Navaneetham - Guruvayoor / Guruvayur

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Krishna begins by explaining to Arjuna, the concept of soul or the eternal spirit in Man
that goes from one birth to the next:
dehino asmin yatha dehe kaumaarin yauvanam jaraa
tathaa dehantara-praaptir dheeras tatra na muhyanti || 2.13 ||
Just as human beings pass through childhood, youth, and old age, so also does the soul
pass into another body; the firm (dheer) man (one of stable mind) does not grieve at all.
As I grow into a teen, I remember my childhood. As an adult I remember my teen years.
As an old person I will remember my youth. So through all these changes there is a
‘something’ in me that can observe and remember and have memories of the past. Same
is the case with the different births that the soul has been through in which the soul takes
on different roles. Here Krishna explains that the wise do not worry when they leave the
body for the purposes of taking on another one. We do not cry when we leave our
childhood behind and become a youth. We do not agonize about growing older. It is the
law of nature - each one of us has to pass through these stages. So too at the time of
death, the soul leaves behind the physical structure and depending on the impressions or
vasanas gained in this birth takes on a physical equipment in the next birth.
Because change in life is the only constant one should not run away from life’s duties;
one should act (2.11 to 2.37). As a Kshatriya, Arjuna’s chief responsibility was protecting
Dharma. So Krishna says:
hato-va praapsyasi swargam jitwa va bhokyshyase maheem
tasmaad utishta Kaunteya yuddhyaya krutanischayaha || 2.37 ||
Slain, you will attain heaven, victorious-you will enjoy the earth; therefore stand up O
son of Kunti resolved to fight. Furthermore, while doing your duties, maintain a mindset
that is not shaken by failures nor moved to ecstasy by successes. Slokas 2.38 - 2.54
outline the attitude with which one should act –
sukha dukhe samey krutwa laabha laabho jayaa jayo
tatho yudhyaaya yujyasva naivam paapam avaapsyasee || 2.38 ||
Looking with an equal eye on pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, strive
to fight; thus you will incur no sin; and also –
yogastha kuru karmani, sangam tyaktwa Dhananjaya
siddhay-asiddhayo samo bhutwa samatwam yoga uchyate || 2.48 ||
Giving up attachment and established in Yoga, with evenness of mind in success and
failure, perform works, O Arjuna. This evenness is Yoga.
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