Krishna and Arjuna

[Guest guest]

On the eve of great Mahabharata

battle, Arjuna asked his charioteer

to drive their chariot out to the

front line so he could look over

the opposition he must face the

next day.

 

As he looked at his foes, he

recognized his favorite teacher,

Drona, and his beloved grand uncle,

Bhishma, and many other relatives

and friends. Horrified to realize

that he must kill the very people

he loved, he threw down his bow

and arrow and told Krishna he would not fight.

 

Krishna gave Arjuna numerous reasons

to fight. You must fight, he told

Arjuna, or it will look like you

are a coward, and the people will

say you were afraid to fight.

You are a prince, and you must

set a good example for other people

in the kingdom. If the prince

refuses to fight, who else can be

counted on to enter the battle?

 

Remember, he said, it is your

dharma. You are a warrior, and a

warrior must fight. You'll build

up good karma if you fight, because

there is nothing better for a

warrior than a just cause for which

to fight. He reminded Arjuna of

samsara. A person who is born must

die, and a person who dies will

be rebom; the wise do not grieve

over that, he said. Dying is like

leaving aside wom-out garments,

only instead, one is leaving aside

a wom-out body. He instructed

Arjuna that the only true essence

is Brahman, and that Brahman

cannot be killed.

 

What dies is not essential. Further,

he said, if you kill Drona,

Bhishma and your cousins in battle,

you enable them to build good

karma, so you are really helping them.

Krishna then discussed moksha, the

ultimate aim of life. If one

experiences moksha, Krishna

reminded Arjuna, he breaks the

chains of samsara and rejoins

Brahman and is not rebom. Krishna

explained four yogas or methods

to achieve moksha. One method is

the yoga of meditation. Another is

the yoga of knowledge.

 

These were the methods that

traditionally only Brahmins

followed. But Krishna assured

Arjuna that there were two other

methods for achieving moksha that

anyone might follow: the yoga of

holy indifference and the yoga of

devotion.

 

The yoga of holy indifference is

called karma yoga. "You must be

indifferent to the fruits of your

actions," he told Arjuna. "You have

a right to the deeds, never to

the fruits. If you can perform

your deeds but are holy indifferent

to the results of your actions,

you will not build up any karma

and you will not be rebom.

 

Fight because you are a warrior,

but don't mind what happens or

who wins. On action alone be thy

interest, never on its fruits."

A fourth method for reaching

moksha was the yoga of devotion

or bhakti yoga. "Be devoted to

me," Krishna said. "If you perform

each act with your mind on the

me alone," Krishna promised,

"you will experience moksha."

 

Devotion alone holds the key.

Arjuna was not convinced, so

Krishna finally revealed his true

identity to the warrior. Krishna

was really divinity who had taken

the form of a charioteer to help

the Pandavas re-establish

righteousness.

 

His revelation was like the light

of a thousand suns in the sky.

As Arjuna looked at him, he saw

all the world, all the gods, the

universe, the One. Filled with

awe, Arjuna agreed to fight.

 

<http://www.askasia.org/frclasrm/lessplan/l000059.htm>

 

-------PEACE will come!

Karta

 

 

 

i hope, sorry for the timing and

the apropos