Chapter 10 · Class prep
A printable handout for teaching this chapter. For each verse with Personal Guidance, you'll see Prabhupāda's translation, the essence, two or three practical applications, and a discussion prompt. Press ⌘P / Ctrl P to print as a handout.
BG 10.1
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After instructing Indra in this way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, the cause of the cosmic manifestation, then and there disappeared from the presence of the onlooking demigods.
Essence. Having instructed Indra, Hari disappeared from the demigods' sight. The Lord's instructions remain when His form withdraws; the work now belongs to those who heard.
BG 10.2
O King Parīkṣit, following the Lord’s instructions, the demigods approached Dadhīci, the son of Atharvā. He was very liberal, and when they begged him to give them his body, he at once partially agreed. However, just to hear religious instructions from them, he smiled and jokingly spoke as follows.
Essence. Following the Lord's word, the demigods went to Dadhīci and asked for his body; he partly agreed but first wanted to hear about religious principles. A real saint, asked for his life, still wants to deepen dharma first.
BG 10.3
O elevated demigods, at the time of death, severe, unbearable pain takes away the consciousness of all living entities who have accepted material bodies. Don’t you know about this pain?
Essence. At death, severe unbearable pain takes away consciousness — don't you know this? Dadhīci tests whether the demigods grasp what they are asking him to undergo.
BG 10.4
In this material world, every living entity is very much addicted to his material body. Struggling to keep his body forever, everyone tries to protect it by all means, even at the sacrifice of all his possessions. Therefore, who would be prepared to deliver his body to anyone, even if it were demanded by Lord Viṣṇu?
Essence. Every embodied being is addicted to the body and protects it even at the cost of possessions — who would give it for someone else? Dadhīci names the universal stake.
BG 10.5
The demigods replied: O exalted brāhmaṇa, pious persons like you, whose activities are praiseworthy, are very kind and affectionate to people in general. What can’t such pious souls give for the benefit of others? They can give everything, including their bodies.
Essence. The demigods reply: pious souls like you are so kind that they give even their lives. They appeal not to self-interest but to character.
BG 10.6
Those who are too self-interested beg something from others, not knowing of others’ pain. But if the beggar knew the difficulty of the giver, he would not ask for anything. Similarly, he who is able to give charity does not know the beggar’s difficulty, for otherwise he would not refuse to give the beggar anything he might want as charity.
Essence. The selfish ask without knowing the giver's difficulty; the giver doesn't know what he gains. Charity transcends accounting; both sides are blind to its real weight.
BG 10.7
The great sage Dadhīci said: Just to hear from you about religious principles, I refused to offer my body at your request. Now, although my body is extremely dear to me, I must give it up for your better purposes since I know that it will leave me today or tomorrow.
Essence. Dadhīci: only to hear religious principles from you did I refuse — but my body is yours since it serves higher dharma. The hard question was rhetorical; the heart was already given.
BG 10.8
O demigods, one who has no compassion for humanity in its suffering and does not sacrifice his impermanent body for the higher causes of religious principles or eternal glory is certainly pitied even by the immovable beings.
Essence. One without compassion who won't sacrifice an impermanent body for higher causes is pitied even by immovable beings. Even trees feel sorry for the heartless.
BG 10.9
If one is unhappy to see the distress of other living beings and happy to see their happiness, his religious principles are appreciated as imperishable by exalted persons who are considered pious and benevolent.
Essence. One unhappy at others' distress and happy at their happiness — his religious principles are imperishable in the eyes of the wise. Inner alignment with others' welfare is the truest test of dharma.
BG 10.10
This body, which is eatable by jackals and dogs after death, does not actually do any good for me, the spirit soul. It is usable only for a short time and may perish at any moment. The body and its possessions, its riches and relatives, must all be engaged for the benefit of others, or else they will be sources of tribulation and misery.
Essence. This body, edible by jackals and dogs after death, gives me no lasting good — its relations are eatable too. Naming the body's actual destiny dissolves attachment to it.
BG 10.11
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Dadhīci Muni, the son of Atharvā, thus resolved to give his body to the service of the demigods. He placed himself, the spirit soul, at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and in this way gave up his gross material body made of five elements.
Essence. Dadhīci placed his self at the Lord's lotus feet and prepared to give the body. The right preparation for dying is putting the soul into Kṛṣṇa first, then releasing the body.
BG 10.12
Dadhīci Muni controlled his senses, life force, mind and intelligence and became absorbed in trance. Thus he cut all his material bonds. He could not perceive how his material body became separated from his self.
Essence. Controlling senses, breath, mind and intelligence, he entered trance and didn't perceive the body's separation from the self. Mastery turns the moment of death into a quiet, unnoticed crossing.
BG 10.13-14
Thereafter, King Indra very firmly took up the thunderbolt manufactured by Viśvakarmā from the bones of Dadhīci. Charged with the exalted power of Dadhīci Muni and enlightened by the power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Indra rode on the back of his carrier, Airāvata, surrounded by all the demigods, while all the great sages offered him praise. Thus he shone very beautifully, pleasing the three worlds as he rode off to kill Vṛtrāsura.
Essence. Viśvakarmā forged the thunderbolt from Dadhīci's bones; charged with his power and the Lord's, Indra wielded it. A saint's body becomes the weapon by which the worlds are saved.
BG 10.15
My dear King Parīkṣit, as Rudra, being very angry at Antaka [Yamarāja] had formerly run toward Antaka to kill him, Indra angrily and with great force attacked Vṛtrāsura, who was surrounded by the leaders of the demoniac armies.
Essence. As Rudra once ran toward Yama in fury, Indra now attacks Vṛtra surrounded by demon commanders. The story rhymes with earlier divine confrontations.
BG 10.16
Thereafter, at the end of Satya-yuga and the beginning of Tretā-yuga, a fierce battle took place between the demigods and the demons on the bank of the Narmadā.
Essence. At the end of Satya-yuga and beginning of Tretā, a fierce battle was fought on the bank of the Narmadā. Even cosmic battles have datelines and addresses.
BG 10.17-18
O King, when all the asuras came onto the battlefield, headed by Vṛtrāsura, they saw King Indra carrying the thunderbolt and surrounded by the Rudras, Vasus, Ādityas, Aśvinī-kumāras, Pitās, Vahnis, Maruts, Ṛbhus, Sādhyas and Viśvadevas. Surrounded by his company, Indra shone so brightly that his effulgence was intolerable to the demons.
Essence. On the battlefield, the asuras saw Indra carrying the thunderbolt, surrounded by Rudras, Vasus, Ādityas, Aśvinīs, Pitās, Vahnis, Maruts, Ṛbhus, Sādhyas and Viśvedevas. Real backup is named, not abstract.
BG 10.19-22
Many hundreds and thousands of demons, demi-demons, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas [man-eaters] and others, headed by Sumāli and Māli, resisted the armies of King Indra, which even death personified cannot easily overcome. Among the demons were Namuci, Śambara, Anarvā, Dvimūrdhā, Ṛṣabha, Asura, Hayagrīva, Śaṅkuśirā, Vipracitti, Ayomukha, Pulomā, Vṛṣaparvā, Praheti, Heti and Utkala. Roaring tumultuously and fearlessly like lions, these invincible demons, all dressed in golden ornaments, gave pain to the demigods with weapons like clubs, bludgeons, arrows, barbed darts, mallets and lances.
Essence. Many hundreds of thousands of demons headed by Sumāli and Māli resisted Indra's armies, who not even death personified can easily overcome. Sustained opposition can be vast; it is met by sustained order, not by lone valor.
BG 10.23
Armed with lances, tridents, axes, swords and other weapons like śataghnīs and bhuśuṇḍis, the demons attacked from different directions and scattered all the chiefs of the demigod armies.
Essence. Armed with lances, tridents, axes, swords, śataghnīs and bhuśuṇḍis, the demons attacked from every direction and scattered the demigod chiefs. Multi-front assault is real; even chiefs can be scattered.
BG 10.24
As the stars in the sky cannot be seen when covered by dense clouds, the demigods, being completely covered by networks of arrows falling upon them one after another, could not be seen.
Essence. As stars are hidden by dense clouds, the demigods were obscured by waves of falling arrows. Sometimes our spiritual light is not extinguished but only momentarily occluded.
BG 10.25
The showers of various weapons and arrows released to kill the soldiers of the demigods did not reach them because the demigods, acting quickly, cut the weapons into thousands of pieces in the sky.
Essence. The weapon-showers did not reach them because the demigods cut the weapons to thousands of pieces in the sky. Skilled defenses are continuous; they do not wait for impact.
BG 10.26
As their weapons and mantras decreased, the demons began showering mountain peaks, trees and stones upon the demigod soldiers, but the demigods were so powerful and expert that they nullified all these weapons by breaking them to pieces in the sky as before.
Essence. When their arrows and mantras decreased, demons hurled mountain peaks, trees and stones, but the demigods broke them all. When sophisticated attacks fail, gross ones are tried; mature defenders neutralize both.
BG 10.27
When the soldiers of the demons, commanded by Vṛtrāsura, saw that the soldiers of King Indra were quite well, having not been injured at all by their volleys of weapons, not even by the trees, stones and mountain peaks, the demons were very much afraid.
Essence. Seeing their volleys, trees, stones and mountain peaks had no effect, the demons grew frightened. When intelligence sees its weapons are useless, fear is the natural next state.
BG 10.28
When insignificant persons use rough words to cast false, angry accusations against saintly persons, their fruitless words do not disturb the great personalities. Similarly, all the efforts of the demons against the demigods, who were favorably situated under the protection of Kṛṣṇa, were futile.
Essence. When insignificant persons hurl rough words against saints, the words do not disturb the great; so too the demons' efforts against the Lord's protected demigods. Spiritual immunity actually exists.
BG 10.29
The asuras, who are never devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, lost their pride in fighting when they found all their endeavors futile. Leaving aside their leader even in the very beginning of the fight, they decided to flee because all their prowess had been taken away by the enemy.
Essence. The asuras, never devotees, lost their pride and even abandoned their leader, fleeing in various directions. False unity collapses under sustained failure; only devotional unity holds.
BG 10.30
Seeing his army broken and all the asuras, even those known as great heroes, fleeing the battlefield out of intense fear, Vṛtrāsura, who was truly a great-minded hero, smiled and spoke the following words.
Essence. Seeing his army broken and fleeing, Vṛtra — a truly great-minded hero — smiled and spoke. Even the antagonist, at his moment of utter defeat, displays nobility through composure.
BG 10.31
According to his position and the time and circumstances, Vṛtrāsura, the hero among heroes, spoke words that were much to be appreciated by thoughtful men. He called to the heroes of the demons, “O Vipracitti! O Namuci! O Pulomā! O Maya, Anarvā and Śambara! Please hear me and do not flee.”
Essence. According to time and circumstance, Vṛtra spoke words worthy of thoughtful people: 'O Vipracitti! O Namuci! O Pulomā! …' He calls his cohort by name into a higher conversation.
BG 10.32
Vṛtrāsura said: All living entities who have taken birth in this material world must die. Surely, no one in this world has found any means to be saved from death. Even providence has not provided a means to escape it. Under the circumstances, death being inevitable, if one can gain promotion to the higher planetary systems and be always celebrated here by dying a suitable death, what man will not accept such a glorious death?
Essence. All who take birth must die — even providence has not arranged escape. Under this condition, dying for a worthy cause is the only intelligent option.
BG 10.33
There are two ways to meet a glorious death, and both are very rare. One is to die after performing mystic yoga, especially bhakti-yoga, by which one can control the mind and living force and die absorbed in thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The second is to die on the battlefield, leading the army and never showing one’s back. These two kinds of death are recommended in the śāstra as glorious.
Essence. Two ways to a glorious death are rare: dying absorbed in the Supreme through bhakti-yoga, or dying on the battlefield in honor. Choose either, but choose with awareness.