Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Chapter 2: Contents of the Gītā Summarized |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.38
lābhālābhau jayājayau
SYNONYMS
sukha — happiness; duhkhe — and distress; same — in equanimity; kritvā — doing so; lābha-alābhau — both profit and loss; jaya-ajayau — both victory and defeat; tatah — thereafter; yuddhāya — for the sake of fighting; yujyasva — engage (fight); na — never; evam — in this way; pāpam — sinful reaction; avāpsyasi — you will gain.
TRANSLATION
Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat — and by so doing you shall never incur sin.
PURPORT
Lord Krishna now directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of fighting because He desires the battle. There is no consideration of happiness or distress, profit or gain, victory or defeat in the activities of Krishna consciousness. That everything should be performed for the sake of Krishna is transcendental consciousness; so there is no reaction to material activities. He who acts for his own sense gratification, either in goodness or in passion, is subject to the reaction, good or bad. But he who has completely surrendered himself in the activities of Krishna consciousness is no longer obliged to anyone, nor is he a debtor to anyone, as one is in the ordinary course of activities. It is said:
devarshi-bhūtāpta-nrinām pitrinām
na kińkaro nāyam rinī ca rājan
sarvātmanā yah śaranam śaranyam
gato mukundam parihritya kartam
"Anyone who has completely surrendered unto Krishna, Mukunda, giving up all other duties, is no longer a debtor, nor is he obliged to anyone — not the demigods, nor the sages, nor the people in general, nor kinsmen, nor humanity, nor forefathers." (Bhāg. 11.5.41) That is the indirect hint given by Krishna to Arjuna in this verse, and the matter will be more clearly explained in the following verses.
Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness