Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter2

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30. dhehee nithyam avaDhyo ayam dhehe sarvasya bhaaratha

thasmath sarvaaNi bhoothaani nathvam Sochithum arhathi

 

This self, dhehee, cannot be killed, avaDhyah, because it is eternal, nithyaH. This is the case of all beings in all bodies, dhehe sarvasya and hence you should not grieve over any being.

 

Krishna had described the self so far as that which could not be destroyed and by the previous sloka he had made it clear that since the self is uncognisable by senses , mind and intellect, nothing could destroy that. Hence in this sloka Krishna tells Arjuna that he should not grieve over all beings including Bheeshma and Dhrona because they are not mere bodies. Then he goes on to talk in the worldly sense reminding Arjuna about his duty as a kshathriya.

 

31.svaDharmaam api cha avEkshya na vikampithum arhasi

Dharmyaath hi yudDhaath SreyaH kshathriyasya na vidhyathe

 

Even considering your own duty you should not swerve from it. For kshathriya there is nothing more preferred than a righteous war.

 

kshathaath thraayathi ithi kshathriyah A ksathriya is the one who protects from harm. That is, it is the dharma of a kshathriya to fight for the right cause,. A war which was not started for selfish reasons and out of greediness and is unavoidable and fought as a duty is a blessing for a kshathryia . The Pandavas were fighting only for what was rightfully theirs.

svadharma- the duty which comes to one in accordance with his propensities under the circumstance. This term will be explained fully later in the Gita.

 

Avekshya-perceiving. Making sure what is his svadharma.

 

Vikampithum- wavering.

 

SreyaH – that which is of perennial god as against that which is desired as being good., preyaH

 

 

 

32.yadhrcChayaa cha upapannam svargadhvaaram apaavrtham

sukhinaH kshathriyaaH labhanthe yudDham eedhrSam

 

A war that comes to a fortunate kshathriya like this of its own accord, opens the gates of heaven.

 

What Krishna means here is that the war was thrust upon the Pandavas and it was not of their own making. yadhrcchayaa means something which happens of its own accord. Hence as made out in the last sloka it is the best that could happen to a kshathriya giving him an opportunity to right the wrong done by the unrighteous. Krishna calls Arjuna as ParTha, which the commentators attribute to the intention of Krishna to remind Arjuna the message of his mother Prthaa, that is Kunthi, sent to her sons when Kruishna returned from Hastinapura confirming the war.

 

She said,

 

Ethath Dhananjayo vaachyo nithogdhyuktho vrkodharaH

yadharTham kshathriyaa soothe thasya kalo ayam aagathah( MB-Udyogaparva)

 

This should be said to Arjuna and Bheema, who is always waiting to fight, that the moment for which a kshathriya mother gives birth to sons, have come now.

 

Hence Krishan says that only blessed kshathriyas get this opportunity to fight a righteous battle which opens the gates of heaven for them, svargadhvaaram apaavrtham, living or dead.