تاریخ انقلاب
Contents of the City Summarized
112
establishes that the soul is immortal and the body is temporary. Therefore Arjuna as a  kṣatriya  should not abandon his duty out of fear that his grandfather and teacher–Bhīṣma and Droṇa—will die in the battle. On the authority of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one has to believe that there is a soul different from the material body, not that there is no such thing as soul, or that living symptoms develop at a certain stage of material maturity resulting from the interaction of chemicals. Though the soul is immortal, violence is not encouraged, but at the time of war it is not discouraged when there is actual need for it. That need must be justified in terms of the sanction of the Lord, and not capriciously.
TEXT 31.1
स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि । धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाच्छ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते ॥ ३१॥
svadharmam api cāvekṣya  
 na vikampitum arhasi  
 dharmyāddhi yuddhāc chreyo’nyat  
 kṣatriyasya na vidyate
svadharmam —one’s own religious principles;  api —also;  ca —indeed;  avekṣya —considering;  na —never;  vikampitum —to hesitate;  arhasi —you deserve; dharmyāt —from religious principles; hi —indeed; yuddhāt —of fighting;  śreyaḥ —better engagements;  anyat —anything else;  kṣatriyasya —of the  kṣatriya ;  na —does not;  vidyate —exist.
TRANSLATION
Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.
PURPORT
Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called  kṣatriya .  Kṣat  means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called  kṣatriya  ( trayate —to give protec-