Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 26 — Sankhya Yoga
Sanskrit
अथ चैनं नित्यजातं नित्यं वा मन्यसे मृतम् | तथापि त्वं महाबाहो नैवं शोचितुमर्हसि ||२-२६||
Transliteration
atha cainaṃ nityajātaṃ nityaṃ vā manyase mṛtam . tathāpi tvaṃ mahābāho naivaṃ śocitumarhasi ||2-26||
Hindi Meaning
।।2.26।। और यदि तुम आत्मा को नित्य जन्मने और नित्य मरने वाला मानो तो भी, हे महाबाहो ! इस प्रकार शोक करना तुम्हारे लिए उचित नहीं है।।
English Meaning
If, however, you think that the soul [or the symptoms of life] will always be born and die forever, you still have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed.
Commentary
There is always a class of philosophers, almost akin to the Buddhists, who do not believe in the separate existence of the soul beyond the body. When Lord Kṛṣṇa spoke the Bhagavad-gītā , it appears that such philosophers existed, and they were known as the Lokāyatikas and Vaibhāṣikas. Such philosophers maintain that life symptoms take place at a certain mature condition of material combination. The modern material scientist and materialist philosophers also think similarly. According to them, the body is a combination of physical elements, and at a certain stage the life symptoms develop by interaction of the physical and chemical elements. The science of anthropology is based on this philosophy. Currently, many pseudo religions – now becoming fashionable in America – are also adhering to this philosophy, as are the nihilistic nondevotional Buddhist sects. Even if Arjuna did not believe in the existence of the soul – as in the Vaibhāṣika philosophy – there would still have been no cause for lamentation. No one laments the loss of a certain bulk of chemicals and stops discharging his prescribed duty. On the other hand, in modern science and scientific warfare, so many tons of chemicals are wasted for achieving victory over the enemy. According to the Vaibhāṣika philosophy, the so-called soul or ātmā vanishes along with the deterioration of the body. So, in any case, whether Arjuna accepted the Vedic conclusion that there is an atomic soul or he did not believe in the existence of the soul, he had no reason to lament. According to this theory, since there are so many living entities generating out of matter every moment, and so many of them are being vanquished every moment, there is no need to grieve for such incidents. If there were no rebirth for the soul, Arjuna had no reason to be afraid of being affected by sinful reactions due to his killing his grandfather and teacher. But at the same time, Kṛṣṇa sarcastically addressed Arjuna as mahā-bāhu, mighty-armed, because He, at least, did not accept the theory of the Vaibhāṣikas, which leaves aside the Vedic wisdom. As a kṣatriya, Arjuna belonged to the Vedic culture, and it behooved him to continue to follow its principles.
Hinglish Commentary
Jab Lord Kṛṣṇa ne Bhagavad-gītā ka gyaan diya, tab kuch philosophers the jo soul ki alag existence ko body ke baahar nahi maante the, jaise ki Lokāyatikas aur Vaibhāṣikas. Ye log kehte hain ki zindagi ke symptoms tabhi hote hain jab material elements ek mature condition mein aate hain. Aaj ke zamane ke material scientists aur materialist philosophers bhi isi tarah sochte hain, unka maana hai ki body sirf physical elements ka combination hai, aur kisi stage par ye elements milkar life symptoms ko develop karte hain. Anthropology ki science bhi isi philosophy par adharit hai. Aaj kal America mein kuch pseudo religions bhi isi philosophy ko apna rahi hain, jaise ki nihilistic nondevotional Buddhist sects. Agar Arjuna ko soul ki existence par vishwas nahi hota, toh bhi usse gham karne ki koi zarurat nahi thi. Koi bhi insaan kuch chemicals ke khone par gham nahi karta aur apna duty nahi chhodta. Aaj kal to modern science aur scientific warfare mein itne saare chemicals kharch kiye jaate hain dusman par jeet paane ke liye. Vaibhāṣika philosophy ke according, jo atma ya soul hai, wo body ke khatam hone ke saath khatam ho jaati hai. Toh chahe Arjuna Vedic conclusion ko maane ya nahi, uske paas gham karne ka koi wajah nahi tha. Is theory ke hisaab se, har pal naye living entities matter se bante hain aur unmein se kai khatam bhi hote hain, isliye aise incidents par gham karne ki koi zarurat nahi. Agar soul ka rebirth nahi hai, toh Arjuna ko apne dada aur guru ko maarne se sinful reactions se darne ki koi zarurat nahi thi. Lekin, Kṛṣṇa ne Arjuna ko mahā-bāhu, yaani mighty-armed, keh kar thoda mazak bhi kiya, kyunki Kṛṣṇa Vaibhāṣika theory ko nahi maante the jo Vedic wisdom ko ignore karti hai. Arjuna ek kṣatriya tha aur uska Vedic culture se sambandh tha, isliye usse uske principles ko follow karna chahiye tha.
Chinmaya Commentary
और इन दो श्लोकों में भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण ने भौतिकवादी विचारकों का दृष्टिकोण केवल तर्क के लिए प्रस्तुत किया है। इस मत के अनुसार केवल प्रत्यक्ष प्रमाण ही ज्ञान का साधन है अर्थात् इन्द्रियों को जो ज्ञात है केवल वही सत्य है। इस प्रकार मानने पर उन्हें यह स्वीकार करना पड़ता है कि जीवन असंख्य जन्म और मृत्युओं की एक धारा या प्रवाह है। वस्तुयें निरन्तर उत्पन्न और नष्ट होती हैं और उनके मत के अनुसार यही जीवन है। श्रीकृष्ण कहते हैं कि यदि जन्ममृत्यु का यह निरन्तर प्रवाह ही जीवन हो तब भी हे शक्तिशाली अर्जुन तुमको शोक नहीं करना चाहिये। क्योंकि