Om Namo
Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!
Arjuna’s Predicament
(Chapter 1 – Arjuna Vishadha Yogam)
When Krishna takes the chariot between the
rows of the two warring sides on the great battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna
looks at the line up the great warriors on both the sides. Then suddenly a wave
of compassion and sorrow besieges Arjuna. He tells Krishna in a sorrow filled
voice that, his body was trembling out of disgust; his throat was drying up;
his knees were buckling; his famous bow was slipping out of his hand; his head
was reeling; his heart was throbbing with sorrow and that he was not in a
position to even stand. Explaining his physical and mental condition, Arjuna with
tear-filled eyes slumped on the floor of the chariot dropping his weapons down.
A large number of doubts and troubling questions clouded his mind. Mustering strength,
Arjuna looked at Krishna and tried to explain what questions were troubling
him.
1 What is the use of killing all these relatives
in war? what do I gain out of it?
2 I am not desirous of victory, kingdom and
pleasures associated with them. What is the purpose of these anyway?
3 We generally desire all these for the benefit
of our family, elders and relatives. But I see all of them …teachers, grandfathers,
uncles, brothers, children and other relatives all standing before me either to
kill me or to be killed by me. Then what is all this for?
4 Even though they are ready to kill me, I have
no intention to kill them even for the Lordship over heaven. Then what to talk
of an ordinary earthly kingdom?
5 Tell me how can I be happy killing these
cousins even though they are cruel and devious? Afterall these are my own kith
and kin.
6 Even assuming that the Kouravas do not realise
the sins of betraying their own brothers and are blind to the consequences of
total annihilation of the family, why should we, who can discriminate between
right and wrong, resort to such a destructive war?
7 If the family males die in the war, the family
line and the traditions come to an end. Family dharma comes to danger. Family
values get destroyed, intermingling happens and the dead souls do not get
proper homage. This leads to further deterioration of Dharma. For the sake of a
kingdom, aren’t we responsible for causing all this mayhem?
8 Instead, if I drop my weapons and even if the Kouravas
kill me, I will still be gaining on all fronts. I will be saved from the
disgrace of killing my own kith and kin; I will be saved from the sin of destroying
family lines and traditions; all my relatives stay alive; by doing all these I
will get the doors of moksha. Wouldn't I ?
These questions on the face of it, look very
sincere and appear to have come out naturally of a noble person like Arjuna. These
questions indicate the state of mind of a person confronted with a grave
situation. The gravity of the problem and the possible consequences, short term
as well as long term tend to push the person’s mind into a great dilemma. Discretion
may fail, reason may be clouded by biases, thinking may not be deep as it would
be enveloped by emotions.
This looks more or less similar to many
problems in work and life we face in daily life. It would not be uncommon for us
at times, also to fall into such a trap of emotions. So, we can look at the predicament
of Arjuna and try to draw analogy to our real-life situations. The need of a
good mentor or a wise counsel arises in such a situation. Let us see how
Bhagavan Krishna addresses these concerns of Arjuna as we move on.
***
1
Yes, emotions cloud once thinking as seen in Arjuna's predicament. In such a situation, in real life, we find ourselves not able to follow the right direction
ReplyDeleteYes. There lies in the need for a right Guru.Our search should continue for the right Guru. He will find us then.
ReplyDelete