Chapter-II-verse 8,9,10
Meaning: I do not see that it would remove this sorrow that burns up my senses, even if i should attain prosperous and unrivaled dominion on earth or even lordship over the gods
This verse indicates the extreme confusion and unknown suffering of Arjuna. His problem is not money or power or for some material object possession(from the verse he says he says “even if i attain prosperous & unrivaled dominion on earth or even lordship over Gods”) but at the moment even the cause of his suffering is not clear to himself. Dint we have the same feeling sometime in our lives.
Also it indicates the urgency felt by Arjuna to come out of his “mortal limitations”. All of us are bound by time-space-causation, and bound by limitations of body-mind-intellect equipment.As long as we are limited by these B-M-I we cannot achieve great things. We should be clear about our identity in first place(individual/family/society/nation/human/all-pervading ??) . Here Arjuna limits himself as one prince having pity on couple of people or fighting against certain group. But war here is between dharma & Adharma. Even Krishna says thousand inspirational things still Arjuna would get dejected and back off at the middle of war. So he (also we through the teachings of Krishna) should get clarity on his identity, on his standpoint.
Meaning: Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus to Hrishikesha, Gudakesh, the destroyer of foes, said to Govinda “I will not fight” and became silent.
Comparing verse 7 where Arjuna says “….instruct me who has taken refugee in Thee…” and this verse where he says “I will not fight” there is a clear contradiction in personality of Arjuna. Even we would behave like Arjuna in many cases where we add a “but” in our statements(I would do whatever you say sir but…[not this or whatever]).
The reason Sanjaya uses Gudakesha(one who has conquered sleep implying ever alert) and parantapa(scorcher of enemies) for Arjuna and Hrishikesha (one who has controlled sense organs) for Krishna is, he being a very loyal person to Dhritarashtra and righteous person indicating him there is still time to call off the battle as this combination of Alert, vigilant and valorous backed by sense control would be a winning combination always
Meaning: Sanjaya said: To him who was despondent in the midst of 2 armies, Hrishikesha , as if smiling , O Bharatha, spoke these words
For the above verse there is a beautiful spiritual significance. The ego (Arjuna) in its dejection sits back in the body(chariot), throwing down all instruments of ego centric activities (Gandiva) and sense-organs(the white-horses) are held back, well under control, by the pulled-reins(the mind).Then the charioteer (the pure intellect) would lend the ego a divine strength, and guide it to the ultimate victory over the forces of Adharma with the help pf dynamism of Dharma, even though the former may seem much stronger in force than the simple-looking dynamism in the latter
As learned from previous verses unless we surrender 100%(infact only if it is 100% it is surrender) then only Grace of God showers on us, till then we are given a free hand to experiment with our situations, HE would not involve.
Questions from class:
Q]They say Guru’s or God’s grace is there for all beings, everywhere, then why is that condition “total surrender” or what are the conditions in which we can avail the shower of Grace of lord?
A]Rain when it falls, it showers its water all over the place in all paddy fields, but I in my over smartness have constructed a big tent or shed above my whole paddy field, so can i compplain that Rain God is partial only to few fields and He did not grace me? NO. God keeps on showering HIS blessings/grace on “every being”(not just humans) but it is we who is not letting it happen. Through our ego centric thoughts/assumptions stopping it from drenching us.
Q] Can I take all things in my life as grace of lord and sit idle?
A]If we are doing that way, it implies we are lazy.No Guru or God asks us to sit idle and do nothing. Surrender comes into picture when have done our best and results are not in our control. We have acted and things are beyond our control.
