepted as the subordinate. The relationship of the living entities therefore is always subordinate to the Supreme Lord, as the master and the servant, or the teacher and the taught. Such clear knowledge is impossible to understand under the spell of ignorance, and to drive away such ignorance of the living entity, the Lord instructs the Bhagavad Gita for the enlightenment of all living entities for all times.
2.17 That which pervades the entire body is to be known as indestructible. As such no one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.
Purport. This verse more clearly explains the real nature of the soul, which is spread all over the body. Anyone can understand what is spread all over the body: it is consciousness. Everyone is conscious of the pains and pleasures of the body in part or as a whole. The spreading of consciousness is limited within one’s own body. The pains and pleasures of one body are unknown to the other. Therefore, each and every body is the embodiment of an individual soul, and the symptoms of the soul’s presence is perceived as individual consciousness. This soul is described as one ten-thousands part of the upper portion of the hair point in size. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad (5.9) confirms this follows:
balagra-shata-bhagasya
shatadha kalpitasya ca
bhago jivah sa vijneyah
sa canantyaya kalpate
“When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each such parts is divided into further one hundred parts, such one part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul.” Similarly, in the Caitanya Caritamrta,Madhya 19.140 the same version is stated as follow:
keshagra-shata-bhagasya
shatamshah sadrishatmakah
jivah sukshma-svarupo ‘yam
sankhyatito hi cit-kanah
“There are innumerable particles of spiritual atoms, which are measured as one ten-thousandth of the upper portion of ahair.”
Therefore, the individual particle of spirit soul is a spiritual atom smaller than the material atoms and such atoms are counted as innumerable. This small or very small spiritual spark is the basic principle of the material body, and the influence of such spiritual spark is spread all over the body, as the influence of the active principle of some medicine spreads all over the body. This current of the spirit soul is felt all over the body as consciousness and is the proof of the presence of the soul. Any layman can understand that the material body minus consciousness is a dead body. And this consciousness of the body cannot be returned by any means of material administration. Therefore, consciousness is not due to any amount of material combination, but it is due to the spirit soul.
In the Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.9) this measurement of the atomic spirit soul is further explained as follows:
esho ‘nur atma cetasa veditavyo
yasmin pranah pancadha samvivesha
pranaish cittam sarvam otam prajanam
yasmin vishuddhe vibhavaty esha atma
“The soul is atomic in size and this can be perceived by perfect intelligence. This atomic soul is floating in the five kinds of air (prana, apana, vyana, samana and udana), and is placed within the heart, spreading its influence all over the body of the embodied living entities. When such a soul is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of material air, at that time the spiritual influence of the soul is exhibited.”
The hatha-yoga system is meant for controlling the five kinds of air encircling the pure soul by different kinds of sitting postures, not for any material profit, but for liberation of the minute soul from the entanglement of the material atmosphere.
So the constitution of the atomic soul is admitted in all Vedic literatures, and it is actually felt also in the practical experience of any sane man. Only the insane man can think of this atomic soul as all-pervading Vishnu-tattva. The influence of the atomic soul can be spread all over a particular body.
According to Mundaka Upanishad, this atomic soul is situated in the heart of every living entity,, and because the measurement of the atomic soul is beyond the power of appreciation of the material scientists, some of them assert very foolishly that there is no soul, or something like that. The individual atomic soul is definitely there in the heart, as well as the Supersoul, and thus all energies of the bodily movement are emanating from this part of the body. The corpuscles which carry the oxygen from the lungs gather energy from the soul. When the soul passes away from this position, the activity of the blood, generating fusion, ceases. Medical science accepts the importance of the red corpuscles, but it cannot ascertain that the source of the energy is the soul. Medical science, however, admits that the heart is the seat of all energies of the bodily physiology.
Such atomic particles of the Spirit Whole are compared to sunshine molecules. In the sunshine there are innumerable radiant molecules. And similarly, the fragmental parts of the Supreme Lord are atomic sparks of the rays of the Supreme Lord, called by the name “prabha” or superior energy. So either by Vedic knowledge or by modern science nobody can deny the existence of the spirit soul in the body and the science of such spiritual existence is directly described in the Bhagavad Gita by the Personality of Godhead Himself.
2.18 The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end: therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.
Purport. The material body is perishable by nature. It may perish immediately, or may do so after a hundred years. It is a question of time only. There is no chance to avoid its destruction. But the living entity is so minute that he cannot even be seen by the enemy, what to speak of killing him. As mentioned in the previous verse, it is so small that nobody can have any idea how to measure his dimension. So from both viewpoints there is no cause for lamentation because the living entity as he is cannot be killed nor can the material body, which cannot be saved for any length of time, be permanently protected. The small minute particle of the whole spirit acquires this material body according to his work and thus observance of religious principles can be utilised only. In the Vedanta-sutras the living entity is qualified as light because he is part and parcel of the supreme light. As the sunlight maintains the entire universe, similarly the light of the soul maintains this material body. As soon as the spirit soul is out of the material body, the body begins to decompose, and thus it is the spirit soul which maintains this body. The body is therefore immaterial and thus Arjuna was advised to fight without consideration of the material body and not sacrifice the cause of religion instead.
2.19 Anyone who thinks that the living entity is killing somebody or that a living entity is being killed by others, does not know anything. One who is in knowledge knows that nobody kills anybody and nobody is killed by anybody.
Purport. When an embodied living entity is hurt by fatal weapons, it is to be known that the living entity within the body is not killed. The spirit soul is so small that it is impossible to kill him by any material weapon, as will be evident from the subsequent verses. Nor is the living entity killable, on account of his spiritual constitution. What is killed or is supposed to be killed is the body only. This, however does not encourage killing of the body at all. The Vedic injunction is “ma himsyat sarva bhutani” never commit violence to anybody. To understand that a living entity is not killed does not mean encouraging animal slaughter. Even killing of the body of anyone without authority is abominable and punishable by the law of the state as well as by the law of the Lord. Arjuna, however, is being engaged in the matter of killing on theprinciple of religion and not whimsically.
2.20 For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. Neither does he come into being, will come into existence or has come into existence. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, primeval and never dies even after the annihilation of the body.
Purport. Qualitatively, the small atomic fragmental part of the Supreme Spirit is one with the Supreme. He has no changes like the body. Sometimes the soul is called the steady, or kutastha. The body has six kinds of transformations. The body takes its birth from the womb of the mother’s body, takes its growth, remains for some time, produces some effects, gradually dwindles and at last vanishes into oblivion. The soul, however does not undergo such changes of the body. The soul is not born, but because he takes shelter of the material body, the body takes its birth, on account of the soul. The soul does not take birth, therefore the soul does not die. Anything which has birth has also death. And because the soul has no birth, therefore he has no past, present and future. He is eternal and ever existing, although being the oldest, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth, etc. of the soul. Denial of his future means the soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels in the same spirit as he felt in his childhood or youth. The changes of the body do not affect the soul. The soul does not deteriorate like a tree, or anything material. The soul has no by-product either. The by-products of the body namely the children, are also different individual souls. They appear as children of a particular man on account of the body. The body develops on account of the soul’s presence, but the soul has neither offshoots nor change. Therefore, the soul is free from the six kinds of changes of the body.
In the Kathopanishad (1.2.18) also we find a similar passage, which reads as follows:
na jayate mriyate va vipashcin
nayam kutashcin na babhuva kashcit
ajo nityah shashvato ‘yam purano
na hanyate hanyamane sharire
The meaning and purport of this verse is the same as in the Bhagavad Gita, but here in this verse there is one special word, vipashcit, which means learned with knowledge.
The soul is full of knowledge, or full always with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, where he is situated, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do no find the sun in the sky due to clouds, or for any other reason. But the light of the sun is always there, and we are convinced that it is therefore daytime. As soon as there is little light in the sky, early in the morning, we can understand that the sun is in the sky. Similarly, as there is a little consciousness in any sort of body-never mind man or animal-we can understand the presence of the soul. This consciousness of the soul is, however, different from the consciousness of the Supreme because the supreme consciousness is all knowledge-past present and future. The consciousness of the individual soul is prone to be forgetful. When he is forgetful of his real nature, he obtains education and enlightenment from the superior lessons of Krishna. But Krishna is not like the forgetful soul, otherwise Krishna’s teachings of Bhagavad Gita becomes useless. Therefore thereare two kinds of souls-namely the minute particle soul (anu-atma) and the Supersoul (vibhu-atma). This is also confirmed in the Katha Upanishad (1.1.20) in this way:
anor aniyan mahato mahiyan
atmasya jantor nihito guhayam
tam akratuh pashyati vita-shoko
dhatuh prasadan mahimanam atmanah
“Both the Supersoul (Paramatma) and the atomic soul (Jivatma) are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of the living being, and one who has become free from all material desires as well as lamentations, only he can, by the grace of the Supreme, understand the glories of the soul.” Therefore Krishna is the fountainhead of the Supersoul also, as it will be disclosed in the following chapters, and Arjuna is the atomic soul, forgetful of his real nature, and thus he requires to be enlightened by Krishna, or His bonafide representative, (the spiritual master) for the enlightenment of the atomic souls.
2.21 O Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn, and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?
Purport. Everything has its proper utility, and a man who is situated in complete knowledge knows how and where to apply a thing for its proper utility. Similarly violence has also its utility and it depends on the person in knowledge how to apply violence. Just like the justice of peace awards capital punishment to a person condemned for murder, but the justice of peace cannot be blamed, because he orders violence to another person according to the codes of justice. In Manu-Samhita, the law book for mankind, it is supported that a murderer should be condemned to death, so that in the next life he does not require to suffer for the great sin he has committed. Therefore the king’s punishment to hang a murderer is actually beneficial to him. Similarly, when Krishna orders fighting it must be concluded that such violence is for supreme justice, and as such Arjuna should follow the instruction, knowing it well that such violence committed in the act of fighting for justice is not at all violence. Because at any rate the man or the soul is not going to be killed, but for the administration of justice, so-called violence is permitted. A surgical operation is not meant to kill the patient, but it is meant for his cure. Therefore the instigation for fighting to be executed by Arjuna, in terms of the instruction of Krishna is with full knowledge, and there is no possibility of sinful reaction in such activities of Krishna and Arjuna.
2.22 As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly the soul accepts other, new material bodies, giving up the present old and useless bodies.
Purport. Change of body by the atomic individual soul is an accepted fact. Even the modern scientists who do not believe in the existence of the soul, but at the same time cannot explain the source of energy from the heart, have to accept continuous changes of body which appear as body changes from childhood to boyhood and from boyhood to youth and again from youth to old age. And from old age, the change is transferred to another body. This is already explained in a previous verse (BG 2.13).
Transference of the atomic individual soul to another body is also made possible by the grace of the Supersoul. The Supersoul fulfils the desire of the atomic soul as a friend fulfils the desire of another. The Vedas like the Mundaka Upanishad, as well as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad confirm two kinds of souls by comparing them to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One of the birds (the individual atomic soul) is eating the fruits of the tree and the other bird is simply watching his friend. Of these two birds-although one in quality as birds-one of them is still captivated by the fruits of the material tree, whereas the other is simply a witness to the activities of his friend. Krishna is the witnessing bird, and Arjuna is the eating bird. Although they are friends, still one is the master and the other is the servant. Forgetfulness of this relationship by the atomic soul is the cause of his changing of position from one tree to another, or from one body to another. The jiva soul is struggling very hard on the tree of the material body, but as soon as he agrees to accept the other bird as the Supreme Spiritual Master- as Arjuna has agreed by voluntary surrender unto Krishna for instruction- then at once the subordinate bird becomes free from all lamentations. Both the Katha Upanishad and the Svetasvatara Upanishad (4.7) confirm this statement as follows:
samane vrkshe purusho nimagno
‘nishaya shocati muhyamanah
jushtam yada pashyaty anyam isham
asya mahimanam iti vita-shokah
“Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face towards his friend Who is the Lord and knows His glories, at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties.”
Arjuna has now turned his face towards his eternal friend Krishna, and is understanding the Bhagavad Gita from Him. And thus, hearing from Krishna he would understand the supreme glories of the Lord, and thus he would be free from the lamentation.
Arjuna is advised herewith by the Lord that he should not be lamenting for the bodily change of his old grandfather and teacher. He should rather be happy to kill them in the righteous fight so that at once they may be cleansed of all reactions of different bodily actions. A living entity who lays down his life on the sacrificial altar, or on the proper battlefield, is at once cleansed of his reactions and promoted to a higher status of life. So there was no cause of lamentation for Arjuna.
2.23 The soul can never be cut into pieces by any kind of weapon, neither can he be burned by fire, nor can he be moistened by water, nor can he be dried up by wind.
Purport. All kinds of weapons-namely the swords, flames of fire, raining, tornado, etc.- all of them are unable to kill the spirit soul. It appears that there were many kinds of weapons made of earth, water, fire, air, ether, etc., as against the modern weapons like fire. Even the nuclear weapons of the modern age belong to fire group of weapons. But formerly there were other weapons made of all different types of material elements. The fire arms were counteracted by water weapons, which are unknown to modern science. Nor do they have knowledge of the tornado weapons. Anyway, the soul is never to be cut into pieces, or annihilated by any kinds of weapons, never mind its composition. The Mayavadi, however, cannot answer how the individual soul came into existence simply by ignorance and thus became covered by the illusory energy. It was never possible to cut the individual souls from the Original Supreme Soul, but they are eternally separated parts and parcels of the Supreme Soul. And because they are atomic individual souls always (sanatana) and eternally, they are prone to be covered by the illusory energy, and thus become separated from the association of the Supreme Lord, just as the spark of the fire, although one in quality with the fire, are prone to be extinguished being out of the fire. In the Varaha Purana, the living entities are described as separated parts and parcels of the Supreme. They are eternally so according to Bhagavad Gita as well. So even after being liberated from illusion, the living entity remains a separate identity, as is evident from the teachings of the Lord to Arjuna. Arjuna became liberated by the knowledge received from Krishna, but never became one with Krishna, as it is contemplated by persons with a poor fund of knowledge.
2.24 This individual soul is unbreakable, cannot be burnt, is insoluble, cannot be dried, is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.
Purport. All these qualifications of the atomic soul definitely prove that the individual soul is eternally the atomic particle of the Spirit Whole and he remains the same atom eternally, without any change. The theory of monism is very difficult to apply in this case, because the individual soul is never expected to become one homogeneously. After liberation from material contamination, such atomic soul may prefer to remain as spiritual spark in the effulgent rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the intelligent class of souls enter into the spiritual planets for association with the Personality of Godhead.
The word “sarvagatah” is significant because there is no doubt that living entities are all over God’s creation. There are living entities on the land, in the water, in the air, within the earth and there are living entities even within the fire also. The belief that the living entities are sterilised in the fire is not acceptable, because it is clearly stated here that the soul cannot be burnt by fire. Therefore there is no doubting it that there are living entities also in the sun planet, with suitable bodies to live there. If the sun globe is without living entities, then the statement “sarvagatah” or “living everywhere” becomes false.
2.25 It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, unchangeable and knowing this to be true you should now give up this lamentation for the body.
Purport. As described herein before, the magnitude of the soul is so small to our material calculation that he cannot be seen even by the most powerful microscope and as such is invisible. So far his existence is concerned nobody can establish his experimental stability beyond the proof of Sruti, or Vedic wisdom. We have to accept the truth because there is no other source of understanding the existence of the soul, although it is a fact by perception. There are so many things and we have to accept them only on the ground of superior authority. Nobody can deny the existence of his father on the authority of his mother. There is no other source of understanding the existence of the father except the mother, Similarly, there is no other source of understanding the soul except the Vedas. In other words, he is inconceivable by human experimental knowledge. The soul is consciousness and conscious also-that is the statement of the Vedas, and we have to accept that. Unlike the bodily changes, there is no change of the soul. As eternally unchangeable, he remains atomic always in comparison to the Infinite Supreme Soul. The Supreme Soul is infinite and the atomic soul is infinitesimal. Therefore, the infinitesimal soul, being unchangeable, can never become equal with the infinite soul, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such things are repeatedly being stated in different ways, just to confirm the stability of the conception of the soul. Repetition of something is to understand the thing nicely, without any error.
2.26 If, however, you think that the life symptoms, or the soul, are always born and die for good, still there is no reason for your lamentation, O mighty-armed.
Purport. There is always a class of philosophers almost akin to the Buddhist philosophy, who do not believe in the existence of the soul separately beyond the body. When Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita, it appears that such philosophers were existing, and they were known as the Lokayatikas and Vaibhashikas. Such philosophers say that the life symptoms take place at a certain mature condition of material combination. The material scientist also think almost like that. According to them, the body is a combination of physical elements and at a certain stage, the life symptoms develop by interaction of the physical and chemical combinations. The science of anthropology is based on this philosophy. If Arjuna did not believe in the existence of the soul-as per Vaibhashika philosophy- even then there is still no cause for lamentation. Nobody laments the loss of a certain bulk of chemicals, and stops discharging one’s prescribed duties. On the other hand, in the modern science and scientific warfare, so many tons of chemicals are wasted for achieving victory over the enemy. According to the Vaibhashika philosophy, the so-called soul or Atma also vanishes along with the deterioration of the body. So in any case, whether Arjuna may accept the Vedic conclusion that there is an atomic soul, or whether he may not believe in such existence of the soul, he had no reason to lament. According to this theory, there are so many living entities generated out of matter every moment, and so many of them are being vanquished every moment and what is the necessity of being aggrieved for such incidences. On the contrary, in the absence of the rebirth of the soul, Arjuna had no reason to be afraid of being affected with sinful activities on account of killing his grandfather and his teacher. But at the same time, Krishna sarcastically addressed Arjuna as maha-baho, because He, at least, did not believe in the theory of the Vaibhashikas, which leaves aside the Vedic wisdom. As kshatriya, Arjuna belonged to the Vedic culture, and it behooved him to continue to follow its principles.
2.27 One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take his birth again. Therefore in the unavoidable discharge of duty it does not befit you to lament.
Purport. According to logicians, one has to take his birth according to one’s activities of life. And after finishing one termof activities, one has to die to take birth for the next. In this way the cycle of birth and death is going on, one after another without liberation. This cycle of birth and death does not however support murder, slaughter and war unnecessarily. But at the same time violence and war are inevitable factors in human society for keeping up law and order. The battle of Kurukshetra was an inevitable factor and to fight for the right cause is the duty of a kshatriya. And why should he be afraid of or aggrieved for the death of his relatives in the matter of his proper discharge of duty. He does not deserve to break the law, and thus become subject to the reactions of sinful acts of which he was so much afraid. By ceasing from the discharge of his proper duty he would not be able to stop the death of his relatives, but he would be degraded on account of his selection of the wrong path of action.
2.28 All that are created were non-manifested before, and only in the middle are they manifested, and when vanquished they become non-manifested again. So what need is there for lamentation?
Purport. Accepting that there are two classes of philosophers- one believing in the existence of the soul and the other not believing in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation in either case. Although non-believers in the existence are called atheists by followers of Vedic wisdom, yet even if for argument’s sake we accept the theory, still there is no cause for lamentation. Apart from the separate existence of the soul, the material elements remain non-manifested before creation. The subtle state of non-manifestation evolves- just like from ether, air is generated, from air, fire is generated, from fire, water is generated, and from water, earth becomes manifested. From the earth, so many varieties of manifestations take place. Take, for example, a big skyscraper manifested from the earth. When it is dismantled, the earthly manifestation becomes again non-manifested, but remains as atoms in the ultimate stage. The law of conservation of energy prevails, but in course of time things are manifested and non-manifested-that is the difference. Then what is the relevance of lamentation, either in the stage of manifestation or non-manifestation? Somehow or other, even in the non-manifested stage things are not lost. Both in the beginning and at the end, all elements remain unmanifested, but only in the middle are they manifested-which does not make any material difference.
And if we accept the Vedic conclusion as stated in the Bhagavad Gita (antavanta ime dehah) that these material bodies are perishable in due course of time (nityasyoktah saririnah), but that the soul is eternal- then we must remember always that the body is like the dress, and what need is there for lamentation in changing the dress. The material body has no factual existence in relation to the eternal soul. It is something like a dream in ignorance. In a dream we may think of flying in the sky, or be seated on a chariot as a king, but when one wakes up, he can see that neither is he in the sky nor is he seated on the chariot. The Vedic wisdom offers further realisation of the self on the basis of the non-existence of the body. Therefore, in either case whether one believes in the existence of the soul or does not believe in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation for the loss of the body.
2.29 Somebody sees the soul as amazing, somebody describes him as amazing and somebody hears about him as amazing, while others, even after hearing much about him, cannot understand him at all.
Purport. Since Gitopanishad is fully based on the principles of the Upanishads, an exactly parallel passage appears in the Katha Upanishad as follows:
shravanayapi bahubhir yo na labhyah
shrinvanto ‘pi bahavo yam na vidyuh
ashcaryo vakta kushalo ‘sya labdha
ashcaryo jnata kushalanushishtah
This sense of realization that the atomic soul is present within the body of a gigantic animal, in the body of a gigantic banyan tree, and that the same small atomic soul is also present in the microbic germs of which millions and billion in number can be accommodated in an inch of space – is certainly very, very amazing for the common man. In the absence of sufficient penance and austerity, men with a poor fund of knowledge cannot understand this amazing story of the individual atomic spark of spirit, even though it is explained by the greatest authority of knowledge, Who imparted knowledge even to Brahma, the first living being in the universe. In the gross material conception of things, one cannot imagine how such a small particle can become so great and so small and they look at the soul proper as wonderful either by constitution or by description. Illusioned by the material energy, people are so much engrossed with subject matters for sense gratification that they have very little time to understand the question of self-understanding. Although it it is a fact that without this self-understanding, all activities are meant for one’s defeat in the struggle for existence. Perhaps they have no idea that one has to think of the soul, and thus one has to make a solution of all material miseries.
Some of them who are inclined to hear about the soul, may be attending lectures in some good association, but due to a poor fund of knowledge sometimes they are misguided by acceptance of the Supersoul and the atomic soul as one, without distinction of magnitude. Therefore it is very difficult to find out a man who understands perfectly the position of the soul proper,-the atomic soul-, the Supersoul, their respective functions and relationships and all other major and minor details. And it is still more difficult to find out a man who has actually derived the full benefit of the knowledge of the soul, and is thus able to describe such position of the soul in different aspects. But if somehow or other, somebody is able to understand the subject matter of the soul, then everything in his life is successful.
The easiest process for understanding the subject matter of self is, however, to accept the statements of the Bhagavad Gita spoken by the greatest authority, Lord Krishna, without being deviated by so many other theories in this respect. But that also requires a great deal of penance and sacrifice, either in this life or in the previous ones and thus one is able to accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna can, however, be known as such by the causeless mercy of the pure devotee of Krishna, and by no other way.
2.30 O descendant of Bharata, the owner of the body can never be killed. As such you do not need to lament for any living entity.
Purport. The Lord now concludes the chapter of instruction about the immutable spirit soul. Beginning from “ashocyan anvashocas tvam” (Bhagavad-gita 2.11) up to ”dehi nityam avadhyo ‘yam” (Bhagavad-gita 2.30), He has described about the immortal soul in various ways and in every step He has tried to establish that the soul is immortal, but that the body is temporary. Therefore Arjuna as a kshatriya should not have deviated from his duty out of fear that his grandfather or teacher, like Bishma and Drona respectively, would die in the battle. On the authority of Sri Krishna, one has to believe therefore that there is a soul different from the material body, and one should not believe that there is no such thing as soul, but that living symptoms develop at a certain stage of material maturity as a result from the interaction of chemicals. Violence is not encouraged with the knowledge that the soul is immortal. But at the same time war is not discouraged when there is actual need for it. That is justified in terms of the sanction of the Lord, and not capriciously.
2.31 Considering your specific duty as a kshatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles, and as such there is no cause for hesitation.
Purport. Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order – for the matter of good administration- is called the kshatriyas. Kshat means hurt. One who gives protection from hurt is called kshatriya (trayate= to give protection). The kshatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kshatriya would go to the forest and challenge a tiger face to face, and fight with the tiger with a sword, and when the tiger is killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system was being followed even up to date by the kshatriya kings of Jaipur state. The kshatriyas are especially trained for such challenge and killing art because religious violence is a necessary factor for the upkeep of society. Therefore kshatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyasa or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be a diplomacy, but is never a factor or principle. In the religious law book it is stated as follows:
ahaveshu mitho ‘nyonyam jighamsanto mahi-kshitah
yuddhamanah param shaktya svargam yanty aparan-mukhah
yajnesu pashavo brahman hanyante satatam dvijaih
samskrtah kila mantraish ca te ‘pi svargam avapnuvan
“In the battlefield a king or kshatriya, while fighting another King envious of him, is eligible for achieving the heavenlyplanets after death, as the brahmins also attain the heavenly planets by sacrificing animals in the sacrificial fire.” Therefore killing in the battlefield on religious principles or killing of animals in the sacrificial fire are not at all violence. Because every one of them is benefited by such religious principles. The animal sacrificed gets immediately human life without undergoing the gradual evolutionary process from one form to another. And the kshatriya killed in the battlefield also attains the heavenly planets, as much as the brahmins attain the heavenly planets by offering sacrifice.
There are two kinds of svadharmas or specific duties. As long as one is not liberated, one has to perform the specific duty of the particular body in terms of religious principles, just to achieve the status of liberation. When one is liberated, one’s svadharma or specific duty, becomes spiritual and not on the material bodily conception. In the bodily conception of life there are specific duties for the brahmin and kshatriya respectively and such duties are unavoidable. Such svadharma is ordained by the Lord as it will be clear in the fourth chapter. Such svadharma, or religious principles on the bodily plane is called the varnashrama dharma, or the stepping stone for the human being towards spiritual understanding. Human civilization begins from the stage of varnashrama dharma, or specific duties in terms of the specific modes of nature of the body obtained. To discharge one’s specific duty in any field of action, and as ordered by higher authority, is the opportunity for being elevated to a higher status of life.
2.32 O Partha, kshatriyas who achieve such fighting opportunity out of its own accord are very, very happy, because for them the door of the heavenly planets becomes wide open.
Purport. As supreme teacher of the world, Lord Krishna condemns the attitude of Arjuna when he said “I do not find any good in this fighting. It will cause perpetual habitation in hell.” Such statements of Arjuna were due to his ignorance only. He wanted to become nonviolent in the discharge of his specific duty. To be on the battlefield and to become non-violent is the philosophy of fools. In the Parasara smriti or religious codes made by Parasara, the great sage and father of Vyasadeva it is said as follows:
kshatriyo hi praja rakshan shastra-panih pradandayan
nirjitya para-sainyadi kshitim dharmena palayet
“A kshatriya’s duty is to protect the citizens from all kinds of difficulties, and for that reason he has to apply violence in suitable cases in the matter of law and order. As such, he has to conquer the soldiers of inimical kings, and thus, with religious principles, he should rule over the world.” (Parasara-smrti 1.61)
So from all points of view, Arjuna had no reason to refrain from the fighting. If he should conquer the enemies, he would enjoy the kingdom; and if he should die in the battle, he would be elevated to the heavenly planets of which the door was wide open for him. So fighting was to his benefit in either case.
2.33 If therefore, as a kshatriya, you do not perform this religious duty of fighting, then certainly you will incur sinful reactions for neglecting your duties and thus lose all your reputation as a fighter.
Purport. Arjuna was a famous fighter and he obtained certificates by fighting with many great demigods, including even Lord Shiva. After fighting and defeating Lord Shiva in the dress of a hunter, Arjuna pleased the Lord and received a reward from him, namely one weapon called Pashupata Astra. Everyone knew that he was a great warrior. Even Dronacarya gave him a benediction and awarded him the special weapon by which he could kill even his teacher. So he was credited with so many military certificates from many authorities, including his adopted father Indra, the heavenly king. If he were to leave the battle, he would not only neglect his specific duty as a kshatriya, but he would lose all his fame and good name and thus prepare his royal road to hell. In other words, he would go to hell not by fighting but by withdrawing from battle.
2.34 People in general will always advertise your ill fame and for a respectable person dishonour is worse than death.
Purport. Both as friend and philosopher of Arjuna, Lord Krishna now gives His final judgement in the matter of Arjuna’s declining to fight. The Lord says:” Arjuna, if you go away from the battlefield, all people in general will call you a coward for your fleeing the battlefield, even before the battle was actually executed. And if you think that people may call you by bad names, but you will save your life by fleeing the battlefield, then my advice is: You better die in the battle. Because for a respectable man like you, ill fame is worse than death. So you may not flee away for fear of your life, better die in the battle and that will save you from ill fame of misusing my friendship and your prestige in society.”
So the final judgement of the Lord on Arjuna was to die in the battle, and not to go away.
2.35 The great generals who had very high estimation for your name and fame will consider that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will not care a fig for you.
Purport. Lord Krishna continued to award His verdict on Arjuna:” Do not think that the great generals like Duryodhana, Karna, and other contemporaries would think that you have left the battlefield out of compassion for your brothers and grandfather. They will think that you have gone away out of fear for your life. And thus the high estimation of your personality will go to hell.”
2.36 Your enemies will describe you in so many unkind words, while vilifying your ability. What could be the cause of a more painful situation for you?
Purport. In the beginning, Lord Krishna was astonished at Arjuna’s uncalled-for compassion, and He described it as befitting the non-Aryans. Now by so many words, He has proved His statements against Arjuna’s so-called compassion.
2.37 O son of Kunti, either you will be killed on the battlefield and achieve the heavenly planets or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom. Therefore, please get up with determination and fight.
Purport. Even though there was no certainty of victory on the side of Arjuna, still he had to fight; for, being killed there he would be elevated to the heavenly planets.
2.38 Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without any consideration of happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory and defeat and by doing so you shall never become involved in the complications of sinful reaction.
Purport. Lord Krishna now directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of fighting, because Krishna desires the fighting. There is no consideration of happiness or distress, profit or gain and victory or defeat in the activities of Krishna consciousness. That everything should be performed for the sake of Krishna is transcendental consciousness, and there are no reactions of material activities. Anyone who acts for his sense gratification, either in goodness or in passion, is liable for the reactions-good or bad. Anyone who has completely surrendered himself in the activities of Krishna consciousness is no longer obliged to anyone, nor is he a debtor to anyone, as one is in the ordinary course of activities. It is said as follows:
devarshi-bhutapta-nrinam pitrinam na kinkaro nayam rini ca rajan
sarvatmana yah sharanam sharanyam gato mukundam parihritya kartam
“Anyone who has completely surrendered unto Krsna, Mukunda, giving up all other duties, is no longer a debtor, nor is he obliged to anyone — not the demigods, nor the sages, nor people in general, kinsmen, humanity, or the forefathers.” (SB 11.5.41). That is the indirect hint given by Krishna to Arjuna in this verse and the matter will be more clearly explained in the following verses.
2.39 So far I have described to you this knowledge in terms of analytical study. Now I shall explain the same in terms of work without fruitive result. O son of Prtha, when you act with such understanding of work without fruitive result, then you can get yourself released from the reaction of work.
Purport. According to the Nirukti, or the Vedic dictionary, Samkhya means that which describes things in detail. And yoga means controlling the senses. Arjuna’s proposal not to fight was based on sense gratification. Forgetting his prime duty, he wanted to cease fighting on account of his sense gratification. He thought that by not killing his relatives and kinsmen he would be happier than enjoying the kingdom after conquering his cousin-brothers, the sons of Dhritarashtra. In both ways, the basic principles were sense gratification. Happiness derived from conquering them and happiness from seeing his kinsmen alive-both are on the basis of personal sense gratification, even at the sacrifice of wisdom and duty. Krishna therefore wanted to explain before Ajuna that by killing the body of his grandfather, he would not be killing the soul proper, and He tried to explain that all individual persons, including the Lord Himself, are all eternal individuals: they were such individuals in the past, they are individuals in the present, and they will continue to remain individuals in the future, because all of us are individual souls eternally. We simply change our dress of the body in different manners, but actually we keep our individuality even after liberation from the bondage of the material dress. Such an analytical study of the soul and the body has been explained very descriptively by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. And this descriptive knowledge about the soul and the body from different angles of vision has been described here as samkhya in terms of the Nirukti dictionary. This samkhya has nothing to do with the samkhya philosophy of the atheist Kapila. Long before the imitation Kapila’s samkhya, such samkhya philosophy was explained by Lord Kapila, the incarnation of Lord Krishna. Lord Kapila explained His samkhya philosophy before His mother, Devahuti, in which it is clearly explained that the Purusha, or the Supreme Lord is active by looking over the Prakriti, which is accepted in the Vedas, as well as in the Bhagavad Gita. This activity of the Lord is described in the Vedas, that the Lord glanced over the prakriti and thus the prakriti became impregnated with the atomic individual souls, all of whom are working in the material world for sense gratification only, and under the spell of material energy each and everyone of them is thinking of becoming the enjoyer. Such enjoying spirit is also dragged to the last point of liberation, and the living entity wants to become one with the Lord. This mentality of becoming one with the Supreme is the last snare of maya, or sense gratificatory illusion, and after many, many birth of such sense gratificatory activities, a great soul surrenders unto Vasudeva, Lord Krishna, and thus one’s search after the ultimate truth is fulfilled.
Arjuna has already accepted Krishna as his spiritual master by surrendering himself unto Him “shisyas te ‘ham shadhi mam tvam prapannam.”. As such Krishna will now tell him about the working process in buddhi-yoga, or karma-yoga; or in other words, devotional service only for the sense gratification of the Lord. This buddhi-yoga is clearly explained in chapter ten, verse ten. This buddhi-yoga is direct communion with the Lord, Who is sitting as Paramatma in everyone’s heart. But such communion does not take place without being conducted by devotional service. One who is therefore situated in devotional or transcendental loving service of the Lord, or, in other words, in Krishna consciousness, attains to such stage of buddhi-yoga by the special grace of the Lord. The Lord says therefore that those who are always engaged in devotional service out of transcendental love, to them only the Lord awards pure knowledge of devotion in love, and by that way the devotee can reach Him easily in the spiritual, ever-blissful Kingdom of God.
Thus the word buddhi-yoga mentioned here in this verse is devotional service of the Lord and the word samkhya mentioned herein has nothing to do with the atheistic samkhya-yoga enunciated by the imitation Kapila. One should not, therefore, misunderstand that the samkhya mentioned herein has any reference with the atheistic samkhya, nor had such philosophy any influence during that time, nor had Krishna any business to mention such godless philosophical speculations. Real samkhya philosophy is described by Lord Kapila in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, but even that samkhya has nothing to do with the current topics. Here samkhya means analytical description of the body and the soul. Lord Krishna made an analytical study of the constitution of the soul just to bring Arjuna to the point of buddhi-yoga or bhakti-yoga. Therefore Lord Krishna’s samkhya or Lord Kapila’s samkhya, as described in the Bhagavatam are one and the same. They are all bhakti-yoga. He said therefore that only the less intelligent class of men make a distinction betweensamkhya-yoga and bhakti-yoga ( sankhya-yogau prthag balah pravadanti na panditah). Of course, atheistic samkhya-yoga has nothing to do with bhakti-yoga and thus the less intelligent class of men discern the atheistic Samkhya-yoga reference in the Bhagavad Gita. The atheistic samkhya has nothing to do with Bhagavad Gita.
One should therefore understand that buddhi-yoga means to work in Krishna consciousness, in full bliss and knowledge of devotional service. One who works for the satisfaction of the Lord only, however difficult such work may be, is working under the principles of buddhi-yoga and finds himself always in transcendental bliss. By such transcendental engagement, one achieves all transcendental understanding automatically, by the grace of the Lord, and thus his liberation is complete in itself, without any extraneous endeavour for acquiring knowledge. There is much difference between work in Krishna consciousness and work for fruitive results in the matter of sense gratification for achieving results in terms of family or material happiness. Buddhi-yoga is therefore the transcendental quality of the work that we may perform.
2.40 In this endeavour there is no loss or diminution and a little advancement on the path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.
Purport. Activities in Krishna consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Krishna without any expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work begun on the material plane has to be done nicely till the end, otherwise the whole attempt becomes a failure. But any work begun in Krishna consciousness shall have a permanent effect, even though not finished. The performer of such work in Krishna consciousness is therefore not at a loss, even if his work in Krishna consciousness is not complete. One percent done in Krishna consciousness is a permanent result, so that the next beginning is from the point of two percent. Whereas in material activity, without a hundred percent success, there is no profit. Ajamila performed his duty in some percentage of Krishna consciousness, but the result he enjoyed at the end was one hundred percent, by the grace of the Lord. There is a nice verse in this connection in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.5.17):
tyaktva sva-dharmam caranambujam harer
bhajann apakvo ‘tha patet tato yadi
yatra kva vabhadram abhud amushya kim
ko vartha apto ‘bhajatam sva-dharmatah
“If somebody gives up his occupational duties and works in terms of Krsna consciousness and then falls down on account of not being complete in such activities, what loss is there on his part? And what can one gain if one performs his material activities very perfectly?”
Material activities, and the results of such actions, will finish along with the body. But work in Krishna consciousness will carry the person again to Krishna consciousness, even after the loss of this body. At least one is sure to have a chance next life to be born in the human society, either in the family of a great cultured brahmin or in a rich aristocratic family that will give one a further chance for elevation. That is the unique quality of work done in Krishna consciousness.
2.41 Persons who are in Krishna consciousness are resolute in their purpose and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, those who are not in Krishna consciousness have many branches of intelligence.
Purport. A strong faith in Krishna consciousness that one should be elevated to the highest perfection of life is called Vyavasayatmika intelligence. There is a nice verse in the Caitanya Cariramrita (Madhya 22.62) which states as follows:
‘shraddha’-shabde — vishvasa kahe sudridha nishcaya
krishne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krita haya
“”Shraddha is confident, firm faith that by rendering transcendental loving service to Krsna one automatically performs all subsidiary activities. Such faith is favourable to the discharge of devotional service.”
Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime. When one is engaged in duties of Krishna consciousness, he need no longer act in relationship with any obligation of the material world, with obligations normally due to family traditions, humanity or nationality. Fruitive activities are the engagements of one’s reactions of past good or bad deeds. When one is awake in Krishna consciousness, he need no longer endeavor for good results in his activities. Being situated in Krishna consciousness, all his activities are on the absolute plane and cease to be on the platform of duality as good and bad. The highest perfection of such Krishna consciousness is renunciation of the material conception of life, and this state of life is automatically achieved by progressive Krishna consciousness.
The resolute purpose of a person in Krishna consciousness is based on knowledge: “Vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah” A person in Krishna consciousness is the rare good soul who knows perfectly that Vasudeva or Krishna is the root of all manifested causes. As by watering the root of the tree, the water is automatically distributed to the leaves and branches of the tree, similarly by acting in Krishna consciousness, one can render the highest service to everyone, namely self, family, society, country, humanity etc. If Krishna is satisfied by one’s actions, then everyone will be satisfied without any separate effort.
Service in Krishna consciousness is, however, practised under the able guidance of the spiritual master, who is the bonafide representative of Krishna. The bona fide spiritual master knows the nature of the student, and thus he can guide the student to act in Krishna consciousness. As such to be well versed in Krishna consciousness one has to act firmly under the obedience of the representative of Krishna, and one should accept the instruction of the spiritual master as one’s mission of life. Srila Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, instructs us as follows:
yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi
dhyayan stuvams tasya yashas tri-sandhyam
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam
“By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Krishna consciousness. I should therefore, meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day, and let me offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master.”
The whole thing however, depends on perfect knowledge of the soul beyond the conception of the body—not theoretically but practically—- when there is no more chance for sense gratification manifested in fruitive activities. One who is not fixed in mind is diverted by various branches of fruitive acts.
2.42&43 Men with a poor fund of knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to the heavenly planets and resultant good birth etc. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this.
Purport. People in general are not very intelligent, and due to their poor fund of knowledge they are merely attached to the fruitive activities recommended in the karma-kanda portions of the Vedas. They do not want anything more than sense gratificatory proposals for enjoying life in heaven, where wine and women are available and material opulence is very common. In the Vedas many sacrifices are recommended for being elevated to the heavenly planets, especially the “Jyotishtoma” sacrifices, where it is stated that anyone desiring to be elevated to the heavenly planets must perform this sacrifice. And such men with a poor fund of knowledge think that this is the whole purpose of Vedic wisdom. It is very difficult for such inexperienced persons to be situated in the determined action of Krishna consciousness. As fools are attached to the flowers of poisonous trees, without knowing the result of such attractions, similarly men with a poor fund of knowledge are attracted by such heavenly opulence and sense enjoyment thereof.
In the Karmakanda section of the Vedas it is said “apama somam amrita abhuma akshayyam ha vai caturmasya-yajinah sukritam bhavati.” Those who perform the four-monthly-penances become eligible for drinking the soma-rasa beverages to become immortal and happy for ever. Even on this earth some are very, very eager to have soma-rasa to become strong and fit to enjoy sense gratifications. Such persons have no faith in the matter of being liberated from the material bondage, and they are very much attached to the pompous ceremonies of Vedic sacrifices of different nature. They are generally sensuous and they do not like anything more then the heavenly pleasures of life. It is understood that there are very good gardens called Nandana-kanana and opportunity for associating with angel-like, beautiful women and profuse supply of soma-rasa wine. Such bodily happiness is certainly sensuous and thus they are purely attached to material, temporary happiness, as lords of the material world.
2.44 In the minds of those who are too much attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence and are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Lord does not take place.
Purport. Samadhi means fixed mind. The Vedic dictionary Nirukti says “samyag adhiyate ‘sminn atma-tattva-yathatmyam” When the mind is fixed for understanding the self, it is called samadhi. Such samadhi is never possible for such persons interested in material enjoyment and bewildered by such temporary things. They are more or less condemned by the process of material energy.
2.45 The Vedas mostly deal with the subject matter of the three modes of material nature and Arjuna is advised herewith to become transcendental to such three modes of material nature. He is advised to be free from duality and from all anxieties for gain and protection and be established in the self.
Purport. All material activities are actions and reactions of the three modes of material nature. They are meant for fruitive results, which cause bondage in the material world. The Vedas deal mostly with such fruitive activities, just to raise people in general from the field of sense gratification gradually to a position on the transcendental plane. As student and friend of Lord Krishna, Arjuna is advised to raise himself to the transcendental position of Vedanta philosophy, where in the beginning we find brahma-jijnasa, or questions on the Supreme Transcendence. All the living entities who are in the material world are struggling very hard for existence. After the creation of the material world, the Lord gave for them the Vedic wisdom as to how to live and get rid of the material entanglement. When the activities for sense gratification, namely the activities pertaining to the karma-kanda chapter, are finished, then the chance for spiritual realisation is offered in the shape of the Upanishads, which are parts of different Vedas, as the Bhagavad Gita is part of the fifth Veda, namely Maha-bharata. The Upanishads are the beginning of transcendental life. But as long as the material body is present, there are actions and reactions of the material modes, and as such one has to learn tolerance in face of such dualities of happiness and distress or cold and warmth. And by such tolerance of dual actions, one can become free from anxieties for gain or loss. This transcendental position is achieved by full Krishna consciousness, fully dependent on the good will of Krishna.
2.46 All purposes served by a small well can at once be served by great reservoirs of water. Similarly all purposes of the Vedas can be served to the student of the Vedas who knows the purpose of the Vedas.
Purport. The rituals and sacrifices mentioned in the karma-kanda division of the Vedic literature are meant for gradual development of the sense of self-realisation. And this purpose of self-realisation by study of the Vedas is clearly disclosed in the fifteen chapter of Bhagavad Gita (15.15), in which it is clearly mentioned that the purpose of studying the Vedas is to know Lord Krishna, the primeval cause of everything. So, self-realisation means one’s understanding of Krishna and one’s eternal relationship with Krishna. The relationship of the living entities with Krishna is also mentioned in the fifteenth chapter of Bhagavad Gita (15.7). The living entities are parts and parcels of Krishna and therefore revival of Krishna consciousness by the individual living entity is the highest perfectional stage of Vedic knowledge. This is confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.33.8) as follows:
aho bata shva-paco ‘to gariyan
yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuh sasnur arya
brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te
“O my Lord, a person who is chanting your holy name, although born of a low family like that of a candala or dog-eater, is situated on the highest platform of self-realization. Such person must have performed all kinds of penances and sacrifices as per Vedic rituals, and must have studied the Vedic literatures many, many times after taking bath in all the holy places of pilgrimage, and thus such person is considered to be the best of the Aryan family.”
So one must be intelligent enough to understand the purpose of the Vedas, without being attracted to the rituals only, and desire to be elevated to the heavenly kingdoms for a better quality of sense gratification. Neither is it possible for the common man in this age to follow all the rules and regulations of the Vedic rituals, nor is it possible to study thoroughly all of the Vedantas and the Upanishads. It requires sufficient time, energy, knowledge and resources to execute the above purposes of the Vedas. The best purpose of the Vedic literature is therefore served by chanting the holy name of the Lord, as introduced by Lord Caitanya, the delivered of all fallen souls. When Lord Caitanya was asked by a great Vedic scholar, Prakashananda Sarasvati, why the Lord was chanting the holy name of the Lord like a sentimentalist instead of studying the Vedanta philosophy, the Lord replied that His spiritual master found Him to be a great fool, and thus he asked Him to chant the holy name of Lord Krishna. He did so and became situated in ecstasy like a madman. The idea was that, in this age of Kali, most of the population is foolish without sufficient education for studying the Vedanta philosophy, and the best purpose of Vedanta philosophy is served by chanting the holy name of the Lord without offence. Vedanta is the last word in the Vedic wisdom and the author and knower of the Vedanta philosophy is Lord Krishna, and the highest Vedantist is the great soul who takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord. That is the summary purpose of all Vedic mysticism.
2.47 You have a proprietary right in the matter of performing your prescribed duty but never consider yourself the proprietor of the result. Neither are you the cause of the result of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duties.
Purport. There are three considerations in the matter of prescribed duties: prescribed duties, capricious work and inaction. Prescribed duties mean activities in terms of one’s acquired mode of material nature. Capricious work means actions without the sanction of the authority and inaction means not performing one’s prescribed duty. The Lord advises Arjuna not to be inactive but to be active with his prescribed duty without being attached to the result. One who is attached to the result of work becomes also the cause of the action and thus he is the enjoyer or sufferer of such actions.
As far as prescribed duties are concerned, they can be divided into three subdivisions, namely routine work, emergency work and desired activities. Routine work in terms of the scriptural injunctions, without any desire for results, as an obligation one has to do, is action in the mode of goodness. Work with results becomes the cause of bondage, and thus such work is not auspicious. Therefore everyone has his proprietary right in the matter of prescribed duties, without any desire for the result, and thus such disinterested obligatory duties lead one to the path of liberation without any doubt.
Arjuna was therefore advised by the Lord to fight as a matter of duty, without being desirous of the result. His nonparticipating in the battle is another side of attachment and therefore such attachment will never lead him to the path of salvation. Any attachments, positive or negative, are all causes for bondage. Inaction is sinful. Therefore to fight as a matter of duty was the only auspicious path of salvation for Arjuna and no other.
2.48 Perform your prescribed duty equipoised, O Arjuna, without attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.
Purport. Krishna says to Arjuna that he should act on the platform of yoga. And what is that yoga? Yoga means to concentrate the mind upon the Supreme by controlling the ever-disturbing mind. And who is the Supreme? The Supreme is the Lord and He Himself tells Arjuna to fight and therefore Arjuna had nothing to do with the results of the fight. Gain or victory is Krishna’s concern and Arjuna is advised to act according to the dictation of Krishna. The following of Krishna’s dictation is real yoga and everything lies in Krishna consciousness. By Krishna consciousness only can one give up the sense of proprietorship. One has to become the servant of Krishna, or the servant of the servant of Krishna, and that is the right way to discharge duty in Krishna consciousness, which alone can help one to act in yoga.
Arjuna is a kshatriya, or part of the varnashrama dharma institution. It is said in the Vishnu Purana that the whole aim of the varnashrama institution is to satisfy Vishnu. Nobody has to satisfy himself, as is the rule of the material world. One has to satisfy Krishna. So without satisfying Krishna, nobody can observe correctly the principles of varnashrama dharma either. Indirectly Arjuna was advised to act as per Krishna’s instructions.
2.49 O Dhananjaya, keep all abominable activities at a far distant place by dint of devotional service, and in such consciousness, try to surrender unto Him. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of work are misers.
Purport. One who has actually come to the understanding of one’s constitutional position as eternal servitor of the Lord gives up all other engagements save and except working in Krishna consciousness. As already explained, buddhi-yoga means transcendental loving service of the Lord. Such devotional service is the right action of the living entity and misers only desire to enjoy the fruits of their own work just to be entangled in material bondage. Except for work in Krishna consciousness, all other activities are abominable because they bind the worker to the cycle of birth and death continually. One should therefore never desire to be the cause of work, but everything should be done in Krishna consciousness or for the satisfaction of Krishna. Misers do not know how to utilise the assets of riches, which one may have by good fortune or by hard labor. One should spend all energies in the matter of Krishna consciousness and that will make one’s life successful. Like misers, unfortunate persons do not employ the human energy in the service of the Lord.
2.50 To act in Krishna consciousness is the art of all work, and therefore be thou engaged in such devotional service and rid yourself of all effects of good or bad actions even in this life.
Purport. Since time immemorial a living entity has accumulated various reactions of his good and bad work. As such he is continuously in ignorance as to understand his real constitutional position. That ignorance can be removed by the instruction of the Bhagavad Gita, which teaches one to surrender unto Lord Sri Krishna in all respects and thus be liberated from the chained victimization of action and reaction, birth after birth. Arjuna is thus advised to act in such Krishna consciousness, the purifying process of resultant actions.
2.51 Being thus engaged in devotional service to the Lord, great sages or devotees are able to become free from the resultant actions of work in the material world, and thus become free from the cycle of birth and death and go back to Godhead, where there are no more miseries.
Purport. The liberated living entities belong to that place where there are no material miseries. The Bhagavatam (10.14.58) says:
samashrita ye pada-pallava-plavam
mahat-padam punya-yasho murareh
bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam
padam padam yad vipadam na tesham
“For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, Who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda, or the giver of mukti, for him the ocean of the material world is supposed to be like the water contained in the hole impressed by the hoof of a calf. Param padam, or the place where there are no material miseries, or Vaikuntha, is for him and not the place where there is danger at every step of life.”
By ignorance only, one does not know that this material world is a miserable place, where there are dangers at every step. Out of ignorance only, less intelligent persons try to adjust the situation by fruitive activities, thinking that the resultant action will make them happy. He does not know that any kind of material body and anywhere within the universe cannot give life without any miseries. The miseries of life, namely birth, death, old age and disease are present in everyplace within the material world. But one who understands his real constitutional position as eternal servitor of the Lord, and thus knows the position of the Personality of Godhead, certainly engages himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord and thus becomes qualified for entering into the Vaikuntha planets, where there is no material, miserable life nor the influence of time and the planets. To know one’s constitutional position means to know also the sublime position of the Lord. One who thinks wrongly that the living entity’s position and the Lord’s position are on the same level, is to be understood in darkness still and thus such person cannot engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord. He becomes Lord himself, and thus clears the way for the repetition of birth and death. But one who understands that his position is to serve and if he transfers to the service of the Lord-at once he becomes eligible for Vaikunthaloka. Service for the cause of the Lord is called karma-yoga or buddhi-yoga or in plain words, devotional service to the Lord.
2.52 When your intelligence (in Krishna consciousness) will surpass the totality of the dense forest of illusion, at that time you shall become callous to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.
Purport. There are many good examples in the lives of great devotees of the Lord how they became callous to the rituals of the Vedas simply by devotional service to the Lord. When a person factually understands Krishna, and one’s relationship with Krishna, naturally one becomes completely callous to the rituals of fruitive activities. It is said that an experienced brahmin becomes callous to the rituals of fruitive activities. Sri Madhavendra Puri, a great devotee and Acharya in the line of devotees, says like this:
sandhya-vandana bhadram astu bhavato bhoh snana tubhyam namo
bho devah pitarash ca tarpana-vidhau naham kshamah kshamyatam
yatra kvapi nishadya yadava-kulottamsasya kamsa-dvishah
smaram smaram agham harami tad alam manye kim anyena me
“O my prayers three times a day, all glory to you. O bathing, I offer my obeisances unto you. O demigods! O forefathers! Please excuse me for my inability to offer you my respects. Now I am able to remember the great descendant of the Yadu dynasty (Krishna), and the enemy of Kamsa at any place where I may sit, and thus I can get myself freed from all sinful bondage. I think this is sufficient for me.”
In human life, the Vedic rites and rituals are imperative for the beginner, comprehending all kinds of prayers three times a day, to take bath early in the morning, offering respects to the forefathers, etc. But when one is fully in Krishna consciousness, and is engaged in His transcendental loving service, one becomes callous to all these regulative principles, because he has already reached the perfection of life. If one can reach the platform of understanding and serving the Supreme Lord, he has no longer any duty as executing different types of penances and sacrifices as recommended in the revealed scriptures. And conversely, if one has not understood that the purpose of the Vedas is to reach Krishna, and simply engages in the rituals etc., then he is also uselessly wasting time in such engagements. Such persons in Krishna consciousness transcend the limit of shabda-brahma, or the range of the Vedas and Upanishads.
2.53 When your mind will no longer be disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, then you will be situated in the trance of self-realisation in unflinching Krishna consciousness.
Purport. Samadhi means Krishna consciousness namely the all inclusive realisations of Bhagavan, Paramatma and the impersonal Brahman. The highest perfection of self-realisation is to understand that one is eternally the servitor of Krishna, and one’s only business is to discharge his duties in Krishna consciousness. Such a Krishna conscious person or unflinching devotee of the Lord, may not be disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas in fruitive activities of being promoted to the heavenly kingdoms. In that Krishna consciousness, one comes directly into communion with Krishna, and thus all directions from Krishna may be understood by him in that transcendental state. There is no question of achieving the result of such activities by speculative knowledge. One has only to carry out the orders of Krishna or His representative, the spiritual master.
2.54 Arjuna inquired: What are the symptoms of such transcendentally fixed consciousness? How does such a person speak, and what is his language? How is he situated and how does he walk?
Purport. As there are symptoms for each and every man, in terms of his particular situation, similarly one who is Krishna conscious has his particular nature—talking, walking, thinking, feeling etc. As a rich man has his symptoms by which he is known as rich man, as a diseased man has his symptoms by which he is known as diseased, or a learned man has his symptoms for his becoming learned, similarly a man in transcendental consciousness of Krishna has specific symptoms in various dealings. One should know the specific symptoms of a man in Krishna consciousness from Bhagavad Gita. The most important thing is how the man in Krishna consciousness speaks. Speaking is the most important symptom of any man. It is said that a fool is covered as long as he does not speak. A well-dressed fool can not be identified unless he speaks. As soon as he speaks, he is at once known as foolish or intelligent. Similarly, the immediate symptom of a Krishna conscious man is that he speaks only of Krishna and matters related to Him. And other symptoms then automatically follow, as stated below.
2.55 The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Partha, when a person gives up all varieties of sense desire born out of mental concoction, and with a purified mind becomes self-satisfied, at that time he is said to be situated in pure transcendental consciousness.
Purport. The Bhagavatam affirms that any person who is fully in Krishna consciousness, or devotional service of the Lord, has all the good qualities of great sages, whereas a person who is not similarly transcendentally conscious has no good qualification because he is sure to abide by mental concoction. Therefore it is rightly said herein that one has to give up all kinds of sense desire manufactured by mental concoction. Artificially, such sense desires cannot be stopped. But if one is engaged in Krishna consciousness, then automatically sense desires subside without any extraneous effort. Therefore one has to engage himself in Krishna consciousness without hesitation and simultaneously devotional service will help one to come to the platform of transcendental consciousness. That highly developed soul always remains satisfied in himself by realizing himself as eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. Such a transcendentally situated person has no sense desires resulting from petty materialism, but he remains always happy in his natural position of eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord.
2.56 One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries and is not puffed up when there is happiness and thus is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage fixed in mind.
Purport. The word “muni” means one who can agitate his mind in various ways for mental speculation without any factual conclusion. It is said that every muni has a different angle of vision and unless a muni is not different in view from another muni, he cannot be called a muni in the strict sense of the term. “Nasav rshir yasya matam na bhinnam” (Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.117). But a sthita-dhir muni, as mentioned herein by the Lord, is different from an ordinary muni. The sthita-dhir muni is always in Krishna consciousness after having finished all speculative business of creative speculation. He is called prashanta-nihshesa-mano-rathantara (Stotra-ratna 43), or one who has surpassed the stage of mental speculations, and has come to the conclusion that Lord Sri Krishna, or Vasudeva, is everything (vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah). He is called a muni fixed in mind. Such a fully Krishna conscious person is not at all disturbed by the onslaughts of the threefold miseries. Such muni accepts all miseries as mercy of the Lord, thinking that he would have been in more trouble on account of his past misdeeds, but by the grace of the Lord, the miseries have been minimised to the lowest. Similarly, when he is happy, he gives credit to the Lord, thinking himself unworthy of the happiness but only due to the Lord’s grace he is in such comfortable condition to render better service to the Lord. And for the service of the Lord he is always daring and active without being influenced by any attachment or detachment. Attachment means accepting things for one’s own sense gratification and detachment is the absence of such sensual attachment. But one fixed in mind in Krishna consciousness has no such attachment or detachment because his life is dedicated to the service of the Lord. And because he has no such sensual attachment and detachment, he is not at all angry even when he appears to be unsuccessful in his attempts. Success or no success, a Krishna conscious person is always steady in his determination.
2.57 (In the material world) one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, such a person is situated in the fixed consciousness of perfect knowledge.
Purport. There is always some upheaval in the material world, which may be good or evil. One who is not agitated in such upheavals of the material world, who is unaffected by good and evil, is understood to be fixed up in Krishna consciousness. As long as one is in the material world, there is always the possibility of good and evil because this world is full with duality. But one who is fixed in Krishna consciousness is not affected by such good and evil, because he is simply concerned with Krishna, Who is all-good absolute. Such consciousness in Krishna situates one in perfect transcendental position technically called samadhi.
2.58 One who is able to withdraw his senses from the sense objects, as the tortoise withdraws its limbs within the shell is to be understood as fixed up in his consciousness.
Purport. The test of a yogi, devotee, or self-realized soul is that he must be able to control the senses according to his plan and not be the servant of the senses and thus be directed by the dictation of the senses. That is the answer to the question as to how the yogi is situated. The senses are compared to venomous serpents and want to act very loosely, without any restriction. Like a snake charmer, the yogi, or the devotee must be very strong to ever control the serpents. The senses should never be allowed to act independently. There are many injunctions in the revealed scriptures and some of them are do-not’s and some of them are do’s. Unless one is able to follow the do’s and the do-not’s restricting oneself from sense enjoyment, it is not possible for one to fix the mind in Krishna consciousness. The best example set in here is the tortoise. The tortoise can at any moment wind up the business of the senses, and at any time it can exhibit the senses for a particular purpose. The senses of the Krishna conscious persons are used only for some particular purpose in the service of the Lord. Arjuna is being taught herewith to use his senses for the service of the Lord, and not use his senses for his own satisfaction. To keep the senses always in the service of the Lord is the example set by the analogy of the tortoise, who keeps the senses within.
2.59 The embodied soul is restricted from sense enjoyment by regulations. These forced restrictions however do not mean that he has lost the taste for sense objects. But a person who ceases from such sense engagement by experiencing a higher taste is fixed in consciousness.
Purport. Unless one is transcendentally situated, it is not possible to cease from sense enjoyment. The process of restricting one from sense enjoyment by rules and regulations is something like restricting the diseased person from certain types of eatables. The patient however does not like such restrictions, nor has he lost the taste for eatables. Similarly, sense restrictions by some spiritual process like astanga-yoga, in the matter of yam, niyam, asana, pranayam, dhyana, dharana, pratyahara etc., are recommended for the less intelligent persons who have no better taste. But one who has tasted the beauty of the Supreme Lord Krishna in the course of his advancement of Krishna consciousness, has no longer any taste for the dead, material things. Therefore restrictions are there for the less intelligent neophytes in the spiritual advancement of life. But such restrictions are only required as long as one has no actual taste for Krishna consciousness. When one is actually Krishna conscious, then automatically he has no more taste for pale things.
2.60 O son of Kunti, the senses are so strong that they forcibly carry away the mind toward sense enjoyment, even of a man with full discriminating knowledge who is endeavouring to control them.
Purport. There are many learned sages, philosopher and transcendentalists trying to conquer the senses for the purpose of self realization, but in spite of their endeavours, it is sometimes found that even the greatest of them fall victim of material sense enjoyment on account of the agitating mind. Even Vishvamitra, a great sage and perfect yogi, was mislead by Menaka in the matter of sex enjoyment, although the yogi was endeavouring for sense control with severe type of penance and yoga practice. Therefore, it is very difficult to control the mind and senses without being fully Krishna conscious. Without the mind being engaged in Krishna, nobody has ceased from such material engagement and a practical example of such perfection is described by Sri Yamunacarya, a great saint and devotee. He says as follows:
yad-avadhi mama cetah krsna-padaravinde
nava-nava-rasa-dhamany udyatam rantum asit
tad-avadhi bata nari-sangame smaryamane
bhavati mukha-vikarah sushthu nishthivanam ca
“Since my mind has been engaged in the service of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, and I have been enjoying an ever new taste of transcendental humour, whenever I think of sex life with a woman, at once my face becomes averse to it, and I spit at the thought.”
Krishna consciousness is such a transcendentally nice thing that automatically one become averse to distasteful, material enjoyment. It is as if a hungry man had satisfied his hunger by a sufficient quantity of nutritious eatables.
Maharaja Ambarisha also conquered over a great yogi, Durvasa Muni, simply by engaging his mind in Krishna consciousness. (sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayor vacamsi vaikuntha-gunanuvarnane).
2.61 One who has therefore brought his senses under full control, being situated in Krishna consciousness, his intelligence is understood to be fixed.
Purport. That the highest conception of yoga perfection is Krishna consciousness is clearly explained here in this verse. And without being Krishna conscious, it is not at all possible to control the senses. As cited above, the great sage Durvasa Muni picked a quarrel with Maharaja Ambarisha, during which the great sage Durvasa unnecessarily became angry our of false prestige, and thus could not check his senses in the matter of sense gratification. On the other hand, the King, although not a yogi as powerful as the sage and yet a devotee of the Lord, silently tolerated all injustice of the sage, and thus came out victorious from the turmoil created by the sage. The King was able to control his senses on account of the following qualifications, as mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam:
sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayor
vacamsi vaikuntha-gunanuvarnane
karau harer mandira-marjanadishu
shrutim cakaracyuta-sat-kathodaye
mukunda-lingalaya-darsane drishau
tad-bhritya-gatra-sparshe ‘nga-sangamam
ghranam ca tat-pada-saroja-saurabhe
shrimat-tulasya rasanam tad-arpite
padau hareh kshetra-padanusarpane
shiro hrsikesha-padabhivandane
kamam ca dasye na tu kama-kamyaya
yathottama-shloka-janashraya ratih
“King Ambarisha fixed his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, engaged his words in describing the abode of the Lord, his hands in cleansing work of the temple of the Lord, his ears in hearing of the pastimes of the Lord, his eyes in seeing the form of the Lord, his body in touching the body of the devotee, his nostrils in smelling the fragrance of the flowers offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, his tongue in tasting the Tulasi leaves offered to Him, his legs in traveling to the holy place where His temple is situated, his head in offering obeisances unto the Lord, and his desires in fulfilling the desires of the Lord. And all these qualifications made him fit to become a mat-para devotee of the Lord.”
The word mat-para is most significant in this connection. How to become mat-para is described in the life of Maharaja Ambarisha. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana, a great scholar and Acharya in the line of the mat-para, remarks in this connection as follows: mad-bhakti-prabhavena sarvendriya-vijaya-purvika svatma-drishtih sulabheti bhavah. “The senses can be fully controlled only by the strength of devotional service in Krsna consciousness.” The example of fire is sometimes given as follows: “As the small flames burn everything within a room, similarly Lord Vishnu situated in the heart of the yogi, burns up all kinds of dirty things.” The Yoga-sutra also prescribes meditation on Vishnu, and not meditation on the void. The so-called yogis who meditate on something other than the Vishnu form simply waste their time in a vain search after some phantasmagoria. We have to be Krsna conscious—devoted to the Personality of Godhead—Who is the aim of the real yogi as it is stated “ klesa-karma-vipakasair aparamristah purusavisesh iswarah”.
2.62 While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for such sense objects, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger is manifested.
Purport. One who is not Krishna conscious is subjected to material desires while contemplating the objects of the senses. The senses require real engagements, and if they are not engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, certainly they will seek engagement in the service of the material energy. In the material world everyone, including Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma—what to speak of other demigods in the heavenly planets—all of us are subjected to the influence of sense objects, and the only method to get out of this puzzle of material existence is to become Krishna conscious. Lord Shiva was deep in meditation, but when Parvati agitated him for sense pleasure, he agreed to the proposal and as a result Kartikeya was born. But Haridas Thakur, a young devotee of the Lord was similarly allured by the incarnation of Devi. Thakur Haridas easily passed the test on account of his unalloyed devotion to Lord Krishna. As stated in the above mentioned verse of Sri Yamunacharya, an unalloyed devotee of the Lord learns to hate any sort of material sense enjoyment, on account of his higher taste for spiritual enjoyment in the association with the Lord. That is the secret of success. One who is not therefore in Krishna consciousness, however powerful he may be in the matter of controlling the senses by artificial repression, is sure to be a failure; and his slight thinking of sense pleasure will agitate him for sense enjoyment and subsequent consequences without fail.
2.63 From anger, perfect illusion arises, and from illusion bewilderment of memory manifests. From bewilderment of memory, loss of intelligence takes place. When intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.
Purport. In this connection, Srila Rupa Goswami has given us directions as follows:
prapancikataya buddhya hari-sambandhi-vastunah
mumuksubhih parityago vairagyam phalgu kathyate
(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.256)
By development of Krishna consciousness one can know that everything has its use in the service of the Lord. Anyone who is not in Krishna consciousness, may artificially try to avoid material objects without any knowledge of Krishna consciousness. As a result, such persons desiring liberation from material bondage do not attain the perfect stage of renunciation. Their so-called renunciation is called Phalgu, or less important. On the other hand, a person in Krishna consciousness knows how to use everything in the service of the Lord, and thus he does not become a victim of material consciousness. An impersonalist has no sense as to how the Lord eats. According to him, the Lord or the Absolute, being impersonal is in the impossibility to eat. As the impersonalist tries to avoid all kinds of good eatables, a devotee knows that Krishna is the supreme enjoyer, and He eats all that is offered to Him in devotion. So after offering good eatables to the Lord, the devotee takes the remnants. The devotee takes prasadam in Krishna consciousness, while the non-devotee rejects it as material. The impersonalist therefore cannot enjoy life due to artificial renunciation, and therefore a slight agitation of the mind pulls him down again into the pool of material existence. It is said that such a soul liberated by mental speculation, even though rising up to the point of liberation, falls down again on account of lack of support by devotional standing.
2.64 Being freed from all attachment and detachment, a person who has control over his senses through the regulated principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord.
Purport. It is already explained that one may be externally controlling the senses by some artificial process, but without the senses being engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord, there is every chance of fall down. On the contrary, the person in full Krishna consciousness may apparently be on the sensual platform, but on account of his becoming Krishna conscious, he has no attachment or detachment from such activities. The Krishna conscious person is concerned only with the satisfaction of Krishna, and nothing more. Therefore he is transcendental to all kinds of attachment or detachment. If Krishna wants, the devotee can do anything which he should not have done, and if Krishna does not want, he is not prepared to do anything which he would have ordinarily done for his own satisfaction. Therefore, to do something or not to do it is within his control because he acts only under the direction of Krishna. And this consciousness of a devotee is the causeless mercy of the Lord, which the devotee can achieve, in spite of his becoming attached to the sensual platform.
2.65 For one thus satisfied in Krishna consciousness, the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer and in such satisfied consciousness, one’s intelligence is accepted as well established.
2.66 One who is not in Krishna consciousness can have neither a fixed mind nor a transcendental intelligence, without which there is no possibility of peace and without peace of mind how can there be any happiness?
Purport. Without being in Krishna consciousness there is no possibility of peace. So it is confirmed in the fifth chapter, verse 29, that when one understands that Krishna is the only enjoyer of all kinds of good results of sacrifice and penance, that He is the proprietor of all universal manifestations and that He is the real friend of all living entities then one can have real peace. Therefore if one is not in such Krishna consciousness there cannot be a fixed conclusion in the mind. Disturbance in the mind is due to want of a fixed conclusion, and when one is fixed in the mind that Krishna is the enjoyer, proprietor and friend of everything and everyone, that fixed mind can only bring about peace. Therefore anyone who is fixed in any other occupation, without any relationship with Krishna, is certainly always in distress, without any peace, however much he may make a show of peace and spiritual advancement of life. Krishna consciousness is a self-manifested peaceful condition which can be achieved only in relationship with Krishna.
2.67 As an unfavourable wind sweeps away a boat on the water, similarly even one out of the many senses on which the mind constantly focuses can carry away a person’s intelligence.
Purport. Unless the total senses are engaged in the service of the Lord, even one of them engaged in sense gratification can deviate the devotee from the path of transcendental advancement. As mentioned in the life of Maharaja Ambarisha, the total senses must have engagement in Krishna consciousness, and that is the technique for controlling the mind in the right manner.
2.68 Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are curbed by means of Krishna consciousness, is certainly of fixed intelligence.
Purport. One can curb the forces of sense gratification only by means of Krishna consciousness, or engaging all the senses in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. As enemies are curbed by superior force, similarly the senses cannot be curbed by any human endeavor, but by keeping them engaged in the service of the Lord. One who has understood that only by Krishna consciousness is he really established in fixed intelligence and who practices this art of Krishna consciousness under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master is called a sadhaka, or a suitable candidate for liberation.
2.69 What is night for all living entities is the time of awakening for the self-controlled, and what is the time of awakening for all living entities is the night for the introspective sage.
Purport. There are two classes of intelligent men. The one is intelligent in the matter of material activities for sense gratification, and the other is introspective in the matter of self-realization. The student of self-realization is introspective, and he is required to be awake while culturing such activities of self-realization. Such self-realization activities of the introspective sage, or thoughtful man, are night for materially absorbed persons. Materialistic persons remain asleep in such night on account of ignorance in the matter of self-realization. The introspective sage, however, remains alert in that night of the materialistic men. Such sages feel transcendental pleasure in gradual advancement of spiritual culture, while the man in materialistic activities, being asleep in the matter of self-realization, dreams of varieties of sense pleasure, feeling sometimes happy and sometimes distressed in such sleeping condition. The introspective man is always indifferent to such materialistic happiness and distress, but goes on with his self-culture activities, without any material reaction.
2.70 A person who is not disturbed by the incessantly generated desires, comparable to the flow of waters into the ocean, which is ever being filled but remains undisturbed, can alone achieve peace and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.
Purport. The vast ocean is always filled with sufficient water and still in the rainy season it is always filled with much more water. But the ocean remains the same, steady, without being agitated and crossing the limit of its brink. That is the example of a person who is fixed in Krishna consciousness. As long as one has the material body, the demands of the body for sense gratification will continue, although the devotee does not like to satisfy such desires on account of his fullness of everything. A Krishna conscious man is not in want of anything because the Lord fulfils all his material necessities. So he is like the ocean—always full in himself. Desires may come to him like the water of the rivers entering the ocean, still the Krishna conscious man is steady in his activities, without being even slightly disturbed by such incoming desires for sense gratification. That is the proof of a Krishna conscious man who has lost all inclination for material sense gratification, although the desires are present. Because the Krishna conscious man remains satisfied in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he can remain steady like the ocean, and therefore enjoys full peace, while the others who want to fulfil desires, even up to the limit of liberation-what to speak of material success-do never attain peace. The fuitive workers, the salvationists, as also the yogis who are after mystic powers, all are unhappy on account of desires to be fulfilled. But the person in Krishna consciousness is happy in the service of the Lord and has no desires to be fulfilled. He does not even desire liberation from the so-called material bondage. The devotees in Krishna consciousness have no material desires and therefore they are in perfect peace.
2.71 A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who has become desireless, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego, he alone can attain real peace and nobody else.
Purport. To become desireless means not to desire anything for sense gratification. In other words, desire for becoming Krishna conscious is actually desirelessness. To understand one’s factual position as eternal servitor of Krishna, without falsely claiming his material body as oneself and without falsely claiming proprietorship over anything in the world, is the perfect stage of Krishna consciousness. Such a perfect man knows that Krishna is the proprietor of everything, and therefore everything must be used for the satisfaction of Krishna. Arjuna did not like to fight for his own sense gratification, but when he became fully Krishna conscious, he fought because Krishna wanted it. For himself there was no desire to fight, but for Krishna the same Arjuna fought to his best ability. Such desire for the satisfaction of Krishna is really desirelessness, and not artificially trying to become desireless. The living entity cannot be desireless or senseless, but he has to change the quality of the desires from personal desires to satisfy Krishna’s desires. Such materially desireless person certainly knows that everything belongs to Krishna: Ishavasyam idam sarvam. And therefore he does not falsely claim any proprietorship over anything in the world. And such transcendental knowledge is based on self-realization- namely when one knows perfectly well that every living entity is eternal part and parcel of Krishna in spiritual identity and therefore the eternal position of the living entity is never to be on the level of Krishna or greater than Him. Such an understanding of Krishna consciousness is the basic principle of real peace and not otherwise.
2.72 That is the way of the spiritual situation of godly life, upon attaining which nobody becomes bewildered. If one is situated in such status of life even at the end of life, one can enter into the Kingdom of God.
Purport. One can attain Krishna consciousness or divine life at once, within a second, or one may not attain such state of life even after millions of births. It is only the question of understanding and acceptance of the fact. Khatvanga Maharaja attained this state of life just a few minutes before his death, by surrendering unto Krishna, or by becoming Krishna conscious. Nirvana means ending the process of materialistic life. According to Buddhist philosophy, there is only void after this material life. But Bhagavad Gita does not say that. Actual life begins after ending this materialistic life. For the gross materialist it is sufficient to know that one has to end this materialistic way of life. But for persons who are spiritually advanced there is life after ending this materialistic life. Therefore, before ending this life, if somebody fortunately becomes Krishna conscious, certainly, at once, he attains the stage of Brahma nirvana. There is no difference between the Kingdom of God and devotional service of the Lord. Both of them are on the absolute plane. Therefore to be engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord means attainment of the spiritual kingdom. Because in the material world there are activities of sense gratification, whereas in the spiritual world there are activities of Krishna consciousness, therefore attainment of Krishna consciousness even during this life is immediately attainment of Brahmanand one who is situated in Krishna consciousness has certainly already entered the Kingdom of God.
Brahman is just the opposite sense of matter. Therefore brahmi sthiti means “not on the platform of material activities.” Devotional service of the Lord is accepted in the Bhagavad Gita as the liberated stage. “sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate”. Therefore, brahmi sthiti is liberation from material bondage.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has summarised this second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita as the contents of the whole text. In the Bhagavad Gita, the subject matters are karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and bhakti-yoga. In the second chapter karma-yoga and jnana-yoga have been clearly discussed, and a glimpse of bhakti-yoga has also been discussed, as the contents for the complete text.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports of the Second Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, in the matter of its contents in Krishna consciousness.
--The Australian Society for Krishna Culture. AUSKCULTURE, operation start 1984 -- ABN 65 231 425 870. 