BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:26

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:26

 

atha cainam nitya-jatam

nityam va manyase mrtam

tathapi tvam maha-baho

nainam socitum arhasi

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

atha--if, however; ca--also; enam--this soul; nitya-jatam--always

born; nityam--forever; va--either; manyase--you so think; mrtam--dead;

tatha api--still; tvam--you; maha-baho--O mighty-armed one; na--never;

enam--about the soul; socitum--to lament; arhasi--deserve.

 

TRANSLATION

 

If, however, you think that the soul [or the symptoms of life] is

always born and dies forever, you still have no reason to lament, O

mighty-armed.

 

PURPORT

 

There is always a class of philosophers, almost akin to the Buddhists,

who do not believe in the separate existence of the soul beyond the

body. When Lord Krsna spoke the Bhagavad-gita, it appears that such

philosophers existed, and they were known as the lokayatikas and

vaibhasikas. Such philosophers maintain that life symptoms take place

at a certain mature condition of material combination. The modern

material scientist and materialist philosophers also think similarly.

According to them, the body is a combination of physical elements, and

at a certain stage the life symptoms develop by interaction of the

physical and chemical elements. The science of anthropology is based

on this philosophy. Currently, many pseudo religions--now becoming

fashionable in America--are also adhering to this philosophy, as well

as to the nihilistic nondevotional Buddhist sects.

 

Even if Arjuna did not believe in the existence of the soul--as in the

vaibhasika philosophy--there would still have been no cause for

lamentation. No one laments the loss of a certain bulk of chemicals

and stops discharging his prescribed duty. On the other hand, in

modern science and scientific warfare, so many tons of chemicals are

wasted for achieving victory over the enemy. According to the

vaibhasika philosophy, the so-called soul or atma vanishes along with

the deterioration of the body. So, in any case, whether Arjuna

accepted the Vedic conclusion that there is an atomic soul or he did

not believe in the existence of the soul, he had no reason to lament.

According to this theory, since there are so many living entities

generating out of matter every moment, and so many of them are being

vanquished every moment, there is no need to grieve for such

incidents. If there were no rebirth for the soul, Arjuna had no reason

to be afraid of being affected by sinful reactions due to his killing

his grandfather and teacher. But at the same time, Krsna sarcastically

addressed Arjuna as maha-bahu, mighty-armed, because He, at least, did

not accept the theory of the vaibhasikas, which leaves aside the Vedic

wisdom. As a ksatriya, Arjuna belonged to the Vedic culture, and it

behooved him to continue to follow its principles.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.