Gita 02.09 – The decision of inaction reflects desperation to learn

Bhagavad Gita 2.9 Sanjay Vacham evam uktva rishi kesham Udakesha parantapah vinyocchaiti govindam uktva tu shrim bhuvaham So now, Sanjay is again coming into the picture. Because the words, when they are being spoken, it is the character to whom the speech is ascribed.

Now some action is happening, some transition in the person during the discussion is happening. So naturally, here there is a corresponding transition between the speakers. Sanjay is speaking now and he will speak for two verses and then Shri Bhagavan Vacham will begin from the eleventh verse.

So Sanjay Vacham, he says evam uktva, after having spoken like this, rishi kesham kesham. The am prefix indicates that, am suffix indicates that this is the object of the action. Udakesha, that suffix indicates that he is the subject of action.

That means he is a doer. So it is, the Udakesha spoke to rishi kesham and the Udakesha is actually parantapah. So it is interesting that parantapah was the word which was used by Krishna to refer to Arjuna in his speech in 2.3 to exhort Arjuna to give up weakness.

And Sanjay is using that word here parantapah to indicate that Arjuna will indeed beat back his opponents, the inner opponent of grief and weakness which has overcome him, Arjuna will beat it back by the power that will come from Krishna's message. So parantapah nayotsya iti govindam. Nayotsya, I will not fight, govindam.

So there is actually a profusion of names in this verse. There are two names for Krishna and two names for Arjuna. So for Arjuna there is rishi kesha and govindam.

For Krishna there is rishi kesha and govindam. And for Arjuna there is gudakesha and parantapah. So nayotsya iti govindam.

I will not fight, govindam. Uktva, so uktva is also coming twice. First uktva was what Arjuna had already spoken.

So Arjuna spoke like this and the conclusion is included in this verse. Nayotsya iti govindam. Oh govindam, I will not fight.

Saying this, uktva tu shrin babhu vaha. So in the writing sometimes some sentences are put in direct speech, some are put in indirect speech. Direct speech in English comes in quotation marks and indirect speech comes without the quotation marks.

So both of them have their virtues. Although direct speech is more alive, but indirect speech sometimes gives broader context, which is lost when we are caught in the immediacy of the action. So till the previous verse it was direct speech, it was Arjuna vacha.

Although there may not be any double quotes to mark the speech, but it was clear that what follows after vacha is that person speaking. So it is Arjuna's direct speech. Now Arjuna's speech is there in this verse, but it is placed within the broader context that Sanjay speaks that having spoken this, Arjuna concluded saying that I will not fight.

So what is the difference between Arjuna in 1.46 and Arjuna in 2.9? There also he basically said he will not fight. He put aside his bow and arrow saying that I will not fight. And here also Nayod say they go in them.

So external point of view, actually, nothing was changed. Arjuna is still fixed in his resolve to not fight. But then there was a huge difference internally.

Internally, Arjuna has surrendered. And now, while earlier, his decision not to fight more or less was because he had come by his reasoning to his own conclusion that fighting will not be virtuous, fighting will in fact be vicious, it will be karmically grievous. So he had come to his own conclusion about the right course of action.

And that's why he said I will not fight. Whereas here when he says Nayod say to go with them, he is saying Krishna, I cannot take any action unless I have clarification about what I am to do, ultimately what I am living for. So here, the decision not to fight which Arjuna is conveying is, it actually conveys his determination to let everything else wait till he learns from Krishna.

So that, that no, I will not fight, and that's in 1.46. Although he does not speak those words, his actions speak those words, because he puts aside his bow and arrow. There basically it conveys that I already made the decision and I'm not going to fight. But here it is said that here he is saying, I want to learn before I can make a decision and I am going to put, let everything else wait till I learn.

So that was, that context conveys as if it, he doesn't need any further knowledge. But here his action, action remains the same, but here it conveys that I absolutely need knowledge, without that I cannot take any action. So although we are in the middle of a battlefield, and although both the armies are ready for fighting, I cannot fight unless I know from you what I'm supposed to do.

I want to know what is Dharma, what will be the right course of action for me. And just running along some stereotyped life plan that may have been charted out for me by others, this is what a Kshatriya is supposed to do and this is what I will do. No, that is what I cannot do any longer that.

So now the Kshatriyas, if we see in the Mahabharata, they are not devotees. They are Dharmic and they may appreciate Bhakti also, but their focus is more on Karmakand level of Dharma by which they can attain heaven. And actually Krishna was also telling Arjuna to follow that chart, saying that you should get Kirti, you should get Swarga.

That is what Kshatriyas live for. So Arjuna responds to that by saying in 2.8 that actually even if I get Swarga, Rajyam suranam pichadi patyam, even if I get that level of success, which is considered the pinnacle of success for a Kshatriya, the Kshatriyas who attain heavens are considered astute by subsequent generations of Kshatriyas. So and they become the models whom subsequent generations of Kshatriyas try to emulate.

So Arjuna is saying over here, no, that model will not work for me. I don't want that model. So I cannot fight.

I need to get answers. What is Dharma? Ultimately what is Dharma means, what is the purpose of life? What is it that I am meant to live for? Without understanding this, I cannot do anything. So there Arjuna conveys his fervent eagerness, even desperation to know the truth.

And it is such eagerness that actually is the prize for knowing the truth. We can follow even as seekers, even as sadhakas, we may start getting settled in our practice of devotional rituals. And that purposeful search for Krishna, which that purposeful seeking of Krishna, which is actually expressed through our performance of the rituals.

If that seeking is absent, then the rituals can become very monotonous and dull. So we have to animate, infuse our performance of devotional activities with it. Searching for Krishna.

Now at the level of Arjuna here, Arjuna is searching for meaning and the ultimate reservoir of meaning is Krishna. So in that sense, he's also searching for Krishna. But right now he's searching for Krishna at a preliminary level.

What is the meaning of life? What is it that I am meant to live for? And I will let everything else wait till I get the answer to this question. And only then I will move forward. So Krishna, please speak.

Till you speak and illumine me, na yo cheti govinda. I will not quiet. Feeling the eagerness, Krishna will start speaking and.