When Arjuna’s chariot was destroyed after the MB war, why does he say in SB “The chariot is the same”?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna question when Arjuna’s chariot was destroyed at the end of the Kurukshetra war, why does Krishna say in the Bhagavatam to Yudhishthira Maharaj in 1.15.21 that I am on the same chariot as I was earlier when I defeated all the enemies in the famous verse so in that famous verse why does Krishna, Arjuna say that I got the same chariot right now why does he say I have the same horse answer that verse is talking about a principle over there the principle is externally things may remain the same but internally things have changed or at a higher level, at a deeper level things have changed and that’s why the results are no longer coming, so externally Krishna, Arjuna is saying that so so so he is saying that I got the same bow, yes literally Arjuna had same Gandiva so is the arrows, now did Arjuna have the same arrows exactly certainly not Arjuna shot arrows and those arrows went and pierced his enemies in the Kurukshetra war it’s not that he got the same arrows back and he put them back in his quiver and now again he was going to use the same arrows so the point of this is not of a literal congruence of everything so so now yes it is true that Arjuna’s chariot was so damaged although it was a celestial chariot but the sheer result of his combined enemies was so great that his chariot was severely damaged and it was Krishna’s presence that sustained the chariot and when Krishna got off the chariot after the 18th day when the war was over then Krishna, Arjuna got out first and Krishna got out and Krishna got out and the chariot blazed apart so that chariot was definitely destroyed but Arjuna’s glory glorious performance was not a function of that chariot yes chariot was there but what made everything special was that he was such a great warrior but Krishna Arjuna is emphasizing the external similarity of everything so if you understand things are similar they are not identical so Arjuna is saying externally and the same bow similar arrows similar chariot now his horses there will be several years have passed the horses have become older now so we may say they are still horses but still the age is age does affect them just as in the war field even his own horses got tired on the especially on the 14th day when he was trying to enter into the Kaurava army to avenge the death of Abhimanyu so the point here is not a literal congruence and of course Arjuna has also grown older by almost 14-15 years now so when he is saying exactly the things are same it’s not a point of exact mathematical congruence it’s a point of essential significance so from the point of significance what has changed now he says externals are more or less the same but the result is entirely different why because the lord’s grace is not there so the main point of this verse is not to emphasize the literal congruence of everything the main point of the verse is to emphasize that the essential significance of things does not lie in those things it lies in the power that is imbued in them by the supreme lord so yes the same chariot the same chariot like this horse like this bow like this arrow like this warrior like this they perform such superlative deeds earlier but now they are not able to do any of that why because actually that that essential significant power is no longer there and that power was imbued by the lord so when we study the bhagavatam it’s a poetic work and in a poetic work the point is not to emphasize literal accuracy there may be literal accuracy also but the point in a poetic work is to in a emotionally moving emotionally reverting way convey essential truths so by drawing the striking contrast between these two situations Arjuna is drawing underscoring the conclusion that the lord is the source of power in everything and the lord is not there and the lord does not give us power then no matter how impressive the externals may be those externals which to an uninformed vision where the cause of the superlative performance they will not be able to perform therefore the wise person should see beyond the externals to the lord as the source of any superlative performance that’s the essential message of the verse thank you the question is that the bhagavatam