व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे ।
तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् ॥३-२॥
Transliteration:
In a dilemma as to which path to follow, Arjuna asks Lord Krishna to explicitly detail what path Arjuna must finally follow to win battle of Mahabharata and also succeed in life. Arjuna wanted Lord Krishna to decide his goal of life. This was a wrong surmise on part of Arjuna. Although Lord Krishna was embodiment of God Almighty… an avatar, saviour… messiah of his times (God manifest in human form) still, it was not for Lord Krishna to decide goal of life for Arjuna!
In the battle of Mahabharata between Pandavas and Kauravas, lord Krishna was only acting as guide… a truthful person in whom anyone could place absolute trust. The sermon of Bhagavad Gita in the battle of Mahabharata was not directed towards any particular individual human being! All Lord Krishna wanted was re-establishment of Dharma (righteousness) against evil forces of adharma (lawlessness).
As Kauravas were hell-bent fighting Pandavas on minor issues… the sermon of Bhagavad Gita was directed towards Arjuna as he was the only competent person in the entire battle of Mahabharata who could truly understand what Lord Krishna had to say. Arjuna had absolute trust in Lord Krishna. Even Lord Krishna trusted Arjuna above all present. This resulted from Arjuna being a nishkama karma Yogi, one not after fruits of karma performed!
Lord Krishna knew well that if he succeeds in convincing Arjuna to fight battle of Mahabharata… Pandavas would win the battle. Whatever logic, principles of life Lord Krishna explained to Arjuna… all were directed towards Arjuna reaching his own conclusions! At no stage of battle of Mahabharata, Lord Krishna was imposing! In the field of pure spirituality nothing truly could be imposed on one. We all had free will, power of discrimination to decide things on merit.
Lord Krishna imparted to Arjuna plus and minus aspects of both path of jnana yoga and nishkama karma yoga! It was up to Arjuna to decide what was right for him. He could consult Lord Krishna on any issue but he could never ask Lord Krishna to ascertain his goal of life! Knowing well that Lord Krishna bid good of all… still, Arjuna confused over merits of indulging in karma yoga when path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) led one directly to God Almighty.
Until now, Arjuna had not yet established total control over Moha (deep emotional attachments). His love towards maternal grandfather Bhishma Pitamah, his revered teacher Guru Dronacharya and various cousins, relatives and friends stopped him from indulgence in war! By indulging in discussions with Lord Krishna… Arjuna only wanted to ascertain one that was best for him! When future of a country was at stake, taking decisive and timely action merits time.
Arjuna emphasizing on Lord Krishna to take decisions on his behalf was meaningless. Lord Krishna knew well that unless Arjuna was satisfied from within… he would never agree for war with an army consisting of his cousins, relatives and friends! In Hinduism… such a discussion is termed Satsanga where like-minded people meet and discuss common matters in life. Even though ball lay in court of Arjuna still, Arjuna asks Lord Krishna to prevail!
The Explanation:
Before start of battle of Mahabharata Lord Krishna offered his services to both Kaurava and Pandava camps. It was battle of Dharma (righteousness) being fought against evil forces of adharma (lawlessness). So that people do not point fingers, Lord Krishna initially asked Kaurava king Duryodhana what he wanted from Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna had two things to offer… his entire army and his personal self.
Duryodhana who was materially oriented could not look into the disguise. He preferred army of Lord Krishna not realizing that in absence of Lord Krishna… his army was meaningless! In the battle of Mahabharata, Lord Krishna finally became charioteer of Arjuna. It was then he delivered sermon of Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna to fight awaited Dharma yuddha (battle of Dharma) to root out evil forces of adharma (lawlessness) forever.
Even before battle of Kurukshetra began Lord Krishna knew what would finally happen. Lord Krishna always was with righteous people. He never favored Duryodhana who sided with wickedness. Lord Krishna… an embodiment of truth but only truth always preferred Arjuna to Duryodhana. The sermon of Bhagavad Gita was directed towards mankind gaining those hidden subtle precepts of life, knowing which any human being world over could gain enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) in present life.
Even though precepts of spirituality stood at a higher level than concepts of karma yoga but as per sermon of Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna… unless human beings indulged in nishkama karma yoga, one could never travel path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) and as ordained by God Almighty. Jnana yoga (path of absolute wisdom) helped human beings negate karma to zero forever. In absence of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) none world over could reduce dross impurities within a soul atman, the spirit within.
The entire wisdom contained in sacred scriptures of different religions of world was directed towards removal of ignorance within human beings. As our ignorance lessened bit by bit… one experienced higher realms of spirituality! Indulging in sacred scriptures of Hinduism when human beings negated karma to zero, one finally reached stage of self realization; God realization… termed enlightenment in English. The doctrine of jnana yoga and karma yoga were interrelated. One could not subsist in absence of other.
For normal human beings it was not easy to distinguish between precepts of jnana yoga and nishkama karma yoga. Even Arjuna… an accomplished Karma Yogi found it difficult to assimilate teachings of Bhagavad Gita delivered by Lord Krishna. He asks Lord Krishna in certain times about what path Arjuna must finally follow… not realizing that in field of pure spirituality, all decisions have to be taken by the individual self and not the preceptor. No matter what happened… Lord Krishna would have never given Arjuna definite answers.
After hearing sermon of Bhagavad Gita, it was for Arjuna to decide, distinguish right from wrong! Mounted with power of discrimination, free will Arjuna was to decide what was better for him and his kingdom! It was absolute faith of Arjuna in Lord Krishna that finally prompted him taking right decisions later in life. Mounted with power of truth and faith in God Almighty, Arjuna finally decides to fight his arch enemy… Kauravas to re-establish Dharma (righteousness) on mother earth! As per sermon of Bhagavad Gita… in face of severe adversities, adharma (lawlessness), what mattered was uplifting Dharma (righteousness)… nothing more!
The sermon of Bhagavad Gita was delivered by Lord Krishna to Arjuna above 3600 years before now. Even in present times people approached religious and spiritual masters to decide their journey, goal of life! At this juncture of life we failed to realize that human form was the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle. It was only in human form our soul atman, the consciousness within finally succeeds in regaining its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form when human beings gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation moksha in their life.
We must never belittle power of discrimination, free will with which all human beings have been endowed with by grace of God Almighty! It is exercising free will any human being world over can manifest destiny forever. The roots of success always lay in enacting right karma at the right moment. By indulging in nishkama karma yoga (offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time), serious seekers of spirituality could always travel path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) as detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism.
We could never shift personal responsibility to shoulders of spiritual masters, preceptors! All spiritual gurus can only act as a guide in the journey of life but the requisite karma needs to be performed by us alone. That was how God Almighty ordained life on mother earth to be.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – May 18, 2013
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