topics: |  hinduism | india | philosophy |

the amar chitra kathA series does a wonderful job of making even deep
philosophies accessible.  here it takes on the formidable challenge of the
gItA.  starting with the preamble to the battle of kurukshetra, the
excellent graphics take you through the tale of arjun's hesitation at killing
all his kinsmen, and kriShNa's explanation of the key points of sAMkhya and
yoga philosophy. 

Excerpts

duryodhana urging the blind dhritarAshtra to invite yudhiShTira
to a game of dice. 
[shakuni's crafty expression and body language
is captured brilliantly]

in the ensuing game of dice, the pANDavas lose their kingdom for thirteen
years.  when they are rejected even at the end of this period, there is 
war.  

on the eve of battle, however, arjuna does not wish to fight his
kinsmen. 


न हन्तुम इच्छामि  na hantum ichhAmi (i do not wish to kill)
Arjun: no! i cannot slay my own kinsmen.  not even for all the 
	three worlds, much less a kingdom


		आचार्याः पितरः पुत्रास्तथैव च पितामहाः ।
		मातुलाः श्वशुराः पौत्राः श्यालाः संबन्धिनस्तथा  ॥1.34
		एतान्न हन्तुमिच्छामि घ्नतोऽपि मधुसूदन ।
		अपि त्रैलोक्यराज्यस्य हेतोः किं नु महीकृते  ॥१-३५॥ 1.35

	ācāryāh pitarah putrās tathaiva ca pitāmahāh
	mātulāh śvaśurāh pautrāh śyālāh sambandhinas tathā || 1.34
	etān na hantum icchhāmi ghnato 'pi madhusūdana
	api trailokyarājyasya hetoḥ kiṁ nu mahīkṛte || 1.35

	śyālāḥ = brothers-in-law; sambandhinaḥ = relatives.  
	ghnataḥ & api = even [with the prospect of] being killed;
	na & icchhāmi = I do not want;
	hantum = to kill;  	etān = all these [people];
	api = even; 	hetoḥ = for the reason, for the sake of;
	trailokyarājyasya  = of the three worlds kingdom.
	kim nu = [let alone] 	mahī-kṛte = for the sake of earth.

[translation by S. Radhakrishnan, from Veeraswamy Krishnaraj ]
(1.34) Teachers, fathers, sons and also grandfathers; uncles and
	fathers-In-law, grandsons and brothers-in-law and (other) kinsmen.

(1.35) These I would not consent to kill, though they kill me, O Madhusūdana
       (Kṛṣṇa), even for the kingdom of the three worlds; how much less for
       the sake of the earth?

		निहत्य धार्तराष्ट्रान्नः का प्रीतिः स्याज्जनार्दन ।
		पापमेवाश्रयेदस्मान्हत्वैतानाततायिनः  ॥१-३६॥
	nihatya dhārtarāṣṭrān naḥ kā prītiḥ syāj janārdana
	pāpam evā 'śrayed asmān hatvai 'tān ātatāyinaḥ 1.36

	he janārdana (O Janārdana!),
	dhārtarāṣṭrān (the sons of Dhṛtārāṣṭra) nihatya (after killing), 
	naḥ (our) kā prītiḥ (what delight?) syāt (it would be).
	etān (these) ātatāyinaḥ (aggressors) hatvā (after killing),
	pāpam eva (certainly evil) asmān (on us) āśrayet (it would lean on).

	(1.36) What pleasure can be ours, O Kṛṣṇa, after we have slain the
	sons of Dḥṛtarāṣṭra? Only sin will accrue to us if we kill these
	malignants.  

---

the bow slipped from arjun's hands and he sat dejectedly in the chariot, his
eyes filled with tears.

		सञ्जय उवाच
		एवमुक्त्वार्जुनः सङ्ख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत् ।
		विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः ॥१-४७॥

saMjaya said:
(1.47) Having spoken thus on the (field of) battle, Arjuna sank down on the
       seat of his chariot, casting away his bow and arrow, his spirit
       overwhelmed by sorrow.


---

अश्रुपूर्ण आकुल इक्षणम् : confused, with tearful eyes

		सञ्जय उवाच
		तं तथा कृपयाविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम् ।
		विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः ॥२- १॥

	sañjaya uvāca:
	taṁ tathā kṛpayā 'viṣṭam aśrupūrṇākulekṣaṇam
	viṣīdantam idaṁ vākyam uvāca madhusūdanaḥ 2.1

	adhusūdanaḥ = O Madhusudana [slayer of Madhu]
	idam vākyam = these words;
	kṛpayā  āviṣṭam = overcome by pity or compassion;
	ākula = confused;  viṣīdantam = with grief or distress;
	aśrupūrṇa  = filled with tears; ikṣaṇam = eyes.

Saṁjaya said:
(2.1) To him (who was) thus overcome by pity, whose eyes were filled with
tears and troubled and (who was) much depressed in mind, Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa)
spoke this word.

---

this is your hour of trial, arjuna! such base despair does not become
you. it is inappropriate.  the call to battle has been sounded.  arise!
take up your arms!

		श्रीभगवानुवाच
 		कुतस्त्वा कश्मलमिदं विषमे समुपस्थितम् ।
		अनार्यजुष्टमस्वर्ग्यमकीर्तिकरमर्जुन ॥ 2.2
		क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते ।
		क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ॥ 2.3

	śrībhagavān uvāca:
	kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam
	anāryajuṣṭam asvargyam akīrtikaram arjuna || 2.2
	klaibyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha nai 'tat tvayy upapadyate
	kṣudraṁ hṛdayadaurbalyaṁ tyaktvo  'ttiṣṭha parantapa || 2.3

	kutaḥ = Wherefrom;  idam = this;
	kaśmalam = Impurity; samupasthitam = arrived;
	viṣame = at this hour of crisis;
	anārya-juṣṭam = un-āryan practice;
	asvargyam =  not yielding heaven;
	akīrti karam = confers infamy.

	mā2 sma3 gamaḥ4 = do not yield to; klaibyam1 = unmaniliness;
	etat7 na6 upapadyate9 =  this is not becoming;
	kṣudram10 = small, base;
	hṛdayadaurbalyam11 = weakness of heart;
	parantapa14 = O Scorcher of foes;
	tyaktvā12  = forsake, give up; uttiṣṭha13 = rise.

(2.2) Whence has come to thee this stain (this dejection) of spirit in this
      hour of crisis? It is unknown to men of noble mind (not cherished by
      the Aryans); it does not lead to heaven; (on earth) it causes
      disgrace, O Arjuna.

(2.3) Yield not to this unmanliness, O Pārtha (Arjuna) for it does not
      become thee.  Cast off this petty faintheartedness and arise, O
      Oppressor of the foes (Arjuna).

eknath easwaran's translation:
	2.2 This despair and weakness in a time of crisis are
	    mean and unworthy of you, Arjuna. How have you
	    fallen into a state so far from the path to liberation?
	2.3 It does not become you to yield to this weakness.
	    Arise with a brave heart and destroy the enemy.

---

2.7 : My will is paralyzed, and I am utterly confused.  Tell me which is the
       better path for me. Let me be your disciple. I have fallen at your
       feet; give me instruction.


2.11 You speak sincerely, but your sorrow has no cause. The wise grieve
     neither for the living nor for the dead.
2.12 There has never been a time when you and I and the kings gathered here
     have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist.
2.13 As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old
     age, so too at the time of death he attains another body.  The wise are
     not deluded by these changes.
2.14 When the senses contact sense objects, a person experiences cold or
     heat, pleasure or pain. These experiences are fleeting; they come and
     go.  Bear them patiently, Arjuna.
2.15 Those who are unaffected by these changes, who are the same in pleasure
     and pain, are truly wise and fit for immortality. Assert your strength
     and realize this!


	द्रोणं च भीष्मं च जयद्रथं च... मया हतांस्त्वं जहि मा व्यथिष्ठा : 
arjuna, you grieve because you think you are the doer. think of god as the
doer. you are but an instrument in his hands you are but carrying out his
will.  resigning all vour work to god, you must act. this is true
renunciation. giving up action is not.

---
Here AKC merges part of chapter 2, with a later thought from chapter 11:

		द्रोणं च भीष्मं च जयद्रथं च : कर्णं तथान्यानपि योधवीरान् ।
		मया हतांस्त्वं जहि मा व्यथिष्ठा : युध्यस्व जेतासि रणे सपत्नान् ॥११- ३४॥
	droṇaṁ ca bhīṣmaṁ ca jayadrathaṁ ca karṇaṁ tathānyān api yodhavīrān
	mayā hatāṁs tvaṁ jahi mā vyathiṣṭhā yudhyasva jetāsi raṇe sapatnān 11.34

(11.34) Slay Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Jayadratha, Karṇa and other great warriors as
	well, who are already doomed by Me. Be not afraid. Fight, thou shalt
	conquer the enemies in battle. 
---

EE:
2.19 One believes he is the slayer, another believes he is the slain. Both
     are ignorant; there is neither slayer nor slain.

		न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि- न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।
		अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥२- २०॥
2.20 You were never born; you will never die. You have never changed; you
     can never change.  Unborn, eternal, immutable, immemorial, you do not
     die when the body dies.

RK:
(2.20) He is never born, nor does he die at any time, nor having (once)
	 come to be will he again cease to be. He is unborn, eternal,
	 permanent and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

---
similar thought, from the kaTha upaniShad:

		न जायते म्रियते वा विपश्चिन्
		    नायं कुतश्चिन्न बभूव कश्चित् |
		अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
		    न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ||१८||
	na jAyate mriyate vA vipashchin.h
	    nAyaM kutashchinna babhUva kashchit .
	ajo nityaH shAshvato.ayaM purANo
	    na hanyate hanyamAne sharIre ||2.18||

part 2: XVIII
this self is never born, nor does it die. it did not spring
from anything, nor did anything spring from it. this ancient
one is unborn, eternal, everlasting. it is not slain
even though the body is slain. [tr. from Four Upanishads, 
		 	transl. swami paramAnanda (1974).]



---


		वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि ।
		तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥ 2.22
	vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro ’parāṇi
	tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāni anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī 2.22

	dehī = embodied one; saṁyāti = takes on;

(2.22) Just as a person casts off worn-out garments and puts on others that
       are new, even so does the embodied soul cast off worn-out bodies and
       take on others that are new.

       [The eternal does not move... [only] the embodied soul moves from one
       abode to another. The psychic being
       is the vijñāna which supports the triple manifestation of body
       (anna), life (prāṇa) and mind (manas). When the gross physical body
       falls away, the vital and mental sheaths still remain as the vehicle
       of the soul. Cp, Kaṭha Up., I,
       6. "Like corn a mortal ripens and like corn is he born again.''



		नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।
		न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥ 2.23
	nai’naṁ chindanti śastrāṇi nai’naṁ dahati pāvakaḥ
	na cai ’naṁ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ 2.23

	chindanti = cut, sever; pāvakaḥ = Fire;  kledayanti = wet;

(2.23) Weapons do not cleave this self, fire does not burn him; waters do
       not make him wet; nor does the wind make him dry.

Eknath E:
2.22 As one abandons worn-out clothes and acquires new ones, so when the
     body is worn out a new one is acquired by the Self, who lives within.
2.23 The Self cannot be pierced by weapons or burned by fire; water cannot wet
     it, nor can the wind dry it.
2.24 The Self cannot be pierced or burned, made wet or dry. It is everlasting
     and infinite, standing on the motionless foundations of eternity.
2.30 The Self of all beings, living within the body, is eternal and cannot
     be harmed. Therefore, do not grieve.

---

even though you are noble, you are still bound to the body! arjuna, men are
of three types.  base men are dull and lethargic - they are steeped in
ignorance.  the greedy ones are ever active, trying to satisfy their
cravings - they are passionate and restless.

then there are the noble ones who seek enlightenment. they are ever engaged
in doing good deeds. but even they are bound to the body.  you are no
exception.

it only when the noble ones receive enlightenment that the bonds that tie
the soul to the body are cut and they attain perfect equinamity of
mind. they become even-minded.  [sthitipraj~na]



स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुम अर्हसि 
arjuna, everyone depending on his station in life has a certain dharma to
perform. you are a warrior.  your dharma is to fight for a righteous cruse.

			स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि ।
			धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाच्छ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते ॥२-३१॥

		svadharmam api cā ’vekṣya na vikampitum arhasi
		dharmyād dhi yuddhāc chreyo ’nyat kṣatriyasya na vidyate 2.31

	api = even; avekṣya = considering; svadharmam = your own duty; 
	ca = indeed [you] na arhasi = ought not  vikampitum = falter;  
	hi = indeed; na + vidyate = there is nothing; anyat = else; 
	śreyaḥ = better;  kṣatriyasya = for a Ksatriya; yuddhāt = a battle;
	dharmyāt = according to Dharma.  

(2.31) Further, having regard for thine own duty, thou shouldst not falter,
       there exists no greater good for a Ksatriya than a battle enjoined by
       duty.  

EE:
2.31 Considering your dharma, you should not vacillate. For a warrior,
     nothing is higher than a war against evil.
2.32 The warrior confronted with such a war should be pleased, Arjuna, for
     it comes as an open gate to heaven.
2.33 But if you do not participate in this battle against evil, you will
     incur sin, violating your dharma and your honor.

---

		सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ ।
		ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि ॥२-३८॥

	sukhaduḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau
	tato yuddhāya yujyasva nai ’vaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi 2.38

	same = with balance;
	yujyasva9 = get ready;  	yuddhāya8 = for the battle;
	avāpsyasi13= you will  not10 be subject to; pāpam12 = sin.

(2.38) Treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat,
       then get ready for battle. Thus thou shall not Incur sin.

EE2.38 Having made yourself alike in pain and pleasure, profit and loss,
     victory and defeat, engage in this great battle and you will be freed
     from sin.

Without yielding to the restless desire for change, without being at the
mercy of emotional ups and downs, let us do the work assigned to us in the
situation in which we are placed.

Yet in the previous verses, Kṛṣṇa lays stress on sensibility to shame, the
gain of heaven and earthly sovereignty. After urging worldly considerations,
he declares that the fight has to be undertaken in a spirit of
equal-mindedness.

Cp. Luther: "And though they take our life, goods, honor, children, wife,
yet is their profit small; these things shall vanish all, the city of God
remaineth.''




	पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः ।
	नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च ॥११- ५॥

(11.5) Behold, O Partha (Arjuna), My forms, a hundred-fold, a
	thousand-fold, various in kind, divine, of various colors 
	and shapes.  
(11.13) There the Paṇḍava (Arjuna) beheld the whole universe, with its
	manifold divisions gathered together in one, in the body of the God
	of gods. 

RK notes: 
   The stupendous self-revelation of Divine power is manifested to
   Arjuna who understands the true meaning of the cosmic process and
   destiny. In M.B., VI, 131, it is said that Kṛṣṇa appeared in His
   world-form to Duryodhana, who attempted to make Him a prisoner when He
   approached Duryodhana for a final attempt at reconciliation. The vision is
   not a myth or a legend but spiritual experience [similar to] The
   transfiguration of Jesus,1 the vision of Saul on the Damascus Road,
   Constantine's vision of the Cross bearing the motto "In this sign,
   conquer," Joan of Arc's visions, etc. 





अन्यदेवताभक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः  nyadevatābhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ
	[those who] worship other gods with devotion
Men of different faiths worship me in different forms for the 
fulfilment of desires. ultimately, they all come to me. ·

		येऽप्यन्यदेवताभक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः ।
		तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम् ॥९- २३॥
	yepy anyadevatābhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ
	tepi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhipūrvakam 9.23

(9.23) Even those who are devotees of other gods, worship them with faith,
	they also sacrifice to Me alone, O Son of Kuntī (Arjuna), though not
	according to the true law.

EE: Those who worship other gods with faith and
	devotion also worship me, Arjuna, even if they do
	not observe the usual forms.

[this sentiment is what separates Hinduism from the proselytizing religions
of the Judeo-Christian, or Buddhist varieties.

as Acharya vinobA bhave once said - other religions are "hi" (only)
religions, whereas Hinduism is a "bhi" (also) religion.  
("hum hi sahi hai" - only we are right; "hum bhi sahi hai" - we are also
right.) ]


so in the end, arjuna is convinced by this intricate exposition, and also the
divine vision he experienced.  he then picks up his bow

and the twang is heard right across the battlefield. 

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