Contemplation (Support Material) on verses 2.31-38 - Gita

svadharmamapi cāvēkṣya na vikampitumarhasi.
dharmyāddhi yuddhāchrēyō.nyatkṣatriyasya na vidyatē৷৷2.31৷৷

2.31 Even considering your own duty you should not waver, since there is nothing else better for a Ksatriya than a righteous battle.

2.31 svadharmamapi svō dharmaḥ kṣatriyasya yuddhaṅ tamapi avēkṣya tvaṅ na vikampituṅ pracalitum nārhasi kṣatriyasya svābhāvikāddharmāt ātmasvābhāvyādityabhiprāyaḥ. tacca yuddhaṅ pṛthivījayadvārēṇa dharmārthaṅ prajārakṣaṇārthaṅ cēti dharmādanapētaṅ paraṅ dharmyam. tasmāt dharmyāt yuddhāt śrēyaḥ anyat kṣatriyasya na vidyatē hi yasmāt৷৷
kutaśca tat yuddhaṅ kartavyamiti, ucyatē 

2.31 Api, even; aveksya, considering; svadharmam, your own duty, the duty of a Ksatriya, viz battle considering even that ; na arhasi, you ought not; vikampitum, to waver, to deviate from the natural duty of the Ksatriya, i.e. from what is natural to yourself. And hi, since that battle is not devoid of righteousness, (but) is supremely righteous it being conducive to virtue and meant for protection of subjects through conest of the earth ; therefore, na vidyate, there is nothing; anyat, else; sreyah, better; ksatriyasya, for a ksatriya; than that dharmyat, righteous; yuddhat, battle.

Dr. Radhakrishnan Notes

From Gudartha Deepika

2.32: yadṛcchayā cōpapannaṅ svargadvāramapāvṛtam.

sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ pārtha labhantē yuddhamīdṛśam৷৷2.32৷৷

2.32 O son of Partha, happy are the Ksatriyas who come across this kind of a battle, which presents itself unsought for and which is an open gate to heaven.

Rites and duties like sacrifices etc. yield their results after the lapse of some time. But the Ksatriyas go to heaven immediatley after dying in battle, because, unlike the minds of others, their minds remaind fully engaged in their immediate duty.

Dr. Radhakrishnan

Gudartha Deepika





2.33 On the other hand, if you will not fight this righteous battle, then, forsaking your own duty and fame, you will incur sin

ataḥ  tadakaraṇāt  svadharmaṅ kīrtiṅ ca  mahādēvādisamāgamanimittāṅ  hitvā  kēvalaṅ  pāpam avāpsyasi
na kēvalaṅ svadharmakīrtiparityāgaḥ 

Excerpt of Bhasyam: forsaking; sva-dharmam, your own duty; ca, and; kritim, fame, earned from encountering Mahadeva (Lord Siva) and others; avapsyasi, you will incur; only papam, sin.

Swami Gambhiranandaji Foot Note

2.34 akīrtiṅ cāpi bhūtāni kathayiṣyanti tē.vyayām.

saṅbhāvitasya cākīrtirmaraṇādatiricyatē৷৷2.34৷৷

2.34 People also will speak of your unending infamy. And to an honoured person infamy is worse than death.

2.35 bhayādraṇāduparataṅ maṅsyantē tvāṅ mahārathāḥ.

yēṣāṅ ca tvaṅ bahumatō bhūtvā yāsyasi lāghavam৷৷2.35৷৷

2.35 The great chariot-riders will think of you as having desisted from the fight out of fear; and you will into disgrace before them to whom you had been estimable.

Bhasyam: bhayāt  karṇādibhyaḥ  raṇāt  yuddhāt  uparataṅ  nivṛttaṅ  maṅsyantē  cintayiṣyanti na kṛpayēti  vāṅ mahārathāḥ  duryōdhanaprabhṛtayaḥ. 

maharathah, the great chariot-riders, Duryodhana and others; mamsyante, will think; tvam, of you; as uparatam, having desisted; ranat, from the fight; not out of compassion, but bhayat, out of fear of Karna and others; ca,

2.36 avācyavādāṅśca bahūn vadiṣyanti tavāhitāḥ.

nindantastava sāmarthyaṅ tatō duḥkhataraṅ nu kim৷৷2.36

And your enemies will speak many indecent words words while denigrating your might. What can be more painful than that?

Bhasyam: while denigrating, scorning; tava, your; samarthyam, might earned from battles against Nivatakavaca and others. Therefore, kim nu, what can be; duhkhataram, more painful; tatah, than that, than the sorrow arising from being scorned? 

Sri Ramanuja: Moreover, your enemies, the sons of Dhrtarastra, will make many remarks unutterably slanderous and disparaging to heroes, saying, 'How can this Partha stand in the presence of us, who are heroes, even for a moment? His prowess is elsewhere than in our presence.'

2.37 hatō vā prāpsyasi svargaṅ jitvā vā bhōkṣyasē mahīm.

tasmāduttiṣṭha kauntēya yuddhāya kṛtaniścayaḥ৷৷2.37৷৷

2.37 Either by being killed you will attain heaven, or by winning you will enjoy the earth. Therefore, O Arjuna, rise up with determination for fighting.

Gudartha Deepika

Jnaneshwari 

Tell me, will a person who crosses a river in a boat get drowned? Will a person walking straight on a highway stumble? But he who does not know how to walk properly will miss his footing. If a person drinks milk mixed with poison, he will surely die; likewise a person incurs sin if he does his duty with the motive of gain. Therefore, if you perform your duty as a warrior and fight disinterestedly, then it is not sinful 

2.38 sukhaduḥkhē samē kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau.

tatō yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṅ pāpamavāpsyasi৷৷2.38৷৷

2.38 -  Treating happiness and sorrow, gain and loss, and conest and defeat with eanimity, then engage in battle. Thus you will not incur sin.

Sri Sankara

Treating alike pleasure and pain, i.e. without attachment (to the one) or aversion (to the other) ; so also, treating alike gain and loss, and conquest and defeat, do you then engage in battle. So, fighting in this manner, shall you incur no sin. This instruction is only incidental, in strict keeping with the context. 

[ Sri Anandagiri: This observation is for dispelling a possible doubt that the GitāSāstra is expounding that attaining Supreme Truth implies that Jnana & Karma have to be co-joined as a prerequisite.]

Jnaneshwari 

A person should not be elated by pleasure or depressed by pain, nor should he mind gain or loss. He should not feel anxious about victory in war or about loss of his life on the battlefield. While discharging his duty, he should bear patiently what falls to his lot. When his mind attains to this state, he does not incur sin. So you must carry on the fight without anxiety.

EXT: Sri Sankara has drawn a clear distinction that the purpose of this verse is meaningful only in the context of discharging one's svadharma, without incurring sin.  Dr. Radhakrishnan explain this further. 

Dr. Radhakrishnan while commenting on verse 38.