Bhagavad Geeta, Chapter 1
Bhagavad Geeta - Chapter 1 - Arjuna Vishāda Yōga
Let us at first recollect the song ‘Geeta sāra’.
Geeta sāra śrnu tu sada - Recollect the main essence of Geeta periodically.
Manasi vikasam vahata muda - Due to this the mind will bloom significantly.
Kāmam krodham tyajata hrda - From your heart practice discarding desires (kāma) and anger (krodha). This is the foremost step in sadhana.
Bhūyāt samvit para sukhada - When this is achieved, jnana (knowledge, samvit) which grants greatest joy to the mind will be attained.
Vishada yoga parthena…
Partha (Arjuna) was depressed and drowned in grief. Out of extreme attachment (moha), drowned in ignorance and without proper understanding, he uttered those words that should not be uttered. At such crucial time when Arjuna was submerged with doubts (sandeham), the Lord, in order to dispel this sorrow and ignorance, preached to him the sacred Geeta.
This first chapter contains the story before the war. It brings out Arjuna’s grief in totality. Krishna does not utter a single word in this chapter. Perhaps you may wonder - If grief (vishāda) is to be yoga, then why are our daily sufferings not considered yoga? Understand clearly - yoga is that which drives away sorrow. At times, deep sorrows bring transformation and tune the person towards yoga. The Sadhana performed at times of intense difficulties can also be termed Vishāda Yoga.
The very first stanza of the Bhagavad Gita is:
Dritarastra uvaca:
Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavētā yuyutsavah
Māmakāḥ pānḍavāścaiva kim akurvata Sanjaya ǀǀ 1ǀǀ
Meaning: Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya, “In the Dharma kśetra i.e Kurukshetra, my sons and the Pandavas have assembled for war. Please explain to me what is happening at the war field”.
The first stanza emphasizes that it is a dharmic war (dharma kshetra), wherein rules pertaining to righteousness (dharma) are to be adhered to unlike the Rama- Ravana war in which demons defied all rules of warfare.
Being blind Dhritarashtra (father of Kauravas) depended upon Sanjaya for the war updates. Sanjaya’s divine vision was a gift from Maharishi Vyasa. In fact, Maharishi Vyasa had offered to give this divine vision to Dhritarashtra but the latter had refused as he was very well aware that he could not bear to watch his sons being killed.
Dhritarashtra was in a dilemma - a state of duality (dvandva). Due to his extreme love for his son, he had failed to control him and had allowed him to go ahead with the war. But at the same time, he knew that it was not the right decision. He feared for the life of his sons as he knew the might of the Pandavas. We too face such situations in our life. We are unable to decide what we like and what we want. We cannot firm up our mind and stick to the righteous decision as we are carried away by love and emotion. Here Sanjaya supplied the breaking news to Dhritarashtra as it took place in the war field.
But unless a person understands the background story and the reason for the war, he will not be able to appreciate this sacred preaching, that is contained in this Geeta Shastra.
Then probably, we may wonder why a text, as sacred as Gita, begins with such a casual statement relating to war.
What could be the hidden meaning behind this stanza? We all believe that the very first stanza, in a text as sacred as Gita, should be of deep meaning. Let us try to understand the hidden meaning.
Dharmakshetre: It is a ground/ field wherein righteousness (dharma) is to be followed.
In the 13th chapter of Bhagavad Geeta, Lord Krishna explicitly explaines that the term Kshetra means ‘body (deha or shareera)’. Therefore the term ‘dharma kshetra’ means - this body should be used for practice of righteousness (dharma) at all times. This body has been given to us so that we can abide by dharma and attain liberation with it.
Kurukshetre: The Sanskrit word ‘kuru’ means ‘to do/ to accomplish’. Kurukśetra means the body is meant for performing action. The words Dharma and kuru in this verse tell us that ‘your deeds/ actions should be in accordance to dharma’.
Samavētā yuyutsavah: Have gathered eagerly for war.
In field called body (kshetra), where dharma has to be followed, who would have gathered eagerly for war? The answer is given now.
Māmakāh: ‘mama’ means ‘mine or my people’. It should be understood as rajasic and tamasic feelings in the person.
The feelings of ‘I and mine’ reflect the person’s ahamkara (ego). They are the rajas and tamo gunas in the person. The rise of such feelings means that the person has fallen to a level lower. He should understand that he has been swallowed by the snake in the game of ‘snakes and ladders’.
Pāndavāḥ : Pandu means white. It reflects sattva guna or good traits within the person.
Those who walk on the good path and those who strive for the welfare of society come under this category. Pandavas means those who abide by dharma and who are sattvik (pure) in nature. They are accompanied by many other good qualities.
Kimakurvata - What will be the outcome of the war (between pure and impure traits)?
Sanjaya - the result is total victory (sam+ jaya). Sam means absolute. Jaya means victory. It means that the traits of purity (sattvik) will emerge victorious in the war.
12:
Arjuna uvaca -
Senayor ubhayor madhyē ratham sthāpaya me achyutā
yāvad etān nirīkṣe haṃ yodhou- kāmān avasthitān
Arjuna said - O Krishna! Please take my chariot and position it between the two armies. I wish to see all those who have assembled here to fight this battle.
As directed by Arjuna, Lord Krishna then positioned the chariot in the middle of the armies and said - Uvaca partha pasyaitaan samavetān kuruniti ..- O Partha, now you observe all the armies.
This actually is the first word uttered by Krishna. In Bhagawatam it is said that Krishna in fact, then pointed out to each one of warriors on the opponent team saying, “Arjuna, Look there, he is Bheeshma, that is Drona. See Kripa. Then this is Duryodhana and so on..” As he was pointing finger at each of them in this manner, the hearts of the opponents trembled in fear. It was as if he was identifying the persons who would be killed in this battle.
In our life we should understand that just as the Lord placed Arjuna in the centre of the two armies, He has put us in this world and asked us to observe all the characters here. Observe the world and the people, but do not get carried away by any. Do not get attached to any of them or to the situations.
Arjuna observed the armies and caught up in a whirlpool of emotion, he said -
Dṛṣṭvemāṃ svajanaṃ kṛṣṇā yuyutsuṃ samupasthitaṃ
Seedanti mama gātrāṇi mukhaṃ ca pariśuṣyati
Vepathusca sarīre me roma-harsaś ca jāyate
Gānḍivaṃ sramsate hastāt tvak caiva paridahyate
Kim no rājyena Govinda kiṃ bhogair jīvitena vā ǀǀ
Arjuna said, ‘Seeing these armies I am trembling in fear. These are my people (swajanam) who belong to me. My body is drained of energy in entirety. My gandivam is slipping from my hand. My mind is not in control. I do not seek this kingdom or the luxuries it brings, O Krishna. What is the use of this kingship when my near and dear ones will die in war? Of what use is living if these people are no more? O Krishna I will not use any weapon against my kith and kin. I will bear silently any weapons hurled by them towards me. I will not retaliate. Even if I am killed in this war, I will accept it. In this only lies my welfare.”
The whole key lies in the word ‘swajanam’. Before deciding upon the war, was Arjuna not aware that Duryodhana was his cousin? Did he not know that he was going to fight his blood relatives? Shrinking and wanting to run away from war in the last minute was his first biggest mistake. By declaring that they were his kinsmen, he is indirectly hinting that the Lord is not his own. It also means that his own brothers are discarded by him. This is his second mistake. It was a grave mistake to speak in this manner.
Such feelings arise in every being at some point or other in life, when he gets attached to this world.
This was the heinously low level to which Arjuna had descended. He who always wanted to be beside Krishna and who took Krishna as his guide and mentor at every step, now wanted to die in the hands of Duryodhana. Due to this weakness he was ready to desert his own brothers and run away from the battlefield.
Another question that would probably arise in the mind- why can’t Arjuna’s feelings of compassion be accepted at noteworthy? After all aren’t these feelings of dispassion a good mental state to be in?
The truth is that dispassion is good but despondency is not. Arjuna was dejected and unhappy. Arjuna’s feelings of despondency cannot be called vairagya (dispassion). Dronacharya displayed dispassion when he discarded his weapons and went into deep meditation in the centre of the war field. But yet even then, as per rules of warfare, it was right to *** him. During a war, apart from a charioteer no one else has the right to sit. Sitting or discarding arms signals an invitation to the opponent to attack. Sitting down is against the war rules. The moment the warrior sits down, the elephant or the horse that is carrying him, is aware that it should run from the field to save its master’s life. You cannot spare an enemy merely because he decides to discard his arms in the middle of the war. You cannot spare an enemy merely because his chariot wheel gets struck in the mud. All these are war rules. We cannot and should not make comments to the contrary and find faults in Krishna’s decisions, when we are ignorant of the matter.
Here Arjuna in the gloomy state of mind was speaking about running away from war field. This is totally against the rules of warfare. It is against the rules of Kshatriya dharma. If Krishna permits Arjuna to escape from the war field, He is setting a wrong example for future generations. The future warriors will run away at times of crises and desert their motherland. It is the duty of a warrior to guard and protect his motherland at all costs.
Compassion is good. But in supremacy, dharma (rules of righteousness) is more superior to compassion (daya). Dharma is the root for the society. Daya is only a branch of dharma. Our entire life runs according to the rules of dharma. Where dharma itself is rendered to a non-existing state, what is the use of compassion? People erroneously believe that it is great to show daya and karuna (compassion, sympathy) irrespective of whether the situation/ person is righteous or not. Can a mother refrain from scolding her child who doesn’t study merely because of feelings of love and compassion?
Arjuna too displayed such worthless compassion when he declared -
Yadi mām apritikāram aśastram shastra pānayah
Dhrātrarāstra rane hanyuh tanme kśema karam bhavet
Meaning: O Krishna, I will not oppose the sons of Dhritarashtra when they attack me. I will give up all weapons. Even they attack me with weapons and if I am killed in this battle it is for my good.
Arjuna mental despondency was at this level that he was ready to get killed in the hands of Duryodhana and brothers. In this shloka a yoga sutra is deeply hidden.
Our Shastras dictate:
Dvavimou purushou rājan surya mandala bhedinou parivrad yoga yuktas ca yuddhe cā bhi ko hatahah -
Only two categories of people are eligible for attaining liberation - those who leave their body through yoga, i.e. those who can cut through the Sun galaxy (surya mandala) through their yogic pursuits and those who die in battle facing the enemy. In other words, the person killed in battle while fighting the enemy is eligible for liberation. The warrior who is killed when he is trying to escape from his enemies cannot attain liberation. The eligible warrior is he who dies when fighting for his country trying to seek the welfare of the citizens of his land.
With this the first chapter concludes.