Vivekananda Mailing List 11/11/02

[Guest guest]

In reading the Bhagavad-Gita, many of you in Western countries may have

felt astonished at the second chapter, wherein Shri Krishna calls

Arjuna a hypocrite and a coward because of his refusal to fight, or

offer resistance, on account of his adversaries being his friends and

relatives, making the plea that non-resistance was the highest ideal of

love. This is a great lesson for us all to learn, that in all matters

the two extremes are alike. The extreme positive and the extreme

negative are always similar. When the vibrations of light are too slow,

we do not see them, nor do we see them when they are too rapid. So with

sound; when very low in pitch, we do not hear it; when very high, we do

not hear it either. Of like nature is the difference between resistance

and non-resistance. One man does not resist because he is weak, lazy,

and cannot, not because he will not; the other man knows that he can

strike an irresistible blow if he likes; yet he not only does not

strike, but blesses his enemies. The one who from weakness resists not

commits a sin, and as such cannot receive any benefit from the

non-resistance; while the other would commit a sin by offering

resistance.