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he is not fighting for himself or for his family or clan (kula), but for king and country-that the interests of righteousness are in jeopardy and that, like every right-minded person, he is bound to do his best to set the situation right. The final test that Arjuna is not actuated by genuine detachment is the sadness and despondency (yisäda) that pervade his speech. Not only is he sad, he is also in doubt. Neither doubt nor sadness is a sign of true spirituality which would result in a feeling of triumphant freedom. Sri Kṛṣṇa's teaching is that the narrow selfish impulses of which sadness and doubt are the sign should first be overcome; and the way to do it is not to resort to the loneliness of the forest, but to live in the midst of the storm and stress of social life, doing one's duty without any thought of recompense.
This teaching has been traced by some to earlier sources." It is no doubt mentioned in the Isa Upanisad (p. 73), but without any elaboration whatsoever. Even granting that the ideal of karma-yoga is not altogether new, there is no doubt that its general acceptance is due to its impressive enunciation in the Gītā. None of the orthodox creeds or systems of thought that were evolved afterwards discarded it. Detached action became the starting-point of life's discipline according to all, superseding virtually the earlier view of activity pursued for its fruit. In this transformation of the ideal of pravṛtti consists one of the chief contributions of the Gita to Hindu thought. We may add that though the particular circumstances that called forth the teaching have changed, it has not been rendered obsolete. For good or ill, the monastic ideal has all but disappeared now. Ours is an age of self-assertion, not of self-suppression. Men are not now likely to give up their duty to become recluses, as Arjuna wanted to do. The danger comes from the other side. In our eagerness to claim our rights and exercise them, we may ignore our duties. Hence the need for the teaching of the Gitā now is as great as ever. Its value has not lessened through lapse of time; and that is a mark of its greatness. The propriety of selecting the battle-field for imparting the
1 ii. 1. and 7.
See Bhandarkar: Vaisnavism, Saivism, etc., p. 27.
