Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita- Part 2: Post-1: Swami Krishnananda.

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Wednesday 24, Jul 2024, 06:30.
Article
Scriptures
Introduction to the Bhagavadgita: Part 2.
POST-1.
Swami Krishnananda
(Spoken on March 17th, 1974)

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The scene of the Bhagavadgita is not only a special kind of atmosphere but also a confluence of a special type of personalities. The atmosphere was tense, ridden over with anxiety and a kind of insecurity creeping into the veins of each and every person arrayed there for the great task before them. The future was not apparently in the hands of anyone.

We remain in a state of tension when the future is unknown to us. Though hope keeps us alive and active, our total ignorance of what is going to happen the very next moment keeps us anxious. It was a very complex situation involving various aspects of human nature and demanding of the personalities a very dexterous type of action.


Side by side with this atmosphere of a very complicated nature, we have very interesting personalities involved in this atmosphere of the great battle of the Mahabharata. As we observed last time, the whole scene was divided into two groups. On one side, King Dhritarashtra; and on the other side, Yudhisthira. On the one side, the force of the Kauravas; on the other side, the power of the Pandavas.


The context of the gospel of the Bhagavadgita is introduced into the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata with a supernormal introduction by the mighty brain of Vyasa, the author of the epic. The war was inevitable, unavoidable for reasons that were obvious, and the leading personality, the king of the land, was Dhritarashtra, but he was born blind. Vyasa came to the scene and spoke privately to King Dhritarashtra. “My dear friend, I foresee a great catastrophe for the nation. The time spirit itself seems to be working in a very peculiar manner. There seems to be something working behind the mighty efforts of human beings. Everyone has tried to avert this war, and all these attempts do not seem to have produced any effect. A wonderful scene is going to be displayed in the field of Kurukshetra. Dhritarashtra, do you want to see it? I will give you divine eyes. You shall have the vision to see what is happening with your own eyes. Do you want this?”


Dhritarashtra said, “Far from it. I cannot bear the sight of such an event where my own men will fly at the throats of each other. It would be enough or me, to my satisfaction, if a trustworthy report is conveyed to me as to what is happening. I do not want to see it myself.”


Then Vyasa blessed Sanjaya, the personal attendant of King Dhritarashtra, a friend and even a minister, we may say, with superphysical vision, indefatigability, and freedom from the harassment of hunger, thirst, and sleep, etc., the power to see things as they are actually happening at a given moment of time, the power to know even the thoughts of people, to understand even the feelings of men in the battlefield. Even if a person merely thought something, Sanjaya would know what he was thinking. Such was the blessing the great Vyasa bestowed upon Sanjaya, who was to be a faithful reporter of the event to King Dhritarashtra.

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Continued

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