Thiruvaheendhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam series: Posting 242/Desika Prabhandham :GeethArTa Sangraham : Part 3

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of Lord PaarthasArathy :

 

Today we will study the second Paasuram of Swamy Desikan's

GeethArTa Sangraham dealing with the first adhyAyam of

SrImath Geetha .

 

327. The Essence of the First chapter

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uhavai adaintha uRavudayAr poraluRRa annAL

tahavudan anbu karai puraLa dharumatthu aLavil

miha uLam anji vizhunthu adi sErntha VisayanukkOr

nahayudan uNmai uraikka amainthanan NaaraNanE---(2)

 

(meaning): Arjuna saw the dear relatives like BheeshmA ,AchAryAs

like DhrOnA assembled opposite him to engage in battle with him .

ArjunA's love and dayA for them overflowed although they had

no fitness for that display of affection . As a result , Arjuna concluded

that the righteous war with them befitting his status as a Kshathriyan

was adharmam (unrighteous). He was overcome with weakness .

He threw down his bow and arrows and sat down with dejection

at the foot of his chariot . Next , Arjuna appealed to Lord ,

his charioteer to show him the right way. With smile on His face ,

Lord ParthasArathy commenced His upadEsam for ArjunA

on the Svaroopams of JeevAthma , ParamAthmA , the means to

reach ParamAthmA and related esoteric meanings of VedAnthA .

Lord's upadEsam was like nectar for Arjuna and easy to understand .

 

Swamy AlavanthAr's summary of the First chapter takes this form:

 

asTAna snEha KaaruNya dharmAdharmadhiyA-aakulam

PaarTam prapannam uddhisya SaasthrAvatharaNam krutham (5th slOkam ) .

 

Arjuna arrived at the battle field with the Lord as his charioteer.

He directed the Lord to position the chariot in the middle of

the armies assembled to battle each other so that he can see

all those assembled to fight him and his side . Lord obliged

and positioned the chariot in such a place so that Arjuna can

have a good look.

 

As Arjuna looked on and saw his relatives , AchAryAs and other

kinsmen eager to engage in the battle with him , his limbs got

weakened , his mouth became dry and he began to tremble.

His mind began to reel over the thought of killing his kinsmen,

AchAryAs and others dear to him in the ensuing battle . He told

the Lord , His Charioteer , that such a battle is not worth fighting .

He threw down his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot

as though he was ready to fast to death .

 

Arjuna was overwhelmed by compassion for those that did not

merit it ( asTAna KaaruNayam). He got confused about what is

dharmam and what is adharmam and was taken over by sorrow

( dharmAdharama dhiyA aakulam). His mind swirled in the high wind

of grief over the prospect of killing his AchAryAs , former friends

and kinsmen . Arjuna declared now that he will not fight them

( na yOthsyAmi) as a result of the unbearble sorrow over

the expected loss of those dear to him ( " HanishyamANAn

bhavadheeyAn vilOkya bhandhu snEhEna paramayA cha krupayA

dharmAdharma bhayEna cha athimAthrasvinna sarvagAtra: sarvaTA

aham na yOthsyAmi ithi ukthvA --sasaram chApam visrujya

raTOpasTE upAvisath " in AchArya RaamAnujA's commentary ) .

 

Additional References:

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My earlier postings on Swamy AlavanthAr's GeethArta

Sangaraham are archived in Bhakthi archives( dated Nov 7, 11

and 23, 1995):

 

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/archives

 

The text of GeethArtha Sangraham is available at :

 

http://ramanuja.org/desika/geetha15.txt

 

The recitation of GeethArtha Sangraha by VaikuntavAsi

SevilimEdu Swamy lasting 7 minutes is available at :

 

http://www.ahobilamutt.org/dpaudio.html

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

 

NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradachAri Sadagopan

 

SrimathE SrI Lakshminrusimha Dhivya PaadhukA Sevaka

SrIvaNN SaThakOpa SrI NaarAyaNa YathIndhra MahA DesikAya Nama: