Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Questions and Answers
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Questions and Answers : – Here are 20 questions and answers based on Chapter 2 (Sankhya Yoga) of the Bhagavad Gita:
1. Why does Arjuna feel conflicted at the start of Chapter 2?
Answer: Arjuna feels conflicted because he is torn between his duty as a warrior (Kshatriya) and his love for his family, teachers, and friends. He fears the consequences of killing his loved ones in battle.
2. What does Arjuna surrender to Krishna?
Answer: Arjuna surrenders his confusion and seeks Krishna’s guidance as his disciple, acknowledging that he cannot resolve his moral dilemma on his own.
3. How does Krishna describe the soul (Atman)?
Answer: Krishna explains that the soul is eternal, unchanging, and indestructible. It cannot be cut, burned, wetted, or dried, and it transcends birth and death.
4. What is Krishna’s view on life and death?
Answer: Krishna states that life and death are part of the eternal cycle. The soul merely changes bodies, much like a person changes clothes, and thus one should not grieve for the inevitable.
5. What is Swadharma and why is it important?
Answer: Swadharma is one’s personal duty in life. For Arjuna, it is his duty as a warrior to fight in a righteous battle. Failing to perform one’s duty leads to spiritual regression.
6. What does Krishna say about fear of dishonor?
Answer: Krishna warns Arjuna that abandoning his duty out of fear will result in dishonor, which is worse than death for a warrior.
7. What is the essence of Karma Yoga?
Answer: Karma Yoga is the practice of performing one’s duties without attachment to the results. Krishna emphasizes acting selflessly, focusing on the work itself rather than the outcome.
8. How does Krishna define a wise person (Sthitaprajna)?
Answer: A wise person is one who remains unmoved by pleasure or pain, free from attachment and desires, and is content in the self.
9. What does Krishna say about attachments?
Answer: Krishna teaches that attachment to desires leads to anger, confusion, loss of memory, and ultimately, the destruction of wisdom. Detachment leads to inner peace.
10. Why should one not grieve for the living or the dead?
Answer: Krishna explains that the wise do not grieve for the living or the dead because the soul is eternal, and the physical body is temporary.
11. How does Krishna describe equanimity?
Answer: Equanimity is maintaining a balanced mind in success and failure, gain and loss, and pleasure and pain. This mindset leads to liberation.
12. What is the significance of Sankhya Yoga in Chapter 2?
Answer: Sankhya Yoga provides the philosophical foundation for understanding the eternal nature of the soul and the impermanence of the material world.
13. What is the meaning of detachment in action?
Answer: Detachment means performing one’s duties without being emotionally tied to the outcomes, focusing on righteous action instead.
14. What does Krishna say about anger and desire?
Answer: Krishna warns that anger and unfulfilled desire are enemies that lead to delusion, loss of self-control, and ultimately spiritual downfall.
15. How can one achieve peace according to Chapter 2?
Answer: Peace is achieved by letting go of desires, practicing self-control, and remaining unaffected by the dualities of life.
16. What does Krishna say about the nature of righteous war?
Answer: Krishna asserts that fighting in a righteous war is a duty for a warrior. Refusing to fight for Dharma leads to sin and dishonor.
17. How does Krishna explain the concept of liberation (Moksha)?
Answer: Liberation is attained by transcending the material world, detaching from desires, and realizing the eternal nature of the soul.
18. What are the qualities of a Sthitaprajna?
Answer: A Sthitaprajna remains steady in wisdom, unaffected by external circumstances, free from attachments, and finds joy in the self alone.
19. Why is knowledge of the soul important?
Answer: Knowledge of the soul allows one to understand the transient nature of the body and avoid attachment to temporary pleasures and pains.
20. What is the ultimate message of Chapter 2?
Answer: The ultimate message is to perform one’s duty with dedication, equanimity, and detachment, realizing the eternal nature of the soul and striving for spiritual liberation.