Bhagavad Gita commentary by Swami Venkatesananda

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Chapter I: 32-33

 

For I desire not victory, Oh Krishna, nor kingdom, nor

pleasures. Of what avail is dominion to us, Oh

Krishna, or pleasures or even life?

Those for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments and

pleasures, stand here in battle, having renounced life

and wealth.

 

 

Commentary

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Vasistha, Krishna and Buddha have all acclaimed with

one voice that desire alone is the root-cause of all

miseries and of transmigration. Here we have Arjuna

voicing the same thoughts and the same wisdom, yet he

was wrong!

 

To all outward appearances the sage might behave like

a madman, but a madman is not a sage! Between escapism

and renunciation there is this vital difference: the

inner attitude. Krishna does not advocate escapism. He

revives in us the true spirit of renunciation.

 

"I do not want victory or pleasure, so I will not

fight," says Arjuna. "You should not run after victory

or pleasure, not even the pleasure of abstaining from

the battle; therefore you should fight," says Krishna.

 

The argument is the same, but the conclusions are

different because the inner approach is different.

Hence, we should not blindly trust our intellect, but

should seek wise counsel in order that the inner

intelligence may be awakened.

 

Again,"It is for our relatives' sake that we seek

kingdom, etc., and I won't fight since they may be

killed in war," says Arjuna. "No, not for their sake,

but for God's sake, for the sake of your duty or God's

will, you shall fight," replies the Lord.

 

The path of duty is often unpleasant to the

pleasure-seeking mind or ego-centered personality. It

demands unwinking vigilance to prevent insincerity and

unwisdom from veiling true insight.

 

Chapter I: 34-37

 

Teachers, fathers, sons and also grandfathers,

maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons,

brothers-in-law and other relatives: these I do not

wish to kill though

they kill me, Oh Krishna, even for the sake of

dominion over the three worlds; leave alone killing

them for the sake of the earth. By killing these sons

of Dhrtarastra, what pleasure can be ours, Oh Krishna?

Only sin will accrue by killing these felons.

 

 

Commentary

----------

Verse 35 is reminiscent of the words of the great

spiritual hero of the Kathopanishad, viz., Naciketas.

There, the guru (Yama) is pleased. But, here, the

guru (Krishna) does not applaud Arjuna's dispassionate

words. Mere aversion to worldly pleasures is valueless

without devotion to God. It can only lead us to

self-imposed misery and poverty-stricken life. As

Gurudev Swami Sivananda used to say, we should "detach

the mind from the objects and attach it to the Lord."

 

The Lord, as the indweller, know that Arjuna's heart

was enshrouded by spiritual ignorance. In order to

remove it, he gave it an opportunity to manifest

itself, by placing the chariot in front of Bhishma and

Drona. Arjuna's cleverness weaves a web of logic to

hide his ignorance and faint-heartedness. He forgets

that it is the duty of rulers to punish felons, and

suggests that even that is fraught with sin! Why?

"Because they are our relations". All animate and

inanimate objects in the world are God's creations;

but relationship is our creation and the source of our

grief.

 

 

 

 

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