Chapter 2 of Bhagavad Gita starts the philsophical discourse between Sri Krishna & Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshtra. Sri Krishna tells Arjuna about his duties, the transcient nature of the human body, permanency of the soul & the right attitude to live a happy & meaningful life. This presentation gives the commentary of this chapter by Sant Jnaneswar

1. BHAGAVAD GITA
Commentary by
Sant Jnaneswar
PROF. T. K. G. NAMBOODHIRI
Thiruvalla, Kerala, India

2. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
JNANESWARI
• Jnaneswari is the commentary on Bhagavad
Gita written by Saint Jnaneswar, who lived in
Maharashtra in the 13th Century AD.
• This very popular & simple commentary was
written in Marathi by Saint Jnaneswar when he
was only 15 years of age.
• The complete English translation of this
commentary is available at
http://www.bvbpune.org/contents1.html
T K G Namboodhiri

3. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
CHAPTER 2
SAMKHYA YOGA
T K G Namboodhiri

4. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.2
Lord Krishna starts his advise to Arjuna with this verse:
Arjuna, at this time your behaviour is
completely
unfitting.
You
have
become
completely weak & despicable by your feelings
of kindness. Has the wind ever been frightened
by clouds? Has fire been subdued by firewood?
Has salt dissolved water? Has the frog eaten
the snake? Your behaviour is as illogical as
these. Does kindness have any role on a
battlefield?
Your
illogical
thinking
is
unsuitable & destructive of your reputation.
T K G Namboodhiri

5. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.3
Arjuna, do not lose your manliness. At
this time of war, how did you get this
petty weakness of mind? Didn’t you
know before that you have to fight
with your relatives & friends? Then
why is this kindness towards them
rising in your mind now? Throw off
this petty faint-heartedness, & rise to
fight. (According to Swami Vivekananda, this verse contains the essential message of Gita)
T K G Namboodhiri

6. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.4 to 2.8
Hearing the admonition by Shri Krishna, Arjuna
talks: How will I fight the venerable Bhishma &
Drona? I do not wish to enjoy worldly pleasures
tainted by their blood. Instead of killing these
great teachers, I am willing to live a beggar’s
life in this world. Kauravas are all my brothers.
I do not know whether it will be better for me to
kill them or be killed by them. I am confused & I
do not see what is right or wrong. You are my
friend & teacher. Kindly advise me to do the
right thing.
T K G Namboodhiri

7. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.9 & 2.10
Sanjaya tells Dritharashtra: After telling
these words, Arjuna declared that he will
not fight. Then he lowered his head and
remained silent. Sri Krishna looked at
Arjuna, sitting stoically in the middle of
the two armies with contempt & pity. As a
doctor administering the last untried
medicine to the dying patient trying to
save him, Krishna started talking to
Arjuna with a sympathetic smile.
T K G Namboodhiri

8. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse-2.11
Sri Krishna tells Arjuna: You are grieving over
people who do not deserve to be grieved upon.
Then talk like a learned man. Those with
knowledge never grieve over the dead or the
living. You are talking like a blind person gone
mad. Do you believe that you are the reason for
the existence of this world? Do you control the
birth & death of these people? Do you think that
Kauravas will die only if you kill them? Under
the eternal laws of time people are born & they
die after a while. Wise people do not grieve over
such natural processes.
T K G Namboodhiri

9. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse-2.12
I, you & all the kings & people here were
never un-present, & will never be so in the
future. We are all eternal. Birth & death
are illusions in our mind generated by
ignorance. All of us are manifestations of
Brahma, which is supreme & permanent.
When waves appear in water due to
wind, is there anything new? When the
waves subside, & the water is calm, has
anything been lost?
T K G Namboodhiri

10. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.13
Just as the soul experiences
childhood, adolescence & old age in
this body, it also leaves this body, at
death & takes a new one. Wise people
do not worry about these changes.
The soul is imperishable & capable of
taking any number of bodies &
enjoying the world through them.
T K G Namboodhiri

11. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.14
When our sense organs come in
contact with outside objects, we feel
heat, cold, pleasure, pain, etc. They
all come & go & are not permanent.
We have to resolutely tolerate them.
Sensual feelings are like mirages or
dreams & we should not get attached
to them closely.
T K G Namboodhiri

12. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.15
Only one who is not entangled in
sensual pleasures can treat
pleasure & pain equally. He
escapes re-birth. Such a person
with equanimity & discrimination
becomes eligible for the eternal
status beyond birth & death.
T K G Namboodhiri

13. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.16
The unreal has no existence & the real
never becomes non-existent. Wise people
consider the Omnipotent & Omnipresent
Brahman to be the only real thing. All
others are unreal & so impermanent. Just
like the swan who drinks only the milk
from a mixture of milk & water, the wise
concentrate only on the soul & neglect all
the world.
T K G Namboodhiri

14. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.17
By what this universe is filled, that is
unchangeable & cannot be destroyed.
All the world is a manifestation of
Brahman which has no name, no
colour & no qualities. It exists
everywhere, is beyond time &
space, and birth & death. None can
destroy it.
T K G Namboodhiri

15. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.18 & 2.19
The everlasting, indestructible &
incomprehensible soul existing in each
body owns the perishable body. The soul
never kills anybody or is ever slain by
anybody. People identifying with their
bodies think that they can kill somebody
or that they will be killed by somebody.
This is because of ignorance about the
reality of the soul.
T K G Namboodhiri

16. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.20
The soul is never born nor is it
ever dead. It will never be nonexistent.
Unborn, everlasting, permanent &
existing even before the body was
born, the soul is not destroyed
when the body dies.
T K G Namboodhiri

17. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.21
If one realizes that the soul is
indestructible, permanent, unborn & never
diminishing, how could he kill anybody, or
be instrumental in killing somebody? If we
strike our shadow with a weapon, will it
hurt us? If we break a pot containing
water, the reflection of the Sun in that
water will vanish, but will this affect the
Sun? Similarly, when we kill somebody, we
do not destroy that person’s soul.
T K G Namboodhiri

18. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.22 & 2.23
Just like we discard old & torn
clothes & wear new ones, our soul
discards the old body & reincarnate in
a new body after death. The soul
which is unborn, permanent, pure, &
ever present, cannot be cut by a
sword, wetted by flood waters, burnt
by fire, or dried by a storm.
T K G Namboodhiri

19. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.24 & 2.25
The soul cannot be cut, burnt, wetted
or dried. It is everlasting, everpresent, firm & unchangeable. This
soul cannot be perceived through our
senses. Without a form but it is existing
in all forms. It cannot be thought about
by our mind, but is permanent. It is
beyond all boundaries we set, but
internally controls everything.
T K G Namboodhiri

20. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.26 & 2.27
Even if you think that the soul dies & is
born, you have nothing to grieve about.
Birth, life, & death are continuous
processes like a flowing river. No living
thing can escape these changes. All born
beings must die, & all dead must
necessarily be reborn. Birth & death are
certain like Sun rise & Sun set. There is
no point in worrying about these
unavoidable, time-bound processes.
T K G Namboodhiri

21. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.28
Before manifestation all beings remain
unseen, & after death, they again become
unseen. They become visible only between
birth & death . So why should you weep at the
death of relatives? Just as the things we see
in dreams are unreal, the body seen between
birth & death is also unreal. Why grieve about
such unreal things? Always think about the
Soul which is permanent & indestructible so
that you escape from ignorance of this world.
T K G Namboodhiri

22. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.29
Some see the soul as a wonderful thing, some
describe soul as a wonderful thing & some
hears about soul as a wonderful thing. But
none understands the soul correctly. Some
renounce all worldly pleasures & attain
permanent peace through self-realization.
Just as a river flowing into the sea merges &
becomes one with the sea, the mind of a Yogi
merges & becomes one with the Soul & gets
liberated from rebirth.
T K G Namboodhiri

23. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.30
The soul, existing within the bodies of all
living beings, is indestructible. So you
need not worry about the death of any
being. That which permeates the whole
universe is the soul existing in all bodies
& everywhere & is beyond destruction.
That soul makes everything happen by its
desire. Your sorrow will vanish once you
realize this truth.
T K G Namboodhiri

24. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.31
Now if you look at the situation on the
basis of your natural duty, there is nothing
more appropriate for you than to fight this
war. As a prince, your duty is to fight your
enemies. At this time it is inappropriate
for you to show kindness & compassion to
your foes. If you do not do your duty, you
will only land in sorrow & all will accuse
you of cowardice.
T K G Namboodhiri

25. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.32
This war is a rare opening for you to
enter the heaven. Only very lucky
kings get such an opportunity. It is
like the rare chance of finding a
diamond on the road when you are
walking. So you must utilize this rare
occasion to do your princely duty of
fighting against unrighteousness.
T K G Namboodhiri

26. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.33-2.37
If you do not fight this righteous war, you will
be discarding your natural duty & good name.
It will make you notorious. Losing respect &
good name is worse than death. Great
warriors will feel that you got frightened and
ran away. Your enemies will talk very badly
about you. If you fight & die in the
battlefield, you will attain heaven,, but if you
win the war, you will enjoy all worldly
pleasures as a great king. In either case
victory is yours. So get up and fight this war.
T K G Namboodhiri

27. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.38
Considering pleasure & pain, gain &
loss, and victory & defeat equally, you get
ready for the war. Undue enjoyment in
success, & unwanted sorrow in defeat
should be avoided. Do not think about gain
or loss as a result of your activities.
Develop a strong mind to bear the
consequences of your dutiful actions.
Then such actions will not bind you or
make you a sinner. So fight in this fashion.
T K G Namboodhiri

28. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.39
Arjuna, all my advices up to now were
based on the path of knowledge. Now let
me tell you about the principle of
unselfish work. Once you gain this
knowledge, you will become free from
the bindings of work. Doing your duty
without any desire for its fruits makes
you unfettered. It is like the wearing of a
steel armour to protect you from sharp
arrows from the enemy, & it will surely
make you victorious.
T K G Namboodhiri

29. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.40
The practice of selfless work, done as
offering to God, is perennial. It does not have
a beginning or an end. Even if incomplete, no
sin accrues. A little bit of this practice
protects one from all difficulties. Karma yoga
does not deprive one from worldly
enjoyments, but it liberates him in the end. All
work must be done without any desire for its
fruits. Selfless work is beyond the 3 Gunas &
it does not lead to virtue or sin.
T K G Namboodhiri

30. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.41
In this world, a determined intellect is
singular & concentrated. But
undetermined intellect is multidirectional & lacks concentration. Like a
small lamp drives away darkness from a
large area, a learned mind removes
ignorance from many people. Getting a
righteous & discriminatory intellect is a
very difficult task. Only a determined
intellect can lead one to the realization
of the self & the resultant state of bliss.
T K G Namboodhiri

31. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.42-2.44
These 3 verses talk about the non-liberating
religious rites described in the Vedas. Just as a
flowering plant without any fruits, all the Vedic
rites meant for gaining sensual pleasures in
heaven, do not yield any lasting bliss gained by
self-realization. These people infatuated by
Vedic rites, forget the Supreme being, who is
the destination of all worship, & they dream of
heavenly pleasures. Their actions are as
useless as adding poison to carefully prepared
sweets. They waste their precious lives in silly
pursuits to satisfy their senses.
T K G Namboodhiri

32. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.45
The Vedas deal with the 3 Gunas produced by
nature. Arjuna, You go beyond these Gunas &
win over your senses. Do not get entangled in
dualities like pleasure/ pain, happiness/
sorrow etc. Never think of worldly things as
yours. Vedic rites, meant for gaining heavenly
pleasures, are causes of transient pleasures
& sorrows. Do not get enamoured in these &
think always of the bliss obtained through
self-realization.
T K G Namboodhiri

33. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.46
When the whole area is flooded, how useful are
wells & ponds? One who has realized the Self
finds all the Vedas just like the wells & ponds
only. You should take only those portions of the
Vedas which lead you to permanent peace. With
Sunrise we may see many paths, but we select
only those which lead us to our destination.
Even if there is plenty of water around us, we
take only that much we require. Similarly, wise
people adopt only those parts of Vedas which
lead them to the Supreme Truth.
T K G Namboodhiri

34. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.47
Arjuna, you have the right to do your
duty, but never think that you can
claim the fruits of your work. You
should never cease doing your duty.
Never do your work hankering after its
result. Do righteous work without any
attachment & never allow yourself to
be lazy.
T K G Namboodhiri

35. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.48
Arjuna, do your duty, concentrating on the
Self, with equanimity of success &
failure, & without hankering after the
fruits of work. If your work is
successful, do not be overjoyed & if
unsuccessful or incomplete, do not be
grieved. Do all your work as offering to
God, then you will surely succeed.
Equanimity in success & failure is
considered to be the highest form of Yoga.
T K G Namboodhiri

36. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.49
Work done with its results in mind is
far inferior to that done with
concentrated mind & no desire for its
fruits. So do all your work without any
desire for its fruits & for gaining true
knowledge. Pitiable are those who
engage in work just for its results.
T K G Namboodhiri

37. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.50
One, who treats pleasure & pain
equally, gets rid of virtue & sin in this
world itself. Work with selfish motives will
have to be done initially, which then leads
to selfless work. So you strive for
detached work, which enables you to gain
knowledge. While equanimity in success &
failure is considered the essence of
Yoga, skill in work is considered Yoga.
T K G Namboodhiri

38. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.51-2.53
Wise men, equanimous in pleasure &
pain, are not bounded by the work they do.
Hence they escape from the painful cycle
of birth & death. When your intellect is
cleared of ignorance about yourself, you
get disinterested in Vedic knowledge you
already acquired & yet to hear. When your
mind & intellect get concentrated on the
Ultimate Truth, you attain permanent
peace & tranquillity.
T K G Namboodhiri

39. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.54
After hearing these, Arjuna asks Sri
Krishna about the person whose mind
& intellect are firmly anchored in
Truth. How does he look like? How
does he talk & walk? Who is such a
person? What are his identifying
characteristics? How does he attain
this state of steady wisdom?
T K G Namboodhiri

40. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.55
In the next several verses, Bhagawan
defines a man of steady wisdom.
Arjuna, one who has discarded all
desires, & remains happy with himself is
of steady wisdom. Man’s desire for
sensual pleasures blocks his ability to find
happiness within. One who discards
sensual pleasures completely, attains
peace & happiness from within.
T K G Namboodhiri

41. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.56-2.58
A man of stable wisdom does not get
perturbed in various types of difficulties &
sorrows, nor does run after worldly
pleasures, & is freed from desire & anger. He
is completely free of attachment to
body, wealth, etc. &is not overjoyed by
success or depressed by failure, & treats
everybody equally. He is capable of stopping
all sensual pleasures at will, just as a tortoise
withdraws all his organs into its shell at the
sign of danger.
T K G Namboodhiri

42. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.59 & 2.60
One who discards all sensual objects may be
able to keep his senses under control, but his
desire for sensual pleasures still remains. This
is like cutting the leaves & branches of a
tree, but keep watering the trunk, so that the
tree grows again. Only through the realization
of the Self, the desires are eliminated. Even a
discriminating Yogi, who keeps his senses
always under control & meditates for selfrealization, may be thrown off his path &
dragged to sensual pleasures by his sensual
desires.
T K G Namboodhiri

43. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.61
One should keep his senses under control &
discard all sensual desires, & meditate on
Self thinking that Self-realization is the final
destination. Then senses will not deceive his
mind. Even if there is no external contacts
with sense objects, a tiny desire for sensual
pleasure is sufficient to detract a Yogi. Just
as a drop of poison is sufficient to kill a
person, a small desire is sufficient to destroy
the discriminatory power of a person.
T K G Namboodhiri

44. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.62 & 2.63
One who constantly contemplates on sensual
pleasures gets attracted towards them. From
attraction comes desire & unfulfilled desires
lead to anger. Anger generates
indiscrimination & loss of memory. Just as
darkness obliterates light after sunset, the
loss of memory destroys his intellect, which
makes him a walking dead-body. As a spark is
sufficient to burn all the firewood &
surroundings, a flash of sensual attraction
leads to complete destruction of a person.
T K G Namboodhiri

45. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.64
One who has control over his mind can enjoy
worldly pleasures through strictly controlled
senses & he never loses his peace of mind.
When one discards all sensual desires, anger
& hate vanishes & then sensual enjoyments
do not disturb his mind. Sun illuminates pure
as well as impure objects in the world, but is
not affected by the impurity in the object. Can
water drown water or fire burn fire?
Similarly, sensual objects cannot distract one
who has mastered his senses & mind.
T K G Namboodhiri

46. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.65
When you have peace of mind all your
sorrows vanish because you are able to
attain a stable intellect easily. When your
mind is established in joy, no worldly
sorrow can enter it. How can fear enter a
person’s mind when he is established in
the supreme power? Just as a lamp’s
flame remains steady when it is in a
windless place, the subtle mind of a Yogi
remains fixed in the inner soul.
T K G Namboodhiri

47. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.66 & 2.67
One unable to control his senses can never
realize his true Self. He comes under the
influence of sensual pleasures. He will never be
interested to realize his self. He will attain
neither peace of mind nor happiness. As a
roasted seed can never germinate, he can never
experience joy. A mind immersed in sensual
pleasures distracts & misdirects the
intellect, just like a ship pulled astray by strong
winds. A Yogi entertaining even a fleeting
desire for sensual pleasures may thus stray
from his goal.
T K G Namboodhiri

48. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.68
O ! The Powerful, one whose senses
are completely under control &
separated from sense objects, his
wisdom is stable. One, like the
tortoise which pulls in or pushes out
its limbs out of the shell at will, keeps
his senses under control & uses it at
will, is a man of perfection & of stable
mind & intellect.
T K G Namboodhiri

49. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.69
Here, the attitudes of the wise & the
ignorant are contrasted as day & night.
Day for the ignorant is night for the wise &
vice-versa. The practice of Contemplating
on the self, the activity of the wise, is like
dark night to ordinary people. In what
ignorant people & other living beings are
awake & engaged, the worldly life of
sensual contacts, the wise people remain
uninterested & sleepy.
T K G Namboodhiri

50. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verse 2.70
The sea, filled with water, remains
undisturbed when myriads of rivers empty
their waters into it. It does not overflow or
flood the land on its coast. Similarly, a man of
stable wisdom remains undisturbed by all the
sensual objects surrounding him. He remains
at peace within him, & all the desires
entering him vanish as the rivers entering the
sea. He remains unaffected by sensual
desires, just like the sun’s brightness
remaining unaffected by a small lamp.
T K G Namboodhiri

51. BHAGAVAD GITA
JNANESWARI
Verses 2.71 & 2.72
Whosoever walks around with complete
lack of desires, disinterested in all things
& devoid of ego, he enjoys permanent
peace. One who is established in the Self
is beyond all desires & interests in worldly
matters. If one is able to reach this state
even if only at the time of his death, he
will merge with Brahman- The
Consciousness, & escapes from the cycle
of birth & death.
T K G Namboodhiri