Read a Lecture by Srila Prabhupada on Verse 48-49
YaaeGaSQa" ku-å k-MaaRi<a Sa®& TYa¤-a DaNaÅYa )
iSaÖyiSaÖyae" SaMaae >aUTva SaMaTv& YaaeGa oCYaTae )) 48 ))
yoga-sthaù kuru karmäëi
saìgaà tyaktvä dhanaïjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoù samo bhütvä
samatvaà yoga ucyate
SYNONYMS
yoga-sthaù-equipoised; kuru-perform; karmäëi-your duties; saìgam-attachment; tyaktvä-giving up; dhanaïjaya-O Arjuna; siddhi-asiddhyoù-in success and failure; samaù-equipoised; bhütvä-becoming; samatvam-equanimity; yogaù-yoga; ucyate-is called.
TRANSLATION
Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.
PURPORT
Kåñëa tells Arjuna that he should act in yoga. And what is that yoga? Yoga means to concentrate the mind upon the Supreme by controlling the ever-disturbing senses. And who is the Supreme? The Supreme is the Lord. And because He Himself is telling Arjuna to fight, Arjuna has nothing to do with the results of the fight. Gain or victory are Kåñëa's concern; Arjuna is simply advised to act according to the dictation of Kåñëa. The following of Kåñëa's dictation is real yoga, and this is practiced in the process called Kåñëa consciousness. By Kåñëa consciousness only can one give up the sense of proprietorship. One has to become the servant of Kåñëa, or the servant of the servant of Kåñëa. That is the right way to discharge duty in Kåñëa consciousness, which alone can help one to act in yoga.
Arjuna is a kñatriya, and as such he is participating in the varëäçrama-dharma institution. It is said in the Viñëu Puräëa that in the varëäçrama-dharma, the whole aim is to satisfy Viñëu. No one should satisfy himself, as is the rule in the material world, but one should satisfy Kåñëa. So unless one satisfies Kåñëa, one cannot correctly observe the principles of varëäçrama-dharma. Indirectly, Arjuna was advised to act as Kåñëa told him.
