BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:45

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:45

 

trai-gunya-visaya veda

nistrai-gunyo bhavarjuna

nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho

niryoga-ksema atmavan

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

trai-gunya--pertaining to the three modes of material nature;

visayah--on the subject matter; vedah--Vedic literatures;

nistrai-gunyah--transcendental to the three modes of material nature;

bhava--be; arjuna--O Arjuna; nirdvandvah--without duality;

nitya-sattva-sthah--in a pure state of spiritual existence;

niryoga-ksemah--free from ideas of gain and protection;

atma-van--established in the self.

 

TRANSLATION

 

The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material

nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes. Be free

from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be

established in the self.

 

PURPORT

 

All material activities involve actions and reactions in the three

modes of material nature. They are meant for fruitive results, which

cause bondage in the material world. The Vedas deal mostly with

fruitive activities to gradually elevate the general public from the

field of sense gratification to a position on the transcendental

plane. Arjuna, as a student and friend of Lord Krsna, is advised to

raise himself to the transcendental position of Vedanta philosophy

where, in the beginning, there is brahma-jijnasa, or questions on the

supreme transcendence. All the living entities who are in the material

world are struggling very hard for existence. For them the Lord, after

creation of the material world, gave the Vedic wisdom advising how to

live and get rid of the material entanglement. When the activities for

sense gratification, namely the karma-kanda chapter, are finished,

then the chance for spiritual realization is offered in the form of

the Upanisads, which are part of different Vedas, as the Bhagavad-gita

is a part of the fifth Veda, namely the Mahabharata. The Upanisads

mark the beginning of transcendental life.

 

As long as the material body exists, there are actions and reactions

in the material modes. One has to learn tolerance in the face of

dualities such as happiness and distress, or cold and warmth, and by

tolerating such dualities become free from anxieties regarding gain

and loss. This transcendental position is achieved in full Krsna

consciousness when one is fully dependent on the good will of Krsna.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.