Om Namo
Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!
“Following one’s Swadharma opens gates to Heaven”
Chapter 2; Sankhya Yoga
Till now Krishna was trying to convince Arjuna
why it is futile to get dejected about the battle or killing the large
contingent of relatives, friends, teachers and elders who were up in arms
against one another ready for a kill. Krishna was teaching the tenets of
Sankhya Yoga to help Arjuna to come out of his misery. He explained about Aatman
and its nature. Let us quickly summarise the main arguments put forward so far:
- Aatman is eternal. All these relatives and others are the manifestation of the same Aatman. So, no need for feeling sad about them.
- Aatman is detached and unaffected. It discards one physical form and takes up another just like how a person discards worn-out clothes and wears new ones. Again, no need for crying for them.
- Even if one argues that the Aatman is not permanent and dies with the body, then also no need for worry as anything that is born shall die and gets reborn.
- These physical forms were not there before birth and shall not be there after death. They appear for a brief period in between which is an illusion. So, no need for worrying about these illusions.
- Even if the physical forms die, the Aatman cannot be killed and hence no need for lamenting.
Having explained the concept of Aatman,
Krishna proceeds to deal with the situation from another angle.
“Oh Arjuna, even if you consider
your Kshatriya Dharma, fighting a righteous battle is the most glorified and
noble duty of a Kshatriya. You cannot back away from this bounden duty of yours”
(2/31)
For a Kshatriya, protecting Dharma in a
righteous battle is the swadharma or the bounden duty. In the face of a battle
for Dharma, a true Kshatriya cannot back away. It brings dishonor to him and
his lineage. Therefore, Krishna reminds Arjuna that, he hails from a hallowed
lineage of Kshatriyas, and in a battle for protecting Dharma, a great warrior
like him should not become chicken-hearted and shy away from fighting.
“Oh Arjuna, this opportunity is
God-given, it opens doors to heaven. A Kshatriya who gets this situation on a platter
is really a blessed one” (2/32)
Krishna here is extolling the virtues of
Kshatriya Dharma and encouraging Arjuna to pick up his bow and arrow and get
ready to fight a righteous battle without fear or remorse.
“Oh, Arjuna, if you
shy away from fighting this righteous battle, you will be guilty of disrespecting
your swadharma and your glory will be at stake and you will become a sinner”
(2/33)
“People will talk of your infamous non-action
for ages to come. For an honorable man death is preferable to an inglorious
life” (2/34)
Now Krishna is emphasizing on the flipside of his
quandary. Taken by dejection, if Arjuna backs away from the battle, he would be
guilty of disrespecting his swadharma as a Kshatriya and will go down in
history for the wrong reasons. Disowning swadharma tantamounts to sinning.
People will talk of this infamous event for ages to come. He reminds Arjuna
that leading an inglorious life is worse than death for an honorable man.
***
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