Sanjaya: Then his eyes filled with tears, and his heart grieved and was bewildered with pity. And Sri Krishna spoke to him, saying:

Sri Krishna: Arjuna, is this hour of battle the time for scruples and fancies? Are they worthy of you, who seek enlightenment? Any brave man who merely hopes for fame or heaven would despise them.

What is this weakness? It is beneath you. Is it for nothing men call you the foe-consumer? Shake off this cowardice, Arjuna, stand up.

Arjuna: If I kill them, how can I ever enjoy my wealth, or any other pleasure?
Which will be worse, to win this war or to lose it? Krishna, I beg you, tell me frankly and clearly what I ought to do. I am your disciple. I put myself into your hands. Show me the way

Sri Krishna: Your words are wise, Arjuna, but your sorrow is for nothing. The truly wise mourn neither for the living nor for the dead.
There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor any of these kings. Nor is there any future in which we shall cease to be.
Just as the dweller in this body passes through childhood, youth and old age, so at death he merely passes into another kind of body. The wise are not deceived by that. Feelings of heat and cold, pleasure and pain, are caused by the contact of the senses with their objects. They come and they go, never lasting long. You must accept them. A serene spirit accepts pleasure and pain with an even mind, and is unmoved by either.

He alone is worthy of immortality.
That which is non-existent can never come into being, and that which is can never cease to bee. Those who have known the inmost Reality know also the nature of is and is not. That Reality which pervades the universe is indestructible. No one has power to change the Changeless.

Bodies are said to die, but that which possesses the body is eternal. It cannot be limited, or destroyed. Therefore you must fight.

Our gratitude to Ram Krishna Math, Chennai, and Our granting also to authors Isharwood & Swami Prabhavananda for their inspired translations