AstroVed Astrology
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Seeing Arjuna thus grief-stricken, Krishna chided him gently for giving in to emotions and delusion at the war front. But Arjuna asserted that he preferred renunciation and begging to fighting revered elders and relatives. Anxious and confused, he refused to fight and completely surrendered to Krishna for the right guidance. The Krishna started to counsel the celebrated archer gently. “Oh Arjuna, don’t grieve for the alive or dead. All of us existed all the time – past, present, and future. Just as a person passes through various stages of life from childhood to old age, after death, the soul passes from one body to another. Being aware of this is wisdom! Only senses cause fleeting perceptions like joy and sorrow. Those not affected by such emotions and remain steady in both, attain liberation. Only the body dies, but the soul embodied in it cannot be destroyed. The soul is neither born nor dies and always remains. Immeasurable, eternal, immortal, and unaffected, it neither kills nor gets killed. As a person sheds worn-out clothes and wears new ones, on death, the invisible and inconceivable soul casts off its old body and accepts a new one. No one born can escape death, and all who die are reborn. This birth-death cycle is constant, so do not grieve for the body. The warrior’s sacred duty is to fight for upholding righteousness; while those who discharge this duty can reach celestial abode, its refusal will be a dishonorable sin. If you win this war, you will enjoy the kingdom on earth, but if killed, you will ascend to heaven. So, Oh Arjuna! Do your duty and fight the war, not bothering about victory or defeat, joy or sorrow. Working with understanding, rise to the level of pure consciousness; this can relieve you of your Karmic bondage. But you have a right only on your duty, not on the fruits of actions, which bind you to birth and death. So, perform your duty, leaving all attachments to results. Attachments gradually lead to ruin, so the one free of these and remains undisturbed amidst a host of emotions remains the sage of steady wisdom. And the one who withdraws senses from sensory objects attains divine wisdom and God’s grace. And free of sorrow, one gets peace. Thus established in consciousness and enlightened, one gets liberated and reaches God’s abode.”