Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Bhagavad Gita 1-32, 33, 34, 35


 kiM nO raajyEna gOviMda kiM bhOgairjeevitEna vaa

yEShaamarthEkaaMkShitaM nO raajyaM bhOgaaHa sukhaani cha || 32 ||

ta imEvasthitaa yuddhE praaNaaMstyaktvaa dhanaani cha

aachaaryaaHa pitaraHa putraastathaiva cha pitaamahaaHa || 33 ||

maatulaaHa shvashuraaHa poutraaHa shyaalaaHa saMbaMdinastathaa

Etaanna haMtumicchaami ghnatOpi madhusoodana || 34 ||

Api trailOkya raajyasya hEtOHa kiM nu maheekRutE

Nihatya dhaartaraaShTraannaHa kaa preetiHi syaajjanaardana || 35 ||

"Oh Govinda, what is the use of the kingdom, what is the use of the pleasures and even life when for whose sake we are fighting for have assembled here ready to sacrifice their lives and wealth in this war. Oh Madhusudhana, my teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-laws, grand children, brothers-in-law and all other relatives have assembled here ready to sacrifice their lives. Even if they want to kill me I am not willing to kill them. Oh Janardhana, forget about the kingdom on earth, even if I am offered the three worlds I am not ready to fight with them. What pleasure would we derive by killing the sons of Dhritaraashtra?  

Arjuna calls Krishna by different names like Govinda, Madhusudhana and Janardhana which are the names of Vishnu as specified in Vishnu Sahasra Namam - The thousand names of Vishnu. He justifies further his decision of not partaking in the war in the above slokas. Arjuna says that all those people for whom he wanted to win the war, the kingdom, pleasures and wealth have lined up on either side ready to sacrifice their kingdom wealth and even their lives. What is the use of him fighting for them when they have lined up against him and ready to sacrifice. The possibilities are that his relatives may not even recognize that he fought for them or they may even be killed during the war and may not be alive to enjoy the kingdom and the wealth. All those assembled were his relatives, his teachers, friends and well wishers. When this is the situation what for should I fight. I do not see any purpose anymore in this war. Even if I am given Triloka I do not see a purpose in the war and here we have assembled after all for a kingdom on earth and piece of land. I would not kill the sons of Dhritaraashtra for this piece of land when in my mind I am not even accepting the offer of Triloka. It seems very logical that one need not fight such a gruesome war at the end of which most of the relatives are killed and there are only few survivors to enjoy the kingdom      . The end result of the war for Arjuna is the gaining of kingdom and wealth and it seems logical if that is the reason for the war then there is no need for such a terrible war.

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