Monthly Archives: August 2011

Bhagavad Gita Verse 4-6, Chapter 1

20 Saturday Aug 2011

Posted by in chapter 1 verse 4-6, eva, family, friends, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, mahaarathaha, maheshvaasaa, relationships, sarva, shooraha, veeryavan, yudhi

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atra shoora maheshvaasaa bheemarjunasamaa yudhi |
yuyudhaano viraatashcha drupadashcha mahaarathaha || 4 ||

dhrishtaketushchekitaanah kaashirajascha veeryavan |
purujitkuntibhojashcha shaibyascha narapungvaha || 5 ||

yudhamanyushcha vikraanta uttamaujaashcha veeryavan |
saubhadro draupadeyashcha sarva eva mahaarathaaha || 6 ||

This army has mighty archers such as Yuyudhaana, King Viraata and Drupada who are equal to Bheema and Arjuna in battle. Other powerful warriors include Dhrishtaketu, Chekitaana, the gallant king of Kashi, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, Yuyudhaana, Uttamauja, Abhimanyu and all the sons of Draupadi.

atra: here
shooraha: brave
maheshavaasaa: (mah + ishvaasaa) with giant bows
cha: and
yudhi: in battle
bheemarjunasamaaha: equal to Bheem and Arjuna
yuyudhaanaha: Yuyudhaana
viraataha: King Viraata
mahaarathaha: mighty warriors
drupadaha: Drupad (also)

dhrishtaketu: Dhrishtaketu
chekitaanaha: Chekitaana
purujitaha: Purujit
kuntibhoja: Kuntibhoja
shaibya: Shaibya
kaashiraajaha: King of Kashi

veeryavaan: gallant
yudhmanya: Yudhamanyu
uttamaujaaha: Uttamaujaaha
saubhadraha: son of Subhadra – Abhimanyu
draupadeyaaha: sons of Draupadi
sarva, eva: everyone
maharaathaaha: mighty warriors

Duryodhana continued his attempt to incite Drona to fight aggresively against the opposing army by calling out the mighty warriors on the other side. He chose each name carefully to elicit a reaction from Drona, since each of these warriors had a history with Drona.

Yuyudhaana was Arjuna’s top student, and Duryodhana wanted to point out that although Arjuna’s top student was fighting on his teacher’s side, Drona’s top student Arjuna was fighting against his teacher. Drupada also was someone that Drona disliked, as was pointed out earlier. Dhristaketu’s father had been killed by Krishna, yet he was on the side of the Pandavas. Chekitaana was the only Yadava warrior not taking the side of the Kauravas.

The king of Kashi was an exceptionally gallant warrior, and took the side of the Pandavas. Yudhamanyu and Uttamauja were exceptional warriors from the Paanchaala kingdom. Purujit and Kuntibhoja were Kunti’s maternal brothers who were also related to the Kauravas, but chose the side of the Pandavas. Shaibya was Yudhishtira’s father-in-law, similarly related to the Kauravas. Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son, was well versed in the art of breaking military formations. Duryodhana disliked Draupadi immensely, so her sons were pointed out as well.

We begin to see how interrelated the warring parties were. Some were friends who turned into enemies, some were relatives who chose sides, and some like Drona were equally loving to both sides, but had to choose one based on their duty to the throne and the kingdom.

It is a reminder that nothing in our lives stays the same. A relationship that gives you lot of joy today, could in a matter of seconds turn into a sorrowful relationship at some point.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 1

18 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by in aachaarya, chamoom, chapter 1 verse 3, dheemata, drupada, drupadaputrena, etaam, mahatim, paanduputraanaam, pashya, shishyena, tava, vyoodham

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pashyaitaam paanduputraanaamaachaarya mahatim chamoom |
vyoodham drupadaputrena tava shishyena dheemata || 3 ||

Teacher, behold this mighty Pandava army, that your intelligent student Dhrishtadyumna, son of Drupada, has organized in a military formation for battle.

aachaarya: teacher
tava: your
dheemata: intelligent
shishyena: student
drupadaputrena: son of Drupada
vyoodham: organized in military formation
paanduputraanaam: of the Pandavas
etaam: this
mahatim: mighty
chamoom: army
pashya: see / behold

The Gita has many conversations-within-conversations, so it is useful to keep track. In the first two verses, Sanjaya and Dhritrashtra were talking, and in this verse, Duryodhana is addressing his teacher Drona.

Here we begin to explore another theme of the Gita which is that of mental equanimity, or as sometimes it is referred to, “even keelness”. We are at our best when our mind, the part of our brain that feels emotions, is calm and not agitated. When our mind is calm it enables our intellect, the part of our brain that evaluates options and makes rational decisions, to give us the most logical way out of a situation. In the TV show “Star Trek”, Mr. Spock was always consulted to provide the best decision because he would never take emotions into considerations when making a decision.

In the last verse we saw that Duryodhana wanted to ensure that Drona was sufficiently motivated to fight against his students the Pandavas, lest he become weak due to having a soft spot for them. So Duryodhana attempted to disturb Drona’s equanimity by reminding him that the leader of the military formation that is in front of them is the son of Drupada.

Drupada and Drona had a chequered past. They were the best of friends, but due to some misunderstandings, they turned into sworn enemies. By reminding Drona that Drupada’s son Dhrishtadyunma is leading the opposing army, Duryodhana wanted to stir up Drona’s emotions so that he think that his students purposely put Dhrushtadyumna in front, just to spite Drona.

Do we have such biases or filters in our lives through which we view people or situations? How were they formed? Did some Duryodhana plant them in us? Uncovering such biases makes our decision-making clearer and simpler.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 2, Chapter 1

17 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by in aachaarya, abraveet, chapter 1 verse 2, dhrishtvaa, drona, duryodhan, duryodhana, paandavaanikam, raaja, tadaa, tu, upasangmaya, vachanam, vyoodham

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Sanjaya uvacha:
dhristvaa tu paandavaanikam vyoodham duryodhanstadaa |
aachaaryamupasangmaya raaja vachanambraveet || 2 ||

Sanjaya said:
Observing that the Pandava army was organized into a military formation, Duryodhana approached his teacher Drona and spoke these words.

tadaa: during that time
vyoodham: organized into a military formation
paandavaanikam: the Pandava army
dhrishtvaa: observing
tu: and
aachaaryam: Dronacharya – teacher Drona
upasangmaya: approached
raaja: king
duryodhan: Duryodhana
vachanam: words
abraveet: spoke

Let’s look at the character that is introduced in this verse – Duryodhana. Duryodhana was the son of Dhritrashtra, and leader of the Kaurava army in the Mahabharata war. He was a skilled and strong warrior, almost equal in prowess to Bhima, the strongest warrior in the Pandava army.

Since childhood, Duryodhana grew up with the idea that he was the rightful heir to the throne and not Yudhishtira, who was the eldest brother of the Pandavas. Going back to the theme of the previous verse which is that of attachment, he was extremely attached to the throne. But because he perceived the Pandavas as an obstacle to the throne, which was something that he was extremely attached to, he developed an aversion towards them.

Think of aversion or in other words, hatred, as the polar opposite of attachment. But interestingly enough, it is born out of attachment itself. For example, we saw that Mr. X from the last post was extremely attached to his car, and saw that someone had made a large dent in it. What feeling do you think Mr. X had for the person who caused that dent? That is aversion. Aversion is usually caused when we perceive a person, situation or object as an obstacle between us and the object of our attachment. And aversion, just like attachment, strengthens the ego. Examples are people (I hate my boss), objects (I hate my old TV), positions (I hate anyone who believes in communism) or situations (I hate my job).

Now, why did Duryodhana approach his teacher Drona? He saw the military formation of the Pandavas and began to get scared. As is the case, most people run to someone superior when they get scared, so he approached his teacher for counsel.

Drona was a teacher to both the Pandavas and Kauravas, and had equal affinity to both of them. And unlike some of the other senior warriors, Drona was not a blood relation to the Kauravas. Duryodhana also sensed that he needs to check in with Drona to understand his state of mind, because he needed Drona’s prowess to win this war.

There is an interesting leadership lesson here. If you are leading a team – in a business, political or any context – your success is not guaranteed unless everyone buys into a common vision that you as a leader have articulated.

Footnotes
1. There is a redundancy here in the phrase “vachanambraveet”. Usually if you write “say”, most people know that you mean “say words”. But here the word “abraveet” is used in addition to “vachana”. This could mean that the words that Duryodhana is going to speak in the next verse are not ordinary words, they could perhaps be very negative or hurtful.
2. Sanjay uses the word “raaja” or king when referring to Duryodhana. Perhaps he is hinting here that the root cause of this war is over the question of who the legitimate king is.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 1

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in attachment, chapter 1 verse 1, dhritrashtra, ego, Gita, sanjaya

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Dhritraashtra uvaacha
dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavaha |
maamakaaha paandavaashchaiva kimakurvata sanjaya || 1 ||

Dhritrashtra said:
In Kurukshetra, the field of the Kurus and also the field of righteousness, both my sons and Pandu’s sons gathered, eager to fight. What did they do?

dharma-kshetre: in the field of dharma
kuru-kshetre: in the field of the Kurus
samavetaa yuyutsavaha: gathered here in order to fight
maamakaaha paandavasahcha-eva: my sons and also Pandu’s sons
kim-akurvata sanjaya: what did they do?

So begins the first chapter of the Gita. The first chapter is a dialog between Dhritrashtra, father of the Kauravas and Sanjaya, his charioteer and also his adviser. Sanjaya was given divine vision so that he could provide a real-time commentary on the Mahabharata war for the sightless Dhritrashtra.

This verse begins to reveal one of the recurring themes of the Gita – the downside of extreme attachment to objects or situations. Dhritrashtra means someone who clings to his kingdom, and Sanjaya means victory. Dhritrashtra was extremely attached to his sons and his kingdom, which is one of the reasons that the Mahabharata war occurred. He refers to his nephews as “Pandu’s sons” indicating that they are a 3rd party, whereas his sons are referred to as “my sons”.

What exactly is attachment? Here’s an example. Let’s say Mr. X brought a brand new car. He shows it to all his friends, they ooh and they aah, his spouse is happy, his kids are jumping up and down and so on. When he hears all the praises, there usually is something inside him that “puffs up”. That thing is the ego. Now let’s say a few weeks have passed. It’s morning and as he opens the car door, he notices a large dent on the side of the car. He begins to experience anger, sadness, and a whole host of other emotions.

What just happened? It was attachment to the car. Mr. X’s ego created an identification with the new car. In other words, it began to think of the car as an extension of its identity. So any praise for the car became the ego’s praise, and any harm to the car became the ego’s harm. The ego strengthens itself by attachment, i.e. identification with objects, thoughts (I am smart, I am sincere etc), positions (e.g. right wing vs left wing).

So what is the practical lesson here? Later chapters and verses will go in detail into this subject, but till then, this verse urges us to examine our life and take stock of our attachments. What are our attachments? How strong are those attachments? What can we do to prevent ourselves getting entangled in more and more attachments?

Also – at this point, do we think that all attachments are bad? Or are some good? Upon introspection we will find the answers.The Gita will begin to address those questions as we go further into it.

Footnotes
1. Eckhart Tolle talks about ego and attachment in his books “The Power Of Now” and “A New Earth”
2. Per the Dnyaneshwari commentary, the word “dharmakshetre” here suggests that Kurukshetra battleground had a positive energy that was known to bring senseless warriors to their senses and make them behave rationally. Perhaps Dhritrashtra wanted to know whether that positive energy compelled his sons the Kauravas to give up the idea of war altogether.

Introduction

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in beginner, commentary, discourse, Gita, introduction

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*Om Ganeshaaya Namahaa*
 
I decided today to begin a blog that is my attempt to understand the Bhagavad Gita.
 
I can’t remember the exact date, but it was around 5 years ago that I chanced upon a television program in India where a prominent teacher of the Gita was conducting a discourse in English, stripped of all the usual pomp and ceremonial activities that usually accompany a discourse. As I watched that program, I realized that there is something here that is attracting me, but I could not quite explain why. I tried to watch that program as often as possible during my 3 month stay in India.
 
When I returned to the US to continue my work, those Gita discourses stuck in my head. I began to buy commentaries on the Gita from several authors, and eventually came across a teacher whose audio discourses resonated with me. Now I am looking at the end of the 18th chapter (the last chapter) of the Gita, and having gone through it over the course of 2 years, still feel a need to understand it deeply.
 
This blog is my attempt to restart my journey of the Gita, beginning with the first verse of chapter 1. But this time, I want to go deeper and understand each verse to the best of my ability. I will keep the language as simple as possible, and provide examples that I and most people can relate to.