This is a continuation of the poem “Qualms of Arjuna” that appeared in February 2011 issue of BTG.
Here we find krsna’s solution to arjun’s queries based on Chapters 1 and 2 of Bhagavad-Gita.

 

Lord Krishna Clears Arjuna's Doubts

It is better to live this life by forsaking royal claims and by begging
Than to taint our hands with the blood of seniors who taught us everything
Even though they are greedy, they are worthy of respect
I shall dwell in hell if I kill them even after fair combat

 I do not know what is my duty, and I have become weak and am in lamentation
I am now surrendered fully to you, O Govinda, and look to you for clear instruction
This grief is drying up my senses and I will not be able to destroy it
Even though I might win the greatest kingdom and the chance to enjoy it

At this, the Supreme Lord Krsna smiled and spoke thus:
My friend, whilst speaking such learned words
You are lamenting for what is not worthy of lamentation
This weakness of heart does not belie our reputation

Those who are wise lament neither for the living not for the dead
For never was these a time when you not I not any of these warriors had not existed,
O Arjuna, nor shall any of us ever cease to be,any yoga, eon, or age
Just as the embodied soul passes  in this body from childhood to adulthood to old age

In the same way, the soul passes into another body at death
s we give up old garments and put on new ones, as simple as that
A Sell realized soul Is not bewildered by this transition
Which is inevitable and part of the Lord’s grand disposition

Honor and dishonor. Success and failure, happiness and distress
Are like the passing of summer and winter, inevitable and relentless
They aries from our sense perception, O arjuna
And one should accept them with grace, O Partha

Know that which pervades the entire body having life and sense
Is indestructible and imperishable, and eternally conscious
For the soul, there is no birth or death or time unfulfilled
For one who knows this truth, the self kills not nor is ever killed

O Partha, how can a person who knows very well
That the soul is indestructible, unborn, eternal and immutable,
Kill anyone or cause anyone else to kill?
One who is in knowledge has no will to kill

The soul cannot be cut by any sword or weapon
Nor dried by the wind, nor moistened by water
Nor burnt by fire, nor aged with time
It is eternal, everlasting, immistable, and sublime

For one who has taken his birth, death is certain
And for one who has died, rebirth is equally certain
Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty
You should not grieve for the temporary body

As a ksatriya, it is your duty to fight on religious principle
Do not hesitate, O Partha, to test your mettle
It does not befit you to leave the battlefield
Leaving your comrades in the lurch, to be mercilessly killed

All the great fighters and generals will speak of your infamy
Consider you a coward and scorn your ability
For one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death
Fight with determination and do your duty as an act of faith

Raise your weapons for the sake of the fight
Without looking at victory or defeat
Happiness or distress, loss or gain
In this way, you shall never incur sin

Yoga is working without looking for gain or loss
Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose
Those who are in yoga do not look for sense grantification
To satisfy the Supreme Lord is their true determination

Be steadfast in yoga, and perform your duty as a warrior
Abandon all attachment to success or failure
Rid yourself of all fruitive work
For yoga is the art of all work

Be engaged is devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord
And free yourself from the cycle of life and death in this material world
Renounce the fruits of all action
And come out of the forest of delusion

You might restrict your senses from enjoyment
But the sense will perpetually seek fulfillment
So engage your senses in experiencing a higher taste
And thus fix your mind in divine consciousness

Just as a boat on the water is swept way by a strong wind
Even one of the senses, if left uncontrolled
Can carry away the intelligence of a man of discriminance
And comel him to act in a manner devoid of intelligence

A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desire
Only can attain peace, not the one who seeks to fulfill these desire
He who has given up all desire for proprietorship and sense grantification
And false ego, he alone can attain real tranquility and inperturbation

This is the way of the spiritual and godly life
After attaining which one leaves behind al miseries and strife
Being thus situated, even at the time of death, one can remember the Lord
And enter into Vaikuntha, the eternal spiritual kingdom of the Supreme Lord  – Gautam Saha