GITA 3;2

GITA 3.2

Thirumazhisai Alwar says that if we are devoted to Him, He is very near us, in our mind; otherwise, He is very far away. He is so simple for the devotees, and for others He is difficult. Such a God has advised on the Bhakthi, Gyana and Karma yoga. Now we are to start the 3^rd Chapter. Arjuna starts with a doubt and Sri Krishna replies. Sri Krishna is deceptive and He appears to be a thief. In today’s lecture, we are at the Kshetram, Sri Vaikuntam, one of the Nava Thiruppati, where the Lord is called Sri Vaikuntpathi or Sri Kallarpiran or Sri Choranathan. He is the Lord of Vaikuntam, then why should He be called Thief here? Four-faced Brahma wanted to choose a good place for meditation. So, he made the cane in his right hand, as a youth to select a place. The youth was fascinated by this place and he stayed here and forgot to tell Brahma. Then Brahma, not getting any news from the youth, converted the water pot in his left hand as a girl and sent her to search. She found this place as ideal and informed Brahma. Brahma came here and started his meditation. The Lord, pleased with Brahma’s devotion, appeared before him and thereafter, remained here in the same form in standing posture with Adisesha, the serpent, acting as umbrella. So He came to be known as Sri Vaikuntapathi. And the place came to be known as Sri Vaikuntam.There was a thief by name Kaladhooshakan. Whatever wealth he stole, he would offer half of it, to this Lord. The remaining wealth he would spend on noble causes. Once he robbed in the King’s palace and was caught. He somehow escaped from custody and surrendered to the Lord here, and sought His help to save him. The Lord in the guise of Kaladhooshakan, went to the king and faced trials. The king could not be harsh and showed love and esteem. Later, the Lord revealed Himself to the King and the King wanted to know what crime he had done that the Lord is appearing before him as a thief. The Lord informed that the King was not spending the wealth he had, for the welfare of his subjects, and noble causes. He advised him to donate his wealth for welfare. Because He came in the guise of a Thief, He is called Sri Kallarpiran or Sri Choranathan [kallar in Tamil and chora in Sanskrit mean thief] one of His Consorts is Sri Choranayaki. Another Consort is Sri Vaikuntanayaki and we are at this sannidhi.
  Sri Krishna told so many things in the second Chapter and Arjuna got confused and became vague. So the third Chapter starts with Arjuna’s expression of his doubt. The first two slokas are from Arjuna and from 3^rd sloka Sri Krishna replies.

arjuna uvaca
jyayasi cet karmanas te
mata buddhir janardana
tat kim karmani ghore mam
niyojayasi keshava
Arjuna said: O Janardana, O Kesava, why do You urge me to engage in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?

"Arjuna said: O Janardana, O Keshava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intellect is better than action?"

vyamisreneva vakyena
buddhim mohayashiva me
tad ekam vada niscitya
yena sreyo ’ham apnuyam
My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively what is most beneficial for me.

"My intelligence is bewildered by Your contradictory instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively which will be most beneficial for me."

Arjuna addresses Sri Krishna as Sri Janardana which means removing the miseries of birth in this world. He asks if in Sri Krishna’s opinion [mata],  Gyana [buddhi] is superior to Karma[action], then why does He compel Arjuna to fight the terrible [ghore] war? Arjuna understood in the last Chapter that Gyana yoga was superior to Karma yoga. From 39^th to 52^nd sloka, Sri Krishna eulogized Gyana yoga. Person practicing Karma yoga will practice Gyana yoga and then get atman sakshatkaram. So the lower step is Karma yoga and the next higher step is Gyana yoga, to reach atman darshan. Arjuna understood that to get atman darshan it was Gyana yoga to be practiced. So, why not directly practice Gyana yoga and why waste efforts in Karma yoga? As an example, if we want to purchase an article worth Rs.100, and if this money is to be obtained from a friend, we would like the entire Rs.100 be given and not in installments of Rs.10, ten times. Arjuna feels that the initial Karma yoga was unnecessary. In Gyana yoga one has to sit and control the senses, whereas in Karma yoga, one has to perform action. In his case, he has to fight to perform Karma yoga. In Gyana yoga he is not required to fight and after all, it is Gyana yoga results in atman sakshatkaram. This suited him. So he, in the first sloka, puts forth his doubt.

In the next sloka he further asks, why He is confusing him with two contradictory statements? He is having doubts about the Karma yoga and Gyana yoga. In Cholasimhapuram, popularly known as Sholingur, there are two hills. One is Big hill where Sri Narasimha is gracing the devotees and the other is small hill where Sri Hanuman is gracing. Here, it is not that one has to climb the small hill to reach the big hill, as both are separate. And one has to climb separately both hills to have Darshan. Arjuna thinks Gyana yoga is like the Big hill and Karma yoga is like the small hill. He thinks both are separate and so feels, Sri Krishna is vague. According to Arjuna for practicing the Gyana yoga one has to control senses and for Karma yoga it is opposite, in that, one has to freely allow organs to perform. It is like if one wants to do MS in chemistry, he should have done BS in chemistry and not in history. Arjuna feels that both Gyana yoga and Karma yoga are totally different from each other. Therefore, he thinks there is contradiction. He says his buddhi is apparently confused, and is not accusing Sri Krishna that He had confused Arjuna. He wants a single clarification on this confusion so that he will attain sreyas or better status. We will see how Sri Krishna replies to this.

                                                                          (continued)