Mahabharata 6: Who Knows Death? Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

We know notso of death—
If day or night robs breath,
Nor, if we fight no battle,
We shall live life immortal.
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Here is the transliteration:

na sma mŗtyum vayam vidmarātrau vā yadi vā divā |
na cha api kanchit amaram ayuddhena anu-shushrama|| sabhā 17-2 ||

Krishna endorsed Arjun's and Bheemsen's proposal to fight it out fearlessly (with Jarasandha)in pursuit of their goal. After all, who knows about one's death? Nor are we likely to live a life of immortality if we refrain from fighting any battle. Krishna would say the same thing again later in Bhagavad-Gita: ‘be ready to fight; do thine duty'. Thus there is emphasis on karma leaving aside its reward or fruit. Yet alas today in India there is so much misunderstanding on karma. Work is seldom considered as worship, and people talk of renunciation, which can be akin to running away from responsibility at its worst.