Bhagawad Gita Ch2. Verses: 26-32 [Adi Shankara]

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[Translation by Sri Warrior. Typed text provided by Shri Shankar]

 

26. Even if you think that the Self is perpetually born and perpetually

dies, still, O hero! you ought not to grieve for It thus.

 

26.1 The words atha ca have the sense, 'granted'. On the basis of

popular notion if you think that this Self is perpetually born with the

birth of the bodies It indwells, and that It perpetually dies with their

destruction, still, O hero! you ought not to grieve with regard to It,

because what takes birth undergoes destruction and what is destroyed

necessaily takes birth.

 

Therefore:

 

27. Death is indeed certain for one who is born; and for one who dies,

birth, too, is certain. therefore, as regards this unavoidable sequence,

you ought not to grieve.

 

27.1 For one who is born, i.e. who has taken birth, death is an

inevitable concomitant; so too is birth for one who dies. Therefore the

sequence of birth and death is unavoidable, and is a matter of course.

Hence you ought not to grieve for it.

 

28.0 It is not reasonable to grieve for beings who are mere bundles of

causes and effects, because

 

28. The beginning of beings is unmanifest, O Bharata prince! Their middle

state is unmanifest. Their end, too, is unmanifest. In these

circumstances, why lament?

 

28.1 'Unmanifest', i.e. unperceived or unknown, is the beginning of

beings such as one's sons, friends, etc., These seem to be nothing but

bundles of means and effects, organs and bodies. Before their appearance in

time, these beings are unmanifest. Having appeared, their intermediate

state, till their death, is manifest. Again, their end in death is

'unmanifest', unperceived. The idea is that after death they arrive at a

state of unmanifestedness. So it has been affirmed in the Mahabharata (Stri

2.13): "He has come from an unseen state and has returned to that state

again. He does not belong to you nor do you, to him. Why then, this vain

lament? In these circumstances, where is the room for lamentation or vain

speech as regards beings whose very essence is a delusion-who are unseen,

then seen, and finally wiped out? This is the idea.

 

 

29.0 The Self in question hard to comprehend. Why should I blame you

alone when the cause of the delusion is universal? For, how hard it is to

comprehend the Self! The Lord affirms:

 

29. One beholds It as a marvel. Similarly, another talks of it as a

marvel. Yet another hears of It as a marvel. Even after hearing, none

indeed knows It aright.

 

29.1 As a marvel: a marvel is what is unseen before, a wonder, that is

unexpectedly seen. So, as a marvel, one beholds the Self. Similarly

another talks of It as a marvel and yet another hears of It as a marvel.

Having heard, seen, and spoken, too, none at all comprehends this Self.

 

29.2 Or, he who Sees the Self is, as it were, marvellous, He who speaks

and he who hears about the Self is but one in many thousands. Therefore,

the idea is that the Self is hard to comprehend.

 

Now the theme in hand is wound up:

 

30. This embodied Self (dwelling) in the bodies of all, O Bharata Prince!

is eternally indestructible. Therefore, you ought not to grieve for any

being at all.

 

30.1 'Eternally'-at all times and in all states-the embodied Self is

indetructible, because It is impartite and ever-lasting. The Self dwelling

in no body may be slain. Being all-pervasive, the Self present even in

stationary objects like trees is indestructible. Even when the bodies are

slain, the Self remains indestructible; so you ought not to grieve for

beings like Bhisma and the rest.

 

31.0 In 2.30 it is stated that in the light of the ultimate Truth neither

grief nor delusion is possible. Not only in the light of te ultimate Truth

is this so, but also,

 

31. Having regard to the law of your own life, you ought not to be

perturbed. A Ksatriya cannot have a greater good than a righteous battle.

 

31.1 "The Law of your life"-your law is the Ksatriya's law of batlle.

With due regard to that, you ought not to be perturbed or upset. The

righteous law of battle is what is natural to, is the very nature of, a

Ksatriya. Such is the purport. And battle is for the sake of righteousness

and people's security, through the conquest of the world. Hence it is

eminently righteous, dharmya, which means what is not divorced from

righteousness.

Than a righteous battle, no greater good can accrue to a Ksatriya. This is

the reason for the assertion in 2.31.

 

32.0 What additional reason is there for fighting? Answer:

 

32. An open gateway to heaven has, by a happy chance, offered itself to

you. O Arjuna! For, fortunate Ksatriyas alone gain an occasion to wage a

war like this.

 

32.1 'By chance', i.e., what has come unsought. An open gateway to

heaven in this war. Are not Ksatriyas happy to get a chance to wage a war

like this?