Gita is one of the most sacred scripture not only of India but of the entire world.
It is a small part of the Mahabharatha and is found in the Bhishma Parva. It is in the form of a conversation or a discussion between Arjuna and Lord Krishna which took place just before the Pandava and Kaurava armies clashed in the epic battle of Kurukshetra. It has deeply philosophical, yet practical knowledge which has inspired many lives beyond physical boundaries. The Upanishads, The Brahma Sutras and the Bhagawad Gita constitute the foundational layers of Indian philosophy and theology. Not only does Bhagawad Gita guides us to spirituality and divinity but it also gives solutions to the day to day problems we face; the constant fight that is going on in our minds between Dharma and Adharma, a choice between appropriate and inappropriate actions for given a particular situation.
The Context
It all started when the Kuru King Duryodhana denied the Pandavas (his cousin brothers) their rightful kingdom even after they had completed their exile, like agreed before. It was a blatant breach of contract by Duryodhana.
However, Krishna advocating for the Pandavas tried to persuade Duryodhana to give back to them what was rightfully theirs. Duryodhana did not concede an inch and hence, the negotiations broke down. War was inevitable, not for the sake of property, land and kingdom but for the sake of Dharma. Duryodhana had with him, what was not his, which he had acquired from the Pandavas by ticking them, deceitfully, into a rigged match of gambling. He showed no hesitation while trespassing the modesty of Draupadi; who was his brothers’ wife. He tried to kill Pandavas many times through poison and fire. Moreover, he now denied to make good the contract which he had consciously entered into. He was power hungry and evil. He rode on Adharma. What good can a king do to his subjects and to the society when he is so unjust in his behaviour and ruthless to his brothers?
Punishing him was in common good, just and hence Dharma. That is why the war of Kurukshetra is called as धर्म युद्ध and the battlefield as धर्म क्षेत्र.
As soon as the war was declared, kings and armies from all over India marched to the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Many allied with the Kauravas ( they thought that Duryodhana had a better chance of winning; Pandavas were wanderers for years now and they didn’t even have their own army), some with the Pandavas. Lord Krishna gave a choice to both the sides to choose between himself and his weaponry. Duryodhana quickly chose the weaponry and Arjuna as usually, bowed down in front of the lord and asked him to be by his side. Krishna agreed, blessed Arjuna and became his charioteer. Both armies assembled, face to face, ready to march on each other. Before that happened, Arjuna wanted to survey the positions of the enemy army and hence asked Krishna to drive the chariot and place it in between the two armies. Krishna did.
Arjuna, at the sight of the enemy army was awestruck; not because it had great warriors and fighters but because those standing across the line as enemies were once his own. His heart tumbled as soon as his eyes met with his gurus, his friends and cousins, his kith and kin, now standing across as enemies.
As he glanced at the faces of his friends and relatives, his mind was flooded with emotions. How can I kill them? He questioned himself. The courageous and valorous Arjuna who had won the Pashupataastra from lord Shiva, now grew a cold feet. Arjuna told Krishna that he has decided not to fight. He told him how weak he was feeling and how his body is shivering and his bow is slipping out of his fist. He told Krishna how just by the thought of killing his own cousins, his legs were losing their strength to stand. How can it be Dharma to kill one’s own brothers and teachers for the sake of property? He asked Krishna. He told Krishna that he want to withdraw from this battle. (It is not that Arjuna didn’t know that he was fighting his own people before coming to the battlefield, it was only the intensity of the war which made him weak).
The Problems
Essentially, the problems faced by Arjuna was two-fold. A moral and an emotional one. Morally, he said to Krishna that, killing one’s own kith and kin for the sake of kingdom cannot be right. If he does so, he will be condemned as power hungry by many generations to come. So, he thought, he can be a great man by sacrificing everything for the sake of the larger interest and hence can become a symbol of sacrifice in the eyes of the society. Hence, he said, he did not want to fight.
Emotionally too, he said, his heart was drowning into sorrow just by the thought of the loss of his kith and kin. I cannot see them around me anymore if they die, I cannot talk to them and laugh with them and share their pleasure and sorrow. How can I shoulder that guilt my entire life? He asked Krishna. Hence, he said that he has decided to withdraw from the war.
Now, Krishna had a task on his hand. To show Arjuna the right path. The path of Dharma. Bhagawad Gita was Krishna’s answers to the problems Arjuna faced. It is the lord telling Arjuna why his arguments are wrong and why he should do his duty rather than swaying away into emotions, weakness and cowardice. It is Krishna’s lesson to Arjuna, about what exactly is Dharma and Adharma and how fighting this war was indeed, Arjuna’s Dharma (as he was a Kshatriya). It is the philosophy of duty.
It is not that, this is a conversation that took place some 5200 years ago between Krishna and Arjuna on a distant battlefield. It is not Arjuna’s problem alone that Krishna is addressing. It is to us Krishna is talking. It is we who are his audience and Arjuna was just a medium. What Arjuna faced in the battlefield is what we, every human feel, when problems and anxious moments stare us in our eyes. That uncertainty about our strength and capability, that lack of confidence, that fickleness when taking tough decisions, that constant fight between the right and the wrong; Dharma and Adharma in our minds, that fear of unfavourable results, e.t.c. are all within us. It is Krishna and Bhagawad Gita which is talking to us, with complete relevance and helping us overcome our own weaknesses to become better and better both materially and spiritually. It is only in this context can Bhagawad Gita be understood properly and be made use of.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन I
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोस्त्वकर्मणि II
