🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 2.31
Chapter 2 · सांख्ययोग · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · "The Yoga of Knowledge" · Verse 31 of 72
🪷 English Translations
Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.
Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
2.31 Thou must look at thy duty. Nothing can be more welcome to a soldier than a righteous war. Therefore to waver in this resolve is unworthy, O Arjuna!
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
2.31 Further, having regard to thy duty, shouldst not waver, for there is nothing higher for a Kshatriya than a righteous war.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
2.31 Api, even; aveksya, considering; svadharmam, your own duty, the duty of a Ksatriya, viz battle considering even that ; na arhasi, you ought not; vikampitum, to waver, to deviate from the natural duty of the Ksatriya, i.e. from what is natural to yourself. And hi, since that battle is not devoid of righteousness, (but) is supremely righteous it being conducive to virtue and meant for protection of subjects through conest of the earth ; therefore, na vidyate, there is nothing; anyat, else; sreyah, better; ksatriyasya, for a ksatriya; than that dharmyat, righteous; yuddhat, battle.
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
2.31 Further, even though there is killing of life in this war which has begun, it is not fit for you to waver, considering your own duty, as in the Agnisomiya and other sacrifices involving slaughter. To a Ksatriya, there is no greater good than a righteous war, begun for a just cause. It will be declared in the Gita: 'Valour, non-defeat (by the enemies), fortitude, adroitness and also not fleeing from battle, generosity, lordliness - these are the duties of the Ksatriya born of his very nature.' (18.43).
In Agnisomiya etc., no injury is caused to the animal to be immolated; for, according to the Vedic Text, the victim, a he-goat, after abandoning an inferior body, will attain heaven etc., with a beautiful body. The Text pertaining to immolation declares: 'O animal, by this (immolation) you will never die, you are not destroyed. You will pass through happy paths to the realm of the gods, where the virtuous only reach and not the sinful. May the god Savitr give you a proper place.' (Yaj. 4.6.9.46). Likewise the attainment of more beautiful bodies by those who die here in this war has been declared in the Gita, 'As a man casts off worn-out garments and takes others that are new ৷৷.' (2.22). Hence, just as lancing and such other operations of a surgeon are for curing a patient, the immolation of the sacrificial animal in the Agnisomiya etc., is only for its good.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
2.31. Further, considering your own duty, you should not waver. Indeed, for a Ksatriya there exists no duty superior to fighting a righteous war.
🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices
The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.
Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
2.31 स्वधर्मम् own duty? अपि also? च and? अवेक्ष्य looking at? न not? विकम्पितुम् to waver? अर्हसि (thou) oughtest? धर्म्यात् than righteous? हि indeed? युद्धात् than war? श्रेयः higher? अन्यत् other? क्षत्रियस्य of a Kshatriya? न not? विद्यते is.Commentary Lord Krishna now gives to Arjuna wordly reasons for fighting. Up to this time? He talked to Arjuna on the immortality of the Self and gave him philosophical reasons. Now He says to Arjuna? O Arjuna Fighting is a Kshatriyas own duty. You ought not to swerve from that duty. To a Kshatriyta (one born in the warrior or ruling class) nothing is more welcome than a righteous war. A warrior should fight.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
2.31 Api, even; aveksya, considering; svadharmam, your own duty, the duty of a Ksatriya, viz battle considering even that ; na arhasi, you ought not; vikampitum, to waver, to deviate from the natural duty of the Ksatriya, i.e. from what is natural to yourself. And hi, since that battle is not devoid of righteousness, (but) is supremely righteous it being conducive to virtue and meant for protection of subjects through conest of the earth ; therefore, na vidyate, there is nothing; anyat, else; sreyah, better; ksatriyasya, for a ksatriya; than that dharmyat, righteous; yuddhat, battle.
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
2.31 Further, even though there is killing of life in this war which has begun, it is not fit for you to waver, considering your own duty, as in the Agnisomiya and other sacrifices involving slaughter. To a Ksatriya, there is no greater good than a righteous war, begun for a just cause. It will be declared in the Gita: 'Valour, non-defeat (by the enemies), fortitude, adroitness and also not fleeing from battle, generosity, lordliness - these are the duties of the Ksatriya born of his very nature.' (18.43).
In Agnisomiya etc., no injury is caused to the animal to be immolated; for, according to the Vedic Text, the victim, a he-goat, after abandoning an inferior body, will attain heaven etc., with a beautiful body. The Text pertaining to immolation declares: 'O animal, by this (immolation) you will never die, you are not destroyed. You will pass through happy paths to the realm of the gods, where the virtuous only reach and not the sinful. May the god Savitr give you a proper place.' (Yaj. 4.6.9.46). Likewise the attainment of more beautiful bodies by those who die here in this war has been declared in the Gita, 'As a man casts off worn-out garments and takes others that are new ৷৷.' (2.22). Hence, just as lancing and such other operations of a surgeon are for curing a patient, the immolation of the sacrificial animal in the Agnisomiya etc., is only for its good.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
2.31 Sva-Dharmam etc. Because one's duty cannot be avoided, wavering with regard to fighting the war is not proper [on the part of Arjuna].
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।2.31।। क्षत्रिय का कार्य समाज का राष्ट्र का नेतृत्व करना है और क्षत्रिय होने के नाते अर्जुन का कर्तव्य हो जाता है कि समाज पर आये अधर्म के संकट से उसकी रक्षा करे। उसका कर्तव्य है कि समाज के आह्वान पर युद्ध भूमि में विचलित न होकर शत्रुओं से युद्ध करके राष्ट्र की संस्कृति का रक्षण करे।क्षत्रियों के लिए इससे बढ़कर कोई और श्रेयष्कर कार्य नहीं हो सकता कि उनको धर्मयुक्त युद्ध में अपना शौर्य दिखाने का स्वर्ण अवसर मिले। यहाँ अधर्मियों ने ही पहले आक्रमण किया है। अत अर्जुन का युद्ध से विरत होना उचित नहीं। महाभारत के उद्योग पर्व में स्पष्ट कहा है निरपराध व्यक्ति की हत्या का पाप उतना ही बड़ा है जितना कि नाश करने योग्य व्यक्ति का नाश न करने का है।युद्ध का औचित्य सिद्ध करते हुए भगवान् अन्य कारण बताते हैं
🪷 Place in the Bhagavad-Gītā
- This is verse 31 of 72 in Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga (The Yoga of Knowledge)
- Chapter theme: Krishna's first teaching · the niṣkāma-karma sūtra · BG 2.47
- Ṣaṭka grouping: TVAM-Ṣaṭka (BG 1-6 · the jīva)
- Chapter hub: /sankhya-yoga
🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷
सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)