atha chetvam imam dharmyam
sangraamam na krishyasi
tatha svadharmam kritim cha
hitva papam avapsyasi
Krishna asks Arjuna to change his goggles and then study the situation.He had analyzed the situation correctly before coming to the battle that it was indeed necessary,but had cold feet once he saw Bheeshma,Drona and others on the other side due to his attachment for them.If he ran away from the battlefield,he would have ignored his visesha dharma and for shirking his duty,he would incur papa and also go to naraka.
If he does not fight this righteous battle(imam dharmyam sangraamam na krishyasi),which is his duty,then,for having ignored his duty(svadharmam) and honour(kritim),he would incur sin(hitva papam avapsyasi).
This verse concludes Krishna's advice from the ethical point of view(dharmic drishti).
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Chapter 2,Verse 32
yadcchayaa chopapannam
svarga-dvaram apavrtam
sukhina katriyaa partha
labhante yuddham idrsham
Since Arjuna has viewed the battle of Mahabharatha wrongly,he has concluded the consequences too wrongly.He has viewed it from the angle of samanya dharma,and hence concluded that fighting the war would bring him papa & lead him to Naraka.
But,viewed from the visesha dharma point of view,which is correct,the Mahabharatha is ethical & fighting it would only bring him punya and lead him to Svarga,just like how army men are rewarded with various chakras on the republic day,for savagely killing the enemies in a war,which is an act of violence,indeed,but necessary in that situation.
Krishna tells Arjuna that fighting in the Mahabharatha war is an open door to heaven(swarga-dvaram) and such an oppurtunity has come to him,not because he wanted it,but because he is destined for it(yadcchayaa chopapannam).Hence,only a fortunate kshatriya(sukhina katriyaa) would get such a rare opportunity to fight for dharma and that he should not back off.
svarga-dvaram apavrtam
sukhina katriyaa partha
labhante yuddham idrsham
Since Arjuna has viewed the battle of Mahabharatha wrongly,he has concluded the consequences too wrongly.He has viewed it from the angle of samanya dharma,and hence concluded that fighting the war would bring him papa & lead him to Naraka.
But,viewed from the visesha dharma point of view,which is correct,the Mahabharatha is ethical & fighting it would only bring him punya and lead him to Svarga,just like how army men are rewarded with various chakras on the republic day,for savagely killing the enemies in a war,which is an act of violence,indeed,but necessary in that situation.
Krishna tells Arjuna that fighting in the Mahabharatha war is an open door to heaven(swarga-dvaram) and such an oppurtunity has come to him,not because he wanted it,but because he is destined for it(yadcchayaa chopapannam).Hence,only a fortunate kshatriya(sukhina katriyaa) would get such a rare opportunity to fight for dharma and that he should not back off.
Chapter 2,Verse 31
svadharmam api chavekhya
na vikampitum arhasi
dharmyaad dhi yuddhaac chreyo'nyat
katriyasya na vidyate
Beginning from verse 31,Krishna start to analyze Arjuna's problems from the ethical point of view(Dharmic drishti),if,in case Arjuna could not comprehend the spiritual angle(Adhyatmika drishti).
He says that if the Mahabharatha was an immoral(adharmic) war,then taking part in it would definitly give you(Arjuna) papa,and you shall be destined for naraka.Hence,you should be afraid of it.Krishna wants to establish that this is a legitimate(dharma yudham) war and says that taking part in it would never be immoral.As a matter of fact,it is the duty of a kshatriya to fight adharmic people.And doing ones duty is never immoral.On the contrary,shying away from your duty as a kshatriya would give you papa and you shall be destined for naraka.
Here,Krishna agrees that war involves violence.And there is a general law that violence is unethical and non-violence alone is dharma.Dharma shastra talks about two types of dharma-
1.Samanya Dharma
2.Vishesha Dharma
Samanya dharma is the general rule that violence is evil.
But Dharma Shastra says that,even though the general rule is that violence is evil and should be avoided by all,there are circumstances where violence becomes a necessary evil,which becomes the duty of certain people at certain times.This is Vishesha dharma.
For example,when a jury has to pass a judgement,and has found the accused guilty,they must hand out a punishment,which is violence.They cannot sit back and say that they shall practice non-violence and thereby release the accused.
Taking this a step further,the supreme judge is the Bhagavan,an as an impartial judge,must hand out punya-phalam and papa-phalam to people depending on our actions.When handing out papa-phalam,Bhagavan himself is practicing violence as a necessary evil,since he is a "Karma-phala datha".
Hence,non-violence is samanya dharma and non-violence as a necessary evil becmes visesha dharma.At that time,talking of non-violence is wrong.Misplaced non-violence is adharma,in fact,it is as adarmic as violence itself.
It is with these that Arjuna has got confused with.In Mahabharatha,visesha dharma applies since it is a dharmic war,and to Arjuna,who is a kshatriya,restoring dharma is a duty.He confuses these because of his emotional attachment to his relatives.
Krishna wants to distinguish between samanya dharma & visesha dharma.Mahabharatha is an ethical war from the standpoint of visesha dharma,because Dhuryodhana had committed the "pancha maha papams",which by itself is a great accomplishment.Hence,he must be out in place.For this,Mahabharatha becomes necessary.
Being the brother of Dharma putra,Arjuna has become confused with the Dharma-shastra.
Krishna points this out.Hence he says that Arjuna cannot waver from doing his duty of fighting the Mahabharatha.Kshatriya means a person who rids the society of adharma.This is derived from the word "Kshatam",meaning disharmony.Hence,he who rids the society of disharmony is a kshatriya.
Hence,he says that fighting a righteous war to save the society becomes the primary duty of Arjuna and he must not run away from it.
na vikampitum arhasi
dharmyaad dhi yuddhaac chreyo'nyat
katriyasya na vidyate
Beginning from verse 31,Krishna start to analyze Arjuna's problems from the ethical point of view(Dharmic drishti),if,in case Arjuna could not comprehend the spiritual angle(Adhyatmika drishti).
He says that if the Mahabharatha was an immoral(adharmic) war,then taking part in it would definitly give you(Arjuna) papa,and you shall be destined for naraka.Hence,you should be afraid of it.Krishna wants to establish that this is a legitimate(dharma yudham) war and says that taking part in it would never be immoral.As a matter of fact,it is the duty of a kshatriya to fight adharmic people.And doing ones duty is never immoral.On the contrary,shying away from your duty as a kshatriya would give you papa and you shall be destined for naraka.
Here,Krishna agrees that war involves violence.And there is a general law that violence is unethical and non-violence alone is dharma.Dharma shastra talks about two types of dharma-
1.Samanya Dharma
2.Vishesha Dharma
Samanya dharma is the general rule that violence is evil.
But Dharma Shastra says that,even though the general rule is that violence is evil and should be avoided by all,there are circumstances where violence becomes a necessary evil,which becomes the duty of certain people at certain times.This is Vishesha dharma.
For example,when a jury has to pass a judgement,and has found the accused guilty,they must hand out a punishment,which is violence.They cannot sit back and say that they shall practice non-violence and thereby release the accused.
Taking this a step further,the supreme judge is the Bhagavan,an as an impartial judge,must hand out punya-phalam and papa-phalam to people depending on our actions.When handing out papa-phalam,Bhagavan himself is practicing violence as a necessary evil,since he is a "Karma-phala datha".
Hence,non-violence is samanya dharma and non-violence as a necessary evil becmes visesha dharma.At that time,talking of non-violence is wrong.Misplaced non-violence is adharma,in fact,it is as adarmic as violence itself.
It is with these that Arjuna has got confused with.In Mahabharatha,visesha dharma applies since it is a dharmic war,and to Arjuna,who is a kshatriya,restoring dharma is a duty.He confuses these because of his emotional attachment to his relatives.
Krishna wants to distinguish between samanya dharma & visesha dharma.Mahabharatha is an ethical war from the standpoint of visesha dharma,because Dhuryodhana had committed the "pancha maha papams",which by itself is a great accomplishment.Hence,he must be out in place.For this,Mahabharatha becomes necessary.
Being the brother of Dharma putra,Arjuna has become confused with the Dharma-shastra.
Krishna points this out.Hence he says that Arjuna cannot waver from doing his duty of fighting the Mahabharatha.Kshatriya means a person who rids the society of adharma.This is derived from the word "Kshatam",meaning disharmony.Hence,he who rids the society of disharmony is a kshatriya.
Hence,he says that fighting a righteous war to save the society becomes the primary duty of Arjuna and he must not run away from it.
The 'Atma'
The atma,according to vedanta,is our higher nature or spirit,is of the nature of consciousness and is different from the mind-body complex.
According to tatvabodha,the atma has five features-
1.Consciousness is not a part,a product or a property of the body.
2.Consciousness is an independent,formless principle which pervades the body & enlivens it.
3.Consciousness is not limited by the boundaries of the body.It extends infinitely beyond this physical body,and hence,all pervading.
4.This formless consciousness principle will continue to exist even after the body dies or disintegrates.Hence,it is eternal.
5.After the fall of the body,the surviving pure consciousness is not accessible to us because there is no medium(body)to interact with it.Hence,it will not be available for any transaction.Consciousness
Vedanta says that this consciousness is our real nature.We are not the body having consciousness,but the consciousness inhabiting a body temporarily.The body is received by us at the time of birth and shall be renounced by us at death.I,the formless consciousness,shall exist before the reception and after the renunciation of the body.
This atma was described by Lord Krishna from the 12th to the 30th verses of the 2nd chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.He uses 6 words to describe the atma.They are
1.Nityaha-meaning eternal.
2.Satyaha-meaning that which lends existence to matter.Consciousness is called satyaha because it lends existence to matter(body),just like water lends existence to waves and the ocean and clay,to a pot.Body is called 'asatyaha' because it borrows existence from the atma.
3.Akartha-meaning not the doer of any action,good or bad.'Kartha' means doer.
4.Aboktha-meaning not the receiver of any consequences of actions.The consequences of the action shall be borne by the doer of the action.Since the atma does no action,it cannot reap any consequences either.
5.Sarvagathaha-meaning all pervading.Just like space,which is all pervading and accomodates all of us,so is the atma.
6.Aprameyaha-meaning it can never an object of experience.It cannot be observed,but is the observer.
The concept of atma is extra-ordinary and cannot be accepted and believed by everyone.Just like how a 5 year old boy cannot understand the subject matter of M.Sc mathematics,and needs to go through years of schooling and a bachelor's degree to b eligible to do so,we,cannot assimilate the concept of atma right away and need a tutorial to be able to uplift ourselves to a level where we can comprehend it.
This tutorial is called 'karma yoga'.The atma is described in the 'jnana yoga'.Hence,we need to go through karma yoga before being able to undergo jnana yoga.
Krishna,in forthcoming verses and chapters will give us the coaching we need to understand the concept of atma.
The jnana yoga is the panacea to all problems of life.Any other solution,though may alleviate us temporarily,will probably give rise to a couple of more problems,but will never get rid of it permanently.
According to tatvabodha,the atma has five features-
1.Consciousness is not a part,a product or a property of the body.
2.Consciousness is an independent,formless principle which pervades the body & enlivens it.
3.Consciousness is not limited by the boundaries of the body.It extends infinitely beyond this physical body,and hence,all pervading.
4.This formless consciousness principle will continue to exist even after the body dies or disintegrates.Hence,it is eternal.
5.After the fall of the body,the surviving pure consciousness is not accessible to us because there is no medium(body)to interact with it.Hence,it will not be available for any transaction.Consciousness
Vedanta says that this consciousness is our real nature.We are not the body having consciousness,but the consciousness inhabiting a body temporarily.The body is received by us at the time of birth and shall be renounced by us at death.I,the formless consciousness,shall exist before the reception and after the renunciation of the body.
This atma was described by Lord Krishna from the 12th to the 30th verses of the 2nd chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.He uses 6 words to describe the atma.They are
1.Nityaha-meaning eternal.
2.Satyaha-meaning that which lends existence to matter.Consciousness is called satyaha because it lends existence to matter(body),just like water lends existence to waves and the ocean and clay,to a pot.Body is called 'asatyaha' because it borrows existence from the atma.
3.Akartha-meaning not the doer of any action,good or bad.'Kartha' means doer.
4.Aboktha-meaning not the receiver of any consequences of actions.The consequences of the action shall be borne by the doer of the action.Since the atma does no action,it cannot reap any consequences either.
5.Sarvagathaha-meaning all pervading.Just like space,which is all pervading and accomodates all of us,so is the atma.
6.Aprameyaha-meaning it can never an object of experience.It cannot be observed,but is the observer.
The concept of atma is extra-ordinary and cannot be accepted and believed by everyone.Just like how a 5 year old boy cannot understand the subject matter of M.Sc mathematics,and needs to go through years of schooling and a bachelor's degree to b eligible to do so,we,cannot assimilate the concept of atma right away and need a tutorial to be able to uplift ourselves to a level where we can comprehend it.
This tutorial is called 'karma yoga'.The atma is described in the 'jnana yoga'.Hence,we need to go through karma yoga before being able to undergo jnana yoga.
Krishna,in forthcoming verses and chapters will give us the coaching we need to understand the concept of atma.
The jnana yoga is the panacea to all problems of life.Any other solution,though may alleviate us temporarily,will probably give rise to a couple of more problems,but will never get rid of it permanently.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Chapter 2,Verse 30
dehi nityam avadhyoyam
dehe sravasya bharatha
tasmad sarvani butani
na tvma shochitum arhasi
This verse concludes Krishna's lecture from the spiritual point of view.Verses 12 to 30 dealth with "Adyathmic drishti",meaning spiritual angle of Krishna's jist of the lessons of the Gita.
Next,he would next preach from the "dharmic drishti"(ethical angle) as to why Arjuna must fight the Mahabharatha.
Here,he says that you are not the body(deha),but the atma(dehi).The body is only a temporary cloth you are given to wear temporarily.The reason behind giving you this cloth is for you to realize that you are the atma,which is eternal(nitayam)and cannot be slain(avadhyoyam).Hence,you cannot kill Bheeshma or Drona because they too are the atma.The atma is embodied in everyone.Having understood this,you should realize that neither are you the killer nor are they the killed.Therefore(tasmad),you must not grieve(na tvam shoshitum arhasi) over any living being that inhabits this world(sarvani bhutani).
This was from a spiritual angle,which is very subtle,and is difficult to comprehend and believe in.Hence,Krishna would now view the Mahabharatha war from an ethical point of view and speak to Arjuna.There is a general belief that violence is wrong.But just like how,even though steriods are harmful to the body,they are used by doctors for the benifit of the patient,violence becomes necessary at certain points of time in order to restore dharma.Hence,misplaced non-violence is wrong.
An army general protecting the country's borders,when encountering an intrusion,cannot practise non-violence.A surgeon,needing to amputate a person's limb in order to save his life,cannot say that he will not lift a knife.
Hence,violence & non violence are not white and black,and there are grey areas.
This,Krishna will take up from the next verse.
dehe sravasya bharatha
tasmad sarvani butani
na tvma shochitum arhasi
This verse concludes Krishna's lecture from the spiritual point of view.Verses 12 to 30 dealth with "Adyathmic drishti",meaning spiritual angle of Krishna's jist of the lessons of the Gita.
Next,he would next preach from the "dharmic drishti"(ethical angle) as to why Arjuna must fight the Mahabharatha.
Here,he says that you are not the body(deha),but the atma(dehi).The body is only a temporary cloth you are given to wear temporarily.The reason behind giving you this cloth is for you to realize that you are the atma,which is eternal(nitayam)and cannot be slain(avadhyoyam).Hence,you cannot kill Bheeshma or Drona because they too are the atma.The atma is embodied in everyone.Having understood this,you should realize that neither are you the killer nor are they the killed.Therefore(tasmad),you must not grieve(na tvam shoshitum arhasi) over any living being that inhabits this world(sarvani bhutani).
This was from a spiritual angle,which is very subtle,and is difficult to comprehend and believe in.Hence,Krishna would now view the Mahabharatha war from an ethical point of view and speak to Arjuna.There is a general belief that violence is wrong.But just like how,even though steriods are harmful to the body,they are used by doctors for the benifit of the patient,violence becomes necessary at certain points of time in order to restore dharma.Hence,misplaced non-violence is wrong.
An army general protecting the country's borders,when encountering an intrusion,cannot practise non-violence.A surgeon,needing to amputate a person's limb in order to save his life,cannot say that he will not lift a knife.
Hence,violence & non violence are not white and black,and there are grey areas.
This,Krishna will take up from the next verse.
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