Arjuna Vishada Yoga
Before we begin the study of chapter 1, called Arjuna Vishada Yoga, I would request you to go through the Introduction to the Bhagavad Gita if you have not already done so. That will help set the context for this chapter.
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The first chapter sets the stage for Shri Krishna to expound the divine knowledge of Bhagavad Gita. We will summarize this chapter and the key lessons contained in it. From chapter 2 onwards, we will review each shloka and explain the practical lessons contained in them.
Vishada is a state of sorrow and despair. It is the state of mind of Arjuna when he was standing in the middle of the battleground known as the kurukshetra. In fact, for most humans, they seek higher spiritual knowledge only when they are in the state of vishada. Thus, Arjuna’s state of mind being the start of Bhagavad Gita is very symbolic for all of humanity.
The great battle mentioned in the Mahabharata happened between the Pandavas and Kauravas almost 5000 years ago. The Pandavas were the five princes whose father was the late king Pandu, while the Kauravas were the 100 princes whose father was the blind king Drtharashtra. The battlefield where the great war of Mahabharata occurred is called Kurukṣetra, and it is also referred to as “dharmakṣetra.” Here, “Dharma” means righteousness and “kṣetra” means the field. So this is the field where the war for righteousness happened. As beautifully quoted by Swami Vivekananda, The Kauravas had the might, but the Pândavas had the right.
Before the war, Lord Shri Krishna gave the choice to both the sides to either choose just Him or choose his vast army. Duryodhana, the eldest prince of the Kauravas was greedy and chose to have Krishna’s vast army, while the Pandavas gracefully and gratefully chose Lord Krishna himself, even though Krishna said that He will only act as a guide and not use any weapons or actively participate in fighting with anyone.
The happenings in the battlefield, including the discourse of the Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna, is conveyed to the world through a dialogue between King Dhritarashtra and his minister Sanjaya. Dhritarashtra was blind, although he was very eager to know what was happening on the battlefield.
Sanjaya was a disciple of Sage Ved Vyas, the author of the epic Mahabharata and had received the miraculous power of distant vision from him. Therefore, Sanjaya could see and hear everything that was happening on the battleground of Kurukshetra while being seated next to the king in his palace and gave a running commentary to king Dhritarashtra. The first chapter of the Bhagavad gita begins with Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s query to Sanjaya:
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच |
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः |
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ||1||
dhṛitarāśhtra uvācha
dharma-kṣhetre kuru-kṣhetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāśhchaiva kimakurvata sañjaya
“O Sañjaya, after they gathered on the holy field of Kurukṣetra, being eager for battle, what did my sons and the Pāṇḍavas do?”
Verses 1.2 – 1.20 provides an introduction to all the great warriors from both, the pândavas as well as the kaurava armies who are assembled in the battlefield and how they were blowing their conch shells and preparing for war.
Verses 1.21 – 1.24 describe the scene where Arjuna requests Shri Krishna to take their chariot to the middle of the battleground, in between both armies.
It starts with Arjuna saying:
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत || 21||
यावदेतान्निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान् |
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन् रणसमुद्यमे || 22||
senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me ’chyuta
yāvadetān nirīkṣhe ’haṁ yoddhu-kāmān avasthitān
kairmayā saha yoddhavyam asmin raṇa-samudyame
“O infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see those present here, who desire to fight, and with whom I must fight with in this great battle.”
Verses 1.25 – 1.47 talk about Arjuna’s state of mind being full of sorrow and anxiety and how he was experiencing a nervous breakdown and was refusing to fight this battle of righteousness.
Dark night of the soul
Arjuna was going through what is termed in western philosophy as the ‘Dark night of the Soul’. This term originated from a poem by the 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet, St. John of the Cross. The poem describes a difficult spiritual period that one goes through on the journey towards union with God, where the soul experiences a sense of emptiness, isolation, and spiritual desolation.
The term is often used to describe a period of spiritual crisis, in which an individual feels like there is no purpose or meaning in life. This period is often marked by feelings of despair, confusion, and a sense of being lost. This can be accompanied by a feeling like the divine God has abandoned them. This feeling can be overwhelming and it can create a sense of alienation and isolation.
We should understand that the dark night of the soul is a necessary and transformative process for spiritual development and evolution, during which the individual’s attachment to the material world is weakened, and a deeper connection to the spiritual is established.
I am sure many of us have gone through this phase in life. The good news is, whenever one goes through the dark night of the soul, they are getting ready and preparing themselves for something higher. The world famous author Paulo Coelho who is known for master pieces like ‘The Alchemist’, quotes the story of a boy who witnesses a butterfly struggling to free itself from its cocoon and feeling bad for it, he cuts open the cocoon, thinking that he was helping the butterfly. However, as a result, the butterfly comes out with small and weak wings and is unable to fly. You see, that struggle to come out of the cocoon was what was building the strength in the wings of the butterfly. Such struggles are to be seen as a blessing from God and not as a punishment.
Here, Arjuna was going through a similar phase without realizing that God was preparing him for something greater in life which includes divine wisdom and spiritual evolution.
This sets the stage for Krishna to expound his divine knowledge for all of humanity through Arjuna, which becomes known as the Bhagavad Gita.
Various names of Krishna and Arjuna
Here, Arjuna addresses Krishna as ‘Govinda’. Krishna has different names and so does Arjuna. Throughout the Bhagavad Gita, both Krishna and Arjuna address each other by different names. It is not just a random choice of names that they choose, instead they choose it very intentionally, based on the context and the situation.
In the current context, Arjuna is in a state of misery and his senses are overwhelmed. So he addresses Krishna as ‘Govinda’ which means ‘he who gives pleasure to the senses’. Arjuna expects Krishna to please his senses by just sharing his sorrow and talking words of consolation.
Although God is always happy to please His devotees, the lesson to learn here is that we should always strive to please God and in turn, our senses would automatically get pleased.
Just like a child who has many wants and instead of keeping on demanding what they want, if the child pleases their parents, then the parents would automatically provide the child with a lot more than they asked for.
In verses 1.36 – 1.42, it becomes evident that Arjuna does not yet understand that he is fighting for Dharma. He thinks he is on the battlefield ready to kill his relatives just for political and material gains. He thinks he will incur great sins for this. He goes on to state all kinds of negative consequences that can arise if he killed all these men.
Here he is addressing Krishna as “Madhava” which means “Husband of Goddess of fortune”. So just by addressing Krishna thus, he is telling Krishna that you are the husband of Goddess of fortune and so how can you let me do something which will bring me misfortune?
Apart from not understanding the purpose of this war, Arjuna also does not yet understand that Krishna can never bring misfortune to anybody, let alone his own devotees.
Arjuna’s excuses
Through verse 1.28 to 1.45, Arjuna continues to express his anguish and he starts quoting various scriptures to justify his views. This is a classic demonstration of weakness of heart. Whenever we catch ourselves justifying our opinions, we should introspect if we are having clarity of thought or if we are acting out of fear and weakness of heart.
Arjuna gives many excuses to not fight for Dharma. Like the need for compassion (1.28-1.30), the pointlessness of victory if he has nobody to share it with (1.31-1.35) and the various sins he may incur by killing his relatives and friends (1.36-1.38). However in 1.44 and 1.45, Arjuna admits his lack of clarity and inability to make a decision.
Arjuna also tries to hide his weakness of heart under the guise of ‘non-violence’ however Krishna would go on to explain that non-violence is a virtue only if it comes from a position of strength. Cowardice is not the same as non-violence.
The good dog and the bad dog
Before concluding chapter 1, I would like to quote Radhanath Swami’s message regarding our mind, using the example of a good dog and a bad dog.
“Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that there is a divine and a demonic nature in all of us. We have often given the example of the good dog and the bad dog. The good dog is humility, charity, knowledge of the self, compassion, morality and generosity; and the bad dog is greed, lust, envy, anger, arrogance and selfishness. We have both these dogs within us and they are both howling for food. What is the food? The decision we make as to which dog we are going to feed? Which voice within the mind are we going to listen to? And every choice we make is making one dog stronger and the other dog weaker. The dog we feed the most will howl the most. Every time we make an immoral choice we become more addicted to immorality because the bad dog becomes stronger and the good dog becomes weaker. Every time we make the right choice, we feed the good dog, and make it stronger.”
In my humble opinion, our goal is to make the good dog very strong and quieten the bad dog totally. This won’t happen overnight and this doesn’t have to happen overnight. We just have to do this one decision at a time.
Thus ends chapter 1. You can find the next chapter here:
Hare Krishna!
kṛṣṇadaasa
(Servant of Krishna)
Aka +Vinayak Raghuvamshi