Devanagari
सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ ।
ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि ॥ ३८ ॥
Verse text
sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā
lābhālābhau jayājayau
tato yuddhāya yujyasva
naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi
Synonyms
sukha
—
happiness
;
duḥkhe
—
and distress
;
same
—
in equanimity
;
kṛtvā
—
doing so
;
lābha-alābhau
—
both profit and loss
;
jaya-ajayau
—
both victory and defeat
;
tataḥ
—
thereafter
;
yuddhāya
—
for the sake of fighting
;
yujyasva
—
engage (fight)
;
na
—
never
;
evam
—
in this way
;
pāpam
—
sinful reaction
;
avāpsyasi
—
you will gain.
Translation
Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat – and by so doing you shall never incur sin.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
38. Being equal in happiness and distress, in gain or loss, in victory or defeat, engage in the battle. You will not incur any sin.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
38. Being equal in happiness and distress, in gain or loss, in victory or defeat, engage in the battle. You will not incur any sin.
Purport
Lord Kṛṣṇa now directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of fighting because He desires the battle. There is no consideration of happiness or distress, profit or loss, victory or defeat in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That everything should be performed for the sake of Kṛṣṇa is transcendental consciousness; so there is no reaction to material activities. He who acts for his own sense gratification, either in goodness or in passion, is subject to the reaction, good or bad. But he who has completely surrendered himself in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is no longer obliged to anyone, nor is he a debtor to anyone, as one is in the ordinary course of activities. It is said:
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṝṇāṁ na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam
“Anyone who has completely surrendered unto Kṛṣṇa, Mukunda, giving up all other duties, is no longer a debtor, nor is he obliged to anyone – not the demigods, nor the sages, nor the people in general, nor kinsmen, nor humanity, nor forefathers.” ( Bhāg. 11.5.41 ) That is the indirect hint given by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna in this verse, and the matter will be more clearly explained in the following verses.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In all ways, your fighting is an act of dharma. If you fear that it will produce sin, I have shown you that it will not be a cause of sin. Therefore fight. The Lord gives this instruction in this verse.
Being equal in happiness and distress, which are caused by gain and loss—such as gain and loss of a kingdom, which are in turn caused by victory and defeat in the war; understanding that both results are equal through a discerning mind—equipped with that knowledge, you will not incur sin at all. It will also be stated later:
lipyate na sa pāpena padma-patram ivāmbhasā
One is not touched by sin, as a lotus leaf is not touched by water. BG 5.10
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
“You have explained by verse 33 and the verses following it, that I will attain sin by not fighting since I will be giving up my duty. But still, I should not fight because sin will arise from killing brāhmaṇas and gurus in a war to gain a kingdom.”
“It is not so: you will not incur sin by killing them, when you are fighting with the desire for liberation.” This is explained in this verse.
Being equal (sama) means to remain unchanging in this world in all circumstances.
Not being attached to happiness and its cause, victory, and not having dislike of unhappiness and its cause, not attaining a kingdom due to defeat—being of unchanging heart, engage in fighting: engage in the fighting only because it is your duty. As a fighter you will not incur sin in killing them because of your disposition of desiring liberation. One who fights with hankering for material results incurs sin, but one who desires true knowledge destroys infinite sins accumulated from the past.”
“How does one become inclined to fighting, charity or other actions without desire for results? It is difficult.”
“Understand that attachment to the infinite bliss of the ātmā is the inspiration, just as attachment to kingdom is the inspiration for the fool who throws himself off a cliff.”
Surrender Unto Me
That verse at the end of the Karma‑kanda Section speaks about sinful reactions. If one does his duty in the proper consciousness there will be no sinful reactions to suffer.
Arjuna was thinking that he had to suffer for so long sinful reactions if he fought in this battle but Krsna begins countering that here by saying that there will be no sinful reactions.
Srila Prabhupada explains: " Lord Krsna now directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of fighting because He desires the battle. There is no consideration of happiness or distress, profit or gain, victory or defeat in the activities of Krsna consciousness. That everything should be performed for the sake of Krsna is transcendental consciousness."
......... *** .........
So in the first Section were Arjuna's doubts. And in the next Section (B) ‑ Jnana, that Arjuna is not his body. Then it was the Section of Karma‑kanda‑ fight, do your karma to enjoy!
If one puts Jnana, the knowledge, with the Karma, meaning working or doing activity, together one actually gets what Krsna wants Arjuna to do which is: fight but in the mood of jnana or detachament (not thinking that one is the body) and that is called NISKAMA‑KARMA or BUDDHI‑YOGA.
So there is a detachment that one who is in knowledge has when he is doing his duties. He is not trying to enjoy this world because he doesn't think that he is his body. But that is not what Srila Prabhupada actually describes this verse's meaning in his Purport. He says something more wonderfull than just fighting with detachment based on Jnana. He explains fighting with material detachment but spiritual attachment to Krsna which is Bhakti.
Again, Lord Krsna directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of fighting. Krsna is telling Arjuna: "you should do your duty and fight!", but the real reason why Arjuna is going to do it is because Krsna is telling him to do it. When one is materially detached and his niskama‑karma is offered to Krsna with affection and devotion, than that niskama‑karma doesn't bring just liberation, or knowledge, but it brings Krsna's lotus feet and Bhakti. This is what will be described in more detail latter on. Here Srila Prabhupada is given us a hint ‑ a difference between Niskama‑karma, or detached work or work, Karma, based on Jnana and Bhakti.
[ D. BUDDHI‑YOGA (NISKAMA‑KARMA, acting dutyfully with detachment to set the correct example)
FIGHT! BUT WITHOUT ANY REACTION (2.39‑53)
1 . If Arjuna fights without being attached to the result of his fighting, fighting simply because it is Krsna's desire, with his mind focused on Krsna and in full resolve, his fighting will bring no sinful reaction. (39‑41, 47‑51)]