सञ्जय उवाच |
तं तथा कृपयाविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम् |
विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदन: || 1||
sañjaya uvācha
taṁ tathā kṛipayāviṣhṭamaśhru pūrṇākulekṣhaṇam
viṣhīdantamidaṁ vākyam uvācha madhusūdanaḥ
Literal Translation: Sanjay said: Seeing Arjun overwhelmed with pity, his mind grief-stricken, and his eyes full of tears, Shree Krishna spoke the following words.
Commentary:
Many a times in life, we are struck with anxiety, nervousness, loneliness and the worst of all- the feeling of helplessness- so much so- that it can cause us to believe that we do not know anything about ourselves and that we are going through an existential crisis.
We try to look around ourselves and we witness pain and sadness engulfing the entire world.
We tend to cry for our sorrows, show compassion to others who are drenched in misery and lament for our selves being misdirected and disoriented.
Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance.
In the above verse 'kṛipayā' (meaning compassion) has been used in 2 senses:
The divine compassion that Gods and saints feel when they see the worldly souls suffering incessantly.
The compassion that the worldly beings (like us) feel when we see the bodily distress of others.
Here, Arjun is feeling the compassion of the second kind. He is overwhelmed with pity towards his enemies gathered for the battle.
However, Arjun himself is going through suffering, grief and helplessness. He himself is in dire need of compassion.
Doesn't this sound familiar? While consciously we think that grief or suffering is going to occur only if something "happens" or in other words if “something bad befalls us.”
However, the truth is that even without anything happening, we suffer all the time. How?
By worrying indefinitely about our past and our future.
By not even trying to 'feel' our present.
By comparing our lives to others' lives endlessly.
By letting our egos stop us from doing something our heart wants us to do.
By taking ourselves too seriously.
By 'not letting go' of the harsh and hurtful words or actions that someone sometime might have said or done towards us.
By doubting our potential.
By restraining ourselves through the rules of society.
By constantly remembering our loved ones who might be living very far from us.
By not forgiving others or worse- by not forgiving ourselves.
In this verse, Shree Krishna has been called "Madhusudan". He had been given this name when he had once destroyed a demon named "Madhu".
Interestingly, now he is supposed to destroy the demon of doubt and weakness that has crept into Arjun's mind and now ruling over him.
Another thing to note is that the verse does NOT say that "Shree Krishna spoke to Arjun". Instead it says that "Shree Krishna spoke the following words."
This is only to emphasise that GOD himself has uttered the very first words in this whole conversation (i.e. the Gita) and those words are said not to Arjun alone but to each and every one of us who are willing to listen to Him.
Arjun was fortunate for he had none other than God Himself in front of him during the time he was at his lowest and that too, in the middle of a civil war.
Not all of us have a guide, let alone a guide as great as Shree Krishna, when we feel lost, undecided, weak-willed or vulnerable.
But I believe that is what Gita will be to us! A guide, a teacher and a friend- when we don't know anymore of what is right and what is not. Of what we ought to do and what not we ought to do.
So here let us begin our journey:
To read the 'Song of God'.
To read 'Bhagwat Gita'.
To understand ourselves.
शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं
विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्ण शुभाङ्गम् ।
लक्ष्मीकान्तं कमलनयनं योगिभिर्ध्यानगम्यम्
वन्दे विष्णुं भवभयहरं सर्वलोकैकनाथम् ॥
Great headstart to a fulfilling journey. 😊
All the best 👍
What a great explanation 👏 👌 👍 🙌