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bg 2

These opening verses of Chapter Two capture the clash between spiritual duty and material sentimentality. Arjuna breaks down on the battlefield, overcome by grief and an overwhelming attachment to his bodily relationships. He mistakes this emotional paralysis for genuine compassion, arguing that attacking revered elders like Bhīṣma and Droṇa is an unpardonable sin that would taint any resulting victory with blood. From Arjuna’s perspective, renouncing the fight and choosing a life of begging is far more honorable than killing his teachers for worldly gain. Lord Kṛṣṇa instantly cuts through this confusion, diagnosing Arjuna’s so-called mercy not as noble nonviolence, but as a petty weakness of heart born of ignorance. True compassion cares for the eternal soul, whereas Arjuna’s sorrow is merely lamentation for the temporary material body—an attitude unbefitting an Āryan who understands the higher purpose of life. By addressing Arjuna with the authority of Bhagavān, the ultimate realized...
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bg 2.11-20

Translation The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead. Purport The Lord at once took the position of the teacher and chastised the student, calling him, indirectly, a fool. The Lord said, “You are talking like a learned man, but you do not know that one who is learned – one who knows what is body and what is soul – does not lament for any stage of the body, neither in the living nor in the dead condition.” As explained in later chapters, it will be clear that knowledge means to know matter and spirit and the controller of both. Arjuna argued that religious principles should be given more importance than politics or sociology, but he did not know that knowledge of matter, soul and the Supreme is even more important than religious formularies. And because he was lacking in that knowledge, he should not have posed himself as a very learned man. A...
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bg 2.1-10

Chapter Two Contents of the Gītā Summarized TEXT 1 Translation Sañjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words. Purport Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization. The word “Madhusūdana” is significant in this verse. Lord Kṛṣṇa killed the demon Madhu, and now Arjuna wanted Kṛṣṇa to kill the demon of misunderstanding that had overtaken him in the discharge of his duty. No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress – the gross material body. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress is called a śūdra, or one who laments unnecessarily. Arjuna was a kṣatriya, and this conduct was not expected from him. Lord Kṛṣṇa, however, can dissipate t...
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BG 18.66

Translation Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. Purport The Lord has described various kinds of knowledge and processes of religion – knowledge of the Supreme Brahman, knowledge of the Supersoul, knowledge of the different types of orders and statuses of social life, knowledge of the renounced order of life, knowledge of nonattachment, sense and mind control, meditation, etc. He has described in so many ways different types of religion. Now, in summarizing Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says that Arjuna should give up all the processes that have been explained to him; he should simply surrender to Kṛṣṇa. That surrender will save him from all kinds of sinful reactions, for the Lord personally promises to protect him. In the Seventh Chapter it was said that only one who has become free from all sinful reactions can take to the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Thus one may think that unless he is free from all sinful rea...
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Sb 3.25 eng

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE The Glories of Devotional Service Text 1 Translation Śrī Śaunaka said: Although He is unborn, the Supreme Personality of Godhead took birth as Kapila Muni by His internal potency. He descended to disseminate transcendental knowledge for the benefit of the whole human race. Purport The word ātma-prajñaptaye indicates that the Lord descends for the benefit of the human race to give transcendental knowledge. Material necessities are quite sufficiently provided for in the Vedic knowledge, which offers a program for good living conditions and gradual elevation to the platform of goodness. In the mode of goodness one’s knowledge expands. On the platform of passion there is no knowledge, for passion is simply an impetus to enjoy material benefits. On the platform of ignorance there is no knowledge and no enjoyment, but simply life almost like that of animals. The Vedas are meant to elevate one from the mode of ignorance to the platform of goodness. When one is situated in ...
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