Changes

In the previous slokas, Krishna said that this attitude of Arjuna is not befitting him, will not give him any repute or victory or glory and he needs to shed it. But depression is not like ordinary body pain, which can be cured with a balm etc. It's something more deeper. So, Arjuna is still desolate and not convinced. In ordinary life too, we see lot of depressed people- the school or college kids commit suicide or go into depression due to scoring poorly in the exams, lovers commit suicide due to loss of a their loved ones etc - these are all decisions made out of depression and have no foundation. Though Arjuna did not commit suicide, such dejection for the caliber of Arjuna is equivalent to death. Out of mercy, Arjuna resorts to this decision to withdraw from the war in spite of all encouragement from Sri Krishna. Now in the 4th sloka he asks Sri Krishna: Arjuna said: Oh! Killer of enemies! Oh! Killer of Madhu! How  can I attack with arrows in battle Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship?  He says, in this war (Sankhye), how (katham) can face Bhishma and Drona , how can i attack them with Arrows (isubhih pratiyotsyami), they who are worthy of my worship. He addresses Krishna as Madhusudhana and AriSudhana, deliberately. An important point to be noted is that how we are to behave towards our teachers or gurus. Bheeshma and Drona are teachers for Arjuna and he has to worship them; but now he is asked to aim missiles at them. This is something, which Arjuna can never think of. Here he is indirectly indicting Sri Krishna by addressing Him as Ari soodana and Madhu soodana. Ari means enemy and He kills the enemies and Madhu. Whereas He never attempted to kill His teacher Sandheepani,and He got fame by killing only enemies, how could he want Arjuna to become notorious by killing his teachers? Arjuna regards the teachers much superior to the words of advice of Sri Krishna. Who is greater- the teacher or God? This is a delicate question. Gold is superior to silver and so normally we regard the person who donates gold to us as greater than the one who donated silver. Why do we regard teacher as great? Because he is the one who guides us to open our inner eyes to see the reality of God, the Supreme Being. So by earlier analogy teacher is greater for having made us to realize the most important in life. But it is God s design that we reach a suitable teacher. Therefore from one angle teacher is greater and from another side God is greater. That is why there is a saying that there is no god above teacher. Sri Madurakavi Alwar also reflects this in his  kanninun chiruthambu . He says  thevu matrariyen kurugur nambi  He regards Sri Nammalwar, his guru as god unto him. God may not forgive one for the paap committed; but the teacher not only ignores one s paap but also guides one in the vision of the Supreme Being. Upanishad says  regard mother as god, regard father as god, regard teacher as god, regard guests as god.  This is the confusion Arjuna is entangled in- whether to regard the advice of the God and act or whether to worship his teachers and abandon the war. Before enrolling as a student, he was a barren land and only afterwards the teacher has cultivated him to such skills and so Arjuna is defiant. Isn't Guru the greatest ? One's Guru is greater than God. So, how can one fight or raise against one's own Guru ? This is Arjuna's predicament. Guru and God are like Gold and silve. Gold is greater/valuable than Silver , so we can consider Acharya is importan than God, with this analogy. But, look at it in a different way, the person who gifts Gold is greater than the one who gives Silver, so the Lord who gifts us "gold-like" Acharya is important than Acharya!. If looked at either way, it seems puzzling on who is more important - one's Acharya or God?? Remember, MadhuraKavi Azhwar who sang the glories of his Acharya, Nammazhwar.

In the previous slokas, Krishna said that this attitude of Arjuna is not befitting him, will not give him any repute or victory or glory and he needs to shed it. But depression is not like ordinary body pain, which can be cured with a balm etc. It's something more deeper. So, Arjuna is still desolate and not convinced. In ordinary life too, we see lot of depressed people- the school or college kids commit suicide or go into depression due to scoring poorly in the exams, lovers commit suicide due to loss of a their loved ones etc - these are all decisions made out of depression and have no foundation. Though Arjuna did not commit suicide, such dejection for the caliber of Arjuna is equivalent to death. Out of mercy, Arjuna resorts to this decision to withdraw from the war in spite of all encouragement from Sri Krishna. Now in the 4th sloka he asks Sri Krishna: Arjuna said: Oh! Killer of enemies! Oh! Killer of Madhu! How  can I attack with arrows in battle Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship?  He says, in this war (Sankhye), how (katham) can face Bhishma and Drona , how can i attack them with Arrows (isubhih pratiyotsyami), they who are worthy of my worship. He addresses Krishna as Madhusudhana and AriSudhana, deliberately. An important point to be noted is that how we are to behave towards our teachers or gurus. Bheeshma and Drona are teachers for Arjuna and he has to worship them; but now he is asked to aim missiles at them. This is something, which Arjuna can never think of. Here he is indirectly indicting Sri Krishna by addressing Him as Ari soodana and Madhu soodana. Ari means enemy and He kills the enemies and Madhu. Whereas He never attempted to kill His teacher Sandheepani,and He got fame by killing only enemies, how could he want Arjuna to become notorious by killing his teachers? Arjuna regards the teachers much superior to the words of advice of Sri Krishna. Who is greater- the teacher or God? This is a delicate question. Gold is superior to silver and so normally we regard the person who donates gold to us as greater than the one who donated silver. Why do we regard teacher as great? Because he is the one who guides us to open our inner eyes to see the reality of God, the Supreme Being. So by earlier analogy teacher is greater for having made us to realize the most important in life. But it is God s design that we reach a suitable teacher. Therefore from one angle teacher is greater and from another side God is greater. That is why there is a saying that there is no god above teacher. Sri Madurakavi Alwar also reflects this in his  kanninun chiruthambu . He says  thevu matrariyen kurugur nambi  He regards Sri Nammalwar, his guru as god unto him. God may not forgive one for the paap committed; but the teacher not only ignores one s paap but also guides one in the vision of the Supreme Being. Upanishad says  regard mother as god, regard father as god, regard teacher as god, regard guests as god.  This is the confusion Arjuna is entangled in- whether to regard the advice of the God and act or whether to worship his teachers and abandon the war. Before enrolling as a student, he was a barren land and only afterwards the teacher has cultivated him to such skills and so Arjuna is defiant. Isn't Guru the greatest ? One's Guru is greater than God. So, how can one fight or raise against one's own Guru ? This is Arjuna's predicament. Guru and God are like Gold and silve. Gold is greater/valuable than Silver , so we can consider Acharya is importan than God, with this analogy. But, look at it in a different way, the person who gifts Gold is greater than the one who gives Silver, so the Lord who gifts us "gold-like" Acharya is important than Acharya!. If looked at either way, it seems puzzling on who is more important - one's Acharya or God?? Remember, MadhuraKavi Azhwar who sang the glories of his Acharya, Nammazhwar.

2-5: gurun-ahatva hi mahaa-anubhaavaan sreyo bhoktum ! bhaiksyam apiiha loke hatva-artha-kamams-tu! gurun ihaiva bhun-jiya bhogAn! rudhira-pradigdhan In the last sloka Arjuna asked how he could afford to kill Bheeshma, Drona and others. The word others include Kauravas viz Duryodana and    his brothers. For this Sri Krishna is posing a question seemingly. If Arjuna runs away from the war, what will he do for food and shelter? Will he live in forests? The twelve-year exile itself was considered by the Pandavas as a shame. Then how are they going to take this forest life if he ran away from the war? Sri Krishna apparently asks this and so Arjuna s reply is accordingly in sloka 5: "Arjuna says it is better for him to beg and live rather than killing great personalities like Bhishma and his guru Drona. If these people are attached to luxuries and material opulence (referring to Duryodhan etc), there is nothing wrong in it. So, why should he kill them. Isn't it better to let them enjoy their luxury rather than slaying them and ruling the land stained with their blood?" In a way Arjuna is concerned with the hell that awaits him if he were to kill his Teachers. He is also apprehensive that after killing all these people, living in this world with bloodstains will also be hell. So he fears hell before and after his death. Sri Krishna logically rebuts this. If Arjuna left the battle without fighting it will be a disgrace for a kshatriya [royal community] and he will have to lead life by resorting to begging, as he will be deprived of all property. Also, by abandoning his dharma of protection of his people and gifting the kingdom to wicked people will make him a great paapi (Sinner) and ensure hell after death. So Sri Krishna s rebuttal was either way hell only if Arjuna refused to fight. By fighting and recapturing the kingdom he can lead a normal life in this world. He need not consider this as enjoyment with blood stains as he is expected to do his duty and be a trusty for good administration and not for pleasure. This way because he established the moral ethics of kshathriya in the war, he will be awarded heaven after death. So instead of Arjuna s imagination as either way hell for him, Sri Krishna s argument is that by fighting it will be either way heaven for Arjuna. Arjuna preferred begging to killing those noble teachers. Perhaps he was reminding Sri Krishna that in one of His earlier Avatars or incarnations, He had also begged. As Sri Vamana, a young dwarf bachelor, He went to the Yagnashala or the sacred place, where Emperor Bali was performing Yagna and begged for a small piece of land to be measured by His tiny feet.

 

हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् ॥२- ५॥

 

gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apīha loke hatvārtha-kāmāṁs tu gurūn ihaiva bhuñjīya bhogān rudhira-pradigdhān  ॥ 2-5 ॥

 

In the last sloka Arjuna asked how he could afford to kill Bheeshma, Drona and others. The word others include Kauravas viz Duryodana and    his brothers. For this Sri Krishna is posing a question seemingly. If Arjuna runs away from the war, what will he do for food and shelter? Will he live in forests? The twelve-year exile itself was considered by the Pandavas as a shame. Then how are they going to take this forest life if he ran away from the war? Sri Krishna apparently asks this and so Arjuna s reply is accordingly in sloka 5: "Arjuna says it is better for him to beg and live rather than killing great personalities like Bhishma and his guru Drona. If these people are attached to luxuries and material opulence (referring to Duryodhan etc), there is nothing wrong in it. So, why should he kill them. Isn't it better to let them enjoy their luxury rather than slaying them and ruling the land stained with their blood?" In a way Arjuna is concerned with the hell that awaits him if he were to kill his Teachers. He is also apprehensive that after killing all these people, living in this world with bloodstains will also be hell. So he fears hell before and after his death. Sri Krishna logically rebuts this. If Arjuna left the battle without fighting it will be a disgrace for a kshatriya [royal community] and he will have to lead life by resorting to begging, as he will be deprived of all property. Also, by abandoning his dharma of protection of his people and gifting the kingdom to wicked people will make him a great paapi (Sinner) and ensure hell after death. So Sri Krishna s rebuttal was either way hell only if Arjuna refused to fight. By fighting and recapturing the kingdom he can lead a normal life in this world. He need not consider this as enjoyment with blood stains as he is expected to do his duty and be a trusty for good administration and not for pleasure. This way because he established the moral ethics of kshathriya in the war, he will be awarded heaven after death. So instead of Arjuna s imagination as either way hell for him, Sri Krishna s argument is that by fighting it will be either way heaven for Arjuna. Arjuna preferred begging to killing those noble teachers. Perhaps he was reminding Sri Krishna that in one of His earlier Avatars or incarnations, He had also begged. As Sri Vamana, a young dwarf bachelor, He went to the Yagnashala or the sacred place, where Emperor Bali was performing Yagna and begged for a small piece of land to be measured by His tiny feet.

2-6: na-cah-etad vidmah, kataran-no-gariyah! yad va jayemah! yadi-va-no jaye-yuhu! yan-eva hatva, na jiji-visamah! teh-avasthitah pramukhe dhartarastrah [Uncertainity in the battle and so] whether winning or losing is better for us. When not interested to live by killing these children of Dhridhrashtra, the same persons are arrayed against us . Bhagavat Gita has a reputation that a recitation of a chapter or half of it or a sloka in a chapter or half or even quarter of a sloka will accumulate punya. This is to emphasize that every word in this sacred text is rich and brimming with significance." Arjuna says he is torn between what to do (Kataran no gariyah?), he doesn't know what to do (na-cah-etad-vidmah?). He is in Dharma-Sankatam - i.e choosing between the two dharmas - Being a Kshatriya and fighting or invoking paap of killing his acharya. With this plaguing doubt, he says, even winning is not guaranteed in this war (yad va jayemah! yadi va no jaye yuhu!). And even if he is ready to fight, listening to Krishna, he sees his gurus, relatives etc arrayed against him in the war, the very people whom he does not want to kill! Arjuna expresses his quandry here. Like all of us, he is caught in a dilemma of what is right or wrong and what is better. With this quandry, he also has doubts on his winning the war. He doesn't wish to kill his guru and close relatives, but they are arrayed against him in the war which he has to Win! Arjuna is thrown into despair. This is akin to the dilemma of a Father who wants to ensure his wayword Son reigns his habits to write the exam, but if he physically assaults him to control, then the son ends up not writing the exam due to being incapacitated.

2-6: na-cah-etad vidmah, kataran-no-gariyah! yad va jayemah! yadi-va-no jaye-yuhu! yan-eva hatva, na jiji-visamah! teh-avasthitah pramukhe dhartarastrah [Uncertainity in the battle and so] whether winning or losing is better for us. When not interested to live by killing these children of Dhridhrashtra, the same persons are arrayed against us . Bhagavat Gita has a reputation that a recitation of a chapter or half of it or a sloka in a chapter or half or even quarter of a sloka will accumulate punya. This is to emphasize that every word in this sacred text is rich and brimming with significance." Arjuna says he is torn between what to do (Kataran no gariyah?), he doesn't know what to do (na-cah-etad-vidmah?). He is in Dharma-Sankatam - i.e choosing between the two dharmas - Being a Kshatriya and fighting or invoking paap of killing his acharya. With this plaguing doubt, he says, even winning is not guaranteed in this war (yad va jayemah! yadi va no jaye yuhu!). And even if he is ready to fight, listening to Krishna, he sees his gurus, relatives etc arrayed against him in the war, the very people whom he does not want to kill! Arjuna expresses his quandry here. Like all of us, he is caught in a dilemma of what is right or wrong and what is better. With this quandry, he also has doubts on his winning the war. He doesn't wish to kill his guru and close relatives, but they are arrayed against him in the war which he has to Win! Arjuna is thrown into despair. This is akin to the dilemma of a Father who wants to ensure his wayword Son reigns his habits to write the exam, but if he physically assaults him to control, then the son ends up not writing the exam due to being incapacitated.