We continued on Chapter 2, wherein Arjuna confused with multiple dharmas begs Krishna to tell 'for sure' (Nischitam) which Dharma to follow.
One participant raised a question : If Arjuna knew Krishna was the Lord, why didn't he follow the commands initially itself? Why does Arjuna still argue with Krishna about dharma?
One appealing answer to the problem was with Arjuna's trust in his intelligence to find the proper dharma. Arjuna (not unlike us!) used his intelligence to discover his way out of the dharmic-maze. However, his over-reliance on his own intelligence (last vestige of his ego?) caused him to question Bhagawan. However, unlike us, Arjuna was blessed because he knew when to set his intelligence aside and beg for guidance from the Lord.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Revisiting initial thoughts
Merry Christmas!!
Here are the questions we tackled (or at least attempted to) before we started studying Bhagavad Gita. It is our endeavor to return to these questions at the end of each chapter and observe how our answers change over the period. What do we learn as we proceed...
On the question of need of Chapter 1 :
One opinion is that Chapter 1 shows the state of human mind confused by the opposite pulls of multiple Dharma. One dharma dictates to Arjuna to fight, to respond, to the challenge posed by Suyodhana, while another questions his instincts (actions?) by pointing out that he will be the cause of destruction of his kula and the killer of the ones he holds in high respect. He is forced to fight (to kill) his grandsire Bheeshma and Guru Drona. The ordinary human mind is pulled in multiple directions, each seemingly the dharma that he MUST follow. One dictates action and attention in a direction, yet, the very next moment another dharma takes over and demands equal attention in a different direction. How should man determine which dharma to follow, OR, should he perform an energy sapping juggling act?
Some other questions were:
o Why should we take up Bhagavad Gita?
o What do expect to learn from it?
o What is the attitude with which we read Bhagavad Gita?
o Why Gitopadesh was for to Arjuna, why not Yudhishtra or Bheeshma or Bheema?
o Why did Bhagavan teach the Gita to Arjuna at the war-zone, why not somewhere else?
Bhagavad Gita teaches the essence of Dharma. By studying it we expect resolution of the Dharma-conflict raised in Chapter 1. However, for this we do need a degree of sustained concentration and attentive/active patience. Arjuna displayed these characteristic and is rewarded at the end of Gitopdesh when he proclaims "... my doubts are cleared, I'll perform as you instruct". Hopefully, by the end of chapter 18, we too reach a state equal to Arjuna.... (at least in theory, if not in practice). :)
Krishna taught Arjuna the Gita because Arjuna was ready for the lessons. His sharp mind and penetrative questioning laid bare the dharmic dilemma. Most importantly, Arjuna accepted Krishna as his teacher and was prepared to give up everything to follow the teachings. It is (metaphorically) symbolic that the conversation takes place in battle field. When a warrior enters the battle field, he detaches himself from everything. Here he stands alone, absolutely _alone_. This aloneness tests Arjuna's conviction of principles he lived by till then. He sees with immense clarity the conflicting life he has lead till. Multiple inviolable principles of life stand to be desecrated if he pursued any course of action. At this moment life stood 'still' for him as no course of action seemed sanctioned by dharma. Bhagawan Krishna leads him out of the confusion.
Here are the questions we tackled (or at least attempted to) before we started studying Bhagavad Gita. It is our endeavor to return to these questions at the end of each chapter and observe how our answers change over the period. What do we learn as we proceed...
On the question of need of Chapter 1 :
One opinion is that Chapter 1 shows the state of human mind confused by the opposite pulls of multiple Dharma. One dharma dictates to Arjuna to fight, to respond, to the challenge posed by Suyodhana, while another questions his instincts (actions?) by pointing out that he will be the cause of destruction of his kula and the killer of the ones he holds in high respect. He is forced to fight (to kill) his grandsire Bheeshma and Guru Drona. The ordinary human mind is pulled in multiple directions, each seemingly the dharma that he MUST follow. One dictates action and attention in a direction, yet, the very next moment another dharma takes over and demands equal attention in a different direction. How should man determine which dharma to follow, OR, should he perform an energy sapping juggling act?
Some other questions were:
o Why should we take up Bhagavad Gita?
o What do expect to learn from it?
o What is the attitude with which we read Bhagavad Gita?
o Why Gitopadesh was for to Arjuna, why not Yudhishtra or Bheeshma or Bheema?
o Why did Bhagavan teach the Gita to Arjuna at the war-zone, why not somewhere else?
Bhagavad Gita teaches the essence of Dharma. By studying it we expect resolution of the Dharma-conflict raised in Chapter 1. However, for this we do need a degree of sustained concentration and attentive/active patience. Arjuna displayed these characteristic and is rewarded at the end of Gitopdesh when he proclaims "... my doubts are cleared, I'll perform as you instruct". Hopefully, by the end of chapter 18, we too reach a state equal to Arjuna.... (at least in theory, if not in practice). :)
Krishna taught Arjuna the Gita because Arjuna was ready for the lessons. His sharp mind and penetrative questioning laid bare the dharmic dilemma. Most importantly, Arjuna accepted Krishna as his teacher and was prepared to give up everything to follow the teachings. It is (metaphorically) symbolic that the conversation takes place in battle field. When a warrior enters the battle field, he detaches himself from everything. Here he stands alone, absolutely _alone_. This aloneness tests Arjuna's conviction of principles he lived by till then. He sees with immense clarity the conflicting life he has lead till. Multiple inviolable principles of life stand to be desecrated if he pursued any course of action. At this moment life stood 'still' for him as no course of action seemed sanctioned by dharma. Bhagawan Krishna leads him out of the confusion.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Timing of Arjuna's questioning... and our 'Gita-moment'
Yesterday, during the discussion, a question was raised : Why Arjuna did not raise his 'objection to war' earlier? Also, why did only Arjuna raise these questions - why not Bheeshma or Yudhisthira or others equally qualified?
One quick answer is : It was Bhagawan's will that Arjuna should ask the question.
Another, on a more 'worldly' plane : When Arjuna asked Krishna to drive the chariot to the middle of the battle field so that he can 'see' whom he has to fight, Arjuna (symbolically) detached himself from 'his' people and from his 'enemies'. For once, he stood alone, neutral with only Bhagawan as his companion. It is a poignant moment when he suddenly realized his relationship with those whom he will be fighting-to-kill is almost equivalent to those whom he is defending. This overwhelmed his 'rational' thinking and brought out an emotional outburst. In my opinion, anyone of the stalwarts (Bheeshma etc.), if placed in similar situation would have responded similarly...
Relevance to our lives: We too on rare occasions stand alone in the 'battlefield' (Dharma-kshetra) of our lives. This aloneness is NOT loneliness - instead it is a moment of epiphany, and often result life-changing decisions that subtly affect our thought process. We certainly do not look forward to such moments because it shakes our beliefs from the core and forces us to reassess what we have taken to be truth. The presence and oneness with the Divine in such moments is palpable.
Regards,
Gopal
One quick answer is : It was Bhagawan's will that Arjuna should ask the question.
Another, on a more 'worldly' plane : When Arjuna asked Krishna to drive the chariot to the middle of the battle field so that he can 'see' whom he has to fight, Arjuna (symbolically) detached himself from 'his' people and from his 'enemies'. For once, he stood alone, neutral with only Bhagawan as his companion. It is a poignant moment when he suddenly realized his relationship with those whom he will be fighting-to-kill is almost equivalent to those whom he is defending. This overwhelmed his 'rational' thinking and brought out an emotional outburst. In my opinion, anyone of the stalwarts (Bheeshma etc.), if placed in similar situation would have responded similarly...
Relevance to our lives: We too on rare occasions stand alone in the 'battlefield' (Dharma-kshetra) of our lives. This aloneness is NOT loneliness - instead it is a moment of epiphany, and often result life-changing decisions that subtly affect our thought process. We certainly do not look forward to such moments because it shakes our beliefs from the core and forces us to reassess what we have taken to be truth. The presence and oneness with the Divine in such moments is palpable.
Regards,
Gopal
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Why should we read Gita? An illustrative story...
Aditya sent this e-mail and would like to share it with everyone...
Regards,
Gopal
==================================================
Hello Gopal/Koushik,
I thought you guys might like this forward ...
Aditya
----- Forwarded Message ----
An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson.Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Geeta. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavat Geeta just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavat Geeta do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house.
The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!" "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out..
"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavat Geeta.. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Lord Krishna in our lives."
==================================================
Regards,
Gopal
==================================================
Hello Gopal/Koushik,
I thought you guys might like this forward ...
Aditya
----- Forwarded Message ----
An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson.Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Geeta. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavat Geeta just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavat Geeta do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house.
The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!" "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out..
"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavat Geeta.. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Lord Krishna in our lives."
==================================================
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
End of Chapter 1 - Arjuna's dilemma
We completed Chapter 1.
The last few shloka form the 'core' of Arjuna's argument on why 'I will not fight'.
'Hind sight is 20/20'. Having read Gita and having heard about it from various sources, we are able to quickly identify the 'problems' of Arjuna. In my opinion, if we were to really make use of Gita, then the points identified by Arjuna act as pointers to our predicament with the world.
We closely identify ourselves with our lineage, our relatives, our possessions etc. Almost every small task that we perform is an indication of 'who we are' - as determined by 'who our family members are' or 'how much wealth we have' or 'what education I have' etc. And these are the very points that Arjuna has now thrown at Krishna.
Personally, will Krishna's answers 'satisfy' us? Or will His answers kindle us to think further? Or are we merely reading BG as another 'scriptural' text to be learnt/memorized and added to the list of items that we 'identify' with?
Regards,
Gopal
The last few shloka form the 'core' of Arjuna's argument on why 'I will not fight'.
'Hind sight is 20/20'. Having read Gita and having heard about it from various sources, we are able to quickly identify the 'problems' of Arjuna. In my opinion, if we were to really make use of Gita, then the points identified by Arjuna act as pointers to our predicament with the world.
We closely identify ourselves with our lineage, our relatives, our possessions etc. Almost every small task that we perform is an indication of 'who we are' - as determined by 'who our family members are' or 'how much wealth we have' or 'what education I have' etc. And these are the very points that Arjuna has now thrown at Krishna.
Personally, will Krishna's answers 'satisfy' us? Or will His answers kindle us to think further? Or are we merely reading BG as another 'scriptural' text to be learnt/memorized and added to the list of items that we 'identify' with?
Regards,
Gopal
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