SankarAcArya's bhagavad gItA bhAshya: 2. 11 - Part I. (fwd)

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The introductory chapter ended with a reference to the verse

"dharmakshetre kurukshetre" (gItA 1. 1). As pointed out in an earlier

posting, there is no detailed commentary on the forty-seven verses of the

first chapter (arjuna-vishAda-yoga), and also on the first ten verses of

the second chapter (sAMkhya-yoga).

 

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Verse 2. 11 of the gItA reads,

 

tam uvAca hRshIkeSaH prahasanniva bhArata |

senayor ubhayor madhye vishIdantam idam vacaH ||

 

tam - to him (Arjuna), uvAca - said, hRshIkeSaH - a name of Krishna,

meaning "He who has beautiful hair", prahasann iva - as if mockingly,

bhArata - descendent of bharata (here, the reference is to the blind king,

Dhritarashtra, father of the 100 Kauravas), senayor ubhayor madhye -

stationed between the two armies, vishIdantam - despondent, idam vacaH -

the following words.

 

Translation -

Oh King Dhritarashtra! To Arjuna, who sat thus despondently, in the middle

of the two armies, Krishna said the following words.

 

Notes-

The actual words of Krishna begin with verse 12 of the second chapter. In

the introductory comments to the eleventh verse of chapter two,

SankarAcArya summarizes briefly the import of the verses that precede it.

 

Translation -

Here, the text beginning with "dRshTvA tu pANDavAnIkam" (1. 2) and ending

with "na yotsya iti govindam uktvA tUshNIM babhUva ha" (2. 9) is to be

interpreted as explaining that defects beginning with grief (Soka) and

delusion (moha) are the origin of transmigratory existence (saMsAra bIja)

of all living beings. Thus, through the error of thinking, "I am theirs"

and "these are mine" with respect to kingdom, teachers, sons, friends,

well-wishers, clansmen, in-laws and other relatives, Arjuna feared for the

breakdown of his affection towards them, and consequently felt grief and

delusion. Thus, he asked, "How can I fight against Bhishma?" (kathaM

bhIshmam aham saMkhye" - 2. 4) etc. Although he had voluntarily

prepared for the war, as part of his duty as a Kshatriya, grief and

delusion impaired his descriminative knowledge, and he prepared to desist

from the war and take up the life of a mendicant, a life that was not

suited for him.

 

Similarly, when blinded by grief and delusion, people may give up the

course of action best suited to their own nature, and take up a forbidden

course. Even if they are prepared to live according to their own dharma, a

desire for other kinds of results leads their speech, minds and bodies to

another dharma. The root of this wrong thinking is ahaMkAra - the sense of

I-ness. Thus, virtues and vices accumulate, and the cycle of

transmigration continues unchecked, consisting of desired and undesired

results, happiness and sorrow, and continued rebirths. Thus is it said

that grief and delusion are the seeds of saMsAra. There is no cessation

from this, except through Self-knowledge (AtmajnAna), preceded by a total

renunciation of all karman. To teach this central truth to Arjuna, and to

bless the entire world through this teaching, the Lord Vasudeva says,

"aSocyAn" etc. (2. 11).

 

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To be continued ...

 

Vidyasankar