Systematic overview of all Bhagavad-gita verses in 50 hours

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, on the Kaurava side, the commander is Bhishma. But Duryodhana does not go to Bhishma. He is going to Dronacharya.
Because he suspects about the commitments of both these personalities. He is doubtful about the commitment of Dronacharya and Bhishma. So, what he does is, he goes to Dronacharya because Dronacharya is a Brahmana and he is an Acharya.
So, he goes to the teacher to consult. And while going there, he will also talk about Bhishma. And that way he will try to balance both of them.
And especially, he sees that the military has been arranged very nicely and he wants to incite Dronacharya for that. And that’s why he chooses Dronacharya and not Bhishma. So, what are the words that he speaks? So, now interestingly here, So, there is no Dronacharya in the Bhagavad Gita.
So, he is just teaching those words. So, sarcasm. Sarcasm.
Because sometimes when we want to incite a person into action, then somebody is very lazy. You are doing this work so fast. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu will also do that.
Oh, you have cleaned so nicely. That person will become embarrassed. So, he is saying, Tavasishya, he is your disciple who is working against you now.
The enemy which you have to fight has been arranged by your disciple. So, his implication is that, as a Brahmana, you think you will be impartial, but that impartiality got you into trouble. So, don’t be impartial now.
You are on my side, you fight wholeheartedly for my side. And especially we know he has enmity with Drupada. So, therefore, he is not just using Drupada, he is using the word Drupada Putre.
And he starts doing an assessment. He will first assess, as it is described over there, first he will assess the forces on the Pandavas’ side and then on his own side. So, again he brings the word Drupada.
Just to incite Dhruvacharya. And then he compares all of them to Bhima and Arjuna. So, for him, he is afraid of Bhima.
And he knows Arjuna is the most formidable warrior. So, he compares others with these two people. And who are the people from Yudhano is Satyaki.
Satyaki is a student of Arjuna. He is one of the Yadus. So, the Yadu army fights.
The whole Sena goes to the Kaurava side. Krishna comes to the Pandava side. But the individuals, Satyaki comes with Krishna.
And Krithavarman is a friend of the Kauravas. So, he goes to the Kauravas. He is not exactly a friend of the Kauravas.
But because the army is going there, he has to go there. So, apart from these two personalities, none of the Yadus are fighting. The Yadus are not fighting in the war.
Satyaki, Yudhana is on this side. Krithavarman is on that side. And when they start fighting, because for him the greatest danger is Bhima and Arjuna, he compares everyone with them.
Now, he does not focus on Arjuna because his goal is to inspire inside Dhruvacharya to fight. And Dhruvacharya already has too much affection towards Arjuna. So, he does not harp on Arjuna, but he compares others with Arjuna.
And then he goes forward and he says, So, it’s interesting, if you see the Krishna book, Krishna has been killing demons right from his childhood. There are so many demons coming and Krishna kills Kamsa. And now, at this time, Krishna has come from Mathura to Dwarka.
He is Dwarakadheesh. And after killing so many demons also, still there are so many Narapungas, there are so many kings, who are ready to be on Duryodhana’s side. And that’s why Duryodhana’s army is bigger than Pandava’s army.
So, Janasandha has been killed and Shishupal, Lantavakra, all of them have been killed. But in spite of that, even in the time of Krishna, so many demoniac kings were there. So, the nature of this world, because Kali Yuga was about to start, the adharma was very very high.
So, he will give a few names on his side, on the opposite side he will come to his own side. So, now, So, Maharatha refers to one charioteer who can fight at one time with 100,000 charioteers. Ardharatha is one who can fight with 60,000 chariot warriors.
Ratha is one who can fight with one chariot warrior. And Ardharatha is one who cannot fight with even one chariot warrior. So, at the start of the battle, Bhishma, when he is told to assist the two parties, he calls Karna as Ardharatha.
And Karna is incensed. Now, everybody knows this is not true, but Bhishma sees that Karna is very arrogant. Just to cut down his arrogance, he says that.
And Karna gets so angry, he says, I will not fight. I will not fight as long as Bhishma is here. Because if I fight and win the war, Bhishma will get the credit.
Then, now it is interesting, now after this war, he will bring Karna. Although Karna is not there on the battlefield and he is assessing the army, but Karna is very much in the mind of Duryodhana. Because he knows, Karna is, he is not sure about how much committed Bhishma and Drona are.
But he knows Karna is 100% committed. So, although Karna is not there on the battlefield, Karna is there in his mind. And he is comparing.
So, warriors, he comes to his own side now. So, now he wants to encourage Dronacharya by saying, first he wants to incite him by saying, see all those warriors are there. But don’t think anybody is left on my side also.
So, he starts describing his warriors now. asmā kanta-viśiṣṭhāye kāṇḍibodha-vijyottama nāyakaṁ saññārthaṁ tāṅkravīte Vijyottama, he is referring to Dronacharya as the best of the Brāhmaṇas. Because he again wants to encourage him.
Saññārthaṁ, saññā refers to, as we know, noun. Saññā refers to that which so every battle, every warrior has a particular symbol, a particular code by which he can be identified. So, saññārthaṁ, I am going to give you the information of the different warriors now.
And then he starts speaking. Now he has a crisis. Because he is thinking, Bhishma is the senior most and Bhishma is the commander.
So, whose name should I start first with? If I start with, if I write in front of Dronacharya and if I mention Bhishma first, Drona might feel offended. But if I don’t speak Bhishma first, will Bhishma be offended? He thinks no. Dronacharya is a Brāhmaṇa.
Therefore, he will not be offended. So, he speaks Drona first and then he speaks Bhishma. So, as I said, because Karna is already in his mind, so first he thinks about these two and as soon as these two are over, he thinks of Karna.
Actually, there is another much more senior person there, that is Kripa. So, therefore, now he has to make up. So, he gives an adjective to describe Kripa.
Kripaśca samitiṁ jayaḥ. He is always victorious. In this way, he tries to balance out.
Kripaśca samitiṁ jayaḥ. Now, as you know, Ashwatthama, he is trying to please Dronacharya. So, he talks about two relatives of his, Kripa and Ashwatthama.
Now, Vikarna is not a very dedicated, not a very formidable warrior. But he is afraid. Why is he afraid? Because Vikarna was only one of the hundred Kaurava brothers who objected when Draupadi was being disrobed.
And Draupadi challenged the assembly. Nobody spoke. But Vikarna spoke.
He said, this is unjust. And Karna shot him down. So, he was afraid that he might defect over.
So, according to the codes of war, during the battle, nobody can defect, after the battle has started. But before the battle starts, one party can go to the other side. So, just after this gets over, Bhagavad Gita gets over, Yudhishthira will make an announcement.
So, all of you know that the cause for which I am fighting is righteous. If any of you want to give up and come to the cause of righteousness, I welcome you to open arms. At that time, Yudhishthira emerges from there.
Yudhishthira is the son of Dhritarashtra through a maidservant. So, the half-brother of the Kauravas. He is not mentioned over here.
But that defection happens. Actually, it is Yudhishthira who does the funeral rites for the Kauravas. Because the whole generation is killed.
Practically speaking. All the hundred sons are killed and their sons are also killed in the rites. Yudhishthira alone remains.
Because he is afraid that Vikarna might defect. So, although Vikarna is not in that calibre, he mentions Vikarnashtra. Saumadatti.
Saumadatti is Bhurishrava, son of Saumadatta. He is also a very formidable warrior. He was killed by Arjuna.
First he was wounded by Arjuna and killed by Satyaki on the 13th day when they killed Jayadratha. So, now he speaks, there are many others also. Then he goes, generalises.
Anye cha bahava shoora, madarthe chakta jeevita, nana shastra praharna, sarve yuddha visharadaha. So, nana shastra praharna. They are expert, are equipped for expert.
Visharadaha, the expert in fighting. So, actually, sometimes Saraswati speaks to the demons to pronounce the truth. So, what is he saying? Actually, grammatically speaking, what is he saying? Chakta jeevitaha.
So, chakta is the past tense in grammar. They have given up their life for my sake. Actually, what he wants to say is, they are ready to give their life for my sake.
They are so dedicated to me. So, he is trying to say that you should also be dedicated like them. But Saraswati remembers his son and makes him speak.
Chakta jeevitaha, they have given up their life for me. And Vishwanath Chaturthi says that Krishna will, in the 11th chapter, 33rd verse, when he gives the Vishwaroopadarshan, he says, tasmātma-tishta-śaula-vasva-jitvāśyatana-mokṣa-rājasaṁ mayai vaite nihataḥ pūrvameva All of them are killed by me already only. So, he correlates this.
So, because they are already killed, Krishna speaks that later. But now, Saraswati speaks this to him. Matarthe chakta jeevitaha.
They are ready to give up their life. But he speaks indirectly, they have given up their life for me. And then, after giving this comparison, he gives a summary of their two forces.
This is a very interesting insight of something which we will encounter repeatedly in Ācārya Gītā. An apparent contradiction between the ācāryas. We will come to that.
aparyāptam tad asmākam balambhīmābhirakṣitam paryāptam tvaidame teṣām balambhīmābhirakṣitam Yes. So, now the word paryāptam and aparyāptam. So, the word paryāptam can mean two things.
One is limited and unlimited. Or one can be sufficient and insufficient. So, when the prefix or comes in Sanskrit, it can magnify or it can oppose.
In both ways it can happen. So, Prabhupāda follows mostly Baladevidyābhūṣit. Prabhupāda dedicates his commentary also to Baladevidyābhūṣit.
Gītābhūṣit commentary. So, Prabhupāda translates this as our strength is immeasurable. It is unlimited.
Their strength is measurable. Now, Chakravartī Parīkṣit is exactly opposite. He says our strength is insufficient and their strength is sufficient.
So, now what exactly, why is there this apparent difference? Actually, Baladevidyābhūṣit is a Gattu ācārya. And Viṣṇāśrī Kṛṭhākura is a Rafik ācārya. So, little background.
In our sampradāya, before Śrīla Prabhupāda, three main ācāryas have commented in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is quoted extensively by Jīva Goswāmī in his Andharvas. And it is also talked about occasionally by Chaitanya Mahāprabhu in his discussions.
Although Chaitanya Mahāprabhu focusses more on Bhāgavatam. So, the first ācārya to write a complete commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā is Viṣṇāśrī Kṛṭhākura. So, he wrote his commentary called Sārārtha Darshini.
Then, after that, Baladevidyābhūṣit wrote the Gītābhūṣit. So, Baladevidyābhūṣit wrote two commentaries, Sārārtha Varshini and Sārārtha Darshini. Sārārtha Varshini is his Bhagavad-gītā commentary.
Sārārtha Darshini is his Bhāgavatam commentary. Now, after him, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura wrote two commentaries. Although he did not comment on all the verses, either at the beginning or at the end.
One is Gītārañjan and the second is Arsikrañjan. And Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura personally did not comment on the Bhagavad-gītā. But Śrīla Prabhupāda commented and he dedicated his Bhagavad-gītā to Baladevidyābhūṣit.
Now, if we see, Prabhupāda did not comment on Brahma Samhita because he said that my spiritual master has already commented and it will be marādhā adhikrama. But we see Baladevidyabhūṣit is like the direct disciple of Viṣṇuji Ṭhākura. And still Baladevidyabhūṣit also comments on the Gītā.
And if we look at it, the two Gītās, they appear to be quite different. Yes, he occasionally refers, but not very frequently does he refer to Viṣṇuji Ṭhākura’s commentary in his commentary, Baladevidyabhūṣit. Because according to time, place, circumstance.
So we know historically that Baladevidyabhūṣit had to defend the Gauḍīya sampradāya when it was challenged in which place? Jaipur. Jaipur, yes. When those deities were, Rādhārāṇī was separated from Kṛṣṇa from the altar because of the effect of the Rāmānandīs.
So now in the traditional Vedic scholarly circles, for every sampradāya to be established as authoritative, that sampradāya’s teachers should write commentaries on three books. These are called the prasthāna trāya. Prasthāna is like the pillar or the foundation.
So trāya is three. So the prasthāna trāya is śruti. It’s basically Vedānta-sūtra, Bhagavad-gītā and Upaniṣad.
So Vedānta-sūtra, Bhagavad-gītā and Upaniṣad. So in our sampradāya, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says the natural commentary in the Vedānta-sūtra is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There’s no need to write any other commentary.
But by the time, so that’s why none of our ācāryas wrote the commentary before Baladevidyabhūṣit. But when this argument was presented by Baladevidyabhūṣit to the Rāmānanda, Rāmānanda says this is just your excuse. You don’t have any commentary, that’s why you’re saying like this.
He says, no, we can’t write a commentary. So then, because he had to establish the bodhisampradāya as authoritative, he wrote commentaries on Vedānta-sūtra, which is Govinda-vāsya. He wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā also, Gītābhūṣit.
And he wrote a commentary on the ten principles of Upaniṣad also. So that way, because he had to establish a siddhānta, so he wrote his commentary. Now, Baladevidyabhūṣit is focussing more on tattva, philosophical truth.
And Viṣṇujanaśruta also talks about tattva, but he focusses more on rasa. So, from tattva point of view, from the factual point of view, Bhishma is much more powerful. He’s far more experienced, he’s far more expert, and he has so much counsel, he has actually been trained by Parashurama.
So Bhishma, from the military skill and military valour point of view, Bhishma is more powerful. That’s why, guarded by Bhishma, our strength is immeasurable. That’s what Baladevidyabhūṣit says.
Now what Viṣṇujanaśruta says is, that yes, actually one’s fighting performance will be determined not just by one’s fighting skills, but by one’s fighting spirit. And as far as the fighting spirit is concerned, Bhishma’s heart is not there in the war. Because Bhishma loves the Pandavas.
And had it not been for the strange quirk of fate, by which he took a vow that I will always serve the ruling king of the Kuruvangas, he would not be there on the Kaurava side. But he has to be there. So, because he loves the Pandavas, he knows their causes just, so his heart is not there so much in the war.
And that’s why in the Mahabharata, repeatedly, Viṣṇujanaśruta comes and tries to incite Bhishma to fight. On the other hand, what about Bhishma? His heart was there in the war from 14 years. He has been wanting for the war to start.
And because his heart is fully there in the war, that’s why Viṣṇujanaśruta says that their strength is greater. So, their aparayāpta would mean, at immeasurable. So, from sattva point of view, what Baldevī Devotee says and what Śrīla Prabhupāda follows is that, Bhishma’s side is greater.
Because Bhishma is more experienced. From rasa point of view, because Bhima has more fighting spirit, so he is greater. So that’s why, sometimes there may be some apparent contradiction in the ācāryas.
But the ācāryas have one purpose. Just like there is a difference of opinion between, say, Bhima and… Are you interested in Bhima? What to do with āśatma? But both of them have the purpose of serving Krishna. But there is a difference of opinion between Bhima and Duryodhana, of what to do.
One is demoniac and other is a devotee. So, there is a difference. So, like that, different ācāryas may give different interpretation in certain verses.
But they are all common in the purpose of glorifying Krishna. But when a Māyāvādī gives a commentary, actually they are completely minimising Krishna. Therefore, their purpose is very different.
And, now, after glorifying Bhishma, now he thinks that, Oh, Bhishma, you know, certainly he is the senior most warrior, but because we don’t know how committed he will be, he says that, yes, we have to make sure that others also protect him. So, if we take that Bhima’s commitment is lacking, then it means others have to make sure that, if Bhima doesn’t fight voluntarily, you should fight. Or if we say that Bhishma is our most important warrior, then we have to make sure that the enemy doesn’t attack and kill him.
Because then our whole plan will be devastated. So, all of us should protect him. That’s where the next verse comes.
ayaneṣu ca sarvesu yathā bhāgama vastitah bhishma mevābhirakṣantu bhavantar sarva evahi Now, when Bhishma is at rest, in two verses, Bhishma gets tired. What is all this politicking going on? It’s enough now. Let’s start the battle.
So, he starts doing his concert. tasya sanjanayan harisham guru-vriddha-pitāmaha simmanādhaṁ vinadyocchai saṅkhaṁ dhanmau pratāpavān simmanādhaṁ vinadyocchai So, for the warriors, just like certain businessmen sport their own cars, or certain cricketers have their own bags, so all warriors have their own weapons, but the start of the war is inaugurated by the conch. So, everybody has their own conch.
So, Bhishma, on one side, he’s fed up with Duryodhana. On the other side, he also, you know, he’s my grandson, so I have to encourage him. tasya sanjanayan harisham Now, I invoke the fighting spirit in Duryodhana.
The fight is about to start. And then it is said, how everybody else also starts. So, tumulobhava.
So, actually, Sanskrit and, as we know, English, the languages originated from the Greek and the Roman languages. And the Greek and Roman originally came from Sanskrit. You know, when the Kali Yuga started off, many of the kings from India went out.
Especially in the time of Parashuram, they started going out. And Kali Yuga started, the rule of the Indian monarch, emperor got loosened, so they got disconnected. There are remarkable linguistic similarities between Sanskrit and Greek and Roman.
So, tumulo is related with a tumultuous. So, there are some indications we get throughout the Gita like this. Now, the focus shifts.
The first time there is a focus on Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. And a very beautiful entry of Krishna is there. So, sometimes in a movie, when the hero is making his first entry, they will show a car moving, the brakes squeal, and then you show the legs coming out, and then you see the camera moving upward and upward, and then you see the hero.
So, like that, when he is describing Krishna, beautiful white horses are there. And behind the white horses, a magnificent chariot is there. And then, who is there in the chariot? There is Krishna and there is Arjuna.
But the striking contrast is that, the hero is not the warrior, he is the charioteer. The hero is there, so you have a hero. That doesn’t happen in the movie.
The hero is not the shopper of somebody else. But Krishna is like that. Actually, the same entry is there even in the Bhagavatam.
Krishna enters in the Bhagavatam in the 7th chapter, son of Dronacharya. And there also he is the charioteer of Arjuna. And this is the Bhaktavatsal mode.
And he describes, of course, because both of them are the lord and the devotee, they are considered to be transcendental. So, from the other side, the call of war comes out. So, they also respond to the call of war.
And now he describes how the different Pandavas start responding. PANCHE JANYAM RISHI KESHO DEVADASTHAM DHANANJAYA MAURAM DASNAVU MAHASHANKAM BHIMAKARMAM RIKODARA So, Krishna and Arjuna describe first time. Interesting, you see, Yudhishthir, although he is righteous, he is not the most powerful of all the warriors.
And that’s why while assessing them, Duryodhana does not even mention Yudhishthir. And even while the focus goes to the Pandavas, first it’s Krishna and Arjuna, then it’s Bhima, and after that, Yudhishthir will come. Actually, when Kunti is supposed to get sons, so Pandu gives his logic.
He first asks, you know, now my son is supposed to become my successor. So, I want a son who will be very, very righteous. Therefore, you go to Dharamraja and get a son who is righteous.
So, you get the son, and then he thinks, yes, righteousness is very important, but righteousness alone is not enough. You know, a Kshatriya should also have strength. Therefore, please give me one more son who will be extremely strong.
And he gets Bhima. But then he starts thinking that, you know, for a Kshatriya, just strength alone is also not enough. One has to have skill.
One has to have expertise. So, give me a son who will have tremendous skill. And then he gets Arjuna.
Again, of course, we know. So, he finishes his desires over there. Then Madhuri comes and says, what about me? You have not given any sons to me.
Then he gets two more sons. One who is a very expert horseman and second is one who is an expert picker. So, that way, he gets five sons with five different qualities.
So, as far as the battle is concerned, after Bhima and Arjuna mentioned, now after this, you will have Yudhishthira being mentioned. But now Bhima has a special adjective. What is that? Bhrukodara.
So, udara is belly. Bhruka is very heavy or strong or powerful. So, his belly will work overtime.
So, we know that. We have this Virjalekha that she is telling. Isn’t it? Bhima said, you know, I can’t fast.
He went to Vyasadeva and said, I can’t fast. He said, no, you have to fast. Manikkatha, he said, no, I can’t fast.
He said, therefore, at least make some arrangement. I cannot fast every week, every fortnight. He said, once a year you fast.
And you get the full credit for all of that. So, Bhima, he had a huge appetite. At the same time, as Prabhupada carefully qualified, he was not only a huge eater, but he was also a huge worker, performer of herculean tasks.
So, Prabhupada would say that, sometimes devotees would overeat, and Prabhupada would eat so much. Prabhupada said, if you eat too much, don’t go to sleep after eating. You work hard and you digest all the food.
But generally, it’s easy to do the first part. Second part is not so easy. Actually, when the Kauravas would, when the Pandavas were in the, first Rangyat was, first one was, after the Varnavat was burnt.
So, actually Bhima would carry all the Pandavas. He would just run out. Everybody else would get tired, because he had so much, you know, he would eat so much, they thought that he was heavy and unwieldy.
He was very strong and very powerful, because of his weight he had tremendous reserve energy. So, everybody else would get exhausted, but still he had reserve energy. He would carry the four Kauravas brothers, four Pandavas brothers, as well as Kunti.
He would just run to the forest. So, he would perform herculean deeds. So, now after this is said, now he goes to the other.
Ananta Vijayam Raja Kunti, Putra Yudhishthira, Sukhosa Mani Pushpaka, Kasyasya Parameshwasha, Dhristadyumna Viratasya, Dhrupada Rupaneyasya, Saurashtra Mahabahu, Yes. Ananta Vijayam. So, Saubhadra is Abhinavanya.
He is a very powerful warrior. And his role will come up later as we know. I will describe all these warriors.
And now, so how it was? When the Kauravas blow their conchshells, the effect was that there is a huge amount of noise. But there is no effect on the Pandavas. When the Pandavas speak, blow their conchshells, it is not just a huge noise.
That noise is described and the effect of that sound is described. In the next verse. Shattered the heart.
So they got a heart attack. So, normally when we go for Mangala Aarti, you know, if we have not reached the temple hall when the conchshell blows, we get a heart attack. So those who are inside the temple hall are the Pandavas.
They are happy when the conchshell blows. Those who are not yet reached, they are the Kauravas. So now, here, moreover the assessment of the forces had got over.
Now let us see what happens after that. Hrishikesham Tadavakyam Nidamaha Mahipate Yes. So, Kapil Bhaja Bhaja is flag.
Kapil is monkey. So now, every warrior has his own flag. It is called the standard.
So every warrior has his own standard. And from far away, even if one is not able to see who is the warrior in the chariot, one can guess by noticing the standard. One knows who it is.
So, Arjuna had a monkey standard. And when Bheema and Hanuman met in Badrikashram, in the mountainous area, at the request of Bheema, Hanuman decided to manifest himself through the symbol of the monkey. So, was there actually Hanuman there or not? Yes, Hanuman decided to manifest himself.
And actually when Duryodhana sees for the first time, he says, that standard, that monkey appears to be alive. How is it alive? It does not appear to be alive, it is actually alive. And, especially when the war would start, Hanuman promises Bheema that by my roaring I will strike terror in the hearts of the Kauravas.
So, they see that there are so many warriors here, but this roaring sound, where is it coming from? Because there is no monkey on their side. And Hanuman is not like ordinary monkey also. His roaring is thunderous.
So, although he does not actively participate in the war, but he is there to encourage the Pandavas and to demoralise the Kauravas. So, he does that. So, because Hanuman was on the victorious side, and the Lord was also there, at that time Lord Ram.
So, now it is an indication that he is going to be victorious. And it is described that he is holding his bow, and the bow is raised for fighting. But at that time, Hrishikesha, the word used for Hrishikesha is Hrishikesha.
He is the controller of the senses. So, both Bhandavidya and Pashyamavidya would describe that when Krishna came to this world, he exhibited his pastimes, and by beholding those pastimes, everybody would get liberated. But Krishna was thinking, what about those souls who are not present right now? How will they get liberated? For them, I should teach them the path of Dharma.
And to teach them the path of Dharma, I have to speak the message of Dharma. And therefore, by the will of Krishna, Arjuna goes into illusion. Therefore, Hrishikesha, Hrishikesha is the controller of the senses.
So, Arjuna’s senses get into delusion by the will of Krishna. So, here Mahipate refers to Uttarashtra. Mahi is the earth, Pate is the thing.
This is what he spoke. So, what did he speak? So, now, you never fail in delivering your devotee, in protecting your devotee. So, now, Arjuna also knows, So, we can see Arjuna’s situation from two perspectives.
One is that actually he is going into illusion by Krishna’s will. But still, even if it is by Krishna’s will, there is a process by which the illusion happens. So, Arjuna knows, I am making an extraordinary request, because his conscience has been blown, and the water should start.
Now, instead of sending arrows on the opposite side, what is the meaning of sending a child in between? Therefore, he says, I am going to ask you for something which is extraordinary, but I know you never fail to satisfy your devotee. You are infallible. Therefore, Achyuta, please follow, do what I am telling you.
What does he say? I want to go in the middle of Senairubharmadya. Now, Krishna wonders, why do you want to place it there? You know, you are not… So, he says, I want to see. I want to nirikshayam.
See, sometimes the word nirikshayam. See. And he says, I want to see.
See, I want to see. I want to observe. So, Krishna says to Arjuna, Now, Krishna’s realisation goes into the mind of Krishna and Arjuna.
Krishna tells Arjuna, Arjuna, you are not a spectator meant to see the two sides. You are a warrior, meant to fight. What is this? He asks you to go in between.
He says, you know, I want to see who it is fighting, because I want to understand actually, the Pandavas never wanted the war. And he says, I want to see who are the people who have gone on this evil-minded Dhritarashtra’s side. So, let me discuss in the next verse.
We all know Dhritarashtra’s son is evil, but who are the people who are there on his side, who are also evil like him? So, I want to see that. You have any questions? As soon as the conchshells were blown, he said, please take us in between. So, what happened was, that when suddenly the chariots started coming in between, Bhishma observed.
Bhishma was surprised, Dronacharya was surprised, Duryodhana was surprised, and they waited to see what is happening. Because in one sense, the war was something which none of the Pandavas did not want it, and the commander like Bhishma and Dronacharya said, I don’t want it. Is there some last minute chance of peace or something? What is the matter? So, he waits.
And then eventually he describes that when they start having an earnest conversation, Arjuna will put aside his bow and surrender, and Bhishma raises his gun. Stop. Stop.
Stop. So then, that’s why for almost one hour or so, they stop. Because as long as Bhishma is the commander, generally, the codes of law, the war codes are not broken.
Almost everybody follows the war codes, even on the Kaurava side. But once Bhishma falls, then all sorts of immoral things start happening. The biggest immoral thing is the killing of Abhimanyu.
And once that happens, even the Pandavas don’t care then. Of course, whatever the Pandavas did is not immoral, it is trans-moral. For the pleasure of Krishna, it is transcendental morality.
But still, from the material point of view, it may seem to be immoral. But till Bhishma is in command, Bhishma is very, very strict. He follows all the codes of morality.
And that’s why Bhishma says, stop. And that’s why, although the war is about to start, everything is ready, but still the war doesn’t start. Now, Sanjay is speaking.
So, now, because see how it is, the narration is two-fold. Especially in 11th chapter, you will see this. And Krishna has the Vishvarupa darshan.
So, first, Krishna tells Arjuna, this is what you will see. And then, so the narration, discussion between Krishna and Arjuna, Krishna does here, you will see this. And then the narration goes backwards.
And Sanjay says to Dhritarashtra, this is what Arjuna is seeing. And the narration goes further inwards, and Arjuna says, this is what I am seeing. So, the Vishvarupa is described three times.
So, first by Krishna, second by Sanjay, and third by Arjuna. So, basically, whatever is done to help us get a clear understanding of the action that is done. So, now, in one sense, it was, although it was throughout Sanjay speaking, but now Arjuna was speaking.
So, the action had gone to between Arjuna and Krishna. Now, it goes backwards. Now, Sanjay tells, okay, what is going to happen? He told, move it ahead.
So, now what happens? So, the narrator goes backwards. So, Sanjay is speaking now. So, now, Mahabharata is a conversation between two people.
Who is that? Does anyone know? The sage Vaishampayan is describing it to Janamejaya. Janamejaya is the son of Parshit Maharaj. Yes.
Janamejaya is described. This whole thing is described by Vaishampayan. So, they are having this conversation, and it is described over here.
So, now, what does Sanjay speak? So, So, Krishna is Rishikesh, and Arjuna is called as Gudakesh. Now, Gudakesh has many meanings. The one meaning which Prabhupada refers to is that Guda is ignorance, darkness.
So, Arjuna has conquered sleep. All of us know that story. Now, Arjuna, one night, the candle blew off when he was taking food.
Arjuna thought at himself, if I can take food, then why can’t I fight? He was practising even at night. So, he had conquered sleep by his dedication. Because he knew that eventually he had to fight for the service of the Lord.
So, he had conquered sleep. Now, Srimad Bhagavatam has another meaning of Gudakesh. He says, Guda refers to jaggery.
And he says, Gudakesh. So, like we have the word Keshava. So, there, K refers to Brahma.
Esha refers to Shiva. And A, Gudakeshava. A refers to Vishnu.
So, he says, Gudakesha means one who gives the gur to Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Gudakesha. So, why he refers to it this way? Because he says, the form of Krishna is so attractive.
And Krishna’s pastimes are so enchanting that everybody gets enchanted. So, what is the enchantment here? Have you seen the Tenth Canto? In the Tenth Canto, actually, everybody is enchanted. There is the Brahma Vimohana Veda offering, Brahmaji offers prayers.
There is the Banasura incident offering, Shivaji offers prayers. And we have the kidnapping of the Brahmana’s son, offering Mahavishnu offers prayers. So, that is there in the Bhagavatam.
So, he is describing that this particular incident is twofold. First is that Supreme Lord, who is in control of everyone, first of all, he has become the charioteer of a devotee. That itself is amazing, you see.
And more amazing is that now that person who has become a charioteer is now going to become the instructor. Normally, if you want some counselling or some philosophical discussion, we don’t go to our driver. Isn’t it? We’ll go to somebody’s student.
So, that Krishna becomes the driver is amazing. And then that driver becomes the philosopher and gives instruction. So, such an extraordinary pastime is about to happen.
That’s why this pastime, Krishna by his behaviour, or Arjuna, rather, by being such a wonderful devotee, that by his devotion, the nectar of the Bhagavad Gita is going to manifest. And that nectar is going to be released even by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. That’s why here Arjuna is referred to as Gudakesha.
So, Thapaitratottamam, the best of the Rathas. It’s called the best of the Rathas because it was given by Agni. You know, all of you know the story of Agni.
Even in the Indraprastha area, Khandavaprastha, Agni wanted to burn. So, when Indra was not allowing it to be burnt, that fire to be burnt, that forest to be burnt. So, when he allowed it to be burnt, Agni said, I’ll give you a chariot which will not get burnt.
Which will move like fire everywhere and which will never be burnt by fire. So, that’s why the word is Rathottamam. Now, what happens after that? Krishna does something very special.
Actually, when the soul desires to go into illusion, Krishna arranges the exact illusion that will put the soul into illusion. So, just like we say, Maya knows our weaknesses. So, whenever if we have particular weakness and Maya will exactly send the attack in that weakness only.
So, now Arjuna is going to see the battle, see the opponents, but now the weakest link in his heart, most affectionate people on the upper side are the Bheeshma and Drona. So, Krishna takes his chariot right in front of them. That’s what happens.
Bheeshma, Drona, Brahmukh, Taha, Sarveshaam, Jamundi, Shitaam, Hua, Japaat, Sabash, Shaitaan, Tamavetaan, Kuroniti. So, Pashya, see again. Just see.
You want to see? Please see now. So, now here, this is like the last verse. From this verse to the next verse, a transition will happen.
So, Arjuna is doing Saimya Niriksha. And next verse also he is doing Saimya Niriksha. And the power of Dhritarashtra for Duryodhana when the Saimya Niriksha is done, it just activates his political intelligence.
But the same Saimya Niriksha on Arjuna has some other effect. That is the transition. So, we did not specifically go through these three sections, but it’s more or less obvious.
First we have the, how both sides are prepared for war. And then it is described how for the Pandavas there are signs of victory. It starts from the description of how the conscious are transcendental, how the conscious cause the shattering of the heart, how there is Kapidhoja, how there is Athottama.
And then Krishna as Bhakta Vatsala is described. So, this is all in Saimya Niriksha Yoga. Now what happens after that? Now let’s see what is the effect on.
So, now it’s very interesting, the Bhagavata setting, it illustrates how that by Pratyaksha, by over-reliance on Pratyaksha Pramana, even a great soul like Arjuna can get bewildered. So, what is, although Krishna is there next to him, but instead of asking for Krishna, he says, I want to see Iksha. And just see the instant effect.
Earlier, before he actually went and saw, before he goes in the middle of the battlefield, he is saying, I want to see those who are Dhritarashtra se durbuddhe, yudhe priya chikhir chava, who are those who are assisting the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra. But as soon as he goes inside and sees, he doesn’t see them as evil-minded, he sees them as, oh, they are my grandfather, they are my brother-in-law, they are my son, they are my grandsons, they are my brothers. So, the whole bodily conception starts overpowering him.
So, actually, the Bhagavad Gita setting illustrates, the next three verses illustrate the effects of perplexion. And then after that, Arjuna starts to use Hanuman. And the end result of perplexion and Hanuman is vilap, lamentation.
So, that’s what happens. When we rely too much on perplexion and Hanuman, perplexion and Hanuman can be used. If we rely too much on that, then we will become discouraged in our devotional service.
If we rely too much on perplexion, we think, you know, how can we ever preach Krishna Consciousness? So much opposition is there. If we rely too much on perplexion, the sense objects are so much and so tempting, how can I keep resisting? And then we start doing Hanuman. Actually, this is Kaliyuga only.
And Kaliyuga as it is, people are going to become materialistic. How can I alone fight against maya? We will start justifying. So, what happens? Perplexion and Hanuman mislead a person.
Now, from here onwards, the effect, Arjuna’s vilap starts. Arjuna Vishala Yoga. So, here, it’s more clearly made out.
They are saravan bandhun. All of them are relatives. They are all my bandhu.
And what happens? Krupaya paraya vishto. So, Krupaya is compassion. Now, paraya can refer to transcendental or it can refer to overpowering.
That he is overpowered by the compassion or he has got transcendental compassion. Now, is Arjuna’s compassion transcendental? No, it is not transcendental because he is getting overpowered by the bodily compassion. So, the point here is he is overpowered by the compassion.
Vishi is done. He starts lamenting and he starts speaking. What does he speak? So, now here, Arjuna starts getting what in modern language we call an emotional breakdown.
So, what happens to him? He is overwhelmed. He is My mouth is drying up. So, let us see what happens further to him.
So, he is describing all these symptoms. And Prabhupada explains that Rushdha Roma, that hair standing on end. This can happen because of ecstasy.
It can happen because of fear. In Arjuna’s case, it is because of fear. Fear of imminent destruction.
Rushdha Roma will be described at the end, in the 11th chapter also. There it is about wonder. And he is the Vishwaroopa.
Now, here, after describing physical symptoms, physical effects, now he goes further to describe the emotional effect. Deeper, what is happening? I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself and my mind is reeling.
I see only causes of misfortune, O Krishna, killer of Keshi demon. Here, the first sentence, not the last sentence. Without knowing that one’s self-interest is in Vishnu, hoping to be happy in such situation.
The word nivrtani, vipritani are significant. When a man sees only frustration in his expectations, he thinks, why am I here? Why am I here? Everyone is interested in himself and his own welfare. No one is interested in the Supreme Self.
So, basically, Arjuna starts seeing his situation as a lose-lose situation. Modern terminology has win-win, lose-lose, win-lose, lose-win, whatever. So, he says, lose-lose, and he will explain how it is a lose-lose option.
And basically, what happens? When a person starts thinking, what should I do? Is it this or that? And this also is going to cause me suffering, this also is going to cause me, what to do? Therefore, one just gets completely frustrated. And when people get frustrated, what nowadays people do is, commit suicide sometimes. So, actually, it all begins because one is seeing only from one’s perspective.
What is there in it for me? And if he looks from a selfish perspective, both ways he will see there is loss. And he will describe what is the loss. And the word nimitta can refer to cause, or nimitta can refer to instrument, or science.
So, nimitta, I can see actually in auspiciousness. For a Kshatriya to feel his weapon slipping away is inauspicious. For him to feel his mouth drying up, for a Kshatriya to be fearful, like in the first Candlestick Prabhupada says, when a warrior is going away, for the woman to cry is inauspicious at that time.
So, like that, for a Kshatriya to see himself becoming weak is considered inauspicious. So, he says, I am seeing all this, viparita nimitta, this is not very good. So, viparita nimitta is effects on himself, he is feeling alarmed by that.
Viparita nimitta is also, if he is looking in the future, he thinks, oh, whatever I fight, I am not going to gain in any way. And how he feels he is not going to gain, he starts describing. So, the Bhagavata historically is one particular incident that happened 5000 years ago.
But the principle is eternal. And the principle is that at the material level of life, sooner or later, everybody becomes frustrated. Everybody becomes frustrated.
Whatever we do, we find that this doesn’t lead to any solution. Either I do this, or do that. So, then at that time, the Bhagavata actually raises Arjuna’s consciousness to help him to see from a higher perspective.
Let’s see what sort of reasoning Arjuna uses. So, as we know, Arjuna has his five main reasons for not fighting. Compassion is what he feels initially.
And he feels, why shouldn’t we just kill them? Why have so much bloodshed? Let’s avoid it. After all, they are my relatives. So, actually, when maya comes, especially for a serious devotee, maya doesn’t come directly as sense gratification.
Because a serious devotee will not fall for sense gratification. You know how maya came to Bhagavata Maharaj also? Actually, compassion. His baby is dying.
This baby here is dying. Save him. For mother Sita, if he had come as a demon, proposing to her, he would never have accepted.
He came as a saint. So, initially, Arjuna’s emotion is compassion. From compassion, it starts going down.
Once the lower modes catch up, they keep dragging it downward. First reason is, why should we fight? Why should we have so much bloodshed? But then he thinks, if we have the bloodshed, even if we have the bloodshed, how will I enjoy? So, his next reason comes up now. How can I possibly enjoy? Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji So, here, what benefit will I get? If I kill them, all the people with whom I could possibly share my enjoyment.
Imagine somebody comes first in this class. You know, you become a topper in the university. But, he is told, we will make you a topper in the university but you are not allowed to tell anyone that you are the topper so what is the use of being a topper? because material things are enjoyable only when they bring us some social glory even when a boy gets a girlfriend or something it’s one thing to enjoy with the girlfriend the other thing is show everyone else, I have got a girlfriend there is a parade around so material enjoyment is not so much in the enjoyment it is more in the appreciation or the envy that one causes through that so otherwise like there was one car advertisement purchase this car and enjoy the envy in your neighbour’s eyes so enjoy the envy in your neighbour’s eyes so actually ultimately all enjoyment is based on relationships alone we cannot enjoy so Arjuna is thinking that all those with whom I could enjoy if they are all gone how will I possibly enjoy my father, my grandfather Bhishma was very happy when Arjuna would excel in his archery and he would encourage him so later on it is described in the Mahabharata that when they are about to go for their last meeting with Bhishma and Bhishma is going to give them instructions and eventually depart at that time Arjuna tells Bhishma what face will I show to Bhishma Bhishma was the same person to whom I shot arrows but he was the person when I was a small child I would come and sit on his lap and I would play with his beard and he would say father, father and he would touch my hair and he would say child I am not your father, I am your father’s father so for Arjuna he is a virtuous person what can I enjoy if all the people whom I love with whom I would like to share just like if we do some preaching and after doing our preaching we would like to take those devotees and invite them to do the preaching or take the devotees whom we are preaching to to some programme where devotees can also give their guidance to them now that is one level where it is spiritual but at the material level also all material enjoyment is based on relationship I cannot enjoy, that is the second reason now he goes further and gives the third reason Bhishma said of course the definition of Atatayinam from Vashishtha Smriti he says the arsonist one who, now you can tell how the Kauravas were actually Atatayinam the arsonist arsonist is one who burns by setting fire that is Varanavad they try to do one who poisons others yeah Durga tried to poison Bhima one who attacks with weapons right now they are attacking but before also once although they were not prepared for war still they had attacked at that time then the thief through gambling they had taken away their weapons so the stealer of property thief and stealer of property are more or less the same thing thief means one who takes wealth property especially wealth to land so in the gambling they took both of them and the stealer of one’s wife so basically in the Vedic culture violence is not encouraged but it is not discouraged also when it is necessary so if somebody is a law breaker somebody is an aggressor then violence against that person is desirable for two reasons one is that violence becomes an immediate reaction a karmic reaction especially when it is administered by a king representing God then his karmic reaction gets over over there only and secondly it becomes a good example for society to see yes law breakers are punished now in modern society they have the idea that we can’t give life so how can we take life we should not kill others but not having capital punishment what is the end result of that the end result is that the prisoners have to be maintained you know the prisoners have to be maintained in the jail and who is going to maintain the prisoners in the jail so you know say somebody somebody’s family member is killed by some prisoner and by some criminal that criminal is in jail and that same murdered person’s family has to pay taxes to maintain the murderer afterwards so ultimately the prisoners where are they maintained by the taxes of common people so it is just silly it is such a silly silly application of the principle of of compassion it is misdirected compassion that somebody who has murdered a relative the relatives have to pay taxes to eventually maintain that very murderer so that’s why Atataina the aggressors are allowed to be killed but here when aggressors are killed there is no sin involved in that but Arjuna is saying that yes Atataina can be killed but Atatainas who are our own relatives they cannot be killed so actually for Arjuna essentially there is a conflict between two dharmas Kula dharma and Kshatriya dharma according to Kula dharma family values one should always protect one’s family members and one should not attack or punish or ever kill one’s family members so Kula dharma says one should protect one’s Kula and Kshatriya dharma says that one should kill the aggressors so for Arjuna this is the conflict Arjuna is not just a coward who is chickening out from a fight no he is thinking now what should I do so he is saying yes from Kshatriya dharma point of view killing Atataina is not going to give pa but paapam heva shreyasma still we will get paap why sattva itan Atataina because these Atataina are swajanam they are our own people so at this level both sides of the argument are right Kshatriya dharma he should kill Kula dharma he should not kill and what is Arjuna’s answer Arjuna doesn’t you know forget your Kshatriya dharma forget your Kula dharma just do what I am supposed to do so he is teaching the para dharma so as long as the para dharma is not known the apara dharma is there but the apara dharma can lead to conflict sometimes so he says because they are sub-andhavan and swajanam how can I kill them so if I kill them I will be overcome by sin if I am overcome by sin how can I have possibility Krishna says yes they are relatives but they are greedy people you know they are completely contaminated by greed therefore you should kill them so Arjuna refutes this by saying yes they will be contaminated by greed but at least we are intelligent if they will be contaminated why should we act in the same contaminated way so he tries to counter further so when Arjuna this argument is countered or objected to by Krishna by saying yes but they are greedy he says at least we should see the consequences and then he comes to the so so we can see at least what is going to happen we are not going to kill now there is a very interesting discussion very similar to the setting in the udyog parva the udyog parva is the parva which comes before the vishwa parva there several sages and other elderly persons try to come to persuade Duryodhana to avoid the war and there also the conflict is between kula dharma and kshatriya dharma so at that time Duryodhana says actually kshatriya dharma is more important the kingdom is entrusted to me and I have to take care of it and if they want it they have to fight so now here Arjuna there are very similar parallels between the Mahabharata but here so there is no Krishna so there Duryodhana sticks to kshatriya dharma but here Krishna will not just let Arjuna say either kula dharma or kshatriya dharma Krishna will elevate Arjuna’s consciousness but here he is saying that how can we fight because we will lose everything and at least we can see the consequences they can’t see we can see and because we can see so we should not act in this way so what does he say after this what is he saying what we can see what is that we can see that he will describe in the next 3-4 verses if any points are unclear please feel free to ask questions we will have time for questions at the end also but if in the flow some questions are there you can feel free to ask so now he is saying kula kshaya pranashyanti so two things he is saying when the kula kshaya when we kill all these people kshatriyas the kula will be destroyed and then what will happen the kula dharma will get finished off now interestingly Arjuna is using the word sanatana eternal actually nothing in the material world is eternal nothing in the material world is eternal but he is thinking eternal family tradition eternal family tradition actually the family is not eternal the family tradition is not eternal but he is thinking kula dharma sanatana just like sometimes parents say you know if you don’t get married the boy will become brahmachari and you are our only son how will our kula go on our kula has been going on for so long so the idea is actually nothing is eternal in this world so the nature Krishna will tell in the 16th chapter afterwards that kama-ashita-duspuram gohad-bhihitva-sadhran pravartante shivita krvitva-asadgrhan one of the characters of illusion is that one thinks that temporary to be eternal so the family tradition is not eternal but Arjuna is thinking it to be eternal sanatana dharme nashti when dharma is destroyed adharma will rise now how will adharma rise he describes in the next verse adharmabhivad krishna radhushanti kulastriya dhrishtashubhashneya jayate varana sankara varana sankara so actually this is this shows the Arjuna’s depth of thought even in this situation always overcome by emotions he is not just become emotionally irrational he is not just shouting and sometimes people become sometimes if ordinary people become angry or they become repressed they start being completely irrational Arjuna is still thinking in a far sighted and relatively mature way but what he is missing out is the essential point that we are not the body or the soul at the level of the body he is talking very reasonably he is saying that if the kshatriyas are not protected if the kshatriyas are not there and the women will get contaminated and the women get contaminated and there will be varana sankara so now this purport of the prabhupada is sometimes especially in the Mahabharata because Prabhupada says women are not less intelligent and should not be trusted and of course Prabhupada never treated his women disciples as less intelligent but Prabhupada used the word less intelligent in the sense that actually in general women are more emotional than rational when they are more emotional than rational they get attached to material things very easily and for them to realise that we are not the body or the soul is very difficult because it is so difficult for them to realise so they need dharma to keep themselves engaged otherwise they are very prone to be quickly degraded and in the western society that we will discuss about this more in the 16th chapter but this whole concept of varana sankara is practically seen nowadays you know actually in America now in America and Europe more children are born outside marriage than inside marriage more children are born outside marriage so it’s all they do illicit connections and they have children and the children not only are the like we have which is the story in the Mahabharata in the Bhagavatam it describes how improper contact leads to dangerous consequences now what to speak of two materialistic people uniting at an entirely arbitrary time so we see actually as compared to even 1950s 1960s the society that is there in America is far more degraded degraded in the sense that so yesterday I gave a seminar to Utkarshi boys so we may say that there are mobile and there are laptops and there are internet fast cars it’s there so from the technological point of view there may be improvement but from the social point of view since 1960 to 2000 what has happened in America according to them according to American statistics themselves what has happened the divorce rate has increased three times the violent crime rate has increased four times the number of prisoners has increased five times the number of children born outside marriages has increased six times the amount of living together relationships has increased seven times and the amount of depression has increased more than ten times so where is the happiness if you see in American society they don’t even consider drinking and smoking to be bad so those statistics are already there but even statistics which they can appreciate the divorce rate has doubled the criminal population the violent crimes have tripled the prisoners have increased four times and this is all ultimately starting from improper regulation of the sexuality in society when the sexual relationships are not regulated properly then the whole degradation starts so actually what happened most of you know about Bill Clinton he had some sort of illicit contact and then the opposite party they started blaming he should resign he should resign he should resign so he did not resign anyway whole concept of sexual relationships was changed completely so basically what happened in the 1940s and 1950s the tobacco market they realised that we have reached saturation because till the first world war and after that around 1920 nobody knew about the and after that when the data came out then they started appealing to the devil come on yes it can cause cancer but no one can enjoy it will cause cancer to others not to you enjoy and many people fell to that but then they realised that we have reached saturation so in around the second world war time little before that they decided that there is only one way we can expand our market and that is by tapping women 50% of the population were not tapped till now now women would never smoke till then because smoking was considered to be typically masculine thing to do and then they made at that time the major American tobacco market special thin cigarette and then they said that this is a female cigarette and on the American independence day march they got some of the 15 of the most popular women in America they were also there on the march at the most visible point in the march they told them flash out the cigarette and they all started smoking and it became so much hyped because it was independence day thousands of people were watching live and so many cameras were there and all of those women were paid to when they were asked why are you so liberating that was the time when they wanted to appeal to the emotion of liberalisation women are suppressed women are oppressed repressed so this is liberating now actually from the around 1890’s 1900’s turn of the century before that all the advertisements were appealing to the rational intelligence of the person this product is so efficient this product is so good this product is so cheap therefore this is so liberating and nobody asked how smoking is related to liberalisation of women so this is a practical example of how the advertising can completely be bewildered and from that time onwards women started throwing out what they thought was a bad that time American society has just gone down terribly and as American society is coming to India same thing is happening in India so actually it’s not a question of blaming women or blaming men society is made in such a way like the butter fire analogy is given now why the butter fire analogy is given it’s not that fire why do you burn the butter butter why do you get melted by the fire that’s not the point so the question do you why do you get melted fire that’s not the point question is why get fire that’s not the point so the question is why melted by the not the point so question is why do you get melted by the in Vrindavan.
But he does not write anything about Islam as commentary. Because he is giving us spiritual perspective and he is writing to scholars. Scholars of other Acharyas.
So Prabhupada is the first Acharya who gives social commentary. Social commentary means he shows how spiritual issues matter. How scriptural verses can be related with our day-to-day situation.
But this is not a Thakur and Bhaktivinoda Thakur also do not do so much of that. It was Prabhupada who was speaking in a culture which was entirely different. So he had to tell about the social implications of the current values and the social implications of the Vedic values.
So when we see the broader social context, then we can explain to people in a way that doesn’t put off people. Sometimes people may just say, and why you say that women are less intelligent? What is this? Modern feminists don’t even allow that. And the Christian religion, the feminists are so aggressive that certain denominations of Christianity have changed the Bible only.
Wherever God said, the pronoun for God should be he, they say he slash she says. Why should God be male? He slash she says. In New York they have made a big statue of Jesus.
And they say if Jesus is a representative of God, why should he be male? So they have made Jesus with breasts and genitals and female genitals. You know, it’s so crazy. Imposing the male, the abundant sexuality on divine.
And then some people said, how can you portray God as she? So then they found a solution. Typical Mayavadi solution. Use it.
God said, it said. So actually, the modern society has completely gone haywire. And all started because of irrational passions.
So what Arjuna is describing, that what will happen is varana sankara. So we see varana sankara even in Kaliva. So much varana sankara, especially those who are born improperly, nurtured improperly, then they become chaos in society.
Sankaro narakayaiva kula-jnanam kula-syasa, pasanti pitaro yaysha, gupta-pindo dhaka-kriyam. Sankaro narakayaiva. So actually, when the dharma is destroyed, it is not only those who are destroyed they suffer, but those who are destroyed also suffer.
Because dharma protects everyone. Dharma is destroyed, those who are supporting dharma are destroyed, those who are destroying dharma are also destroyed. That’s why I said kula-jnanam, kula-syasa, both of them.
And because the Mahabharata is primarily at the karmakanda level. The Mahabharata primarily teaches karmakanda. And the Vaishnavas can reveal to us how it is also showing bhakti.
So in karmakanda, doing pindadaan is considered vitally important. In fact, you will see in the Mahabharata, if a king does not have a son, one of his concerns is who will rule the world, who will rule the kingdom of maps. The second concern is who will do pinda for him.
So Arjuna is thinking that if no one will do pinda, then look, patanti pitaro yaysha. The ancestors, they will not be able to maintain their destination and they will fall. So he is thinking very much in terms of dharma only.
Arjuna is not just emotionally choked up in the mundane modern sense. He is still thinking in a farsighted way. He is farsighted, but not farsighted enough.
So, actually, the dharma supports not only the spiritual growth, but even the material growth. You know, when Machiavelli came to India, he writes in one of his letters, Machiavelli is one of the governor generals of British India, he says, I have travelled over the length and breadth of India. This is just in the 19th century.
So he says, I have not seen a single beggar anywhere in India. I have not seen a single beggar. Can we now imagine India without beggars? It is difficult.
So if dharma is there, dharma leads to even material welfare. That is what he is saying that all the material welfare, social welfare schemes will be destroyed by dharma. Now here, this is rhetorical unit.
Nobody stays in Naraka forever. But here, Arjuna wants to drive home the point. So long, so never, nitya baddha, nitya baddha is not eternally bound, in the sense of forever.
It means for a very, very long time. For a very long time, somebody will have to stay in Naraka. And he is saying that, it is not just my opinion, Anushush Shurma, this is what I have heard.
So he has heard from the great sages and the other spiritual authorities, that somebody will destroy dharma. So how can I be the destroyer of dharma? So this fear of sinful reactions by which he will have to go to hell, he will destroy the traditions in this life and go to hell in the next life. So now he starts lamenting.
He says, how can I do so? He acts so shamefully. So now, for the first time, Arjuna is using the plural to refer to himself. Vayam.
Earlier he has used it occasionally. So he is saying that, we means, I and all my Pandava brothers. And especially I and you.
How can we fight like this? So he is giving his reasoning and he is trying to get Krishna also on his side. Yes, how can we fight? Allah, how are we about to fight impaled by greed like this? He is saying. No, no, we cannot fight like that.
And then Krishna says, if you don’t fight, it is not that if you become compassionate, they will also become compassionate. They will not become compassionate. They are going to kill you.
So actually, Prabhupada will quote here in the next chapter also, he says, non-violence for a strategy, but it is not a matter of principle. Sometimes, the Kshatriyas may decide, you know, institution is not good to fight. So let’s strike a deal.
But non-violence is never a matter of principle. You know, after, so Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi is referred as the apostle of non-violence. Now certainly, his aspects of his being a celibate or his living a simple life, he is promoting a cottage-based industry, this is good.
But non-violence as a matter of principle, doesn’t work. Prabhupada said that, actually, India won independence, not because of Gandhi, it was because of the Indian Army’s rebellion, Subhash Chandra Bose. But there was a movie, sort of sarcastic movie made about Gandhi, which was banned in India.
It was called Eight Minutes, after. So what was the movie? They basically showed that Nathuram Bose shot and killed Gandhi. And after he fell, that Gandhi had persuaded the whole country, with his philosophy of non-violence, that nobody decided to do anything.
And Nathuram Bose shot Gandhi and went away cold. Everybody stood there like that, doing nothing. So the idea was that, there are certain situations when violence is absolutely essential.
So, if somebody has killed Gandhi, obviously we should have to kill him. Of course, whether that was right or wrong, that’s a whole different issue, we are not going to get into that. But the point is, Prabhupada also had to face this, when he was in America.
He said, you know, how can God cause war? You know, God should bring peace, peace. And especially because the Vietnam war was going on at that time, and youth were being forced into that. So Prabhupada was so brilliant.
There was one Goldsmith, he was a lawyer, he was the only respectable person coming for Prabhupada’s programme. Others were all hippies. So Prabhupada was giving a class and at that time he said, Swamiji, but how can God cause, impel war? So Prabhupada asked, what’s wrong? No, God should bring about peace.
So Prabhupada asked, what is your definition of peace? Peace means no war. Isn’t that obvious? You are looking at everyone as if this is a stupid question. So Prabhupada said, even if there is no war, there will be thousands of things that will disturb your peace.
So he says, peace is not possible in this world at all. So what Krishna is telling us is not a mundane war or mundane peace. What Krishna talks about is the peace of the heart.
Peace of the heart, when the heart comes in harmony with Krishna. So Bhagavad Gita is not talking about ordinary war basically. There is one Hindu commentator who wrote on the Bhagavad Gita, alas! Now we Indians, we Hindus have not followed the Bhagavad Gita and that is why India is suffering.
If Indians had followed the Bhagavad Gita, you know, as soon as Pakistan was bombed, we would have attacked and destroyed Pakistan. And then we would have been true followers of Bhagavad Gita. Krishna told Arjuna to fight.
So we should all have fought also. So actually the Bhagavad Gita was always a respected book, but during the independence time it became a popular book. Why popular? Because all the independence leaders, because the Christians had their Bible, it was a handy book, small book relatively speaking, actually the New Testament, and Muslims had their Quran.
Hindus had no one book. You know, somebody has their Shiv Puran, somebody has their Bhagavatam, somebody has their Upanishads. So they decided we need one book which can unify everyone.
And they decided to release the Bhagavad Gita. So it is interesting, practically all the political leaders like Gandhi, Tilak, all of them, Aurobindo, all of them wrote their political commentaries when they were in jail. You know, basically in jail you don’t have anything to do.
Especially Gandhi and Tilak, they prided themselves on the fact that we did not refer to any traditional commentaries while reading the Bhagavad Gita. We did not refer to anything. So you know there is reading from a book and there is reading into a book.
Reading into a book means what? There is something in my mind and I find that inside the book. So it’s not that I am not reading to see what the book will tell me, I am reading to see what I can find inside the book. So some of the political leaders, now it’s not that nationalism is wrong, it’s not that India should not fight Pakistan.
If it’s required you can do that. But that war is not the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita is something far higher.
So there were these political leaders, they said that actually, very interesting, that they said actually dharma has to be re-established and dharma has to be destroyed. So actually the adharma is this British rule and avatar of Krishna that has come. You know what is that? That is the Indian National Congress.
The Congress is the avatar and this Congress will uproot the adharma and we are following the Bhagavad Gita. Now there are Indian national leaders who wrote commentaries like this. So no wonder Prabhupada was angry.
You know, Prabhupada will say, Bhagavad Gita as it is. As I say that, suppose sometimes if you have say some devotee giving a class and the audience is mostly Hindi, so you have a speaker who is speaking in English and the translator is translating in Hindi. But suppose you have a situation where nobody in the audience knows Hindi.
So I do the translation and translation is a very difficult service, in public especially. Because all those who know both the languages, they are all testing how accurately you translate. They hear this, because otherwise what is the engagement for them.
They have already heard what the speaker has spoken. So when it is being repeated, what is there to engage them? So they assess whether it is correct or not. That is why it is very difficult.
But the point is, imagine a situation where nobody in the audience knows English. And the speaker is speaking in English and the translator is supposed to translate that and speak in Hindi. But suppose the translator starts giving his own lecture.
If the speaker is speaking something, the translator is doing something else. And everybody thinks that the translation is only going on. Now if in that audience, one person is there.
Hey, what are you doing? You are not speaking what he is speaking. You are not translating properly. Don’t disturb.
Be peaceful. Be calm. It is a very peaceful atmosphere.
Why are you disturbing? This is not peaceful. This is nonsense. So what happens is, Prabhupada is like that.
Many people say, why does Prabhupada criticise so many people? But Krishna is speaking the Bhagavad Gita and all these commentators, what they are doing is, they are speaking something else only. Which has got very little to do with Bhagavad Gita. And most people don’t know what is Bhagavad Gita.
They say, whatever you say, that is Bhagavad Gita. So Prabhupada is one Acharya who knows actually what is Bhagavad Gita. I say, this is not Bhagavad Gita.
Now everybody has a right to propagate their philosophy. That we agree. Even in the Vedic times also, there were atheists, there were materialists, there was Charvak Muni.
But Charvak Muni never wrote a commentary on Bhagavad Gita. So the point is, Prabhupada would say that, okay, you want to spread your own philosophy, spread their philosophy, but don’t claim that their philosophy is based on Bhagavad Gita. So that is the essential problem because people don’t know.
Common people are completely ignorant about the Bhagavad Gita. Therefore, anybody who speaks anything on the Bhagavad Gita, people accept that. They say, oh, Bhagavad Gita is speaking and it must be true.
So even Nehru, in his autobiography, writes, actually I can never understand why people bow in front of stone and wood. And I have never found the idea of God as having any practical utility. But in a religious country like India, knowing a few Sanskrit verses and being able to quote from the Sanskrit books is very useful.
That’s why I do this. Oh, you are so explicitly atheistic. But most other commentators, most other Indian leaders are not like that.
They were implicit. They had no faith in Krishna, but they would take the name of Krishna and try to get favorability for themselves. That was the problem.
Now, Arjuna is saying that, actually speaking, if we don’t, Krishna tells him that, if you don’t fight, then what will you do? You will lose. You will be killed ruthlessly. So Arjuna is saying, dying is better.
Yadi mamapritikaram, ashastram shastrapanaya, dhatarashtra rane hanyun, sanmekshe matarambhave. Unarmed and unresisting. Two things.
No weapons and not even a fighting spirit. I will not fight at all. Let me be killed.
And why is this in ashastram? Because in the next verse, he will put down his shastra. He will put down his Gandhi vasa. Sanjay vacha, evam uktva arjunas sankhe, atopasthav bhavishya, vishrujya sasaram chaapam, shokasam vigra manasa.
So, vishrujya sasaram chaapam. So, shara and chaap is bow and arrow. He puts him aside.
So, actually, Arjuna’s bow represents the determination of the soul to serve Krishna. So, what happens by over-reliance on Pratyeksha and Hanuman? There is no reason to serve Krishna. Why should I serve? You become disheartened.
And we will see, the imagery is also very significant. The last verse of the Bhagavad Gita is what? Yatra yogeshwara krishna yatra partho dhanur dhara. So, he has again picked up the bow.
So, actually, at the start of the Bhagavad Gita, at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, he picks up his bow and is ready to fight. So, like that, for us also it happens that by Pratyeksha and Hanuman, we lose our determination. I cannot serve.
I cannot go on like this. But then, when we hear Shabda, when we hear the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness, that rejuvenates our determination. And then we also become determined to fight.
So, when the first initiation ceremony took place, Prabhupada told the devotees that, from now on, whatever happens, you should never lament. Because Krishna has taken the reins of your life chariot. Now that you have taken the centre of a spiritual master, it’s like all of our body is like a chariot.
Normally, we say that the charioteer is the intelligence. But when we surrender to a spiritual master, the spiritual master’s words become our intelligence. That means, Krishna becomes our intelligence.
So, Prabhupada told that, Krishna, you have handed the reins of your chariot to Krishna. And therefore, there is no reason for you to lament. Krishna will take care of everything.
So, actually, Krishna was at the chariot of Arjuna. But Arjuna is rejected. Now, we will see from the next chapter onwards.
So, how Arjuna, one by one, all these arguments are refuted by Krishna. So, the three arguments will be refuted in the next chapter itself. The last argument will be refuted in the third chapter.
And the final argument, which is the fifth reason for not fighting, will be indecision, which will come in the sixth verse of the next chapter. That will be refuted at the end of the Bhagavad Gita. In the sixth verse, Krishna will be saying, Arjuna will say, I don’t know what to do.
Nachaita vidma katharannu varyo. What is better, I don’t know. In 18.73, Arjuna replies, karishe vachanam tamo.
I’ll do what you say. There, and it’s like Krishna will systematically answer specifically Arjuna’s questions and Krishna will do one thing more. Because Arjuna is confused about kula dharma and kshatriya dharma.
So, all the different kinds of dharmas that are there in Vedic culture, Krishna will briefly explain them, hierarchise them, and show how bhakti is the highest. So, because Arjuna has to choose a particular path. That’s why Bhagavad Gita is the most practical book.
You know, the kind of dramatic setting that the Bhagavad Gita has, no other book has. Quran was not spoken on the battlefield. Bible was not spoken on the battlefield.
Or the Bodhisattva, or whatever. No other scripture is so deeply philosophical, at the same time so eminently practical. So, it is deep philosophy about the practical course of action.
So, how Arjuna’s different questions and answers, we’ll discuss in tomorrow’s class. Thank you very much. Shri Krishna Bhagavan ki, Shri Bhagavad Gita ki.
Tomorrow we’ll try to complete his 30th verse. Because there one section ends, about the Atma. And the Karmakant section will start after