Bhagavad Gita verses on fear

His glorious grandsire, the oldest of the Kauravas, roared like a lion to cheer Duryodhana and blew his conch.

The grandsire of the Kuru dynasty could understand the inner meaning of the heart of his grandson Duryodhana, and out of his natural compassion for him he tried to cheer him by blowing his conchshell very loudly,…

Then, suddenly, conches, kettledrums, tabors, drums, and cow horns blared forth from the Kaurava side, and the sound was tremendous.

Then, Madhava (Krishna) and the son of Pandu (Arjuna), seated in the magnificent chariot yoked with white horses, blew divine conches.

In contrast with the conchshell blown by Bhīṣmadeva, the conchshells in the hands of Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are described as transcendental. The sounding of the transcendental conchshells indicated that there was no hope of…

Do not yield to impotence, O Arjuna, son of Pritha. It does not befit you. Cast off this mean weakness of the heart! Stand up, O conqueror of foes!

Arjuna was addressed as the son of Pṛthā, who happened to be the sister of Kṛṣṇa’s father Vasudeva. Therefore Arjuna had a blood relationship with Kṛṣṇa. If the son of a kṣatriya declines to fight, he is a kṣatriya in…

Freed from attachment, fear, and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the fire of knowledge, many have attained My Being.

When one gets knowledge of the Self, attachment to senseobjects ceases. When he realises he is the constant, indestructible, eternal Self and that change is simply a quality of the body, then he becomes fearless. When he…

Therefore, with the sword of knowledge (of the Self), cut asunder the doubt of the self, born of ignorance, residing in your heart, and take refuge in Yoga. Arise, O Arjuna!

The enjoyments that arise from contact are only sources of pain, for they have a beginning and an end, O Arjuna; the wise do not rejoice in them.

Man goes in quest of joy and searches in the external perishable objects for his happiness. He fails to get it but instead he carries a load of sorrow on his head.You should withdraw the senses from the senseobjects as…

Serene-minded, fearless, firm in the vow of a Brahmachari, having controlled their mind, thinking of Me and balanced in mind, let them sit, having Me as their supreme goal.

The spiritual aspirant should possess serenity of mind. The Divine Light can descend only in a serene mind. Serenity is attained by the eradication of Vasanas or desires and cravings. He should be fearless. This is the…

Behold, O Teacher! This mighty army of the sons of Pandu, arrayed by the son of Drupada, thy wise disciple.

Duryodhana, a great diplomat, wanted to point out the defects of Droṇācārya, the great brāhmaṇa commander in chief. Droṇācārya had some political quarrel with King Drupada, the father of Draupadī, who was Arjuna’s wife.…

Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, and Saibya—the best of men.

The strong Yudhamanyu and the brave Uttamaujas, the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu, the son of Subhadra and Arjuna), and the sons of Draupadi, all of them great charioteers (great heroes)."

Know also, O best among the twice-born! the names of those who are the most distinguished amongst ourselves, the leaders of my army; these I name to you for your information.

Our army, marshalled by Bhishma, is insufficient, whereas theirs, marshalled by Bhima, is sufficient.

The verse is differently interpreted by different commentators. Sridhara Swami takes the word aparyaptam to mean insufficient. Ananda Giri takes it to mean unlimited.

Therefore, do all of you, stationed in your respective positions in the several divisions of the army, protect Bhishma alone.

Duryodhana, after praising the prowess of Bhīṣma, further considered that others might think that they had been considered less important, so in his usual diplomatic way, he tried to adjust the situation in the above…

Hrishikesha blew the Panchajanya, Arjuna blew the Devadatta, and Bhima, the wolf-bellied doer of terrible deeds, blew the great conch Paundra.

Lord Kṛṣṇa is referred to as Hṛṣīkeśa in this verse because He is the owner of all senses. The living entities are part and parcel of Him, and therefore the senses of the living entities are also part and parcel of His…

King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew the Anantavijaya; Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosha and the Manipushpaka.

Sañjaya informed King Dhṛtarāṣṭra very tactfully that his unwise policy of deceiving the sons of Pāṇḍu and endeavoring to enthrone his own sons on the seat of the kingdom was not very laudable. The signs already clearly…

Drupada and the sons of Draupadi, O Lord of the Earth, and the son of Subhadra, the mighty-armed, blew their conches each separately.

This blowing of conches announced the commencement of the battle.

The tumultuous sound rent the hearts of Dhritarashtra's party, reverberating through both heaven and earth.

When Bhīṣma and the others on the side of Duryodhana blew their respective conchshells, there was no heart-breaking on the part of the Pāṇḍavas. Such occurrences are not mentioned, but in this particular verse it is…

Then, seeing the people of Dhritarashtra's party standing arrayed and the discharge of weapons about to begin, Arjuna, the son of Pandu whose ensign was a monkey, took up his bow and said the following to Krishna, O Lord of the Earth.

The battle was just about to begin. It is understood from the above statement that the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra were more or less disheartened by the unexpected arrangement of military force by the Pāṇḍavas, who were guided…

Sanjaya said, Thus addressed by Arjuna, Krishna stationed the best of chariots, O Dhritarashtra, in the midst of the two armies.

In this verse Arjuna is referred to as Guḍākeśa. Guḍākā means sleep, and one who conquers sleep is called guḍākeśa. Sleep also means ignorance. So Arjuna conquered both sleep and ignorance because of his friendship with…

In front of Bhishma and Drona, and all the rulers of the earth, he said: "O Arjuna, son of Pritha, behold these Kurus gathered together."

As the Supersoul of all living entities, Lord Kṛṣṇa could understand what was going on in the mind of Arjuna. The use of the word Hṛṣīkeśa in this connection indicates that He knew everything. And the word Pārtha,…

Then, Arjuna (son of Pritha) saw there (in the armies) stationed fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, and friends.

On the battlefield Arjuna could see all kinds of relatives. He could see persons like Bhūriśravā, who were his father’s contemporaries, grandfathers Bhīṣma and Somadatta, teachers like Droṇācārya and Kṛpācārya, maternal…

He saw fathers-in-law and friends in both the armies. The son of Kunti, Arjuna, seeing all those kinsmen thus standing arrayed, spoke sorrowfully, deeply filled with pity.

My limbs fail, my mouth is parched, my body quivers, and my hair stands on end.

There are two kinds of trembling of the body, and two kinds of standings of the hair on end. Such phenomena occur either in great spiritual ecstasy or out of great fear under material conditions. There is no fear in…

Teachers, fathers, sons, and grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other relatives—

Arjuna has addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as Govinda because Kṛṣṇa is the object of all pleasures for cows and the senses. By using this significant word, Arjuna indicates that Kṛṣṇa should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s…

These I do not wish to kill, O Krishna, even though they kill me, for the sake of dominion over the three worlds; leave alone killing them for the sake of the earth."

Arjuna has addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as Govinda because Kṛṣṇa is the object of all pleasures for cows and the senses. By using this significant word, Arjuna indicates that Kṛṣṇa should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s…

O Krishna, by the prevalence of impiety, the women of the family become corrupt; and, when women are corrupted, O Varshenya (descendant of Vrishni), intermingling of castes arises.

According to the rules and regulations of fruitive activities, there is a need to offer periodical food and water to the forefathers of the family. This offering is performed by worship of Viṣṇu, because eating the…

Confusion of castes leads to hell for the slayers of the family, for their forebears fall, deprived of the offerings of rice-balls and libations of water.

Community projects for the four orders of human society, combined with family welfare activities, as they are set forth by the institution of sanātana-dharma, or varṇāśrama-dharma, are designed to enable the human being…

The great chariot-warriors will think that you have withdrawn from the battle out of fear, and you will be held in low esteem by those who have held you in high regard.

Duryodhana and others will certainly think that you have fled from the battle from fear of Karna and others, but not through compassion and reverence for elders and teachers. Duryodhana and others who have shown great…

Slain, you will obtain heaven; victorious, you will enjoy the earth; therefore, stand up, O son of Kunti, resolved to fight.

In either case you will be benefited. Therefore, stand up with the firm resolution I will conquer the enemy or die.

In this, there is no loss of effort, nor is there any harm produced, nor any transgression. Even a little of this knowledge protects one from great fear.

If a religious ceremony is left uncompleted, it is a wastage as the performer cannot realise the fruits. But it is not so in the case of Karma Yoga because every action causes immediate purification of the heart.In…

He whose mind is not shaken by adversity, who does not long for pleasures, and is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.

Lord Krishna gives His answer to the second part of Arjuna's question as to the conduct of a sage of steady wisdom in the 56th, 57th and 58th verses.The mind of a sage of steady wisdom is not distressed in calamities. He…

When one thinks of objects, attachment to them arises; from attachment, desire is born; from desire, anger arises.

When a man thinks of the beauty and the pleasant and alluring features of the senseobjects he becomes attached to them. He then regards them as something worthy of acisition and possession and hankers after them. He…

From food come forth beings; from rain, food is produced; from sacrifice arises rain, and sacrifice is born of action.

Here Yajna means Apurva or the subtle principle or the unseen form which a sacrifice assumes between the time of its performance and the time when its fruits manifest themselves.

Better is one's own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well discharged. Better is death in one's own duty; the duty of another is fraught with fear.

It is indeed better for man to die discharging his own duty though destitute of merit than for him to live doing the duty of another though performed in a perfect manner. For the duty of another has its pitfalls. The…

With the senses, mind, and intellect ever controlled, having liberation as their supreme goal, free from desire, fear, and anger, the sage is truly liberated forever.

If one is free from desire, fear and anger he enjoys perfect peace of mind. When the senses, the mind and the intellect are subjugated, the sage does constant contemplation and,attains for ever to the absolute freedom or…

Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, happiness, pain, existence or birth, non-existence or death, fear, and also fearlessness.

Intellect is the power which the Antahkarana (the fourfold inner instrument -- the mind, the subconscious mind, intellect and egoism) has of understanding subtle objects. Wisdom is knowledge of the Self. Nondelusion is…

Non-injury, equanimity, contentment, austerity, beneficence, fame, and ill-fame—these different qualities of beings arise from Me alone.

Ahimsa is noninjury to living beings in thought, word and deed. Samata is that state wherein there is neither Raga (like) nor Dvesha (dislike), when one gets pleasant or unpleasant objects. There is neither exhilaration…

This space between the earth and the heavens, and all the quarters, is filled by You alone; having seen this, Your wonderful and terrible form, the three worlds are trembling with fear, O great-souled Being.

Thee In Thy Cosmic Form.The space and the quarters This denotes that the Lord has filled the whole universe of animate and inanimate objects.In order to remove the doubt entertained by Arjuna as to his success (Cf.II.6)…

Verily, these hosts of gods enter into Thee; some extol Thee with joined palms in fear, saying, 'May it be well!' Bands of great sages and perfected ones praise Thee with complete hymns.

Pushkalabhih means complete or wellworded praises or praises full of deep meanings.Great sages like Narada and perfected ones like Kapila praise Thee with inspiring hymns.