I am Arjuna! Why Everyone finds an Echo in the Bhagavad Geeta

July 31, 2012

There is a very effective point made in lesson 1 of the Chinmaya International Foundation's e-Gita course. It was brought up again by Swamini Vimalanandaji while introducing the context of the Bhagavad Gita at the Dharma Sevak program in Chinmaya Gardens, Coimbatore last week.

Reading chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Geeta, one should never be surprised if we find ourselves nodding at Arjuna's arguments. After all who wants war? As someone said, "War never settles what is right. Only what is left!"

Yet, there are many other reasons why Arjuna reminds us of ourselves.

Like me, Arjuna is an accomplished individual who likes to win. He is ambitious. Frequently, we do not consider ourselves spiritual and are only seeking an answer to a topical problem.This contrasts to the Upanishads where the student is usually a spiritual person who has set out to seek the Truth.
We have all been through a situation which has taken an unexpectedly fearful turn. Or where my emotions have clouded my understanding. Strangely, these problems arise at the most inconvenient time. If only, Arjuna could have sorted these issues our when he was in exile and Śrī Kṛṣṇa seemed to pop in and out of their lives.
Arjuna demands answers from Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the midst of a battlefield. In war, it is kill or be killed. Everyday, in my own life, I am often faced with decisions that make the difference between success and failure. I want answers immediately. On the other hand in an Upanishadic setting, the student approaches a Rishi, a wise man who has discovered truth in a setting that appears far removed from the chaos that everyday life is.
At the beginning, Arjuna is thoroughly convinced about the strength of his arguments. It is only when he bursts into tears that he slowly realizes that he is धर्म सम्मूढचेताः "my mind is confused as to duty" (2-7).
In my case, the self deception is at its worst when in the guise of looking for answers, I simply want the world to confirm our analysis. As Pujya Gurudev says, about Arjuna: "He wants the moral support of his friend and charioteer to come to the conclusion that what he is feeling in his own mind is acceptable and just. But the endorsement and the intellectual sanction are not forthcoming from either the look of Krishna or the Lord's words."
Arjuna's questions could as well have been asked by an intelligent person today: It is my choice to make, I have the right to 'not fight' this battle.
Even as he comes under the sway of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's teaching, his questioning does not stop. Is there really a Man such as the one you describe - who has transcended his ego? (chapter 2-54). What happens if one dies in the midst of seeking the Truth - is everything lost? (Chapter 8) Which is better - seeking the unmanifest, formless Ishwara or the manifest Ishwara as a deity I love? (Chapter 12) How can I seen Bhagavān? (Chapter 11). All of these have occurred to me at sometime or another.

Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

Geeta Dhyānaṁ 2 - Vyāsā's Vast Intellect

January 7, 2013 Previously on Geeta Jayanti, I had posted on the eternal debt of gratitude to Mother Geeta that is the basis of Geeta Dhyānaṁ. I love Param Pujya Gurudev 's commentary on the Geeta Dhyānaṁ. Pujya Gurudev's commentary is after the introduction to the Bhagavad Geeta in the commentary on Chapters 1 & 2 published by the the Chinmaya Mission. I personally believe it should be a book by itself. After invoking Mother Geeta, we now pay tribute to the wise Vyāsa Rishi - the Guru whose Jayanti marks Guru Pūrnima every year. Pujya Gurudev starts His tribute to Veda Vyāsā in his commentary on the 1st verse of the Dhyānaṁ. Vyāsa, the father of the Vedās, who, first collected, edited and published the Veda texts and who thereafter, gave us the dialectics of Vedānta in his Brahma Sūtra, himself a great man of realization, was indeed well fitted for the job. The ancient seer had both the mastery of the theoretical science of religion - Hinduism and also the practical expe

In every field, let Dharma flourish - क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रे धर्म कुरु

August 9, 2012 Swamini Vimalanandaji has done a series of talks at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) called "406 SMS – Sure Mantras for Success from Bhagwad Geeta" (item 406 at this AMA link ). In this she has a very interesting take on the 1st line of the Bhagavad Geeta. धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे १-१ dharmakShetre kurukShetre 1-1 <i> on the holy plain of Kurukshetra... </i> Swamini turns that slightly and says, क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रे धर्म कुरु - kShetre kShetre dharma kuru. Swamini goes on to establish that we can use this mantra to make that: "In every aspect of society, must be pervaded by Dharma" Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

Geeta in Literature - IF by Rudyard Kipling

September 12, 2011 I came across a nice YouTube video that is an animation of Rudyard Kipling reading his famous poem IF . The full text sourced from wikisource is below: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim, If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same: If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And los

Everyday Geeta

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