Bg 18.72
kaccid etac chrutaṁ pārtha tvayaikāgreṇa cetasā
kaccid ajñāna-sammohaḥ praṇaṣṭas te dhanañ-jaya
Bg 18.73
arjuna uvāca
naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā tvat-prasādān mayācyuta
sthito ’smi gata-sandehaḥ kariṣye vacanaṁ tava
Translation
72. Has this been heard, O son of Pritha, with single-pointed mind? Has the distraction, caused by your 'ignorance, ' been dispelled, O Dhananjaya?
Arjuna said: 73. Destroyed is my delusion, as I have now gained my memory (knowledge) through your grace, O Achyuta. I am firm; my doubts are gone. I will do according to your word (bidding).
Commentary
Here, we find Lord Krishna, the teacher of the Geeta, putting a leading question to his disciple, Arjuna, giving him a chance to say how much he has benefited from the discourses. Of course, Krishna had no doubt about it; but it is only like a doctor, who, confident of his own achieved success, looks at the beaming face of the revived patient and enquires "how are you feeling now?" This is only to enjoy the beaming satisfaction that comes to play on the face of the relieved patient.
HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING WITH AN ATTENTIVE MIND? --- The very question implies that if you have been attentive you must have understood sufficiently the logic in the things, beings and happenings around, and therefore, your relationship with them also. The study of Vedanta broadens our vision, and we start RECOGNISING, in a new light, the same OLD SCHEME-OF-THINGS around us, and then its previous ugliness gets lifted as though by magic.
HAS YOUR DISTRACTION OF THOUGHT, CAUSED BY 'IGNORANCE,' BEEN DISPELLED? --- The false values that we entertain distort our vision of the world and our judgement of its affairs. The delusion of mind was expressed by Arjuna in the opening chapters of the Geeta (I-36 to 46, and II-4 and 5).
Amputating a septic toe to save the body is no crime; on the contrary it is a life-giving blessing; it is not a toe destroyed, but it is a body and its life saved. The CULTURAL CRISIS of those times had egged the Kauravas on to rise up in arms against the beauty of the spiritual culture of the land. Arjuna was called upon by the era to champion the cause of the righteous. It was indeed a false reading of the situation that perverted the judgement of the Pandava Prince, as a consequence of which he became utterly broken down, and came to entertain a neurotic condition in himself. The fundamental cause of all confusions was his own "NON-APPREHENSION OF REALITY" called in Vedanta philosophy as "ignorance" (Ajnaana). When this "ignorance" is removed by the "APPREHENSION OF REALITY," termed as "knowledge" (Jnaana), the entire by-products of "ignorance" are all, in one sweep, eliminated. Hence the logic of this enquiry from the teacher.
True "knowledge" expresses itself in one's own dexterity in action and it should fulfil itself in the splendour of its achievements in the service of society. In case Arjuna has understood the philosophy of the Geeta he will no more hesitate to meet the challenges as they reach him. This seems to be the unsaid idea in the heart of the Lord.
ARJUNA CONFESSES THAT HIS CONFUSIONS HAVE ENDED:
Somewhat like one who has suddenly awakened from an unconscious state, Arjuna, with a regained self-recognition, assuredly confesses that his confusions have ended --- not because he has unquestioningly swallowed the arguments in the discourses of the Geeta, but because, as he himself says, "I have gained a RECOGNITION of my Real Nature. The hero in me has now become awakened, and the neurotic condition that had temporarily conquered my mind has totally ended."
Such a revival within and a rediscovery of our personality are possible for all of us if only we truly understand the significance of the Geeta philosophy. The Infinite nature of Perfection is our own. It is not something that we have to gain from somewhere by the intervention of some outer agency. This Mighty Being within ourselves is now lying veiled beneath our own ego-centric confusions and abject fears. Even while we are confused and confounded, and helplessly suffering the tragic sorrows of our ego, we are IN REALITY, none other than our own Self. When the dream ends, the confusions also end, and we awaken to our Real Nature. So too, in life. This awakening of the Divine in us is the ending of the beast within.
In this new-found equilibrium, born out of Wisdom, he experiences an unshakable balance established upon firm foundations. All vacillations of the mind, doubts and despairs, dejections and hesitations, fears and weaknesses have left him (gata sandehah).
With such a revived personality, when Arjuna re-evaluates the situation, he finds no difficulty at all in discovering what exactly his duty is. He openly declares, "I WILL DO ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD," for in the Geeta, Lord Krishna stands for the Divine-Spark-of-Existence manifested as "pure-intelligence."
All students --- who have thus fully understood the Geeta, have a clear picture of the goal-of-life, who know what 'path' to follow and how to withdraw from the false by-lanes of existence --- will surrender themselves, each to his own integrated inner personality. To surrender ourselves to our own "higher intellect" and to declare confidently and with faith, "I SHALL DO THY BIDDING," is the beginning and the end of all spiritual life.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
kaccid etac chrutaṁ pārtha tvayaikāgreṇa cetasā
kaccid ajñāna-sammohaḥ praṇaṣṭas te dhanañ-jaya
Bg 18.73
arjuna uvāca
naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā tvat-prasādān mayācyuta
sthito ’smi gata-sandehaḥ kariṣye vacanaṁ tava
Translation
72. Has this been heard, O son of Pritha, with single-pointed mind? Has the distraction, caused by your 'ignorance, ' been dispelled, O Dhananjaya?
Arjuna said: 73. Destroyed is my delusion, as I have now gained my memory (knowledge) through your grace, O Achyuta. I am firm; my doubts are gone. I will do according to your word (bidding).
Commentary
Here, we find Lord Krishna, the teacher of the Geeta, putting a leading question to his disciple, Arjuna, giving him a chance to say how much he has benefited from the discourses. Of course, Krishna had no doubt about it; but it is only like a doctor, who, confident of his own achieved success, looks at the beaming face of the revived patient and enquires "how are you feeling now?" This is only to enjoy the beaming satisfaction that comes to play on the face of the relieved patient.
HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING WITH AN ATTENTIVE MIND? --- The very question implies that if you have been attentive you must have understood sufficiently the logic in the things, beings and happenings around, and therefore, your relationship with them also. The study of Vedanta broadens our vision, and we start RECOGNISING, in a new light, the same OLD SCHEME-OF-THINGS around us, and then its previous ugliness gets lifted as though by magic.
HAS YOUR DISTRACTION OF THOUGHT, CAUSED BY 'IGNORANCE,' BEEN DISPELLED? --- The false values that we entertain distort our vision of the world and our judgement of its affairs. The delusion of mind was expressed by Arjuna in the opening chapters of the Geeta (I-36 to 46, and II-4 and 5).
Amputating a septic toe to save the body is no crime; on the contrary it is a life-giving blessing; it is not a toe destroyed, but it is a body and its life saved. The CULTURAL CRISIS of those times had egged the Kauravas on to rise up in arms against the beauty of the spiritual culture of the land. Arjuna was called upon by the era to champion the cause of the righteous. It was indeed a false reading of the situation that perverted the judgement of the Pandava Prince, as a consequence of which he became utterly broken down, and came to entertain a neurotic condition in himself. The fundamental cause of all confusions was his own "NON-APPREHENSION OF REALITY" called in Vedanta philosophy as "ignorance" (Ajnaana). When this "ignorance" is removed by the "APPREHENSION OF REALITY," termed as "knowledge" (Jnaana), the entire by-products of "ignorance" are all, in one sweep, eliminated. Hence the logic of this enquiry from the teacher.
True "knowledge" expresses itself in one's own dexterity in action and it should fulfil itself in the splendour of its achievements in the service of society. In case Arjuna has understood the philosophy of the Geeta he will no more hesitate to meet the challenges as they reach him. This seems to be the unsaid idea in the heart of the Lord.
ARJUNA CONFESSES THAT HIS CONFUSIONS HAVE ENDED:
Somewhat like one who has suddenly awakened from an unconscious state, Arjuna, with a regained self-recognition, assuredly confesses that his confusions have ended --- not because he has unquestioningly swallowed the arguments in the discourses of the Geeta, but because, as he himself says, "I have gained a RECOGNITION of my Real Nature. The hero in me has now become awakened, and the neurotic condition that had temporarily conquered my mind has totally ended."
Such a revival within and a rediscovery of our personality are possible for all of us if only we truly understand the significance of the Geeta philosophy. The Infinite nature of Perfection is our own. It is not something that we have to gain from somewhere by the intervention of some outer agency. This Mighty Being within ourselves is now lying veiled beneath our own ego-centric confusions and abject fears. Even while we are confused and confounded, and helplessly suffering the tragic sorrows of our ego, we are IN REALITY, none other than our own Self. When the dream ends, the confusions also end, and we awaken to our Real Nature. So too, in life. This awakening of the Divine in us is the ending of the beast within.
In this new-found equilibrium, born out of Wisdom, he experiences an unshakable balance established upon firm foundations. All vacillations of the mind, doubts and despairs, dejections and hesitations, fears and weaknesses have left him (gata sandehah).
With such a revived personality, when Arjuna re-evaluates the situation, he finds no difficulty at all in discovering what exactly his duty is. He openly declares, "I WILL DO ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD," for in the Geeta, Lord Krishna stands for the Divine-Spark-of-Existence manifested as "pure-intelligence."
All students --- who have thus fully understood the Geeta, have a clear picture of the goal-of-life, who know what 'path' to follow and how to withdraw from the false by-lanes of existence --- will surrender themselves, each to his own integrated inner personality. To surrender ourselves to our own "higher intellect" and to declare confidently and with faith, "I SHALL DO THY BIDDING," is the beginning and the end of all spiritual life.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
