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.