The Gita according to Gandhi 215

The Gita according to Gandhi -Mahadev Desai

DISCOURCE 2 36. Thine enemies will deride thy prowess and speak many unspeakable words about thee. What can be more painful than that? 37. Slain, thou shalt gain heaven; victorious, thou shall inherit the earth: therefore arise, O Kaunteya, determined to fight. Having declared the highest truth, viz. the immortality of the eternal Atman and the fleeting nature of the physical body (11-30), Krishna reminds Arjuna that a Kshatriya may not flinch from a fight which comes unsought (31-32). He then (3337) shows how the highest truth and the performance of duty incidentally coincide with expediency. Next he proceeds to foreshadow the central teaching of the Gita in the following shloka.