95Because the men have been killed in war.
96Fall from heaven.
97Arjuna.
98The word used is kripa, which means pity or compassion. Daya also translates as pity or compassion, but there is a difference between kripa and daya. If daya is the passion, one tries to do something actively to remove the reason for pity or compassion. That is, daya is the path of the strong. Kripa is passive, without the necessary action and is the path of the weak.
99The word karpanya can be translated in ways other than helplessness also, such as wretchedness, a pitiable state, or even ignorance.
100This is a complicated shloka and is subject to diverse interpretations. At one level, the soul is eternal. This is the truth or the reality. The body, the senses and the world are untrue and unreal. They have no existence, in the sense of being illusory.
101This shloka also gets into complicated issues of interpretation. ‘That’ means the brahman, or paramatman. This is eternal and pervades everything. The body and the world are transitory. But the human soul (jivatman) is also eternal. Are the body and the world illusions, or are they real? What is the relationship between the paramatman and the jivatman? Such questions have led to intense philosophical speculation. The Gita uses the word atman for both the paramatman and the jivatman.
102Atman.
103The sacred texts speak of six types of transformations or maladies (vikara)—birth, existence, increase, end, decrease and destruction. The atman is thus not subject to any of these.
104Atman.
105Transformation or vikara has been mentioned in an earlier footnote.
106This is the straightforward translation. Not being manifest (avyakta) means not recognizable by the senses. Hence, apart from the period of life, beings are part of the infinite, both before birth and after death. In a more complicated interpretation, the reference is not to beings, but to the world itself, avyakta standing for primeval matter or prakriti. In this interpretation, the world is part of this primeval matter before creation and after destruction, and in between, has a separate existence.
107The atman.
108That is, it is impossible to comprehend the nature of the atman.
109This concludes one segment, the jnana yoga section, so to speak. In case this has not been enough to convince Arjuna, Krishna now moves on to a karma yoga argument. However, this is not just any action, but action without attachment.
110This is known as sankhya. The word buddhi has many nuances or meanings, depending on the context. Here, we have translated it as wisdom.
111Meaning karma yoga.
112Karma yoga without attachment.
113That is, karma yoga without attachment is focused. But action with attachment becomes diffused.
114That is, rites and rituals of the Vedas, without the knowledge. The Vedas have four parts—Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad. The Samhita and Brahmana sections are known as karma kanda, they prescribe rites and rituals. The Aranyaka and Upanishad sections are known as jnana kanda, they are the paths of knowledge.
115The cycle of action (karma) leading to birth (janma), birth leading to action, action leading to fruit (phala) and fruit leading to further rebirth.
116Sattva, rajas and tamas. The world, and everything in it, is a mixture of these three qualities or gunas and this shloka asks Arjuna to rise above these three gunas. But the shloka also asks Arjuna to be always under the quality of sattva. Depending on one’s point of view, there may or may not be an issue of interpretation here. In one interpretation, rising above the three gunas means suppressing rajas and tamas and therefore, sattva is needed to rise above the three gunas. In an alternative interpretation, rising above the three gunas is interpreted as being without attachment.
117The word used is dvandva, meaning doubt. But it also means opposite sensations, like pleasure and pain or happiness and unhappiness. Therefore, dvandva is the outcome of the senses and to be without dvandva means to rise above the senses and look on everything equally.
118Yoga means what is yet to be attained, while kshema means what has already been attained.
119As the second part of the shloka makes clear, the word yoga is used here in the very specific sense of treating success and failure equally.
120Buddhi yoga. The sense is that the motivation behind the action is superior to the outwardly effect of the action.
121Meaning, praise of fruits and of heaven. The word shruti can mean that which is heard, or the Vedas. In this shloka and the next, if shruti is interpreted as the Vedas, one means the ritualistic aspects of the Vedas, which speak of fruits like heaven.
122In a general sense, yoga means union between jivatman and the paramatman. That is also samadhi, union between the human and the divine. There are two words in this shloka, nishchala and achala and the meanings differ marginally. Nischala has a negative nuance in the sense that the mind is not attracted towards irrelevant distractions. Achala has a positive nuance in the sense that the mind is focused on whatever one is meditating on and doesn’t waver from that.
123Starving himself is the straightforward interpretation. However, a more general interpretation is also possible, that is, the reference is to a person who restrains his senses from addiction to sensual objects.
124In a person in whom wisdom is established.
125The senses.
126Objects.
127Confusion of memory about what is right.
128Attachment to sensual objects and hatred when desired outcomes don’t result.
129Intellect and thought about the paramatman.
130There are five senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
131That is, at the time of death.
132In the earlier chapter, two paths are mentioned—jnana yoga and karma yoga, though the expression karma yoga is never directly used. Arjuna infers a suggestion that jnana yoga or the path of knowledge is superior to karma yoga or the path of action. This chapter explains that this suggestion is incorrect and that avoidance of action is not the answer. Instead, detached action is the key.
133Followers of sankhya are those who tread the path of knowledge and the word yogi is being used for those who tread the path of action.
134That is, giving up action.
135Prakriti has been translated as nature. And the qualities are the three gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas.
136That is, limbs and the like. The five organs of action are the mouth, hands, feet, the anus and sexual organs. The five senses of knowledge are sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
137Instead of being a hypocrite, one can use the stronger translation of being a liar.
138There is scope for interpreting what prescribed action (niyatam karma) is. Is it rites and rituals? In that case, it doesn’t quite apply to Arjuna, because he is not a brahmana. Is it duty? Is it action without attachment?
139This translation is problematic. Traditionally, yajna means a sacrifice, but the Gita is against such rituals. The word yajna has also been equated with God in the sense of Vishnu, but that’s not terribly convincing either. It is also possible that these sections may have been interpolated into the Gita later. They don’t quite fit. However, later, the Gita uses the word yajna in a broader sense.
140Meaning, before creation.
141Brahma.
142The word sacrifice (yajna) causes a problem again. As opposed to the creation itself, sacrifice may mean laying down prescribed duties for these created beings.
143The yajna.
144The yajna again.
145The gods.
146Leftovers after gods and guests have had their shares.
147This requires explanation, since there are three ‘brahmas’ in the shloka. The first two have conventionally been identified with the Vedas and the third with the brahman, although in a few rare cases, the third has also been identified with Vedas. That leaves the word akshara, meaning something that is indestructible. This too, is the brahman.
148Righte
ous king. However, there was more than one king named Janaka and this reference is to the first Janaka, the son of Mithi, from whom Mithila obtained its name. This Janaka, also mentioned in the Ramayana, is different from the Janaka who was Sita’s father.
149The sense is to convey a broader message of mixture and confusion.
150The ignorant ones. The Gita doesn’t favour renunciation and withdrawal from action.
151Nature is prakriti and the qualities are the three gunas mentioned earlier.
152The gunas.
153Different in the sense of being performed by different senses or organs.
154Another difficult shloka to translate. Nature’s (prakriti) qualities work on each other and get action done through the senses and the organs. This realization means that one ceases to think of oneself as the doer.
155In the sense of distracting them from action. That is, learned people shouldn’t ask ignorant ones to desist from action.
156Mental fever of suffering and sorrow.
157The expression without finding fault is significant. There must therefore have been opposition to this view or teaching. For instance, there was the school of sannyasa or renunciation, which advocated the giving up of all action.
158From this shloka alone, it is not clear what restraint is meant. The next shloka suggests it is restraint of the senses. Because nature has its own way, forcible restraint of the senses is pointless. The point is not to restrain the senses, but rise above them.
159If taste is the sense in question, a sweet taste can lead to attachment. But as its opposite, a bitter taste can lead to aversion.
160One’s own dharma is svadharma. Most English translations translate this is as one’s own duty. That of course begs the question of what one’s own duty is. In the context of the Gita, this meant varnashrama dharma, which meant that a person’s duty depended on his varna (caste) and his ashrama (stage of life). A kshatriya’s duty was to fight. Even when the rigidity of varnashrama dharma is relaxed, one’s duty continues to be a function of one’s chosen profession.
161Deviation from svadharma or falling prey to the senses.
162There are six vices or sins— kama (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (avarice), moha (delusion), mada (vanity) and matsarya (envy). But here, desire and anger have been singled out.
163In this world.
164Meaning either this world, or knowledge.
165The sins, specifically desire. Alternatively, ignorance can also be meant.
166Desire’s.
167Desire.
168The senses.
169Desire.
170We have used the word knowledge, but the shloka has two words signifying knowledge—jnana and vijnana. Jnana is knowledge one learns from one’s teachers or from the sacred texts. Vijnana is a special type of jnana and is knowledge one picks up through introspection, meditation and self-realization.
171Superior to objects, because senses are subtle. Or perhaps even superior to the body.
172The atman.
173There is scope for interpretation here, because there are two atmans in the shloka. Use the atman to calm the atman. That’s the literal translation, but what does it mean? We have translated the first atman as inner strength. Or the first atman may be the intellect and the second atman may mean the mind.
174Eternal, immutable or indestructible. The yoga is eternal or immutable in the sense that following it leads to imperishability. This yoga is a splicing of karma yoga, jnana yoga and bhakti yoga, because one spills over into another and differences between the three are artificial. The expression ‘this’ yoga is used because the yoga has already been described in earlier chapters.
175One of the twelve adityas born to the sage Kashyapa and Aditi. Vivasvat is thus a manifestation of the sun god and his dynasty is the solar dynasty (surya vamsha). Vivasvat’s son is Manu, known as Vaivasvata Manu. Manu is actually a title and there are fourteen Manus. Vaivasvata Manu, or the present Manu, is the seventh in this line of fourteen and the reference is to the beginning of treta yuga in the present manvantara (cycle of creation and destruction). Vaivasvata Manu’s son was Ikshaku.
176The expression is rajarshi, which means a king (raja) who is a sage (rishi), despite being a king. Janaka is an example.
177The yoga.
178That is, knowledge of the yoga has been destroyed.
179The word used is sakha, which as mentioned earlier, means kindred soul.
180The word used in the Sanskrit is maya, translated often as illusion. Resolution is a better translation in this context. This, and the next two shlokas, brings in the idea of avatara (incarnation). Usually, Vishnu is believed to have had ten incarnations. But twenty-two or twenty-four incarnations are also known.
181Yuga is an era or epoch. Each of Brahma’s days consists of four yugas— satya, treta, dvapara and kali.
182The birth is divine because it is not the outcome of normal laws of birth and death, but results from Krishna’s own will.
183The sense is that karma yoga without attachment does lead to results, but that path is difficult and takes time. In contrast, pursuit of pleasure and wealth is easier and faster. Because people want quick results, they worship other gods, who help them achieve pleasure and wealth, even though these are transient.
184In the translation, we have left the word as varna instead of caste, because the equation of varna with caste, and more importantly, when the caste system developed historically and when caste became hereditary, are questions subject to debate. The three gunas or qualities are sattva, rajas and tamas. The sattva quality predominates in brahmanas and their prescribed action is studying and priestly duties. The rajas quality, with some sattva quality, predominates in kshatriyas and their prescribed action is fighting and ruling. The rajas quality, with some tamas quality, predominates in vaishyas and their prescribed action is agriculture and trade. The tamas quality predominates in shudras and their prescribed action is serving the other three castes.
185Without change and immutable.
186The paramatman is both nirguna (without qualities) and saguna (with qualities). In the saguna or active form, the paramatman is the creator and the agent. But in the nirguna form, the paramatman is inactive or passive and not the agent.
187The word used is akarma. Etymologically, this can mean action or inaction, the non-performance of action, the sense in which it has been translated. However, akarma can also mean the performance of action that is undesirable. But the next shloka indicates that performance of undesirable or prohibited action is vikarma.
188And by implication, what is inaction.
189This sounds confusing. Action is performed by the organs and the senses, not the atman. The wise or intelligent person thus sees inaction in action, and the vanity of action and attachment to its fruits are given up. There are those who indulge in inaction or renunciation, giving up action. But the wise or intelligent person realizes that not only does action continue to be performed even when ostensibly inaction is resorted to, there is vanity in this idea of giving up action. Because the person who has resolved to give up action, is not the atman either. Therefore, there is action in inaction. Wisdom is in yoga or union with the paramatman. And because one gives up the right to all action and inaction, one has the right to all action.
190The expression used is devoid of kamasankalpa. Kama is desire, implying desire for the fruits of action. Sankalpa is will or resolution, implying the will or ego of performing action or inaction. Discarding sankalpa means discarding this ego.
191Without refuge in action or its fruits, attained or unattained.
192Parigraha is giving or taking of possessions, such as giving alms or receiving them. Since that has been given up, all ownership has been discarded.
193Realizing that the body is not the same as the atman. An alternative interpretation of performing action only for the sake of preserving the body is possible. But that is the path of renunciation, a path the Gita doesn’t approve of.
&nbs
p; 194Unsought in the sense of these being gains one hasn’t made an effort to obtain. Nor has one craved for these gains.
195Opposite feelings of happiness and unhappiness or heat and cold.
196Free from all emotions and sense of ownership.
197In this context, yajna should not be translated as a sacrifice. Yajna doesn’t mean a ritualistic sacrifice. It means action performed for union (yoga) with the paramatman.
198The action and the fruits of the action are destroyed and don’t lead to bondage, because this is inaction.
199In a yajna.
200Divine yajnas are ritualistic yajnas performed for various gods.
201That is, everything is offered to the brahman. This may mean all action and its fruit. It may also mean the symbolic offering of the jivatman to the paramatman.
202They control their senses.
203They remain unattached to the senses.
204Senses mean the five senses or organs of action (the mouth, hands, feet, the anus and sexual organs) as well as the five senses of knowledge (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch).
205The breath of life is prana and this has five actions—prana (exhalation), apana (downward inhalation), vyana (diffusion through the body), udana (upward inhalation) and samana (digestive breath).
206The yoga of atmasanyama or focusing the atman in the intellect.
207The word used is svadhaya, meaning studying on one’s own. This is interpreted as studying the Vedas.
208This shloka brings in pranayama. Prana is a general expression for the breath of life, as well as a specific term for the act of exhalation. Ayama means control or restraint, so pranayama is control of the breath of life. Pranayama has three components— puraka, rechaka and kumbhaka. Puraka is when the inhaled apana air fills up the exhaled prana air and temporarily stops its exit. Rechaka is when the exhaled prana air stops the entry of the inhaled apana air. Kumbhaka is when prana and apana are both controlled and the air is restrained inside the body. Offering the prana breath in the apana breath is therefore puraka.
209Rechaka.
210Kumbhaka.
211The Sanskrit says offer prana to prana. The first prana, in the plural, has traditionally been interpreted as the senses. The second prana can either be the senses or the breath of life.
Mahabharata: Vol. 5 Page 62