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CHAPTER 2
Curiosity About Action
If Arjun loses his life in the war, he will go to heaven and be with Swar - the indestructible God. The impulses that guide one towards the world of matter that is external to the Self will be retarded. And his heart will then overflow with the divine qualities that enable one to realize the Supreme Spirit. In case he wins, however, he will attain to the state of redemption, the noblest accomplishment. So Krishn exhorts Arjun to get up determinedly and prepare for war. Usually by the verse under examination it is understood that if Arjun dies in the war, he will be privileged to live in heaven, but that if he is victorious he will be rewarded with enjoyment of worldly pleasures.
But we cannot but remember that Arjun has told Krishn that, in neither a realm made up of all the three worlds, nor even in an Indr-like lordship over gods, can he see the means that can remedy the grief that is wearing out his senses. If he is to achieve only all this, he has said, he will not fight at any cost. Nevertheless, Krishn exhorts him to fight. What greater reward than domination over the earth in case of victory and celestial pleasures in case of defeat does Krishn promise Arjun in order to make him fight? Arjun is, in fact, a disciple aiming at the truth and excellence that lie beyond earthly and heavenly joys. Knowing this, Krishn, the accomplished teacher, tells him that even if the time allotted to his body expires in the course of the war and he does not succeed in reaching his goal, imbued with divine riches he will gain an existence in Swar, the changeless and eternal.
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