“Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.” (Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.7)

Download this episode (right click and save)

कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः
पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेताः
यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्‍चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे
शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम्

kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ
pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ
yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me
śiṣyas te ’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam

It appears to be a problem particularly prevalent in the modern day. Let’s say there is a society of learners. In order to fit into that society, a prospective student has to accept a specific teacher. They try their best to maintain the link through recorded instruction, such as in books and lectures, but the leaders of the institution maintain that in order to have any standing within the society, there has to be an openly expressed affiliation with an approved teacher. That acceptance should have a corresponding ceremony known as initiation.

The problem is that those who fall in line, who succumb to the pressure, who end up choosing a guru from an arbitrary list of candidates, get burned later on. Their guru falls down. Or perhaps that spiritual guide was fallen from the very beginning. It is a difficult position to hold onto, after all. Everyone is watching you. People are expecting you to lead. They hold you up to the highest standard of conduct and routine.

In the life of the disciple, the dissolution of the standing of the guru has devastating consequences. All of that faith invested. All of the assurances. All of the moves reluctantly followed. All of that incoming doubt swept side without any proper consideration. It is like the entire experience turns into a waste. The immersion into the spiritual culture, which descends in a line of teachers known as parampara, is so spoiled that doubts creep in as to the genuineness of any spiritual guide. Perhaps there is no hope. Is it even possible to meet someone who has the proper qualifications?

It is with this backdrop that we can further appreciate the decision made by the bow-warrior named Arjuna. He had doubts at the worst possible time. Everyone was set to begin a great war. One side was counting on Arjuna for victory. They knew that he had the skills necessary to succeed.

The problem is that Arjuna was reluctant to fight. He briefly considered the great carnage about to manifest. He realized he would be a direct party to violence at a massive scale. Perhaps that was sinful. Perhaps that was the wrong way to go about things. Perhaps he had been thinking incorrectly the entire time.

Arjuna submitted his reservations to a guru. There was no formal initiation process. There was no fire ceremony, and there was no new name awarded to the student. There was no acceptance into a specific society, and there was no demand from the spiritual guide to make a proper donation, dakshina. This was as raw an interaction as can be imagined. It was a student in doubt approaching someone he respected, someone he knew could provide the right answers. Arjuna could feel safe in becoming an informal disciple of Shri Krishna for several reasons. V.R. Sri Saila Chakravarti highlights these reasons in his book called, “The philosophy of Sri Ramanuja (Visistadvaita)”.

1. Krishna is omniscient, not ignorant

If we approach a guru who is ignorant, we are doomed. This is because part of the process involves surrendering. You relinquish the fight to try to understand by yourself. You abandon reliance on evidence of the pratyaksha and anumana kinds. You have neither the time nor the brainpower to properly gather direct evidence or reach conclusions through inference about the highest subject matter of all, life and death.

Shri Krishna is omniscient, and so He knows what to do. Arjuna approached a guru of the highest qualification. Krishna is actually the original teacher, the adi-guru. He instructed Lord Brahma when there was no one else around. It was through the Supreme Lord’s guidance that the creation initially took place.

अहम् एवासम् एवाग्रे
नान्यद् यत् सद्-असत् परम्
पश्चाद् अहं यद् एतच् च
यो ऽवशिष्येत सो ऽस्म्य् अहम्

aham evāsam evāgre
nānyad yat sad-asat param
paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca
yo ‘vaśiṣyeta so ‘smy aham

“Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.33)

2. Krishna teaches truth, not falsehood

If the guru provides incorrect understandings, then the effects will trickle down to the disciple. The disciple will then make incorrect decisions, which can then negatively impact those in the path of the consequences to those decisions. In this case, if Arjuna did indeed relinquish the fight, then adharma would run rampant. The wrong decision, recommended by the teacher with the wrong information, would allow the wrong way of living to dominate society, which otherwise needs guidance and goals that are properly aligned. In other words, society needs dharma. It is what separates the human beings from the animals.

तद् विद्धि प्रणिपातेन
परिप्रश्नेन सेवया
उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं
ज्ञानिनस् तत्त्व-दर्शिनः

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

As an offering of advice in the general sense, Krishna recommends approaching someone who has seen the truth. The Sanskrit term is “tattva-darshi.” The interaction from there is simple and straightforward. Ask questions and serve. Do not challenge simply for the sake of winning an argument or making the teacher look bad. Make sure to offer something in return. Give a little, instead of only taking.

3. Krishna guides, not misguides

As Arjuna is confiding, Krishna is guiding. This guidance is for the interests of the recipient. The words of wisdom are for Arjuna’s benefit. There is nothing that anyone can do for Krishna. As He is atmarama, there is no reliance on dakshina, or a corresponding gift. As His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada says, the most important part of the relationship between guru and disciple is that the disciple live the instruction given to them. Whether the disciple thanks the guru or not makes no difference. The guru is most pleased when they see that the student who began in darkness eventually finds their way into the light.

भोक्तारं यज्ञ-तपसां
सर्व-लोक-महेश्वरम्
सुहृदं सर्व-भूतानां
ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिम् ऋच्छति

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

“The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.29)

Since Krishna is the greatest well-wishing friend, He guides those who approach Him. He is always wishing us well; since before we can remember. This stance also proves that He is the most forgiving person. At any time, we can go back to the original home, the spiritual world. We might even occasionally speculate in the wrong direction, to His amusement, in the manner of Arjuna’s initial proposal, but the loving relationship will never dissolve.

तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत
सेनयोरूभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः

tam uvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ
prahasann iva bhārata
senayor ubhayor madhye
viṣīdantam idaṁ vacaḥ

“O descendant of Bharata, at that time Krishna, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.” (Bhagavad-gita, 2.10)

In Closing:

The relationship never to dissolve,
Even simple problems will solve.

Like when Arjuna to approach,
Thinking against dharma to encroach.

Speculating this way and that,
To guru for explanation exact.

Krishna smiling at foolishness to conceive,
But safe always in that guru to believe.

Categories: the three

Tags: arjuna, bhagavad-gita, dailyprompt, guru, poem, poems, poetry