Chapter 2, Verse 37
hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṁ
jitvā vā bhokṣyase mahīn
tasmād uttiṣṭha kaunteya
yuddhāya kṛta-niścayaḥ
If slain, you shall win Heaven, if victorious, you shall enjoy the Earth;
therefore, arise, O son of Kunti, and resolve to fight.
As you saw earlier, Arjuna is confused in his mind and even wants to run away from fighting. Here Krishna says, “Your state of confusion has been removed, which means that you will now win the battle, you will conquer the Kauravas. You will be victorious.” He says, “You shall enjoy the Earth, – therefore arise, O son of Kunti, and resolve to fight. You will be victorious in this battle and you will also be victorious in Heaven. You will win both ways.” So this removed Arjuna’s worry about whether he would be victorious or not. Here Krishna says it, “You will be victorious!” Because He knows that Arjuna will have full victory over the Kauravas. This is a tricky point. Krishna says, “You shall win Heaven.” He doesn’t say, “You have already won Heaven.” He is saying this in a way that shows that He already knows that they will win. He says to Arjuna, “You are the victorious one. Because this war has already begun, this war has already ended.”
Physically, the war has not yet ended; but spiritually, Krishna has already revealed the future to him. Krishna says, “If slain, you shall win Heaven, if victorious, you shall enjoy the Earth.” Here Krishna uses the word “if.” He says, “If you die, you will go directly to Heaven.” That’s good! It’s a passport! A visa! He tells Arjuna, “If you meet your death on this battlefield, you will not be a loser. You will get a direct passport to Heaven. Whereas, if you win the battlefield, if you don’t die, you will inherit all the sovereignty of the Earth. You will be the king of this Earth.” Again Krishna says, “Shake off your faint-heartedness! Take up your position in this chariot and be determined to fight!”
Bhagavad Gita
