Gita 02.06 The decision that seems a no-brainer turns out to be a brain-exhauster

Yadva jaye mayadivano jaye yo yani va hatvana jijee vishamas te avastata pramukhe dhartarastraha so here Krishna is being told by Arjuna that I am confused, I am undecided lachaitad vidmaha I do not know among these options, which is better, either I win or whether I let them win.

Normally, we would say this kind of choice is no-brainer in any confrontation. Should I win or should I lose? You would think yes, obviously I should win. I want to win.

Diwano jaiye yo. Why is it that no-brainer kind of choice has become such a bigger choice for Arjun because if I am being killed by them, that those whom if we kill them, we will win, but if we are such a hollow victory that we will, what to speak of enjoying the victory, we will feel like not living at all. But those very people are in front of me poised for fighting.

So a particular kind of victory is called as a pyrrhic victory. A pyrrhic victory means a victory in which we learn to see how he is, how Krishna is so devoted, sorry pyrrhic victory is where the cost that is paid for winning the victory far exceeds the gains from it. Say, RV fights at a great expense of money, manpower, time to win a particular kingdom.

But that kingdom itself is so poor that whatever wealth or power or anything might be gained by winning that kingdom is insignificant and thus that victory becomes pyrrhic. Similarly, Arjun is feeling here that that which would otherwise be a no-brainer, the word no-brainer means something which even a person with no brain can decide. It is such an obvious choice that no brain is required for making that choice, that straightforward.

But in this case, it is not a no-brainer, it is a brain exhaustor, it is a brain tormentor, it is a brain puzzler. But it is not just a brain puzzler, like sometimes we may have some crossword puzzles or some other riddles which are like puzzlers for the brain, but this is also a heart tormentor because generally the games, the riddles that we solve, the games that we play, they don't matter in a huge way to us in our practical life. But here, this choice is going to matter to Arjun in a big way because the choice is going to determine whether Arjun wins the war or loses the war and not just that, whether his loved ones survive or they die, whether he survives or he and his close on his side live or die.

Because there are catastrophic consequences of his choice. So Arjun here, Arjun's condition, his predicament reflects the universal human predicament wherein we need to make decisions, but we just don't have the framework within which to make decisions. We just don't have the resources by which we can make proper decisions.

And that's why each one of us has to strive conscientiously to do what it takes to make the right decision. And Bhagavad Gita is an invaluable, indispensable, irreplaceable resource that can aid us in making sounder decisions. So, here, each one of us focuses on striving to connect with our all-attractive Lord and act in a mood of loving service to Him, when we act out of love, out of loving intention which is guided by higher wisdom, then we can move forwards in our life progressively till we attain Krishna, till we become enriched in our loving relationship with Krishna.

And ultimately, when we are connected with Krishna, when we are devoted to Krishna, at that time, that loving spirit becomes our barometer for deciding how to serve. When we are traveling and say we are traveling through a desert or a forest and we are lost, but if we get a compass, or in today's world, if we get a Google map, then we will be able to, so we will be able to make a far sounder decision based on the input that Krishna gets from the Gita. And the Gita acts as our compass, a compass by which we get an overall framework for making decisions, an overall framework by which we can evaluate what is to be done, what is not to be done, and which direction we want to go in our lives.

And that kind of input is invaluable. We want to move constructively in any direction in our life. This is what is the gift of the Bhagavad Gita, which will elevate Arjun from confusion to resolution, to elevation, to purification, to liberation.

Thank you.