Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter2

[Guest guest]

38.sukhaduhkhe same krthvaa laabha alaabhou jaya ajayou

thathaH yudDhaaya yudDhyasva na evam paapam avaapsyasi

 

Fight for the sake of war, considering joy and sorrow equally and also gain and loss. Thus you will not incur any sin.

 

Thus fighting the war as a duty which could not be avoided and which is inevitable, whether Arjuna wishes to get the kingdom or does not wish to kill his relatives and thus incur sin, Krishna says , he will not incur any sin. What is done as a duty without attaching importance to the result is karmayoga which Krishna is going to elaborate in the subsequent chapter and which he hints in the following slokas. Sukha and duhkah relate to the mind and are the effects of labha and alaabh, loss and gain which pertain to the body level.

 

39. eshaa the abhihithaa saankhye budDhiyoge thu imam srNu

budDhyaayuktho yayaa paarTha karmabanDham prahaasyathi

 

So far you have been told about the knowledge of the self. Now listen to yoga (karmayoga) by following which you will be freed from the bondage of karma.

 

Saankhya here means intellect and the truth which should be understood through the intellect is saakhyam, meaning the knowledge of the real nature of the self. This relates to the theory of self knowledge and now Krishna says that Arjuna will be imparted the means of attaining it by practicing karmayoga. Thus saankhya denotes the thory of Athmavidhya while the Karmayoga shows the practical side of it.

 

karmabanDham- the bondage due to karma which results in the cycle of births and deaths. As already mentioned, this discourse of Gita was meant for the whole mankind and the fight here implies the fight that goes within every individual due to the ignorance born out of karma, which obscures the truth and creates confusion as to what to do and what not to do. So here it is meant that by knowing the teachings of the Gita one would be able to shake off the shackles of karma and will be released from the transmigration of the soul causing embodiment.

 

40. nehaabhikram naaso asthi prthyavaayo na vidhyathe

svalpam api asya Dharmasya thraayathe mahatho bhayaath

 

Here (in the practice of karmayoga) there is no loss of effort nor is there any fear of evil. Even a little practice of this dharma (karmayoga) releases one from the great fear.

 

A karma when started and left off in the middle will result in loss of effort as one has to do it again from the beginning. In some karma evil result will ensue when stopped in the middle as in the case of ritualistic action. This is inevitable with desire motivated actions.

But when the same action is done as karmayoga with no desire for result but performed only as a duty these ill effects do not occur. The path of karmayoga is praised by Krishna as being without pitfalls by saying nehaabhikramanasoasthi, there is no loss of effort, and, pratyavaayo na vidyate, no contrary result will occur, because even a little of karmayoga practised diligently produces result in the form of freedom from the perils of samsara.