Sankhya Yoga 2.38

 Verse 2.38

सुखदु:खे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ |

ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि || 38||

sukha-duḥkhe same kṛitvā lābhālābhau jayājayau

tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi

sukha—happiness; duḥkhe—in distress; same kṛitvā—treating alike; lābha-alābhau—gain and loss; jaya-ajayau—victory and defeat; tataḥ—thereafter; yuddhāya—for fighting; yujyasva—engage; na—never; evam—thus; pāpam—sin; avāpsyasi—shall incur

Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin.

The attitude to possess when performing one’s duty.

Krishna sows the seed of Karma Yoga here in this verse. That seed is the attitude of treating equally the sukha and dukha ( happiness and sorrow) that come as the result of one’s action. The Gita analyzes the psychology of likes and dislikes and provides a prescription to  treat one’s own likes and dislikes. Duryodhana is involved in this war on the basis of his hatred towards the Pandavas and his desire for the kingdom. Krishna says Arjuna should be involved in this war not based on his likes and dislikes but on the basis of what needs to be done by him as a Kshatriya. He commands Arjuna to do this battle for his swadharma. (yuddhaya yujyasva).

सम्यक् ख्यायते सा वैदिकी सम्यग्बुद्धि: साङ्ख्या। तया प्रकाश्यत्वेन सम्बन्धि तत्त्वं साङ्ख्यम्।

तद्विषया बुद्धि: साङ्ख्यबुद्धि:। सा साङ्ख्यबुद्धि: येषां ज्ञानिनाम् उचिता भवति ते साङ्ख्या:।

Brahman and the knowledge of Brahman are called sankhya. The wise who have the knowledge of brahman are called sankhyas. In his previous verses Bhagavan focused on the nature of Atma. Now in this verse he wants to begin the teaching of Karma Yoga. He says the one who treats happiness and distress, victory and defeat, gain and loss shall never incur sin. The ignorant people are naturally inclined towards victory and gain that bring about happiness and feel aversion toward defeat and loss that bring about sorrow. If a spiritual aspirant treats these dualities alike and simply performs his duties with a neutral attitude he will pave the way for his liberation. A karmayogi performs the same actions as a worldly person. But a huge difference lies in their attitude in performing those actions. So only the mental attitude determines if a function is binding or liberating.

Sankhya 2.36, 2.37

 Verse 2.36   

अवाच्यवादांश्च बहून्वदिष्यन्ति तवाहिता: |

निन्दन्तस्तव सामर्थ्यं ततो दु:खतरं नु किम् || 36||

avāchya-vādānśh cha bahūn vadiṣhyanti tavāhitāḥ

nindantastava sāmarthyaṁ tato duḥkhataraṁ nu kim

avāchya-vādān—using harsh words; cha—and; bahūn—many; vadiṣhyanti—will say; tava—your; ahitāḥ—enemies; nindantaḥ—defame; tava—your; sāmarthyam—might; tataḥ—than that; duḥkha-taram—more painful; nu—indeed; kim—what

Your enemies will defame and humiliate you with unkind words, disparaging your might. What could be more painful than that?

Not only those who used to praise Arjuna as a greatest warrior, but also those who are his enemies and those who expect him to fail will take this as an opportunity to talk ill about his abilities with horrible words. There is no more painful situation than this one.

Verse 2.37

हतो वा प्राप्स्यसि स्वर्गं जित्वा वा भोक्ष्यसे महीम् |

तस्मादुत्तिष्ठ कौन्तेय युद्धाय कृतनिश्चय: || 37||

hato vā prāpsyasi swargaṁ jitvā vā bhokṣhyase mahīm

tasmād uttiṣhṭha kaunteya yuddhāya kṛita-niśhchayaḥ

hataḥ—slain; vā—or; prāpsyasi—you will attain; swargam—heaven; jitvā—by achieving victory; vā—or; bhokṣhyase—you shall enjoy; mahīm—the kingdom on earth; tasmāt—therefore; uttiṣhṭha—arise; kaunteya—Arjuna, the son of Kunti; yuddhāya—for fight; kṛita-niśhchayaḥ—with determination

If you fight, you will either be slain on the battlefield and go to the celestial abodes, or you will gain victory and enjoy the kingdom on earth. Therefore arise with determination, O son of Kunti, and be prepared to fight.

The conclusion of the Dharma-Adharma explanation.

Arjuna can win this battle of dharma or die trying. These are the only two possibilities. If he loses the battle and dies he will enter heaven. Based on dharma shastra the one who performs his duty alone enters heaven. In case he wins the battle, he will eventually attain the kingdom and enjoy its benefits. He will not meet with defeat in either case. Hence Krishna asked Arjuna to arise with determination to wage this war.

Sankhya Yoga 2.35

 Verse 2.35

भयाद्रणादुपरतं मंस्यन्ते त्वां महारथा: |

येषां च त्वं बहुमतो भूत्वा यास्यसि लाघवम् || 35||

bhayād raṇād uparataṁ mansyante tvāṁ mahā-rathāḥ

yeṣhāṁ cha tvaṁ bahu-mato bhūtvā yāsyasi lāghavam

bhayāt—out of fear; raṇāt—from the battlefield; uparatam—have fled; maṁsyante—will think; tvām—you; mahā-rathāḥ—warriors who could single handedly match the strength of ten thousand ordinary warriors; yeṣhām—for whom; cha—and; tvam—you; bahu-mataḥ—high esteemed; bhūtvā—having been; yāsyasi—you will lose; lāghavam—decreased in value

The great generals who hold you in high esteem will think that you fled from the battlefield out of fear, and thus will lose their respect for you.

Arjuna has a reputation among the warriors as the one who had fought against mahadev shiva himself and received from him the pasupadasthram as a gift. Even kings like Duryodana praised his valor and brevity. In this time of trouble if Arjuna backs off from the battlefield, they would not appreciate his doing as he did this out of love. They would only ridicule him saying he retreated from the war out of fear (bhayath ranath uparatham). The praise could easily turn into mockery demeaning all his efforts (laghavam). It is not proper for Arjuna to do this act that brings about misery.

Sankhya Yoga 2.34

 Verse 2.34

अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम् |

सम्भावितस्य चाकीर्ति र्मरणादतिरिच्यते || 34||

akīrtiṁ chāpi bhūtāni kathayiṣhyanti te ’vyayām

sambhāvitasya chākīrtir maraṇād atirichyate

akīrtim—infamy; cha—and; api—also; bhūtāni—people; kathayiṣhyanti—will speak; te—of your; avyayām—everlasting; sambhāvitasya—of a respectable person; cha—and; akīrtiḥ—infamy; maraṇāt—than death; atirichyate—is greater

People will speak of you as a coward and a deserter. For a respectable person, infamy is worse than death.

The worldly loss due to failure to perform one’s duty

Not only the warriors at the battlefield, but even ordinary people will speak of Arjuna as a coward if he retreats from war without giving a fight. Even the people of the future generations will ridicule him. Arjuna has led a life of respectability and fame as a warrior all through his life. For a warrior like him, infamy is worse than death.

A spiritual aspirant is an extremely sensitive person. He would rather do his duty even if the odds are not in his favor than meet with ridicule and infamy. He should be aware that his swadharma has come upon him due to his prarabdha, and he is required to fulfill it no matter what. Many realized souls continue to perform their duties even after they attained enlightenment. They realize that things need to be done in order for the world to follow in their footsteps and are completely oblivious to the oncoming infamy if the duties are not performed. People like Arjuna are worldly and love to thrive in society. Hence it is imperative that they fear infamy and to avoid it, they should perform their duties without fail.

Sankhya Yoga 2.33

  Verse 2.33

अथ चेतत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं न करिष्यसि |

तत: स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि || 33||

atha chet tvam imaṁ dharmyaṁ saṅgrāmaṁ na kariṣhyasi

tataḥ sva-dharmaṁ kīrtiṁ cha hitvā pāpam avāpsyasi

atha chet—if, however; tvam—you; imam—this; dharmyam saṅgrāmam—righteous war; na—not; kariṣhyasi—act; tataḥ—then; sva-dharmam—one’s duty in accordance with the Vedas; kīrtim—reputation; cha—and; hitvā—abandoning; pāpam—sin; avāpsyasi—will incur

If, however, you refuse to fight this righteous war, abandoning your social duty and reputation, you will certainly incur sin.

Arjuna had already argued that if he is engaged in this battle he will incur sin. But Krishna tells him otherwise. If Arjuna did not engage in this righteous war (dharmyam sangramam) he would lose his reputation and fall from his duty. Eventually, he will only incur sin.

What could be the sin that Krishna is talking about here? Performing one’s duty with a detached mindset over a period of time helps one attain mental purity. Only a mind that is devoid of any impurities and focused has the ability to receive and nourish self-knowledge. Krishna considers it a sin to forgo one’s duties because he who does it will be lost in his pursuit of freedom due to his inability to possess a qualified mind.

The one who does adharma meets with destruction. But the one who fails to do his swadharma, his duty at the right time will meet with greater destruction. Krishna says when one forgoes his duties, he forgoes his reputation as well.