THE BHAGAVAD GITA, A TRANSLATION BY DILIP RAJEEV

A work in progress, the parts done, will be published in this online edition. The translations are subject to review, and improvement.

Chapter 1 1.

Drtharashtra spake, In the field of virtue, the Kurukshetra, Assembled, eager to fight,’ The army of mine, and of the Pandavas, What action did they perform, O Sanjaya?

2.

Sanjaya spake, Seeing the Pandava forces arrayed, Duroydhana then approached, The teacher, And the king expressed these words * The term “king” here in surface sense refers to Dhuryodhana. The teacher is Drona.

3.

Behold this great army, O Master, Of the Sons of Pandava, Arrayed by the Son of Drupada, By thy teachings wise.

4.

These Heroes, Great Archers, To Bhima and Arjuna Equal in battle, Yuyudhaana and Viraata, And Drupada, the Great Warrior.

5.

Drishtaketu, Chekitaana, The Valorous King of Kashi, Purujit, and Kuntibhoja, And Shaibhya, The Bull Amongnst Men. 6.

Yudhaamanyus, The Fiercely Bold, And Uttamaujas, the Valorous, The Son of Subhadra, And the Sons of Draupadi, All of them Great Warriors.

7. And indeed, the distinguished, Amongst Us, Know, O Highest amongst the Twice-Borns, The Guides of my Arrmy, For thy knowing, I express to thee.

8. Thyself, Bhishma, and Karna, Krpa, Victorious in battle,

Ashwattama, Vikarna, And the Son of Saumadatta, as well.

9. And the other several heroes, With their lives for me sacrificed, All forms of weapons discharging, All proficient in battle.

10. Insufficient is this force of ours,

By Bhishma guarded, Sufficient though this force of theirs, By the strength of Bhima guarded.

11. And in all movements Established in respective places, Protect Bhishma, Thy respected selves, all.

12. Producing Joy in him, The Aged Kuru, The Grandfather, A lion’s roar, High sounding, From his conch blew, Filled with dignity. *him refers to Duryodhana 13.

Then the conches, the kettledrums, The cymbals, and the bull-mouthed trumpets, They resounded together,

And sounds were tumultuous.

14.

Then with white horses yoked, In a Great Chariot standing, Maadhava and the Son of Paandu, Divine conches, they blew forth. *Maadhava is a name of Krishna, Arjuna is the Son of Paandu 15. The conch Panchanjnya blew Hrishikesha, And the conch devadattam, Dhanamjaya, he blew, the great conch, Paundra, Bhima, terrible in action, wolf-bellied. *Hrishikesha is a name of Krishna meaning ‘one of bristling hair,’ Dhanamjaya of Arjuna, meaning ‘winner of wealth.’

16. The conch Anantavijayam, The King, The Son of Kunti, Yudhishtira blew, Nakula and Sahadeva, The conches Sughosha and Manipushpaka.

17. Kasyas the supreme archer, Sikhandi the great warrior, Dhrshtadhymna and viraata, And Satyaki the undefeatble.

18.

Drupada and the Sons of Draupadi, All of them, O Lord of the earth.

The son of Subhadra, Of great arms, Their conch horns they blew, One after the other. *Sanjaya is here narrating to Dhrtarashtra. The term lord of the earth refers to Dhrtarashtra.

19.

In this sound, the hearts Of the Sons of Drtharaashtra Burst asunder, And the sky and earth, Shook, tumultuously, Along with the sound.

20.

Having seen the Sons of Drtharaashtra arrayed, The one with Hanuman on his banner, As the clash of weapons started, Raised he, the Son of Pandu, His Bow. * Arjuna’s chariot-flag has the image of Hanuman on it.

Hanuman in Indian mythology is analogous to the monkey king of Chinese legends.

21 To Hrishikesha, then these words, He said, O Lord of the earth , “ Between the two armies, Establish the chariot, O Never-Falling One. “

22.

Till I examine, These hungry for battle arrayed, Who with me partakes in fight, In this undertaking of war.

23 Warriors I see, Assembled here together, The evil minded son of Dhrtarashtra, In war, wishing to serve.

24. Thus addressed, Hrishikesha,

by Gudakesha, The Descendent of Bharata Between the two armies, Had that highest natured chariot established. *Hrishikesha, meaning, the One with Bristling hair, is an epithet of Krishna. Gudakesha, meaning One of dense hair, is an epithet of Arjuna.

25.

In front of Bhishma and Drona, All of these rulers of the Earth, He said, “ Arjuna, Behold these Kurus assembled here.� *The epithet used here and in the next verse for Arjuna is Partha, interpreted as Son of Prtha. Kuru refers to those of the Kuru dynasty.

26.

There, he saw standing, Arjuna, Fathers, and grandfathers, Teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, Sons, grandsons, and friends as well.

27 Fathers-in-law, and companions, In both the armies, Them he contemplated, Arjuna, The relatives all arrayed. *Kaunetya is here the epithet for Arjuna. Meaning Son of Kunti.

28 With pity profound, filled, Despondent, he said, Having seen my own folks, O Krishna, Desiring to fight, Here gathered together, 29 My limbs sink, My face dries up, My body trembles, My hair stands on its ends.

30 The Gaandiva drops from my hand, And my skin burns, I donot have the strength to stand, My mind, likewise, it rambles,.

* Gaandiva is a divine bow wielded by Arjuna 31.

Omens I perceive, Opposite natured, O Keshava I do not forsee good, In destroying my own folks in war. *Keshava is an Epithet of Krishna 32.

I do not seek victory, O Krishna, And neither kingdom, nor pleasures, And what for us is kingship What are enjoyments, or life, 33 For whose sake we desire, Kingdom, Enjoyments, and pleasure, They are here arrayed in battle, Their vital breaths and riches sacrificed.

34

Teachers, fathers, sons, And all, and grandfathers, Maternal uncles, Fathers-in-law, Grandsons, Brothers in law, Kinsmen, thus.

35 Them I do not desire to slay, Them who are about to kill, O Madhusuudhana, Even for sovereignty over the three worlds, How can it then be for Earth?

36 Striking down the Sons of Dritharashtra, To us what joy would it be, O Agitator of Men, Sin would then take firm hold of us, Having killed these aggressors.

37.

Therefore we ought not kill, The sons of Drtharaashtra, Our own relatives, And our folks having slayed, How are we to attain pleasure, O Maadhava?

38 Even if they do not perceive, By greed, their intelligence destroyed, The destruction of family,

The poisons thereof, And the falls of Harming one’s friends.

39 How can we not know, From this sin to refrain, The destruction of family, The poisons thereof, By discernment, O Agitator of men 40 With the destruction of family They are lost, The family laws, eternal, And lawlessness overpowers.

41 Lawlessness overpowering, O Krishna, They fall in nature, the feminine, The family women corrupted, Are engendered, The not pure of nature.

42 The impure fall to hell, The family destroyers, And of the family too, The ancestors fall, truly, Deprived of offerings.

43 By these wrongs, Of destroyers of family, Intermixture of natures engendering, They disappear, The duties of each group, And the family laws, Primordial.

44 The family laws destroyed, HUmans, O Agitator of Men, In hell indefinitely abides, And this we have heard said.

45 Ah! This great sin, To do determined, us, In greed of royal pleasures, To kill one’s own folk, undertake 46 If I, not returning action, Without weapons, BY hands wielding weapons, Of Dhrtharashtra’s Sons, In war is slayed, That would give Me a greater tranquility

47 Thus having spoken, Arjuna, In war, On the chariot sat, With bow and arrow aside, With a grief-affected heart inside.

End of Chapter 1, The Yoga of Arjuna’s Despondency .

Chapter 2 1.

To him thus filled with pity, With downcast tearfilled eyes, And dejected, These words, Madhusuudhana spake. * Madhusuudhana is an epithet of Krishna.

2.

From where did rise, In thee this timidity, In the face of danger,

Not befetting an Aryan , Not leading to Heaven, Disgrace engendering it is, Arjuna. * The term Aryan has the sense of ‘a dignified man’ in Sanskrit.

3.

Do not move with patterns of weakness, It doesn’t befit thee, The base faintness of heart, Abandoning, Rise, O Scorcherer of Foe.

4.

Arjuna Says,

How am I To , In war, Bhishma, And Dhrona, with Arrows Fight Against, Them worthy of Respect, O AriSuudhana. *AriSuudhana is an epithet of Krishna. The sense is “Slayer of the demon Ari”

5.

Instead of Slaying the teachers, The Noble, Would rather, Prefer to live here on the earth, On the food of mendicancy, Having with desire for gains, Slain the teachers here in the world, I would enjoy, Delights smeared with blood. *Bhishma and Dhrona were teachers of the prince Arjuna.

6.

And we donot know, Which of the two is preferable for us, Should be conquer or be conquered, Whom having slayed we wouldn’t desire To live, They stand facing us, The sons of Dhtrtaraashta.