BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:1

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:1

 

sanjaya uvaca

tam tatha krpayavistam

asru-purnakuleksanam

visidantam idam vakyam

uvaca madhusudanah

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

sanjayah uvaca--Sanjaya said; tam--unto Arjuna; tatha--thus;

krpaya--by compassion; avistam--overwhelmed; asru-purna-akula--full of

tears; iksanam--eyes; visidantam--lamenting; idam--these;

vakyam--words; uvaca--said; madhu-sudanah--the killer of Madhu.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed,

his eyes full of tears, Madhusudana, Krsna, spoke the following words.

 

PURPORT

 

Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance

of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization.

The word "Madhusudana" is significant in this verse. Lord Krsna killed

the demon Madhu, and now Arjuna wanted Krsna to kill the demon of

misunderstanding that had overtaken him in the discharge of his duty.

No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the

dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of

nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress--the

gross material body. One who does not know this and laments for the

outward dress is called a sudra, or one who laments unnecessarily.

Arjuna was a ksatriya, and this conduct was not expected from him.

Lord Krsna, however, can dissipate the lamentation of the ignorant

man, and for this purpose the Bhagavad-gita was sung by Him. This

chapter instructs us in self-realization by an analytical study of the

material body and the spirit soul, as explained by the supreme

authority, Lord Sri Krsna. This realization is possible when one works

without attachment to fruitive results and is situated in the fixed

conception of the real self.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.