Disclaimer: This particular blog series doesn't mean to promote any religion or religious beliefs. This blog is purely for the understanding of life in terms of Righteousness and Unrighteousness from the essence of Bhagvad Gita narrated by Lord Krishna to Warrior Arjun in the battle field of Kurukshetra in Mahabharat. Its a kind request to all of you to read this blog completely in the aspects of meaning of life and how the cycle of our life and death works disregard of any religion, cast or creed.
Before starting the Part-1, let us know...
What is Bhagvad Gita...???
The Gita is a doctrine of universal truth. Its message is universal, sublime, and non-sectarian although it is a part of the scriptural trinity of Sanātana Dharma, commonly known as Hinduism. The Gita is very easy to understand in any language for a mature mind. A repeated reading with faith will reveal all the sublime ideas contained in it. A few abstruse statements are interspersed here and there, but they have no direct bearing on practical issues or the central theme of Gita. The Gita deals with the most sacred metaphysical science. It imparts the knowledge of the Self and answers two universal questions: Who am I, and how can I lead a happy and peaceful life in this world of dualities?
It is a book of yoga, the moral and spiritual growth for mankind, based on the cardinal principles of Hindu religion. The message of the Gita came to humanity because of Arjuna’s unwillingness to do his duty as a warrior because fighting involved destruction and killing. Non-violence or Ahimsā is one of the most fundamental tenets of Hinduism. All lives, human or non-human, are sacred. This immortal discourse between the Supreme Lord, Krishna, and His devotee-friend, Arjuna, occurs not in a temple, a secluded forest, or on a mountain top but on a battlefield on the eve of a war and is recorded in the great epic, Mahābhārata.
In the Gita Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to get up and fight. This may create a misunderstanding of the principles of Ahimsā if the background of the war of Mahābhārata is not kept in mind. Therefore, a brief historical description is in order. In ancient times there was a king who had two sons, Dhritarāshtra and Pāndu. The former was born blind; therefore, Pāndu inherited the kingdom. Pāndu had five sons. They were called the Pāndavas. Dhritarāshtra had one hundred sons. They were called the Kauravs. Duryodhana was the eldest of the Kauravas. After the death of king Pāndu the Pāndavas became the lawful king. Duryodhana was a very jealous person. He also wanted the kingdom. The kingdom was divided into two halves between the Pāndavas and the Kauravas. Duryodhana was not satisfied with his share of the kingdom. He wanted the entire kingdom for himself. He unsuccessfully planned several foul plays to kill the Pāndavas and take away their kingdom. He unlawfully took possession of the entire kingdom of the Pāndavas and refused to give back even an acre of land without a war. All mediation by Lord Krishna and others failed. The big war of Mahābhārata was thus inevitable. The Pāndavas were unwilling participants. They had only two choices: fight for their right as a matter of duty or run away from war and accept defeat in the name of peace and non-violence.
Arjuna, one of the five Pāndava brothers, faced the dilemma in the battlefield whether to fight or run away from war for the sake of peace. Arjuna’s dilemma is, in reality, the universal dilemma. Every human being faces dilemmas, big and small, in their everyday life when performing their duties. Arjuna’s dilemma was the biggest of all. He had to make a choice between fighting the war and killing his most revered guru, very dear friends, close relatives, and many innocent warriors, or running away from the battlefield for the sake of preserving the peace and non-violence. The entire seven hundred verses of the Gita is a discourse between Lord Krishna and the confused Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra near New Delhi, India, in about 3,100 years BCE.
This discourse was narrated to the blind king, Dhritarāshtra, by his charioteer, Sanjaya, as an eye-witness war report. The central teaching of the Gita is the attainment of freedom or happiness from the bondage of life by doing one’s duty. Always remember the glory and greatness of the creator, and do your duty efficiently without being attached to or affected by the results, even if that duty may at times demand unavoidable violence. Some people neglect or give up their duty in life for the sake of a spiritual life while others excuse themselves from spiritual practices because they believe that they have no time. The Lord’s message is to sanctify the entire living process itself. Whatever a person does or thinks ought to be done for the glory and satisfaction of the Maker. No effort or cost is necessary for this process. Do your duty as a service to the Lord and humanity and see God alone in everything in a spiritual frame of mind.
In order to gain such a spiritual frame of mind, personal discipline, austerity, penance, good conduct, selfless service, yogic practices, meditation, worship, prayer, rituals, and study of scriptures, as well as the company of holy persons, pilgrimage, chanting of the holy names of God, and Self- inquiry are needed to purify the body, mind, and intellect. One must learn to give up lust, anger, greed, and establish mastery over the six senses (hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell, and mind) by the purified intellect. One should always remember that all works are done by the energy of nature and that he or she is not the doer but only an instrument. One must strive for excellence in all undertakings but remain calm in success and failure, gain and loss, and pain and pleasure. The ignorance of metaphysical knowledge is humanity’s greatest predicament.
A scripture, being the voice of transcendence, cannot be translated. Language is incapable and translations are defective to clearly impart the knowledge of the Absolute. In this rendering, an attempt has been made to make it easy to read and understand. We have tried to improve the clarity by adding words or phrases within parentheses in the English translation of the verses. The translations of one hundred and International Gita Society 2 thirty-three (133) key verses are printed in underlined bold for the convenience of beginners. We suggest that all our readers ponder, contemplate, and act upon these verses. The beginners and the busy executives should first read and understand the meaning of these key verses before delving deep into the bottomless ocean of transcendental knowledge of the Gita. It is said that there is no human mind that cannot be purified by the repeated study of the Gita just one chapter a day. This book is dedicated to all my gurus whose blessings, grace, and teachings have been invaluable. It is offered to the greatest Guru, Lord Krishna, with love and devotion. May the Lord bless those who repeatedly read this with peace, happiness, and the true knowledge of the Self.
The Essence of Bhagvad Gita will be shared here in total 18 parts, here is its Part-1.
ARJUNA’S DILEMMA:
King Dhritarāshtra said: O Sanjaya, assembled in the holy field of Kurukshetra and eager to fight, what did my people and the Pāndavas do? (1.01)
Sanjaya said: Seeing the battle formation of the Pāndava’s army, King Duryodhana approached his guru and spoke these words: (1.02) O master, behold this mighty army of the sons of Pāndu, arranged in battle formation by your other talented disciple. There are many great warriors, valiant men, heroes, and mighty archers. I shall name a few of them for you. (1.03-06) Also know, O best among the men, the distinguished ones on our side.
Sanjaya said: Seeing the battle formation of the Pāndava’s army, King Duryodhana approached his guru and spoke these words: (1.02) O master, behold this mighty army of the sons of Pāndu, arranged in battle formation by your other talented disciple. There are many great warriors, valiant men, heroes, and mighty archers. I shall name a few of them for you. (1.03-06) Also know, O best among the men, the distinguished ones on our side.
Introduction of the army commanders
I shall name the commanders of my army and many other heroes who have risked their lives for me. They are armed with various weapons, and all are skilled in warfare. (1.07-09) Our army is invincible, while their army is easy to conquer. Therefore, all of you, occupying your respective positions on all fronts, protect our commander, Bhishma. (1.10-11) The mighty Bhishma, the eldest man of the Kuru dynasty, roared as a lion and blew his conch loudly, bringing joy to Duryodhana. (1.12) After that, conches, kettledrums, cymbals, drums, and trumpets were sounded together. The commotion was tremendous. (1.13) Then Lord Krishna and Arjuna, seated in a grand chariot yoked with white horses, blew their celestial conches. (1.14) Krishna blew His conch; then Arjuna and all other commanders of various divisions of the army blew their respective conches. The tumultuous uproar, resounding through earth and sky, tore the hearts of the Kauravas. (1.15-19)
Arjuna wants to inspect the army
Seeing the Kauravas standing, and the war about to begin with the hurling of weapons, Arjuna, whose banner bore the emblem of Lord Hanumāna, took up his bow and spoke these words to Lord Krishna: O Lord, please stop my chariot between the two armies until I behold those who stand here eager for the battle and with whom I must engage in this act of war. (1.20-22) I wish to see those who are willing to serve and appease the evil minded Kauravas by assembling here to fight the battle. (1.23) Sanjaya said: O King, Lord Krishna, as requested by Arjuna, placed the best of all the chariots in the midst of the two armies facing Bhishma, Drona, and all other Kings, and said to Arjuna: Behold these assem- bled Kauravas! (1.24-25) There, Arjuna saw his uncles, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, and comrades. (1.26)
Arjuna's dilemma
Seeing fathers-in-law, companions, and all his kinsmen standing in the ranks of the two armies, Arjuna was overcome with great compassion and sorrowfully said: O Krishna, seeing my kinsmen standing with a desire to fight, my limbs fail and my mouth becomes dry. My body quivers and my hairs stand on end. (1.27-29) The bow slips from my hand, and my skin intensely burns. My head turns, I am unable to stand steady, and O Krishna, I see bad omens. I see no use of killing my kinsmen in battle. (1.30-31) I desire neither victory, nor pleasure nor kingdom, O Krishna. What is the use of the kingdom, or enjoyment, or even life, O Krishna? Because all those for whom we desire kingdom, enjoyments, and pleasures are standing here for the battle, giving up their lives and wealth. (1.32-33) I do not wish to kill teachers, uncles, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other relatives who are about to kill us, even for the sovereignty of the three worlds, let alone for this earthly kingdom, O Krishna. (1.34-35) O Lord Krishna, what pleasure shall we find in killing the sons of Dhritarāshtra? Upon killing these felons, we shall incur only sin. (1.36) Therefore, we should not kill our cousin brothers, the sons of Dhritarāshtra. How can we be happy after killing our relatives, O Krishna? (1.37) Though they, blinded by greed, do not see evil in the destruction of the family, or sin in being treacherous to friends, why should not we, who clearly see evil in the destruction of the family, think about turning away from this sin, O Krishna? (1.38-39) Arjuna describes the evils of war
Eternal family traditions and codes of conduct are destroyed with the destruction of the family. Immorality prevails in the family due to the destruction of family traditions. (1.40) And when immorality prevails, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupted; when women are corrupted, many social problems arise. (1.41) This brings the family and the slayers of the family to hell because the spirits of their ancestors are degraded when deprived of ceremonial offerings of riceball and water. (1.42) The everlasting qualities of social order and family traditions of those who destroy their family are ruined by the sinful act of illegitimacy. (1.43) We have been told, O Krishna, that people whose family traditions are destroyed necessarily dwell in hell for a long time. (1.44)
"When the going gets tough, even tough ones can get deluded"
Alas! We are ready to commit a great sin by striving to slay our relatives because of greed for the pleasures of the kingdom. (1.45) It would be far better for me if the sons of Dhritarāshtra should kill me with their weapons in battle while I am unarmed and unresisting. (1.46) Sanjaya said: Having said this in the battlefield and casting aside his bow and arrow, Arjuna sat down on the seat of the chariot with his mind overwhelmed with sorrow. (1.47)
[To be Continued........]
JAI HIND!
Click Here to Read: The Essence Of Bhagvad Gita (Part-2): Transcendental Knowledge
[To be Continued........]
JAI HIND!
Click Here to Read: The Essence Of Bhagvad Gita (Part-2): Transcendental Knowledge
The Essence Of Bhagvad Gita @ Deepak Agrawal Blogs 2017
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