Discrimination

Arjuna uvaca: katham bhishmam aham sankhye dronam cha madhusudana ishubhih pratiyotsyami pujarhav ari-sudana

Arjuna questions how he can fight against his revered teachers Bhishma and Drona with arrows on the battlefield. He sees them as worthy of worship, not as enemies to be slain. This dilemma highlights the conflict between personal affection and the call of duty.

Na caitad vidmah kataran no gariyo yad va jayema yadi va no jayeyuh yan eva hatva na jijivisamas te 'vasthitah pramukhe dhartarashtrah

Arjuna confesses he does not know which is better — to conquer the Kauravas or to be conquered by them. Even those he would kill are standing before him, the sons of Dhritarashtra, and without defeating them he does not wish to live. His confusion is complete and sincere.

Nasato vidyate bhavo nabhavo vidyate satah ubhayor api drishto 'ntas tv anayos tattva-darshibhih

Krishna teaches that the unreal has no existence, and the real never ceases to exist. Those who see the truth have concluded this about both. The distinction between the eternal real (sat) and the transient unreal (asat) is the foundation of Vedantic philosophy and spiritual discrimination.

Ya enam vetti hantaram yash chainam manyate hatam ubhau tau na vijanito nayam hanti na hanyate

Krishna says that one who thinks the soul is a slayer and one who thinks it is slain — neither of them knows. The soul neither slays nor is slain. The confusion about killing and being killed on the battlefield rests entirely on the mistaken identification of the self with the body.

Yam imam pushpitam vacam pravadanty avipashcitah veda-vada-ratah partha nanyad astiti vadinah

Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to the heavenly planets, and so on. They say there is nothing more than this. Krishna cautions against those who reduce the Vedas to rituals for material gain and heavenly rewards.

Ya nisha sarva-bhutanam tasyam jagarti samyami yasyam jagrati bhutani sa nisha pashyato muneh

What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage. The world of sense pleasures that ordinary beings pursue is darkness (night) for the sage; and the inner world of the self that the sage inhabits is darkness (night) for ordinary beings. Wisdom and ignorance perceive entirely different realities.

Pralapan visrijan grihnan unmishan nimishann api, indriyanindriyartheshu vartanta iti dharayan

Speaking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing the eyes — the yogi understands that it is only the senses moving among their objects. The Self remains untouched, like a witness behind all bodily and sensory activity.

niscayam srinu me tatra tyage bharata-sattama tyago hi purusa-vyaghra tri-vidhah samprakirtitah

Krishna tells Arjuna to hear his definitive conclusion on the matter of tyaga, for renunciation itself is of three kinds. By classifying tyaga according to the three gunas, Krishna provides a precise framework for understanding right renunciation.

sukham tv idanim tri-vidham srinu me bharatarsabha abhyasad ramate yatra duhkhantam ca nigacchati

Now hear from me the three kinds of happiness, O best of the Bharatas — the happiness in which one rejoices through practice and in which one reaches the end of sorrow. Even happiness must be examined through the lens of the gunas.