Gita 11.55 The same chapter that calls for war also calls for giving up animosity

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Thank you.

Krishna is speaking here. It's the last verse of the 11th chapter. And Such a person or Arjuna will attain me, Krishna is saying.

That means after displaying the whole universal form, Krishna is telling that the perfection of it all is not just to behold the universal form. The perfection is to attain Krishna. And how can Krishna be attained? That process is described over here and that process centers primarily on Bhakti Yoga.

It is by the process of Bhakti that Krishna will be attained. And what are the specific elements of Bhakti that Krishna talks about here? He says, mat-karma-kran, work for me. Doing my work.

mat-paramo, making me to be the supreme goal of one's life. mat-bhakta-ha, becoming my devotee. sang-varjita-ha.

Varjita means to give up. The word sang-ha can mean association and sang-varjita-ha can also mean attachment. Asang-ha.

Asang-ha can mean asango-yam purusha-ha. When somebody is detached, asang-ha is the word used for that. So asang-ha can mean detached.

And asang-ha. Asatsang-ha-tyag-e vaisnavachar. So there, sang-ha means association.

Asang-ha can also mean lack of association or giving up association. Sang-varjita-ha. Now if you see, association and attachment are very much related.

It is whom we associate with how our attachments develop. If you associate with somebody, soon they will also become mad about it. There are a lot of people who are mad for baseball, soon they will also become mad for baseball.

So if you want to become mad for Krishna, then we need to develop an attachment for Krishna. Then two things we need to do. On one side, we avoid the association of those who are attached to other things.

And on the, that's on the negative side, or we could say on one side. On the other side, we associate with those who are attached to Krishna. So Krishna as a part of that is saying here, sang-varjita-ha.

Give up the association of materialistic people. sang-varjita-ha. Nirvairah sarvabhuteshu.

And giving up bad association, when we interact with different people in different ways. So one of the ways in which we interact is we may have devotees with whom we have close association. We may have those who are anti-devotional from whom we stay away.

But in between these two extremes, also there are people. So we bear no ill-will towards anyone. Nirvairah sarvabhuteshu.

Nirvairah means that one who is one who does not have any ill-willing feeling for anyone. yaha samame tipandava A person will come to me. It's a fascinating verse both because of its content and its context.

So in terms of context, this has come just after the Vishwaroopadarshan. It's such a stunning hair-raising in some ways blood-freezing kind of vision where Arjuna saw the warriors entering into the mouth of the Vishwaroopa. And despite that kind of vision, what is the result? The result is that Arjuna is still moving on.

Arjuna has been told that he should become an instrument that the Kauravas are already dead and he should become an instrument for the universal, for the Kalaroopa of the Ishwara, ultimately of Krishna. But, so although Krishna has endorsed to Arjuna in a very visually forceful way that he should fight the war, Krishna has also told him don't fight it in a way that is filled with animosity. That don't fight because of any animosity towards anyone.

Fight in a dispassionate way as a service. As a service. So they are lawbreakers and the lawbreakers need to be punished.

And the way they will be punished is by the way they will be punished is by by being killed but don't make it more like killing a personal Vendetta. It's more in a detached or a clinical way, do it as a service. Just like a doctor may cut off a limb of a particular person.

Now amputation is not done with a Vendetta. Amputation is done with in a clinical way because that's what is required if that part is not amputated then that part will infect the rest of the body and the whole person may and even the person entirely may die. So better that one part be cut off.

It's not that we hate that part at that time but we just let that part be detached, be cut off. So in the same spirit in a similar spirit here Krishna is telling Arjuna that that yes the Kauravas have sided with Adharma they have perpetrated and perpetuated Adharma and they need to be punished at the same time do it in a do it without any animosity towards anyone Nirvairaha Sarvabhooteshu So in terms of context in a battle field to ask somebody to be non inimical towards everyone else just after having seen a form in which the inimical the opposite forces are going to be killed has been vindicated that's remarkable normally at the end of a speech especially if it's a war calling speech you know say somebody some commander wants to rally his forces rally their forces for fighting a war and they have given an inspiring vision of victory how our nation's flag will fly atop we will be victorious the enemies will lay in ruins will be destroyed after suppose a commander has given a reverting vision of of victory then after that the commander would normally conclude such a speech by describing straight forward come on let's go and fight now kill the enemies you have the power to kill them so it would be the conclusion would be more of a call for ruthless fearless action but Krishna's call at the end of the chapter shows the transcendence of Krishna's message Krishna does not say Arjuna by doing this you will attain victory and therefore do this Krishna does not talk about the battle at all Krishna says do this and you will come to me this conclusion after the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita there are very very few references to the battlefield setting and to there are practically very little calls to fight also in the Gita it's only the 11th chapter that again there is a call for action but there is a vision of of physical destruction of the enemies and a jarring reminder of the battlefield setting of the discussion but this this graphic even horrific vision that was given in this chapter earlier the Gita is not a call for rabble rousing violent action at all it concludes with not a call for violence but a call for transcendence Krishna doesn't assure Arjuna by doing this you will attain victory in this war Krishna says you do this and you will come to me the Gita's message in that sense central thrust is not at all on winning the war the central thrust is on attaining Krishna and Krishna is telling Arjuna how he can be attained oh Arjuna do this so Arjuna if you translate the whole thing into the battlefield context what this means Arjuna know that fight on my behalf see this war as something fought on my behalf and don't think of victory as the goal of this war see that attaining me is the goal of this war so do it in a devotional mood be not attached to anyone that means don't be attached to those on your side and think that you want to lead them to victory don't be averse, inimical towards the opponents in this way if you fight then you will surely attain me.