Gita : Ch-2. Slo-1.

Srimad Bhagavad-Gita :


Chapter-2. ( Samkya-yogam )


The first 10 slokams narrate the state of  ( fully surrendered ) Arjuna to the Lord. From 11th  to 46  slokams are the sum of Samkya Sidhantham.  Here Samkyam means   "Logic thinking in Tattva - Sastram". From 47 to 60 slokams are about Karma yogam, 61 to 70 Bhakti yogam, and last 71 and 72 are about Sanyasa yogam, the so told yogams are following in the chapters  3 to 18. Hence chapter-2 is the most important in Srimad Bhagavadgeeta as it reflects the whole scripture.


In chapter two Arjuna accepts the position as a disciple of Lord Krishna and taking complete of Him requests the Lord to instruct him in how to dispel his lamentation and grief. This chapter is oftened deemed as a summary to the emtire Bhagavad-Gita. Here many subjects are explained such as: karma yoga, jnana yoga, sankhya yoga, buddih yoga and the atma which is the soul. Predominance has been given to the immortal nature of the soul existing within all living entities and it has been described in great detail. Thus this chapter is entitled: The Eternal Reality of the Souls' Immortality.





Slokam-1.




sanjaya uvaca



Tam    tatha    krpayavistam    asru-purnakulekshanam,


visidantam   idam   vakyam   uvaca    madhusudanah.



sanjaya uvaca   =   sanjaya   said;

tatha    krpayavistam     =    thus   overwhelmed     by    compassion;

asru-purnakulekshanam      =     eyes    full of tears,    depressed;

visidantam   tam     =    lamenting   unto   Arjuna;

madhusudanah    =   lord    Sri   Krishna;

idam   vakyam   uvaca    =     said     (this way ) this    words. 



Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion and very sorrowful, his eyes brimming with tears, Lord Sri Krishna, spoke the following words.


What happened next? To answer this the slokam states that to him meaning Arjuna whose eyes were filled with tears in bewilderment, to him Arjuna who was grieving the Supreme Lord Krishna spoke these words. 


Having heard Arjuna's justifications from refraining from the battle due to the fear of receiving sin for the slaying of relatives; Dhritarastra was relieved of the fear that his sons might have returned to the Pandavas their fair share of the kingdom and desired to know what happened next. Sanjaya spoke that Arjunas eyes were brimming with tears, when ones eyes are full of tears ones clear vision is obstructed and thus refers to Arjunas unable to see the situation in the correct perspective. By addressing Lord Krishna with the vocative Madhusudana indicates that just as He destroyed the demon Madhu in times of yore, by descending in the royal dynasty as a ksatriya He would destroy all the demoniac and evil elements which are burdening the Earth. 


Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization. The word "Madhusudana" is significant in this slokam. Lord Krishna killed the demon Madhu, and now Arjuna wanted Krishna to kill the demon of misunderstanding that had overtaken him in the discharge of his duty. No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress—the gross material body. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress is called a sudra, or one who laments unnecessarily. Arjuna was a kshatriya, and this conduct was not expected from him. Lord Krishna, however, can dissipate the lamentation of the ignorant man, and for this purpose the Bhagavadgeeta was sung by Him. This chapter instructs us in self-realization by an analytical study of the material body and the spirit soul, as explained by the supreme authority, Lord Sri Krishna. This realization is made possible by working with the fruitive being situated in the fixed conception of the real self.

To be continued  ...