Bhagavad Gita : Chapter 2 - Part I

To Arjuna, grief-stricken, overwhelmed by pity, eyes filled with tears, Krishna spoke these words. "Why has this confusion come to you at this critical juncture? It is ignoble, no good for the other world either, and it will only give you a bad name. Don't be foolish; it does not suit you. Give up this petty weakness, come, get up, Arjuna."

Arjuna :
"How can I in a battle shoot arrows at Bheeshma and Drona,who deserve all respect and worship from me! It is better to go begging than killing these great men!. Who wants the blood-stained gains got from killing one's elders? I really don't know what is better, to win or to lose! Those standing there are our cousins, after killing whom we would not care to live at all.

I am very much confused, and don't know what I should do. Tell me what you consider the best for me. I will be your student, do instruct me. I don't see how I can get over this sense-numbing sadness of heart, not by possession of a prosperous kingdom without parallel, not by the over-lord-ship of all the gods of heaven!"

Concluding, he said, I am not going to fight this war, and fell silent.

And Krishna, his face beaming as if with a latent smile, looked at Arjuna thus grieving in front of the armies, and spoke: "Arjuna, you pity those who need no pity, and talk words of wisdom. Wise men never pity the dead or the living. It is not that I, you, and all these princes here were never there, nor that we will cease to exist after this.

Just as one's body goes through boyhood, youth, and old age, it takes another form in death. A wise man never worries over it.

The bodily sensations of heat and cold, and pain and pleasure, come and go, they are transitory and should be endured by you.

He is really immortal, whom these do not vex, for whom pain and pleasure are both the same. A non real thing can never exist, nor can a real thing ever cease to exit.

That is affirmed by all thinkers. That which pervades all this we perceive is indestructible, none can destroy it.

Other things are the ephemeral bodies of the soul, which is eternal and inscrutable.

So Arjuna, do fight by all means.If anybody thinks that the soul kills or is killed, he does not know anything.

The soul never kills, nor is it killed. It is never born, nor ever dies; it does not appear and disappear.

Without beginning,without end, eternal and existing from immemorial times, it does not die, when the body is killed.

Whom and how can anyone who knows this soul as one without birth or death, eternal and unchangeable, kill or cause to kill?

Just as a person throws away his old clothes and takes up new ones, so does the soil discard its worn-out body for a fresh new one.

No weapon can cut it, no fire can burn it, no water can wet it, and no wind can dry it.

It is verily immune to cutting, burning, wetting or drying, it is of immemorial time, all-pervading, eternal, unchanging, It is beyond senses and thought, and is immutable.

Knowing this, nobody should pity him.Now if you think that continuously the soul is born and then dies, even then you should not pity it.

For anything born is death certain,and for the dead, birth is certain why feel sorry about something inevitable!

Nobody knows for certain the beginning, or the end of created things. We know only the middle.

What is the good crying over it? People look at life as a wonder, they talk about it as a wonder,they listen to it as wonder, but still nobody knows anything about it.

The soul in all bodies can never be killed. No sense in feeling pity for any being.Also you should consider your duty, and not waver.

For a Kshatriya,there is no greater good than fight a righteous war which is a gate to Heaven. A Kshatriya should be only happy to get such an opportunity.

And if you do not fight this righteous war, it will be a sin.

You would fail your duty, and get a bad name. Moreover, they will talk ill of you for ever; and for a person held in respect, bad name is worse than death.

The other brave warriors will think that you have run away in fear from the battle, in the eyes of those who respect you, you will become cheap. And your enemies will say all sorts of unspeakable things about you, and question your skill.

Can anything be more horrible!

Killed you go to heaven, winning you get a kingdom. So get up and be ready to fight. Indifferent to pain and pleasure, gain and loss, success or defeat.

This way you will not incur any sin.