sañjaya uvāca evam ukto hṛṣīkeśo guḍākeśena bhārata
senayor ubhayor madhye sthāpayitvā rathottamam
bhisma-drona-pramukhatah sarvesam ca mahi-ksitam
uvaca partha pasyaitan samavetan kurun iti
atrāpaśyat sthitān pārthaḥ pitṝn atha pitāmahān
ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn putrān pautrān sakhīḿs tathā
śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva senayor ubhayor api
taansameekshya sa kaunteyaha sarvaanbandhunavasthitaan
Sanjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Krishna drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.
In the presence of Bhishma, Drona and all the other chieftains of the world, the Lord said, Just behold, Partha, all the Kurus assembled here.
There Arjuna could see, within the midst of the armies of both parties, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his fathers-in-law and well-wishers.
When the son of Kunti, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus.
Commentary
To set the context, Arjuna, the archer has requested his charioteer, Krishna to take the chariot between the two armies so that he could see the warriors assembled on the opposing side. Krishna then takes the chariot as requested and points out to Arjuna the various warriors including his great great grandfather, Bhishma, his teacher Drona, his cousin Duryodhana and various other relatives.
We have seen earlier that Arjuna represents self control and Krishna represents the supreme intellect in us. We have also seen that self control needs to be aware of the negative forces it has to battle in its journey. The intellect in us points out to us the negative forces. It shows us the main negative force which is Ego(represented as Bhishma), our past habits which drive our behaviour(represented as Drona), our material desire(represented as Duryodhana) to name a few.
Just as Arjuna on seeing his near and dear ones he would have to battle, felt remorseful, in exactly the same way, our self control behaves when it sees the negative forces in the mind. One may wonder why negative forces should cloud the self control. Let;s try to look at some of the negative forces we have to battle in our journey of self evolution. I mentioned ego as one of the negative forces. Have we all not been trained since almost birth that we have to have a identity different from others? Have we not been almost always taught that we should always try to become better than others? again none of these are bad in the materialistic world and are essential too. However for a spiritual journey, the feeling of separateness or the feeling of difference from the supreme which is the ego's creation, is what we are trying to eliminate. The ego has become us. I identify myself as a particular religion, group, caste whatever and when self control says, here is your enemy, we are struck with horror. If I fight ego and give it up, what becomes of me? Don’t I become a non-entity?
Intellect points and shows desire as one of my negative forces. Again it is a shock for me. It is a desire for a better life that has brought me here. It is a desire for the next BMW that makes me work hard. It is a desire to get that fat bonus that propels me. What would I be without desire? Without desire I am non-existent.
Some of the negative forces may have developed through conditions of environment. A child does not come into the world as a drunkard. But suppose it is in the company of parents/elders who always drink, then it sees nothing wrong at all in that and drinking is accepted as a part of life. Some of these negative traits may be acquired as we grow in life. I may have casually started smoking for fun and without realizing it has engulfed me and become part of me. These are all habits which reinforce desires and are bound closely to my personality. When the intellect points out to habit as a negative force, I am stunned and if told to give up habits, I feel distressed since they have become part of me.
Conclusion
Negative forces to be controlled are part and parcel of our psyche and it’s very hard for us to control or annihilate them as they are deep rooted and very dear to us. As discussed, some of these impressions might have been developed by the influence of the family. Some of them might have been from the society and culture we are born. Some of them might have been developed by our own misinterpretations. The negative thoughts / emotions / habits present themselves as near and dear to us.
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As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
senayor ubhayor madhye sthāpayitvā rathottamam
bhisma-drona-pramukhatah sarvesam ca mahi-ksitam
uvaca partha pasyaitan samavetan kurun iti
atrāpaśyat sthitān pārthaḥ pitṝn atha pitāmahān
ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn putrān pautrān sakhīḿs tathā
śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva senayor ubhayor api
taansameekshya sa kaunteyaha sarvaanbandhunavasthitaan
Sanjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Krishna drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.
In the presence of Bhishma, Drona and all the other chieftains of the world, the Lord said, Just behold, Partha, all the Kurus assembled here.
There Arjuna could see, within the midst of the armies of both parties, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his fathers-in-law and well-wishers.
When the son of Kunti, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus.
Commentary
To set the context, Arjuna, the archer has requested his charioteer, Krishna to take the chariot between the two armies so that he could see the warriors assembled on the opposing side. Krishna then takes the chariot as requested and points out to Arjuna the various warriors including his great great grandfather, Bhishma, his teacher Drona, his cousin Duryodhana and various other relatives.
We have seen earlier that Arjuna represents self control and Krishna represents the supreme intellect in us. We have also seen that self control needs to be aware of the negative forces it has to battle in its journey. The intellect in us points out to us the negative forces. It shows us the main negative force which is Ego(represented as Bhishma), our past habits which drive our behaviour(represented as Drona), our material desire(represented as Duryodhana) to name a few.
Just as Arjuna on seeing his near and dear ones he would have to battle, felt remorseful, in exactly the same way, our self control behaves when it sees the negative forces in the mind. One may wonder why negative forces should cloud the self control. Let;s try to look at some of the negative forces we have to battle in our journey of self evolution. I mentioned ego as one of the negative forces. Have we all not been trained since almost birth that we have to have a identity different from others? Have we not been almost always taught that we should always try to become better than others? again none of these are bad in the materialistic world and are essential too. However for a spiritual journey, the feeling of separateness or the feeling of difference from the supreme which is the ego's creation, is what we are trying to eliminate. The ego has become us. I identify myself as a particular religion, group, caste whatever and when self control says, here is your enemy, we are struck with horror. If I fight ego and give it up, what becomes of me? Don’t I become a non-entity?
Intellect points and shows desire as one of my negative forces. Again it is a shock for me. It is a desire for a better life that has brought me here. It is a desire for the next BMW that makes me work hard. It is a desire to get that fat bonus that propels me. What would I be without desire? Without desire I am non-existent.
Some of the negative forces may have developed through conditions of environment. A child does not come into the world as a drunkard. But suppose it is in the company of parents/elders who always drink, then it sees nothing wrong at all in that and drinking is accepted as a part of life. Some of these negative traits may be acquired as we grow in life. I may have casually started smoking for fun and without realizing it has engulfed me and become part of me. These are all habits which reinforce desires and are bound closely to my personality. When the intellect points out to habit as a negative force, I am stunned and if told to give up habits, I feel distressed since they have become part of me.
Conclusion
Negative forces to be controlled are part and parcel of our psyche and it’s very hard for us to control or annihilate them as they are deep rooted and very dear to us. As discussed, some of these impressions might have been developed by the influence of the family. Some of them might have been from the society and culture we are born. Some of them might have been developed by our own misinterpretations. The negative thoughts / emotions / habits present themselves as near and dear to us.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 of my books
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
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