Contents
Gita Madhurya -Swami Ramsukhdas
Chapter II
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You have told me not to grieve. But I am afraid of sin. How to do away with it? Considering your duty (duty of the warrior-class) you should not be afraid, for there is nothing more welcome for a man of a warrior-class than a righteous war.(31) Should a Ksatriya (a member of the warrior-class) go on fighting? No. It is only the lucky among the Ksatriyas who obtain such a warfare that comes unsought as an open gateway to heaven. Such Ksatriyas are really happy.[1](32) What will happen, if I don't take part in such a war that comes unsought? If you don't wage such a righteous war, then abandoning your duty and losing your reputation, you will incur sin.(33) What will be the result of losing reputation? O brother, result will be that people will pour undying infamy on you, and infamy brought on a man enjoying popular esteem is worse than death.[2](34) Will it also lead to anything else? Yes, the great chariot-warriors such as Bhisma and Drona etc., who hold you in high esteem will slight you, thinking that you have fled from the war out of fear.(35) |
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References and Context
- ↑ Worldly pleasures do not give real happiness, they are rather sources of pain (5/22). Real happiness is indeed free from pain and it consists in the performance of one's duty. Really happy and lucky are those who discharge their duty sincerely.
- ↑ Mere death does not cause infamy, because everyone dies. Infamy is caused by abandoning one's duty.