SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA: 2.1. Swami Advayananda.

-

 

======================================================================================

Sunday 22, December 2024, 15:40.
BHAGAVAD GEETA - 2 
Discourse – 2    (72 Verses) 
“Yoga of the SUPREME SELF” 
Swami  Advayananda.

======================================================================================= 

LORD KRISHNA, IN THE first ten verses, brings Arjuna to a state of receptivity for the  knowledge, and thereafter he begins imparting the knowledge. He starts with Saankhya 

Yoga, which describes what the highest Goal is. Then He follows it immediately with where  Arjuna has to begin the Path, namely, Karma Yoga. The chapter ends with one of the most  classical descriptions of the Stithaprajna, one who has perfected himself. This is the general  thought-flow of this Chapter. 

The Chapter can also be considered as a concise coverage of the entire theme of the Geeta. All the ideas which the Lord wishes to convey are covered in it. The rest of the Geeta is an expansion on each idea presented in this Chapter. 

==========================================================================================

2.1   THE LORD RESPONDS TO ARJUNA 
Slogas  1-3, 3 No.) 

===========================================================================================

Slogam 1:

 Sanjaya: The Scenario at Present 

=========================================================================================

Sanjaya Uvaacha: = Sanjaya said: 

1 

Tam tathaa kripayaa aavishtam = To him who was thus overcome with pity

 2 

ashru poorna akulekshanam; = with eyes full of tears and agitated

3 

visheedantam idam vaakyam = and despondent, these words 

4 

uvaacha Madhusoodanah. = did Madhusudana (Krishna) speak: 


=============================================================================================

Sage Vyasa breathes a lot of meaning into innocuous looking introductory pronouns. Of this usage we have to be aware throughout the Geeta. 

1

Tam: 

“To him” or “that”; a very significant him is meant here, referring to his past: 

This is the Arjuna we know as being the Brave Archer; the pride of his teacher, Dronacharya; The one who had no peer in the skill of archery.

Tathaa: 

“thus”; this word is to tell us the present state of Arjuna. It is an Arjuna who is not in control of himself; who is deluded; who has become a slave. The once valorous 

Arjuna has become an emotionally overwhelmed victim, willing to retreat from the battlefield. The past Arjuna has no semblance to the present one. Is it the same person?  

Who can correctly see Arjuna’s condition? It is Sanjaya, “one who has full control over his senses.” The movement of a boat can be noticed only by a still observer. 

Arjuna’s condition resembles that of Uttara on the battlefield. During the thirteenth year of the Pandava’s exile, they had to live incognito. Arjuna impersonated a female role as Brihanala. In an emergency, ‘she’ played the role of charioteer to Uttara, the Prince. When the manly Uttara displayed effeminate fear in facing the enemy, it was the apparently ‘effeminate’ Brihanala who swopped roles with Uttara and single-handedly routed the enemy army! That was the power Arjuna once wielded. How did this get reversed? – Kripayaa, “compassion”; as a result of pity and emotion that are misplaced. This is delusion in the guise of compassion. If one is poor, dressed in rags, or without shelter or food, we can rightly feel compassion for him; we can assist him out of compassion. But the Kauravas are known to be unrighteous and are unworthy of such compassion. 

2

 Tears and agitation, in its proper place, can be very purifying. If it were pure compassion, the eyes would have a pleasing, soft, appealing look, they will not show signs of agitation. 

The agitation makes Arjuna’s compassion dubious. It is a compassion that is   misdirected – it is, in fact, not compassion but attachment.  

3

 The grief or despondency is an effect of Arjuna’s delusion. There is an undertone in it that is asking, “Why me?” It is an ego-centred ‘me’ that is seeking a sympathetic hearing from Sri Krishna. 

4

 Madhusoodana: “one who has killed Madhu (an Asura)”. Sanjaya seems to be hinting to King Dhritarashtra that here is one who has defeated the mighty Madhu in battle, and that He is capable of repeating that feat now. Won’t Dhritarashtra yet consider withdrawing his troops from the battlefield? 

Thus, Sanjaya introduces Sri Krishna’s first response to Arjuna. It is time for the Lord to speak and thus do His bit to save Arjuna from being considered a traitor by the world. 

That is the scenario at the outset of Chapter 2. 

*****

Next

Slogam- 2:

 The Lord Strongly Disapproves 

Continued

============================================================================================

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Teachings of the Bhagavadgita - 8.1. Swami Krishnananda.

-
Image
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, March 21, 2021. 07:57. AM. Chapter 8: Creation and Life After Death -1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bhagavadgita is a moksha-shastra, a scripture on the science of the liberation of the spirit. Thus it follows the course of the return process along the same lines as the evolutionary process of the descent of the soul from the Supreme Being. The first six chapters may be said to be engaged in an exposition of self-discipline from the individual point of view, the integration of the human personality and the preparation of the whole man for the greater task which is yet to come – namely, the at-one-ment of the individual with the set-up of the universe. Some of the interpreters and commentators on the Bhagavadgita hold that the first six chapters have a relevance to the significance of the term 'twam' in the famous Upanishadic p...
Read more

Gita : Ch-3. Slo-43.

-
Image
Srimad Bhagavad-Gita : Chapter-3. ( Karma-yogam ) Slokam-43. ( Thus, knowing the atma to be superior to intelligence, O brave and strong Arjuna, steady the mind by self-realisation and conquer this insatiable enemy, in the form of lust. ) evam  buddheh  param  buddhva  samstabhyatmanamatmana, jahi  satrum  mahabaho  kamarupam  durasadam. mahabaho  =  O,  strong  brave   Arjuna; evam  buddheh  param   =   thus  superior  of  intelligence; atmanam  buddhva  =  knowing  the  atma,  by  atma,  the   intelligence (the  vivekam/discrimination  and  vicharam/ realisation ); atmanam  samstbhya  =  keep  the  atma  steady  without  oscillations;  (controlling  the  mind   from,  vishayas)     kamarupam  du...
Read more

A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 33 - Swami Krishnananda.

-
Image
================================================================================= Saturday 01, June 2024 06:40. Chapter 7: The Entry of the Absolute into the Relative -3. Post-33. ================================================================================= There are endless connections of this type. The relationship of adhyatma and adhibhuta is involved in an infinite variety of degrees of ascent and descent. This imperative of the presence of a consciousness between adhyatma and adhibhuta in various degrees is the reason why you sometimes feel there are many gods. Sometimes the question arises: Are there many gods, or only one God? There is only one God, the Absolute, but inasmuch as it manifests itself as an interconnecting link between subject and object through millions of degrees of ascent and descent, it looks as there are millions of gods. It is as if there are millions of governments merely because there are millions of officials in a centrality of administration. There is...
Read more