The despondent Madhusudana (Krishna), having seen faint-hearted and with piteous and tear-stained eyes, spoke as follows to the compassion-moved Arjuna.

O Partha (Arjuna), do not yield to this impotence. It does not befit you. O foe-scorcher, leave off this insignificant stain of the soul, awaken!

My nature is seized by the taint of cowardice; my mind is confused about my duty (dharma). I ask you to clarify what is the best for me, for sure. I am Your disciple, devoted to You. Please instruct me.

Having thus spoken, Hrishikesha (Krsna), Gudakesha (Arjuna), O Parantapa (scorcher of enemies) said, “I shall not fight,” and fell silent.

As the boyhood, youth and old age come to the embodied Soul (dehi) in this body, in the same manner, death is certain for the Soul. The wise man does not get deceived at that.

O Arjuna, the person who is not elated by happiness and upset by distress, and who has steady understanding in both of these is qualified for liberation (immortality).

These bodies are perishable, yet the encapsulated soul is adjusted over eons of time, eternal, indestructible and immeasurable. Therefore, O Arjuna, fight!

It cannot be cut by weapons, it cannot be burned by fire, and it cannot be wetted by water or dried by wind.

But even if you assume that the soul is always born and always dies, O transcendentally powerful Arjuna, then still you should not grieve.

Some understand this as the soul, some talk about this as the soul, some hear this as the soul, but even after hearing this, no one truly knows this.

Furthermore, according to your own dharma as a Kshatriya, you should not falter. There is no honourable calling for a warrior than a just war.

The great warriors who respect you will think you pulled away from the battle out of fear, and you will lose the respect of them all.

O Arjuna, I have described this knowledge to you with regard to Sankhya (analytical wisdom). And here, listen as I share the explanation through the path of Yoga. It is when you do this that you will be liberated from the shackles of karma.

O joy of the Kuru dynasty (Arjuna), those who are determined in their intelligence have a single focus. But thoughts of the irresolute are multibranched and infinite.

For one who has realized the truth, all the Vedas are as useful as a tiny well when there is a wide reservoir of water everywhere.

Be steadfast in Yoga, O Arjuna, perform your duty and abandon all attachment to success or failure. This is what Yoga is, such equanimity.

One who is established in wisdom renounces both good and bad results in this life. Therefore, strive for yoga; yoga is excellence in action.

Once your wisdom passes the dense forest of delusion, then you will become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is yet to be heard.

O Partha (Arjuna), when one entirely renounces all desires that arise in the mind and is fully satisfied in the self alone, by the self, then such a person is said to be of steady wisdom (sthita-prajna).

Who remains unattached everywhere, who does not rejoice after contacting good and does not hate after contacting evil, such a person’s wisdom is fastened (Prajan Pratisthita).

VERSE

VERSE

VERSE

VERSE