Bhagwad Gita - Post 250

Essence / summary learning of all chapters would be given in few posts from today, to conclude on this sacred treatise in this blog.

The war is about to begin and Arjuna commands Lord Krishna, his charioteer, to place the chariot in the middle of the army to scrutinize the enemy-forces. The mischievous Lord brings the chariot in front of Bhīṣma and Droṇa and asks Arjuna to survey the army. 

In a moment of weakness, Arjuna slips down from reason to relation. Instead of seeing the violators of dharma, he sees his beloved kith and kin. Naturally, Arjuna is overpowered by attachment. Then follow the twin offshoots of attachment viz. grief and delusion. 

In the next five verses, we see Arjuna expressing his intense grief which shakes him completely. This indicates the extent of his attachment.

Veiled by attachment, his discriminative power becomes inoperative and he commits a series of false judgements. Interestingly enough, Arjuna even quotes the scriptures to support his unreasonable stand.

In this way, Arjuna finds himself in the deep sea of attachment, sorrow and delusion (rāga, śoka, moha). Arjuna sincerely wants to get out of this problem. He thinks that solution is to drop the battle. But, one corner of his mind is not convinced by this. At the same time, he has not realized that the problem is too deep for him to solve independently.

In the beginning of the second chapter we see the turning point in Arjuna. Chastised by Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna analyzes the situation further. This leads to the two important discoveries:

1. His weakness of attachment is a fundamental problem which cannot be solved by superficial methods.

2. He has to surrender completely to a guru to get out of this fundamental problem. 

Thus, Arjuna becomes a disciple by surrendering to Lord Krishna.

Thereafter, Krishna gives different reasons to establish that Arjuna has to fight this war:

1. From the stand point of true nature of  Atma (ādhyātmika-dṛśṭi), 

 Bhīṣma and others are immortal. 

2. From the stand point of Kshatriya’s duty (dhārmika-dṛśṭi), Arjuna can fight if it is necessary to establish order. 

3. Looking at the situation from worldly angle (laukika-dṛśṭi), Arjuna should not withdraw from the war. 

First, the Lord describes the glory of karma-yoga. Then comes the principle of karma-yoga. One can choose one’s action but never the result. The result is dependent on the laws of action. 

Then Lord says, through Self-knowledge, one gets established in the peaceful Atma and he attains liberation.

Now, Arjuna becomes curious to know the characteristics of a person who is firmly established in Self-knowledge (sthitaprajña) 

Krishna says, 

1) The man of Self-knowledge is always satisfied with himself and consequently, he is free from all desires 

2) He is independent of the world to be happy. Naturally, he is free from attachment, hatred, desire, anger, fear, elation, depression etc. 

3) Though living in the same world, he enjoys a freedom and contentment which is unknown to others. 

4) The wise man’s mind is independently full. It is undisturbed by the favorable and unfavorable experiences. 

He lives life as a jīvan-mukta (liberated while living) even at the far end of this journey. 

After death, he becomes one with Brahman (nirvāṇam) which is called videha-mukti.

Arjuna asks—“Oh Lord! You seem to confuse me by contradictory statements. Tell me one—knowledge or karma—which will lead me to Mokṣa” 

Bhagavan answers that there are two lifestyles called karma-yoganiṣṭha (social life) and jnana-yoga-niṣṭha (secluded life). 

One can choose anyone of them as a householder or as a monk. 

Krishna condemns inaction and praises an alert and active life. Inaction should be avoided because:

1.  Neither purity nor knowledge can be achieved by that. 

2.Desires force one to act and inaction will be a suppression. 

3. A mind without occupation will be idle. It will brood over sense pleasures.

Such a hypocritical mind will soon fall. 

Thus, karma-yoga is to be pursued because:

1. It contributes to material and spiritual progress (yoga).

2. It is the commandment (niyatam) of the Master of the universe.

3. It is our grateful offering (yajña) to the Lord, acknowledging His gifts.

4. It is the only way of maintaining the harmony (dharma).

Krishna summarizes karma-yoga, giving five conditions:

1)  Always keep the spiritual goal.

2)  One must offer all actions to the Lord.

3)  Don’t be concerned about the result.

4)  Be free from possessiveness; and

5)  Be calm.

Continued......

Love.