Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter2

[Guest guest]

14. maathraasprSaaH thu kountheya SeethOshna sukha duhkhadhaaH

aagamaapaaynO anithyaaH thaan thithikshasva bhaaratha

 

The feelings of hot, cold , joy and sorrow are due to the contact of the senses with the sense objects. They will fleeting and temporary. Learn to bear them , Arjuna..

 

The word maathra has a meaning of element.. The gross elements are the cause or conveyors of the sensations through the contacts of the sense organs with them, as the whole world of sense objects, which includes your kith and kin, is made up of the five elements. So the sukha duhkha as well as the physical sensations like heat and cold are only through the contact of sense organs with the sense objects. They are not permanent and they change. Heat changes into cold and vice versa. Similarly what gives you happiness today may itself become the cause of sorrow tomorrow. This is what is meant by aagamaapaayinaH anithyaaH, they just come and go and thus transitory. So how to face them? Krishna says just tolerate them and do not get affected by them. It is like waiting for the bus when the bus does not seem to come or going through the hot summer days when there is power cut. No amount of fretting and fuming will solve the problem nor getting upset about it. Just wait patiently till the situation changes. or think about some thing else you can do to improve the situation. What is said for the duhkha also holds good for sukha, in the sense that it would help one to remember that even the sukha does not last long. The words seethoshna and sukha duhkha all the pairs of opposites are referred to.

 

Krishna refers to Arjuna by two epithets , Kountheya and Bharata. Kountheya means the son of Kunthi and also a son of soil. Bhaaratha means the descendent of the clan of Bharatha, both terms indicating his nobility of birth and valiant spirit.

 

15.yam hi na vyaThayanthi ethe purusham purushrshabha

samaduhkhasukham Dheeram so amrthathvaaya kalpathe

 

 

Only that whom these do not affect, and who maintains equanimity on occasions causing sorrow or joy, that wise man alone is worthy of attaining immortality.

 

A wise man who is not affected by the pairs of opposites and remains the same on the occasions which gives joy or sorrow to an average man. This state equanimity is further explained later in the chapter. By calling Arjuna purushrshabha meaning `a bull among men,' Krishna conveys the meaning that being above the ordinary men, Arjuna should not feel as he did.

 

vyaThaa means pain, vyatthaynthi is used in the sense of being affected.

 

purusharshabha- purushaaNaam rshabhah iva- like a bull among men.

 

Dheeram- Dhee means wisdom and Dheera denotes a wise man.

 

amrthathva- immortality meaning mukthi.