Why is Arjuna considered the greatest archer when all his power came from Krishna?
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Question why is Arjuna considered the greatest archer when all his archery skills depended on Krishna only without Krishna he could not even defeat some cowherd people so if he was not even equal to a street fighter without Krishna then it is Krishna’s credit why is Arjuna considered the greatest archer answer there are two distinct issues over here which are being confused there is the human agency and there is the divine agency or there is the human initiative and there is the divine empowerment so so in this world God usually does not act directly God acts through his agents and which agents does he act through God is completely free to act through any agent but he usually acts through competent agents or he makes the incompetent competent or those who have trained themselves to be competent those who have trained themselves to be competent he uses them so when we are looking at things philosophically we have to understand not just the philosophy we have to understand the purpose of the philosophy so the point which I am making here is that Arjuna practiced tirelessly Arjuna is known as Gudakesha he conquers because all night practicing the archery skills that he had learned in the day time so committed to trying to become the best archer for the sake of dharma so he worked very hard and he had tremendous skills at one level it was his hard work if Arjuna had not worked so hard, Arjuna had not committed himself to hours and hours and years and years of practice of archery and not just practice of archery Arjuna performed severe austerities in order to get further weapons from higher beings so that he could become a more competent archer so we cannot just neglect this and say everything was done by Krishna yes it was done by Krishna but Arjuna he by his hard work, by his commitment by his austerity he made himself an instrument that Krishna could use and Krishna used him gloriously so we have to, when for example if we are doing something very well and if we are becoming proud because of doing it very well then we can remember how Arjuna was not able to do anything after Krishna departed he could not even defeat cowherd men so we can remember that my power is not my power, it is actually coming from Krishna, whatever I am able to do it is Krishna’s gift to me so that way when we are, when we tend to become proud we can maintain humility by remembering that whatever it is that we are able to do which is making us proud, that we wouldn’t be able to do without Krishna’s mercy, so let’s focus on Krishna and be conscious of Krishna as God of glories, not our own glories at the same time when we are dealing with others, when somebody is excelling we, yes we do see the hand of Krishna over there, it is Krishna who is actually this person, this person is speaking so well, this person is singing so well, it is Krishna who is empowering them but that person has also worked hard so there is in every action that we do there is a divine empowerment and there is a human agency so both have to be acknowledged to acknowledge only the human agency and not acknowledge the divine empowerment that is a materialistic vision, but to acknowledge only the divine agency and not the human agent, that is being impersonal because that particular person has also worked hard so at one level in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna tells Arjuna that whoever thinks that I am a doer, they are illusion those who think that I am the doer they are simply deluded by ahankar, by ignorance by arrogance but then at the end of the Bhagavad Gita what does Krishna tell Arjuna now you do as you desire so if to think that one is a doer is itself an illusion then why is Krishna telling Arjuna 18.63 and then what does Arjuna say at the end 18.73 I will do your will so at this point Arjuna is saying all my doubts have gone and if his illusions are gone, why is he saying I will do your will is he in illusion thinking that I am the doer no actually in 18.60 in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna resolves this by saying that what is the illusion 18.63 to think that to think that I alone am the doer that is the illusion to think that I alone am the doer that is the illusion so we are the doers but we are not the soul doers we are able to do when Krishna empowers us to do so in all activities we need to see both the human agent and the divine empowerment and whenever anybody does anything good if we are appreciating that devotee, if somebody sings very nicely and then we go and tell no it is just, you are not singing it is Krishna who is singing now we will be minimizing that person that person worked hard, that person practiced that person became an instrument for Krishna Krishna could have made anybody an instrument Krishna has made that person an instrument and that is because of that person’s commitment we appreciate that so at the same time if somebody, if we are ourselves becoming proud Meenakshi is a humble married woman without Krishna I would not want to do anything so yes, the Mahabharata dramatically illustrates how without Krishna, Arjuna was completely powerless but then without Krishna everybody, everywhere would be powerless so then there would be nobody would be the greatest archer nobody would be the greatest singer nobody capable of any kind of greatness so anybody who has any kind of greatness that is because of Krishna whatever attractive things we see in this world, they manifest a spark of Krishna’s splendor so we have to see things in a way that helps us to remember Krishna more and more so if we are able to do something wonderful and then that makes us feel humble that Krishna is so kind that Krishna is even using a person like me to speak something or to sing something or to do something then by our doing wonderful things, if we are remembering Krishna then that is Anukulra Bhakti so we see that yes, I am the doer but Krishna is doing to me when I am endeavouring to do when we see somebody else doing something wonderful and then we start becoming envious why is this person doing so wonderful because it is not I who am doing it is actually, it is not this person who is doing it is Krishna who is doing to them and if Krishna can do such wonderful to such a person and that makes this person so attractive then how much more attractive will Krishna be this way whatever happens we become, we adjust our vision in such a way that we direct our thoughts positively towards Krishna Thank you.