Gita Chapter 2, Part 2 - by Swami Nikhilanand, disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj and sanyasi teacher at JKP Radha Madhav Dham
In the beginning of the second chapter, Bhagwan Shree Krishn explains to Arjun from a sankhya point of view why he should not hesitate to fight the war. From this, we learned that our true identity is the soul, and the soul is eternal and indestructible.
Shree Krishn Explains the Law of Karm to Convince Arjun to Fight the War
Next He explains that, considering the law of karm (action and consequence), from that point of view too, Arjun should fight the war. As previously discussed (see Chapter 1, Part 8), it was clearly Arjun's duty to fight the war. So Shree Krishn tells him that if he does his duty, then he can't lose: if he fights the war and is killed, then he will be rewarded with entry to swarg; and if he fights the war and wins, then he will enjoy the sovereignty of the earth (chapter 2, verse 37). According to the law of karm, he will be rewarded whether he wins or loses the actual war, because he chose to do the right thing.
But if, choosing not to fight, he shirks his duty, he will incur sin which will bring suffering upon him in the next life. In addition, people will see him as a coward because they will assume that he left the battlefield out of fear. He would lose the respect of the other warriors. Thus, ruining his good name and bringing infamy upon himself, he would spoil his happiness in this life; and by incurring the sin of ignoring his duty, he would also spoil his happiness in the next life. Shree Krishn thus explained in simple, straightforward logic why Arjun should fight the war.
However, Arjun was not satisfied with worldly happiness. He had already told Shree Krishn that he did not desire the pleasures of kingship, nor did he desire to be victorious for his own personal glory (chapter 1, verse 32). This meant that the prospect of enjoying more happiness of this world was not an incentive for Arjun to fight the war.
The Futility of Worldly Happiness
In fact, Shree Krishn Himself had already explained the futility of worldly happiness earlier in chapter 2. He told Arjun that the world is full of pairs of opposites, like heat and cold, and pleasure and pain. This situation is such that within each pair of opposites the two keep alternating, which means no situation is ever stable or permanent. In other words, cold doesn't last forever - it eventually gives way to heat; and heat doesn't last forever - it eventually gives way to cold. Pleasure doesn't last forever - it eventually gives way to pain; and pain doesn't last forever - it eventually gives way once again to pleasure (chapter 2, verse 14). All situations are temporary, which means that worldly happiness is always fleeting. Thus, Shree Krishn advised Arjun to remain equanimous both in situations that bring pleasure and in those that cause pain.
He further exposed the nature of worldly happiness when He stated that what is fact cannot cease to exist, and if something does not exist, then it cannot become fact (chapter 2, verse 16). It means that truth is permanent, unchanging, and everlasting. If something is a fact, then it cannot cease being a fact. Accordingly, if the happiness of this world existed as a fact, then it could not stop being a fact. It would exist as a permanent state.
But it doesn't. It exists only as a fleeting experience in our mind, not as a substantial and real thing. We cannot enjoy anything in this world unceasingly. The longer we go on enjoying it, the more the enjoyment fades, until it finishes altogether. If the happiness was real, then where did it go? Why did it vanish? A fact cannot stop being a fact. If there was true happiness in tasty food, then we should be able to go on eating the same food continuously forever and the amount of enjoyment should always remain constant. If there was real happiness in beauty, then we should be able to go on staring at the same beautiful thing forever and never get bored of it; but it never happens that way, we get bored and want a change. Then where did the happiness go?
The truth is that there never was any happiness in those worldly things: not in the tasty food, not in the beauty, not in anything of this world. We experience happiness in the association of those things in proportion to our desire for them. The hungrier we are, the better food tastes, and the more pleasure we receive in eating it. The thirstier we are, the more we enjoy water. The longer we have been separated from the object of beauty, the greater our desire for it has grown, and the greater the pleasure we receive upon meeting with it.
But as we go on eating, our desire for food wanes, and the happiness we experience in eating decreases accordingly. As we go on drinking, our thirst is quenched, and our pleasure in drinking the water also disappears. The longer we go on looking at a beautiful thing, whether it is a person, or a painting, or any natural scene, the more accustomed to that thing we become, and the less desire we have to keep looking at it. Eventually, we become bored, and we want to look at something else. Eventually, we become full from eating or drinking, and we want to stop.
When we reach such a threshold, if we were forced to continue, then the very thing that initially gave us pleasure, would now start giving us displeasure. If we were forced to keep on staring at the same beautiful face or painting for hours on end, we would get fed up and not want to look at it anymore. If there was real happiness in these things, then how could we receive pain from the very same things?
If there was real happiness in any object or person of this world, then everyone would be able to get the same amount of enjoyment out of the same person or thing. Everyone would love chocolate and hate onions. But there is no consistency: some people love onions and hate chocolate. Everyone would feel the same happiness in seeing your son as you do. But they don't; you receive the happiness from your son, because you are attached to him. Your neighbor is not attached to him, so he is neutral towards him. He gets happiness from his son, not your son. Thus, we see that the so-called happiness is received based on the attachment of the mind, not based on the existence of happiness in that person or thing.
Our own experience of this world proves that it does not contain real happiness. We receive a temporary excitement when meeting with the object of our desire or attachment, but that fleeting feeling lives only in our mind, and is the creation of our mind. It has no real existence.
The next question is: if there is no real happiness in this world, then is there only pain? We will see what the philosophy of the Gita has to say about this in the next article.
Summary
Shree Krishn explains that, considering the law of karm, from that point of view too, Arjun should fight the war. As previously discussed, it was clearly Arjun's duty to fight the war. So Shree Krishn tells him that if he does his duty, then he can't lose. Because according to the law of karm, he will be rewarded, whether he wins or loses the actual war. However, Arjun was not satisfied with worldly happiness. He had already told Shree Krishn that he did not desire the pleasures of kingship, nor did he desire to be victorious for his own personal glory. This meant that the prospect of enjoying more happiness of this world was not an incentive for Arjun to fight the war.
Note: The entire Bhagavad Gita series by Swami Nikhilanand will continue, once or twice a week, for more than a year and will be an incredible study aid in learning the deepest aspects of Bhagavad Gita from one of the most profound and prolific speakers of Bhagavad Gita in the English speaking world today.
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