Sathya Sai Baba Geetha Vahini - Chapter 2

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Sathya Sai BabaGeetha Vahini

Chapter II

The first chapter is better named "Arjuna Geetha" rather than Krishna Geetha.

Overcome by sorrow and delusion, Arjuna turns from war and keeps aside his

weapons; he is dejected in his chariot, halted between the two opposing forces;

he turns this way and that, puzzled and perturbed; he surveys the faces of his

kith and kin; he is overcome by pity; his famous bow slips from his grasp, he

is too weak to stand or even sit; his mind wanders into the dictates of the

Purva Mimaamsa school of thought. He swears he will not engage in fighting.

When Sanjaya reported this to the blind king Dhritharashtra, he was overjoyed,

for victory was within grasp! He had neither foresight nor farsight, much less,

the divine vision; so he felt happy that his dream of an undiminished empire had

come true, without bother.

But Sanjaya who had divine vision felt, "What is this insane joy which is

affecting him? When the Lord is Himself on the side of the Pandavas, how can

this king's wicked plan succeed?" Then he pictured to himself the ghastly

consequences of Arjuna jumping into the fray.

But Arjuna had teardrops falling down his cheeks. There were whirlpools in his

eyes. Even the Lord could not bear the sight; He could not remain silent. He

felt the pulse-beat of Arjuna and diagnosed the malady. He knew in a trice that

the malady of Moha (the delusion caused by false evaluation) had penetrated his

three bodies: the gross, the subtle and the causal. The pity that enveloped

Arjuna was not 'genuine', He saw. For genuine pity will be endowed with Daivi

Sampath (divine elevating impulses and motives); it will not disregard the

orders of the Lord. It was really egoism, under the veil of pity. So the Lord

decided to cure him of that weakness, "Kripayaavishtam", the Geetha says.

Arjuna was helpless, "overwhelmed by pity," and that had to be cured.

Just as a spirit entering a person has to be exorcised, Arjuna has to be freed

from fear and cowardice. For he who has the Lord by his side need entertain no

fear. What can any 'Bhooth' (spirit) do to one who is the Lord of all the five

Bhuthas (elements)? "Vaidyo Narayano Harih." The Lord is the supreme doctor.

Narayana was the doctor Arjuna needed and got.

How lucky was Arjuna! Even from the depth of grief, joy will swell. Until the

eleventh sloka of the second chapter, it is the story of the despondency of

Arjuna; the effect of 'the possessions.' That is why the first step in the cure

is "the exposition of Sankhya yoga, the path of knowledge, (Jnana)."

The Amrithopadesa (immortality-bestowing teaching) of Krishna begins from this

eleventh sloka; in fact, the Bhagavad Geetha starts from this point. Up to this

point it is the description of Arjuna's delusion born of ignorance and dullness

of intellect. Krishna, acting the role of witness, allows the despondency to

deepen and darken. When at last Arjuna threw down his bow and refused to fight,

when he confessed that he had lost all sense of right and wrong, when he prayed

that Krishna should teach him the way that will solve his problems best, then,

Krishna came forward and said:

"Arjuna! How could this miserable shade of cowardice overtake you now, when you

have been clear and bright all along? This is quite unbecoming to the hero you

are. The word Arjuna means pure, unblemished character. Why then this grief?

The battle is imminent. The clouds of war have gathered and are thundering. The

foes in front are awaiting the moment when they could jump into the fray. They

have heaped countless injustices and cruelties on you and now they are ready to

grab the land that must come to you as of right. You have so far borne all the

agony they have poured over you, without stirring even an iota away from truth.

You have fulfilled all the conditions they imposed and you have passed through

the years they prescribed for your exile. Your attempts to effect a compromise

were futile, you could not avoid the clash of arms. We have yielded as much as

we could. Now war is the only method by which the eyes of the evil-minded

Duryodhana can be opened to his own iniquity."

"This war was decided on, after long deliberation. It is not a hasty resolution

taken in a fit of anger. Responsible elders have weighed the pros and cons and

come to the conclusion that resort to arms is inevitable. You and your brothers

approved all this and appreciated the decision. You have been preparing for this

battle with enthusiasm. In fact, you have been immersed in it more than others.

How wrong is it for you now to turn back?"

"This war has not pounced on you in a trice. You have been collecting the

wherewithal since long. Remember how you struggled and starved and lived on

roots and fruits of the forest in order to win the Paasupatha Ashthra from lord

Siva, how you went as far as the Loka of the lord of Gods, Indra, in order to

win celestial arrows for this battle?"

"I thought that the moment of destiny for the annihilation they deserved has

come for the wicked Kaurava brood; but now you have started this moaning dirge!

Why this ominous note? Which Sastra lays down this attitude? Think of your duty

as a member of the Kshatriya caste: to uphold Dharma, to protect justice. Yours

is the wealth of courage, adventure and steadiness. But you are overpowered by

this strange detachment, which is pathetically out of place."

"This cowardice brings shame on you and even on your far-famed forefathers. Fie

on you? You have dragged down the Kshatriya race into disgrace. War is the

royal road for your kind, the road which leads to Heaven. How can you escape

infamy, if you withdraw from the field now? You have earned the title, Vijaya,

by the prowess of your arm; do not tarnish the reputation you have won by a

lifetime of effort. Give up this weakening delusion."

"Listen to me; remind yourself of what happened at Amaravathi. You disregarded

the approaches of the divine damsel, Urvasi and when she wanted a son through

your grace, you replied, 'Take me as your son.' That revealed you a an

incomparable hero. The curse that she spelt on you in her discomfiture helped

you at the court of the Virata king to pass off as an eunuch, teaching dance to

the royal princesses, is it not?"

"Where has that heroism gone, tell Me. How has this pusillanimity come over such

a stalwart? You came to Me and disturbed Me in sleep with your request for help

in this battle, from which you are now running away. Am I to help you thus?

Have I to watch while you are fleeing? Pluck this delusion by the roots; reduce

this fear into ashes. Become a hero again." Thus exhorted Krishna.

Krishna uses four words in this context: Kasmalam (ignorance), Anaarya-jushtam

(character that is harmful to the divine nature in each), Aswargyam (quality

that destroys the divine in man) and A-keerthikaram (quality that causes the

decline of the wealth that is lasting).

These inspiring words that will make the blood of any Kshathriya boil had a

tremendous effect on Arjuna. The thick cloud of ignorance which had overwhelmed

Arjuna started to melt a little. The Thamas which had made him forget the truth

got removed; Rajoguna returned and Arjuna found words to ask, "Katham?" (how).

That term reveals much. It shows that the Geetha expounds, not merely what has

to be done but even how it has to be done.

Arjuna asks Krishna, "O Madhusudana! Listen to my words: Those who are in the

forefront of the battle line are all worthy of worship. The great Bhishma took

care of us when we lost our father and brought us up from childhood and shaped

us into what we are. He is as a father to us, the grand old man of our clan.

And what shall I say of Drona? He loved me more than he loved his own son,

Aswathama; I had all his love. He is the Guru who through that love, took me as

his favourite disciple and made me into the bowman that I am. Do you want me now

to use the skill he taught to overthrow him? Is it right for a son of Bharath to

do such a thing? In battle we have to kill our enemies, is it not? Or, can we

fight with fathers and teachers, who deserve reverence?"

"You say that heaven can be won by battle. I cannot realise how heaven can be

got through the killing of these revered Gurus. If this idea spreads, few Gurus

can survive! Whatever you might say, let me tell you this: rather than earn

happiness and power through these means, I feel it is better to live on alms

collected from door to door. Food won through killing such men is mixed with

their blood and I would prefer a meal got through beggary. Well, even if I give

up all these qualms and fight, how can victory be counted upon? Expecting

victory to come to us, how can I resolve to slaughter these elders and lose

both worlds? If by chance they win, then beggary is inevitable, if we win, it

is as bad as losing, for of what gain is victory, if the price we pay is the

destruction of kith and kin? We gain but inconsolable grief for the rest of

life. Krishna! I am at a loss to solve this problem. My intelligence has

deserted me. My nature has undergone a vast change; I do not know why I

cannot distinguish between right and wrong, Dharma and A-dharma."

"My Kshatriya blood rises up in protest when you prod it so; it is pushing me

forward into battle. Fear of becoming the murderer of these revered elders is

pulling me back. I am helpless. As you are guiding this chariot, guide me also

and show me the way. Moreover, I am no more concerned with worldly prosperity;

I crave for spiritual progress only," he said.

>From that moment, Krishna became the Guru and Arjuna, the disciple. Arjuna

prayed for that status and got it. Until Arjuna accepted that attitude of a

learner, his heart was filled with egoism and weakness. The hero had become a

zero. He had taken a position the very opposite of that taken up by Krishna.

The reason for all this, if you carefully study the situation, it is nothing but

"egoism". Prema is the viewpoint of Krishna and Bhrama (delusion), of Arjuna. He

suffered from agony because of that. Then he realised that egoism led only to

further ignorance and confusion. He surrendered his judgement to the Lord and

saved himself. He said he was but an instrument in the hands of the Lord.

Recognising one's error is the first excellence of a good disciple; it is the

beginning of wisdom. Only the foolish will feel they know all and suffer from

the dire disease of a swollen head.

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