CHAPTER 6, TEXT 38: O mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, does not such a man, who is bewildered from the path of transcendence, fall away from both spiritual and material success and perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere?
Arjuna has received instructions about the nature of the soul and the supreme value of pursuing the spiritual path. These instructions are so logical and make so much sense, it's difficult to deny that the ultimate goal of human life is to set one's mind on Krishna and offer one's very self in devotional service.
But Arjuna has a doubt.
This goal is so high - love of God - that it seems unattainable.
So Arjuna is wondering - on behalf of all of us - if I fall from the spiritual path, where will I fall?
What's more, if one is on the spiritual path, then maybe material life is neglected. So not only would someone fail at spiritual life, s/he would fail at material life too. Double whammy! Prabhupad writes: "If the aspiring transcendentalist fails, then he apparently loses both ways; in other words, he can enjoy neither material happiness nor spiritual success." This is a lose-lose situation, and it's a possibility for each and every one of us:
Failure.
No progress, no success, no belonging, just...
You failed.
Prabhupad defines the term "riven cloud": "A cloud in the sky sometimes deviates from a small cloud and joins a big one. But if it cannot join a big one, then it is blown away by the wind and becomes a nonentity in the vast sky." Note that the cloud may start off in a smaller cloud - this represents being in the material world, with relatively small goals and small aspirations. When a cloud breaks off to join a bigger cloud, this represents the soul's desire to achieve something much grander than itself. But when the cloud fails to belong in that spiritual place - the soul is "bewildered on the path of transcendence" - then it wanders and dissolves into nothingness. It belongs neither here nor there - it is "riven."
Arjuna's fears strike a deep chord. Not only do humans want to succeed in an endeavor, they also need to belong. Karyn Hall, Ph.D. writes in her article "Create a Sense of Belonging" in Psychology Today, "A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter." The possibility that one may not belong anywhere and simply dissolve into a "nonentity" is a frightening prospect indeed. We're hardwired to be connected to something bigger than ourselves. But the problem is that we could fail to belong, and we could fail to succeed in life.
In his question, Arjuna is expressing some of our deepest fears: failure and belonging nowhere.
Don't you notice that when a question is good, like, really good, we want to know the answer? Well, now we're set up. We want to know.
So let's lean in and hear what Krishna has to say.
Full Purport by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/38/
Hall, Karyn. “Create a Sense of Belonging.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 24 Mar. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pieces-mind/201403/create-sense-belonging.
Arjuna has received instructions about the nature of the soul and the supreme value of pursuing the spiritual path. These instructions are so logical and make so much sense, it's difficult to deny that the ultimate goal of human life is to set one's mind on Krishna and offer one's very self in devotional service.
But Arjuna has a doubt.
This goal is so high - love of God - that it seems unattainable.
So Arjuna is wondering - on behalf of all of us - if I fall from the spiritual path, where will I fall?
What's more, if one is on the spiritual path, then maybe material life is neglected. So not only would someone fail at spiritual life, s/he would fail at material life too. Double whammy! Prabhupad writes: "If the aspiring transcendentalist fails, then he apparently loses both ways; in other words, he can enjoy neither material happiness nor spiritual success." This is a lose-lose situation, and it's a possibility for each and every one of us:
Failure.
No progress, no success, no belonging, just...
You failed.
Prabhupad defines the term "riven cloud": "A cloud in the sky sometimes deviates from a small cloud and joins a big one. But if it cannot join a big one, then it is blown away by the wind and becomes a nonentity in the vast sky." Note that the cloud may start off in a smaller cloud - this represents being in the material world, with relatively small goals and small aspirations. When a cloud breaks off to join a bigger cloud, this represents the soul's desire to achieve something much grander than itself. But when the cloud fails to belong in that spiritual place - the soul is "bewildered on the path of transcendence" - then it wanders and dissolves into nothingness. It belongs neither here nor there - it is "riven."
Arjuna's fears strike a deep chord. Not only do humans want to succeed in an endeavor, they also need to belong. Karyn Hall, Ph.D. writes in her article "Create a Sense of Belonging" in Psychology Today, "A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter." The possibility that one may not belong anywhere and simply dissolve into a "nonentity" is a frightening prospect indeed. We're hardwired to be connected to something bigger than ourselves. But the problem is that we could fail to belong, and we could fail to succeed in life.
In his question, Arjuna is expressing some of our deepest fears: failure and belonging nowhere.
Don't you notice that when a question is good, like, really good, we want to know the answer? Well, now we're set up. We want to know.
So let's lean in and hear what Krishna has to say.
Full Purport by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/38/
Hall, Karyn. “Create a Sense of Belonging.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 24 Mar. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pieces-mind/201403/create-sense-belonging.
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