Gita 01.31 – Material long-term is not long-term enough

Thank you.

So, here Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita 1.31 is continuing his description of his situation. So, he is saying again the word is coming but here again like the previous verse here it is more in the metaphysical sense or interpretational sense than literal visual sense. So, we use this when somebody asks, when somebody makes a point and we say I see, there we use the word I see in the sense of and I understand.

Can you see what I am saying? That means do you comprehend what I am saying? So, in a more of an interpretational, intellectual sense the word see is also used. So, here Arjuna is using it in that sense. I cannot see Shreya, I cannot see any long term gain, any good in in killing our own people in the battlefield and therefore therefore I do not desire any victory and nature nor do I desire the happiness of possessing a kingdom.

So, now for Arjuna these are the two happinesses that await if the result in the battle comes out positive. So, first is just the elation of victory. Many times when say there is a sports match, there is a cricket match and it's a very closely competed match and finally one team wins then, maybe the batsman hits the winning shot and all the team members from the pavilion just charge out to embrace the batsman who has hit the winning shot and they all celebrate.

Now the elation of victory is itself a great job and many people play this sport, many people watch this sport to get that sense of elation. So, now sometimes the match may not be itself very significant. It might just be some inconsequential match in a dead rubber.

So, the series is already decided but just a match is remaining even after series is decided but still there is the thrill, the kick in victory but suppose the match were a world cup final and a team wins then there is not just the elation of victory but after that there is the possession of the world cup of the top most award in the cricketing world. So, here similarly if Arjuna fights this war then what will he get? He will not just get the elation of victory over a formidable opponent but along with that there will be the possession of the kingdom and Arjuna is saying that it's not worth it. I don't see how normally a Kshatriya lives for this.

Kshatriyas see battle as a sport and they want to win the sport. They see it as a test of skills and they want to excel in the skills and they of course want to do it in the cause of dharma so if they are ruling dharmically they want to expand the rule of dharma and so they want victory and possession of the kingdom. These are normally considered to be good, very good.

In fact many Kshatriyas live for these things and yet Arjuna is saying what good is there in it? So, Arjuna uses the word Shreyas. So, Shreyas refers to long term good and in Vedic philosophy Shreyas is often contrasted with Prayas. Shreyas and Prayas.

Prayas means short term good. So, Arjuna is definitely seeing long term when he is saying over here that I don't see just the thrill of winning or the joy of possessing the kingdom but I am thinking after that life is lived not just with a trophy life is lived with people and the people whom I love and people who love me are no longer there with me then will the trophy be worth possessing? Suppose say a team wins the world cup but the cost of winning the world cup is that you know the whole world gets destroyed in the process. This is an extreme example.

So, there is just one person with the world cup left or just one team left with the world cup and none of their family members are left none of their relatives are left none of their well-wishers or fans are left then will there be any joy to that victory? It will be empty hollow victory. So, this is the rough equivalent of the point which Arjuna is making that I am thinking beyond just the thrill of winning and the thrill of possessing I am thinking about the prospect of living after that when we have to live if we have done hathva swajanamahave if we have killed our relatives and he uses the word swajana they are all my people so if I kill my people then what gain will I get from this? This is Arjuna's question and the question is at his level of thinking very valid. Of course, the Bhagavad Gita will reveal how there is a higher way of thinking where the reasoning of a different kind prevails and Arjuna's reasoning which seems very reasonable at his level of thinking turns out to be not so reasonable but the point is Arjuna is here saying that I am thinking long term but the problem is his long term is not long enough he is long term he is long term only still in terms of this body and he is not thinking in terms of his identity as a soul and his destiny as a soul and the destiny of those who have chosen to fight on the side of Adharma so he is using the word Shreya but actually although his Shreya may seem to be a little more long term in the Shreya of he is referring to that as just the victory in the battlefield or the possession of a kingdom but actually there is a further Shreya so that means there is we can say short term medium term and long term so what Arjuna is calling as Shreya is actually medium term it is not truly long term truly long term is at the level of the soul so Arjuna is still talking at the level of the body and he is saying that I don't want to just have possessions now I want to think about my relations so this is a conflict which people face nowadays when they have to decide whether to give more time to their job or whether to give more time to their families and many people who choose to give more time to their jobs they often later in the long run end up with broken homes where their family members are dissatisfied and then they break apart so many spiritual teachers or religious teachers or moral teachers exhort that you need to have a work family balance you can't just work all the time and neglect your family so that is definitely true but the Bhagavad Gita is talking about something even greater so certainly such people who talk about a balance between work and family they are well intentioned but then the human needs don't end with just work and family beyond that we have our professions we have our relations and then beyond that we have our devotion to God because ultimately we are we are neither just we are not defined by what job we do nor are we defined by what family we belong to actually ultimately we are defined as souls and as souls we have eternal relationship with Krishna and the prerogative, the purpose, the privilege of human life is to is to develop that relationship with Krishna and by developing that relationship we attain him if we develop pure love for him so the key thing is to recognize the eternality of the soul's relationship with Krishna and to recognize the temporality of everything else so Arjuna will talk at the level of the soul Arjuna is talking at the level of the body and he is talking somewhat long term then immediate economic gains and that thinking is good, that thinking is Shreya but his Shreya is still medium term and Krishna will bring him the Shreya of truly long term in terms of the soul and it is that at that level that Krishna will ask Arjuna to engage in his Kshatriya duty of fighting that we will discuss in our future sessions thank you.