Gita 1:41

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Deleepan wrote:

>The presence of verse 1.41 makes the absence of

>its rejection significant. In the absence of such a

>rejection, one is left to conclude that according to

>Srimad Bhagavath Geethai birth determines varNam.

This need not necessarily be the case. Because

all the statements of Arjuna in Chapter 1,

including 1.41are totally rejected by Krishna

in Ch.2, verse 11. Following which Krishna teaches

what is right. Arjuna asks numerous questions in Ch 2-18,

but not one time he brings back any of the points he made

in Chapter 1. This implies thatArjuna accepts that

all his arguments in chapter 1 are wrong

that thus never brings any of those issues back again.

 

Here is my (Bhashyam!) views on Ch1.41

 

I think here Arjuna is talking about children

out of wedlock, orphaned children and children

raised by helpless widowed mothers

in isolation. Any grand scale war would

artificially increase the number of women and

children as compared to the adult males.

The very fact that the chaturvarnya survived,

past the Mahabharatha war is a testimony to

the fact that the chaturvarnya was more

resilient (governed by the natural law of Gita)

and not always determined strictly by birth.

If that was true we should have lot less number

of kshatriyas than the other varnas, considering

so many kshatriyas perished in the war(s).

 

It was sort of supply and demand type of thing

even in india(!). Once there were sufficient

numbers selected by natural process, then

that particular varna was defended by unnatural

(manipulation) means. For example, in the USA,

physicians were allowed to immigrate from other

countries in the1970s, because of the shortage of

MDs. Now, the American Physicians

are fighting toe and nail to keep those foreign

MDs OUT, just to safeguard their high $/hour wages!

 

 

 

K. Sreekrishna