Verse 2.31

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.31:

स्वधर्मम् अपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुम् अर्हसि ।
धर्म्याद् धि युद्धाच् छ्रेयोऽन्यत् क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते ॥ ३१ ॥

svadharmam api cāvekṣya na vikampitum arhasi |
dharmyād dhi yuddhāc chreyo'nyat kṣatriyasya na vidyate || 31 ||

sva-dharmam–your own religious duty; api–also; ca–and; avekṣya–after considering; na–not; vikampitum–hesitate; arhasi–you should; dharmyāt–for religious purposes; hi–because; yuddhāt–than fighting; śreyaḥ–auspicious engagement; anyat–another; kṣatriyasya–for the warrior; na vidyate–there does not exist.

Moreover, even after considering your duty as a kṣatriya, it is not at all proper for you to hesitate, as there is no more auspicious engagement for a kṣatriya than to fight for religious purposes.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“Since the soul is indestructible, it is not proper for you to be disturbed by thinking that the soul can be killed. And if you consider your own religious duty, it is also not proper for you to be perturbed.”