Gita 01.30 – Where materialism shows a dead end spirituality shows the way ahead

Thank you Bhagavad Gita 1.30 Chanting Bhagavad Gita 1.30 so here Arjuna is saying that I do not know why I am situated here Chanting Bhagavad Gita 1.30 my mind is wandering reeling reeling it is not just wandering it is whirling around practically not able to focus on anything I am lost Chanting Bhagavad Gita 1.30 I am not able to stay here Chanting Bhagavad Gita 1.30 it is not possible for me to stay here Chanting Bhagavad Gita 1.30 causes Chanting Bhagavad Gita 1.30 me. I am seeing what kind of causes? Viparitanikeshava.

They are unfavorable, the opposite of what is expected. Keshava, O Krishna, O killer of the Keshavar. Now, Arjuna is now here referring to Pashyami, not in a physical sense, but more in a metaphysical sense.

So till now, the word Pashyami has come repeatedly starting from 1.21 onwards when Arjuna said, I want to see who are there assisting the Kauravas. So there he says, I want to see and from that point the seeing is coming up and that idea of seeing continues on here and as it continues on, so it's described over here. So after seeing physically, now Arjuna is trying to make sense of what he has seen and he's saying, I'm not able to make any sense of this.

So nimittani can refer to causes and nimittani in Sanskrit also means omens. So all that Arjuna is experiencing at one level, they are his own emotional reactions manifesting at a physical level, the bow slipping, his skin burning up, his hair standing up on end. But along with that, they are also indications that he is suffering and suffering terribly.

So he is suffering terribly means that he is actually seeing these physical reaction, physical things that are happening in his body, not just as reactions to the emotions, but also as omens. So omens are considered signs of good or bad fortune. So for example, in the first canto, 16th, 17th chapters, it is described that 14th, 15th, 16th, the series of chapters when Krishna disappears, Yudhishthira Maharaj sees various auspicious omens and he considers that something terrible is about to happen.

What is it that is to happen? Certain indicators, certain omens, certain things that happen, they are indicators that something even more disastrous is going to happen. So these are like ultra high-tech sensors of impending events. Just like before an earthquake happens, we are before, now we have some scientific methods by which we try to say come to know when a storm is going to come or when an earthquake is going to come.

Of course, seismic alerts are not as accurate as atmospheric alerts, but researchers have observed that somehow animals like dogs and cats, they somehow come to know and they start behaving oddly when an earthquake is going to occur. Now how the animals come to know, that is not at all clear, but the fact that their behavior changes and consistently changes just before an impending earthquake or some natural disaster, that has been repeatedly observed. So the point is, there are many subtle things in the universe of which we are not aware and no doubt there can be many omens which are just superstitions, which may be undesirable, but beyond such superstitious beliefs that there is a higher correlation in the cosmos, because of which certain events are harbingers, are precursors, are pointers of some bigger things happening, that is not wrong, that is true.

So Arjuna is seeing this as nimitta, we are seeing this as omens that something terribly inauspicious is happening and viparita when a warrior goes for fighting, the warrior expects victory and when the warrior sees good omens which indicate victory, then the warrior is happy, but when the warrior sees bad omens which indicate defeat and death, the warrior is concerned. So Arjuna is saying I am seeing all this as bad omens and I feel why should I be here, what should I do? I just can't stay over here. So Vashyami here refers to Arjuna's interpretation of the events, he sees them as inauspicious and further he is also thinking what will I gain over here by being here.

So till now Arjuna's speech has been an objective description of his perception and his emotions, but from this point onward, now Arjuna will start getting justifications for his decisions. So his decision which he has expressed over here is I cannot be here, I cannot be here in this battlefield and he will verbalize this in the second chapter when he will say I cannot fight a Govinda, that will come in second chapter at the start, but here Arjuna is also to some extent stating his decision when he says that it is not possible for me to stay here. So first there was the emotion, there was the perception of all relatives, then that caused certain emotion, that emotion led to a decision, the emotions were overwhelming and the decision is that I cannot continue this battle and justification, he will give various reasons, basically five different reasons which we will discuss one by one for his not fighting, but the key thing is he is saying I am the only cause of this fortune and therefore I cannot stay here, I cannot stay here Krishna he is saying.

So Krishna Prabhupada in his parport mentions that when we are self-interested and we are self-centered then sooner or later we will come to this level of inescapable frustration, when we will just not be able to do anything. So when we will in today's management terminology what is called as lose-lose situation, whatever we do it will just seem that there is no way to succeed and move forward, all ways are ways to frustration, all ways are ways to loss. So that is the situation which Arjuna will come, we all come to when we stay calculating at the level of the self, when we think what's in it for me and that is the only thing we are basing our calculations on and eventually we will come to a situation where we will see that there is nothing in it for me and if there is nothing in it for me then what's the point in my doing it and therefore, but when we see that there is nothing in it for me, any of the things which I am considering doing and what are we left to do with, nothing and that's what leads to great frustration.

So when we experience frustration at the material level the way out is to raise our consciousness and rise to the spiritual level and only when we rise to the spiritual level then we can break free from such inevitable frustration because at the spiritual level the opportunity to serve is unconditioned, the opportunity to enjoy depends on many conditions but the opportunity to serve doesn't depend on conditions. Whatever the situation we can always serve Krishna, whatever be the external condition, whatever be the internal condition in terms of physical, intellectual, whatever, we can still call out to Krishna, we can still serve Krishna. So that will be the message of the Bhagavad Gita that one must feel shakunam eva sthatum, when I cannot be in this situation, the Bhagavad Gita's message will be don't change the situation, change the disposition, change the disposition.

So raise your perception to a higher level, you learn to look at things from the spiritual perspective and then although from material perspective there seems to be frustration in all ways, the spiritual perspective will show us the way to move ahead as it showed Arjuna but here at this stage Arjuna is completely overwhelmed not knowing what to do, not being able to find any way ahead, just reeling under the horror of the impending warfare and reeling under the overwhelming emotional reaction that it is bringing, reeling under the inauspiciousness that such emotions, reactions, physical reactions signify and reeling under the dead end that he sees right in front of him, Arjuna pops out but how Krishna gets him to rise and fight again, that is the transformational power of the wisdom of the Gita. Thank you.