Study of the Bhagavadgita : Chapter-2 : Post- 6. - Swami Krishnananda

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Friday, September 11, 2020. 12:31. PM.

Chapter 2: The Background of the Bhagavadgita-6.

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1.

Now, the question of doing or not doing is not an easy state of affairs. It was not possible even for a wise, very cultured individual such as Arjuna to make a decision as to what is to be done and what is not to be done. He did not know exactly what was before him. Many a time we do things under the impression that those things are expected of us, but the consequences are not always before our eyes. We are blinded, to some extent, as regards the results that follow from our action. It is the expectation of the Gita that your deeds, your expectations, your performances, the works that you do, should be guided by a central principle. What that central principle is will be told to you gradually during the course of the discourse. There is a gradational ascent of the teaching which culminates later on at a point when you will be face to face with the most stimulating fact that nothing can be done unless it is cosmically involved.

2.

This world of righteousness and action, Dharmakshetra and Kurukshetra, is the field where the Pandavas and the Kauravas girt up their loins for the Mahabharata war, as it is called. You perhaps know the background of the story of the Mahabharata. There were, in ancient times, certain ruling princes, cousin brothers, usually called the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Dhritarashtra and Pandu were brothers. Because Dhritarashtra was blind, he was not considered fit to rule the kingdom. Pandu was to rule. But as fate would have it, Pandu died prematurely and Dhritarashtra had to be installed as king though he was blind and otherwise unfit. The children of Pandu were called the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra therefore, being the king, found himself practically unable to handle the affairs of the state, and the powers virtually went to the hand of his eldest son, Duryodhana. The eldest of the Pandavas was Yudhishthira, and his brothers were Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva; they were five in number. The sons of Dhritarashtra were one hundred, and he had a daughter also, making one hundred and one.

To be continued ...



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