Bhagavad-gita As It Is Ch. 2 Text 14-15

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is Ch. 2 Text 14-15

 

matra-sparsas tu kaunteya

sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah

agamapayino `nityas

tams titiksasva bharata

 

TEXT 14

 

matra—sensuous; sparsah—perception; tu—only; kaunteya—O son of Kunti;

sita—winter; usna—summer; sukha—happiness; duh kha-dah—giving pain;

agama—appearing; apayinah—disappearing; an ityah— nonpermanent; tan—

all of them; titiksasva—just try to tolerate; bharata—O descendant of

the Bharata dynasty.

 

TRANSLATION

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, 0 scion of Bharata, and one must learn to

tolerate them without being disturbed.

 

PURPORT

 

In the proper discharge of duty, one has to learn to tolerate nonper­

manent appearances and disappearances of happiness and distress. Ac­

cording to Vedic injunction, one has to take his bath early in the

morning even 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. 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 ksatriyas, and although 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 arid 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 his father's side. From both sides he is

supposed to have a great heritage. A great heritage brings

responsibility in the matter of proper discharge of duties;

therefore, he cannot avoid fighting.

 

 

 

TEXT 15

 

 

yam hi na vyathayanty ete

purusam purusarsabha

sama-duhkha-sukham dhiram

so mrtatvaya kalpate

 

yam— one who; hi—certainly; na—never; vyathayanti—are distressing;

ete— all these; purusam—to a person; purusarsabha—is best among men;

sama— unaltered; duh kha— distress; suk ham—happiness; dh iram—

patient; sah— he; amrtatvaya— for liberation; kalpate—is considered

eligible.

 

TRANSLATION

 

0 best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by

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 realization and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of

distress and happiness is certainly a person eligible for liberation.

In the varnasrama institution, the fourth stage of life, namely the

renounced order (sannyasa), is a 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 usually

arise from having to sever 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 realization is

complete. Similarly, in Arjuna's discharge of duties as a ksatriya,

he is advised to persevere, even if it is difficult to fight with his

family members or similarly beloved persons. Lord Caitanya took

sannyasa at the age of twenty-four, and His dependents, young wife as

well as old mother, had no one 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.

 

ALL TRANSLATIONS ARE DONE BY HIS DIVINE GRACE SWAMI PRABHUPADA

 

FROM 1973 EDITION OF BHAGAVAD GITA AS IT IS

 

 

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