“The Supreme Lord said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most secret wisdom, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.” (Bhagavad-gita, 9.1)

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श्री-भगवान् उवाच
इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं
प्रवक्ष्याम्य् अनसूयवे
ज्ञानं विज्ञान-सहितं
यज् ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसे ऽशुभात्

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ
pravakṣyāmy anasūyave
jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ
yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ‘śubhāt

1. Could you have picked a worse time?

“It is like that classic comedy routine, which is based on a real-life scenario. The family is all set to embark on a lengthy trip. After careful consideration as to the time of departure and packing the necessary belongings, the father makes one final check.

“He asks if the child has to use the restroom. Do they have to answer the call of nature? Speak now or forever hold your peace. It is not that severe, but the warning is there to avoid having to make repeated stops which will disrupt the journey.

“Sure enough, about half an hour into the trip the same child who did not have to go before suddenly must stop. They cannot wait a second longer. The pressure is too much. The father must do something.

“I can level the same criticism of Arjuna. Why did he not raise his doubts at a previous time? Why did he have to wait until everyone was assembled on the battlefield of Kurukshetra? If he was contemplating quitting, why wait until everyone was prepared to do just the opposite?”

2. I thought you were brave?

“Arjuna is known as a kshatriya. This is both by birth and by quality. As Shri Rama remarks in the Ramayana, it is charitra, or one’s character, which determines whether they are from a respectable family or not. It is that same charitra which makes clear to the world whether there is bravery or not.

कुलीनमकुलीनं वा वीरं पुरुषमानिनम्।
चारित्रमेव व्याख्याति शुचिं वा यदि वाऽशुचिम्।।

kulīnamakulīnaṃ vā vīraṃ puruṣamāninam।
cāritrameva vyākhyāti śuciṃ vā yadi vā’śucim।।

“It is certainly a person’s conduct which speaks to whether they are high-born or low-born, heroic or cowardly, or pure or impure.” (Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 109.4)

“How could Arjuna have doubts? How could he be afraid of continuing? Does that not invalidate the status? I am glad to see that Shri Krishna, the person to whom these doubts were presented, mildly chastised Arjuna in response.”

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
कुतस् त्वा कश्मलम् इदं
विषमे समुपस्थितम्
अनार्य-जुष्टम् अस्वर्ग्यम्
अकीर्ति-करम् अर्जुन

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ
viṣame samupasthitam
anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam
akīrti-karam arjuna

“The Supreme Person [Bhagavan] said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the progressive values of life. They do not lead to higher planets, but to infamy.” (Bhagavad-gita, 2.2)

3. Is anyone else here crying?

“Seriously, was anyone else in doubt? There were plenty of other people on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Were they ready to drop their weapons and retreat to a remote cave? Were they shaking so much that they could no longer hold their weapons?”

4. Don’t you care about your brothers?

“Arjuna thinks that he is compassionate, that he is showing concern for the people on the other side. The supposed rivals, the ones who breached the boundaries of dharma that eventually led to the predicament. Arjuna did not want to vanquish his enemies. He didn’t even want to consider those people to be enemies.

“That is fine and good, but what about his brothers? Why did Arjuna not take their feelings into account? Poor Bhima was almost poisoned to death. Ever heard of arson? The whole family was about to be set on fire, on purpose. Why in the world was Arjuna not eager to avenge those offenses against his innocent family?”

5. Why are you asking someone else to do your homework?

“This is a specific aspect to working in a large company that bothers me. I do not mind accepting additional responsibility. I do not mind being placed in pressure situations. I can handle many people relying on me to come through during times of crisis.

“What I cannot tolerate is being asked to clean up other people’s messes. Especially when those other people are still around, when they are more than available to get their hands dirty, if you know what I mean. If you are not going to accept responsibility for your work, then don’t do it in the first place. I am not going to sit there and fix all the errors in the homework submitted by my classmates.

“Arjuna is sitting there all hesitant, and he wants Krishna to solve the problem. Why should Krishna be involved? The son of Devaki was trying to maintain neutrality. As the driver of the chariot, Krishna would not be an active participant in the conflict. Arjuna should not have put Krishna in that position, to essentially have to choose sides.”

…

We see from these criticisms that there are valid reasons for someone to look negatively upon Arjuna and his doubt which led to the sacred Bhagavad-gita information-transfer. At the same time, keeping those criticisms in mind gives us a further glimpse into the merciful nature of the Almighty. He is kripasindhu, after all. He is an ocean of mercy.

तुलसी जाने सुनि समुझि कृपासिंधु रघुराज।
महँगे मनि कंचन किए सौंधे जग जल नाज ॥

tulasī jāne suni samujhi kṛpāsiṃdhu raghurāja।
maha~ge mani kaṃcana kie sauṃdhe jaga jala nāja ॥

“Tulsi knows, has heard, and has understood that Shri Rama is an ocean of mercy because He made jewels and gold expensive, while keeping the most important things like water and grains inexpensive.”  (Dohavali, 149)

There is the principle that a son can always go to their father with an issue. The loving father will not reject their son for showing such weakness. They may be disappointed. They may laugh at the trivial nature of the issue. They may decline to directly intervene, but the door should always be open. At least this is the agreement from the father’s side.

Shri Krishna is always approachable to His devotees. We learn in Bhagavad-gita itself that Arjuna was eligible for learning that confidential information, of the ways of the world, of resolving contradictory principles, of finding assertiveness towards a path that is truly progressive. Arjuna was eligible because he was non-envious of Krishna. This means that the devotee has the greatest access there can be, and in their surrendered state everything will turn out okay.

सर्व-धर्मान् परित्यज्य
माम् एकं शरणं व्रज
अहं त्वां सर्व-पापेभ्यो
मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

In Closing:

Responsibility happily to take,
Whether in peace or desperation to make.

Under the pressure to do,
But not for others too.

Who can try all the same,
Why on me all the blame?

If Arjuna seeing in this light,
Even then Krishna to make right.

Categories: the five

Tags: arjuna, feature, god, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, religion