The Nectar of Gita…for you, me and all - Essays on the relevance of Gita to our daily life situations

Om Namo Bhagavthe Vasudevaayaa!

Essay 1

Many of us today are in the cusp of Arjuna’s Sorrow!

The other day when I opened the day’s newspaper, I read about the news of two college going, exam-writing young girls committing suicide together. The news saddened me to the core. Another news item reported that over 150 students committed suicide in the last one year. The possible reasons point to the mounting pressure of studies, the demands of competitive exams, familial and social pressures for top scores and admission to the choicest professional colleges. Unable to cope with the stress, unable to manage expectations, unable to comprehend the broader aspects and niceties of life, these young people snuffed their tender lives out without even having a taste of it.

We keep seeing farmers committing suicide unable to manage debt and the burden of the family; we hear about young and middle-aged professionals falling into deep depression unable to strike a balance between professional aspirations and the demands of personal life. These happenings are not few and far between but are happening with alarming frequency undermining the happiness index of the society. Why this desperation? Why is this fear of the unknown? Why is this meaningless worry about an imagined failure? You may ask many similar questions but the likely answer is that all these are in the cusp of ‘Arjuna’s Sorrow’!

Confused about what is Arjuna’s Sorrow? Let me take you on time machine thousands of years back to the epic battle field of Mahabharatha. There, 18 contingents of soldiers and warriors arrayed against one another in the battle field of Kurukshetra. The epic battle was being fought by the Kouravas on one side and the Pandavas on the other side. They were fighting for the control of the land of Bharath. From the Pandavas side, the vanguard attack was to be led by the great warrior prince Arjuna riding on divine chariot driven by none other than Vasudeva Krishna. As per the war tradition, the warrior or the General has the right to march between the two enemy lines and survey and assess the warriors, weapons and the strength and weaknesses of each side before launching the attack. So Arjuna requested Krishna to run the chariot between the assembled warriors to take stock of the situation and to strategize his attack strategy.

Krishna drove the chariot as requested and Arjuna had a good view of the battle-ready warriors of either side. Suddenly, a pall of gloom descended on him. A huge wave of depression enveloped him. A sense of dejection and deep sorrow shook his heart. He dropped his famed ‘Bow’ down and squatted on the chariot with head bent and a volley of questions besieged his mind. Why is this war? Why should I fight? For what should I fight? For whom should I fight? What would I gain out of this? Would that be a worth the fight?

Imagine a great warrior facing these debilitating questions in a battle field. The situation before him was – ‘do or die’, ‘kill or be killed’, ‘rule the land and wealth or lose everything’!

Do these questions ring a bell somewhere in our mind? Don’t you feel these are some of the questions most of us face in our daily work and family situations when faced with situations that compel us to take some decision? Don’t we find ourselves often caught in the vortex of Arjuna’s Sorrow? Yes, indeed and these questions certainly require convincing answers either from within or from outside failing which, we will be at our wits end not knowing what to do…or mostly doing something which is not in our best interests. Arjuna had the big fortune of having a guru, friend, guide and philosopher like Vasudeva Krishna, who by his wise counsel, guided him to choose the right path leading to positive action.

Don’t we now feel that we also need a wise consul, at times that challenge us in our personal or work situation? For thousands of years, for those who sought its help, Bhagavad Gita (the Voice of God) served like a guiding beacon in helping people resolve their situations with balance of mind.

Let’s see more of this in the next blog!

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!