SB 01.15.14 – See the Krishna factor to make memories of our achievements into memories of Krishna’s benevolence

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you. So, here Arjuna is referring to the battle of Virat where actually Arjuna single-handedly defeated the forces of the Kauravas which were like an ocean unsurpassable almost like infinite although he was alone on a chariot without anybody to assist him still he was able to surpass them so the Kurus had attacked and stolen away the wealth of the Virat kingdom that is the cows so Arjuna got back the wealth so he charged forward and he got back all the wealth from the from the enemies and then not only that he defeated them thoroughly actually all the Kuru warriors one by one right from Karna, Kripa, Drona, Ashwathama, Duryodhana, Dushyasana all of them fought with Arjuna and Arjuna defeated all of them and Tejas Patam Manimayam so at that time when he he was acting as a Unibrihanalla and he had gone as a charioteer of Bhuminjay, the Uttarakumar but Bhuminjay was frightened when he saw the vast Kuru army and he almost ran away so Arjuna told him you become the charioteer I will fight but when he had been leaving to go to the war field at that time the ladies in the palace had told now please get for us some of the shining clothes and jewels from the enemies after you have overpowered them so that’s what after Arjuna defeated the Kuru armies he took that Tejas Patam Manimayam the shining jewels and clothes he took them from the heads of the warriors who had been slain or who had been defeated and he returned back so that indicates that he basically defeated them thoroughly the jewels were taken from their head and they could not protest now externally speaking Krishna was not present in this battle Krishna was nowhere there it was Arjuna alone fighting but Arjuna knows that whatever victories he has won it is not by his own effort it is whatever power he has been given it is by Krishna’s grace and that’s why he’s saying here Arjuna was not having Krishna literally next to him as a friend or as a charioteer but even then he knew that Krishna is always my friend Krishna is present in my heart and he is as he says in the Bhagavad Gita my greatest friend and whatever I have achieved is by his friendship alone Krishna too is present in our hearts as our greatest friend and to the extent that we remember his friendship and choose to cherish that friendship to that extent our worldly achievements will become lastingly valuable generally speaking when we remember what we have achieved in this world our goal is to remember to boost our ego I did this and I did that and that can give us some good feeling about ourselves that oh my life is not wasted I have also done something in my life and I am also a good person a great person now all these feelings even if they help us to feel better they cannot grant us anything better in the long run but if we can see the hand of Krishna and actually it is not very difficult to see anything that we achieve wonderful in life certainly our efforts play a role we may have worked hard we may have planned and slaved but along with that so many other factors also have to work right for any success to come and those factors it’s not that we put them right there are factors beyond our control which work out right and that’s how we succeed so if we understand that those factors which were beyond our control which worked out right they were arranged by Krishna then our achievements can also become sources of enduring fulfillment for us if they increase they contribute to our remembrance of Krishna and increase our attraction to him so it’s not that devotees should not try to do wonderful things nor should devotees if they’ve been able to do wonderful things forget those wonderful things but remember not just one’s own hard work and brilliance but also remember Krishna’s background arrangement in so many ways which actually enabled our talent and work to transform into success so here that’s what Arjuna is doing he knows yet and this incident of his triumph at Virat instead of being a source of his own individual pride is becoming a source of devotional remembrance and intensification of devotional love for Krishna and if we can connect in this way our achievements to Krishna then we don’t have to deny or forget those achievements but or reject them as now they’re all temporary they’re all false no they can become true and if they can become sources of grateful remembrance of Krishna for us and this way even if our mind goes back to the past when we are trying to pray to Krishna then we can remember the happy moments from the past and thank Krishna and thereby the bring the wandering mind back home to Krishna’s