Introduction to Srimad Bhagavad Geeta by Swami Chidbhavananda Part 3

Life beset with Problems: The Dilemma of Arjuna

Until he made his appearance on the battle-field Arjuna was actually panting for a deadly encounter with the wicked. He was erstwhile a stranger to doubts and despair. Just as an arrow darts through a cobweb, he had easily waded through several meshes in life. The calibre he was made of knew no problem that could not be solved. Even the combat that he was once obliged to have with Mahadeva, the Great God was no strain to him. Vijaya or born-conqueror as he was, he was wont to take all issues easy. He had not for a moment stopped to ponder over the consequences of the impending dreadful war. His conviction was that the man who dared to oppose him opposed righteousness itself.

Impatiently he asked Sri Krishna to drive his car in between the two arrayed armies so that he might have a glance at those who were on the side of the sinful war-mongers. The unswerving Charioteer took this opportunity to put to test the valour as well as the power of understanding of this accredited “bull among men.’ He drove the chariot just in front of Bhishma the grandsire and Drona the revered preceptor. They were both, till then, persons worthy of veneration to Arjuna. Was it possible to switch on to a counter attitude at a moment’s notice? Arjuna was between the horns of a dilemma. He became perplexed. To fight or to flee was the question which he could not decide. Life always bristles with problems of varying magnitude. They areas incessant as waves on the sea. Individuals solve them, each according to his discernment and ability. This process of surmounting problems constitutes progress in life. But sooner or later a major crisis crops up, proving itself insurmountable. Valour and worldly wisdom are of no avail to meet it. Self-knowledge inspired by Divine Grace alone can equip a person to overcome the crisis. Arjuna, magnificently equipped as he was for the battle of life, now found himself unequal to the challenge of the situation. He was therefore now obliged to seek that enlightenment which would help him probe into the mystery of life and tide over the difficulty.

Allegory of the Mahabharata

The Mahabharata warfare allows itself to be viewed allegorically. Laws of nature are eternal and uniform. What happens once is bound to repeat itself under similar circumstances. The Law of Incarnation of God is equally uniform. It is not selective and solitary as some people would have it. It happens whenever and wherever a necessity arises. The entire universe, sentient and insentient, has come out of God. An Incarnation is a special manifestation of His. He bodies Himself forth as a human being in this mundane world in order to clarify the highest of the spritual and moral laws governing life. Sri Krishna’s earthly career had a grandeur of its own. Through the drama of human life, He demonstrated the divine principles which are irrevocably linked with progress in life.’ On the battle-field of Kurukshetra human endeavours reap their corresponding results. That historic spot is itself a symbol of the human frame. Body-centred life is itself a kind of warfare.

Parallel to the Pandavas and Kauravas at Kurukshetra there are the good and the bad tendencies lodged in the human structure. The teaming bad tendencies do very often out-number the good ones. Strangely enough, these good and bad tendencies are like cousins because of their common origin. Man is constitutionally a combination of good and bad inclinations. Evil habits are born of blind ignorance, whereas good inclinations originate in the whiteness of purity. Opposed to each other as they are, these two sets of tendencies try to dominate the bodily domain. The evil ones among them are ever adepts at mobilizing in their favour all possible resources of nature.

God is supremely above virtue and vice. There is no need for Him to entangle Himself in action of any kind, good or bad. He is merely the changeless Witness. In His Presence activities take place in nature. Though Himself actionless, His Grace is ever in favour of the good. Sri Krishna’s agreeing to be an unarmed charioteer to the Pandavas signifies this great truth. Further, God is ever the Great Charioteer residing in the hearts of all. His presence as Conscience within the embodied beings is perceptible to the virtuous, but to the wicked His inner presence remains clouded.

The one great wielder of all actions in the Mahabharata warfare was Sri Krishna. The activities of all other heroes and participants put together were hardly a fraction of Sri Krishna’s work. In the midst of intense activity, He remained supremely serene and unaffected. The great catastrophe left no more impress in His mind than a reflection does in a mirror. Nothing in the universe could distract Him from His wonted poise. For this reason He is called Achyuta by the sages. The gist of His teaching is: ‘‘Fight the battle of life. Let the virtue in you vanquish the vice. Any useful work that falls to your lot gives you enough of opportunity for self-discipline, emulation and emancipation. The Divinity within is your ever available guide. Attuning yourself to It, do your job as splendidly as you can. Every hero is obliged to wage the Mahabharata war in and through his own life.”

Source: Srimad Bhagavad Geeta-Commentary by Swami Chidbhavananda