Gita 01.43 Hearing is important, but from whom we are hearing is even more important

Bhagavad Gita 1.43 utsanna-kula-dharmanam manushyanam janardhanam nareke niyatam vaso bhavati ti tyanushushruma eternality in another sense he has talked about the concept of eternity in different terms in different senses till now he has talked earlier about how kula dharma sanatana kula dharma sasasvataha he is talking about how the dynasty, dynastic duty is long lasting, how it is eternal and now he is talking about how for those who disrupt it those who cause the disruption of the dynastic duty, kula dharma for them the punishment is eternal nareke niyatam vaso bhavati ti tyanushushruma I have heard from reliable sources that such people will go to hell and hell forever so if you look at the overall context of the Gita and therein we will see that what Arjun is saying is not so much a matter of literal eternal hell as it is a matter of fearfully long punishment when he is talking about kula dharma sanatana kula dharma is not sanatana because the kula dynasty is also not sanatana the dynasty manifests in the material world at a particular time, for a particular period and then it ends so while it is there for that finite period it is not that the dynasty will be eternal so in that sense each one of us has to consider the individual ramifications of our actions and while considering those ramifications we need to be aware that whatever we consider whatever consequences we talk about those consequences are going to affect us and we cannot deny that effect all that easily to deny that effect means to tell ourselves that there is just no possible hope for us to elevate ourselves unless we recognize that certain actions have grave consequences so the gravity of consequences sometimes needs to be conveyed emphatically for us the actions themselves tempt us alluringly or goad us forcefully, do this, do this and if we decide not to do certain actions then the challenge in that is that we trap ourselves because we are unable to purge ourselves of the deepest desires that may come upon us and these deepest desires will slowly but surely entrap us if we do not wish to be entrapped then deepest means the desires that drag us down to the deepest darkness if we do not wish to be entrapped thus then we need to in a systematic, sustained way realign our priorities by such realignment move towards purification at least move towards the actions that will lead to purification that is actions that center on dharma, actions that harmonize with virtue it's interesting that Arjun says that this is not just my opinion I have heard so even in hearing from whom we are hearing is important even if we are hearing from sources that are dharmic still we may not be getting paradharma we might be getting aparadharma aparadharma is not unimportant but it is not all important more important than aparadharma aparadharma is material religion religion as a tool for us to get better things in life religion as a means by which each one of us can progress towards elevation towards liberation towards different kinds of progression but the elevation and liberation come after a very very long time rather the elevation is in terms of material prosperity dharma, artha, kama and moksha takes a long time and even that moksha is centered on material consciousness because we still think that we are products of matter and we need to do certain things by which we can progress in our lives and for such progress we need to purge ourselves of negativity so one gives us impiety and one cultivates piety because one believes that that will lead to better material pleasure so there are a lot of vedic texts which talk about this level of dharma which is aparadharma and hearing from such authorities may be elevating in terms of piety but it will not be liberating in terms of spirituality it may still keep us in a certain level of illusion and if we do not wish to be deluded then it is very very important for us to cleanse ourselves to purify ourselves and to hear from those sources that will spiritually elevate us Bhagavad Gita is such a source and although Arjuna has heard from learned authorities and hearing from learned authorities is an authorized way of learning but still from which learned authorities is also important and if one hears karmakanda literature which is aparadharma then one will still be deprived of life's supreme spiritual benefits you may get some material benefits but those are not long lasting and it is through such sources that hearing from such sources Arjuna is now under the misconception of considering the material to be eternal whether it is material dharma or the result of material bad karma here he is talking about eternal hell hell is also not eternal, it is a temporary place Arjuna is mistaking it to be eternal or our residence in hell to be eternal which is a statement made by those who teach us to give up adharma and take up dharma as a means to help us at least by the power of fear stay on the right path.