“WE ARE BROUGHT TO THE GITA, FOR THIS IS PRECISELY ARJUNA’S DILEMMA: TO CONFORM TO HIS INHERENT DUTY AS A WARRIOR AND FIGHT, AND BY DOING SO SLAUGHTER HIS ENEMIES WHO ARE ALSO HIS KINSMEN, OR TO LAY DOWN HIS ARMS.”
“WHERE DO YOU GET THIS WEAKNESS FROM AT A MOMENT OF CRISIS?
IT DOES NOT BECOME YOU. ABANDON THIS BASE, INNER WEAKNESS. GET UP!”
“DEATH IS INEVITABLE FOR THOSE WHO ARE BORN. WHAT IS THERE TO LAMENT IN THIS?”
“RECOGNIZING YOUR INHERENT DUTY, YOU MUST NOT SHRINK FROM IT.”
“THE GREAT WARRIORS WILL SUPPOSE YOU WITHDREW FROM THE BATTLE OUT OF FEAR. AND YOU WILL FADE FROM THEIR HIGH REGARD INTO INSIGNIFICANCE.”
“MAKING YOURSELF INDIFFERENT TO PLEASURE AND PAIN, GAIN AND LOSS, VICTORY AND DEFEAT, COMMIT YOURSELF TO BATTLE.”
“WHATEVER THE SUPERIOR MAN DOES, SO DO THE REST; WHATEVER STANDARD HE SETS, THE WORLD FOLLOWS IT.”
“WHEN HE ABANDONS EVERY DESIRE LODGED IN THE MIND, BY HIMSELF CONTENT WITHIN THE SELF, THEN HE IS CALLED A MAN OF STABLE MENTALITY.
HE IS CALLED A HOLY MAN, SETTLED IN THOUGHT, WHOSE MIND IS NOT DISTURBED IN THE MIDST OF SORROWS, WHO HAS LOST THE DESIRE FOR PLEASURES, WHOSE PASSION, FEAR, AND ANGER HAVE DISAPPEARED.”
“YOGA IS DEFINED AS EVENNESS OF MIND.
FOR ACTION ITSELF IS INFERIOR BY FAR TO THE DISCIPLINE OF INTELLIGENCE. YOU MUST SEEK REFUGE IN INTELLIGENCE.”
“FROM ATTACHMENT DESIRE IS BORN, FROM DESIRE ANGER. OUT OF ANGER CONFUSION ARISES, THROUGH CONFUSION MEMORY WANDERS, FROM LOSS OF MEMORY THE INTELLIGENCE IS DESTROYED; FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF INTELLIGENCE A MAN IS LOST.”
“BOUND BY A HUNDRED CORDS OF EXPECTATION, POSSESSED BY DESIRE AND ANGER, UNJUSTLY THEY SEEK STACKS OF WEALTH TO GRATIFY THEIR DESIRES... SELF-OBSESSED, PUFFED UP, FILLED WITH THE ARROGANCE AND PRIDE OF WEALTH.”
“THE MAN WHO, HAVING ABANDONED ALL DESIRES, LIVES FREE FROM LONGING, UNPOSSESSIVE AND UNEGOTISTICAL, APPROACHES PEACE.”
“IT IS CLEAR THAT, FOR THE MAN WHO DELIGHTS IN THE SELF, AND IS SATISFIED WITH THE SELF, AND FULFILLED ONLY IN THE SELF, THERE IS NOTHING THAT HAS TO BE DONE.”
“IT IS BETTER TO PRACTICE YOUR OWN INHERENT DUTY EFFICIENTLY THAN ANOTHER’S DUTY WELL. IT IS BETTER TO DIE CONFORMING TO YOUR OWN DUTY.”
“I COME INTO BEING BY MEANS OF MY OWN INCOMPREHENSIBLE POWER.”
“I COME INTO BEING AGE AFTER AGE, TO PROTECT THE VIRTUOUS AND TO DESTROY EVIL-DOERS, TO ESTABLISH A FIRM BASIS FOR THE TRUE LAW.”
“THE MAN WHO DEPENDS UPON NOTHING, WHO HAS GIVEN UP ATTACHMENT TO THE RESULTS OF ACTION, IS PERPETUALLY SATISFIED.”
“CONTENT WITH WHAT COMES BY CHANCE, HAVING GONE BEYOND DUALITIES, FREE FROM ENVY, THE SAME IN SUCCESS AND IN FAILURE, EVEN WHEN HE HAS ACTED HE IS NOT BOUND.”
“THE MAN OF FAITH WHO IS DEVOTED TO KNOWLEDGE ATTAINS IT. AND HAVING ATTAINED KNOWLEDGE, HE RAPIDLY ACHIEVES SUPREME PEACE.”
“THE MAN WHO IS DISCIPLINED IN YOGIC PRACTICE, WHOSE SELF IS PURE, WHOSE SELF AND SENSES ARE CONTROLLED, WHOSE SELF IS THE SELF OF ALL BEINGS, IS NOT DEFILED.”
“THE COMPANION OF ALL CREATURES, HE ATTAINS PEACE.”
“A MAN SHOULD RAISE UP THE SELF BY THE SELF, HE SHOULD NOT DRAG THE SELF DOWN; FOR THE SELF IS THE SELF’S ONLY ALLY, AND THE SELF IS THE SELF’S ONLY ENEMY.”
“THE MAN WHO HAS THE SAME MENTAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS FRIENDS, ALLIES, ENEMIES, NEUTRALS, ARBITERS, THE HATEFUL, AND KINSMEN—TOWARDS THE GOOD AND THE EVIL ALIKE—IS SET APART.”
“WHEN KRISHNA FINISHES SPEAKING: EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED (INTERNALLY) AND EVERYTHING REMAINS THE SAME (EXTERNALLY). IN TERMS OF THE EPIC NARRATIVE, ARJUNA CAN NOW PICK UP HIS BOW AGAIN AND THE BATTLE CAN START.”
