Translation

Delighted are the Kshatriyas, O Partha, who, by accident, receive a chance to fight this kind of battle as an open door to heaven.

Annotation

“I must point out to you, Arjuna, that the chance for you to fight a special battle as this has come about only by Divine grace. True Kshatriyas yearn for such an opportunity and if they receive it, they are delighted, for they know it is a precious but rare favour sent by Providence. Don’t you recognize it is a wide-open door to heaven?

“I see your difficulty in understanding what I mean. The experience you are going through just now is a fortuitous opportunity that has come to you; such exceptional occurrences are only the prerogative of those Kshatriyas who are also unpretentious ascetics, so consider yourself extremely fortunate.”

[A key aspect of the philosophy of the Gita is that kings (rulers) are expected to be Self-realized ṛshis as well; we will find later that Vyāsa refers to such kings as rājarshi-s or king-sages. For the lessons of Brahma-vidya, the word sukhinaḥ (ascetics) used in this verse means those who triumph over the sense organs (jitendriya) or are of vishaya virakti (detachment from the worldly objects and sense pleasures).]

“Arjuna, you fought and won so many battles in the past. Those wins did not secure you an entry into heaven. And you believe that you, as a Kshatriya, will get an entry there only if you die in a battle; it means that the heaven you have dreamed of is a closed one as long as you are alive in this world. You have no clue how precious the opportunity that has just come to you by sheer chance is. If you win this special battle, you live forever in a special heaven, with an open door, from where you do not have to return! That special heaven I refer to is the śreyas you asked for. So squander not the chance of winning śreyas.”

In Chapter 1, we saw Arjuna was afraid that the sin he was about to commit would cause him to live in hell. So, he mentioned he would be happy to remain unarmed and be killed by the sons of Dhṛtarāshṭra; he meant, as a Kshatriya, he could then enjoy heaven in the life after death. Krishna in the Gita imparts the wisdom that removes all such fallacies and misgivings, and leads one to the supreme Truth. But, the popular interpretation of the present verse reads like this: Kṛshṇa is here countering Arjuna convincingly that only a fearless warrior fighting heroically in a righteous war can enter heaven in the life hereafter, not by volunteering to die without fighting. See how the terms Kshatriya and Kshatriya Dharma are misunderstood! An ideal Kshatriya is an ideal ruler (not a warrior) who functions as a representative of Brahman in order to ensure ideal dharma in the world. This is the view carried by the Upanishads. Striving to be as close to the ideal as possible is the duty of every Kshatriya.

According to the Gita (and Vedanta) the concept of heaven in the usual sense is inferior to the Supreme goal of mukti or moksha (liberation) attained by being a knower of Brahman (Brahma-jñāni). In contrast, the heaven Arjuna believes in is a ‘place’ where one enjoys a life full of material or sensual pleasure; eventually when all the accrued merits of previous life exhaust, one has to return from that heaven to earth assuming another body. The Gita is the science that teaches how to transcend birth and death, pleasures and pains, etc. by Self-realization; in this philosophy, there is no other greater goal for human beings than attaining moksha. The offer of a life of moksha (liberation) is denoted in this verse by the heaven with an open door.

Let us note the phrase yadṛchchhayā upapannam (यदृच्छया उपपन्नम्); it means, come about by sheer chance. [We see the phrase usually translated as 'come unsought for.' 'Unsought for' is a derived meaning for yadṛcchhayā and used perhaps for convenience. The greatest of the Sanskrit poets, Kālidāsa, uses yadṛchchhayā in his major works to mean 'as a surprise' or ‘by accident’. In our verse, if we do not recognize here what the occurrence by accident is, we cannot explain the accurate meaning of the verse.] Then the phrase īdṛśam yuddham (ईदृशं युद्धम्), which says a battle of this special kind ̶ an obvious hint that the battle is not one in which man kills man. Vyāsa qualifies this battle as one of sheer accident. Is the Mahābhārata war at Kurukshetra just an accident, an event unsought for? Not at all. A critical student of the epic will see, right in the beginning of the story, the seeds of a holocaust being sown. [We have a brief but interesting analysis of the series of events/episodes that culminated in the Mahābhārata war. It is based on the summary version of the Mahābhārata story presented here as Gita Post #1 and #2. To read the analysis, click/tap on the link: The Genesis of the Battle of Kurukshetra]

The special battle (came about by accident) the Ṛshi refers to is the spiritual battle that confronts Arjuna. We see no better reason than the mystical experience of *para (the Transcendental) for Kṛshṇa to urge Arjuna not to miss this rare chance of a direct spiritual battle. The power with which the Transcendental has clasped Arjuna was so tremendous and abrupt that he was humbled instantly. In the heat of the moment, he has opted for śreyas rather than the prosperous kingdom and the immense bounties and luxuries the victorious will enjoy. Bhagavān implies Arjuna is now on the doorstep of the abode of Brahman, only by the grace of para.

[*The Gita mentions Arjuna’s mystical experience of para (the Transcendental) in the first line of verse 28, in Chapter 1 (kṛpayā parayāvishṭo vishīdann-idam-abravīt). Our explanation is in Gita Post #9]

At this instant, it may help us strengthen our understanding of this verse by reading side-by-side another verse from Katha Upanishad (I-II-13):

Translation: Having heard (from the guru) and comprehended this, the mortal man absorbs the all-sustaining essence (dharma and its source, Brahman) and attains its subtle secret; and he rejoices on gaining That which makes him ever happy. That abode of absolute happiness, I feel, is now open to Nachiketas.

In the Upanishad, Nachiketas is the wisdom seeker and Yama, the god of death, is the Guru. The Guru, after assessing Nachiketas’s suitability to learn Brahma-vidya, accepts him as his disciple and is about to teach him. That moment is described in this verse. In the quoted verse, we find mentioned two points that are relevant for our context. (1) Brahman is the source of the all-sustaining dharma and (2) as Nachiketas is about to learn Brahma-vidya from his guru, the door to the ‘abode of absolute happiness’ is wide open to Nachiketas! The ‘abode of absolute happiness’ with an open door is what Kṛshṇa has meant by ‘the heaven with an open door’ in the Gita verse we have just read.

[We know that the Bhagavad Gita embodies the essence of the Upanishads. This chapter of the Gita has explanation of Ātman from Katha Upanishad, including some verses reproduced almost verbatim. Thus, it appears apt to lean on the views of the Upanishad, where suitable, to draw accurate conclusions from such critical verses of the Gita.]

In our discussion of the previous verse, we have had our first inference that the dharmyāt yuddham (a battle that is congruent with dharma) mentioned by Bhagavān is the spiritual battle against Arjuna’s own ego-identity, which is the centre of the six-fold enemies. Another part of our inference was that a Kshatriya’s dharma or svadharma calls for such a battle to conquer the ego-identity to realize his genuine or indubitable identity ̶ Ātman. All the same, an explicit verdict on this theory of spiritual battle is not seen in this verse either, nor does it appear anywhere in the Gita; the closest evidence is the present verse. How do we then confirm our judgment? We must have affirmations of (a) the meaning of the battle Kṛshṇa refers to and (b) what Kshatriya Dharma means according to the Gita (and Sage Vyāsa). 

[What follows in the rest of this post are enlightening details for the serious Gita learners on the two points we have just discussed. These are telling verses from the Mahābhārata, translated with added commentary as needed. Apart from these quotes, the Gita followers need nothing more to conclude that (a) Kṛshṇa asks Arjuna to fight a spiritual battle and (b) a Kshatriya’s svadharma is not fighting wars involving violence, but ensuring the total well-being of the world. Svadharma and a preliminary view of Kshatriya Dharma were discussed in the previous post (Gita Post #20).]

(a) Dharmyāt yuddham according to Kṛshṇa

After the Mahābhārata war that has caused the annihilation of 4 million soldiers, Yudhishṭhira, the king-designate among the Pāṇḍavas, has been wailing about the sin he has committed. He suffers from heart-breaking agony and is overwhelmed by repentance. He becomes mournful after performing the last rites of Bhīshma, the great grandfather when Kṛshṇa not only consoles him but enlightens him about his duty as a Kshatriya.

Vasudeva (Kṛshṇa) says:

Kṛshṇa says this to Yudhishṭhira, who has won the battle and has become the king! Winning that battle does not appear to be an achievement to Kṛshṇa; rather, he speaks as though Yudhishṭhira has not achieved anything. This outlook is not an ordinary one. A student of the Gita has to comprehend what Kṛshṇa teaches by keeping this outlook in mind. “…your (true) enemies are within your own body:” The ego-identity and the six-fold enemies!

Here, Yudhishṭhira’s own karma means his svadharma (as the Gita specifies), which is nothing but the Kshatriya Dharma in its original form. To “reach beyond the Supreme indistinct” means to overcome the subjugation of prakṛti or māyā to attain the knowledge of Brahman. Prakṛti or māyā is often described as the veil of ignorance that obstructs the vision of the Self or Ātman (or Brahman). According to the Kshatriya Dharma Chatushṭaya that we discussed in the previous verse, attaining the Supreme wisdom and being a knower of Brahman is a primary dharma of a Kshatriya.

Kṛshṇa emphasizes that the enemy within you is ‘yourself’, which has to be understood as the ego-identity or I-sense (ahamkāra), which one wrongly takes as one’s true Self. The erroneous notion of ‘I am this body and so I desire to have everything that pleases it' is ego-identity. The battle Kṛshṇa advises Arjuna to fight is against his own ego-identity, which superimposes itself on one’s true Self (Ātman), obstructing the vision of Self. “That battle confronts you right here and now”: Kṛshṇa reminds Yudhishṭhira that he has become now the King; his responsibility is to function according to the ideal Kshatriya Dharma and ensure the perfect all-round well-being of his prajā (citizens); you make sure the world will have dharma instituted and working properly. That is possible only if the ruling king is a knower of Brahman (Brahma-jñāni). Therefore, Yudhishṭhira cannot afford to lose any time; he had better fight the spiritual battle right away!

Vyāsa himself gave Yudhishṭhira a long consoling speech before Bhagavān spoke to him, but the poet reserved these words for Kṛshṇa because this was the special battle he always asked a Kshatriya to fight. In our present Gita verse, what does Kṛshṇa tell Arjuna? “O Partha, delighted are the Kshatriyas receiving, by sheer accident, a chance for this special battle as an open door to heaven.” And we have also heard Kṛshṇa’s words to Yudhishṭhira that he has not yet vanquished his actual enemies, and the victory in the Mahābhārata war is not a victory worth mentioning!

It is now clear that ‘a battle like this’ [īdṛśam yuddham (ईदृशं युद्धम्)] Kṛshṇa mentions has to be nothing other than the battle Arjuna has to fight against himself (means, against his ego-identity). But why does Bhagavān say the opportunity to fight the spiritual battle has come as a sheer accident? He refers to the kshudra samādhi (mystic experience) Arjuna is going through. Even for the utterly dedicated spiritual practitioners, it is rare to have a kshudra samādhi, which is how, in most cases, the spiritual experience dawns, much before the final Self-realization. The latter phase in the spiritual quest is a hard struggle and very few attain to the abode of the Supreme (paramapada). In Arjuna’s case, it is obvious, as Kṛshṇa says in the verse, that such an occurrence (of a fleeting samādhi) is a pure accident, which takes the onlookers by surprise. Bhagavān alone knows whether he played a role in it, but he points to the mystical gift Arjuna has received and asks him to take its full advantage.

Why does Bhagavān stress so much, in this Gita verse, to take advantage of this special opportunity (kshudra samādhi)? This author's answer to this question is a brief comparative study of the real-life mystic experience of a great twentieth-century saint and the kshudra samādhi of Arjuna ̶ perhaps a fitting conclusion to the discussion on the spiritual battle. To read the interesting experience of Ramana Maharshi, please click/tap on the link: What does a Mystic Experience Mean to a Seeker?

The way Bhagavān concludes his advice to Yudhishṭhira is also relevant for our study.

“Do you know what terrible condition you will be thrown into”: In the next few verses of the Gita, Kṛshṇa goes into the details of what will happen if Arjuna walks away from the (spiritual) battle. As opposed to what is said here, to Arjuna he says he will enjoy the riches (material pleasures) of the Kingdom if he loses in the spiritual battle and wins the physical battle. He does not tell Arjuna about the terrible condition after losing the spiritual battle because he is not the King. He also knows Arjuna’s natural inclination for the enjoyment of sense pleasures. (Elsewhere, we discussed that Yudhishṭhira was much more spiritually oriented than any other princes in the Kuru family were.) As the King, he has the direct responsibility to ensure Kshatriya Dharma. If the King fails in installing Kshatriya Dharma in its totality, the consequences for his citizens and the world are terrible. Therefore, he had better strive hard and become a knower of Brahman and only then will he know (a) what Kshatriya Dharma really means and (b) how to ensure its right observance. This is the way Indian philosophy envisages the integral well-being of the world ̶ loka-samgraha.

“With the full awareness of the destiny (well-being) of all the living beings”: the foremost function (dharma) of a Kshatriya is ensuring the all-round well-being of his citizens or praja (not just the human beings but all the living beings!). The selfless performance of that function as the top most priority of the king/ruler is possible only when the ruler is a knower of Brahman. Kṛshṇa, therefore, reminds Yudhishṭhira that only his victory in the single-handed fight against himself (his ego-identity) will ensure the well-being of all the living beings. His dharma as a Kshatriya should always be above his own personal life-interests; his personal well-being is in the fulfilment of that dharma! “The conduct of your great ancestors”: it means, Yudhishṭhira should emulate the ancient kings who were not only perfect rulers but sages themselves. [In the Gita, we will hear Kṛshṇa referring to the great ancestors of Arjuna by a term rājarshis ̶ king-sages.]

[Why is it so important for us, the Gita learners, to have this paradox (about the battle Kṛshṇa mentions) resolved? To read a short note on this click/tap on the link: The Battle Kṛshṇa asks a Kshatriya to Fight]

(b) A Kshatriya’s dharma (functional responsibility) according to the author of the Gita

We had a cursory view of Kshatriya Dharma, described as Kshatriya Dharma Chatushṭaya in the study of the previous verse. That discussion will be complete only if we hear what Vyāsa himself considers a Kshatriya’s dharma. Here is what the Ṛshi says about Kshatriya Dharma:

Obviously, Arjuna was not a nitya brahmachāri; often celibacy is also a characteristic of a brahmachāri. He was, like all the other Pāṇḍava brothers, righteous by nature, but conserving dharma was not his sole desire in life. The verse shows how thoughtful were the ancient ṛshis in putting together the governance system of a nation, anticipating well how any low-minded human beings becoming the rulers could bring about the ruin of the people and the nation.

The verse declares that what Kshatriya Dharma aims at is total ahimsa (non-hurting or non-killing) in the world. Or, a ruler who is a genuine observer of Kshatriya Dharma will not engage himself/herself in any killing of anybody, and there will not be any need either. If we relate this to the Gita context, we can conclude Kṛshṇa has never encouraged Arjuna to fight the Kurukshetra battle and kill anybody. Since Arjuna is a Kshatriya, he advises only to observe his svadharma (natural function or vocation), which is Kshatriya Dharma. Elsewhere in the Gita, Kṛshṇa himself tells Arjuna that people emulate celebrities, so they must be role models.

Daṇḍa, a Kshatriya’s ‘tool’ in the domain of Brahman

In the Mahābhārata, Śanti Parva, Chapter 121 explains Daṇḍa as the system for the ruler (Kshatriya) to conserve dharma by observing ideal Kshatriya Dharma. We read there, “That by which everything in this world is taken care of is called Daṇḍa.” Daṇḍa means stick; the stick later became the symbol of chastisement. However, Daṇḍa or Daṇḍa Nīti here means the system of rule the king must follow to protect dharma. Daṇḍa is, in fact, dharma in operation. Therefore, “Daṇḍa is also called vyavahāra (transactional operations).” Only a ruler who follows Kshatriya Dharma in its letter and spirit will have the right awareness and ability to handle Daṇḍa in the correct way. Like the ‘system of dharma’ that holds or supports the world, Daṇḍa also belongs to the realm of Brahman. The explanation of Daṇḍa in the Mahābhārata further enlightens us with the meaning of Kshatriya Dharma. These verses have a direct relation to the purpose of loka-samgraha, the goal with which Sage Vyāsa composed the Mahābhārata with the Bhagavad Gita as its kernel.

Later, it is also mentioned there, “These are the high words of Brahman. And because these words were spoken first, they are known as the first words.” Thus, it implies that the proper implementation of Daṇḍa Nīti is possible only to a ruler who is also a knower of Brahman (Brahma-jñāni), for he will be “the embodiment of dharma” too. In later times, in the name of Daṇḍa Nīti, severe punishments and chastisements were implemented by rulers because they were neither the followers of Kshatriya Dharma nor the knowers of Brahman; so they were incapable of understanding the spirit of Daṇḍa Nīti and maintaining dharma.

When the ruling system based on Kshatriya Dharma enables the citizens to be groomed and to engage themselves in their natural vocations (svadharma), they find happiness, satisfaction and contentment in their lives. Perfect contentment in life while engaged in righteous vocations is important to maintain dharma.

Here, an Indian puranic/cosmological concept of four epochs (yuga-s) is about to be clarified. In the present verse, Time implies an epoch or yuga. According to the cosmology of ancient India, there are four yuga-s (epochs) that are repeated cyclically in the relative world. They are Kṛta Yuga (Satya Yuga), Tretā Yuga, Dvāpara Yuga and Kali Yuga, in that order. A progressive deterioration in the goodness of human nature is observed in the passing of each epoch, and the reason attributed is the forgetfulness of human beings of the spiritual side of life or, the reckless involvement in sensual pleasures and the unchecked desire for all the worldly values. The Kurukshetra battle takes place at the end of Dvāpara Yuga, when the transition to the worst of all the epochs, Kali Yuga, is already in progress. The following few verses from the Mahābhārata reveal the role of Kshatriyas (kings or rulers) in determining the advent of each of those epochs.

We should visualize that a ruler who causes the advent of Kṛta Yuga (and maintains it) practises Daṇḍa Nīti or operationalizes dharma in such a way that the citizens of the nation live in a spiritually superior state of mind. So the Sage says, “… their minds do not indulge in adharma.” [*Classes or colour-grades: the four classes of chātur-varṇya such as Brāhmaṇa, Kshatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra.]

We should note the reference to the earth, which is Nature; Nature (prakṛti) is specially dealt with in Vedanta, and the Gita elaborates on how humans and other living beings are integral to Nature. Violation of dharma means non-conformance to Nature’s (Cosmic) laws.

The foregoing quotes from the epic stress that the ruler or king who is not a nitya-brahmachāri (ever devoted to Brahman) himself flouts a basic tenet of Kshatriya Dharma, so he will not be a yogi or a knower of Brahman either. Further, when the ruler completely neglects Yoga and dharma, the entire nation loses jñāna (awareness or knowledge of Reality) and forgets the practice of Yoga Śāstra in life, the result of which is total lawlessness.

We have thus our final judgment that (a) Kṛshṇa asks Arjuna to fight a battle against himself (his ego-identity) and (b) a Kshatriya’s svadharma is not fighting wars involving any violence, but ensuring the total well-being of the world.

[While most of the commentators try to substantiate their claim that Kṛshṇa’s goal was to make Arjuna fight in the Mahābhārata war, interesting is the view of Śaṅkarāchārya whose brilliant commentary was the primary guide for a majority of the subsequent Gita commentators. The Āchārya says in his explanation of the word yudhyasva (join the battle) used by Kṛshṇa in verse 18 of Chapter 2: “Here there is no command to take up war as a duty, because he (Arjuna) who came determined for war remains silent as he is overpowered by sorrow and delusion. Therefore, all that is being done by the Lord (Kṛshṇa) is the removal of the obstruction to his ability to work or act. ‘Therefore, join the battle’ is only an approval or a clearance, not a mandate. The scripture (Gita) is intended for eradicating sorrow, delusion, etc. as in the cases of the birth ̶ death cycles; it is not intended to instigate action.” The Āchārya did not write commentary on Chapter 1. His main concern was only to put the Advaita philosophy of the Gita in the right perspective, so, to him these matters are of secondary importance. Still, he makes a serious comment here because in the philosophy being discussed, war and violence have no place. By the same token, the view that Bhagavān Kṛshṇa enjoined Arjuna to fight in the war is pitiable. By the grace of the great āchāryas, we seem to be on a safe track.]

Note:

The following are the original Sanskrit verses from the Mahābhārata translated and quoted:

<<<PREVIOUS POST                                                                                                                    CURRENT POST