What is so special about Arjuna

[harini21sg]

Hello

 

Of all his devotees why was Krishna so fond of Arjuna? Was there any special reason behind this? Or any story?

[bhaktajan]

 

 

I presume the rest of the answer involves the secret reasons behind Arjuna's high-birth [son of Indra] and thus Arjuna's pastimes with Krishna and the royal Dynasty of that time . . . that will require another posting by some one to answer.

 

 

 

 

 

Sri Krishna’s “‘Is very dear to me(s)’ ” from the Bhagavad-gita:

 

 

 

 

Bhagavan uvacha:

 

 

Bg 7.17 . . . one who is in full knowledge and who is always engaged

In pure devotional service is the best. For I am very dear to

him, and he is dear to Me

Bg 12.13-14 One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living

entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free

from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress,

who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and

engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind

and intelligence fixed on Me—such a devotee of Mine is

very dear to Me.

 

Bg 12.15 He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not

disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and

and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me.

Bg 12.16 My devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of

activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all

pains, and not striving for some result, is very dear to Me.

Bg. 12.17One who neither rejoices nor grieves, who neither laments

nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious

things—such a devotee is very dear to Me.

Bg.12.18-19 One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in

honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and

distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from

contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with

anything, who doesn’t care for any residence, who is fixed

in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service—

such a person is very dear to Me.

[bhaktajan]

Condensed herein below by Bhaktajan:

Iso 10 Purport—As advised Bg (13.8–12), one should culture knowledge in the following way:

(1) Become a perfect gentleman.

(2) Not pose as a religionist.

(3) Not become a source of anxiety by actions of his body, by his thoughts, or by his words.

(4) Learn forbearance even in the face of provocation.

(5) Learn to avoid duplicity in his dealings.

(6) Search out a bona fide spiritual master, and must submit himself, render him service and ask relevant questions.

(7) To approach the platform of self-realization, one must follow the regulative principles enjoined in the revealed scriptures.

(8) Be fixed in the tenets of the revealed scriptures.

(9) Completely refrain from practices detrimental to self-realization.

(10) Not accept more than he requires for the maintenance of the body.

(11) Not falsely identify himself with the gross material body, nor should one consider those who are related to his body to be his own.

(12) Always remember a material body must face the miseries of repeated birth, old age, disease and death. The best course is to find out the means by which one may regain his spiritual identity.

(13) Not be attached to more than the necessities of life required for spiritual advancement.

(14) Not be more attached to wife, children and home than the revealed scriptures ordain.

(15) Not be happy or distressed over desirables and undesirables, knowing such feelings are created by the mind.

(16) Become an unalloyed devotee of the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, and serve Him with rapt attention.

(17) Develop a liking for residence in a secluded place with a calm and quiet atmosphere favorable for spiritual culture where devotees congregate.

(18) Become a scientist or philosopher and conduct research into spiritual knowledge, recognizing that spiritual knowledge is permanent whereas material knowledge ends with the death of the body.

These eighteen items combine to form a gradual process by which real knowledge can be developed. Except for these, all other methods are considered to be in the category of nescience. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a great acarya, maintained that all forms of material knowledge are merely external features of the illusory energy and that by culturing them one becomes no better than an ass.

. . . the Bhagavad-gita gives instructions as to the development of real knowledge. This mantra states that the instructions of vidya (knowledge) must be acquired from a dhira. A dhira is one who is not disturbed by material illusion. No one can be undisturbed unless he is perfectly spiritually realized, at which time one neither hankers nor laments for anything. A dhira realizes that the material body and mind he has acquired by chance through material association are but foreign elements; therefore he simply makes the best use of a bad bargain.

. . . One can become a dhira only by submissively hearing from a bona fide spiritual master. Arjuna, for example, became a dhira by submissively hearing from Lord Krnsa, the Personality of Godhead Himself. Thus the perfect disciple must be like Arjuna, and the spiritual master must be as good as the Lord Himself. This is the process of learning vidya (knowledge) from the dhira (the undisturbed).

An adhira (one who has not undergone the training of a dhira) cannot be an instructive leader. Modern politicians who pose themselves as dhiras are actually adhiras, and one cannot expect perfect knowledge from them. They are simply busy seeing to their own remuneration in dollars and cents. How, then, can they lead the mass of people to the right path of self-realization? Thus one must hear submissively from a dhira in order to attain actual education.

[sopatel]

How nicely bhaktajan has summarised all for us.

 

Arjuna for us is the symbolic represntation of the atman. Standing in the midst of a battlefield ( where there is the pull and tug of the spirtual aspect with the material aspect), Arjuna is every person represented as the following:

 

Our body is a chariot, senses are horses, mind the rein, intellect the charioteer, and soul that rides the chariot. If we make Lord Krishna our charioteer, we have no reason to control our intellect, Krishna will direct the horses(senses) with the reins(mind) in the right direction. So Arjuna teaches us a lesson in renunciation and bhakti.

Why is Arjuna important?

During the coronation of Lord Krishna on earth, Indra took a promise from Krishna to take care of Arjuna.

 

But above that, he trusted Krishna wholeheartedly and loved him

 

Jai Shri Krishna

[indulekhadasi]

Because Arjuna's devotion was pure bhakti, it was not adulterated!

 

Apart from that they were the same age, had the same interests etc. which usually bind friends together.