Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 31 — Sankhya Yoga
Sanskrit
स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि | धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाच्छ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते ||२-३१||
Transliteration
svadharmamapi cāvekṣya na vikampitumarhasi . dharmyāddhi yuddhācchreyo.anyatkṣatriyasya na vidyate ||2-31||
Hindi Meaning
।।2.31।। और स्वधर्म को भी देखकर तुमको विचलित होना उचित नहीं है, क्योंकि धर्मयुक्त युद्ध से बढ़कर दूसरा कोई कल्याणकारक कर्त्तव्य क्षत्रिय के लिये नहीं है।।
English Meaning
Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.
Commentary
Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called kṣatriya. Kṣat means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called kṣatriya ( trāyate – to give protection). The kṣatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kṣatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword. When the tiger was killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system has been followed even up to the present day by the kṣatriya kings of Jaipur state. The kṣatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, kṣatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyāsa, or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be a diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle. In the religious law books it is stated: āhaveṣu mitho ’nyonyaṁ jighāṁsanto mahī-kṣitaḥ yuddhamānāḥ paraṁ śaktyā svargaṁ yānty aparāṅ-mukhāḥ yajñeṣu paśavo brahman hanyante satataṁ dvijaiḥ saṁskṛtāḥ kila mantraiś ca te ’pi svargam avāpnuvan “In the battlefield, a king or kṣatriya, while fighting another king envious of him, is eligible for achieving the heavenly planets after death, as the brāhmaṇas also attain the heavenly planets by sacrificing animals in the sacrificial fire.” Therefore, killing on the battlefield on religious principles and killing animals in the sacrificial fire are not at all considered to be acts of violence, because everyone is benefited by the religious principles involved. The animal sacrificed gets a human life immediately without undergoing the gradual evolutionary process from one form to another, and the kṣatriyas killed on the battlefield also attain the heavenly planets, as do the brāhmaṇas who attain them by offering sacrifice. There are two kinds of sva-dharmas, specific duties. As long as one is not liberated, one has to perform the duties of his particular body in accordance with religious principles in order to achieve liberation. When one is liberated, one’s sva-dharma – specific duty – becomes spiritual and is not in the material bodily concept. In the bodily conception of life there are specific duties for the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas respectively, and such duties are unavoidable. Sva-dharma is ordained by the Lord, and this will be clarified in the Fourth Chapter. On the bodily plane sva-dharma is called varṇāśrama-dharma, or man’s steppingstone for spiritual understanding. Human civilization begins from the stage of varṇāśrama-dharma, or specific duties in terms of the specific modes of nature of the body obtained. Discharging one’s specific duty in any field of action in accordance with the orders of higher authorities serves to elevate one to a higher status of life.
Hinglish Commentary
Chaar prakar ke samajik prashasan mein se doosra prakar, jo achhe prashasan ke liye hai, use kṣatriya kaha jata hai. "Kṣat" ka matlab hai chot, aur jo log dusron ko nuksan se bachate hain, unhe kṣatriya kaha jata hai, kyunki "trāyate" ka matlab hai suraksha dena. Kṣatriya logon ko jungle mein maarne ki training di jati hai. Ek kṣatriya jungle mein jaakar baagh se samna karta hai, aur talwar se usse ladta hai. Jab baagh ko maar diya jata hai, toh uska rajsi sammaan se antim sanskar kiya jata hai. Yeh pratha aaj bhi Jaipur ke kṣatriya rajaon dwara follow ki jati hai. Kṣatriya logon ko isliye yeh training di jati hai kyunki kabhi-kabhi dharmik violence zaroori hota hai. Isliye, kṣatriya log sannyāsa ya tyag ka aadesh seedha nahi lete. Rajneeti mein ahimsa ek diplomacy ho sakti hai, lekin yeh kabhi bhi ek mool siddhant nahi hota. Dharmik kanoon mein yeh likha hai ki yuddh ke maidan mein, ek raja ya kṣatriya jab kisi doosre raja se ladta hai, toh woh swarg prapt karne ke liye yogya hota hai, jaise brāhmaṇ bhi balidaan dene se swarg prapt karte hain. Isliye, yuddh ke maidan par dharmik siddhanton ke tahat maarna aur balidaan dena, inhe hinsa nahi mana jata, kyunki ismein sabka laabh hota hai. Jo jaanvar balidaan diya jata hai, woh turant manushya ki aatma prapt karta hai bina kisi vikas ke, aur jo kṣatriya yuddh mein maare jate hain, unhe bhi swarg milta hai, jaise brāhmaṇon ko balidaan dene par milta hai. Sva-dharma, yaani vishesh kartavya, do prakar ke hote hain. Jab tak koi mukti nahi prapt karta, usse apne sharir ke anusar dharmik siddhanton ke tahat apne kartavyon ko nibhana padta hai mukti prapt karne ke liye. Jab koi mukti prapt karta hai, tab uska sva-dharma aadhyatmik ho jata hai aur yeh sharirik soch se pare hota hai. Sharirik soch mein brāhmaṇon aur kṣatriyaon ke liye vishesh kartavya hote hain, jo ki avashyak hote hain. Sva-dharma Bhagwan dwara niyukt hota hai, aur isse chaturth adhyay mein spasht kiya jayega. Sharirik manch par sva-dharma ko varṇāśrama-dharma kaha jata hai, yaani manushya ke liye aadhyatmik samajh ka ek kadam. Manav sabhyata varṇāśrama-dharma se shuru hoti hai, yaani sharir ki prakriti ke anusar vishesh kartavya. Kisi bhi kshetra mein apne vishesh kartavya ko uncha adhikariyon ke aadesh ke anusar nibhana, vyakti ko unche jeevan ki sthiti tak uthane mein madad karta hai.
Chinmaya Commentary
क्षत्रिय का कार्य समाज का राष्ट्र का नेतृत्व करना है और क्षत्रिय होने के नाते अर्जुन का कर्तव्य हो जाता है कि समाज पर आये अधर्म के संकट से उसकी रक्षा करे। उसका कर्तव्य है कि समाज के आह्वान पर युद्ध भूमि में विचलित न होकर शत्रुओं से युद्ध करके राष्ट्र की संस्कृति का रक्षण करे।क्षत्रियों के लिए इससे बढ़कर कोई और श्रेयष्कर कार्य नहीं हो सकता कि उनको धर्मयुक्त युद्ध में अपना शौर्य दिखाने का स्वर्ण अवसर मिले। यहाँ अधर्मियों ने ही पहले आक्रमण किया है। अत अर्जुन का युद्ध से विरत होना उचित नहीं। महाभारत के उद्योग पर्व में स्पष्ट कहा है निरपराध व्यक्ति की हत्या का पाप उतना ही बड़ा है जितना कि नाश करने योग्य व्यक्ति का नाश न करने का है।युद्ध का औचित्य सिद्ध करते हुए भगवान् अन्य कारण बताते हैं