So it was Arjuna that was despairing about killing his fellow kinsmen in the field of battle. Krishna arises to speak to Arjuna. He implores Arjuna to be strong in the midst of his despair.

In verse 2, Krishna says, "Strong men know not despair, Arjuna, for this wins neither heaven nor earth." This concept of winning encompasses life here on earth and in heaven, and winning must be embraced as the supreme goal in life. Despair leads to defeat, according to Krishna, and nothing good can come of it.

Verse 3 describes the the vice of weakness and the machismo of being a real man: "Fall not into degrading weakness, for this becomes not a man who is a man. Throw off this ignoble discouragement, and arise like a fire that burns all before it." Though I'm trying to be a detached amateur cultural anthropologist when reading this, and find these discussions to be a useful window into the psychology of that period, I nevertheless find a couple points troubling with this argument. First, a man's true strength should include an open revelation and appraisal of his emotions. If these should include despair and grief, then so be it. Rather than allude to what he considered to be weakness, Krishna should have advised him not to be consumed by despair, for that could lead to the fall of his being. Second, this metaphor of a burning fire is misused, for it will "burn all before it". This would imply that the central purpose of the fire was to burn Arjuna's enemies. Instead, Krishna might have referred to the flame of the fire illuminating all who beheld it. The light of the fire could be a guide of truth, perhaps even converting his enemies on the field of battle, rather than burning everyone and everything in sight.

Well, Arjuna holds his own in the next few verses. He questions whether he should kill his masters, his sacred teachers, even if they have become "greedy" (verse 5). "I would rather eat this life the food of a beggar than eat royal food tasting of their blood." In verse 7, he describes the "dark night of his soul" feeling "desolation"; yet he seeks the guidance of Krishna.

The remaining section of the chapter reveals, for the most part, what a smart, profound guy Krishna actually is. It's filled with great philosophical wisdom, but at times values which I question. I'll make comments about each verse which I feel has some relevance.

Verse 11: "The wise grieve not for those who live; and they grieve not for those who die -- for life and death shall pass away." This means that no expression of grief should be directed for anything transient. Only something eternally unjust could be worthy of grieving over.

Verse 12: "Because we all have been for all time: I, and thou, and those kings of men. And we all shall be for all time, we all for ever and ever." This is a clear pronouncement about the eternity of the soul, a condition which exists for everyone.

Verse 13: Here, Krishna speaks about reincarnation: "As the Spirit of our immortal body wanders on in childhood, and youth and old age, the Spirit wanders on to a new body: of this the sage has no doubts."

Verses 14-15: "From the world of the senses comes heat and cold, pleasure and pain. They come and they go: they are transient. Arise above them, strong soul. The man whom these cannot move, whose soul is one, beyond pleasure and pain, is worthy of life in Eternity." This is a pitch for the Transcendental life, the life beyond the transient. And while all spirits are eternal, not all are "worthy" of eternity, meaning that one can become attached to a meaningless, transient existence for eternity. It is this sort of existence that Krishna is warning Arjuna about; he fears that his despair will lead to this.

Verse 16: "The unreal never is: the Real never is not. This truth indeed has been seen by those who can see the true." Philosophically, this is a self-evident truth, though not evidently true to everyone. Non-existence is reserved for unreality, and only those who can't grasp the truth will view it otherwise. The "unreal" probably refers to what is called Maya, the world of illusion.

Verses 17-18: These deal with the metaphysics of the Spirit. "Interwoven in his creation, the Spirit is beyond destruction." The Spirit (re: God) is an integral part of the world he created. Furthermore, the Spirit can't be destroyed, and hence is immortal. "For beyond time he dwells in these bodies, though these bodies have an end in their time; but he remains immeasurable, immortal. Therefore, great warrior, carry on the fight." Huh? Therefore? Does it follow that the fight is about defending the  principle of the immortal, indestructable Spirit? It certainly wouldn't involve defending the *reality* of that Spirit, for such an indestructable entity or mode of existence wouldn't require any defense. Nothing could destroy it. So let's suppose it involves "fighting for the principle". Well, then I have to conclude that Krishna is exhorting Arjuna to fight onward for that principle. This is the type of propaganda that governments disseminate to their peoples, particularly during wartime.

One could easily interpret Verses 19-24 to be a justification for killing, or at least a rationalization that violent physical death doesn't amount to much. In fact, in verse 19, it states outright that if one thinks he slays or is slain, he can't know the truth. "The eternal in man can't kill; the eternal in man can't die." So although there will be bloodletting, decapitations, death from various types of suffering, hearts ceasing to beat, and/or no brain activity, a man really never dies. Only the temporal parts of man can kill or die. In other words, if we take these words literally, one can't really kill someone, for the true "someone" is eternal, so homocide can never be seen as a crime or transgression. Taken to illogical extremes, it could even be permissible or encouraged to murder temporal beings. Of course it will be a real challenge to separate the eternal from the transient being. And I would find it extremely difficult to imagine how the temporal beings would not influence the character and behavior of the eternal beings. As I understand the Samsara Wheel, how we live our lives on this earth affects the overall Karma of the eternal being. So I think either Krishna is full of B.S. or we have to read onwards to get the entire picture. I'll assume the latter for the time being.

In other veins, particularly when we view the Bhagavad Gita as a spiritual journey of the soul, these verses contain profound wisdom and form the basis of Hindu metaphysics. In verse 20, Krishna says "He is never born, and he never dies. He is in Eternity; he is for evermore. Never-born and eternal, beyond times gone or to come, he does not die when the body dies." The Spirit in all of us, the God spirit, lives on forever. Verse 21 challenges the assumption that a man filled with this Spirit can be killed. Yet it's verse 22 that's the most poetic and beautiful: "As a man leaves an old garment and puts on one that is new, the Spirit leaves his mortal body and then puts on one that is new." Bodies are like articles of clothing, no doubt! And reincarnation necessitates changing clothes now and again, preferably obtaining better outfits as we go along.