II f. Ajo Anantaaya (2.19-2.21)

for they who think they know IT all
know not well
Neither the one who thinks
that s/he is hunting ,
"fighting hard",
nor the one who thinks
"poor me! I am dying hard
and am in pain"
really knows life as an eternal happening
that dwells within and beyond
both the slayer and the slain
who they truly are?

And creationless, nor recreated from parts
for that life within,
there is no beginning or final time
no-not on the body's birthday
or its death-chime
permanently on the move and yet totally still
timeless I am
unbeatable by death
despite the decaying body
Ajo anantaaya nityaaya shuddhaaya
unborn, infinite, eternal, everpure
I am
all pervading, ancient,
the very source of life
in you as you
in me as me
in them as them
is the ONE
then who is the slayer, who is the slain?

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Mahatma Gandhi's verse-by-verse

19. He who thinks of This (Atman) as slayer and he who believes This to be slain, are both ignorant. This neither slays nor is ever slain.

20. This is never born nor ever dies, nor having been will ever not be any more; unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient, This is not slain when the body is slain.

21. He who knows This, O Partha, to be imperishable, eternal, unborn, and immutable—whom and how can that man slay or cause to be slain?

Copyright 1934 Mahadev Desai for Mahatma Gandhi

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Sanskrit
( Shree bhagavan uvaacha)

ya enam vetti hantaaram yashchainam manyate hatam
ubhou taou na vijaaneeto na hanti naa hanyate (2.19)

na jaayate mriyate vaa
kadaachinnaayam bhutva
bhavitaa vaa na bhooyah
na hante na hanyamaane sharire (2.20)

aveenaashi tu tadviddhi yena sarvam idam tatam
vinaashamavyayasyaasya kam ghaatayati hanti kam? (2.21)

II e. Unbreakable Life (2.16-2.18)

The untruth sustains not
the feelings so dynamic
nor can the static lack
support truth and life...
Only the one who sees beyond the opposites
of feeling and unfeeling,
of change and stagnation
of desire and resistance,
of faith and doubt,
of darkness and light,
can get to the wisening insight.

realise the endlessness
of that which is
here and there
pervading the whole universe-seen and unseen

of this indivisible oneness,
neither mutation nor mutilation
is a possibility...

the bodies will dissolve
and disintegrate anyway
while the life inside remains forever
unfathomable, indestructible...infinite...
hence stand up and fight O mighty one...

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Mahatma Gandhi's verse-by-verse

2.16. What is non-Being is never known to have been, and what is Being is never known not to have been. Of both these the secret has been seen by the seers of the Truth.

2.17. Know that to be imperishable whereby all this is pervaded. No one can destroy that immutable being.

2.18. These bodies of the embodied one who is eternal, imperishable and immeasurable are finite. Fight, therefore, O Bharata.

Copyright 1934 Mahadev Desai for Mahatma Gandhi

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Sanskrit
( Shree bhagavan uvaacha)
Naasato vidyate bhaavo naabhaavo vidyate satah
ubhayorapi drushTontastvanayostattvadarshibhih(2.16)

avinaashi tu tadviddhi yena sarvamidamtatam
vinaashamavyayasyaasya na kashchitkartumarhati (2.17)

antavanta ime deha nityasyoktashareereeNah
anaasheeno aprameyasya tasmaadyuddhyasva bhaarata(2.18)

II d: You are beyond time (2.12 - 2.15)

Sutra Subject: Immortality

It's the individual who gets destroyed. Infinity is indestructible. Being immortal is looking at your infinite nature.~SriSri

there was no moment, no time
when i was not present
and neither were you ever absent
or these warriors of your kin
events and moments, come and go
way beyond them you and me and them
shall continue to be,
present, chasing time all the way upto eternity.

the resident of the body
so continuously on the move
from staying in the frame of an infant
to that of the young to the aged tenant
And when the residence becomes tumble-down
simple! trade it in
for a fresh one, with a shining crown...
( and you dont even have to sign a lease!)
who gets deluded by the shape-move?
not he who lives in the wisdom-groove.

fire and ice...sun and snowflakes
being but temporary handshakes
between the senses and the matter vain
a moment of pleasure and a moment of pain
with a smile as your patient greeting
watch the sensations,
so transient and fleeting!

The ONE who stands unshaken, with temerity
across the flashes of gloom and glee
is he who can and does dissolve
in the present, in the timeless presence
and lives embodying eternity


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Mahatma Gandhi's verse-by-verse

2.12. For never was I not, nor thou, nor these kings; nor will any of us cease to be hereafter.

2.13.As the embodied one has, in the present body, infancy, youth and age,even so does he receive another body. The wise man is not deceivedtherein.

2.14.O Kaunteya! contacts of the senses with their objects bring cold and heat, pleasure and pain; they come and go and are transient. Endurethem, O Bharata.

2.15.O noblest of men, the wise man who is not disturbed by these, who is unmoved by pleasure and pain, he is fitted for immortality.

Copyright 1934 Mahadev Desai for Mahatma Gandhi

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Sanskrit
( Shree bhagavan uvaacha)

na tvevaaham jaatu naa-asam na tvam neme janadhipah
nachaiva na bhavishyama sarve vayamatah param (2.12)

dehinosminyathadehe koumaaram youvanam jaraa
tatha dehantarapraaptirdheerastatra na muhyati (2.13)

maatraasparshastu kounteya sheetoshNa sukhaduhkhada
aagamaapaayeenonityans tantiteekshasva bhaarata (2.14)

yum hi no vyathayantete purusham purusharshabha
samaduhkhasukhamdheeram somrutatvaaya kalpate (2.15)

II c. The wise lament not the past or future...(2.9-2.11)

The conquerer of sleep
lay down his arms and sat
waiting for the answer
to his sincere query

There in the middle of the TWO sides
laughing with compassion
the ONE teased him:
Brooding on that which is not worth,
you're misusing words to sound wise!
Neither regret for that which is gone
Nor worry for the that which hasnt even arrived,
trap the attention of the learned,
No! not at any price....

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Mahatma Gandhi's verse-by-verse


Sanjaya Said:

9. Thus spoke Gudakesha Parantapa to Hrishikesha Govinda, and with the words 'I will not fight' became speechless.

10. To him thus stricken with anguish, O Bharata! between the two armies, Hrishikesha, as though mocking, addressed these words:

The Lord Said: 11. Thou mournest for them whom thou shouldst not mourn and utterest vain words of wisdom. The wise mourn neither for the living nor for the dead.

Copyright 1934 Mahadev Desai for Mahatma Gandhi

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Sanskrit

Sanjay uvaacha
Evamuktvaa Hrishikesho GuDakesho Parantapa
Na yotsya iti Govindamuktvaa tooshNim babhoovah(2.9)
tamuvaacha hrisheekesho prahasanniva bhaarata
senayorubhayourmadhye visheedantamidam vachah(2.10)

Shree bhagavaan uvaacha

Ashochyaananvashochastvam Pragnavaadanschcha bhaashase
gataasoonagataasoonschcha nanushochanti panDitah (2.11)










Copyright 3000 B.C. Vedavyasa for Sri Krishna

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II b: The enquiry begins (2.4-2.8)

The strong words
from the dear ONE
did ruffle the warrior of light,
moved him quickly from his steadfast gloom
to a slow examination of the wrong and the right

Well aware of the guilt it would bring
to have fought and killed his teachers and the kin
despite their choice
of the ungracious side
he said: to me a homeless life
seems way more appealing
than for my enjoyment of a kingdom
to put them through the gory fight.

Even victory, kingdom and heaven appeared
to be a tasteless illusion
was it right to fight or not to fight?
Aware now of his confusion
reconising what appears may be misperception
sought Arjun some help and advice
knowing fully well that the wise dont speak
unless asked properly and at the right time...
I am torn between opposites oh dear, he said,
please be my guide to light
and show me what will bring
freedom from this grief of even victory
what will definitely give
meaning to my life?
what am i supposed to do to attain glory, harmony
and long-term delight?

not shy in admitting his weakness and confusion,
seeking support and guidance from the ONE
timely, with humility and devotion,
ah what a quick and intelligent step
from the darkness of despair and confusion
toward wisdom, freedom, and a meaningful life!
.

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Mahatma Gandhi's verse-by-verse

Arjun Said:

4. How shall I, with arrows, engage Bhishma and Drona in battle, O Madhusudana, they who are worthy of reverence, O Arisudana?

5. It were better far to live on alms of this world than to slay these venerable elders. Having slain them I should but have blood-stained enjoyments.

6. Nor do we know which is better for us, that we conquer them or that they conquer us, for here stand before us Dhritarashtra's sons having killed whom we should have no desire to live.

7. My being is paralysed by faint-heartedness; my mind discerns not duty; hence I ask thee; tell me, I pray thee, in no uncertain language, wherein lies my good. I am thy disciple; guide me; I see refuge in thee.

8. For I see nothing that can dispel the anguish that shrivels up my senses even if I should win on earth uncontested sovereignty over a thriving kingdom or lordship over the gods.

Copyright 1934 Mahadev Desai for Mahatma Gandhi

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Sanskrit

Arjun uvaacha

Katham Bheeshmamaham sankhye droNam cha Madhusoodana
Ishubhih pratiyotsyaami poojarhaavarisoodana (2.4)

Guroonhatvaa hi mahaanubhaavaan
shreyo bhoktum bhaikshyamapeeha loke
hatvaarthakaamanstuguroonihaiva
bhoonjeeya bhogaanrudirapradigdhaan (2.5)

Na chetadvidmah kataranno gariyo
yadva jayema yadi va no jayeyuh
yaaneva hatvaa na jijeevishaamah
teavasthitah pramukhe dhaartaraashtrah (2.6)

Pruchhami twam dharma sammoDhachetah
yachhreyah syaannishchitam bruhi tanme (2.7)

Na hi prapashyaami mamaapanudyaad
yachhokamuchhoshaNamindriyaaNam
avaapya bhoomaava sa patnamruddham
raajyaam suraaNamapi chaadhipatyam (2.8)



Copyright 3000 B.C. Vedavyasa for Sri Krishna

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