Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals -14.1.4

01/12/2017.

Chapter :- 14.  The Gospel of the Bhagavadgita - 1.4.

1. Introduction-4.

We know the situation. All action emanates from the individual, and to do or not to do is to be decided by the individual himself. A decision can be taken only when there is no conflict in one's mind. Either we do a thing or we do not do the thing. We want a thing or we do not want the thing. These are decisions that the mind takes.

But if one begins to waver between the two horns of the dilemma, and one does not know which side to take and what steps to put forward due to a conflict within one's own mind, there would be no solution at all. A most surprising attitude did Arjuna take, to the wonder and marvel of everyone there.

The most heroic of persons began to speak words of pusillanimity, feelings of pity which would be completely unexpected from a warrior girt up on the brink of a war. Instead of attempting to solve the social conflict for the sake of which the war was to be engaged in, another conflict was added on to it. So instead of one conflict, we have two conflicts here.

Arjuna, the leader, the great warrior, advanced specious arguments before Krishna, his colleague, his friend and guide, who was seated on the very same chariot, and clinched the whole matter by saying, "I am not for this." It was a very difficult thing to swallow, and only a personality like Krishna could take it in the true spirit in which it arose.

To be continued ...

Swami Krishnananda