Category Archives: avasthitaan

Bhagavad Gita Verse 27, Chapter 1

06 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by in avasthitaan, avishto, chapter 1 verse 26, kripayaa, parayaa, sameekshya, sarvaanbandhuna, vishidan

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taansameekshya sa kaunteyaha sarvaanbandhunavasthitaan |
kripayaa parayaavishto vishidannidamabraveet || 27 ||
 
Seeing his kinsmen standing near him, Arjuna, son of Kunti, became overwhelmed with pity, and struck by despair, spoke this.
 
taan : those
sameekshya sa : seeing
kaunteyaha : son of Kunti, Arjuna
sarvaanbandhuna : kinsmen
avasthitaan : standing
kripayaa : pity
parayaa :  extreme
avishto : filed with
vishidan : despair
idam : this
abraveet: spoke
 
Strong egos are mired in duality. Like bipolar person, a strong ego can go from one emotion to its exact opposite almost instantly. When Arjuna saw the caliber of warriors in the opposing army, his demeanour switched from courage to cowardice in a matter of seconds.
 
Why did this happen? When one is under the control of the ego rather than the rational intellect, one’s emotional balance is extremely vulnerable. All it took to destabilize his balance was for Shri Krishna to highlight Arjuna’s kinsmen in the army.
 
This verse also shows that no one is immune from the workings of the ego. Arjuna was a well-educated, committed warrior, in fact one of the best warriors on the planet. Even someone as tough as him lost his emotional balance so quickly.
 
Footnotes
1. An interesting simile is provided in the Jnyaneshwari for this verse. Just like a man forgets his old girlfriend after being infatuated with a new girl, Arjuna’s warrior instincts were replaced with pity for his kinsmen, and cowardice for the war.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 21-22, Chapter 1

02 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in achyuta, asmin, avasthitaan, chapter 1 verse 21-22, etaan, kaamaan, kaiha, mayaa, nireeksheham, rama, ratham, saha, samudyame, sthaapaya, yaavat, yoddhu, yodhdhavyam

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Arjuna uvaacha
senyorubhyormadhye ratham sthaapaya mechyuta | 21 |

yaavadetaannireeksheham yoddhukaamaanvasthitaan |
kairmayaa saha yodhdhavyamasminranasamudyame || 22 || 

Arjuna said: O infallible one, in preparation for combat, position my chariot between the two armies till I have surveyed those battle-hungry warriors with whom I have to fight.
 
senyor-ubhyor-madhye : between both armies
ratham : chariot
sthaapaya : place
achyuta : infallible
yaavat:  till I
etaan : those warriors
nireeksheham : I can observe/survey
yoddhu-kaamaan-avasthitaan : organized for battle
kaiha-mayaa : whom I have to
saha : with
yodhdhavyam : fight
asmin rana-samudyame : in preparation for combat
 
And so begins the conversation between Arjuna and Shri Krishna. At this point, Arjuna was firmly in control of the situation, and like any determined warrior, he commanded his charioteer to carry out his instructions.
 
Similar to the analysis of Duryodhana’s emotional state from the previous verses, let us analyze Arjuna’s state. Here, it is clear that he was charged up for war, his warrior instincts had kicked into high gear, and he was bursting with self-confidence.
 
Another point to consider here is how much, like Arjuna, we rely on our sense organs to deliver the right information to our brain so that we can take the right decision and carry out the necessary action that a situation demands. Our sense organs comprise our eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Any information that we process must necessarily come from one of these organs. Arjuna was located at some distance from the opposing army, so he knew that he needed to get a better look at the opposing army, and therefore have all the information he needs to make his battle plans.
 
Sense organs and understanding how they function is a topic that will be discussed at great length in the rest of the Gita.