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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.38
sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau | tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṃ pāpam avāpsyasi
Translation. Making pleasure and pain equal—forming neither attachment (rāga) nor aversion (dveṣa)—
and likewise gain and loss, victory and defeat,
then engage yourself for battle;
fighting in this way, you will not incur sin (pāpa).
Grammar check: 12 words pass / 0 flagged / 0 beyond the checkerPāṇini-verified
Every word's claimed grammar is re-derived with vidyut-prakriya, software implementing Pāṇini's rules. Flags are shown, never hidden; some are the text taking epic or Vedic liberties the classical rules do not generate.
Word by word
| surface | lemma | grammar |
|---|
| sukha-duḥkhe | sukha-duḥkha | pass |
| same | sama | pass |
| kṛtvā | kṛ | pass |
| lābhālābhau | lābhālābha | pass |
| jayājayau | jayājaya | pass |
| tataḥ | tatas | pass |
| yuddhāya | yuddha | pass |
| yujyasva | yuj | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| evam | evam | pass |
| pāpam | pāpa | pass |
| avāpsyasi | āp | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Śaṅkara's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
Parse sukha-duḥkhe as one neuter dvandva in the accusative dual, with same as its predicative accusative dual, rather than taking duḥkhe as a locative singular.→ The compound means ‘pleasure and pain’ ([MW s.v. sukha, 1220,3]; [MW s.v. duḥkha, 483,2]) and is made ‘equal,’ since Śaṅkara directly glosses same with tulye and construes it with kṛtvā.
gita [1]sukha-duḥkhe same tulye kṛtvā, rāga-dveṣāv apy akṛtvety etat |
Having made pleasure and pain the same—equal; that is, without also producing attachment and aversion.
Treat lābhālābhau and jayājayau as two further accusative-dual dvandvas governed by an elided samau kṛtvā.→ Śaṅkara explicitly supplies tathā and samau kṛtvā, so the verse means ‘and likewise, having made gain and loss, victory and defeat, equal.’
gita [2]tathā lābhālābhau jayājayau ca samau kṛtvā tato yuddhāya yujyasva ghaṭāsva |
Likewise, having made gain and loss and victory and defeat equal, then engage—exert yourself—for battle.
Analyze kṛtvā as a prior-action absolutive and understand the prescribed equality as the non-production of attachment and aversion.→ The repeated prose construction samau kṛtvā ... yujyasva distinguishes the prior absolutive from the finite command, while rāga-dveṣāv apy akṛtvā explains the psychological force of ‘making equal.’
gita [1]sukha-duḥkhe same tulye kṛtvā, rāga-dveṣāv apy akṛtvety etat |
Having made pleasure and pain the same—equal; that is, without also producing attachment and aversion.
gita [2]tathā lābhālābhau jayājayau ca samau kṛtvā tato yuddhāya yujyasva ghaṭāsva |
Likewise, having made gain and loss and victory and defeat equal, then engage—exert yourself—for battle.
Take yuddhāya as a dative of purpose and yujyasva as morphologically passive but idiomatically active-middle: ‘engage/exert yourself for battle.’→ The -ya passive morphology supports Karmani, while Śaṅkara's direct gloss ghaṭasva, ‘exert yourself,’ determines the idiomatic English sense. Yuddha means ‘battle’ ([MW s.v. yuddha, 854,3]); compare the verbal entry [MW s.v. yuj, 853,2].
gita [2]tathā lābhālābhau jayājayau ca samau kṛtvā tato yuddhāya yujyasva ghaṭāsva |
Likewise, having made gain and loss and victory and defeat equal, then engage—exert yourself—for battle.
Render tatas as ‘then’ or ‘thereupon,’ marking action subsequent to the establishment of equanimity.→ Śaṅkara preserves the sequence samau kṛtvā tato ... yujyasva: first make the opposites equal, then engage in battle.
gita [2]tathā lābhālābhau jayājayau ca samau kṛtvā tato yuddhāya yujyasva ghaṭāsva |
Likewise, having made gain and loss and victory and defeat equal, then engage—exert yourself—for battle.
Take evam as referring to fighting with the equanimity just prescribed, and render pāpam avāpsyasi as ‘you will incur sin.’→ Śaṅkara expands the clause as na evaṃ yuddhaṃ kurvan pāpam avāpsyasi, making evam manner-reference and yuddhaṃ kurvan its practical content. ‘Incur’ fits ava-āp in the sense ‘suffer’ ([MW s.v. avāp, 107,1]), while pāpa denotes evil/sin ([MW s.v. pāpa, 618,2]).
gita [3]na evaṃ yuddhaṃ kurvan pāpam avāpsyasi |
While fighting in this manner, you will not incur sin.
Render alābha and ajaya idiomatically as ‘loss’ and ‘defeat.’
→ The contextual opposites are ‘loss’ and ‘defeat,’ senses expressly available in [MW s.v. alābha, 95,1] and [MW s.v. ajaya, 10,1].
Do not present the injunction to fight as Śaṅkara's ultimate doctrinal purport; he marks it as incidental, while ultimate-reality vision remains the main topic.→ This is Śaṅkara's own contextual qualification, not a quoted opponent: eṣa upadeśaḥ prāsaṅgikaḥ is followed by paramārtha-darśanam iha prakṛtam.
gita [4]ity eṣa upadeśaḥ prāsaṅgikaḥ ||bhgs_2.38||
Thus this instruction is incidental.
gita [6]paramārtha-darśanam iha prakṛtam |
The vision of ultimate reality is the subject presently under discussion.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1sukha-duḥkhe same tulye kṛtvā, rāga-dveṣāv apy akṛtvety etat |
2tathā lābhālābhau jayājayau ca samau kṛtvā tato yuddhāya yujyasva ghaṭāsva |
3na evaṃ yuddhaṃ kurvan pāpam avāpsyasi |
4ity eṣa upadeśaḥ prāsaṅgikaḥ ||bhgs_2.38||
5śoka-mohāpanayanāya laukiko nyāyaḥ svadharmam api cāvekṣya ity ādyaiḥ lokair uktaḥ, na tu tātparyeṇa |
6paramārtha-darśanam iha prakṛtam |
7tac coktam upasaṃhriyate -- eṣā te 'bhihitā iti śāstra-viṣaya-vibhāga-pradarśanāya |
8iha hi pradarśite punaḥ śāstra-viṣaya-vibhāge upariṣṭāt jñāna-yogena sāṃkhyānāṃ karma-yogena yoginām iti niṣṭhā-dvaya-viṣayaṃ śāstraṃ sukhaṃ pravartiṣyate, śrotāraś ca viṣaya-vibhāgena sukhaṃ grahīṣyanti ity ata āha ---