October 6, 2011
Vijayadashami! Happy Dussehra to all. शुभं भूयात् ।
I know I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Last year on the occasion of Gita Jayanti celebrations in Singapore, I had submitted the following article for publication in the Gīta Vāṇī publication that the Gita Jayanti committee brings out. BTW, for those of you in Singapore, there is still plenty happening for this year's celebration. Please click on the Gita Jayanti Singapore link to discover for yourselves.
Public talks on the Bhagavad Geeta rarely focus a lot on the 1st chapter of the dialog between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Yet, for the student of the Geeta, we gain an understanding of the transforming power of Śrī Kṛṣṇa‘s teaching, only when we digest the implications of what transpired in Chapter 1.
Recall the background that led the Pāṇḍava and Kaurava armies to the battlefield in Kurukṣetra. Having lost the second game of dice, the Pāṇḍavās had spent the required 12 years in exile, followed by a year living incognito as aides and servants to King Virāṭa and his Queen. Arjuna, disguised as Brihannala, a dance teacher, had defeated attempts by the Kaurava stalwarts such as Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa and others. Śrī Kṛṣṇa under the advice of Yudhisthira had tried to avoid war at all costs. Duryodhana had scorned all these attempts and challenged Śrī Kṛṣṇa that “if the Pāṇḍavās are indeed Kṣhatriyas, let them wage war and take the kingdom rather than beg for five villages.”
With that in mind, when we enter into the Bhagavad Geeta. Sanjaya narrates the events on the battlefield. First, we have Duryodhana strutting and boasting of the mighty army he has gathered to fight the Pāṇḍavās. Then Bhīṣma blows on his conch to cut off Duryodhana’s blabbering. Pūjya Swami Chinmayānandaji notes that, “This action of Bhīṣma amounted to an act of aggression almost corresponding to the 'first-bullet-shot' in modern warfare. For all historical purposes the Kauravas had thereby become the aggressors.”
At this time, the scene shifts to Arjuna and Śrī Kṛṣṇa from the 20th shloka of Chapter 1 onwards. (All translations are based on the Holy Geeta by Pūjya Swami Chinmayānanda).
अथ व्यवस्थितान्दृष्ट्वा धार्तराष्ट्रान् कपिध्वजः |
प्रवृत्ते शस्त्रसम्पाते धनुरुद्यम्य पाण्डवः ||१-२०||
हृषीकेशं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते |
atha vyavasthitān dṛṣṭvā dhārtarāṣṭrān kapidhvajaḥ
pravṛtte śastrasaṁpāte dhanurudyamya pāṇḍavaḥ 1.20
hṛṣīkeśaṁ tadā vākyam idamāha mahīpate
Then, seeing the people of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's party standing arrayed and the discharge of weapons about to begin, Arjuna, the son of Pāndu, whose ensign was a monkey, took up his bow and said these words to Śrī Kṛṣṇa (Hrishikesha) , O Lord of the Earth! Ch 1, 20-21. Swamiji adds at this point that, “The stanza also gives us, in hasty strokes, the information that Arjuna was impatient to start the righteous war. He had raised his instrument of war, his bow, indicating his readiness to fight.”
अर्जुन उवाच |
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत ||१-२१||
यावदेतान्निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान् |
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन् रणसमुद्यमे ||१-२२||
योत्स्यमानानवेक्षेऽहं य एतेऽत्र समागताः |
धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्बुद्धेर्युद्धे प्रियचिकीर्षवः ||१-२३||
Arjuna Uvāca:
senayorubhayormadhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me'cyuta 1.21
yāvadetānnirīkṣehaṁ yoddhukāmān avasthitān
kairmayā saha yoddhavyam asmin raṇasamudyame 1.22
yotsyamānānavekṣe'haṁ ya ete'tra samāgatāḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddher yuddhe priyacikīrṣavaḥ 1.23
Arjuna said: In the midst of the two armies, place my chariot, O Achyuta, that I may behold those who stand here desirous of fighting, for I desire to observe those who are assembled here for the fight, wishing to please in battle, the evil-minded sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Ch 1, 21-23.
It is obvious that Arjuna is ready to fight Duryodhana and the Kauravas.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as a dutiful charioteer, takes the chariot to a strategic position in between the two armies, it in front of the great Kaurava warriors, Bhīṣma, Drona, etc. don’t use etc. At this juncture, instead of seeing the enemies of Dharma, Arjuna sees “fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, Fathers-in-law and friends too.” Sanjaya describes, Arjuna as filled with “deep pity”.
Our hero unravels completely, and we see Arjuna’s words dripping with symptoms of what Swamiji calls “soul-killing Arjuna-disease".
अर्जुन उवाच |
दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम् ||१-२८||
सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति |
वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते ||१-२९||
Arjuna Uvāca:
dṛṣṭvemaṁ svajanaṁ kṛṣṇa yuyutsuṁ samupasthitam 1.28
sīdanti mama gātrāṇi mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati
vepathuśca śarīre me romaharṣaśca jāyate 1.29
Arjuna said: Seeing these my kinsmen, O Kṛṣṇa, arrayed, eager to fight. My limbs fail and my mouth is parched, my body quivers and my hair stand on end. Ch 1, 28-29
Suddenly, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddhe - of perverted intellect) almost disappear and what he sees are “my kinsmen”.
Arjuna’s arguments resemble what anyone with a modern liberal education would consider to be a classic plea for peace. For the next few shlokas, Arjuna argues as follows:
अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम् |
यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः ||१-४५||
यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः |
धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत् ||१-४६||
aho bata mahat pāpaṁ kartuṁ vyavasitā vayam
yadrājyasukhalobhena hantuṁ svajanamudyatāḥ 1.45
yadi mām-apratīkāram aśastraṁ śastrapāṇayaḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tanme kṣemataraṁ bhavet 1.46
Alas! We are involved in a great sin, in that we are prepared to kill our kinsmen, from greed for the pleasures of the kingdom. Ch 1, 45
If the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, with weapons in hand, slay me in battle, unresisting and unarmed, that would be better for me. Ch 1, 46
Arjuna’s view of reality is severely distorted. Arjuna feels that he is being brutally honest in describing his own side as motivated by greed and hence better that he be killed, rather than be the cause of untold suffering. If any enlisted soldier argued thus in any army in the world, he would be court-martialled and probably shot. Here the Pāṇḍava prince, who is the most trusted commander is making such an argument! Arjuna dismisses all the recent history that placed him and his family on the battlefield and is ready to give it all up for the sake of peace. I recall what Gurcharan Das, the author of “The Difficulty of Being Good”, said in a talk in Singapore in 2009, “Imagine for a moment, what would have happened if the Nazis had won the second World War!”
Arjuna now did not care if Duryodhana and his cronies ruled Hastinapur while his brothers and Draupadi eked out their existence in the forest for the rest of their lives. How the mighty Arjuna had fallen! Swamiji gets to the crux of the issue, “These words clearly show that instead of becoming a master of the situation, Arjuna is now a victim of it. He has not the virile confidence that he is the master of the circumstances and, therefore, with a creeping sense of growing inner cowardice, he feels almost helplessly persecuted. This unhealthy mental weakness drains off his heroism and he desperately tries to put a paper-crown upon his cowardice, to make it look divine and angelic, and to parade it as pity”.
Briefly in Chapter 2, despite Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s attempts to vigorously shake him out of the depths of melancholy, Arjuna continues with his distorted vision of reality. In verses 5 & 6, Arjuna says,
गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके |
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् ||२-५||
न चैतद्विद्मः कतरन्नो गरीयो यद्वा जयेम यदि वा नो जयेयुः |
यानेव हत्वा न जिजीविषामस्- तेऽवस्थिताः प्रमुखे धार्तराष्ट्राः ||२-६||
gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apī ’ha loke
hatvā ’rthakāmaṁs tu gurun ihai ’va bhuñjīya bhogān rudhirapradigdhān 2.5
na cai ’tad vidmaḥ kataran no garīyo yad vā jayema yadi vā no jayeyuḥ
yān eva hatvā na jijīviṣāmas te ’vasthitāḥ pramukhe dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ 2.6
Better indeed, in this world, is to eat even the bread of 'beggary' than to slay the most noble of teachers. But, if I kill them, even in this world, all my enjoyments of wealth and desires will be stained with blood. Ch 1, 5
I can scarcely say which would be better; that we should conquer them or that they should conquer us. Even the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, after slaying whom we do not wish to live, stand facing us. Ch 1, 6
A warrior whose purpose in life is to fight and protect Dharma at all costs doesn’t know if it is better if he loses the fight! Swamiji points out, “Vyasa is indicating to us that the hysteria in Arjuna was not only mental[meaning emotional], but also at the level of the intellect.”
Finally, in what can be described only as the Lord’s grace, Arjuna pauses. Sunshine at last!
कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेताः |
यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् ||२-७||
kārpaṇyadoṣopahatasvabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharmasaṁmūḍhacetāḥ
yatśreyaḥ syān-niścitaṁ brūhi tanme śiṣyaste’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam 2.7
My heart is overpowered by the taint of pity; my mind is confused as to duty. I ask Thee. Tell me decisively what is good for me. I am Thy disciple. Instruct me, who have taken refuge in Thee. Ch1, 7
Arjuna does the one thing that saves him and five thousand years later, provides hope to every seeker. He seeks refuge in the Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself and says, “Teach me”. Our despair leads us to medication, Arjuna’s despair led him back to the knowledge of Truth as taught by Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is why the first chapter is titled, Arjuna-Vishāda-Yoga - the Yoga of Arjuna’s despair.
Fortunately, for us, “Never does Śrī Kṛṣṇa even once, grow impatient with his disciple. On the other hand, each question, as it were, is seen to have added more enthusiasm and interest to the discourses on the battle-field.”
With Śrī Kṛṣṇa teaching, we get drenched in ‘amritavarsha’ - the cooling showers of the nectar of karma, bhakti and jñāna yoga. Śrī Kṛṣṇa becomes a Jagadguru!
Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post.
Vijayadashami! Happy Dussehra to all. शुभं भूयात् ।
I know I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Last year on the occasion of Gita Jayanti celebrations in Singapore, I had submitted the following article for publication in the Gīta Vāṇī publication that the Gita Jayanti committee brings out. BTW, for those of you in Singapore, there is still plenty happening for this year's celebration. Please click on the Gita Jayanti Singapore link to discover for yourselves.
Public talks on the Bhagavad Geeta rarely focus a lot on the 1st chapter of the dialog between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Yet, for the student of the Geeta, we gain an understanding of the transforming power of Śrī Kṛṣṇa‘s teaching, only when we digest the implications of what transpired in Chapter 1.
Recall the background that led the Pāṇḍava and Kaurava armies to the battlefield in Kurukṣetra. Having lost the second game of dice, the Pāṇḍavās had spent the required 12 years in exile, followed by a year living incognito as aides and servants to King Virāṭa and his Queen. Arjuna, disguised as Brihannala, a dance teacher, had defeated attempts by the Kaurava stalwarts such as Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa and others. Śrī Kṛṣṇa under the advice of Yudhisthira had tried to avoid war at all costs. Duryodhana had scorned all these attempts and challenged Śrī Kṛṣṇa that “if the Pāṇḍavās are indeed Kṣhatriyas, let them wage war and take the kingdom rather than beg for five villages.”
With that in mind, when we enter into the Bhagavad Geeta. Sanjaya narrates the events on the battlefield. First, we have Duryodhana strutting and boasting of the mighty army he has gathered to fight the Pāṇḍavās. Then Bhīṣma blows on his conch to cut off Duryodhana’s blabbering. Pūjya Swami Chinmayānandaji notes that, “This action of Bhīṣma amounted to an act of aggression almost corresponding to the 'first-bullet-shot' in modern warfare. For all historical purposes the Kauravas had thereby become the aggressors.”
At this time, the scene shifts to Arjuna and Śrī Kṛṣṇa from the 20th shloka of Chapter 1 onwards. (All translations are based on the Holy Geeta by Pūjya Swami Chinmayānanda).
अथ व्यवस्थितान्दृष्ट्वा धार्तराष्ट्रान् कपिध्वजः |
प्रवृत्ते शस्त्रसम्पाते धनुरुद्यम्य पाण्डवः ||१-२०||
हृषीकेशं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते |
atha vyavasthitān dṛṣṭvā dhārtarāṣṭrān kapidhvajaḥ
pravṛtte śastrasaṁpāte dhanurudyamya pāṇḍavaḥ 1.20
hṛṣīkeśaṁ tadā vākyam idamāha mahīpate
Then, seeing the people of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's party standing arrayed and the discharge of weapons about to begin, Arjuna, the son of Pāndu, whose ensign was a monkey, took up his bow and said these words to Śrī Kṛṣṇa (Hrishikesha) , O Lord of the Earth! Ch 1, 20-21. Swamiji adds at this point that, “The stanza also gives us, in hasty strokes, the information that Arjuna was impatient to start the righteous war. He had raised his instrument of war, his bow, indicating his readiness to fight.”
अर्जुन उवाच |
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत ||१-२१||
यावदेतान्निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान् |
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन् रणसमुद्यमे ||१-२२||
योत्स्यमानानवेक्षेऽहं य एतेऽत्र समागताः |
धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्बुद्धेर्युद्धे प्रियचिकीर्षवः ||१-२३||
Arjuna Uvāca:
senayorubhayormadhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me'cyuta 1.21
yāvadetānnirīkṣehaṁ yoddhukāmān avasthitān
kairmayā saha yoddhavyam asmin raṇasamudyame 1.22
yotsyamānānavekṣe'haṁ ya ete'tra samāgatāḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddher yuddhe priyacikīrṣavaḥ 1.23
Arjuna said: In the midst of the two armies, place my chariot, O Achyuta, that I may behold those who stand here desirous of fighting, for I desire to observe those who are assembled here for the fight, wishing to please in battle, the evil-minded sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Ch 1, 21-23.
It is obvious that Arjuna is ready to fight Duryodhana and the Kauravas.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as a dutiful charioteer, takes the chariot to a strategic position in between the two armies, it in front of the great Kaurava warriors, Bhīṣma, Drona, etc. don’t use etc. At this juncture, instead of seeing the enemies of Dharma, Arjuna sees “fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, Fathers-in-law and friends too.” Sanjaya describes, Arjuna as filled with “deep pity”.
Our hero unravels completely, and we see Arjuna’s words dripping with symptoms of what Swamiji calls “soul-killing Arjuna-disease".
अर्जुन उवाच |
दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम् ||१-२८||
सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति |
वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते ||१-२९||
Arjuna Uvāca:
dṛṣṭvemaṁ svajanaṁ kṛṣṇa yuyutsuṁ samupasthitam 1.28
sīdanti mama gātrāṇi mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati
vepathuśca śarīre me romaharṣaśca jāyate 1.29
Arjuna said: Seeing these my kinsmen, O Kṛṣṇa, arrayed, eager to fight. My limbs fail and my mouth is parched, my body quivers and my hair stand on end. Ch 1, 28-29
Suddenly, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddhe - of perverted intellect) almost disappear and what he sees are “my kinsmen”.
Arjuna’s arguments resemble what anyone with a modern liberal education would consider to be a classic plea for peace. For the next few shlokas, Arjuna argues as follows:
1. Untold killing in the war will be followed by mindless grief that will impact all layers of societyFinally to drive home the point, Arjuna hits the peak of his eloquence.
2. With the death of so many men, who will protect the women? When women are not protected, how will we uphold the values that we hold dear in society?
3. Even if Duryodhana and company are motivated by greed and willing to kill everyone, aren’t we better than them? Moved by the enormous cost to society should we not give up our claim to the kingdom for the sake of peace?
अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम् |
यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः ||१-४५||
यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः |
धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत् ||१-४६||
aho bata mahat pāpaṁ kartuṁ vyavasitā vayam
yadrājyasukhalobhena hantuṁ svajanamudyatāḥ 1.45
yadi mām-apratīkāram aśastraṁ śastrapāṇayaḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tanme kṣemataraṁ bhavet 1.46
Alas! We are involved in a great sin, in that we are prepared to kill our kinsmen, from greed for the pleasures of the kingdom. Ch 1, 45
If the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, with weapons in hand, slay me in battle, unresisting and unarmed, that would be better for me. Ch 1, 46
Arjuna’s view of reality is severely distorted. Arjuna feels that he is being brutally honest in describing his own side as motivated by greed and hence better that he be killed, rather than be the cause of untold suffering. If any enlisted soldier argued thus in any army in the world, he would be court-martialled and probably shot. Here the Pāṇḍava prince, who is the most trusted commander is making such an argument! Arjuna dismisses all the recent history that placed him and his family on the battlefield and is ready to give it all up for the sake of peace. I recall what Gurcharan Das, the author of “The Difficulty of Being Good”, said in a talk in Singapore in 2009, “Imagine for a moment, what would have happened if the Nazis had won the second World War!”
Arjuna now did not care if Duryodhana and his cronies ruled Hastinapur while his brothers and Draupadi eked out their existence in the forest for the rest of their lives. How the mighty Arjuna had fallen! Swamiji gets to the crux of the issue, “These words clearly show that instead of becoming a master of the situation, Arjuna is now a victim of it. He has not the virile confidence that he is the master of the circumstances and, therefore, with a creeping sense of growing inner cowardice, he feels almost helplessly persecuted. This unhealthy mental weakness drains off his heroism and he desperately tries to put a paper-crown upon his cowardice, to make it look divine and angelic, and to parade it as pity”.
Briefly in Chapter 2, despite Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s attempts to vigorously shake him out of the depths of melancholy, Arjuna continues with his distorted vision of reality. In verses 5 & 6, Arjuna says,
गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके |
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् ||२-५||
न चैतद्विद्मः कतरन्नो गरीयो यद्वा जयेम यदि वा नो जयेयुः |
यानेव हत्वा न जिजीविषामस्- तेऽवस्थिताः प्रमुखे धार्तराष्ट्राः ||२-६||
gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apī ’ha loke
hatvā ’rthakāmaṁs tu gurun ihai ’va bhuñjīya bhogān rudhirapradigdhān 2.5
na cai ’tad vidmaḥ kataran no garīyo yad vā jayema yadi vā no jayeyuḥ
yān eva hatvā na jijīviṣāmas te ’vasthitāḥ pramukhe dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ 2.6
Better indeed, in this world, is to eat even the bread of 'beggary' than to slay the most noble of teachers. But, if I kill them, even in this world, all my enjoyments of wealth and desires will be stained with blood. Ch 1, 5
I can scarcely say which would be better; that we should conquer them or that they should conquer us. Even the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, after slaying whom we do not wish to live, stand facing us. Ch 1, 6
A warrior whose purpose in life is to fight and protect Dharma at all costs doesn’t know if it is better if he loses the fight! Swamiji points out, “Vyasa is indicating to us that the hysteria in Arjuna was not only mental[meaning emotional], but also at the level of the intellect.”
Finally, in what can be described only as the Lord’s grace, Arjuna pauses. Sunshine at last!
कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेताः |
यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् ||२-७||
kārpaṇyadoṣopahatasvabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharmasaṁmūḍhacetāḥ
yatśreyaḥ syān-niścitaṁ brūhi tanme śiṣyaste’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam 2.7
My heart is overpowered by the taint of pity; my mind is confused as to duty. I ask Thee. Tell me decisively what is good for me. I am Thy disciple. Instruct me, who have taken refuge in Thee. Ch1, 7
Arjuna does the one thing that saves him and five thousand years later, provides hope to every seeker. He seeks refuge in the Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself and says, “Teach me”. Our despair leads us to medication, Arjuna’s despair led him back to the knowledge of Truth as taught by Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is why the first chapter is titled, Arjuna-Vishāda-Yoga - the Yoga of Arjuna’s despair.
Fortunately, for us, “Never does Śrī Kṛṣṇa even once, grow impatient with his disciple. On the other hand, each question, as it were, is seen to have added more enthusiasm and interest to the discourses on the battle-field.”
With Śrī Kṛṣṇa teaching, we get drenched in ‘amritavarsha’ - the cooling showers of the nectar of karma, bhakti and jñāna yoga. Śrī Kṛṣṇa becomes a Jagadguru!
Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post.
Comments
Post a Comment