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Note: forwarded message attached. May god bless you, Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.

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Was Krishna partial to Pandavas?Was the war His doin which could have been avoided?Was Balarama right in accusing Krishna?Finally, can we judge Balarama's view and Krishna"s on the same scale?Can we equate Balarama leaving for theerthayatra and of Arjuna wishing to leave the battlefield?Let the members ponder about these questions and give their views remembering that Krishna was a poornaavathara and His actions cannot be understood from wordly point if view . SriRama says ti Vali when He questioned Rama's action of killing him from behind the trees, that there are some divine beings moving about in the garb of humans whose actions you cannot judge by worldly standards. Balarama was right in his own way because both Bhima and Duryodhana were his students.The character of Balarama as depicted by Vyasa is simple without conflicts. But though Balrama expressed his sorrow at the ensuing battle he would not have sat

judgement on Krishna's actions as he himself, inspite of being the incarnation of Sesha, could not understand. He followed his conscience as per his understanding of dharma but Krishna is theuniversal conscience.He cannot be called partial to Pandavas as He himself says in the Gita. 'samoham sarvabhutheshu na me dveshyosthi na priyah.' He acted as the aAlmighty god thhat He was in truth. and hence the karmaphaladhaatha. The reason He joined the Pandavas was that God will always be on the side of dharma.He chose Dhananjayaas His close associate because He meant to use Arjuna as His instrument in dushtanigraha and sishataparipalana as He said 'nimitthamaathram bhava savyasachin'.Arjuna did not want to goaway from the battle fild for the samereason as Balarama did and hence he needed the Gita. I am giving below some excerpts from my webpage on Gita and

that titled Questions and answers. http://www.geocities.com/sarojram18 Bhagavatgita tells you to do your duty but not advocates violence .Arjuna was a kshatriya and his duty is to protect dharma and destroy adharma, which necessitates fighting with the kouravas including Bhishma and Drona. To instigate him to discharge his duty is not advocating violence. It is similar to Judge sending the criminal to gallows or a soldier killing to defend his country or even a hangman

doing his duty. On no account an individual is justified in taking law in his own hands and kill others and it is even more sinful to inflict violence out of hatred or bigotry. To do one's duty without attachment is a must for self evolution and on that score Gita is invaluable for spiritual progress. Even in worldly affairs it is beneficial because only a detached work will fetch success and not anxiety-ridden work Our Vedas Ithihaasaas and Puranas are to be treated neither as history nor as fiction. The reason is, the sages like Valmiki and Vyasa composed these lyrics as guidebooks of mankind. Actually the vedas are called Prabhu samhitha as they enjoin the 'do's and 'don'ts like a master, Prabhu, the command of whom has to be obeyed. The Ithihasas and Puranas are called Suhrtsamhitha as they, like a friend, tell us what is good and what is not in a mild manner as a well wisher in the form of stories. The Kavyas or lyrics are known as Kanthasamhitha because like a kantha or wife they give the ethics and lessons for life in a pleasing manner. As Ganapatyraman has rightly pointed outin his recent post on Ramayana that Ramayana is eternal anfd goes on forever so is Mahabharatha. The battle of Mahabharata signifies the fight between the evil and the good

impulses in man that ever goes on within. The good impulses are fewer in number like the Pandava army while the bad impulses are comparatively greater in number. But with divine grace good always triumphs over the wicked. When the mind is turned towards God ,man hears the sound of the Panchajanya , which becomes divine music that rouses the satvik, noble, quelling the rajasic dynamic and tamasic lower impulses.. The power of music in restraining the animal passions and evoking finer sentiments in the listener is due to the manifestation of divinity through music. The inner self rises in its pristine purity above the sense experience to merge with the divine. But to reach that state one has to become aware of the divinity within and invoke the Lord , the true self of

all beings. Arjuna requested Lord Krishna to become his charioteer and the Lord consented. Similarly one has to ask for His help to be saved from disaster. When He becomes our sarathy as He did for Arjuna , with Parthasarathy on our side the victory is ours. The Upanishads are the cows whose milk is the Bhagavatgita ,

milked by Lord Krishna for the benefit of sudheehiThe purpose of the Lord in accepting the role of the charioteer to Arjuna was not merely to secure him victory in the battle. He did so mainly for the benefit of mankind , in order to give the Gospel of wisdom , ‘ The Song of the Supreme Self.’, Bhagavatgita. Arjuna was only a pretext to bring forth the gift of God to humanity. This is beautifully expressed in the sloka ‘sarvopanishado gavo dhogdha gopala nandhanah ; partho tvatsah sudhirbhoktha dhugdham gitamruta mahat ,all the Upanishads became the cows the one who milked them being the son of a cowherd, the calf was Partha and the milk, gitamruta and the consumers of the milk were sudheeh the people with right thinking. who seek the wisdom of the scriptures .Arjuna was the calf to induce the cow to give the milk. The act of milking comes naturally to a cowherd. But this gopala has put on the costume of a cowherd to delude

others. Vedanta Desika calls him mithyaagopah , a feigned cowherd. Actually the term gopalanandana etymologically could be construed to mean the Lord , the word ‘go’ in Sanskrit has several meanings such as veda earth etc. The gopala is the one who protects the world and the Vedas. He is of the nature of bliss and bestows bliss on those who revel in Him. So He is called Gopala nandana. What is the necessity for a separate treatise ,namely ,Bhagavatgita when the same knowledge can be had from the Upanishads directly? To understand the Upanishads one has to undergo a rigorous discipline involved in learning through a guru, away from the world and that is why this portion of the vedas are called aaranyakaa, of the forest. So how can the ordinary man acquire the wisdom to enable him to become free from bondage of karma? For this purpose Krishna put on the mantle of Jagatguru out of compassion and put forth Gita for all to follow. . ` Bhagavatgita is the guide book of man in the path of evolution. The goal of human life is to realize his true self. Whichever route a man takes , materially or spiritually the destination is the same. The desire

for evolution is instinctive in all creatures ,as proved by the Darwin’s theory. Even a man who aspires for success in his worldly pursuits will be helped by the study of the Gita as the principles underlined therein are applicable in everyday life. In fact the management techniques and the psychological concepts that have gathered worldwide popularity now , are nothing but the principles underlined in the Gita sans the devotional and spiritual aspects of it. A musician can evolve into a maestro , a student can develop into a scholar , an artist can blossom into a master , by assimilating the truths declared by Lord Krishna in the Gita. In order to expound the discourse of the Gita Lord Krishna deliberately

created a confusion in the mind of Arjuna that made him say “ I will not fight.†The fact that he was going to fight his own kith and kin was already known to him and there is no reason as to why he should develop a guilty conscience for doing so. It was the divine will that made him act so. Arjuna’s state of mind can be compared to that of anyone who stands at the brink of the greatest moment of his life. It may be the first lecture of a speaker or the first important examination of a student or the first interview or even

the eve of one’s marriage ! It is natural that one feels apprehensive at such a moment, not necessarily because of fear but due to anxiety over the outcome of his venture. Success will crown only the man who is calm and relaxed , with no anxiety about the result. This can be achieved only through the wisdom of the Gita. When Arjuna asked Krishna to move his chariot between the array of the two armies Krishna deliberately drove to the place where Bhishma and Drona were standing and not where Duryodhana was with his brothers, as Arjuna expected. If it were so, Arjuna would have had no hesitation to fight. But facing his elders he realized that to win the battle he had to fight against his revered guru and beloved grandfather. This upset him. Not being able to face this unavoidable situation he resorted to escapism saying

that he had no heart to kill his own kith and kin. He reeled out arguments seemingly valid to support his decision all of which Krishna totally dismisses later as being irrelevent. . Arjuna exhausted himself and seemed to be at crossroads and said “ I am utterly confused please tell me what is good for me.†He uses the word shreyas. So long he had been talking about what was preyas to him, what he wanted to do. .Now he was asking what he should do. Then and then only the Lord started talking .In our life too we go on telling the lord what to do and never ask Him what we should do. When we do ask He starts telling us what to do .Similarly when Arjuna said sishyastheham shaadhimaam thwaam prapannam, I am your desciple I surrender to you, only then Krishna starts giving him the advice because advice given unasked will not be taken well! Arjuna’s arguments were blown into shreds by Krishna who says kuthasthwaam kashmalamidham vishame samupasthitham 'wherefrom did you get this nonsensical ideas at the most inopportune moment?' Krishna dismisses all the seemingly lofty arguments of Arjuna as being unaryajushtam ignoble, aswargyam that which shuts the gates of heaven for you , akeerthikaram disgraceful for a hero like you He calls it klaibyam unmanliness. Then comes the real reason for Arjuna’s mental conflict. He says “How can I fight Bhishma and Drona on the battle

field as they are worthy of my reverence? Finally he surrenders to the Lord by saying sishyastheham. Now starts the real discourse of Bhagavatgita. Saroja

Ramanujam il. May god bless you, Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.

 

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