Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 169, Arjuna's Material Attachment

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Digest 169, May 23rd, 2006. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

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Arjuna's Material Attachment

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Q: In all the preaching I have heard, one thing that is common is that one

should not be attached to material world in order to get close to Krishna. The

question is, even though Arjuna had material attachment, (BG 1.29) Lord Krishna

revealed Himself to Arjuna. Why?

 

Answer: Srila Prabhupada writes in regard to Arjuna's bewilderment before the

battle: "The popular saying is that a housewife teaches the daughter-in-law by

teaching the daughter. Similarly, the Lord teaches the world by teaching the

devotee." [sB 1.9.17] Arjuna is a pure devotee, an eternal associate of the

Lord; hence there is no possibility of his coming under illusion due to

material attachment. Whenever, therefore, a show is made to teach an exalted

devotee such as Arjuna, it is to be understood as an arrangement made by the

Lord Himself to place him in such illusion for the sake of teaching us through

that instance.

 

Furthermore, even though Arjuna was placed under illusion by the Lord, his

qualification for spiritual enlightenment is evidenced by the qualities of

compassion, detachment and sense-control he exhibits in presenting his

considerations for refusing to fight, much unlike the disposition of

Duryodhana, for example, who was simply interested in his personal

aggrandizement and didn't care for any religious principles, welfare of

citizens or relatives. (See BG 2.6 purport http://vedabase.net/bg/2/6/en) These

qualities, of course, are very conducive but insufficient for spiritual

progress; but more importantly, Arjuna surrendered and accepted Krishna as his

spiritual master.

 

Just as you have heard, material attachments are certainly stumbling blocks for

spiritual advancement, and even a highly virtuous and soft-hearted person may

be misled and impeded by them - this was precisely the reason why Krishna

chastises Arjuna, that despite his highly learned and virtuous arguments, he

was still on the bodily platform rather than spiritual platform.

 

But the method of overcoming material attachment is the very process that

Arjuna rightly adopted: accepting that he was confused on account of his

miserly weakness, placing himself humbly before his spiritual master with great

faith, seeking instruction and willing to fully accept and execute the

instructions given. (Please refer BG 2.7,8 and 18.73)

 

After hearing the Bhagavad-Gita, Arjuna did not continue to hold on to his

material attachments/ conceptions, but was ready to execute Krishna's will - in

this way, he was relieved of his temporary illusion and attachment. Contrast

this with the material attachment held on by Dhritarasthra who also

simultaneously heard the entire Bhagavad-gita as did Arjuna! As mentioned

above, Arjuna's so-called illusion and his response to it present us with

lessons on how to properly respond to and overcome our own attachments.

 

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Responses to Some Frequently Asked Questions (Karma, free-will, demigods, Lord

Siva, why are we here, how to control the mind, Deity worship, marriage, Jesus

Christ, spiritual and material relationships and morality of Lord Krsna's

conjugal pastimes, spiritual master, spirit soul/jiva/living entity):

http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/renderphilo.pl?digestname=digest999_faq

 

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