BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:8

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:8

 

na hi prapasyami mamapanudyad

yac chokam ucchosanam indriyanam

avapya bhumav asapatnam rddham

rajyam suranam api cadhipatyam

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

na--do not; hi--certainly; prapasyami--I see; mama--my; apanudyat--can

drive away; yat--that which; sokam--lamentation; ucchosanam--drying

up; indriyanam--of the senses; avapya--achieving; bhumau--on the

earth; asapatnam--without rival; rddham--prosperous; rajyam--kingdom;

suranam--of the demigods; api--even; ca--also; adhipatyam--supremacy.

 

TRANSLATION

 

I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my

senses. I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous,

unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in

heaven.

 

PURPORT

 

Although Arjuna was putting forward so many arguments based on

knowledge of the principles of religion and moral codes, it appears

that he was unable to solve his real problem without the help of the

spiritual master, Lord Sri Krsna. He could understand that his

so-called knowledge was useless in driving away his problems, which

were drying up his whole existence; and it was impossible for him to

solve such perplexities without the help of a spiritual master like

Lord Krsna. Academic knowledge, scholarship, high position, etc., are

all useless in solving the problems of life; help can be given only by

a spiritual master like Krsna. Therefore, the conclusion is that a

spiritual master who is one hundred percent Krsna conscious is the

bona fide spiritual master, for he can solve the problems of life.

Lord Caitanya said that one who is master in the science of Krsna

consciousness, regardless of his social position, is the real

spiritual master.

 

kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya

yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei `guru' haya

 

"It does not matter whether a person is a vipra [learned scholar in Vedic

wisdom] or is born in a lower family, or is in the renounced order of

life--if he is master in the science of Krsna, he is the perfect and

bona fide spiritual master." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 8.128) So

without being a master in the science of Krsna consciousness, no one

is a bona fide spiritual master. It is also said in Vedic literature:

 

sat-karma-nipuno vipro

mantra-tantra-visaradah

avaisnavo gurur na syad

vaisnavah sva-paco guruh

 

"A scholarly brahmana, expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit

to become a spiritual master without being a Vaisnava, or expert in

the science of Krsna consciousness. But a person born in a family of a

lower caste can become a spiritual master if he is a Vaisnava, or

Krsna conscious." (Padma Purana)

 

The problems of material existence--birth, old age, disease and

death--cannot be counteracted by accumulation of wealth and economic

development. In many parts of the world there are states which are

replete with all facilities of life, which are full of wealth and

economically developed, yet the problems of material existence are

still present. They are seeking peace in different ways, but they can

achieve real happiness only if they consult Krsna, or the

Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam--which constitute the science of

Krsna--through the bona fide representative of Krsna, the man in Krsna

consciousness.

 

If economic development and material comforts could drive away one's

lamentations for family, social, national or international

inebrieties, then Arjuna would not have said that even an unrivaled

kingdom on earth or supremacy like that of the demigods in the

heavenly planets would be unable to drive away his lamentations. He

sought, therefore, refuge in Krsna consciousness, and that is the

right path for peace and harmony. Economic development or supremacy

over the world can be finished at any moment by the cataclysms of

material nature. Even elevation into a higher planetary situation, as

men are now seeking on the moon planet, can also be finished

at one stroke. The Bhagavad-gita confirms this: ksine punye martya-lokam

visanti. "When the results of pious activities are finished, one falls

down again from the peak of happiness to the lowest status of life."

Many politicians of the world have fallen down in that way. Such

downfalls only constitute more causes for lamentation.

 

Therefore, if we want to curb lamentation for good, then we have to

take shelter of Krsna, as Arjuna is seeking to do. So Arjuna asked

Krsna to solve his problem definitely, and that is the way of Krsna

consciousness.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.