The Essence of the Gospel of the Bhagavad Gita :10. Swami Krishnananda

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30/12/2019.
(Spoken at a conference in Delhi on December 27, 1973.)
POST-10.
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1.

So beware of committing a mistake in your thinking about personal agency.

#"God does everything. Man is only an instrument" : —

#"Nimittamatram bhava savyasacin " (B.G. 11.33).

You become the fountain pen, as it were, in the hands of God, Who shall write the judgment of mankind.
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2.

Srimad Bhagavad-Gita :

Chapter-11. (Visvarupa-darsana-yogam)
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Slokam-33.

"Tasmat  tvamuttishtta  yaso  labhasva

jitva  satrun   bhunkshva  rajyam  samrddham,

mayaivaite  nihatah  purvam  eva

nimittamatram  bhava  savyasacin."
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Tasmat   tvam  uttishtta  = therefore  you  get up;

satrun  jitva  yasah   labhasva  =  earn  fame  on  victory  over  your  enemies;

samrddham   rajyam  bhunkshva   =  experience  the  prosperity  of  your  kingdom;

maya  eva   ete  =   these  people  I;

purvam  eva  nihatah  =  have  already  completely  killed  them;

#savyasacin!  =  arjuna! the able  left  hand user  in  archery;

#(tvam)  nimittamatram  bhava  =  (you)  just  become  the  cause  (of  killing  only).
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Translation of Slokam :

#"Therefore get up and prepare to fight. After conquering your enemies you will enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by My arrangement, and you, O Savyasacin, can be but an instmment in the fight."
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The Supreme Lord Krishna is the absolute and independent controller of all creation, Every living being depends solely upon Him for their existence and maintenance. He is also the absolute and independent destroyer and He confirms that all the warriors of the battle are nihatam-purvam meaning already slain by His mere desire. Therefore as Lord Krishna is the actual destroyer Arjuna should arise and defeat his enemies and win glory in the form of slaying Bhishma, Drona, Karna etc. who were invincible even to the demigods. Vanquishing his mighty foes he and his brothers can abundantly enjoy the flourishing kingdom of Earth. All the Kaurava warriors Arjuna will be fighting are already slain before he fights with them by Lord Krishna and Arjuna should merely as a conduit be the Supreme Lord's implement for slaying them. The vocative savya-sacin meaning expert archer reveals that Arjuna is ambidextrous and able to discharge arrows with either hand.

Lord Krishna is instructing Arjuna to arise from his lethargy of mind and fight for righteousness. By vanquishing the Kauravas he will acquire lasting glory and enjoy the prospering kingdom of Earth which will be rightfully administered and protected by the Pandavas. Lord Krishna alone by Himself has already determined the course of the battle and the destruction of all the unrighteous. In this work Arjuna is merely an instrument and must only accept the role of conqueror as an implement of war. Arjuna is addressed as savya-sacin or expert archer from the root shach meaning equal. This was because he was ambidextrous and could fix an arrow to a bow shooting it equally with left or right hand.

Lord Krishna reiterates that it is His will that the Kauravas are to perish and that Arjuna should arise for battle and attain fame by conquering Bhishma, Drona and Karna who are unable to be conquered even by the demigods. The Kauravas and their army have already been slain before the battle has even commenced by the desire of Lord Krishna through His potency known as kala or all consuming time and He informs Arjuna that he is nimitta-matram or merely the instrument, for accomplishing this. Lord Krishna addresses Arjuna as savyasacin meaning skilful with the left hand because being ambidextrous he is able to shoot arrows equally with his left hand as well as with his right hand.
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3.

Thus, the contemplation which is the Bhagavadgita gospel to us—the gospel of action, the gospel of duty, of conduct and righteous demeanour in this world—amounts to saying that our action and our sense of duty should be rooted in the consciousness of the presence of God. “Practise the presence of God and perform your duty. Trust in God and do the right.”

This is in essence the gospel of the Bhagavadgita, a vast subject which you can go on studying and thinking about and understanding throughout your life; yet, you will not reach the depths of the Gita, because it is the word of God.

As God is as deep as eternity, so is the depth of the Bhagavadgita, which is not to be understood merely by the study of the language of the Gita, but to be pondered over as a philosophical text and a spiritual message to mankind for all posterity.

THE END.
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 To be continued ...

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