Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta Shlok Blog -48
Shlok-01
तं तथा कृपयाविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम् । विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः ॥ 2-1 ||
English Transcription
Tam Tatha Kripyawishtamashrupoornaakuleksham | Visheedantamidam Waakyamuwaacha Madhusoodanah || 2-1 ||
Hindi Translation
Aisi kaayarta se vishaad karne waale Arjun ko, jinki netron ki dekhne ki shakti aansuon se avrudha ho rahi thi, unko Bhagwaan Madhusoodan, aage wale wakya bole.
English Translation
Thus, overcome with compassion, Arjun’s eyes were full of tears, in despair, Lord Krishna said to him.
Meaning
In the previous chapter, we saw how Duryodhan saw the expanse of the Kaurava army and went to convince Guru Dronacharya and Bhishma Pitamah to join his army. He tried telling them how the Pandavas were trying to build an army and they had everyone who hated the Kauravas. Then he stated how Kauravas were trying to gear up and how they needed help from the elderlies, unlike the Pandavas, who did not care to talk to the elders except Shri Krishna to support them in the war. Then Duryodhan spoke about how he wanted justice to be served to his people and how Guru Dronacharya knew what Duryodhan was trying so he did not reply anything, however, silently, he accepted to fight with the Kauravas after being brainwashed.
We also saw how Bheeshma Pitamah readily agreed to the war and he blew his Shankh to announce the same which was mistaken as the announcement of war and thus, everyone started advancing towards the battlefield to take their positions. Then everyone started blowing their conch shells and drums in the Kaurava army to show how powerful they were but they were silenced by the following conches and drum roars of the Pandavas one by one, none of which were the same but every one of which told in clear explicit terms that how ready they all were.
Arjun then requested Shri Krishna to take the charioteer position and steer the chariot to the exact middle point of the battlefield so that he can take one final sneak peek into everything. It was imperative that there was the weakness of Arjun staring at him right in the face because he was sure he knew his people were fighting the battle but reality struck him when he took the pedestal and all he could see were his people’s faces only and now, the emotion of hatred sent into the feeling of anger and then cooled down with the oncoming sadness and guilt.
Arjun was thus sharing with Shri Krishna how he wouldn’t be able to fight the war and how even it felt he was chickening out, he wasn’t feeling good and then he described how he hated what the Kauravas did bit now he pities them and his Dharma does not allow him to kill his brothers even if they did Adharma.
Arjun was nervous, shattered, broken, guilt-laden, angry, sad, and scared all at once making him numb and yet jittery and shivery. Finally, Arjun gave ample reasons over a span of over 20 Shlokas and finally said that he will not fight come what may, even if he was to die at the end of this tussle. Saying this, Arjun gave up on fighting and kept his bow and arrow down and he also settled down on his chariot denying a fight.
After this, Shri Krishna had to give a huge speech which became chapter-1 of Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta.
In this Shlok, Sanjaya is telling Dhritrashtra how Shri Krishna let Arjun speak his heart but was not devastated by seeing his most loved disciple and warrior and mentee, Arjun, crying like a small baby and repenting every moment he decided to dwell upon the fact of fighting his brothers and killing them over some petty property. Sanjaya tells Dhritrashtra how the Pandavas had to endure 14 years of exile in the woods without being recognized and how the Kaurabvas knowingly kept increasing their problems even when they did not want to take up a fight.
Then Sanjaya tells Dhritrashtra that even after this, Arjun was not willing to kill his brothers who wanted to kill him and he says that Arjun does this not only because he had a huge heart, but because he also had an emotional connection to his ethics which he felt will never become true if he killed his people and make his people also kill their people.
This was like a nightmare situation and Arjun was going through an emotional breakdown, which became very difficult for Shri Krishna to see, so he finally will be interrupting Arjun’s chain of thoughts and connections and show him the other side of the same coin he was in ignorance to. Arjun wished to get the best solution that can avoid the battle and things can go back to normal and thus, Shri Krishna had to share a lot of wisdom starting from Shlok-2.
Conclusion
In general, it is believed that if you have taught something to someone and they still do not make the best use of your knowledge, it is their loss and not yours. But what we forget to add here is that even if people forget what they have taught, if they are able to make a proper difference in someone’s life not because they helped them, but only because they also introduced the practical application, then they are considered fully mature and a good teacher. Similarly, if you learn only for the short-term goal of doing something and then forgetting about it, then there is no need of learning. If you can apply everything you have learned in a practical sense, then you are a true student.
That’s it for Shlok-1, Chapter-2 of Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta. See you tomorrow with Shlok-2, Chapter-2 of Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta.
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