Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter2

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33.aTha chethvam imam Dharmyam sangramam na karishyasi

thathaH svaDharmam keerthim cha hithvaa paapam avaapsyathi

 

But if you do not fight this righteous war, then only you will incur sin by discarding your duty and you will also lose your fame.

 

Krishna, after showing Arjuna that his svadhama lies only in fighting a righteous battle , now elaborates on the possible consequesnces of his not fighting. He will not only incur sin by relinquishing his duty as a kshathriya but also lose the fame he has acquired so long.

 

Dhrmyam sangraamam- righteous war.

 

34. akeerthim chapi bhoothaani kaThayishyanthi the avyayaam

sambhaavithasya cha akeerthiH maraNaath athirichyathe

 

Further the people will speak ill of you forever and for one who is in an honourable position the ill-fame is worse than death.

 

When he is no longer looked upon as a hero by the people they will talk ill of him and to sin into ill-fame is worse than death for one who has been an illustrious warrior.

 

avayayam here means that the ill-fame will be forever. The fact that Arjuna putto flight the whole army of Kouravas single handed during their attack on the herd of cattle of Virata and his fight even with Lord Siva, his exploits which earned him the name of Dhanajaya , all will b for gotten and he would be remembered only for his cowardly act of turning away from battle. It is a sad fact that the world remembers only the drawbacks of the great people because it is a human tendency to pull the great to our level to get the satisfaction that they are no better than us.

 

35. bhayaath raNaath uparatham mamsyanthe thvaam mahaaraThaaH

yeshaam thvam bahumathaH bhootvaa yaasyasi laaghavam

 

The valiant will think that you have run away from the battle in fear. Those who have high opinion of you so far will think lightly of you.

 

Other valiant warriors on both sides may think that Arjuna has been afraid of the might of Bheesham and others and decided to run away from facing them on war while those who hold him in high esteem like Bheeshma and Dhrona will think that he was not worthy of it.

 

raNa means battle. uparatham – withdrawing .

yeshaam thvam bahumanyanthe- by whom you are held in high esteem. Here it refers to the persons revered by Arjuna like Bheeshma and because o fth unwillingness to kill whom he wants to withdraw from battle. Krishna says that those who he did not dsire to kill the very same persons would have a low opinion of him for it.

bahumathaH bhoothvaa- having earned the high opinion of himself.

 

laaghavam – smallness or insignificance

 

36. avaachya vaadhaan cha bahoon vadhishyanthi thava ahithaaH

nindhanthaH thava saamarThyamhathaH duhkhatharam thu kim

 

Your enemies will utter unspeakable words about you belittling your prowess. What could be more painful than that?

 

The enemieds of Pandavas, Duryodhana and his brothers, though they would like nothing better than Arjuna withdrawing from battle, will speak derisively of him and insult him humiliating words.

 

Thus whipping up the sense of honour of Arjuna , Krishna emphasizes the importance of fighting in the next sloka.

 

37.hatho vaa praapsuase svargam jithvaavaa bhokshyase maheem

thasmaath utthishTa kountheya yudDhaaya krthaniSchayaH

 

If you get killed you will go to heaven and if you win you will enjoy the kingdom. Therefore get up, Oh son of Kunthi, and fight with determination.

 

After convincing him that by withdrawing from battle would not be right for a hero like him.now Krishna says that either he kills or get killed it will be for good only. By doing his duty and losing his life in battle he will go to heaven as already said that to fight such a righteous battle will open the gates of heaven,. If he wins the war he will get the kingdom . Hence h need not worry about the outcome of the war and must go ahead to do his duty.

It will be interesting to note that both the wise and the wicked have no doubts about what they want to do. Only the average man who is averse to wickedness but lacks the courage to do good is perpetually in doubt! Arjuna represents an average human being , that is , people like us! So what Krishna tells next applies to all of us whenever we are in a dilemma, too do or not to do anything.