Bhagwad Gita - Post 17

Dear All,

Arjuna's despondency carried forward from chapter 1, is echoed in this verse in 2^nd chapter.

Verse 8

Na hi prapashyaami mamaapanudyaad

Yacchokam ucchoshanam indriyaanaam;

Avaapya bhoomaavasapatnam riddham

Raajyam suraanaam api chaadhipatyam.

(I do not see that it would remove this sorrow that burns up my senses even if I should attain prosperous and unrivaled dominion on earth or Lordship over the Gods.)

Chinmaya writes,

“Arjuna is indicating here to Krishna the urgency for guidance but for which he would be left to suffer the voiceless agonies of an inward pain. 

The patient is unable to explain or even to indicate vaguely, the source from which the pain is rising in him. This mental sorrow in Arjuna is "blasting" even his sense organs! Under the heavy burden of his sorrows he finds it very difficult even to see or hear things properly. 

Even his Indriyas (sense-organs), are being blasted by the overheated sorrows within him. It is natural for any reasonable human being to feel an intellectual impatience to solve a problem of the mind and thereby make it quiet and peaceful. 

Poor Arjuna also has tried his best to bring some consolation to himself through his own intellectual discrimination. 

The sorrow that he felt was not for the acquisition and possession of any sensuous object in the outer world, because, as his own words indicate, he has already thought over them and found that even an empire comprising the whole earth, flourishing under his kingship --- nay, a lordship over the gods even --- would not have wiped off his sense of sorrow.”

For the kshatriya rulers in general being without enemies is preferable. It may be put forth that Arjuna himself should decide and act; but the reply is that one in delusion needs to hear knowledge of the ultimate truth from those who are qualified. 

Knowledge of the Ultimate Truth helps one cross over this delusion. Wealth and kingdoms are not the means for crossing this delusion and Arjuna asserts this with the words “NA” or not.

The understanding of it is, even if he was to win a kingdom of unrivaled prosperity free from enemies, Arjuna still could not see any means of alleviating the grief that was drying up his senses. By the use of the word “HI” meaning certainly the conviction that he could not see any solution to his grief is reinforced, indicating that only the Lord is fit to instruct him.

Arjuna realized that the sorrow caused as a result of his attachment to his kinsmen was not ordinary. It burrowed deep into his personality and lodged itself in it. This deep rooted sorrow had the effect of totally throwing his senses off track. He was not able to see or hear clearly. This sorrow was not going to be easy to remove.

In this verse, Arjuna also came to the conclusion that what he was looking for could not be found in the material world. If this were the case, he would have been happy with wealth, riches and thrones. But here we see that even supremacy over the gods was something that would not satisfy him.

Arjun’s situation is not unique. This is invariably the situation we sometimes find ourselves in as we go through the journey of life. 

We want happiness, but we experience misery; 

We desire knowledge, but are unable to lift the cloud of ignorance; 

We crave perfect love, but repeatedly meet with disappointment. 

Our acquired knowledge do not provide solutions to these perplexities of life. We need divine knowledge to solve the puzzle of life. 

That treasure chest of divine knowledge is opened when we find a true Guru, one who is situated in transcendence, provided we have the humility to learn from him. Such is the path Arjun has decided to take.

The urgency felt by Arjuna, as is evident from his own words, may be considered as amounting to his burning aspiration for liberating himself from the limitations of a mortal. 

Arjuna reached a point where the only thing that mattered for him was the ultimate cure for sorrow, a cure that was permanent, and not some material thing like wealth that would diminish sorrow temporarily. And this ultimate cure that he was seeking was a higher level of discrimination or viveka that would lead him to liberation.

Love.