Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2
Chapter 2 Bhagavad Gita
Arjuna still doubting, eyes brimming with tears
Inquired from Lord Krsna regarding his fears
How could I kill or even dishonor
Men I should worship like Bhisma and Drona?
The lot of a beggar would be better for me
Than to profit from killing those before me
I cannot decide what is more condemned
Being conquered or else conquering them
What is my duty? There’s so much confusion
I am lost and weakened by illusion
I beg you, please, tell me what should I do?
I am now your disciple and surrender to you
Arjuna doing what he felt surely was right
Told the Lord, “Govinda, I shall not fight”
Now Krsna will show Arjuna how he’s wrong
Thus flows the nectar of the Lord’s own song
Lord Krsna said:
While you speak I can see you are forlorn
Those who are wise are never found to mourn
We have always existed, just try to see
In the future we shall never cease to be
For the soul the body is just like a cage
That changes from childhood (and) then to old age
At death he passes into another frame
For the wise death exists only in name
The coming and going of joy and distress
Are like the winter and summer’s changing dress
They’re felt with the senses, O archer superb,
Tolerate them without being disturbed
All those who know this truth in reality
Know that the soul never ceases to be
And that the body can never endure
This is seen by those who are pure
Know for certain that the soul cannot die,
No one can be killed or kill others say I
As we put on new clothes when the old ones are threw
The soul gives up one body and takes one anew
One who takes birth must again also die,
Even so Arjuna, there’s no need to cry
The birth and death cycle turn like a wheel
Perform your duty and fight on with zeal
Thus far I’ve spoken philosophic knowledge
Now hear of that work which frees one from bondage
You have a right to duty but not to its gain
You can neither possess, create, or maintain
Be steadfast in yoga, look not for reward
Work with detachment, giving all to your Lord
Arjuna said:
What are the traits of the surrendered soul,
Whose consciousness is ever fixed on the goal?
How does he speak and of what does he talk?
Tell me how does he sit and how does he walk?
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said:
When a man gives up all kinds of desire
Arisen from a mind with a lusty fire
And is satisfied with pleasure divine
He is known a sage of steady mind
- (When a man gives up all kinds of desire
Which arise in a mind with a lusty fire
And when his mind is thus purified
With the self alone he’ll be satisfied)
The senses are so strong that they surely can
Take away the mind of a learned man
Who is trying to keep them under control
But gets pulled away from life’s ultimate goal
From attachment comes lust, followed by hate
The cycle begins when one contemplates
The sensual pleasures and joys of this earth
But this is the cause of continued rebirth
What for all beings is the deepest night
For the self controlled is the broad daylight
And what all people see as the brightest day
Is seen by the sage in the opposite way
Rejecting notions of I, me, and mine
Free from desires, one attains peace of mind
Then even while lying on death’s dark bed
One is not confused and goes back to Godhead