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Chapter 02, Verse 09
सञ्जय उवाच ।
एवमुक्त्वा हृषीकेशं गुडाकेशः परन्तप ।
न योत्स्य इति गोविन्दम् उक्त्वा तूष्णीं बभूव ह ॥ ९ ॥
sanjaya uvaca:
evam uktva hrsikesam gudakesah parantapa ।
na yotsyna iti govindam uktva tusnim babhuva ha ॥ 9 ॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
सञ्जय उवाच: (sanjaya uvaca:) |
Sanjaya said (the narrator spoke) |
|
एवम् (evam) |
Thus |
|
उक्त्वा (uktva) |
Having spoken |
|
हृषीकेशम् (hrsikesam) |
To Hrishikesha (Krishna, Lord of the senses) |
|
गुडाकेशः (gudakesah) |
Arjuna, (conqueror of sleep) |
|
परन्तप (parantapa) |
O scorcher of enemies (epithet for Arjuna) |
|
न (na) |
Not |
|
योत्स्ये (yotsye) |
Will I fight |
|
इति (iti) |
Thus |
|
गोविन्दम् (govindam) |
To Govinda (Krishna, the protector of cows and the senses) |
|
उक्त्वा (uktva) |
Having spoken |
|
तूष्णीं (tusnim) |
Silent |
|
बभूव (babhuva) |
Became (remained) |
|
स: (sah) |
He (Arjuna) |
Translation
“Having thus spoken, Hrishikesha (Krsna), Gudakesha (Arjuna), O Parantapa (scorcher of enemies) said, “I shall not fight,” and fell silent.”
Context of the Verse
This verse is a critical juncture in the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna’s experience of great grief and confusion leads him to announce that he will not participate in the battle. When Arjuna calls Krishna as “Govinda”, meaning “One Who Gives Pleasure to the Senses” and “Hrishikesha”, meaning “Lord of the Senses”, he becomes silent.
It’s here that his mental anguish comes to a head. Krishna’s compelling teachings in the Gita follow in the east corner and south of the battlefield, while Sanjaya describes the scene to King Dhritarashtra, the blind parent of the Gita’s warring cousins in the Mahabharata. Arjuna’s silence is symbolic of the moment just before divine wisdom is imparted by Krishna.
This verse is important because this is the turning point in the content where Arjuna’s despair becomes Krishna’s wisdom leading to the essence of the Bhagavad Gita. Do you want a deep commentary on this verse?
Chapter 02, Verse 10
श्रीभगवानुवाच:
तं तथाकृपयाविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम्।
विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः ॥ 10 ॥
sri-bhagavan uvaca:
tam tatha krpayavistam asru-purnakuleksanam।
visidantam idam vakyam uvaca madhusudanah॥ 10 ॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
श्रीभगवान् उवाच : (sri-bhagavan uvaca:) |
The Supreme Lord (Krishna) said (spoke) |
|
तं (tam) |
him (Arjuna) |
|
तथा (tatha) |
thus |
|
कृपया (krpaya) |
with compassion |
|
आविष्टम् (avistam) |
overwhelmed, filled with |
|
अश्रुपूर्ण (asru-purna) |
filled with tears |
|
आकुल-ईक्षणम् (akula-iksanam) |
distressed eyes |
|
विषीदन्तम् (visidantam) |
deeply sorrowful, lamenting |
|
इदं (idam) |
this |
|
वाक्यम् (vakyam) |
words, statement |
|
उवाच (uvaca) |
|
|
मधुसूदनः (madhusudanah) |
Krishna (slayer of the demon Madhu) |
Translation
The Supreme Lord (Bhagavan) said: When Krishna (Madhusudana) saw that Arjuna was very compassionate and shed tears of sorrow he spoke the following words.
Context of the Verse
The verse signifies the first utterance of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. Overcome by sorrow and compassion, Arjuna is a man in a state of deep lamentation, with trembling lips and tears in his eyes, wondering what to do.
Krishna at this juncture known as “Madhusudana” (the slayer of the demon Madhu, the representative of the destruction of ignorance and doubt) is about to impart his divine words to Arjuna. This is the story of Arjuna’s despair and Krishna’s teachings on duty, self-knowledge, and righteousness.
In the subsequent verses Krishna’s words will lead Arjuna out of his confusion and into the understanding of his real work on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
Chapter 02, Verse 11
श्रीभगवानुवाच
अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे ।
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ॥ 11 ॥
sri-bhagavan uvaca:
asocyan anvasocas tvam prajna-vadams cha bhasase ।
gatasun agatasums cha nanusocanti panditah ॥ 11 ॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
श्रीभगवान् उवाच : (sri-bhagavan uvaca:) |
The Supreme Lord (Krishna) said (spoke) |
|
अशोच्यान् (asocyan) |
those who are not to be grieved for |
|
अन्वशोचः (anvasocas) |
you are grieving |
|
त्वं (tvam) |
you |
|
प्रज्ञा-वादान् (prajna-vadan) |
words of wisdom |
|
च (cha) |
and |
|
भाषसे (bhasase) |
you speak |
|
गतासून् (gatasun) |
those who have lost life (the dead) |
|
अगतासून् (agatasun) |
those who have not lost life (the living) |
|
च (cha) |
and |
|
न (na) |
not |
|
अनुशोचन्ति (anusocanti) |
grieve, lament |
|
पण्डिताः (panditah) |
the wise, learned ones |
Translation
The Supreme Lord (Bhagavan) continued: “Because you grieve people who should not be grieved for, and yet you speak great wisdom. The wise do not weep for the living or for the dead.”
Context of the Verse
This is the first verse from where Krishna starts his teachings. Krishna, right off the bat, takes on Arjuna’s sorrow by critiquing his reasoning, he speaks as if he knows what he’s talking about but laments uselessly.
Arjuna had been convinced that killing his relatives in war was a great sin. But Krishna states that true wisdom (prajna) is knowing the eternal reality of the soul: Neither life nor death daunt the wise, for the soul is neither.
This verse is a shift from the emotional turmoil to spiritual wisdom, the introduction to the idea of the eternal soul (atman), which Krishna elaborates on in the next verses.
Explanation
We see in society that, stress, depression, and lamentation are continuously increasing and now various people, even celebrities, are saying it is OK, we should not be shy. Depression is normal. No, Sir, it is not normal.
It is normal for ignorant people who are uneducated. But a person who is educated, a, learned man is called Pandita. So those who are wise are pandits. Such a person does not lament Lord Krishna’s teachings either for the living or for the dead. He does not lament for any situation in this material world. Body lamentation is only the business of the ignorant. The people who are not trained in the science of self-realization.
Because I am not the body, I am a spirit soul. I remain eternally the same, so all the lamentation and distress is because of ‘avini nishataha’. ‘Avini nishataha’ means absorption as a sleeping man gets absorbed in the body of the dream, and thus he creates a situation of so-called happiness and distress; ideally, he should be unaffected because it is only a dream. In a similar fashion, we are spirit souls. We have nothing to do with this body and this world. But when the spirit soul starts thinking out of illusion, undefined I am this body’. Then the situation of so-called happiness and lamentation is created. But a wise person laments neither for the living nor for the dead.
Chapter 02, Verse 12
न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः ।
न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम् ॥ 12 ॥
na tvevaham jatu nasam na tvam neme janadhipah ।
na caiva na bhavisyamah sarve vayam atah param ॥ 12 ॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
न (na) |
not |
|
तू (tu) |
however, but |
|
एव (eva) |
certainly |
|
अहं (aham) |
I |
|
जातु (jatu) |
at any time |
|
न (na) |
not |
|
आसं (asam) |
existed |
|
न (na) |
not |
|
त्वं (tvam) |
you |
|
न इमे (na ime) |
nor these |
|
जनाधिपाः (janadhipah) |
kings (rulers of people) |
|
न (na) |
not |
|
च एव (cha eva) |
and certainly |
|
न भविष्यामः (na bhavisyamah) |
shall not exist |
|
सर्वे (sarve) |
all |
|
वयम् (vayam) |
we |
|
अतः परम् (atah param) |
hereafter, in the future |
Translation
“There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall there be any time when we shall cease to exist.”
Context of the Verse
This verse is among greatest of all the statements in the Bhagavad Gita as Krishna explains the eternalness of the soul.
Arjuna was grieving, as many of his kinsmen and relations could potentially die in battle. Krishna refutes the concept of being born and dying once in life and claims that everyone, be it Arjuna, Krishna himself or the kings gathered on the battlefield, has always existed and always will exist. This is the introduction to Krishna’s discourse on the immortal element of the body (atman), a principle that is never born and never dies.
This verse counters the materialistic idea that life is temporary and dies along with the body. Rather, it affirms the eternal continuity of being, which later teaches the immortality of the soul.
Explanation
Lord Krishna has given many instructions, but the first instruction given is that ‘never was a time when we were not existing.’ And in all these future tenses, never ever will there be a time, that we cease to exist.
Arjuna was thinking, oh, if I kill these people, they won’t exist anymore. So Krishna will say no, there is no cause for lamentation because we are spirits so different from the body. We will never cease to exist. And then it is not only the eternity of the individual soul that is involved; here the individuality also is being expressed. Some philosophers belong to a class. Then, Personalists call Mayawadi because they say that we have come from the supreme spirit and again we have got trapped in this body. We must blend in the highest spirit.
Therefore, this is refuted by Krishna in the word ‘sarvy vyam Athha Param’ vyam refers to plural, plurality, and this plurality of consciousness is also asserted in different Upanishads like Kathopanishad, Shweta, and Swatar Upanishads.
‘Nitya Nityanand, Chetana chetana nanam eko yo bahnam vidhata kamaan’
Thus, the Upanishads say there are two varieties of ‘Nithya’ or eternal beings. One singular entity is ‘Nithya’ and so many eternal entities are ‘Nithya Nam.’
There exists ‘chetana’ one conscious living entity which is different from so many conscious entities. What difference, ‘eko yo, bahnam with dharti kamaan’. This one immortal being is one with living. All other infinitesimal consciousness is taken care of by conscious living entities.
So, such pluralism is elaborated here. There is only one soul which is ultimate and infinite. To attend to the wishes ‘bahena with bharti kamaan’ of several infinite atomic living units. And this is where ‘sarvy vyam athha param’ comes into place. Then we did not exist. We have always existed and shall never have a time when you merge into me or anyone. If we all merge into anybody, we all exist in the future.