SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA: 2.6. Swami Advayananda.

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Saturday 15, February 2025, 08:30.
BHAGAVAD GEETA 2-6.
Discourse 2 | Yoga of the Supreme Self - (72 Slogas) 
2.2   ARJUNA ON THE DEFENSIVE 
(Verses 4-10,   7 No.)
Slogam - 6.  Arjuna’s Intellect Disengaged: 
Swami  Advayananda.

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Slogam - 6.  Arjuna’s Intellect Disengaged: 

1.

Na cha etat vidmaah = I can scarcely say which  

katarat nah gareeyah =  for us (the Pandavas) will be better: 

2. 

yat vaa jayema yadi =  that we should conquer them,  

vaa nah jayeyuh; =  or that they should conquer us. 

3. 

yaan eva hatvaa na =  After slaying whom  

jijeevishaamah te =  we would wish not to live, they 

4. 

avasthitaah pramukhe = stand facing us –   

Dhaartaraashtraah. =  namely, the sons of Dhritarashtra.

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1-3. 

“To Do or Not to Do” – that is Arjuna’s dilemma, and it is typical of the indecisive mind. Acharyaji quoted two selected verses from Hindu scriptures which throw light on Arjuna’s wavering mind.   

“Even if it is one’s Guru, if a principle is violated, the necessary  action has to be taken to correct it.” 

“A small child, a Brahmana and even a Guru, who have become  Atatayins (felons) should without hesitation not be spared due  punishment, including capital punishment.” 

4. 

There is a time and place for such assessments; it should have been done long  before the battle is declared, and in the boardroom in consultation with others.  

Acharyaji quoted a slogam from the Tirukkurral: 

“Before entering an action, decide: 

i) if it is right; ii) if you have the capacity for it; iii) what your opponent’s power is; and iv) who 

is supporting who.” 

In today’s management terms, this would be a SWOT analysis, i.e. 

gauging one’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. 

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LIGHT ON ARJUNA’S DILEMMA: 

Arjuna’s indecision is the message conveyed in this verse. It indicates that Arjuna is being dominated by his mind, the natural quality of which is to be indecisive. The intellect, which is the decision-making instrument, has clearly been disengaged and is not available to him. This adds to his predicament greatly. It means that personal considerations predominate in his thinking, rather than the principles for which the war was declared. 

Arjuna himself had made the following statement prior to the war. 

Speaking to Duryodhana once, he said, “You speak arrogantly. Whose strength are you taking support  from (referring to Bhishma and Drona)? We shall take their life in this battle.” *In the war  Arjuna eventually killed Bhishma, and Drishtadyumna killed Dronacharya.] He had taken this  resolve on behalf of his brothers. For such a strong-minded person to resort to ‘beggary’ now is tantamount to Nishiddha Karma (forbidden action). 


It is easy for us as observers to see and assess Arjuna’s difficult condition. For Arjuna himself, entangled as he is in emotionally-charged thoughts, it is a near impossibility. From  the security of our study room, we see how engulfed Arjuna is in his mind, and what confusion he is steeped in. Would we have done better than Arjuna? Could we have the  same detached view of ourselves in the thick of our own trials as we expect Arjuna to have? 

For Arjuna there is light at the end of the tunnel – from the very depths of his own  mental anguish, out of the womb of pain that he is experiencing, there emerges something  that saves him from disgrace . . . 

 *****
 Next
Slogam 7:  Arjuna Surrenders to Krishna 
Continued

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