2.31 Even considering your own duty you should not waver, since there is nothing else better for a Ksatriya than a righteous battle.

2.31 Further, considering also your own duty, it does not befit you to waver. For, to a Ksatriya, there is no greater good than a righteous war.

।।2.31।। अपने स्वधर्म (क्षात्रधर्म) को देखकर भी तुम्हें विकम्पित अर्थात् कर्तव्य-कर्मसे विचलित नहीं होना चाहिये; क्योंकि धर्ममय युद्धसे बढ़कर क्षत्रियके लिये दूसरा कोई कल्याणकारक कर्म नहीं है।

।।2.31।। व्याख्या -- [पहले दो श्लोकोंमें युद्धसे होनेवाले लाभका वर्णन करते हैं।]       'स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि'-- यह स्वयं परमात्माका अंश है। जब यह शरीरके साथ तादात्म्य कर लेता है, तब यह 'स्व' को अर्थात् अपने-आपको जो कुछ मानता है, उसका कर्तव्य 'स्वधर्म' कहलाता है। जैसे, कोई अपने-आपको ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य अथवा शूद्र मानता है, तो अपने-अपने वर्णोचित कर्तव्योंका पालन करना उसका स्वधर्म है। कोई अपने को शिक्षक या नौकर मानता है तो शिक्षक या नौकरके कर्तव्योंका पालन करना उसका स्वधर्म है। कोई अपनेको किसीका पिता या किसीका पुत्र मानता है, तो पुत्र या पिताके प्रति किये जानेवाले कर्तव्योंका पालन करना उसका स्वधर्म है।   यहाँ क्षत्रियके कर्तव्य-कर्मको 'धर्म' नामसे कहा गया है  (टिप्पणी प0 71.2) । क्षत्रियका खास कर्तव्य-कर्म है--युद्धसे विमुख न होना। अर्जुन क्षत्रिय हैं; अतः युद्ध करना उनका स्वधर्म है। इसलिये भगवान् कहते हैं कि अगर स्वधर्मको लेकर देखा जाय तो भी क्षात्रधर्मके अनुसार तुम्हारे लिये युद्ध करना ही कर्तव्य है। अपने कर्तव्यसे तुम्हें कभी विमुख नहीं होना चाहिये।   'धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाच्छ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते'-- धर्ममय युद्धसे बढ़कर क्षत्रियके लिये दूसरा कोई कल्याणकारक कर्म नहीं है अर्थात् क्षत्रियके लिये क्षत्रियके कर्तव्यका अनुष्ठान करना ही खास काम है (गीता 18। 43)। [ऐसे ही ब्राह्मण, वैश्य और शूद्रके लिये भी अपने-अपने कर्तव्यका अनुष्ठान करनेके सिवाय दूसरा कोई कल्याणकारी कर्म नहीं है।] अर्जुनने सातवें श्लोकमें प्रार्थना की थी कि आप मेरे लिये निश्चित श्रेयकी बात कहिये। उसके उत्तरमें भगवान् कहते हैं कि श्रेय (कल्याण) तो अपने धर्मका पालन करनेसे ही होगा। किसी भी दृष्टिसे अपने धर्मका त्याग कल्याणकारक नहीं है। अतः तुम्हें अपने युद्धरूप धर्मसे विमुख नहीं होना चाहिये।

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.

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 ( trāyate – to give protection). The kṣatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kṣatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword. When the tiger was killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system has been followed even up to the present day by the kṣatriya kings of Jaipur state. The kṣatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, kṣatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyāsa, or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be a diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle. In the religious law books it is stated: āhaveṣu mitho ’nyonyaṁ jighāṁsanto mahī-kṣitaḥ yuddhamānāḥ paraṁ śaktyā svargaṁ yānty aparāṅ-mukhāḥ yajñeṣu paśavo brahman hanyante satataṁ dvijaiḥ saṁskṛtāḥ kila mantraiś ca te ’pi svargam avāpnuvan “In the battlefield, a king or kṣatriya, while fighting another king envious of him, is eligible for achieving the heavenly planets after death, as the brāhmaṇas also attain the heavenly planets by sacrificing animals in the sacrificial fire.” Therefore, killing on the battlefield on religious principles and killing animals in the sacrificial fire are not at all considered to be acts of violence, because everyone is benefited by the religious principles involved. The animal sacrificed gets a human life immediately without undergoing the gradual evolutionary process from one form to another, and the kṣatriyas killed on the battlefield also attain the heavenly planets, as do the brāhmaṇas who attain them by offering sacrifice. There are two kinds of sva-dharmas, specific duties. As long as one is not liberated, one has to perform the duties of his particular body in accordance with religious principles in order to achieve liberation. When one is liberated, one’s sva-dharma – specific duty – becomes spiritual and is not in the material bodily concept. In the bodily conception of life there are specific duties for the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas respectively, and such duties are unavoidable. Sva-dharma is ordained by the Lord, and this will be clarified in the Fourth Chapter. On the bodily plane sva-dharma is called varṇāśrama-dharma, or man’s steppingstone for spiritual understanding. Human civilization begins from the stage of varṇāśrama-dharma, or specific duties in terms of the specific modes of nature of the body obtained. Discharging one’s specific duty in any field of action in accordance with the orders of higher authorities serves to elevate one to a higher status of life.