Bhagavad Gita : Chanting : Chapter Two : Slokas : 1 to 10: Arjuna’s Sorrow at having to kill elders and relatives deepens, he seeks Krishna’s guidance : Audio
Bhagavad Gita Chapter Two : Arjuna’s sorrow at having to kill elders and relatives deepens and he seeks Krishna’s guidance http://ancientindians.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/gitatwo1to10.mp3
Krishna looked at the great hero Arjuna, who was over come by compassion and whose eyes were brimming over with tears and spoke to him.
(I like to think that Krishna looks kindly at me when I am sorrowing and gives me a few words of wisdom and courage through someone who is near to me at that time!)
Bhagwan, the dispenser of fortunes, Krishna, said, “What a difficult place you have arrived at! It is anArya (ignoble) and leads to infamy and not to heaven! Do not be a klaibya (one of both genders)! It does not suit you! Give up this weakness of heart O scorcher of foes and stand up!”
(Swami Vivekananda’s call to the nation – the first word was uttiSTa – stand up! Kunda Guruji says that Vivekananda is an avataar of nArAyaNa!)
Arjuna said, “How will I kill Bhishma (my darling grandfather) and Drona (my dearest Guru)? How can I target arrows at those, who are worthy of worship? Is it not better to eat alms than kill these elders and enjoy blood stained bhOgAs? I don’t know if it is better to win or lose! The ones we must kill (the sons of Dhritarastra) are the ones without whom, we have no desire to live!
He said, “My nature is destroyed by this pity! My consciousness is clouded with regards to Dharma! You determine and tell me what is s’rEya (welfare) for me. I am your student. I have surrendered to you.
Very rarely does anyone get a student like Arjuna. There are many people who are in dilemnas, but their questions hide a very strong desire. So they ask many people till they get the answer they desire. They don’t have the inner renunciation required to follow the advice of others. And of course there is almost no one who will answer from a standpoint of dharma alone. They will either have a self-interest in the outcome or they will want to side with or against the asker, or they will care ‘what others think’. Besides which they won’t even know what dharma is. And if there are conflicting dharmas then which is the higher one. Also some people like to advice others for the joy of domination. That is why the gItAs are all very important and to me especially the bhagavad gIta. This also why I think people should learn it young and use it as a manual through life and not merely at a retirement age to pass time.
Sankaracharya comments :
And that dispenser of fortunes, (bhagavAn), who is always endowed with the six attributes of gnyAna (knowledge), ais’warya (wealth and prosperity), s’akti (competence), bala (strength), vIrya (valour), tEjah (brilliance), who is without birth (aja), who is unchanging, who is the Is’vara (the master according to whose will the world acts), whose own nature (svabhAva) is eternally pure, knowledgeable and free, having taken under his control (vas’IkRtya), his mAya (illusion), the mUla prakRti (the primordial force), vaiSNavI, whose self is the three guNAs, by his own mAya was born as if he was one with a body, with an intention to grace the world.
Even though there is nothing that he had to gain by it, in order to benefit the world, he taught the dual vaidIka dharmAs to Arjuna, who was drowning in the great ocean of sorrow and illusion, because a dharma that is accepted and practiced by a man of high qualities (adhika guna), will attain heights.
That dharma, as taught by bhagavAn, was bound into the seven hundred verses known as the Gita, by the all knowing vEda vyAsa.
Arjuna said, “I don’t see how to raise myself out of this misery is burning my senses, even if I attain the kingdom of the surAs! (Devas).
Then he said, “O Govinda! I won’t fight!” and he, the one who could control his sleep, fell silent.
Then That one who had controlled all senses, with a hint of a smile, looked at the one who was sorrowing between two armies and addressed him.
I thought that the 2.1 to 2.9 slokas actually belong in chapter 1 along with 1.1 to 1.47, and I guess that they were carried over to the sankhya yoga chapter, because, that is how the adhyaya was divided in the original Mahabharata. Not because they have anything to do with Sankhya philosophy.
I have been having second thoughts as of a couple of days. Arjuna says, “katham bhISmam aham sankhye?” How shall I kill Bhishma (divide him into two or more bits as in beheading etc) in 2.4.
Similarly, in 1.47, the last sloka of chapter one, arjuna sits down in his chariot in ‘sankhya’ – which in this context means battle field.
This second chapter addresses the immortality of the self and it’s “unkillability” if you will!
So Vyasa knew what he was doing when he divided up the chapters. My thoughts sprung from the overload of the name sAnkhya with name of the philosophy!
His choice of words is so apt. Another reason to read the sanskrit text. Someone who is going to listen to 700 verses cannot be sleepy and someone who teaches them must have control over his senses and as Krishna says later (in the anusmRti) in a state of yOga – or – yOgastha!
Other Posts By Me :
The word “Anarya” used in Bhagavad Gita (Mahabharata)
(Click) Bhagavad Gita Complete : Satya Bhashyam (vyAkhyAnam)
Adi Sankara’s and Ramanujacharya’s Gita Bhashya Online
Gita Parayanam : Bhagavad Gita Slokas (with Nyasa, Dhyana, Mahatmya , and sandhis) in Devanagari
Sankara’s Gita Bhasyam (My translation and explanation. Work in Progress.)
- Bhagavad Gita : Chanting : Chapter Two : Slokas : 1 to 10: Arjuna’s Sorrow at having to kill elders and relatives deepens, he seeks Krishna’s guidance : Audio
- Bhagavad Gita : Chanting : Chapter One : Slokas : 24 to End: Arjuna’s Fear that fighting relatives is adharma and will have bad consequences : Audio
- Bhagavad Gita : Chanting : Chapter 1 : Slokas 20 to 23 : Request to assess situation : Audio
- Bhagavad Gita : Chanting : Chapter 1 : Slokas 1 to 19 : Battle Preparation : Audio
- Bhagavad Gita : Chanting : Karanyasa, hrudyaadi nyaasa, dhyana sloka : Audio
As the author of this content I give you permission to reproduce the material on any media as long as you give me credit as the author/photographer/artist and give a link back to this web-site : Satya Sarada Kandula.
