Scripture Study: Bhagavad Gita, book two verses 4-10

We are doing a scripture study together: reading along through some scriptures and discussing the passages.

From the Winthrop Sargeant translation of The Gita...

4) Arjuna spoke:
How can I kill in battle
Bhishma and Drona, O Krishna?
How can I fight with arrows against
These two venerable men, O Krishna?

5) Indeed, instead of slaying these noble gurus
It would be preferable to live on alms here on earth;
Having slain the gurus, with desire for worldly gain,
I would enjoy here on earth delights smeared with blood.

6) And this we do not know: which for us is preferable,
Whether we should conquer them or they should conquer us.
The sons of Dhritarashtra, having killed whom we would not wish to live,
Are standing before us.

7) My own being is overcome by pity and weakness.
My mind is confused as to my duty (dharma). I ask you
Which is preferable, for certain?
Tell that to me, you pupil. Correct me, I beg you.

8) Indeed, I do not see what will dispel
This sorrow of mine which dries up my senses,
Even if I should obtain on earth unrivaled and
Prosperous royal power, or even the sovereignty of the gods.

9) Sanjaya spoke:
Thus having addressed Krishna, Arjuna said,
“I shall not fight,”
And having spoken, he became silent.

10) To him, the dejected Arjuna, Krishna,
Beginning to laugh, O Dhritarashtra,
In the middle between the two armies,
Spoke these words:

***

You may have noticed these verses are longer than usual. Sargeant tells us that this section is written in a different meter from the rest of the poem. It is known as the Kshatriya meter (the warrior meter). Pretty neat that the dialog is separated in a way between what Arjuna the warrior has to say and what Krishna the God has to say.

There is something very familiar about the sentence: “And this we do not know: which for us is preferable, Whether we should conquer them or they should conquer us.” It sounds a lot like Hamlet’s despair: “To be or not to be, that is the question.”

I think Arjuna is quite right when he says: “Having slain the gurus, with desire for worldly gain, I would enjoy here on earth delights smeared with blood.” The key part of what he says is “for worldly gain.” I believe Krishna is about to tell him that there are other ways to fight and other motivations to have. Our intention matters. (The word here used for “worldly gains” is artha, which I wrote about a while back: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/whitehindu/2013/10/artha-my-difficult-relationship-with-money/)

It’s interesting that Krishna starts laughing. He has a very different perspective on this situation than Arjuna and we have. We are limited looking at it through the filter of our human minds. Krishna is able to see a much bigger picture and one in which life and death are not really so different.