Poetic translation of the English version of the Bhagwad Geeta..easy to follow and read. |
The Song of the Bhagwad Chapter 1 Here on the plains of Kurushetra The sons of man arrayed To fight to the finish A fearsome battle For the kingdom and truth Of Hastinapur A combat between two great armies Of one and the same family The sons of Dhritrashtra- And of his deceased brother Pandu- To his nephews the blind King Drithrastra Wished no apparent ill will But to them, neither throne nor kingdom, Would he give. Brave-heart, Arjuna Third son of Pandu Did not want to fight His teachers and his guru Cousins, Fathers-in-law and brothers-in law, Uncles and friends With whom he grew "For what use is a kingdom Taken through war and death Upon the very kith and kin One wishes to share his kingdom with?" "Is it not the duty of the right - minded? To desist in doing that Which the ignorant and foul- minded greed for? Is it not better to live on alms? Than to fight and kill Ones' own family O Keshava?" "My hands shake and quiver My legs shiver My mind is restless And mouth feels parched the great Gandive falls to my feet no good do I foresee from this fierce combat " Thus the mighty slayer of foes Laid down his bows "I shall not fight" He said quietly **************************** Chapter 2 To him thus overcome with agony Lord Krishna spoke calmly "From wherefore has this weakness beset you at this time, O Arjuna? This weakness, this numbness of the mind Does not become you, son of Kunti!" "How can I fight to kill? Beloved Pitamah Or respected guru Drona? "To enjoy wealth and pleasures Drenched with the blood of my brothers I do not desire, O Keshava! "Doubts assail me further For which is the better course To fight or to surrender? "We know not who will win nor who will loose? Is there any guarantee that we will be blessed with victory?" His mind in two directions thus pulled Perplexed and confused The strong-armed Arjuna To the Lord implored - "Tell me, O Madhusudana, Which is definitely the favorable path for me?" The all- knowing Lord then spoke thus: "O Arjuna, you talk like the learned yet grieve like the ignorant The learned grieve neither for the departed nor for the living "Know that those who stand before you are immortal souls "Never was there a time when You, these kings, and I did not exist Nor will there be a time when they will cease to exist "Just as the newborn Enters childhood, youth and old age So also, the living soul grows old "As heat and cold are transitory Happiness and sorrow are also momentary "Because he who is not disturbed in sadness nor overly excited in gladness is even minded and worthy of salvation "Indestructible is only the soul which pervades this entire universe all else is perishable so also this body is temporary O Arjuna! "This soul neither takes birth nor does it ever die Because it is ancient, forever and divine And does not die when the body dies Just as men change old clothes the soul sheds old bodies to take new ones The sword cannot cut this soul Nor the fire burn it "Water cannot wet it nor do the winds dry it Because this soul is immortal Non-physical Indivisible Eternal Unshakeable and one that exists for ever "Therefore o Arjuna! Know the soul to be as such And do not weep For it is incorrect to grieve for that which never ends And even if you consider this soul to be one which takes birth and dies, then also, you must not grieve For that which is born must die and that which dies must be reborn "O Arjuna! All living beings were invisible before birth and after death, they become invisible again only in the middle are they manifested as embodied beings therefore why grieve for the inevitable? "You should not fear also You, a Kshatriya by religion And birth but Kshatriyas is afraid of nothing "If you do not fight this righteous battle that has come your way and for which you are not reproachable Your enemies will mock you Saying many unspeakable things To taint your name for all time to come For a warrior such as you, such ill fame is worse than death itself "Therefore, do not desist at this critical moment stand upright and fight with determination "O Arjuna, do not consider who will win and who will loose see both these results as equal gain and loss, victory and defeat as the same And you will incur no sin "And know that, even without you These great warriors are already slayed by me Therefore, shirk not from your duty Win and enjoy the fruits of a kingdom Or die in a righteous battle To fulfill your responsibility Thus, you will attain Salvation ****************** All copyrights reserved by Kalyani Publications May 2008. |