Commentary on the Srimad Bhagavad Gita-2.1 : Swami Krishnananda
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22/12/2019.
2. The First Chapter – Vishadha Yogam, the Yoga of the Dejection of the Spirit
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2.1
The Bhagavadgita is a system of meditation. It is not a story that is being told to us of what might have happened centuries back. It is a concentrated spiritual guide which takes us from the very level in which we find ourselves at any given moment of time, and enables us to rise from that level to the next higher level, from the next higher level to a further higher level, and so on, in a graduated manner. There is no double promotion or sudden jumps in the teachings of the Bhagavadgita.
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2.2
#In a way, we may say that the Bhagavadgita starts with the worst of conditions that we can think of. What can be worse than battle?
"We know that the Gita was not taught in a temple or in a church or a monastery, which would have been the proper place for a teaching on Eternity."
#Is a battlefield the proper place for a teaching on timeless existence? '
"The reason the Gita was taught on a battlefield is that a spiritual life is not merely an idealism of human aspiration, a possibility of future attainment, but a realism of the present moment."
There is no use having ideas of a possible attainment in the future without appreciating its connection with the condition existing today. As it is said, we cannot jump out of our own skin. We are planted on the earth so firmly. Our feet are so sunk in the mire of this physical existence that whatever be the power with which the mind soars into the empyrean of the transcendent, it will not allow us to forget that our feet are in clay.
"That is the reason why the situation that can be considered as most abominable has been taken as the venue for the teaching of that which is the best of all teachings. It is as if from hell we are rising to the highest heaven."
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2.3
"The conflicts of human society are presented in the First Chapter of the Bhagavadgita; and the otherwise very adventurous and enthusiastic spiritual seeker is likely to suddenly find himself or herself in a predicament which would be ruled by the emotions and sentiment rather than reason."
#Arjuna asked Sri Krishna : “Please place my chariot between the two armies so that I may have a purview of what I am facing.”
#Sri Krishna could have done this and kept quiet. But he would not keep quiet. He uttered a few words that stirred the emotions of Arjuna : “Look at the Kurus arrayed in front of you!”
#If at the proper moment I utter one word, it will go so deep into you that you will never forget it. At a proper time I should say that proper word, like pressing a button at the proper moment.
"The name Kuru refers to the ancestral family from where the Kauravas and the Pandavas both descended."
#To say, “Look at the Kurus,” is to say, “Look at the field which is filled with your own kinsmen, as you have all descended from the Kurus.”
#The blood of the Kurus flowed through the veins of the Pandavas and of the Kauravas. It was a family feud, and the name Kuru stimulated sentiments of an emotional concord towards these kinsmen.
To be continued ....
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=======================================================================
22/12/2019.
2. The First Chapter – Vishadha Yogam, the Yoga of the Dejection of the Spirit
=======================================================================
2.1
The Bhagavadgita is a system of meditation. It is not a story that is being told to us of what might have happened centuries back. It is a concentrated spiritual guide which takes us from the very level in which we find ourselves at any given moment of time, and enables us to rise from that level to the next higher level, from the next higher level to a further higher level, and so on, in a graduated manner. There is no double promotion or sudden jumps in the teachings of the Bhagavadgita.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2
#In a way, we may say that the Bhagavadgita starts with the worst of conditions that we can think of. What can be worse than battle?
"We know that the Gita was not taught in a temple or in a church or a monastery, which would have been the proper place for a teaching on Eternity."
#Is a battlefield the proper place for a teaching on timeless existence? '
"The reason the Gita was taught on a battlefield is that a spiritual life is not merely an idealism of human aspiration, a possibility of future attainment, but a realism of the present moment."
There is no use having ideas of a possible attainment in the future without appreciating its connection with the condition existing today. As it is said, we cannot jump out of our own skin. We are planted on the earth so firmly. Our feet are so sunk in the mire of this physical existence that whatever be the power with which the mind soars into the empyrean of the transcendent, it will not allow us to forget that our feet are in clay.
"That is the reason why the situation that can be considered as most abominable has been taken as the venue for the teaching of that which is the best of all teachings. It is as if from hell we are rising to the highest heaven."
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2.3
"The conflicts of human society are presented in the First Chapter of the Bhagavadgita; and the otherwise very adventurous and enthusiastic spiritual seeker is likely to suddenly find himself or herself in a predicament which would be ruled by the emotions and sentiment rather than reason."
#Arjuna asked Sri Krishna : “Please place my chariot between the two armies so that I may have a purview of what I am facing.”
#Sri Krishna could have done this and kept quiet. But he would not keep quiet. He uttered a few words that stirred the emotions of Arjuna : “Look at the Kurus arrayed in front of you!”
#If at the proper moment I utter one word, it will go so deep into you that you will never forget it. At a proper time I should say that proper word, like pressing a button at the proper moment.
"The name Kuru refers to the ancestral family from where the Kauravas and the Pandavas both descended."
#To say, “Look at the Kurus,” is to say, “Look at the field which is filled with your own kinsmen, as you have all descended from the Kurus.”
#The blood of the Kurus flowed through the veins of the Pandavas and of the Kauravas. It was a family feud, and the name Kuru stimulated sentiments of an emotional concord towards these kinsmen.
To be continued ....
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