GITA 1.16

GITA 1.16

We are at the Vaikunta vasal (Paramapada vasal) in Srirangam temple. On the Vaikunta Ekadasi day ( a day in December- January), through this gate only the procession of Sri Namperumal is taken. For ten days from that day, Tiruvaimozhi is recited and the festival is celebrated with fervour. This is called the Great Festival (Periya Tirunaal). Every atman always desires to reach Vaikuntam. All devotees consider it as a great privilege to pass through and touch this gate. On one side is the Chandra Pushkarini (temple tank) and opposite is the sannidhi of Sri Ranganachiyar (Thayar). On another side is the sannidhi of Mudalazhvars (Poigai, Bhootham and Pei Alwars). Thus all these surround this place. Near this place is the sannidhi of Sri Danvantari, Who is considered as an Avatar of Sriman Narayana and who cures all, from diseases. Standing between (Sri Dhanvantari sannidhi and Vaikunta vasal) we have to realize that when we live in this World, we should live healthy. After this life in this World, we should enter Vaikuntam. Now we will see the slokas of Gita.

Yesterday we saw sloka 16. Now slokas 17 and 18:

kasyas ca paramesv-asah

sikhandi ca maha-rathah

dhrstadyumno viratas ca

satyakis caparajitah

That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrstadyumna, Virata and the unconquerable Satyaki, 

drupado draupadeyas ca

sarvasah prthivi-pate 

saubhadras ca maha-bahuh

sankhan dadhmuh prthak prthak

Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the son of Subhadra, greatly armed, all blew their respective conchshells.

By these two slokas, we notice who else blew conchs. All these persons are on the Pandavas side. Already we saw the persons on the Kauravas side, starting from Bheeshma, blew their conchs and made noise. Sri Krishna started blowing His conch Panchjanya and then all followed one by one. Kasyas ca paramesv-asah = the great archer, King of Kasi, sikandi ca maha-ratah = maharatha Sikhandi.

 As alraedy mentioned he who can fight with 11,000 persons, is called maharatha. Sri Krishna is going to use Sikhandi to kill Bheeshma on the 10th day of the war. Bheeshma has got a boon that he could remain alive as long as he desired. We may be feeling that if we also could get similar boon, how wonderful would it be! But actually, it is very dangerous and painful. In fact the unforeseeable nature of death makes us live happily. If we could know our death timing, we could never feel happy. Bheeshma wanted to die after ascertaining that Hastinapur was in the hands of a good and stable ruler. So, Sri Krishna had planned to defeat Bheeshma by Sikhandi. Bheeshma was the son of Ganga and had a step brother Vichitraveerya. Bheeshma was on the look out for a bride for Vichitraveerya. King of Kasi had Three daughters - Ambai, Ambika and Ambalika. Bheeshma abducted these girls in a swayamvaram and none dared to fight Bheeshma. Though Ambika and Ambalika were married to Vichitraveerya, Ambai wanted to marry her lover King of Salva. Bheeshma also felt it was not correct to get married her to a person different from his lover. So, Bheeshma let her go. But King of Salwa refused to marry her, as she was already abducted by Bheeshma. In spite of many attempts, both Bheeshma and King of Salwa abandoned Ambai. Then she asked Bheeshma to marry her. He told of his pledge to remain unmarried and so he also could not help her. Getting dejected, Ambai wanted to take revenge on Bheeshma and so did severe penance in the Himalayas. Sri Subramanya appeared before her and gave her a garland and said whoever wore that garland would be able to kill Bheeshma. She pleaded with many kings to wear the garland and vanquish Bheeshma, but none were ready for that. Finally, she came to Drupada, King of Panchala. But he also refused and getting dejected, she left the garland hanging in the palace gate and went away. She then penanced and prayed for Sri Paramasiva. He appeared before her and said that in the present birth of Ambai, she would not be able to kill Bheeshma; but in her next birth as a transsexual could fulfill her revenge. That is how she was born as Sikhandi. She was growing up in the palace of Drupada and one day she wore the garland she had left on the gates of the palace, in her last birth as Ambai. Since in her current birth also she was a girl, it was difficult for her to fight Bheeshma. Once, she went for a festival, where she met a gandarva lad, Tumburu. With his help, she changed her sex to a male. Now Sikhandi was a man! Sikhandi was brought in to fight Bheeshma in the Mahabharata war, bur Bheeshma refused to fight Sikhandi, as he was a woman earlier. When Bheeshma dropped his bow and declined to fight Sikhandi, Sri Krishna used that opportunity to fell Bheeshma. Can Sri Krishna play such foul game to destroy Bheeshma? The Lord has said that He was partial to His devotees. Therefore, there is no use in trying to find fault with Sri Krishna. So, it will be prudent on our part to be His devotee and live happily with whatever He blesses us! There is no use in trying to judge the deeds of the Lord. 

Parajitah = unconquerable, drstadyumna - Drashtadyumna, viratas ca satyaki = Virata and Satyaki. Drashtadyumna was the son of Drupada who begot him in a special yagna to kill Drona! Now Drashtadyumna was the Chief Commander of Pandavas army. Drashtadyumna and Draupati were siblings. 

Drupado = (King) Drupada, draupadeyas ca = and sons of Draupati, sarvasa = all others, maha bahu = great armed, saubhadras ca = son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu), sankham = conchs, dadhmuh = blew, prthak prthak = separately, pritvi-pate = O! King ( addressing Dradarashtra by Sanjaya). We should keep in mind that all these slokas are the narratives of the happenings in Kurukshetra battlefield, by Sanjaya to Dridarashtra. Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna and Subhadra, married Uttara, daughter of Virata and their child was Parikshit, who was told by the sage Sukha, the story of Sriman Narayana, which is the famous Srimad Bhagavatam puranam. 

We will see in the next lecture what was the effect of the sound from Panchajanya.

                                                                           (continued)          

GITA 1.15

GITA 1.15

lokaachaaryaaya gurave kRshNapaadasya sUnave 

samsaara bhogasandashTa jIvajIvaatave namaH |

This sloka is in praise of Sri Pillai Lokacharya. Today we are going to see Gita from the sannidhi of Sri Pillai Lokacharya in Srirangam.

We are seeing the happenings in Kurukshetra battlefield. About 700 years back there was an invasion by army, on Srirangam. In the year 1323 A.D. Muslims from North invaded Srirangam. Therefore, the Idols of Sri Namperumal  and Sri Ranganachiyar (Thayar) were threatened. Sri Pillai Lokacharta was living at that time. He was the son of Sri Vadakku Tiruveedhipillai, who was the disciple of Acharya Nampillai. Sri Pillai Lokacharya was born in 1205 A.D. So, when he was in his ripe old age the invasion took place. The looters entered Srirangam. Many people had to sacrifice their lives to save Srirangam. History records that about 12,000 people died. The idols of Sri Namperumal and Sri Ranganachiyar were carried in a closed palanquin, by Pillai Lokacharya, who proceeded South, secretly. Placing the idols in a cave in Jyotishkudi (presently Kodikulam) at the foothills of present day Aanaimalai near Tirumaliruncholai (Azhagar Koil), Sri Pillai Lokacharya lived there itself, guarding the idols. After sometime, he passed away there itself. Thereafter, Sri Namperumal travelled many places including Tirumalai (Tirupati) and then reached Srirangam in the year 1371. Like Sri Rama went on exile, Sri Namperumal also left Srirangam and returned after 48 years. It was because of the great service of this Acharya, today we are able to worship and enjoy, in great numbers. Therefore, all of us owe a lot to Sri Pillai Lokacharya. 

Now we will see the battle in Kurukshetra. 

Sloka 16:

anantavijayam raja

kunti-putro yudhisthirah

nakulah sahadevas ca

sughosa-manipuspakau

King Yudhisthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka. 

Then the blowing of conchs by others is mentioned. Anantavijayam is the name of the conch of Yudhishtra. Raja = king, yudhisthiram = staying firmly in battle, kunti-putrah = son of Kunti. Here Yudhishtra is described with three attributes - King, son of Kunti and person standing firmly in battle. Though he had lost the kingdom (in gamble), he is considered King as he always stood by righteousness or dharma. Kunti was blessed by Yama and thus Yudhishtra was born. Since Sri Krishna was on Yudhishtra's side, victory was evident and so would become King soon. Knowing this only, Sanjaya mentions to Dridarashtra about Yudhishtra as King. 

Vasudeva was the father of Sri Krishna. He had a lot of sisters. Kunti was one of the sisters. The neighbouring kingdom was Kunti kingdom. That King did not have any child for a longtime. Vasudeva and the King were very close friends. The King requested Vasudeva's father to give in adoption on of his daughters. Agreeing Vasudeva gave in adoption his daughter Pritha. After adoption, she was known as Kunti Devi. That is why we see many times Arjuna is addressed by Sri Krishna as Partha, that is son of Pritha. Kuntis son is called Kaunteya. Since Sri Krishna drove Partha's chariot, He is Parthasarathy! He was also called Vijayasarathy. Yudhishtra was the eldest son of Kunti. Once she requested Sri Krishna, to bless them with problems, always. Sri Krishna was surprised at the request of His aunt! (Arjuna, His aunt's son was very intimate with Him. On the other hand, Sisupala, son of another aunt of Sri Krishna, was sworn enemy of Sri Krishna! So mere relationship will not do good. It is the mind.) When Sri Krishna asks her why she made that type of request, Kunti replied that only in distress, they remembered Sri Krishna! This is our case also. If we are happy, we tend to think all achievements are because of our efforts only. But when we are in problems, we blame the God for our failures. This is totally wrong! Either we accept success and failure as result of our actions or, attribute both to Him. That is why Kunti prayed that lest they forgot Him, they should frequently face problems. She was very righteous and sincere. She lived as an example to all women. 

Yudhishtra is yudhi (in battles) + thishtati (steadfast). When and where he had fought battles? We have heard of Arjuna and Bheema as strong fighters. But when a fight started it was Arjuna who became despondent and that is how Gita came up! But Yudhishtra never backtracked, once battle started. Such was his bravery. Pandavas, obeying the conditions, went to forest for 12 years and thereafter to remain incognito for one year. But just after 13 months after their exile started, Bheema came to Yudhishtra and said they should return to Hastinapur. Yudhishtra asked why he wanted to return so early. Bheema replied that as per one logic, one year could be represented by one month and so using that logic they could return to the Kingdom. Bheema made this proposal, because in forest he could not get enough food and had to starve! Yudhishtra never agreed and was firm that they should complete 13 years as per the agreement. He said they could then rightfully claim for the Kingdom and if the Kauravas denied, even if all his brothers did not come, Yudhishtra would lead a battle and fight to get back the kingdom. This shows how steadfast he was in battles. He was not for mere words but for real action. He was also very righteous. At the end, after the war was over and after Pandavas ruled the Kingdom, Pandavas left for the Heavens. It was an arduous climb uphill, beyond Badarikashram (Badrinath). On the way, one by one, Draupati, Sahadeva, Nakula, Arjuna and Bheema fell away. But a dog was following Yudhishtra right from the beginning. When finally, Yudhishtra was about to pass on to Heavens, the dog made a request to Yudhishtra. The dog was suffering from infection by many worms and so it wanted Yudhishtra to remove the worms before he left for the Heavens. When he tried to take away the worms, the worms pleaded to Yudhishtra that they were living on the blood of the dog and they would starve to death if separated, The righteous Yudhishtra after weighing all requests decided to take the worms on his body. This way, he helped the dog from its agony and worms from starvation. Later Indra, who was in the form of worms and Yama, in the form of dog, appeared before Yudhishtra and appreciated his righteousness. 

Nakula blew his conch Sughosha and Sahadeva blew his conch Manipushpakam.

After Sri Krishna and all the Pandavas blew their respective conchs, we will see what others did. 

                                                                            (continued)      

GITA 1.14

GITA 1.14

We are at Sri Udaiyavar (Ramanuja) sannidhi in Srirangam. Sri Ramanuja was born in 1017 A.D. in Sriperumbutur, near Madras (Chennai). He travelled all over Tamilnadu to propagate Sri Vaishnava philosophy and died in Srirangam. His mortal body is buried here, as ordained by Sri Ranganatha. Earlier this was the Vasantha Mandapam of Sri Ranganatha. Today we are going to see Gita slokas from here. If we are able to enjoy Gita, credit goes to Sri Ramanuja, who propagated its significance. In Gita, the First Chapter is called Arjuna Vishada Yogam. In this Chapter Arjuna expresses his profound grief. 

Yesterday we saw sloka 14, in which it was described that Sri Krishna and Arjuna were seated in the great chariot drawn by white horses. It was a captivating sight to see them both. It shook Duryodana's heart. From that chariot both of them blew their conchs. Sound of conch resembles the pranava sound 'Aum'. It is the foundation for mankind. The sound from Sri Krishna's conch, Panchajanya, reverberated like the 'Aum' sound. This is what we are going to see in today's 15th sloka:

pancajanyam hrsikeso

devadattam dhananjayah

paundram dadhmau maha-sankham

bhima-karma vrkodarah

Then, Lord Krsna blew His conchshell, called Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of Herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell called Paundram.

Here, the blowing of their respective conchs by Three persons is described. Sri Hrishikesa, that is Sri Krishna blew His conch Panchajanya. Arjuna blew his conch Devadatta. Bheema blew his conch Paundram. Hrishikesa means one who had conquered all sense organs. Hrishi means sense organs like eyes, ears, etc. Easa means controller. That is Sri Krishna controlled his sense organs. But that is a superficial meaning. It is not a wonder that Sri Krishna controlled His senses. Even some of us are able to control senses. Then is it a wonder that the Supreme Being is able to control senses? He, not merely controls His senses, but even the sense organs of His devotees. We go to worship Sri Ranganatha, When we look at His divine feet, we are so captivated that our eyes refuse to shift. When we look at His divine eyes, our sight gets nailed. Tondaradipodi Alwar says that when he went to worship Sri Ranganatha, his body started melting away. He developed goose-bumps. Sri Ranganatha is reclining with His head in East direction, feet in the West, back to the North and looks at South. We see His divine image, we eat His prasadam and we smell the Tulasi (basil) leaves that adorned Him. All our organs are involved in Him. In Ramayana, Valmiki while describing the beauty of Sri Rama, says that with His charm, Sri Rama attracts simultaneously,  the eyes and minds of all the viewers! Similarly, Tirumangai Alwar says while worshiping Sri Sauriraja Perumal in Tirukkannapuram. He says that after seeing Him, he prefered  to leave the eyes there itself as after seeing Him, the eyes should not see others, as they are all worthless! 

Thus all our organs are controlled by Him and so He is Sri Hrishikesa. The advantage is that our senses will not drift away on mean things, and would be immersed in Him! 

So Sri Krishna blew His conch Panchajanya. Here in this Udayavar sannidhi, we can worship the large and beautiful  Conch of the Lord. Exactly opposite this sannidhi is the Chakkarattalwar Sannidhi.

There we can worship the Chakra (Sudarsana) and here the Conch (Panchajanya).

Why the Conch emblem on Sri Udayavar sannidhi? Because Sri Ramanuja, like the conch, broadcasted the principles of Vedas and the Gita. Panchajanya has some specialities. Sri Andal in Her Nacchiyar Tirumozhi, has sung 10 hymns only for the Panchajanya. She asks the Conch as to how sweet would be the divine mouth of the Lord! Whenever Sri Krishna wanted to make sound, He would take the Panchajanya to His mouth and while blowing His divine saliva would fall into the Conch. What an experience! Whenever Panchajanya felt hungry, he would go near the mouth of the Lord; and, when he felt asleep, he would rest on the left palm of the Lord! It is like some persons who take food in the inn (dharmasala) and sleep in the patio of the inn! They have no work to do! Similarly is the Panchajanya.

The Discus, Sudarsana, on the other hand, can not dream of kissing the Lord! That is why Sri Andal glorifies Panchajanya. She says none can equal Panchajanya for its intimacy with the Lord and so is the most fortunate! Discus has to leave the Lord sometimes on missions. But the Conch does not ever leave the hands of the Lord. That is why in all hymns where both the Conch and the Discus are mentioned, Sri Andal first mentions the Conch, as it is special! 

Sri Nammalwar sings in Tiruvaimozhi about Srirangam:

 kangkulum pagalum kaN thuyil aRiyAL *kaNNanIr kaigaLAl iRaikkum  

sangku chakkarangkaL enRu kai kUppum *thAmaraik kaN enRE thaLarum   

engnganE tharikkEn unnai vittu? ennum *irunilam kaithuzhA irukkum 

sengkayal pAy nIrth thiruvarangkaththAy! *ivaL thiRaththu en seyginRAyE?     (7.2.1)

This song is composed by Sri Nammalwar imagining himself to be a woman (Nayika bhava). Here also he mentions the Conch first and then Discus, in the Second line! While praising the Lord of Thentiruperai, one of the Nava Tirupati Kshetrams,Sri Makara Nedunkuzhaikadar, Sri Nammalwar mentions 'vellaichuri sangodu aazhiyendi..'. Again Conch first and then Discus! Thus everywhere Panchajanya gets preference! It got the name as it grew in the  body of demon Panchajanya. Dhananjaya (Arjuna) blew his conch Devadatta. Bheema is called Vrikothara, wolf bellied. He blew his conch Paundram. Bhima- karma = capable of doing gigantic deeds. We will see in the next lecture what others did after these Three blew their conchs.

                                                                        (continued) 

GITA 1.13

GITA 1.13

According to a sloka, it is said that Sri Krishna gave the essence of Vedas and Upanishads, in Gita. That makes Gita special. Even though is is set in Sanskrit, there are many scholars who have made it in Tamil for the Tamil knowing learners. Sri Ramanuja made bhashyam (commentary) in Sanskrit. Sri Vedanta Desika wrote Tatparya Chandrika in Sanskrit. All these have been rendered in Tamil for enjoyment of Tamil knowing people. On the basis of these we are looking at the slokas in Gita. Today we will have to see sloka 14. There are numerous, supreme opinions found in Vedas, Puranas and Itihasas. How do we obtain them? Sri Krishns appeared in this World and gave these supreme notions through Gita. As an Acharya, He preaches these to His disciple Arjuna. We have seen many teachers in this World. But here only we see the Supreme Deity preaching as Acharya. In that sloka 14:

tatah svetair hayair yukte

mahati syandane sthitau

madhavah pandavas caiva

divyau sankhau pradadhmatuh

On the other side, both Lord Krsna and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot drawn by white horses, sounded their transcendental conchshells.

This sloka tells that Pandava (here it is Arjuna) and Madhava (Sri Krishna) sitting in their great chariot, blew conchs. Tatah= thereafter, that is after Duryodana spoke to Drona and after Bheeshma blew his conch to encourage Duryodana and after all others raised noises from various instruments like conchs, drums, trumpets and horns, Sri Krishna and Arjuna blew their conchs. By mentioning there after, it is inferred that both Arjuna and Sri Krishna remained silent like a full pot. The enemy had proclaimed that they were ready for the fight. Thereafter, if they remained silent it would mean cowardice and so they made sounds. Svetair hayair yukte = drawn by white horses, mahati syandane = in great chariot, sthitau = both stationed. White horses drawn chariot. It seems Arjuna also liked to dress in white robes. Imagine the battlefield of Kurukshetra, with infantry, horses, elephants, chariots, etc., lined up and amidst them a white chariot pulled by white horses. In that, sky blue hued Sri Krishna is seated as Charioteer. With Arjuna also in white dress, the scene is exciting! The enemy will be defeated by this sight alone! 

We should compare our body as the chariot. Here also the God drives the chariot. He drives it to victory. Like Arjuna in that chariot, here our atman is in the body. So, this atman sitting in this body as chariot, is driven by Paramatman as Charioteer, and should reach Vaikuntam. 

The greatness of this chariot is that even if an amateur sits in it and enters battlefield, he would win! There are some weapons which will destroy enemies, even if one did not know how to wield them. Likewise, Sri Krishna and Arjuna are seated in a famous chariot. Madhavah pandavas caiva = Madhava (Sri Krishna) and Pandava (Arjuna), divyau shankhau = glorious conchs, Their conchs were not just earthly but deific. Both the conchs were without equals. Pradadhmatuh = made sounds or blew. 

There are two persons in the chariot. Similarly, in our body there are atman and Paramatman. In this sloka why name Madhava is mentioned first and then only Pandava? Why not the other way? Because all atman are followers or servants of Paramatman and so this order. Another reason is also there. What is the meaning of Madhava? "Ma" means the Mother, Sri Lakshmi. "Dhava" means Her husband or associate or lover. We call Her, 'Tiru' in Tamil. Why should the name Madhava be used here? Why not Kesava or any other name? Because when once She has envisioned them, was there any doubt about their victory? There was no need to fight to decide victory. When Sri Madhava is seated, the Divine Vision of Sri Lakshmi had graced the chariot and Pandava. So there could be no doubt about victory. In fact towards end of Gita it is going to be told that wherever Sri Krishna is and wherever Arjuna is, there is Sri Lakshmi and so victory is assured. Therefore, if we can get Her grace, we can be sure of victory everywhere. 

In this chariot both Arjuna and Sri Krishna are there. Of these two, who has greatness? Sri Krishna as Charioteer is seated in the front. Bur Arjuna as the owner of the chariot is at the back. Thus from different angles, greatness belongs to both. Sri Krishna used to play rasakreeta. Sri Krishna and a gopika alternate in a circle. That is, between Two Sri Krishnas one gopika and between two gopikas, one Sri Krishna stand and dance together in a circle, putting each others hands on shoulders of the other. This is called rasakreeta. Sri Krishna is interested in dancing. We may think that there were many gopikas and only one Sri Krishna. But Sri Krishna manifested Himself in many forms and danced. In this dance who was important? Gopika or Sri Krishna? If we consider Two Sri Krishnas with one Gopika, Gopika is important. But if we consider two gopikas with one Sri Krishna, Sri Krishna was important. Likewise, here also if we see the seating priority, Sri Krishna was in the front and so great. But if we consider ownership, Arjuna was great! 

Alwar Tirunagari is one of the Nava Tirupatis in Tirunrlveli district of Tamilnadu state. There the temple administration is called Alwar Adinathan Devastanam. Thus both Alwar and the Lord Sri Adinathan are important. Similarly, here also both Arjuna and Sri Krishna are important. Though, Sri Krishna is the Supreme Being, He had given Arjuna a position to make him also look important. If we go to Him as His servant, He does not treat us as servant but equal to Him. No, He puts His devotees on a higher pedestal!

                                                                            (continued)        

   

GITA 1.12

GITA 1.12

In the Gita sermoned by Sri Krishna, we are going to see today slokas 12 and 13. Duryodana saw both the armies arrayed in the battlefield and he was scared whether his army would be able to resist the opposing army. He expressed his fears to Dronacharya. Next, he addressed all his commanders and asked them to protect Bheeshma who was the lifeline of Duryodana's army. Bheeshma was noticing all these from his chariot. Already he was feeling that instead of expressing anxiety to Bheeshma, Duryodana was speaking to Drona. Unable to contain himself, Bheeshma took his conch and blew to dispel the fear of Duryodana. This is explained in sloka 12:

tasya sanjanayan harsam

kuru-vrddhah pitamahah

simha-nadam vinadyoccaih

sankham dadhmau pratapavan

Then Bhisma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters, blew his conchshell very loudly like the sound of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy.

Pratapavan = very powerful, kuru-vrddham pitamahah = the grandfather of Kuru dynasty (Bheeshma), tasya = to him (Duryodana), harsam = happiness, samjanayan = caused, sankham = (his) conch, dadhmau = blew, simha-nadam - (like) the roaring of lion, vinadyoccaih = very loudly. When it is said that to cause happiness, Bheeshma blew his conch like the roar of a lion, it is clear that there was anxiety in the mind of Duryodana. To boost up the spirits of his grandson, Bheeshma blew the conch. Great fighters will thump their shoulders to show their readiness. Or make big noise. In the last sloka, Duryodana wanted to secure Bheeshma. In this sloka his valour, his vast experience and his seniority are mentioned. We know how he got his name Bheeshma and why he remained unmarried. Bheeshma was the son of King Santhanu and Ganga Devi. He was called Gangeya. Ganga in the form of a river brought glory to the country. It is said that where the Four 'G' s - Ganga, Gayatri, Gita and Govinda- are chanted, there was no fear of rebirth. Ganga emerged from the Divine Feet of Sriman Narayana when ho took the Sri Trivikrama avatar. Therefore, it has sanctity. River Ganga starts from Gangotri in a small way, but becomes forceful in Bindusaras. The son of such Ganga, undertook a vow. His father Santanu loved a fisher woman to marry. Bheeshma knowing this, went to the fisher woman and negotiated. She agreed to marry if only it was assured that her child only should reign the Kingdom after Santanu. Though Bheeshma agreed, she still had doubts. She was not sure that in the future, Bheeshma or his descendants would not claim the Kingdom. To dispel all her doubts, Bheeshma pledged that he would not get married so that there would not be any claimant for the Kingdom. For pledging a frightening oath, he was called Bheeshma. Having pledged so forcibly, he remained unmarried his entire life. Such a famous person, Bheeshma, was leading the Kaurava army. He was the commander-in-chief for the first ten days of the Mahabharata war. When he was wounded and fell down, Drona was the chief commander. Such a great Bheeshma blew his conch to encourage Duryodana. As soon as this sound came, all other sounders like trumpets, drums, etc., made noise. This is mentioned in sloka 13:

tatah sankhas ca bheryas ca

panavanaka-gomukhah

sahasaivabhyahanyanta

sa sabdas tumulo 'bhavat

After that, the conchshells, bugles, trumpets, drums and horns were all suddenly sounded, and the combined sound was tumultuous.

Tumulo = skywards (these sounds travelled). Tatah = after ( the noise made by Bheeshma's conch), sankhas = all (persons carrying) conchs (blew), bheryas ca = also the drums, panavanaka-gomukhah = trumpets, bugles, horns, sahasivabhyahanyanta = made simultaneously, sabdas = sound, That is soon after Bheeshma blew his conch, all the various sound instruments were blown to make noise simultaneously which filled the sky. Sound expresses our various feelings like joy, victory, mercy, sweetness, etc. In our classical  music specific ragas are played for specific functions or mood or time. These are practiced in the Lord's procession or in marriages. Sound is the manifestation of the mind. Unfortunately at present we do not have time to spare for listening to music. Early morning we could listen to the chirping of birds, blowing of wind or rustling of trees. These sounds boost up our spirits. But we are in great hurry! But if we can spare sometime for the Nature, we could be relieved of great stress. Doctors advice to reduce tension. Sounds like sweet music or the chiming of temple bells will all help in making our minds peaceful. Sri Andal in Her Tiruppavai, mentions in the 7th hymn, about churning sounds made by the women in their houses. While churning, the bangles on their arms also tinkle and make noise. They also sing while churning. It is requested that we should train our ears to listen to Nature and enjoy beauty of Nature. That will make our life happy and peaceful.  

The sounds from the battlefield were so great that, according to some interpretations, they foretold the start of victory of good over evil and destruction of adharma!

                                                                           (continued)

   

GITA 1.11

GITA 1.11

We are now in Srirangam. The name itself is thrilling. The Lord Sri Ranganatha inside the temple is liked by all of us.

This place has many greatness. We are going to see next sloka from this place and it is our great fortune. 

Kaveri virajaseyam vaikuntam ranga mandiram |sa vasudevo rangesa: pratyaksha paramampadam ||

This is a sloka on Srirangam, which says that this place is Vaikuntam on this Earth. It is praised as Bhuloka Vaikuntam. Like Viraja river for Vaikuntam, river Kaveri flows around Srirangam, like a garland. Sri Vasudeva is gracing in Vaikuntam and He graces here  as Sri Ranganatha, in a reclining pose. We are in front of Sesharaya Mantapam.

  This has very beautiful sculptures. This is near the Eastern gate of the temple. Opposite this is the Adyayana Utsava Mantapam or 1000 Pillared Mantapam. This is like the 1000 Pillared Mantapam in Vaikuntam. Like an Emperor, the Lord graces from the Tirumamani Mantapam inside, during Vaikunta Ekadasi, for hundreds of Thousands of devotees. Sri Ranganatha was born as Sri Krishna. To dispel the worries of Arjuna, He gave us Gita. Our worries and problems will vanish if we listen to Gita or worship the Lord here. Elders used to say that by bathing in Kaveri in Srirangam, we will be blessed with many benefits. Now we will see the next sloka from here. In the last 10th sloka we found Duryodana was slightly scared, in spite of having a larger army than the Pandavas army. Kauravas had 11 akshauhini  army and Pandavas had only 7 akshauhini army. One akshauhini consisted of  21,870 elephants, 21.870 chariots, 65,610 cavalry and 109,350 infantry. That is more than 200,000 soldiers were in one akshauhini. Thus there were 2,500,000 persons on Kauravas army and about 1,500,000 persons on the Pandavas army. With such a difference, why Duryodana was scared of Pandavas army? We have to understand one truth in this. If we are righteous, we need not worry about quantity and numbers. But if we are not honest, then our education or wealth can not prevent us from getting fear. 

Sloka 11:

ayanesu ca sarvesu

yatha-bhagam avasthitah

bhismam evabhiraksantu

bhavantah sarva eva hi

Now all of you must give full support to Grandfather Bhisma, standing at your respective strategic points in the phalanx of the army.

Duryodana addresses all the army commanders on his side to protect Bheeshma by remaining in their allotted positions in the army formation and defend every point from the invasion of the enemy. Ayanesu ca sarvesu = every entry point (in the army), yata bhagam avastitah = everyone should remain in their allotted positions,  bhavantah sarva eva hi = all of you,  bhismam evabhirakshantu = should protect Bheeshma. Bheeshma is the most important to be protected. Duryodana tells all his heroes to protect Bheeshma. Is Bheeshma incapable of protecting himself? He is a mighty warrior. Still if Duryodana wants Bheeshma to be protected, we should realize that Bheeshma is the lifeline. If Duryodana can place Bheeshma in such a high pedestal, he could have heeded his advice while disrobing Draupati in the assembly and humiliating her modesty. Duryodana could have followed Bheeshma's advice and given away the Pandava's part of the Kingdom. But at that time he remained defiant. This means that Duryodana wanted Bheeshma to help him in all his actions, but he would not heed Bheeshma's advice. This is a wrong policy and so Duryodana encounters all hardships. If we regard a person with respect for his skills and wisdom, it is important that we also follow his advice. This is what we can infer from this sloka. Duryodana instructs all to remain in their positions. When we are in a queue, we have to be patient till our turn comes. There are some, who are restless in queue and try to bypass others. In games also each player is assigned a position to defend or attack. The players at the backup do not go forward, but maintain the discipline. Thus both defence and attack are important. Players in the backup should never think they have been allotted secondary positions. While the Lord is in procession on the streets, His palanquin is supported by persons in the front and persons in the back. But when photographs and video recordings are taken, normally the persons in the front only would be visible. So, the persons in the back should not protest that they are not given importance! In every administration in the World, there are assigned responsibilities for everyone and if everyone carries out his duty in the assigned position, then only the administration would function smoothly. In a firm everyone can not be general manager! It does not mean that a general manager is more important than the employees at the bottom of the hierarchy. 

Then Duryodana instructs them to guard every access point the army so that enemy army does not penetrate. In our body there are so many pores like ears, mouth, eyes, etc. Each has got an assigned function to communicate with the World. The World also recognize each individual. If we allow every thing to pass though every pore, we will get degraded. So it becomes important for us to protect every access point in our body so that only selected items enter or exit. 

In an army formation also, if any one access is weak or unprotected then entire army is put to danger. 

In our body every access point should ensure the protection of prana vayu or the life. Once their was a dispute among various organs of the body, including the prana vayu, as to who was most important. They all approached the Devas for arbitration. It was then decided that that would be considered most important, if it was not in the body, then body collapsed. Many organs like eyes, ears, etc., left but nothing happened to the body. But when prana vayu left the body collapsed and so prana vayu was adjudged as the most important. Likewise, Bheeshma was the most important in the Kaurava army and so had to be protected.    

                                                                         (continued)

GITA 1.10

GITA 1.10

yada yada hi dharmasyaglanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham

This is a sloka from Gita (4.7). 'Whenever there is decline or decay in Dharma, then I reincarnate in this earth to redeem Dharma' so says Sri Krishna.  Why should He Himself incarnate? Could He not depute someone else? When God appears in this World we call it incarnation, while we exist by birth and we cease to exist by death. God and great Alwars and Acharyas, when born in this Earth, we mention it as appearing or incarnating. And when they depart from this Earth, we call it disappearance. Thus, Sriman Narayana in Vaikuntam appeared as Sri Krishna in this World. When He appears, one of His very important quality becomes apparent. God is the repository of many good qualities like compassion, mercy, etc. Of those, one quality is sauseelyam (simplicity). A very great person moving with ease with a very poor person, is sauseelyam. God is Paramatman residing in Vaikuntam and greatest Person. If He could be born in this lowly Earth and work as a messenger for the Pandavas and as a Charioteer for Arjuna, He exhibits sauseelyam. Such a Person has gifted Gita to the mankind. 

Now, we have to see sloka 10 in Chapter 1. This sloka is also the words of Duryodana as he spoke to Drona. In the previous slokas 4, 5 and 6, Duryodana listed the warriors on the Pandavas army. Then by slokas 7, 8 and 9, he listed heroes in his army. Then in a frightened way he speaks sloka 10:

aparyaptam tad asmakam

balam bhismabhiraksitam

paryaptam tv idam etesam

balam bhimabhiraksitam

Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by Grandfather Bhisma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhima, is limited.

Duryodana tells Drona, "That army is protected by Bheema's strength. Our side is being protected by Bheeshma". Asmakam = our army, aparyaptam = not enough, balam = strength, bhismabhirakshitam = protected by Bheeshma. In spite of the fact that Duryodana's army was bigger with 11 akshaunis, he feels out of fear that it did not have enough strength. Paryaptam = enough, ty idam etesam = their army (on the other hand), balam = strength, bhimabirakshitam = protected by Bheema. Out of fear Duryodana says that his army did not have enough strength to defeat the other side and vice versa. Thus the word enough is in respect of acquiring victory. We can perceive his fear by a word in his speech. Duryodana says his army is protected by Bheeshma and opposite side is protected by Bheema. This is a wrong comparison and he should not have mentioned these names. When he mentioned Bheeshma, corresponding person on Pandavas side could be Yudhishtra, if seniority was considered. If he had considered Bheeshma as an ace archer, then he should have mentioned Arjuna on the other side. If it was based on commander, then while Bheeshma was commander for the Kaurava army, it was Dhrashtadyumna who was commander for the Pandava army. Thus in no way Bheema could be compared with Bheeshma. Then why did he mention Bheema's name? Answer to this question reveals the fear of Duryodana. Both Bheeshma and Bheema have taken separate vows. Bheeshma has vowed that under any circumstances, he would not kill any of the Pandavas. Whereas Bheema has pledged that he may let anyone else but not the 100 sons of Dhridarashtra. Thus Duryodana is worried about the vows of both these persons. That is how after mentioning Bheeshma, he mentioned the name of Bheema. 

We can interpret this sloka in another way also. Paryaptam means measurable or within limits. And aparyaptam means unlimited or immeasurable. In that case Duryodana would have meant Kaurava army's strength as immeasurable and Pandava army strength as limited. If we interpret this way, then it would appear that Duryodana was proud of his army strength. If that was so, there is no logic in mentioning Bheema's name.  But it is his fear that was brought out in comparing Bheeshma with Bheema. Bheema had pledged that he would kill all the 100 brothers of the Kauravas and with the blood of Dussasana, Duryodana's immediate younger brother, he would help Draupati tidy her hair! That is how Duryodana was in fear at the complimenting vows of Bheeshma and Bheema. Though these words were spoken addressing Drona, Duryodana desired that these words were heard by Bheeshma! Drona was not a party to either of the vows. Out of respect and fear, Duryodana did not address Bheeshma, his grand father! 

Both Duryodana and Bheema had learnt the wielding of the weapon mace, from Sri Balarama. In fact, Sri Balarama witnessed the mace fight between Duryodana and Bheema on the last day of the war. Though Duryodana had equal skill in use of mace as Bheema had, he was afraid because of his guilty conscience. Thus his guilt manifested in his fear.

In the next slokas we will see how others tried to dispel Duryodana's fear. 

                                                                                                 (continued) 

    

GITA 1.9

GITA 1.9
svadharmajñānavairagyasādhyabhaktyēkagōcaraḥ|
nārāyaṇaḥ paraṃ brahma gītāśāstrē samīritaḥ||1||

In Gita the Supreme Being is explained with ways and means to achieve Him. We require some thoughts in any good work we intend to do- "I am not doing this work and I will not do it for inferior outcome". If we do with such thoughts the success or failure of the work will not affect us. Besides Sri Krishna will help in making our efforts successful. This is the essence of Gita. This is called vairagyam (dispassionateness or detachment). We should live our life with some vairagyam. Body care is needed, but that alone is not life. We should eat well, but eating alone is not life.  Our life objective should be to have atma darshan and Paramatma darshan. To convey this only Sri Krishna preached Gita. We are studying the First Chapter of Gita and yesterday we had seen sloka 6. 
We will now see slokas 7, 8 and 9. Duryodana lists the heroes on his side to Drona. Earlier, we saw the great fighters on the Pandavas side. 
Sloka 7:

asmakam tu visista ye 

tan nibodha dvijottama 

nayaka mama sainyasya

samjnartham tan bravimi te

O best of the brahmanas, for your information, let me tell you about the captains who are especially qualified to lead my military force.

"All persons are great fighters in battle. I will tell about them", says Duryodana. Asmakam = (persons) on our side are, visista = great men, dvijottama = best of brahmanas (Drona), samjnartham = well understanding, mama saiyasya = in my army, nayaka = heroes. Here we have to notice that Duryodana is addressing Drona, who is also on his side. So, he should have mentioned our army instead of my army. From this we can infer his ego and selfishness. It is well known that none can achieve anything alone. We can do many things if we are together. We have learnt in our school days how a bundle of sticks is much stronger than a single stick. The evil character of Duryodana makes him talk like this. Greed has blinded his learning.

Sloka 8:

bhavan bhismas ca karnas ca 

krpas ca samitim-jayah

asvatthama vikarnas ca 

saumadattis tathaiva ca

There are personalities like yourself, Bhisma, Karna, Krpa, Asvatthama, Vikarna and the son of Somadatta called Bhurisrava, who are always victorious in battle.

Bhavan = yourself, bhismas ca = and Bheeshma, karnas ca = and Karna, krpas ca = and Kripacharya, samitim-jaya = always victorious, asvatthama - Aswattama. After naming Drona and Bheeshma, Karna is named. We may feel. whether it was correct order, when so many seniors were on Kauravas side. But of all people Karna was most loyal to Duryodana. Others had sympathy for Pandavas side also. Vikarnas ca = and Vikarna (a brother of Duryodana), saumadattis = Somadatta, tathaiva ca = and others are there. 

anye ca bahavah sura

mad-arthe tyakta-jivitah

nana-sastra-praharanah

sarve yuddha-visaradah

There are many other heroes who are prepared to lay down their lives for my sake. All of them are well equipped with different kinds of weapons, and all are experienced in military science.

Not only these. Anye ca = and other, bahavah sura =  many heroes, mad-arthe = for my sake, tyakta-jivitah = sacrifice lives, (here, in a light way it is commented that Duryodana, foresaw the result of the war!), nana-sastra -praharanah = capable of wielding many weapons, sarve yuddha-visaradah = all experienced in battle techniques. 

It looks Duryodana has spoken confidently. Then why it was said that a frightened Duryodana spoke to Drona. Asmakam tu = whereas on our side. While saying so, there is slight mistrust in his tone! Let us see whether it was proper for these great persons to be on Duryodana's side. For superior efforts, anyone can support. But how these great persons are supporting adharma? Karna is supposed to be the eldest of Pandavas. Before marriage, pleased with Kunti's prayers, the Sun god blessed her with a child; but afraid of criticism, Kunti abandoned that child in the river, and the child was rescued by a charioteer and was brought up as Radheya, later Karna. In archery he was equal to Arjuna. But because he supported adharma, he was killed. 

Let us compare the two famous characters - Vibheeshana and Karna, from Ramayana and Mahabharata. Vibheeshana was brother of Ravana and was a capable warrior. Karna, also a great hero, was on Duryodana's side. Both of them had a testing time (dharma sankatam), whether to proceed this way or that way. Vibheeshana advised Ravana many times that abducting Sri Sita was not correct and that he should leave Her back to Sri Rama. It was Ravana's bad time that he did not heed Vibheeshana's advice. Instead he accused Vibheeshana of treason and expelled him. At that time Vibheeshana had a testing time - whether to remain loyal to his brother or to desert and surrender to Sri Rama. Realising the latter course as correct, he relinquished everything (including his family) and reached Sri Rama. Compare him with Karna. Karna knew who he was and knew what was dharma, but he thought loyalty to Duryodana was more important and so remained with Kauravas. In a low understanding, it may appear what Karna did was laudable. But if one decides to standby adharma, then even one's birth may be questioned. It is not at all just to support adharma. This is what Sri Krishna tried to impress in Gita. It is a pity that Karna did not consider these aspects. In spite of Karna being so philanthropic, he erred in choosing adharma. 

From these three slokas we know the heroes on Kauravas' side. Thereafter Duryodana exhibits his real fear and we will see in the next lecture.       

(continued)

GITA 1.8

GITA 1.8

We have to see the Fourth sloka in Gita sermoned by Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna was born in Mathura and was brought up in Gokulam. After 10 years, He again visited Mathura and helped (His grand father) to reign the Kingdom. To avoid disturbances from Jarasanda, He went Westwards, and after requesting Samudraraja (King of Oceans), He established Dwaraka in a reclaimed land at a distance of 12 yojanas (A unit of measurement of distances, prevalent in old India). Sri Krishna ruled from here. Then He came to Indraprasta, on hearing that His relatives Pandavas were in distress and with a good intention to help them. That time only, the war started. In Kurukshetra both the armies stood to attack each other. At that time, Duryodana drives his chariot near Dronacharya and describes the great warriors standing to  start fighting. A number of names of persons will appear in the slokas and we need not worry about the capabilities of everyone of them. They were all great Kings and warriors of that time. Duryodana mentions the names of them on each side of the battlefield. That is not very important for us.

But, in the 'war' in our body, it is important for us to know who are on which side! We will see the slokas and also see how they are useful for us. 

Fourth sloka: 

atra sura mahesvasa

bhimarjuna-sama yudhi

yuyudhano viratas ca

drupadas ca maha-rathah

Here in this army there are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna; there are also great fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada.

Sloka 5:

dhrstaketus cekitanah

kasirajas ca viryavan

purujit kuntibhojas ca

saibyas ca nara-pungavah

There are also great, heroic, powerful fighters like Dhrstaketu, Cekitana, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya.

Sloka 6:

yudhamanyus ca vikranta

uttamaujas ca viryavan

saubhadro draupadeyas ca

sarva eva maha-rathah

There are the mighty Yudhamanyu, the very powerful Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi. All these warriors are great chariot fighters.

We will see all the Three slokas  Duryodana first mentions who were all on the Pandavas side. Normally, it is considered good manners, to first mention about the opposite side and then talk about our side. We might think that Duryodana at least did not forget this good habit. But actually that was not the reason. Because in many places, Duryodana always spoke about himself first and then only spoke about others. Then why did he mention about the persons of Pandavas side first? Because, as we saw in the previous sloka, he asked Drona to look at the Pandava side. So Acharya Drona looks at the Pandavas army. Therefore, Duryodana had to mention about the warriors on the opposite army. Another interpretation is out of fear he mentions about the persons frightening him. 

Now we will see the slokas. Atra = in the (opposite) camp, sura = brave (warriors), mahesvasa = great skilled archers, bhimarjuna - sama yudhi = equal to Bhima and Arjuna (when it comes to) in fighting. That is, Duryodana is going to mention names of archers who are equal to Bhima and Arjuna in skills. Yuyudhano = Yuyudhana (Satyaki), virata = King Virata ( in whose kingdom the Pandavas remained as incognito for one year and whose daughter Utra was married to Arjuna's son Abimanyu), ca drupada - and King Drupada ( whose daughter was Draupati), maha-rathah = (they were all) Maharathas.  A person capable of fighting with single opponent is called Atiratha. A person capable of fighting with many at the same time is called Ardharatha. A Maharatha is capable of fighting with 11,000 persons. 

Dhrstaketu = Dhrashtaketu, cekitana = Chekitana, kasirajas ca viryavan = valiant King of Kashi, All of them have come to help Pandavas. Purujit = Purujit, kuntibhoja= Kuntibhoja, saibya = (King) Sibi, nara-pungavah = leader among humans. 

Yudhamanyu = Yudhamanyu, vikranta = powerful, uttamaujas ca viryavan =  brave Uttamauja, saubhadro = sons of Subhadra (sister of Sri Krishna and who married Arjuna), draupadeya = sons of Draupati, sarva eva maha-rathah = all these were Maharathas. 

Thus in the 4th, 5th and 6th slokas, a frightened Duryodana listed the warriors on the Pandavas side. All these persons were siding the good ones and the just. Whenever there was humiliation to justice, many good persons will join to support it. Sri Rama was supported by an army of monkeys. Though monkeys were not powerful warriors, strength of a side is determined by the cause for which it stands to fight. In our country's freedom struggle, under the leadership of the Father of the Nation, people fought on virtues, a mighty Power. So the cause is more important. If we fight for truth, even though in the beginning, we may appear weak, with God's blessings, strength will be adding gradually. That is why Sri Rama took with Him the support of monkeys and squirrels. Have we ever heard of a bridge being built by monkeys and squirrels? But a bridge was built connecting Rameswaram with Sri Lanka. This has been confirmed by NASA through satellite photography. It has been proved by technology that the bridge is some 17 Lakh years old! Srimad Ramayana epic has 24,000 slokas. But there is one sloka which says that if one is virtuous, even monkeys would help him and unethical persons would be deserted even by brothers. This is the essence of Ramayana! Sri Rama acted honestly and He was helped by monkeys. Ravana acted dishonestly and his brother Vibheeshana left him. Therefore, it is immaterial whether we have capable persons on our side. But it is important whether we possess virtues like truthfulness and honesty and whether we are fighting for a just cause. If we do, victory is certain. This is what we learn from Ramayana story. This is what we learn in the present (Mahabharata) story also. Because all these Maharathas mentioned by Duryodana are even collectively no match  to Bheeshma or Drona. In spite of having these persons (Bheeshma and Drona) on his side, if Duryodana is scared, it is because of his guilty conscience. 

We will now proceed to next slokas where Duryodana speaks about persons on his side.              

                                                   (continued)

  

GITA 1.7

GITA 1.7

yatpad¯ambhoruhadhy¯anavidhvast¯a´ses.akalmas.ah

vastut¯amupay¯ato 0ham. y¯amuneyam. nam¯ami tam

This sloka was composed by Sri Ramanuja. "I begin to write commentary with the blessings of Sri Yamunacharya (Alavandar) who gave the real sacred meaning of Gita. I am blessed to write with the support of Sri Yamunacharya's lotus feet". From Sri Alavandar we understand that Gita is about Karma, Gyana and Bhakti Yoga, by practicing which we attain the Divine feet of Sriman Narayana. We are in the First Chapter which is known as Arjuna vishada yogam - Chapter describing the distress of Arjuna.  Why Arjuna was anguished is what we are going to see. Before that we have seen the First Two slokas and we have to see the Third sloka. What is the scene we saw? King Duryodana after seeing the array of Pandava army, drove near his Acharya and spoke a few words. What did he say? The Third sloka:

pasyaitam pandu-putranam

acarya mahatim camum

vyudham drupada-putrena 

tava sisyena dhimata

O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada.

Duryodana addresses his teacher Drona: acarya = O! Acharya!, pasyaitam = look at this. Drona wanted to know which to look for. Duryodana says "look at the army arrayed in formation by Pandu's sons." Did Pandu's sons array the army formation? No. Tava sisyena dhimata = your intelligent disciple has arranged the army. Which disciple? Drashtadyumna , Son of Drupada. who was the Commander, like Bheeshma was for the Kaurava army. He asks Drona to look at the beautiful formation of the Pandava army by Drashtadyumna. King of Panchala was Drupada and Dhrashtadyumna was his son. He as Commander, has arrayed the Pandava army in formations for the attack. Mahatim camum = great army. That is, Duryodana is asking Drona to look at the great army of Pandavas, arrayed in formation by Drashtadyumna.  Here our scholars have interpreted with careful analysis. Normally, when we want to address our teacher, we will first address him and then say what he should do. Instead of saying, "Acharya! look at the army", Duryodana says " look at the army, Acharya". This shows that Duryodana was disturbed. This can be explained by an example. When a child goes and grabs a lantern in which fire is there to emit light, a mother looking at from a distance would cry "leave it!Leave it!!" in anxiety. She will not say          " Child! Please leave it as the fire may burn you!". Because there is an urgency to ask the child to leave the lantern. So her immediate reaction would be to ask the child to leave the lantern and then only address the child. So if the verb preceded the noun or subject, we can realise there was anxiety. That is why an anxious Duryodana first says "look" and then addresses the Acharya. Then we are amused at Duryodana mentioning Pandavas army as great army. Because, the Kauravas army had 11 Akshounis (a numerical strength) while Pandavas army had only 7 Akshounis. So Duryodana was frightened by a smaller army. We mentioned that our body is also a Kurukshetra where the good qualities and bad qualities are on opposite sides. We need not worry even if the bad qualities out number the good ones. Because the good qualities are more powerful. If honesty and sincerity are there, one can conquer any number of bad qualities. So mere number will not make the bad qualities to defeat the smaller good qualities. Here there is another interpretation. Duryodana could be addressing Drona as Acharya of Pandu's sons. Because Duryodana might be indirectly accusing Drona as having taught Pandavas also. 

Drupada was the King of Panchala Kingdom. In their younger days, Drupada and Drona were classmates in school. They were very intimate in those days. Then they parted. Normally it is better to remember sweet incidents after parting away, so that friendship is strengthened. In fact we should always keep in our minds sweet memories only and discard all bad incidents. The storing capacity of our mind is small and we should not keep unwanted memories. If we store in our mind God, deeds of good people and good thoughts, we can lead a peaceful life. Though both Drupada and Drona were great, somehow in the later days, they developed hatred and were waiting to take revenge on each other. Drupada at the height of his hatred for Drona, performed yagna (sacrificial rituals) and got Drashtadyumna as his son to kill Drona. This scared Duryodana. That is why he mentions Drashtadyumna in his address to Drona. Drashtadyumna's sister was Draupati, wife of Pandavas. That is Draupati was Drupada's daughter. Both the brother and sister were going to be reason for Drona's demise. Duryodana describes Drashtadyumna as disciple of Drona and very intelligent. He was intelligent because knowing that he was going to cause death of Drona, he learnt skills from the same Drona! Thus a frightened Duryodana addresses his teacher. Then in the next slokas he is going to name the warriors on both sides and describe them.     

                                                                                            (continued)

    

GITA 1.6

GITA 1.6

Just like Two armies are arrayed against each other, there are two energies opposing each other in our body - one the good qualities and the other the undesirable bad qualities. This pair is in each and every body. We may be surprised that a friend and an enemy are residing in our bodies. All of us are dominated by three qualities - satva, rajo and tamo gunas or qualities. Satva quality will grow good behaviour, high intelligence and rational thinking. Every action will be done with enthusiasm. On the other hand, rajo quality will encourage anger, fervour, fighting and passion. Tamo guna will induce darkness, ignorance, dullness, sleep, inertia and laziness. But all these three qualities are in our body. We could describe satva quality as Pandava army and rajo and tamo qualities as Kaurava army. 

Just like with the help of Sri Krishna, the Pandavas became victorious, we should  strive to conquer rajo and tamo qualities by satva quality. For this we need Sri Krishna's blessings and that is why Gita was preached.

 In addition  there are two opposing forces in our body. On one side is our ahankaram (ego), mamakaram (possessiveness), kamam(lust), krodam (anger), macharyam (jealousy), lobham (greed), etc. On the other side we have intelligence, diligence, compassion, helpfulness, etc. A person is praised as distinguished when he is able to suppress all these bad qualities and show up the good qualities. So we do not have to search for Kurukshetra, it is in ourselves! Right from the time we were born, we have to face this 'war'. None can escape this 'war'. Instead of running away like a coward, we should face and conquer the bad qualities and emerge as distinguished persons. To help to achieve this Sri Krishna is ever ready! Gita is the guide for this. So we have started to examine Gita. Who are going to help us in this endeavour? Many Scholars have made bhashyam (commentaries) on Gita, like Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, Madwacharya, etc. Gita is a book widely translated in many languages. Also Gita is spoken about daily in many research institutions all over the World. New interpretations are published. Sri Ramanuja wrote a commentary on Gita and that is known as Gita Bhashyam. Acharya Sri Vedanta Desika wrote an extensive explanatory on Gita Bhashyam, called Tatparya Chandrika. It is a treasure and we can find invaluable jewels in it abundantly. In addition Vadikesari Azhagiya Manavala Jeer, another Acharya, has made a Tamil hymn for every sloka of Gita - bhagavadgitai venba. Like this many people have contributed to make us easily understand Gita. With the aid of all these we saw the First sloka yesterday. 

After the query by Dridarashtra, Sanjaya replies as to what was happening in the battlefield. 

sanjaya uvaca

drstva tu pandavanikam

vyudham duryodhanas tada

acaryam upasangamya

raja vacanam abravit

Sanjaya said: O King, after looking over the army gathered by the sons of Pandu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and began to speak the following words:

Sanjaya replies Dridarashtra that King Duryodana told these to (his) Acharya. Here Acharya denotes Drona. Duryodana drives his chariot near Drona. He started talking like this. Duryodana sees Pandava's army, which is arranged in vuham (formations). We might have heard of Chakra Vyuha, Padma Vyuha, etc. If the formation resembles a wheel, it is chakra vyuham. If the army is formed in the shape of a lotus flower, it is padma vyuham. If it is like a needle, it is ooshi vyuham.Like this the army is kept in different formations. These are formed to frighten the enemy. That is how Duryodana was frightened at seeing the formations in Pandavas army and so he goes near his Acharya Drona. From this we have to learn something. Normally when crime is committed many of us will not be afraid. But when we see the result of the crime or when punishment is nearing, we start fearing. When crime was committed, good thoughts could have come and prevented us from doing the crime. After committing all crimes, and after refusing to give away at least five villages when Sri Krishna came as a Pandavas messenger, now Duryodana is frightened. Duryodana is also a capable warrior. His army was bigger than Pandavas army. With all that, if Duryodana could get scared, we can realise his guilty conscience. When we do a good work, we can do it boldly and without fear. But when we commit a crime, no matter how big we are, we will be scared. This is what we have to derive from this sloka. Honesty, truth and steadiness, with God's blessings will make us do any work successfully. 

Duryodana went near the Acharya.  Acharya means well learned and capable of giving proper directions. After going near the Acharya, Duryodana spoke some words. What he said will come up later. Since he was frightened, Duryodana spoke those words which did not carry much intelligence. This happens when one is in a fear mode. So he starts blurting. His fear was on seeing a smaller army and on seeing Sri Krishna on the Pandavas side. Anyone who thinks that God is on his side, need not be afraid of others. 

So Gita did not start in the beginning of the war. If only both armies had engaged in fight right at the start, perhaps we would not have got this precious Gita. So it is good for us that Duryodana went near Drona.

 We can derive great benefits when two great men converse. Thus in the conversation of Sage Parasara and his disciple Maitreya, we were blessed with Vishnu Puranam. From the conversation of Sage Sukhacharya and King Parikshit, we got Bhagavatam Puranam. The great Tiruvaimozhi emerged from the conversation of Nammalwar and Madurakavi Alwar. In the conversation between Bheeshma and Yudishtra, we got Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam. Therefore, if great people talk with each other, we get good things as outcome. If we also speak with each other with purpose, good things could emerge. Silence is better than mere gossiping. By being silent, we reduce our speech and that makes us greater. A chatterbox is never respected. So our words have to be minimum and carefully selected. Therefore, one expected very potent words from Duryodana, a King; but he, on seeing the Pandavas army, got frightened and so started blurting. 

Thus Sanjaya replied Dridarashtra that a (frightened) King Duryodana drove near Acharya Drona and started speaking some words. We will see what Duryodana told in the next lecture. 

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