83: Arjuna's Dilemma

Creative Expression: Graphic Novel / Comic Book Strip

Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad-gita is entitled Arjuna Vishaad Yoga, which translates as "The Yoga of Despair as Displayed by Arjuna." This means that being in despair is actually a way to unite (yoga) with God. We need to get to a place of rock bottom despair, sometimes, in order to turn to God for guidance and shelter. 

(Pssst - I had a lot of fun with this one.) 

Chapter 1.31, 45-46. 

72: Spiritual Athlete

CHAPTER 17, TEXT 10: Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things is dear to those in the mode of darkness.

Okay, hold up. 

Waaaaait a second. 

So here we have a 5,000 year old scripture, an epic conversation between God and His warrior friend Arjuna and they're standing between armies of oceanic proportions. Krishna has described the nature of the soul, death, and has even revealed his terrifying universal form of creation and all-devouring time. Yes, yes, this all seems fitting to be featured in an ancient religious scripture. 

And now Krishna is talking about... old food? 

Yes. 

"Food that is prepared more than three hours before being eaten" is in the mode of darkness and should not be eaten - this information is so crucial that Krishna is sharing this knowledge with Arjuna on that battlefield, the poised armies facing each other like scorpions, the fate of the world at stake. 

The Bhagavad-Gita translates as "The Song of God" - this means that the verses that describe Krishna's universal form and verses that talk about old food are just as crucial for God realization as any other verse in this epic. So what is going on here? 

The Gita is a manual for living a fulfilled, purposeful life of fearlessness, joy, and love. Krishna is not  suggesting that Arjuna just be a nice, pious person who goes to church on Sunday, or to ruminate about lofty theological ideas in university classrooms. Krishna declares to his friend that he should, "in all circumstances, be a yogī" (6.46). Being a yogi is about living and breathing self-realization. 

A yogi is a spiritual athlete.

Professional athletes have a coach, a diet, a regimen, a lifestyle, a way of thinking about goals. Tom Brady, a professional football player widely considered to be the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT), trains hard and is careful about what he eats even when it's not football season. And even though he's the GOAT, he still has a coach, he still takes directions, he still practices and practices. 

This is the Gita - an invigorating training regimen to bring us in alignment with our soul and love of God. 

Who's our coach? Krishna - God Himself. And when God says, hey, old food is in the mode of darkness and should not be eaten, well, maybe we should listen. And follow. 

But here's the deal - this advice is tough. After all, what about frozen food and frozen meals? Or leftovers from Thanksgiving? Or just leftovers from lunch? What about all those dishes they have at restaurants and fast food chains that have obviously been prepared days, maybe even weeks beforehand? 

This is where the Gita shows up in our lives, where we make a choice. Do we take the advice of the coach? Do we follow, and do we trust the process? 

This particular verse, Text 10, is surrounded by other verses that talk about lifestyle choices in the various modes of material nature. So Krishna does describe food that one should eat, food in the mode of goodness that elevates our consciousness. Prabhupad elaborates, "The purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind and aid bodily strength. This is its only purpose." These words seem very much to come from a coach who is identifying the benefits of a particular training regimen - longer life, purified mind, bodily strength. Those goals are there to assist in self-realization. And to achieve those goals, one must eat food in the mode of goodness, not mode of darkness (ignorance). 

Prabhupad emphasizes here "This is [food's] only purpose" which I find a bit hard to swallow, pardon the pun. After all, food can be delicious! Sometimes I feel the only purpose of food to taste and experience textures, flavors, and temperatures in my mouth. I'm certainly not thinking about a longer life or purified mind. Food's purpose in those moments seem to be about enjoying. 

There is a crucial distinction here, though. Enjoying food is not the purpose of food - it's a side effect. One can enjoy food no matter what mode of nature - in fact, Krishna even says  in this verse that old, putrid, and untouchable food (or meat) is "dear" to those in the mode of darkness. Just because it's dear to them does not make it right or recommended. 

So Krishna - our coach - gives us the information and lets us choose. 

These simple - but hard - choices determines the course of our entire spiritual life. 

That's why Krishna is talking about old food on the midst of a battlefield, poised between armies. Becoming the GOAT is about the big things - understanding the soul and death and time - and it's also about little things - so you gonna eat Thanksgiving leftovers or what? 

Full purport here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/10/

8: Taking Solace in the Truth of the Soul

CHAPTER 2, TEXT 19: Neither he who thinks the living entity the slayer nor he who thinks it slain is in knowledge, for the self slays not nor is slain.

Warrior cultures have existed throughout all of human history to protect the weak and take a stand for honor and justice. By definition, warriors kill. One cannot be a warrior without being willing to kill another human being.

The conclusion must be drawn that "violence also has its utility" (2.21, Purport): violence is useful, violence is even necessary. In fact, "violence and war are inevitable factors in human society for keeping law and order" (2.27, Purport). Chris Hedges of The New York Times writes in the article "What Every Person Should Know About War" that "Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history" (2003). Although world peace is a laudable goal, the facts show that we are more often at war than at peace, and violence is inevitable.

For Arjuna, who is a warrior, his role in this war is to kill others in his duty to keep law and order. Nevertheless, because of his soft heart, he is now conflicted, and even though he's given authority by the law to kill, he sees no utility or justice in doing so.

Krishna thus gives Arjuna knowledge that on a spiritual level, there IS no violence: the soul is not slain - what is killed is the body only (82). Following verses describe the nature of the soul, how it cannot be cut to pieces by any weapon, burned by fire, moistened by water, withered by the wind (2.23). Arjuna can take solace in the fact that the soul is never killed or injured in any way. The soul exists eternally and is untouched by the violence of this world. Krishna emphasizes that on a spiritual level, no one is slain. No one slays.

Prabhupad emphasizes, though that "This, however, does not encourage killing of the body. The Vedic injunction is ma himsyat sarva bhutani: never commit violence to anyone" (82). Indeed, if killing of the body were encouraged - hey, the soul is eternal I can kill whatever body I want! - then law and order would certainly be disrupted. Ahimsa - nonviolence - is a principle that honors the sacred soul within every being. 

Thus Prabhupad is emphasizing that violence is not done whimsically or for one's own personal interests. He writes that "Killing the body of anyone without authority is abominable and is punishable by the law of the state as well as by the law of the Lord (82). We must take into consideration that Arjuna is a warrior - he is given authority to kill. We cannot take Krishna's instructions literally into our own lives - fight! kill! - because we are not warriors. We have no authority to kill.

Of course, if you actually are a warrior, do your thing.

But most of us are not literally warriors. Our duty is to follow the sacred principle of ahimsa and never commit violence to anyone. We need to understand the essence of Krishna's instructions, which is although we may encounter so much violence and death and suffering in this world, the soul is eternal. The soul is not slain. The soul does not experience violence, such as being cut to pieces.

The essence of Krishna's instructions is that the next time we encounter death in this world, we can remember that the soul does not die. Our soul does not die. The essence is that we can experience great solace and freedom from the fear of death. The truth sets us free.

2: Victory is Ascertained

CHAPTER 1, TEXT 10: Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by Grandfather Bhīṣma, whereas the strength of the Pāṇḍavas, carefully protected by Bhīma, is limited.

Duryodhana, the king of the Kurus, is speaking to his commander in chief, outlining all the reasons that they shall be victorious in this great battle. To give some context, the Kurus are in the wrong in this war and the character of the king is rotted through - he is envious and fearful (38) - and his rule is unjust.

King Duryodhana, though, is confident in the strength of his armies and the protection of his general, Grandfather Bhisma. He contrasts the experienced and powerful leadership of Bhisma, whose protection is "perfect", with the inexperienced leadership of Bhima - the general of the opposing side - whose protection is merely "careful" and "limited." In his purport, Prabhupad not only reiterates this imbalance of experience and power, he actually agrees with Duryodhana: "Bhima is like a fig in the presence of Bhisma" (38) and that Bhisma is the "far superior general" (39).

Just because the Kurus are unfit to rule and are fighting for an unjust cause does not mean that they are weak or inexperienced. Indeed, there are many great war heroes on the side of the Kurus who are laying their lives on the line and Grandfather Bhisma is legendary for his military leadership. Prabhhupad concludes his purport by saying that, "[Duryodhana's] conclusion that he would come out of the battle victorious was well ascertained" (39).

Prabhupad is nodding to Duryodhana's logic!

But logic and material measures of strength and experience are not the ultimate determiner of destiny. I think we can all agree that even in our own experience we know that material measures of strength or intelligence do not guarantee victory.

In 2007, the New England Patriots football team were undefeated in the regular season - they won all 16 games. They went to the ultimate American showdown - The Superbowl. 

They lost. The New York Giants won - and their record was mediocre in comparison to the Patriots's perfection.

We could offer countless examples from history when armies, teams, athletes, film directors, and more were confident in their own capabilities, and the conclusion that they would come out victorious was well-ascertained. But they lost. We could offer countless examples from our own lives when we were confident in our capabilities and our likelihood for victory. But we lost.

In the verses that follow this particular verse, Verse 10, the Gita describes the auspicious advantages of the Pandavas. Symbols and signs all point towards the victory of the righteous side, even though their armies are smaller and their general less experienced.

Why?

Krishna is on their side.

The conch shell that Grandfather Bhisma blows makes the sound "like the roar of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy" (1.12) and when more conch shells join in on the side of the Kurus, the sound is "tumultuous" (1.13). But when Krishna and Arjuna "sound their transcendental conchshells" (1.14) the vibration is "uproarious" and "shatter[s] the hearts of the sons of Dhrtarastra [the Kurus]" (1.9). The contrast of the sounds of the conch shells of the Kurus versus the Pandavas show us who has already won the war. The conch shell on the side of the Kurus roars like a lion, but it's described that it only gives Duryodhana joy, whereas the conch shell on the side of the Pandavas is transcendental and uproarious. The sound transcends material calculations of the strength of armies and the experience of generals and thus shatters the hearts of the Kurus.

Ultimately, we know that the Pandavas win this war. But if we look carefully at the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita, we see that in fact, the Pandavas have won this war even before a single arrow has flown across the sky. Victory is not external. Victory is being in alignment with Krishna.

Material victories and material losses are insignificant in the light of the more profound victory of being righteous and having Krishna on my side. Even if I lose everyone and everything, if I align myself with Krishna, there is no loss. Victory is ascertained.

1: Spirit of Inquiry

CHAPTER 1, TEXT 1: Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: O Sañjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukṣetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?

The Bhagavad-gita is a timeless scripture that has guided millions of people for thousands of years to learn the truth of the soul and love, and the purpose of life. And yet this wondrous scripture transpires within a few hours on the cusp of a great battle. Two armies are facing off. There will be untold death upon the battlefield today, blood will soak the ground and run in rivers.

What's more, this is a fratricidal war, which means that brothers will kill brothers, fathers will kill sons, uncles will kill nephews.

In fact, the very first verse of the Bhagavad-gita begins with the inquiry of King Dhrtarastra inquiring about the activities of his own noble nephews, whom he fears and wants to be defeated and killed.

How is this supposed to be the setting for a scripture that teaches the truth of the soul and love, and the purpose of life? 

How? 

My husband, Ghanashyam, shared yesterday in his scripture class that being in a spirit of inquiry does not mean to always ask questions. Indeed, Dhrtarastra is asking questions here but he is doing so out of fear and to protect his own interests. Someone who asks a lot of questions could actually not be in a spirit of inquiry - they could just be doing some mental gymnastics or engaging in an ego battle. But someone who is quietly listening in the back of the room who never asks a question could actually be in the spirit of inquiry. Radhanath Swami then shared with Ghanashyam that a true spirit of inquiry is the sincere desire to know the truth. To remain open, curious, and present, even without a direct question. 

In this sense, Prabhupad writes that "One should read Bhagavad-gita very scrutinizingly with the help of a person who is a devotee of Sri Krsna and try to understand it without personally motivated interpretations" (33). Prabhupad emphasizes that one must scrutinize with help. Studying this scripture is not a solitary practice - we need guidance and direction. What's more, the qualification of the guide must be that s/he is a "devotee of Sri Krsna." Not a scholar, a devotee. This must mean that someone is devoted to Krsna, and devotion entails service, even love. 

If I want to know the truth and I approach a devotee of Sri Krsna for guidance, that seems like a pretty solid foundation for being in a true spirit of inquiry. But Prabhupad emphasizes that one must try to understand the Gita without any "personally motivated interpretations." What does that mean? Personally motivated interpretations? 

I once knew a man who committed with 100% conviction that he would read the Bhagavad-gita As It Is from cover to cover within a few months. 

He never got past the second chapter. He later shared that his mind was too full of debilitating doubts and questions and even repulsion and disgust. 

Why? 

Could this same fate befall me? 

To embark upon the journey of reading the Gita is no ordinary feat - its not like reading the latest bestseller. The Gita is alive and cannot be read or understood without blessings. Prabhupad offers clear parameters: 1) scrutiny, 2) help from a devotee, and 3) be without personally motivated interpretations.  

You can see why I'm rather nervous in this endeavor to read and share my realizations on the Gita. I wonder if I'll make it past the second chapter. Although I'm scrutinizing with my intelligence (check) and receiving the help from a devotee - Srila Prabhupad and Ghanashyam and I'm sure many others over the next few months (check), I have to wonder about having a personally motivated interpretation (...check??). I don't want to twist and form the words of the Gita to fit my own personal and political agenda, to justify beliefs and ideas that could be destructive. 

The key words in the title of Prabhupad's version of the Gita are: As It Is. In this sense, Prabhupad does not have any personally motivated interpretation. He's not translating and commentating on the Gita for his own ends - to make disciples, make money, get famous, etc. etc. 

He is simply sharing the Gita, As It Is. 

I want my reflections to be in this spirit of As It Is. Prabhupad emphasizes that if one approaches the Gita in the proper spirit of inquiry, "he surpasses all studies of Vedic wisdom, and all scriptures of the world" (33). What a beautiful vision. Surpassing studies of all Vedic and world scriptures is not about being a great scholar of Sanskrit or history or philosophy. This inquiry must come from a sincere, humble space from within the heart. A sacred space. 

I do not want to twist and manipulate the setting of the opening of the Gita to fit my own personally motivated interpretation. I trust that if the setting of this scripture is a fratricidal war where blood will soon soak the ground and run in rivers, then there is a reason. 

I don't know that reason. 

But I trust that the dear devotee of Sri Krsna, Srila Prabhupad, will guide me in time. 

sincerely,

bhakti