tataha shvetair hayair yukte mahati syandane sthitau |
maadhavaha paandavaschaiva divyau shankau pradadhmatau || 14 ||
paanchajanyam hrishikeesho devadattam dhananjayaha |
paundryam dadhamau mahaashankam bheemekarmaa vrikodaraha || 15 ||
anantavijayam raaja kuntiputrau yudhistiraha |
nakulaha sahadevashcha sughoshamanipushpakau || 16 ||
kashyashcha parameshvasaaha shikhandi cha mahaarathaha |
dhristhadyumno viraatashcha saatyakischaparaajiataha ||17||
drupado draupadeyascha sarvashaha pruthiveepate |
saubhadrashcha mahaabaahuh shankhaandadhmuh prithakprithak || 18 ||
sa ghosho dhaartaraashtraanaam hridayaani vyadaaryat |
nabhascha prithvim chaiva tumulo vyanunaadayan || 19 ||
On the other side, both Lord Krishna and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot drawn by white horses, sounded their transcendental conchshells.
Lord Krishna blew His conchshell, called Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell, called Paundra.
King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka. That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their respective conchshells.
The blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious. Vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhritarashtra.
Commentary
We have seen in the earlier verses, the role played by negative thoughts on our psyche. Before we go into a depressed mood thinking there is no end to negative thoughts, let us see the beacon of light that enables us to break off from negativity and move towards positive thoughts.
Positive thinking / vibrations have a tremendous impact in our life. These positive vibrations will change our mental state positively and will make us become more optimistic. How do we get into the positive thinking mode? Positive thought process is initiated by the self control lead by spiritual wisdom. Self control is the ability of an individual to control his emotions, behaviours and desires for higher goals. The aim is to achieve infinite bliss and not the momentary happiness of worldly objects.
I had covered earlier about the symbolism of Arjuna. Arjuna represents self-control. Krishna represents the intellect. Arjuna is in a chariot driven by 5 horses. The five horses represent the 5 senses. What is needed to hold the horses to a chariot? They are the reins. The reins represent the mind. The sense organs by themselves don’t do anything. The eye just sees an object, but has no idea what it is. It is only the mind that knows it is a flower. Similar is the case with other sense organs. Now if the mind represents the reins, what happens if the reins are not held by a good charioteer? Then the horses will go in any direction they want and derail the chariot. In exactly the same way, sense organs held by a mind without a good charioteer will drive the individual in any direction and destroy his life. What is it that is the charioteer for the mind? It is the intellect and in the case of the war, it is symbolized by Krishna. So long as Krishna holds reins of Arjuna's chariot, he is guided well. Similarly so long as the intellect guides the mind, the individual is safe.
We see above about Lord Krishna blowing his conch. Symbolically it represents the Intellect sending out an inner message. Have we not heard of instances where worst criminals have changed? I have read about hackers who swindled millions changing and becoming good hackers, helping to prevent fraud. What causes this? It is that faint inner voice of the intellect. Most of the times, the intellect's voice is drowned by the negative thoughts emanating from the ego trying to protect its existence. However with practice, it is possible to gradually learn to hear the intellect.
Arjuna in the mythological story, during the time the Pandavas are banished to the forest, visits a heavenly place in his quest for weapons to help in the future war. There, a heavenly damsel falls for him and wants him to love her. Arjuna has the capacity to say no to a beautiful female and stay true to himself. This is self control. I have also heard an apocryphal story of a famous saint who was very handsome. When he was delivering his lectures, it appeared as though the most handsome prince was giving a talk. A woman in the audience was besotted by him and told him she would love to have a handsome son through the saint. The saint smiled and said, take me as your son, so that your desire is fulfilled. The saint was in late 20's or early 30's and hence very youthful. But he used his intellect's discriminatory capabilities to decide what is right and what is wrong and showed exemplary self control.
In addition, the above verses mention about a variety of other conches that were blown. These represent the positive thought strands that are available to us to awaken our intellect and attain self control, thus defeating the negative forces.
When we have clarity (focused intellect and /controlled mind), the union of the sense, mind and the higher self happens. Then the sense organs and mind work respecting the control of the intellect. They run in the direction given by the intellect with a focused / controlled mind. When there is control over the mind, the sense organs behave like a group of good horses in the hands of an competent charioteer. When one keeps the intelligence guided by spiritual wisdom as the charioteer and uses the mind to rein the sense organs, we will have the strength to traverse the course to a meaningful life and eventually attain the ultimate destination of life.
According to Mayo clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com) researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:
● Increased life span
● Lower rates of depression
● Lower levels of distress
● Greater resistance to the common cold
● Better psychological and physical well-being
● Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
● Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress
Conclusion
When we are deluded (confused intellect and /uncontrolled mind), the union of the senses, mind and the higher self gets destroyed. The mind gets scattered and turbulent. It becomes incapable of conceiving the truth or goals of life. Such a mind will not be capable of getting connected with Truth / GOD and will get trapped in worldly problems. However, when, through positive thoughts, we awaken the intellect and use it to guide us in self control, the route to divine bliss is totally clear.
maadhavaha paandavaschaiva divyau shankau pradadhmatau || 14 ||
paanchajanyam hrishikeesho devadattam dhananjayaha |
paundryam dadhamau mahaashankam bheemekarmaa vrikodaraha || 15 ||
anantavijayam raaja kuntiputrau yudhistiraha |
nakulaha sahadevashcha sughoshamanipushpakau || 16 ||
kashyashcha parameshvasaaha shikhandi cha mahaarathaha |
dhristhadyumno viraatashcha saatyakischaparaajiataha ||17||
drupado draupadeyascha sarvashaha pruthiveepate |
saubhadrashcha mahaabaahuh shankhaandadhmuh prithakprithak || 18 ||
sa ghosho dhaartaraashtraanaam hridayaani vyadaaryat |
nabhascha prithvim chaiva tumulo vyanunaadayan || 19 ||
On the other side, both Lord Krishna and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot drawn by white horses, sounded their transcendental conchshells.
Lord Krishna blew His conchshell, called Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell, called Paundra.
King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka. That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their respective conchshells.
The blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious. Vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhritarashtra.
Commentary
We have seen in the earlier verses, the role played by negative thoughts on our psyche. Before we go into a depressed mood thinking there is no end to negative thoughts, let us see the beacon of light that enables us to break off from negativity and move towards positive thoughts.
Positive thinking / vibrations have a tremendous impact in our life. These positive vibrations will change our mental state positively and will make us become more optimistic. How do we get into the positive thinking mode? Positive thought process is initiated by the self control lead by spiritual wisdom. Self control is the ability of an individual to control his emotions, behaviours and desires for higher goals. The aim is to achieve infinite bliss and not the momentary happiness of worldly objects.
I had covered earlier about the symbolism of Arjuna. Arjuna represents self-control. Krishna represents the intellect. Arjuna is in a chariot driven by 5 horses. The five horses represent the 5 senses. What is needed to hold the horses to a chariot? They are the reins. The reins represent the mind. The sense organs by themselves don’t do anything. The eye just sees an object, but has no idea what it is. It is only the mind that knows it is a flower. Similar is the case with other sense organs. Now if the mind represents the reins, what happens if the reins are not held by a good charioteer? Then the horses will go in any direction they want and derail the chariot. In exactly the same way, sense organs held by a mind without a good charioteer will drive the individual in any direction and destroy his life. What is it that is the charioteer for the mind? It is the intellect and in the case of the war, it is symbolized by Krishna. So long as Krishna holds reins of Arjuna's chariot, he is guided well. Similarly so long as the intellect guides the mind, the individual is safe.
We see above about Lord Krishna blowing his conch. Symbolically it represents the Intellect sending out an inner message. Have we not heard of instances where worst criminals have changed? I have read about hackers who swindled millions changing and becoming good hackers, helping to prevent fraud. What causes this? It is that faint inner voice of the intellect. Most of the times, the intellect's voice is drowned by the negative thoughts emanating from the ego trying to protect its existence. However with practice, it is possible to gradually learn to hear the intellect.
Arjuna in the mythological story, during the time the Pandavas are banished to the forest, visits a heavenly place in his quest for weapons to help in the future war. There, a heavenly damsel falls for him and wants him to love her. Arjuna has the capacity to say no to a beautiful female and stay true to himself. This is self control. I have also heard an apocryphal story of a famous saint who was very handsome. When he was delivering his lectures, it appeared as though the most handsome prince was giving a talk. A woman in the audience was besotted by him and told him she would love to have a handsome son through the saint. The saint smiled and said, take me as your son, so that your desire is fulfilled. The saint was in late 20's or early 30's and hence very youthful. But he used his intellect's discriminatory capabilities to decide what is right and what is wrong and showed exemplary self control.
In addition, the above verses mention about a variety of other conches that were blown. These represent the positive thought strands that are available to us to awaken our intellect and attain self control, thus defeating the negative forces.
- Manipushpaka: Helps to focus
- Sukhosha: Helps us to go beyond the doubting state of mind
- Deva data: Helps us to get connected with our potentials
- Paundra: Helps to destroy lower tendencies
- Anantha Vijayam: Helps to stay calm
- Panchajanya: Keep us in the path of good and lead us to the highest goals of life
When we have clarity (focused intellect and /controlled mind), the union of the sense, mind and the higher self happens. Then the sense organs and mind work respecting the control of the intellect. They run in the direction given by the intellect with a focused / controlled mind. When there is control over the mind, the sense organs behave like a group of good horses in the hands of an competent charioteer. When one keeps the intelligence guided by spiritual wisdom as the charioteer and uses the mind to rein the sense organs, we will have the strength to traverse the course to a meaningful life and eventually attain the ultimate destination of life.
According to Mayo clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com) researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:
● Increased life span
● Lower rates of depression
● Lower levels of distress
● Greater resistance to the common cold
● Better psychological and physical well-being
● Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
● Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress
Conclusion
When we are deluded (confused intellect and /uncontrolled mind), the union of the senses, mind and the higher self gets destroyed. The mind gets scattered and turbulent. It becomes incapable of conceiving the truth or goals of life. Such a mind will not be capable of getting connected with Truth / GOD and will get trapped in worldly problems. However, when, through positive thoughts, we awaken the intellect and use it to guide us in self control, the route to divine bliss is totally clear.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave comments for me here.