Geeta Chapter 2 Verse 26

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 26

अथ चैनं नित्यजातं नित्यं वा मन्यसे मृतम् ।
तथापि त्वं महाबाहो नैवं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥२-२६॥

atha chainam nityajatam nityam va manyase mritam
tatha api tvam mahabaho naianam shochitum arhasi   ॥ 2-26 ॥
 

Transliteration


In Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 verse 26 Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, O Mahabahu: if you think that a soul atman constantly dies and takes rebirth, then also you must not grieve over death of one! The word Mahabahu literally means one with long arms reaching knees. In the art of archery one possessing long arms was considered lucky as pulling strings with long arms was extremely beneficial, when indulging with a big bow.

If the soul atman dies along with body, then why grieve; for one who takes birth... death was bound to follow! If you kill one, or he gets killed by others... what was the difference! Death was part of cosmic life... it has to follow one day!

Krishna further says to Arjuna, if you think soul atman takes birth along with body... there was no cause for any grief! When one manifests again, where was the cause for any grief! As per Krishna, all causes of Arjuna to grieve over death of loved ones were unfounded, baseless.

If birth and death was philosophy of cosmic life! Why grieve over things that were not in control of one! Lamenting for non-existent was feigning ignorance. Arjuna, a Kshatriya was not expected to exhibit such emotional sentiments, especially for those who were his bitter enemies.


The Explanation:


Considering all stated in Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 verse 26 as spiritual allegory... what Lord Krishna simply means wars... Arjuna must concentrate and contemplate on sayings of Lord Krishna. One must think logically as to why birth and death occurred. If we think by killing an evil doer we committed a sin... we were wrong as per Lord Krishna! Evil mongers were bound to suffer for their bad karma. Arjuna had no role to play in birth and death of one.

In actual life... life and death was directly governed by our karma! If the karma of present life demands our immediate death then, not even God Almighty comes to our rescue! At all stages of life our karma was governing in totality. As we sow so shall we reap... nothing less or more, says law of karma! For wrongdoings of maternal grandfather Bhishma Pitamah and guru Dronacharya, grieving by Arjuna had no spiritual sanctity.

When the command of life and death rested with God Almighty... why grieve over death of loved ones. When karma was governing, our duty was to indulge in our karma. And the karma of Arjuna demands that he take care of his community and soldiers facing the enemy. For the sake of death of few and that too in the enemy camp, he just could not sacrifice life of thousands of his soldiers and countrymen. This could be termed indulging in adharma (lawlessness).

As Pandavas stood for dharma (righteousness)... how could he indulge in adharma (lawlessness) by refusing to fight his enemy that included his maternal grandfather Bhishma Pitamah and guru Dronacharya! In matters of life and death, we must not impose our ego over voice of our soul atman, the spirit within! As Lord Krishna represents our soul atman, the spirit within (our true inner self) that resides in our heart, it becomes our duty to follow dictates of our soul atman.

Not only birth and death... at every stage of life all human beings world over must follow dictates of their soul atman, the spirit within (their true inner self) that exists in our heart. The voice of our soul atman, the spirit within (our true inner self) always guides us on the right path. Human beings who had a bloated ego never cared to listen to the voice of their soul atman, the spirit within! Such human beings lost everything not only in present life, but future manifestations!

As per Lord Krishna at no stage of life we could indulge in bad karma, negative karma, for it never leads to success in life! God Almighty... our true inner self can only be reached by following dictates of our soul atman, the spirit within which always tells us to indulge in good karma, positive karma all the time! In absence of Lord Krishna (our true inner self... our consciousness within), spiritual life becomes meaningless!

One could never undertake spiritual journey in absence of our soul atman, the spirit within (Lord Krishna... the consciousness within) that exists in our heart from beginning of time! This may or may not be our first manifestation as a human being in cosmic life cycle. Every soul atman in its life cycle manifests a maximum of 1.1 million bodies in human form. At whatever stage of life we were, it becomes our duty as a manifest form to indulge in life goals of our soul atman, the spirit within! The absolute goal of life for a soul atman was liberating self from cycle of birth and death forever. This could only be achieved when human beings gained enlightenment in their lifetime.

For reaching stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana), we need guidance from Lord Krishna (our true inner self) at all stages of life. No serious seeker of spirituality could make it to end in absence of guidance from Lord Krishna (our true inner self) residing in our heart. To recognize presence of Lord Krishna (our true inner self) residing in our heart... our travelling path of absolute truthfulness was mandated by god. We had to be truthful in all affairs of life to reach god in present life. There were no shortcuts to reaching god or gaining enlightenment!

All dictates of Lord Krishna to Arjuna were crystal clear... follow me by travelling path of absolute truthfulness always and ever. Initially Arjuna was hesitant as establishing absolute control over ego takes time. Total control over ego can only be exercised when we succeeded in establishing absolute control over five senses and mind. In the present world full of Moha (extreme emotional attachment) establishing control over five senses and mind was very difficult task. Arjuna faced this dilemma... and so do all travelers of spiritual path. It takes many decades... not just months or years to overpower five senses and mind.

The moment one succeeded in finally establishing control over five senses and mind... one reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness) when not a single thought entered our brain uninvoked. One finally becomes an enlightened one... a bodhi, a Jina... a Mahavira forever! The guidance of Lord Krishna is available to one and all... every single human being on mother earth... poor or rich. None could claim that poverty was a hindrance to reaching god in one's life. Gaining enlightenment was not the prerogative of limited few.

The original teachings of Lord Krishna in Srimad Bhagavad Gita (the entire gist of 700 shlokas verses in Sanskrit) were available for mere Rs. 6/= ($.10) from Bhagavad Gita press, Gorakhpur, India. The one with English transliteration was available for Rs. 40/= ($.60). None could say... the sacred scriptures, the teachings of Bhagavad Gita was beyond ones reach! We had it all with us all the time. It is our ignorance that we refuse to recognize its presence in our heart.

I practically started in search of god six years of age. By 13, my simple desire, wish turned to firm conviction that no matter what, in this very life... I shall see and meet god! 25 years of yoga meditation... my kundalini awakened fully absolutely unknown to me! This is my last manifestation on mother earth. In the wee hours of third of Aug 1993, I finally reached god at 37 years of age. Nowhere else to go further, moment I leave my mortal frame... I shall but attain moksha salvation. At this stage of life I can safely vouch, do not ignore the voice of your soul atman! It is this voice of your soul atman that would directly lead you to god.

As a human being by exercising power of discrimination, distinguishing right from wrong... we had to reach absolute truth! The crux of birth and death becomes absolutely clear only via path of contemplation... self enquiry (Neti... not this, not this) as preached and advocated by Maharishi Ramana... one who reached God in his lifetime! Unless we learnt to contemplate, follow path of logistics... we reached nowhere in spiritual life. This is what was advocated by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. Grieving over anticipated death of loved ones in enemy camp carried no meaning. As life in cosmic domain was governed by laws of karma, why fret and fume over things not in our direct control.



Commentary by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani"... The Man who Realized God in 1993 - query!
 

Bhagavad Gita Study Circle: a meeting point for people from all walks of life interested in knowing anything relating to spirituality, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and on a broad platform... life!

 
 Top of page

Subscribe Weekly Newsletter "Spiritual Secrets Unveiled"
Whats more... it is free. You would love you did!