TEXT 31
स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितु-मर्हसि ।
धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाच्छ्रेयोऽन्यत्-क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते ।। 31 ।।
sva-dharmam api cāvekṣya
na vikampitum arhasi
dharmyād dhi yuddhāc chreyo ’nyat
kṣatriyasya na vidyate
sva-dharmam – one’s own religious principles; api – also; ca – indeed; avekṣya – considering; na – never; vikampitum – to hesitate; arhasi – you deserve; dharmyāt – for religious principles; hi – indeed; yuddhāt – than fighting; śreyaḥ – better engagement; anyat – any other; kṣatriyasya – of the kṣatriya; na – does not; vidyate – exist.
Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.
Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called kṣatriya. Kṣat means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called kṣatriya (trāyate – to give protection). The kṣatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kṣatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword. When the tiger was killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system has been followed even up to the present day by the kṣatriya kings of Jaipur state. The kṣatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, kṣatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyāsa, or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be a diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle. In the religious law books it is stated:
jighāṁsanto mahī-kṣitaḥ
yuddhamānāḥ paraṁ śaktyā
svargaṁ yānty aparāṅ-mukhāḥ
yajñeṣu paśavo brahman
hanyante satataṁ dvijaiḥ
saṁskṛtāḥ kila mantraiś ca
te ’pi svargam avāpnuvan
“In the battlefield, a king or kṣatriya, while fighting another king envious of him, is eligible for achieving the heavenly planets after death, as the brāhmaṇas also attain the heavenly planets by sacrificing animals in the sacrificial fire.” Therefore, killing on the battlefield on religious principles and killing animals in the sacrificial fire are not at all considered to be acts of violence, because everyone is benefited by the religious principles involved. The animal sacrificed gets a human life immediately without undergoing the gradual evolutionary process from one form to another, and the kṣatriyas killed on the battlefield also attain the heavenly planets, as do the brāhmaṇas who attain them by offering sacrifice.
There are two kinds of sva-dharmas, specific duties. As long as one is not liberated, one has to perform the duties of his particular body in accordance with religious principles in order to achieve liberation. When one is liberated, one’s sva-dharma – specific duty – becomes spiritual and is not in the material bodily concept. In the bodily conception of life there are specific duties for the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas respectively, and such duties are unavoidable. Sva-dharma is ordained by the Lord, and this will be clarified in the Fourth Chapter. On the bodily plane sva-dharma is called varṇāśrama-dharma, or man’s steppingstone for spiritual understanding. Human civilization begins from the stage of varṇāśrama-dharma, or specific duties in terms of the specific modes of nature of the body obtained. Discharging one’s specific duty in any field of action in accordance with the orders of higher authorities serves to elevate one to a higher status of life.
TEXT 32
यदृच्छया चोपपन्नं स्वर्गद्वार-मपावृतम् ।
सुखिनः क्षत्रियाः पार्थ लभन्ते युद्ध-मीदृशम् ।। 32 ।।
yadṛcchayā copapannaṁ
svarga-dvāram apāvṛtam
sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ pārtha
labhante yuddham īdṛśam
yadṛcchayā – by its own accord; ca – also; upapannam – arrived at; svarga – of the heavenly planets; dvāram – door; apāvṛtam – wide open; sukhinaḥ – very happy; kṣatriyāḥ – the members of the royal order; pārtha – O son of Pṛthā; labhante – do achieve; yuddham – war; īdṛśam – like this.
O Pārtha, happy are the kṣatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.
As supreme teacher of the world, Lord Kṛṣṇa condemns the attitude of Arjuna, who said, “I do not find any good in this fighting. It will cause perpetual habitation in hell.” Such statements by Arjuna were due to ignorance only. He wanted to become nonviolent in the discharge of his specific duty. For a kṣatriya to be on the battlefield and to become nonviolent is the philosophy of fools. In the Parāśara-smṛti, or religious codes made by Parāśara, the great sage and father of Vyāsadeva, it is stated:
kṣatriyo hi prajā rakṣan
śastra-pāṇiḥ pradaṇḍayan
nirjitya para-sainyādi
kṣitiṁ dharmeṇa pālayet
“The kṣatriya’s duty is to protect the citizens from all kinds of difficulties, and for that reason he has to apply violence in suitable cases for law and order. Therefore he has to conquer the soldiers of inimical kings, and thus, with religious principles, he should rule over the world.”
Considering all aspects, Arjuna had no reason to refrain from fighting. If he should conquer his enemies, he would enjoy the kingdom; and if he should die in the battle, he would be elevated to the heavenly planets, whose doors were wide open to him. Fighting would be for his benefit in either case.
TEXT 33
अथ चेत्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं न करिष्यसि ।
ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं ञ्च हित्वा पाप-मवात्स्यसि ।। 33 ।।
atha cet tvam imaṁ dharmyaṁ
saṅgrāmaṁ na kariṣyasi
tataḥ sva-dharmaṁ kīrtiṁ ca
hitvā pāpam avāpsyasi
atha – therefore; cet – if; tvam – you; imam – this; dharmyam – as a religious duty; saṅgrāmam – fighting; na – do not; kariṣyasi – perform; tataḥ – then; sva-dharmam – your religious duty; kīrtim – reputation; ca – also; hitvā – losing; pāpam – sinful reaction; avāpsyasi – will gain.
If, however, you do not perform your religious duty of fighting, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter.
Arjuna was a famous fighter, and he attained fame by fighting many great demigods, including even Lord Śiva. After fighting and defeating Lord Śiva in the dress of a hunter, Arjuna pleased the lord and received as a reward a weapon called pāśupata-astra. Everyone knew that he was a great warrior. Even Droṇācārya gave him benedictions and awarded him the special weapon by which he could kill even his teacher. So he was credited with so many military certificates from many authorities, including his adoptive father Indra, the heavenly king. But if he abandoned the battle, not only would he neglect his specific duty as a kṣatriya, but he would lose all his fame and good name and thus prepare his royal road to hell. In other words, he would go to hell not by fighting but by withdrawing from battle.
TEXT 34
अकीर्तिं ञ्चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम् ।
संभावितस्य चाकीर्ति-र्मरणा-दतिरिच्यते ।। 34 ।।
akīrtiṁ cāpi bhūtāni
kathayiṣyanti te ’vyayām
sambhāvitasya cākīrtir
maraṇād atiricyate
akīrtim – infamy; ca – also; api – over and above; bhūtāni – all people; kathayiṣyanti – will speak; te – of you; avyayām – forever; sambhāvitasya – for a respectable man; ca – also; akīrtiḥ – ill fame; maraṇāt – than death; atiricyate – becomes more.
People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.
Both as friend and philosopher to Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa now gives His final judgment regarding Arjuna’s refusal to fight. The Lord says, “Arjuna, if you leave the battlefield before the battle even begins, people will call you a coward. And if you think that people may call you bad names but that you will save your life by fleeing the battlefield, then My advice is that you’d do better to die in the battle. For a respectable man like you, ill fame is worse than death. So, you should not flee for fear of your life; better to die in the battle. That will save you from the ill fame of misusing My friendship and from losing your prestige in society.”
So, the final judgment of the Lord was for Arjuna to die in the battle and not withdraw.
TEXT 35
भयाद्रणा-दुपरतं मंस्यन्ते त्वां महारथाः ।
येषां च त्वं बहुमतो भूत्वा यास्यसि लाघवम् ।। 35 ।।
bhayād raṇād uparataṁ
maṁsyante tvāṁ mahā-rathāḥ
yeṣāṁ ca tvaṁ bahu-mato
bhūtvā yāsyasi lāghavam
bhayāt – out of fear; raṇāt – from the battlefield; uparatam – ceased; maṁsyante – they will consider; tvām – you; mahā-rathāḥ – the great generals; yeṣām – for whom; ca – also; tvam – you; bahu-mataḥ – in great estimation; bhūtvā – having been; yāsyasi – you will go; lāghavam – decreased in value.
The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you insignificant.
Lord Kṛṣṇa continued to give His verdict to Arjuna: “Do not think that the great generals like Duryodhana, Karṇa and other contemporaries will think that you have left the battlefield out of compassion for your brothers and grandfather. They will think that you have left out of fear for your life. And thus their high estimation of your personality will go to hell.”
TEXT 36
अवाच्य-वादांश्च बहून् वदिष्यन्ति तवाहिताः ।
निन्दन्तस्तव
