GITA 1.29

GITA 1.29

"vede pourusham, dharma shastre manavam, purane vaishnavam,  bharathe bhagavat gita"

So goes a saying which means that of the so many branches and mantras in Vedas, it is Sri Purushsooktham the most important and similarly, in various Dharma shastras,it is Sri Manu shastra, in the 18 puranas it is Sri Vishnu Puranam and in the 125,000 slokas and 18 parvas with number of chapters in Mahabharatha, it is Bhagavat Gita ,  most important.
We are at the scene where Arjuna is worried at the sight of his relatives to fight. A compassionate Arjuna is worried to kill his kin in the battle. Arjuna laments that on seeing the relatives, his skin was burning and developed goose-bumps. Arjuna says that he saw bad omens. So far we have seen upto the First half of sloka 31. Today's lecture is the second half of sloka 31.:

na ca sreyo ’nupasyami

hatva sva-janam ahave

I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle

Ahave = in the battle, hatva = by killing, sva-janam = my own people, anupasyami = do not see, sreya = good. Arjuna continues : Hey Keshava! I do not see any good coming by killing my own relatives. Here he addresses Sri Krishna as Keshava. Keshava is an important name of the Lord Sriman Narayana. Mere utterance of this name will abolish all the sins one had accumulated. In a pasuram in Tiruvaimozhi, while adoring Sri Padmanabhaswamy of Thiruvananthapuram[Trivandrum], Sri Nammalwar says 'kesava ena kedum idarellam..'.In this temple the Lord is reclining on Anantha, the serpent. It is unique here that the garba graha -sanctus sanctorum- has three doors. From the first we can worship His Face, from the middle one, we can worship His stomach with the Lotus and from the third gate we can worship His feet. All our sins will be destroyed by mere chanting of His name Keshava. According to Alwar, one time mention of Keshava, will destroy all our sins. How can, by mentioning once Keshava, all sins are destroyed? It is like the darkness in a den for hundreds of years, is driven out at the instant, a lamp is lit! It should not be misunderstood, here, that we continue with our sinful activities, and utter the name Keshava, every time! It means that while uttering the name Keshava, we do it with sincerity and love and resolve not to repeat the sins. 
In Vishnu Purana, Sage Parashara says about a jeevetma, going after committing many sins. Tirumangai Alwar in a hymn praises the name Keshava, saying it will wipe out all the sins accumulated over so many births. For each type of sin a particular hell or Narakh is indicated and the Alwar says that his sins entitled him to all the types. But Yama, mere sight of whom is so dreadful, comes and puts his hands on the shoulder of the Alwar and says could he not mention even once the name of Sri Kesava and avoided these punishments. That is Keshava means, in Sanskrit, that which annihilates klesha or sorrow.
Tondaradipodi Alwar says that it was very sweet for him to mention His names like Achyuta or the Toddler in Ayarpadi (Gokulam), and he did not want even Vaikuntam, if only he could remain in Srirangam and chant those sweet names! We should chant Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam and derive benefits. We need not worry if we do not know the meaning of each of those names. But benefits will accrue. It is like a child touching fire and getting hurt. Fire has the nature to burn whatever touches fire, irrespective of whether the person touching it knows about nature of fire or not. 
Keshava also means the person having curly, black and thick locks of hair on the head.
It also means He Who killed the demon Keshi who came in the disguise of a horse to kill Sri BalaKrishna.
Lord Parama Siva says Sri Narayana commands Bramha[ka] and Iswara, that is himself [Isa] and so He is Keshava [ka+isa +va].
By addressing Sri Krishna as Sri Keshava, Arjuna, indirectly, is praying to end his present distress.
                                               (continued)