As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not confused by such a change.
O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and sorrow, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense awareness, O descendant of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and sorrow and is steady in both is certainly eligible for freedom.
Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the material body there is no permanence, and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.
That which spreads through the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.
The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.
Neither he who thinks the living entity is the killer nor he who thinks it has killed is in knowledge, for the self [soul] kills not nor is killed.
For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever existing and original. He is not killed when the body is killed.
O Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and permanent kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?
As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor dried by the wind.
This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.
It is said that the soul is invisible, unimaginable and permanent. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.
If, however, you think that the soul is always born and dies forever, you still have no reason to moan, O mighty-armed.
For one who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not moan.
All created beings are invisible in their beginning, visible in their temporary state, and invisible again when they are destroyed. So what need is there for sorrow?
Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all.
O descendant of Bharata, he who lives in the body can never be killed. Therefore, you need not grieve for any living being.
Considering your specific duty as a Kshatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.
O Partha, happy are the Kshatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.
If, however, you do not perform your religious duty of fighting, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter.
People will always speak of your disgrace, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.
The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you worthless.
Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and mock at your ability. What could be more painful for you?
O son of Kunti, either you will be killed on the battlefield and attain the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom. Therefore, get up with determination and fight.
Do fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or sorrow, loss or gain, victory or defeat-and by so doing you shall never incur sin.
Thus far I have described this knowledge to you through analytical study. Now listen as I explain it in terms of working without fruitive results. O son of Pritha, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.
In this attempt there is no loss or decline, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.
Those who are on this path are determined in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are uncertain is many-branched.
Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense pleasure and luxurious life, they say that there is nothing more than this.
In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material richness, and who are confused by such things, the unwavering determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.
The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental (superior) to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self.
All purposes that are served by a small well can at once be served by a great reservoir of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
Perform your duty with a balanced mind, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such calmness is called yoga.
O Dhananjaya, keep all bad activities far distant by devotional service, and in that awareness surrender unto the Lord. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.
A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad actions even in this life. Therefore, strive for yoga, O Arjuna, which is the art of all work.
By thus engaging in devotional service to the Lord, great sages or devotees free themselves from the results of work in the material world. In this way they become free from the cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all miseries [by going back to Godhead].
When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of misbelief, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.
When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness.
Arjuna said: O Krishna, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence (experience beyond the normal)? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk?
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Partha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense pleasure, which arise from mental creation, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness.
One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or overjoyed