BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:38

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:38

 

sukha-duhkhe same krtva

labhalabhau jayajayau

tato yuddhaya yujyasva

naivam papam avapsyasi

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

sukha--happiness; duhkhe--and distress; same--in equanimity;

krtva--doing so; labha-alabhau--both profit and loss;

jaya-ajayau--both victory and defeat; tatah--thereafter; yuddhaya--for

the sake of fighting; yujyasva--engage (fight); na--never; evam--in

this way; papam--sinful reaction; avapsyasi--you will gain.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness

or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat--and by so doing you

shall never incur sin.

 

PURPORT

 

Lord Krsna now directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of

fighting because He desires the battle. There is no consideration of

happiness or distress, profit or gain, victory or defeat in the

activities of Krsna consciousness. That everything should be performed

for the sake of Krsna is transcendental consciousness; so there is no

reaction to material activities. He who acts for his own sense

gratification, either in goodness or in passion, is subject to the

reaction, good or bad. But he who has completely surrendered himself

in the activities of Krsna 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:

 

devarsi-bhutapta-nrnam pitrnam

na kinkaro nayam rni ca rajan

sarvatmana yah saranam saranyam

gato mukundam parihrtya 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 the people in general, nor kinsmen,

nor humanity, nor forefathers." (SB. 11.5.41) That is the indirect

hint given by Krsna to Arjuna in this verse, and the matter will be

more clearly explained in the following verses.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.