BHAGAVAD-GITA 18:73

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 18:73

 

arjuna uvaca

nasto mohah smrtir labdha

tvat-prasadan mayacyuta

sthito 'mi gata-sandehah

karisye vacanam tava

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

arjunah uvaca--Arjuna said; nastah--dispelled; mohah--illusion;

smrtih--memory; labdha--regained; tvat-prasadat--by Your mercy;

maya--by me; acyuta--O infallible Krsna; sthitah--situated; asmi--I

am; gata--removed; sandehah--all doubts; karisye--I shall execute;

vacanam--order; tava--Your.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Arjuna said: My dear Krsna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone.

I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from

doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.

 

PURPORT

 

The constitutional position of a living entity, represented by Arjuna,

is that he has to act according to the order of the Supreme Lord. He

is meant for self-discipline. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that the

actual position of the living entity is that of eternal servant of the

Supreme Lord. Forgetting this principle, the living entity becomes

conditioned by material nature, but in serving the Supreme Lord he

becomes the liberated servant of God. The living entity's

constitutional position is to be a servitor; he has to serve either

the illusory maya or the Supreme Lord. If he serves the Supreme Lord

he is in his normal condition, but if he prefers to serve the

illusory, external energy, then certainly he will be in bondage. In

illusion the living entity is serving in this material world. He is

bound by his lust and desires, yet he thinks of himself as the master

of the world. This is called illusion. When a person is liberated, his

illusion is over, and he voluntarily surrenders unto the Supreme to

act according to His desires. The last illusion, the last snare of

maya to trap the living entity, is the proposition that he is God. The

living entity thinks that he is no longer a conditioned soul, but God.

He is so unintelligent that he does not think that if he were God,

then how could he be in doubt? That he does not consider. So that is

the last snare of illusion. Actually to become free from the illusory

energy is to understand Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and

agree to act according to His order.

 

The word moha is very important in this verse. Moha refers to that

which is opposed to knowledge. Actually real knowledge is the

understanding that every living being is eternally a servitor of the

Lord, but instead of thinking oneself in that position, the living

entity thinks that he is not a servant, that he is the master of this

material world, for he wants to lord it over the material nature. That

is his illusion. This illusion can be overcome by the mercy of the

Lord or by the mercy of a pure devotee. When that illusion is over,

one agrees to act in Krsna consciousness.

 

Krsna consciousness is acting according to Krsna's order. A

conditioned soul, illusioned by the external energy of matter, does

not know that the Supreme Lord is the master who is full of knowledge

and who is the proprietor of everything. Whatever He desires He can

bestow upon His devotees; He is the friend of everyone, and He is

especially inclined to His devotee. He is the controller of this

material nature and of all living entities. He is also the controller

of inexhaustible time, and He is full of all opulences and all

potencies. The Supreme Personality of Godhead can even give Himself to

the devotee. One who does not know Him is under the spell of illusion;

he does not become a devotee, but a servitor of maya. Arjuna, however,

after hearing Bhagavad-gita from the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

became free from all illusion. He could understand that Krsna was not

only his friend but the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he

understood Krsna factually. So to study Bhagavad-gita is to understand

Krsna factually. When a person is in full knowledge, he naturally

surrenders to Krsna. When Arjuna understood that it was Krsna's plan

to reduce the unnecessary increase of population, he agreed to fight

according to Krsna's desire. He again took up his weapons--his arrows

and bow--to fight under the order of the Supreme Personality of

Godhead.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.