In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Bhagawan Krishna’s hard-hitting accord with Arjuna as to why he is the first one to panic amidst the battlefield. This same Arjuna was the one who had given a sincilating reply to Yudishtra when he had panicked the similar way. However, Yudishtra understood the reality and practicality of things and he decided to do his “Dharma” of fighting the war to protect his people. However, here is the same Arjuna who is now buckling down under pressure upon seeing his entire set of relatives standing in front of him. This is where Bhagawan Krishna has to step in and give Arjuna left, right and centre. Bhagawan Krishna gives a very assertive answer first up, in order to first make Arjuna lift his head and talk something. At the moment, he looks down, weeping bitterly and is unwilling to even stand up. So Bhagawan’s first priority is now to make Arjuna stand up and lift his head.
Thus, as Bhagawan commences His accord, He straightaway talks about mental depression and getting upset over things. Arjuna is undergoing the same situation here, and for this, Bhagawan Krishna is explaining to him that he should come out of this stressed mental state very soon. In today’s context too, this is one of the hot topics that we discuss in the fields of leadership and management. Handling stress and tough situations are the hallmark characteristics of a good leader. Bhagawan Krishna too starts with this aspect and we can see the importance that is given to stress and stress management. It is pertinent here to see that Bhagawan Krishna starts with this aspect, however, to convince Arjuna once again to take the “Gaandeepa” in hand, He had to go through 700 slokas! Convincing Arjuna wasn’t an easy task for Bhagawan Krishna, however, we’ve to understand here that if Arjuna hadn’t panicked like this, we wouldn’t have obtained the Bhagawad Gita from Bhagawan.
Moving forward thus, Arjuna now asks a backup question by interrupting Bhagawan Krishna in the middle. Arjuna asks thus, “Oh Bhagawan! You’ve obtained the divine name “Madhusoodhana”. How did you do that? It came out of the respect that you had for your Guru and your elders, isn’t it? Similarly, what would you call me? “Bhishmasoodhana” or “Dhronasoodhana”, isn’t it? Normally, what do we do for our Guru? We pay our respect to them by offering flowers and holy water at their divine lotus feet and worship them, don’t we? But here, you are asking me to act on the contrary! My Guru Dhronachaarya is standing in front of me. Instead of asking me to pay my respects to him and to worship him, here you are asking me to take my “Gaandipa” and fight against him and kill him! How can I kill my own Guru? Isn’t this the greatest sin of all times? Even though he might be supporting a wrong cause, a Guru is a Guru! How can I even imagine this “Adharma” in my dreams? Similar in stature is my grandfather Bhishmachaarya. I’ve always seen him as my father and I’ve learnt a lot from him all these days and years. Now, he is also standing in front of me as an enemy! How on earth can I see both these people as my enemies in a battlefield? Can there be a more difficult situation for me in my life than this?”
Saying thus, Arjuna starts weeping once again profusely, even as Bhagawan Krishna is casting a divine look at him! So for today, let us understand Arjuna’s concern clearly and for this also, Bhagawan is going to give a reply. Is it going to be hard-hitting like the earlier one, or is He going to tone down a bit because Arjuna is clearly panicking and giving up his resolve to fight? Stay tuned for the next episode to witness Bhagawan Krishna’s interesting and important accord! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 