Bhagavad Gita - Daily One Verse Brief Explanation - II 2:6 II

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|| Shree Hari ||

Ram Ram

 

II 2:6 II

 

na chaitadvidmah kataran no gariyo

yad vaa jayema yadi vaa no jayeyuh

yaan eva hatvaa na jijivisaamas

te 'vasthitaah pramukhe dhaartaraastraah (Gita 2:6)

 

" We don't even know which is meritorious for us, to fight or not to

fight, nor do we know, whether we shall win or they will conquer us.

These sons of Dhrtarastra, by killing whom we do not even wish to

live, are the ones arrayed against us. "

 

From Gita Prabodhani in Hindi pg. 19 by Swami Ramsukhdasji

 

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Chapter 2, Verse 6 is as follows;

 

Na = not

Cha = and

Etat = this

VidmaH = we know

Katarat = which

NaH = for us

GariyaH = better

Yat = that

Vaa = or

Jayem = we should conquer

Yadi = If

Vaa = or

NaH = us

JayeyuH = they should conquer

Yaan = whom

Eva = even

Hatvaa = having slain

Na = not

Jijee-ViShaamaH = we wish to live

Te = those

AvasthitaaH = are standing

Pramukhe = in face

Dhaartra-RaaShtraaH = sons of Dhritarashtra

 

English translation:-

 

Whether we should conquer them, or they should conquer us – I do not

know which would be better! These very sons of Dhritarashtra stand

before us, after slaying them we do not wish to live.

 

So far Arjuna, the Pacifist, has been advocating that waging a

battle with his kith and kin as well as with Grandsire

Bheeshmaachaarya and venerable Guru Dronaachaarya is a matter of

shame and a subject of ridicule for the generations to come.

 

In this verse for the first time, he is expressing his doubt about

his self proclaimed analysis and judgement. He has no doubts about

his capabilities but he expresses uncertainty about the favourable

outcome of the royal battle.

 

In his mental hysteria with complete disregard to superiority of

intellect, Arjuna seems to realise a clear division into two

mutually exclusive and contradictory states between his thought

processes and probable course of action to follow as dictated by his

mental agitations.

 

Arjuna is unable to discern which is better of the two options

namely either to vanquish his enemies or allow them to conquer him

by an ignoble retreat.

 

Lord Krishna considers this to be an ominous sign. Arjuna is slowly

emerging from his shell of mental stupor.

 

In the verse 42 of chapter 3, Lord Krishna has nicely established

the hierarchy of levels of human consciousness. The physical raw

senses are indeed great but greater than them is the mind. However,

greater than the mind is the intelligence, but greater than the

intelligence is the Pure Consciousness i.e. Aatman, the subset of

the superset termed as Brahman.

 

Human consciousness must be raised gradually. The higher we rise,

the freer we are. If we perform under the sway of raw physical

senses, we are at the lowest rung of the ladder i.e. in our meanest

and grossest form. We become more evolved, when we perform under the

magical spell of our mind guided by our emotions for well-beings of

everyone. When we perform under the control of our intellect, we are

certainly at still higher pedestal. However, when we perform with

the perfect harmony of our physical senses, the mind and the

intellect under the constant supervision and indirect guidance of

the Pure Consciousness, we attain the highest state of freedom.

 

In the verse 28 of chapter 5, Lord Krishna has beautifully

defined, " The sage who has attained complete control over his

physical senses as well as his mind and intellect, who has sole

intention of Self realisation, who has cast away all his good or bad

desires, real or imaginary fears and all his simmering angers; he is

free for ever. "

 

Arjuna somewhat realises that his greatest shortcoming is not only

his ignorance of the entire facets, but his false ego that he knows

everything when actually he does not. Having a disease is bad, but

not knowing that one has a disease is certainly fatal.

 

Arjuna first expresses doubts about which course of action he should

take. After noticing that there is no forthcoming favourable

response to his pleas from Lord Krishna, Arjuna goes back to his

shell by proclaiming that he does not wish to live after slaying the

sons of Dhritarashtra.

 

Arjuna's attitude is a typical `fait accompli' style attitude

displayed by majority of ignorant masses in India. As if a `done

deal' i.e. an already accomplished fact; an action which is

completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or

reverse it.

 

It is the divine role of Lord Krishna to reverse that `fait

accompli' course of action favoured by Arjuna. Lord Krishna

accomplishes that magnificent task with ease by his impeccable

logic, precision and total mastery of the knowledge of the Self in

his divine celestial song i.e. in Shreemad Bhagawad Geeta.

 

Thanks & Best Regards,

Shrikant Joshi.

 

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FROM SADHAK SANJIVANI

 

II 2:6 II

 

The holy words of God had a singular effect and exerted a deep and

far reaching influence, on Arjuna, as a result of which, he starts

doubting the correctness of his decision, not to wage war. In such a

state of mind, Arjuna says.

 

Comment: —

 

'Na caitadvidmah kataranno gariyah' — I cannot decide whether I

should wage war or not, because you consider it better to wage war

but I do not do so, as it is a sin to kill noble elders and

preceptors.

 

'Yadva jayema yadi va no jayeyuh' — If I carry out your order and

wage war, we do not know, whether we shall win or lose.

Here, it does not mean that Arjuna has no confidence in his own

power, but he is uncertain about the future, because no one knows,

what may happen in future.

 

'Yaneva hatva na jijivisamah' — Not to speak of pleasures and

kingdom, we do not even wish to live by killing our kinsmen because

by killing them we shall be bereaved of them and thus shall suffer

pangs of bereavement.

 

'Te'vasthitah pramukhe dhartarastrah' — Dhrtarastra's sons, are our

kinsmen and they are arrayed against us. So, how can we kill them?

We are damned, if we wish to live, by killing them.

 

 

From " The Bhagavad Gita - Sadhak Sanjivani " by Swami Ramsukhdasji pg

78-79 in English.

 

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Shree Hari

Ram Ram

Thank you Shri Shrikantji Joshi for taking the initiative to support

this divine work and to Mrs. K Asani for requesting shloka

explanation on a daily basis.

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