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.     

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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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