# Bhagavad Gita Overview, Chapter 1 || Chaitanya Charan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uomdA1uJW0w

[00:01] Oh,
[00:23] speech speech.
[00:35] One child.
[00:58] Hishnaishnaishnaishna
[01:11] Again Lord please guide us all as we try to dive deep into the wisdom of the words that you have shared with us and thus we can come closer to those words and closer to Hurry Krishna.
[01:28] So I am grateful and delighted to be here with all of you on this what we can call as the 18th session Gita Yakya that we have been trying to do.
[01:39] So the way I plan to do this is the Gita has uh 700 verses and we won't be able to recite or discuss all of them but broadly say if we have one session for about 1 to one and a half hours we'll try to take about five or six verses from each chapter broadly from each major section of the chapter and that way we will try to get
[02:11] a sense of that chapter as well as a sense of the flow of what is happening in the Bhagwat Gita.
[02:20] So let's begin with the first chapter first verse.
[02:29] the Gita begins with let's so I'll tell the meaning of you know some of the verses but still it's good to understand the meaning and then we'll recite it.
[02:40] So the way we'll do try to do this is we will I'll tell the meaning we'll recite each line understanding the meaning first and then we'll recite the whole words.
[02:48] So theashtra it's straightforward is to speak.
[02:56] is to speak is to emit or to bring about it speech.
[02:59] So he says dhmakri kuruketri that on that place of dharma which is known as kuruketra.
[03:10] So dhmakri kurukhakri
[03:17] Samita means assembled.
[03:19] They're assembled for what purpose?
[03:25] For the purpose of fighting.
[03:35] My my people it is my sons and pandas
[03:40] the sons of pandu both of them have assembled over there.
[03:52] means what?
[03:55] kurat that comes from the word kuru ka.
[03:58] What do you have in Hindi?
[03:58] Do what did they do?
[04:01] Kim Akura Sanjay.
[04:06] He is asking this question to his assistant Sanjay
[04:08] who is his eyes and eyes and basically ears for understanding what is happening on the battle prim.
[04:18] But he's asking him.
[04:24] So let us recite this once together.
[04:42] Thank you.
[04:45] So here the Bhagat Gita has how many chapters in your nose?
[04:52] 18.
[04:53] 18 chapters.
[04:53] And how many verses?
[04:55] 700.
[04:55] 700 verses.
[04:55] Yes, I just mentioned that.
[05:03] So now out of these, the first chapter has 46 verses and the first chapter is more or less setting the scene.
[05:15] The Gita as a conversation
[05:20] can be understood at broadly three levels.
[05:26] The Gita conversation it is first of all a conversation between Krishna and Arjun and that has not yet begun.
[05:40] Then at a bigger level the Gita is spoken as a conversation between Sanjay andtra that is what has begun right now with Darashtra's question this comes in 1.1.
[05:55] so this is 1.1 to 1878 the core discussion between Krishna and Arjuna actually begins at 82.7 and ends in 1873.
[06:08] uh now before that there is some discuss that happens but we'll come to that.
[06:12] Now beyond this these are two levels of discussion.
[06:14] Now at another level so this is you could say the Gita is a historical conversation.
[06:23] So historical means what happened at a particular time in history.
[06:29] But beyond that the Gita is also meant to be a conversation between the paramatma and the atma.
[06:40] So ultimately the Gita this level conversation is an eternal conversation.
[06:49] So what we want to do is not just study the Gita but by studying the Gita we understand that we as the soul atma are there in our hearts and the paramatma Krishna is there in our hearts.
[07:02] Even our body is like a chariot and within this our lord is present.
[07:10] So as we study the Gita as we internalize the Gita the Gita will become a part of us and just as the words that Krishna spoke to Arjuna those words at the right.
[07:23] time will come to us.
[07:27] they will start manifesting in our heart giving us guidance and helping us make healthier decisions just as the Gita helped Arjuna make a healthy decision.
[07:41] So we are right now at this second level of the conversation.
[07:47] So this is spoken where is this conversation happening?
[07:54] No this conversation second level conversation.
[07:56] Yes.
[08:00] Correct.
[08:00] So the locations are the Krishna and Arjuna conversation is in Kurukhetra.
[08:05] The [snorts] Sanjay theashtra conversation is inur.
[08:12] So when this conversation is happening he is asking the tarashtra is asking Sanjay what happened and the Gita starts with this narrative frame
[08:27] you know sometimes in a movie the action can start right where the maybe the hero meets the heroine or it can start with a background you know there's this family over here and this family over here and these Families are arch enemies
[08:44] and then when that buildup happens and then when the hero and heroine meet and then any relationship with them is doomed right from the beginning.
[08:55] So sometimes we can start right from the heart of the action and then give a background.
[08:59] Sometimes we give the background and then come to the heart of the action.
[09:03] So both ways are there.
[09:06] Some there's a gradual build up.
[09:09] So the Gita is building up and why this building up is going to happen is also going to be revealed as we move forward.
[09:16] But it starts with this outer conversation withashtra is asking
[09:21] and the first word that the thrashtra speaks is what?
[09:25] Dharma it's dhmaketra
[09:29] but even than that if you consider that to be a compound word the first word is dharma and the whole gita is dhmad
[09:40] it is a question about dharma
[09:43] now what is the meaning of dharma that itself is a big question and the gita at least seven or eight meanings of the word dharma come in the gita itself
[09:53] we'll discuss them as they come but in this context Next when he's using the word dharma he is using that as a adjective
[10:03] dharma can be a noun what nowadays the word dharma is used in terms of religion
[10:09] so it is a
[10:14] so we ask what is a religion so there dharma is a noun but here when it begins dhmakra dhmakra kurukait
[10:23] so The chetra is is the you could say the noun
[10:30] and the describer of the chetra is dharma.
[10:33] dharma it's not that simple actually yes.
[10:37] it's dharmakshetra is also a describer of kuretra so you could say it like uh.
[10:44] if somebody says hey.
[10:48] uh that is a elegant door so door is the noun elegant is the describe the adjective.
[10:57] but that is a antique wood elegant door.
[11:06] So antique wood is a description of the door but wood is a description of the content.
[11:12] Antique is not the door.
[11:14] Antique is the wood.
[11:17] So basically it starts with dhmaketra as adjective describing kuruketra this place.
[11:20] Now why would he begin with this?
[11:24] The central inquiry is a war is going to happen over there and actually he wants to know what.
[11:32] happened in the war ultimately wants to know who is winning.
[11:35] who won.
[11:38] So say if a cricket match is going on and we are somewhere we can't watch the cricket match we can't get the news.
[11:44] So you ask someone hey what is the score?
[11:46] That's what you would want to know.
[11:49] But if we knew for example that the rail is going likely over there and red may cancel the match or curtail the match
[11:57] [snorts] then we may say in that rainy place where the match is happening what happened when the teams came to play isn't it?
[12:05] So if the biggest concern for somebody is is the match going to happen or not then the first thing they'll say in that rainy place isn't it?
[12:17] So it's like that Dhmachetra is like the rainy place for a cricket match.
[12:20] What that means is that is the concern in his mind.
[12:27] So that what happens for a match the rain can cancel the match.
[12:29] Rain can
[12:32] change the trajectory of the match.
[12:34] So his fear is that this dharma how is it going to influence?
[12:38] So dhakri kuruketa they came for fighting.
[12:45] So like in that rainy place when they came to play the match what did they do?
[12:53] Now in one sense you're already answering the question they have come to fight and what did they do?
[13:00] If they came to fight they will fight that seems to be a straightforward answer.
[13:05] It's uh see when somebody asks a stupid question uh stupid is a stupid word to describe it.
[13:12] A question whose answer seems to be obvious.
[13:17] A if somebody asks the question whose answer seems to be obvious either the questioner is stupid or the the person who supposed to answer the question is stupid that they don't understand the unspoken question in the
[13:32] question.
[13:34] Isn't it?
[13:34] So there is something more going on over there.
[13:37] If they if say some terrorists have put a bomb in a hotel
[13:40] and then they know that that bomb is a time bomb and they they wanted to explode when all the guests have assembled and they're about to eat the food.
[13:44] So then they ask that when everybody sat down, everybody came to eat in the kitchen, what did they do?
[13:53] Duh, they ate.
[13:59] That would be the obvious answer.
[14:04] But the question is, did the bomb explode?
[14:06] Did they all run away?
[14:08] Did somebody warn them beforehand?
[14:11] Did they not come in over there?
[14:13] So there is here basically there is [snorts] an unspoken question that is more important than the spoken question.
[14:16] So that is greater than more important than the question is what did they do?
[14:37] That's a spoken question.
[14:40] So the unspoken question is how were they influenced by the place of dharma?
[14:51] By dharma.
[14:54] Now dharma is virtue, sacred, holy.
[14:58] So in that holy place how were they influenced?
[15:03] So that is his question and Sanjay is intelligent enough to understand that question.
[15:11] That's why now his concern is that the war is going to happen.
[15:15] How will that dharma influence?
[15:17] So basically now dharma broadly you could say it's piety, sanctity, uh spirituality, holiness.
[15:31] This is a holy place.
[15:33] So now his concern is that primarily how is it
[15:39] going to influence Duryodhan?
[15:42] To some extent Darashtra himself knows that Duryodhan is on the choice of the side of al Dharma.
[15:51] So Vitarashtra is concerned how would that place influence Duryodhan that is his question and he's worried would that weaken him?
[16:07] Would that lead him to not fighting?
[16:10] Now it could affect in many different ways.
[16:12] Maybe the place of dharma would weaken Duryodudan's will to fight.
[16:15] Maybe it would weaken Dash's will to fight because we think we should not fight.
[16:20] So he wants to know what happened over there.
[16:23] So he starts with Duryodhan and that's why the next verse goes to Duryodhan and what does he say?
[16:44] So he says that on that battlefield so there were the kowavas on one side the pandas was on the other side.
[16:50] So right now the camera's focus is on the kowavas.
[17:02] So he starts with here Duryodhan is on his chariot and what he does is he immediately goes to the chariot of Dona.
[17:17] Now next to him is Bishma.
[17:21] So what he's speaking is audible to Vishma also but he's going towards Raja.
[17:27] So he starts speaking.
[17:30] So here why does the Gita start with this particular incident?
[17:33] You could say at one level it is because Duryodhan is concerned DRashtra is concerned about Duryodhan but it's also going to depict Duryodhan's mentality.
[17:47] So when he sees hey the pandas have formed their military formations their battle falls in a very impressive and aggressive way.
[18:02] Like say one team is batting and they have scored a mountain of runs and then when the other team comes to bat sometimes the team might be demoralized.
[18:13] If it's a T20 match and the other team has scored something like 250 50 or 300 run on how are we going to reach that also when the team comes out they might be very demoralized because it's such a difficult task.
[18:27] But suppose the opposing team comes with full aggressive intent then what will happen is the the captain on the other side may just okay you know hey they're coming such aggressive mode maybe we have to change our fielding arrangement we have to make some change our plans.
[18:42] So Duryodhan is surprised a little shaken also to see the sheer.
[18:50] aggressive and impressive arrangement of the Pandawa's army and thus he goes to talk with Duna.
[18:58] and then now why to Dona see generally speaking it is a captain.
[19:05] now Duryodhan is not exactly the captain.
[19:07] he's the commander he is the person who is de facto the king he although the darashtra is the king actually speaking.
[19:17] So in English there are two words de facto and de official.
[19:21] This is German.
[19:24] D official means who is officially the king.
[19:26] So de official who is the king?
[19:30] Sitraashtra and def factor who is the king.
[19:34] Duryodhana.
[19:36] So this has happened 10 15 10 12 years ago before in Indian government.
[19:40] There's one person on the prime minister's chair and there's another person in.
[19:43] So this word raja in this particular
[19:52] verse it has could have both meanings.
[19:54] raja.
[19:56] So it is duryodan spoke these words or
[20:00] raja
[20:02] these were the words that were spoken
[20:04] that raja can mean both.
[20:08] So it is a subtle it can also be like a
[20:11] subtle dig a taunt at draashi you are
[20:14] sitting on the king's throne but you are
[20:15] not really having the power all the
[20:18] power is with duryodana he's going there
[20:20] so raja breathe and then why is he going
[20:24] to dona because he is concerned
[20:30] about the commitment
[20:33] the loyalty
[20:35] of some of the people on his Okay. So
[20:39] among the people on his side whose
[20:42] loyalty is Duryodhan most concerned
[20:44] about
[20:46] Hishma and Dona. They are both powerful
[20:49] but both of them they didn't have the
[20:52] heart to fight.
[20:55] They would much rather have avoided the
[20:57] war. So how committed they are that is
[21:01] the question for him. Now especially he
[21:04] sees in how well the opposite side has
[21:07] formed the army. He sees in this an
[21:11] opportunity to insight Dona
[21:16] because the opposite army's commander is
[21:20] Dona's disciple.
[21:23] Who is that?
[21:26] Yes. Aljuna is the major commander
[21:28] butish.
[21:32] Before
[21:34] the war there's a discussion Arjuna is
[21:36] by far the best archer
[21:39] on the Pandava side but should Arjuna
[21:42] become the commander
[21:44] when if Arjuna had wanted he could have
[21:46] very easily become the commander but
[21:48] [snorts] they all decide that Arjuna is
[21:52] such a good fighter let him just fight
[21:56] let him not have to worry about the
[21:58] overall strategy and who is doing what
[21:59] where. So like some some player might be
[22:02] a very good batsman and if you put the
[22:06] make them the captain that might detract
[22:08] from their performance as a batsman. So
[22:10] let this person just focus on batting.
[22:12] [snorts]
[22:12] So like that Arjuna was the person who
[22:15] was just just fight
[22:18] the commander. It was almost a surprise
[22:20] to us that he he was not such a great
[22:23] warrior but he was made the commander
[22:25] and it was who had organized
[22:29] the army.
[22:30] So he's saying
[22:35] so he is your student who has organized
[22:38] it and this student is also who
[22:41] he's the son of your rival dupa. So
[22:45] basically he's telling him your softness
[22:51] has already caused this trouble. Now
[22:54] don't be soft again.
[22:58] So because you are soft in what you
[23:01] trained
[23:02] the son of your rival and just see how
[23:06] he has made our work difficult. So
[23:08] that's why he's taunting him. Don't be
[23:09] soft again. And then after that he
[23:11] starts assessing both the sides and he
[23:14] lists the soldiers on the opposite side.
[23:16] Then he lists the soldiers on this side
[23:18] and through all this now what is he
[23:20] trying to do? See like some people you
[23:23] know when something disturbing has
[23:26] happened.
[23:28] So
[23:30] so they they may tell someone you know
[23:33] everything everything will be all right.
[23:35] Somebody can reassure everything will be
[23:38] all right. Don't worry.
[23:40] And somebody said everything will be all
[23:42] right. Don't worry. [laughter]
[23:46] So then he asked him are you convincing
[23:48] me or are you convincing yourself?
[23:49] [laughter]
[23:54] So Dutra Suryod is both reassuring his
[23:59] army while also reassuring himself.
[24:02] [laughter]
[24:03] So he is saying yeah they have many
[24:05] warriors on their side but we have equal
[24:08] warriors and better warriors on our side
[24:11] and then as he continues speaking then
[24:14] he has spoken and he realizes that I
[24:18] [snorts] have been speaking to Dona
[24:21] and Bishma may feel snubbed by this may
[24:23] feel neglected feel disrespected
[24:27] it's
[24:28] say is a key player who wants to if the
[24:31] coach comes or the player comes and
[24:33] talks to the vice captain and doesn't
[24:34] talk with the captain.
[24:36] So he says actually bish Bishma
[24:41] he has to conclude by saying that our
[24:44] whole army is protected by bishma
[24:46] and he says their army is protected by
[24:49] bima.
[24:50] So why does he not use why does he use
[24:53] bimma? Because when vishuda is the
[24:55] commander for him bimma is a big threat.
[25:00] So bima is in the mind. they are
[25:02] protected by Bhima. So he said and he
[25:04] tries to say that Bishma is so powerful
[25:09] our strength is unlimited their strength
[25:12] is finite. So here there's a there's a
[25:16] lot of linguistic subtleties over here
[25:18] but it tries to say one thing but what
[25:21] happens sometimes words can have
[25:24] multiple meanings
[25:26] and this is how a lot of uh a lot of
[25:30] unintended humor or a word unintended
[25:34] um meanings can come out of words.
[25:38] So
[25:40] if somebody uses a word which has one
[25:42] meaning and other person takes the other
[25:44] meaning
[25:46] then okay what is going on once I was
[25:48] giving doing a program in America in UK
[25:50] actually in Leicester and after that it
[25:52] was a vigorous question answer session
[25:55] in youth meeting and after that the
[25:57] organizer came and said with a big smile
[25:58] on his face prau you killed it
[26:04] I said hey what did you what did I Kill.
[26:07] [laughter] And if you kill something,
[26:08] why are you so happy about it?
[26:11] Now killed has a secondary meaning. It
[26:14] comes from the hunting metaphor where a
[26:17] group of people would go to hunt and
[26:19] whoever would shoot would actually hit
[26:21] the target everybody congratulate you
[26:23] killed it. So now it has just become you
[26:25] killed it means you did very well. So
[26:28] this get multiple meanings. So when he
[26:31] says
[26:36] so when he uses these words so basically
[26:37] what is this
[26:39] word comes
[26:41] this can mean immeasurable
[26:45] and that is his intention
[26:48] but another meaning can be insufficient.
[26:51] The same word can have both meanings.
[26:54] And thus the very statement that he's
[26:57] saying to increase the morale
[27:02] or our strength is immeasurable. Our
[27:04] strength is insufficient.
[27:06] So it can have this ambivalent impact.
[27:10] Now he has a particular intention but
[27:11] the words he chooses they they also
[27:14] reflect to some extent nervousness. And
[27:16] then he says okay Bishwa is very
[27:18] powerful but others also have to protect
[27:19] Bishma. And then by hearing all this
[27:24] Bishma is a seasoned warrior. You know
[27:26] people who are experienced
[27:29] we may say one thing but they can
[27:34] understand what our emotions in our mind
[27:37] what are our intentions in speaking
[27:39] this. So like somebody comes and
[27:44] speaks something very sweetly to us you
[27:47] know you know suppose somebody comes and
[27:50] says to a to a wealthy person you know
[27:53] you know you are such a generous person
[27:55] you have such a large heart you have
[27:57] this
[27:59] question
[28:01] how much money do you want is it like
[28:03] you know he has not mentioned money but
[28:05] it's understood so gets tired all this
[28:08] politicking you are doing trying to
[28:09] encourage this person trying to do this
[28:10] try do that inside that person say stop
[28:13] it and he just blows his conch.
[28:17] So when he blows his conch so the
[28:20] blowing of the conch is like the
[28:22] indication that the war is now about to
[28:24] begin. So in the past war was like
[28:29] sports.
[28:31] Although people wanted to win it was not
[28:34] win at all costs. It was test of
[28:37] strength
[28:39] and skill.
[28:42] But it was as they say nowadays in also
[28:46] may the better player win or may the
[28:48] better team win. So it was like now the
[28:50] hostilities are going to begin. Now the
[28:52] war is going to begin. So when he blew
[28:54] the co the others also started blowing
[28:55] their conscious and there was indication
[28:57] from their side that the war is about to
[29:00] begin. And it is at this point
[29:04] that Sanjay if you consider Sanjay with
[29:07] the camera here we have camera over
[29:08] here. So the camera is focused on one
[29:11] side and the camera moves to the other
[29:13] side. And when the camera moves to the
[29:15] other side, let's look at that verse
[29:17] over here is the 14th verse.
[29:23] So on the other side
[29:27] is horses that with with equipped with
[29:32] white horses.
[29:40] Mahhati Mahhati is great magnificent
[29:44] is giant situated on a magnificent giant
[29:48] Mahhati
[29:55] and then who is situated Madhava Pandas
[29:58] the Gita is poetry and [snorts] there
[30:01] are many places where this poetic
[30:02] qualities of the Gita come out but then
[30:05] Krishna and Arja could have used Partha
[30:07] and Madus could have used but here the
[30:11] aliterative names are Madhava and Pava.
[30:14] So both of them are the ending is sound.
[30:18] These two people are there.
[30:25] And then
[30:28] they are they also blew their conscious
[30:30] but their conscious are divine. They're
[30:32] extremely special.
[30:36] Praatu means they they blew their
[30:38] conscious.
[30:45] together.
[31:00] So here
[31:02] is the entry of the hero. You know in
[31:07] many movies so how the hero enters is
[31:10] often quite dramatic.
[31:13] Sometimes maybe the heroine is being
[31:15] attacked by someone the hero comes
[31:17] charging on a bike and traditionally it
[31:19] was like a night in shining shining
[31:21] armor coming on a white horse or
[31:24] something like that. Nowadays in movies
[31:25] somebody might come jump from a
[31:26] helicopter. [laughter]
[31:30] So here it is described that the is the
[31:36] white horses the beautiful spectacular
[31:40] horses and then there's a magnificent
[31:43] chariot
[31:45] and as is being described suddenly
[31:48] there's a twist in the
[31:51] normally if somebody comes in a
[31:52] somebody's a hero comes in a chauffer
[31:54] car then you would expect the chauffer
[31:57] to open the door and the hero to come
[32:00] But here the hero is actually the
[32:03] chauffer. [laughter]
[32:06] So Madhava Pandasha.
[32:10] Now Krishna the supreme lord but his
[32:13] entry in the Bhagat Gita is it's quite
[32:17] disarming.
[32:19] Disarming means he's not coming in a
[32:21] huge imposing presence. He's coming as
[32:24] son to the chariot here. And it's
[32:26] interesting over here although he's a
[32:28] charioteer it's also indicated that he
[32:31] is not just a charioteer
[32:35] among all the other people who blow
[32:37] conscious are described
[32:40] it's only the warriors blowing their
[32:42] conscious are described no other place
[32:45] the chariot is blowing conscious
[32:48] here Krishna is a charioteer but he's
[32:50] also blowing a conch
[32:52] cuz he has voluntarily taken in the role
[32:55] of a charioteer. He's still a powerful
[32:58] warrior.
[33:00] And
[33:03] if you consider sports, sports is a
[33:06] physical game. But before the physical
[33:09] game, there's also a mental game going
[33:10] on. You know, before me mental game
[33:13] means, you know, each team's captain or
[33:15] players, they say, you know, we are
[33:17] going to crush them completely. I'm
[33:20] going to humiliate him. I'm going to do
[33:21] this. I'm going to do that. So you try
[33:23] to play with the minds of the other
[33:25] people and it not it it is just like
[33:29] mentally each team or each player will
[33:32] try to get the upper hand. So here it is
[33:35] described that the cowas blow their
[33:37] conscious and the pandas also blow their
[33:39] conscious and the result is the pandas
[33:43] blowing of the conscious is so
[33:45] formidable it's so resonant it is so
[33:49] impactful that
[33:55] actually the hearts of the kowas they
[33:58] are not just demoralized they are
[34:00] shattered
[34:03] so basically
[34:04] The whole trajectory that is described
[34:07] over here
[34:09] in the first few verses, the whole
[34:12] trajectory that is described is the
[34:14] pandas
[34:16] they are gaining the upper hand.
[34:20] How are they gaining the upper hand?
[34:22] First is duryodhana is shaken.
[34:26] That's what is described right in the
[34:28] beginning. That is right from the second
[34:30] verse itself. Then if you come to 10th
[34:32] verse there is Duryodhana's slip of
[34:35] tongue or whatever it is that is
[34:39] basically where he ends up saying a word
[34:42] that can have the opposite meaning then
[34:45] if we go further when both of them both
[34:48] sides blow their conscious then what
[34:50] happens is in I think it's the 18th
[34:52] verse
[34:55] yes
[34:57] shank 19th verse
[34:59] So
[35:02] [clears throat]
[35:03] the 19th vers describe that the mental
[35:06] game that is going on that hearts
[35:10] of the kowavas
[35:12] are shattered.
[35:15] So overall it seems like
[35:19] the pandas are gaining the upper hand.
[35:21] The pandas are about to win or they're
[35:25] moving towards the victory. So it's like
[35:28] in a match you know a batsman comes and
[35:30] the batsman is batting comfortably
[35:32] batsman hits a boundary then batsman
[35:33] hits a sixer and the batsman seems to be
[35:36] in a very commanding position and seems
[35:39] to carry the match away and suddenly
[35:43] it's like all the fulls come and the
[35:44] batsman just hits the ball a filter
[35:46] filter and the batsman gets out. So it's
[35:48] like they say it's like against the run
[35:50] of the plane it's going in the opposite
[35:52] direction. So it's going like this.
[35:55] Suddenly there's a no for the pandas.
[35:58] Everything seems to be going in favor of
[36:00] the pandas. But then something will
[36:03] change.
[36:05] So how will that change happen? That's
[36:07] what is described here after. So so now
[36:10] when the conscious have been blown it is
[36:12] means both sides are ready to fight. But
[36:15] when they are ready to fight Sanji, it
[36:18] seems that
[36:20] Arjuna gets a very strange desire.
[36:25] [snorts] He says, "I want to see.
[36:29] I want to see who is on the other side."
[36:38] He says I want to see who has come to
[36:40] assist support
[36:43] the wicked son of the darashtra.
[36:48] Now
[36:50] when he says I want to see
[36:55] now the obvious question may come up
[36:57] here what is there to see? It is not
[37:00] that it there are there any last moment
[37:03] alliances formed that they have got some
[37:05] new warriors on their side that he wants
[37:06] to know it like say two teams are going
[37:09] to play a cricket match that then you
[37:11] want to know have they made any last
[37:12] minute changes is there some new player
[37:14] in this team so I want to see is it that
[37:17] there's anyone new over there
[37:20] no that is not the case then why does he
[37:23] want to see exactly what is there what
[37:26] is there to see actually is it that they
[37:29] are unknown.
[37:31] That obviously is not there. They have
[37:33] been trying to make allies for months
[37:35] together. So that is also not the case.
[37:39] So what does he want to see? See what he
[37:42] wants to see is
[37:45] [clears throat] how intent
[37:48] are they to fight.
[37:50] See this is
[37:54] a frateridal fight. Fractory side what
[37:58] does it mean?
[38:01] Father's
[38:02] sorry
[38:02] father's families
[38:04] fathers
[38:05] like lineage
[38:08] from the lineage.
[38:09] So side what does side mean?
[38:13] Kill side like we have suicide
[38:16] to kill oneself. We have patricide is to
[38:19] kill the father
[38:20] like that homicide is to kill kill
[38:23] oneself
[38:24] or genocide is to kill entire uh entire
[38:28] community. So frater side is comes from
[38:31] the word it's brothers like fraternal is
[38:34] brotherly. So this is a fight among
[38:37] brothers and the pandas don't want the
[38:41] fight. They have tried their very best
[38:45] to avoid the fight and yet the fight is
[38:48] going to happen.
[38:50] So he so there is a part of the panda
[38:52] who just maybe this fight will not
[38:55] happen. They're ready for it. They know
[38:57] it's going to happen but he wants to see
[38:59] how intent are they on the fight and
[39:01] that's why he comes in the middle.
[39:05] So
[39:09] the two warriors are there and two
[39:11] armies are there and Krishna
[39:16] and Arjuna they come in the middle.
[39:18] Arjuna is asked Arjuna asks Krishna to
[39:22] bring in the middle and Krishna does
[39:23] that and Krishna does that. Krishna gets
[39:28] them right in the middle. He gets them
[39:31] and Arjun Krishna speaks something. So
[39:35] what does he speak? Let us seem.
[39:41] So among all the warriors on the other
[39:43] side Bishma and the prominent Bishma
[39:53] all of them
[39:55] they all great kings they are great
[39:57] warriors
[40:06] we spoke
[40:10] see all Warriors. [clears throat] You
[40:11] wanted to see see all these warriors.
[40:20] Then now samita was the word which came
[40:23] in the first word also. Sam used so
[40:28] all the kurus are assembled. Now the
[40:29] word kuru here refers at one sense to
[40:33] the man kurovas who are the part of the
[40:35] ruling dynasty. But in mansan the pandas
[40:38] are also kur kowas. They're in the same
[40:39] dynasty. So,
[40:52] so all of them are cereable. Let's try
[40:53] this together once.
[41:08] So here Arjuna is wanted to see and
[41:12] Krishna is saying just see behold. Now
[41:15] you'll see over here the word pasha
[41:18] comes in several verses the idea of
[41:21] seeing it start Arjuna speaks
[41:25] and he first says in the
[41:33] by which I will be able to see
[41:36] I'll be able to see systematically and
[41:38] then that's the 21 2 verse then 36th
[41:41] word
[41:43] Awake Sham I want to see. I will be able
[41:47] to see. Then
[41:52] then Krishna says see
[41:54] and then after that what happens is
[41:59] I'll see again. So in this particular
[42:03] phase this this idea of seeing is
[42:10] so before Krishna says Arjuna talks
[42:14] about seeing twice and then after that
[42:16] Sanjay is narrating also talks about
[42:17] seeing.
[42:20] So here what is being what is signified
[42:22] by using the same word again and again.
[42:26] So is it that Krishna or same idea is
[42:29] being talked again and again sometimes a
[42:31] different word sometimes even the same
[42:32] word. So the point is that here this
[42:37] seeing
[42:41] has an impact and the impact of the
[42:44] seeing is that it becomes confusing for
[42:48] him. He gets confused. His vision what
[42:53] he sees it vision it steals away his
[42:58] determination.
[43:02] So he has come with a particular
[43:03] determination but his determination goes
[43:05] down.
[43:07] [clears throat]
[43:08] So
[43:10] now among all the warriors,
[43:13] the two warriors against whom
[43:16] Arjuna has absolutely no desire to
[43:19] fight, those are Bishma and Dura. They
[43:22] are his venerable elders. Now they are
[43:25] the people with whose encouragement and
[43:27] blessings and guidance he's actually
[43:30] learned to fight and now he has to fight
[43:33] against them. this when he sees them
[43:38] assembled and their warriors although
[43:42] it's a difficult duty they are ready for
[43:43] their duty and when they are he sees
[43:47] them ready to fight he just becomes
[43:50] overwhelmed
[43:51] so thinking how can I fight with them
[43:55] [clears throat] and he starts pouring
[43:57] out his heart in confusion and despair
[44:03] this is just something I do not want to
[44:06] do
[44:07] and
[44:09] what what has happened to him he's
[44:12] basically thinking that
[44:15] if I fight against them
[44:18] what am I fighting for
[44:22] what is it that exactly I'm seeing he
[44:24] says these are a whole not just one
[44:27] generation he will list then eventually
[44:31] there are multiple generations from
[44:32] grandfathers to fathers to his peers to
[44:36] his sons to his grandsons
[44:39] all those are assembled over there. Now
[44:42] Arjuna has fought against this army
[44:46] recently only when was that.
[44:50] [cough]
[44:50] So now interestingly when he had fought
[44:53] at Virat
[44:56] the generally in a war there are the
[44:58] odds
[45:00] odds means how likely is it to win. So
[45:04] in Virat the odds were actually tougher.
[45:08] Arjun was all alone over there and the
[45:11] entire Kowav army was there. So the odds
[45:14] were tougher at that time and at that
[45:17] time Arjuna does not become sentimental.
[45:21] Arjuna is not overwhelmed by confusion
[45:24] or hesitation
[45:26] emotion in general. But now Arjuna is
[45:29] overwhelmed.
[45:31] Why is that?
[45:35] That is because the [clears throat]
[45:37] stakes
[45:39] there were lower.
[45:42] Stakes means what is at stake in that
[45:45] war. Arjuna had no desire to kill any of
[45:49] them. Arjuna just wanted to stop them.
[45:52] He wanted to protect them. They had
[45:53] attacked the Virat king and Arjun wanted
[45:55] to protect them. So he also wanted to
[45:59] show them his strength
[46:01] by which they would understand that the
[46:04] pandas cannot just be walked over. They
[46:06] cannot be neglected. They are a force to
[46:08] be reckoned with.
[46:10] But the idea is just show them the power
[46:14] and hopefully they will come to a
[46:15] peaceful
[46:17] [laughter] peaceful negot negotiating
[46:20] table reconciliation happen. But now
[46:25] when the war was going to happen, one
[46:28] side was not going to go back alive
[46:34] and therefore the stakes were much
[46:37] higher. It like say two teams say which
[46:41] say India and Australia meet in the
[46:43] league stages in a world cup and maybe
[46:46] some of Indian players are resting or
[46:48] some of Indian players are key players
[46:50] are injured in the stakes. The odds may
[46:53] be tougher but okay it's just a league
[46:55] stake match same match even if you lose
[46:57] it's no big deal but say the two teams
[46:59] meet in the finals
[47:02] and then the stakes become much higher
[47:05] in that so like that here the stakes are
[47:09] immensely high and thus Arjuna feels
[47:14] torn
[47:16] and when he feels torn so what is his
[47:21] concern what is his fear. He gives a
[47:24] series of verses but let's look at some
[47:28] key verses which
[47:32] show his his concern.
[47:36] So he says he lists out all the warriors
[47:40] are there.
[47:48] So among [snorts] the various warriors
[47:50] he says
[47:56] [clears throat]
[47:58] look at some of the verses.
[48:01] Okay let's first go back to another
[48:03] verse.
[48:09] [snorts]
[48:23] [clears throat]
[48:24] The first thing he says is nacho
[48:27] anupi
[48:29] shrea is long-term good at short-term
[48:32] level. Yeah, we'll win a kingdom but
[48:37] I can't see what long-term good will
[48:39] come out of it.
[48:47] By killing a
[48:50] particular battlefield, we kill our own
[48:52] people.
[49:00] The obvious purpose of fighting is to
[49:02] win a kingdom. He said,
[49:05] "Oh Krishna, I do not desire. I do not
[49:09] desire a kingdom.
[49:17] in the kingdom.
[49:19] The pandas have lived in the forest.
[49:21] They are they are royalty. And for them
[49:24] to live in a forest has been a great
[49:27] austerity. They run that naturally. They
[49:29] would want royal comforts back. Is it
[49:31] this killing our own relatives, it's
[49:34] just not worth it.
[49:43] And now on one side he's saying I don't
[49:46] desire the happiness but he also next he
[49:48] say that if we fight actually
[49:53] that will be sinful for us to kill all
[49:57] of them they are why it be sinful
[50:01] because they are our relatives
[50:04] and you say that but you they if you
[50:07] don't kill them they are they are
[50:09] greedy. It's okay. They are greedy. But
[50:14] then they are greedy for a kingdom and
[50:16] that's why they want to fight. But now
[50:18] if we want to fight then how are we any
[50:20] better than them? We are also greedy.
[50:23] And the difference is that greed has
[50:27] closed their eyes.
[50:29] But just because greed has closed their
[50:31] eyes, why should I let greed close my
[50:33] eyes?
[50:35] Now I can see that the cost of this will
[50:40] be terrible. And then he uses the term
[50:43] kula dharma. He says this is our
[50:46] dynasty. Protecting our dynasty is so
[50:50] important. How can I go about causing
[50:53] destruction of my dynasty?
[50:56] [clears throat]
[50:57] So many times people think that Arjuna
[50:59] just became cowardly.
[51:02] But Arjuna absolutely has not become
[51:05] covertly
[51:07] because in all the reasons that Arjuna
[51:09] gives not once does he mention fear of
[51:14] his own death.
[51:17] Not even once.
[51:19] So there is fear. No doubt Arjuna has
[51:23] fear.
[51:26] If we see he the emotion that he's going
[51:29] through is he says that my hair are
[51:32] standing my limbs are trembling my skin
[51:36] is burning my bow is slipping
[51:40] so all of this indicates that he's
[51:43] surely overwhelmed by emotion and from
[51:46] there the emotion that he is the fear at
[51:49] one level is overwhelming for him
[51:54] but what is the cause of the fear. It is
[51:58] not his own death.
[52:02] He's not afraid of death. His fear is of
[52:06] wrongdoing.
[52:08] He says this fight itself may be the
[52:11] wrong thing to do. And if I do something
[52:14] wrong, the consequences will be
[52:17] disastrous.
[52:19] It's like in a pandemic. Suppose
[52:24] there is uh
[52:27] a doctor who has been appointed to
[52:31] [snorts]
[52:32] save the patients [clears throat] and
[52:34] say maybe there is the prime minister of
[52:38] the country who is mortally sick
[52:42] and that prime minister is also severely
[52:45] infected. Now treating the prime
[52:47] minister could mean the doctor might get
[52:50] the infection.
[52:51] Now that could be one reason for
[52:53] hesitation.
[52:54] I don't want to treat it. The other
[52:56] could be this is a very critical case
[53:00] and maybe
[53:03] I don't know how to treat it. I don't
[53:06] know what treatment to give and if I do
[53:08] something wrong then the country will
[53:11] lose its leader. What might be the
[53:13] consequence of that? Maybe riots will
[53:15] broke out. Maybe unscrupulous elements
[53:18] will take advantage. maybe enemies will
[53:20] attack. So he is if a doctor
[53:26] has fear
[53:30] doctor has fear
[53:30] of treating
[53:33] um infected patient
[53:36] in the prime minister. Now it could be
[53:39] fear of being infected.
[53:42] That is one fear. But the other fear is
[53:46] the fear of
[53:48] giving wrong treatment.
[53:51] So now are both fears the same?
[53:55] Not at all. The first is a very self-
[53:58] concerned fear, self-centered fear. The
[54:02] second is the fear that comes from being
[54:07] responsible.
[54:10] Sometimes the uh sometimes people give
[54:13] seminars how to conquer your fears,
[54:17] how to become free from all fear.
[54:20] If a person is free from all fear, the
[54:23] person around people around them should
[54:25] be full of all fear. [laughter]
[54:30] See fear [cough] it is actually a
[54:33] natural protector at one level.
[54:35] If I'm if somebody's driving driving a
[54:38] car and say I have no fear of any
[54:40] accident then people in the car say we
[54:43] have too much fear we'll get out right
[54:44] now. [laughter]
[54:47] So yes we should not be conquered by our
[54:49] fears. We should not let our fear
[54:52] control us but fear is a natural
[54:57] psychological mechanism that alerts us
[55:00] to danger.
[55:02] So sometimes the more responsible a
[55:05] person is
[55:07] the more fear they may have because they
[55:10] are aware of the responsibility.
[55:13] One of my friends is a pilot
[55:16] and he tells me that every he loves
[55:20] flying planes. He said since my
[55:22] childhood I was on the hospital
[55:24] but he says every time I have to reply
[55:27] it's exciting but it's also a grave
[55:31] responsibility
[55:33] if I make a mistake. Now of course there
[55:35] are a lot of machines warning and
[55:38] supporting and there's a co-pilot and
[55:39] everything but still I make a mistake
[55:44] or people would lose their lives.
[55:48] So this is a fear coming from being
[55:53] responsible.
[55:56] So it is Arjuna's fear is coming because
[56:00] he is responsible.
[56:04] And
[56:06] this first chapter of the Bhagat Gita
[56:10] actually describes
[56:12] how Arjuna is qualified
[56:16] to gain the knowledge of the Gita
[56:18] because he's not just impulsively
[56:20] rushing rushing into actions. He's
[56:23] thinking
[56:25] am I doing the right thing? He's saying
[56:28] he's contemplating and [clears throat]
[56:30] he's articulating that maybe what I'm
[56:32] doing is not the right thing on
[56:36] maybe this is not the long-term good and
[56:39] that concern for the long-term good
[56:42] shows the caliber of Arjuna
[56:46] and such a person who is thoughtful who
[56:49] is responsible
[56:52] who is
[56:56] inquisitive positive at such a time who
[56:59] is contemplative who going to ask
[57:01] questions such a person is actually
[57:05] ready to receive the knowledge of the
[57:08] Bhagat Gita so Arjuna
[57:13] is responsible that's what makes him
[57:16] reflective
[57:18] reflective means he is reflecting he's
[57:21] thinking [snorts] and
[57:25] because he's reflective Ive now
[57:28] sometimes when you think too much it can
[57:31] make a person confused
[57:33] but sometimes a person when they think
[57:35] too much that can also lead them
[57:41] to a deeper understanding. So you know
[57:44] there is a thin line
[57:46] between overthinking
[57:49] and deep thinking
[57:51] isn't it?
[57:53] So in both
[57:57] there is actually a person is thinking
[58:01] and is thinking in both cases you could
[58:04] say there is thinking
[58:07] [snorts] more than usual
[58:13] now but you could say the overthinking
[58:17] is negative deep thinking is positive.
[58:22] So the Gita will actually take Arjuna in
[58:27] chapter one. Arjuna is doing in some
[58:29] ways he's thinking but his thinking is
[58:32] going towards overthinking. So the
[58:34] difference between overthinking and deep
[58:36] thinking is one key difference is
[58:38] overthinking just keeps going round and
[58:40] round and round and round. It gets
[58:41] nowhere. It just but deep thinking it
[58:45] goes deeper and deeper. So
[58:50] deep overthinking is basically
[58:53] uh it is pointless or aimless.
[58:56] It is deep thinking is directed. It is
[59:01] overthinking is directionless.
[59:05] So it just goes round and round and
[59:06] round. So Arjuna's thinking right now is
[59:09] going round and round and that is not
[59:11] good. But see the fact that he is
[59:13] thinking
[59:15] that is good that is laudable.
[59:18] And now as Arjuna is thinking
[59:22] we come to the last verse in the series.
[59:25] So what is Arjuna's essential dilemma
[59:27] over here that will be articulated
[59:30] towards the end.
[59:41] So so
[59:44] means one who destroys
[59:48] the duty of the dynasty or duty toward
[59:51] the dynasty.
[59:59] Manush is that human being whoever it
[01:00:02] may be. Oh Krishna
[01:00:11] is hell constantly perpetually
[01:00:15] a person will go forever to hell.
[01:00:24] This is what will happen to such a
[01:00:26] person
[01:00:28] I have heard this from authorities from
[01:00:31] great souls. So Arjuna is trying to find
[01:00:35] he's thinking himself but he's also
[01:00:39] trying to find guidance for his thinking
[01:00:42] by by resorting to thinkers. He says
[01:00:45] those those are thoughtful people those
[01:00:47] are sages from them I have heard they
[01:00:49] say that if somebody destroys the
[01:00:52] dynasty that person will go to hell
[01:01:00] together.
[01:01:14] So basically
[01:01:16] Arjuna's dilemma over here is that
[01:01:19] Arjuna
[01:01:20] is torn between two duties, two dharmas.
[01:01:25] One dharma which he came to fight was
[01:01:28] the chhatria dharma. As a warrior he has
[01:01:32] to fight but now
[01:01:35] he is also reminded very forcefully of
[01:01:39] his kula dharma his duty to his dynasty
[01:01:44] and darcy
[01:01:47] should I
[01:01:51] do my professional duty or should I do
[01:01:55] my dynastic duty my family duty which
[01:01:58] one is more important
[01:02:01] So imagine if there's a doctor
[01:02:06] and doctor has a critically ill patient
[01:02:11] who needs
[01:02:14] an organ transplant.
[01:02:19] Now that person is a very important
[01:02:22] person and any organ transplant if they
[01:02:24] get the organ transplant they'll be seen
[01:02:27] and wherever an organ is available the
[01:02:29] doctor should get the doctor but imagine
[01:02:31] at that same time
[01:02:34] the doctor's son has met with a lethal
[01:02:37] accident
[01:02:40] and they may die or not die. It's likely
[01:02:43] but you don't know is he going to die
[01:02:46] and then that organ
[01:02:49] can go to this person.
[01:02:52] So now should the doctor take away the
[01:02:56] life support from the sun so that they
[01:02:58] can give the organ to that other person.
[01:03:01] Now we say that oh this son is being so
[01:03:04] critically met with an accident that the
[01:03:06] chances of survival are practically
[01:03:08] zero.
[01:03:10] But still like is my son
[01:03:14] I would like my son to live for as long
[01:03:17] as possible to try to keep the life
[01:03:19] support as long as possible but take out
[01:03:22] the life support it's like I am killing
[01:03:24] that person
[01:03:26] so the professional duty says that say
[01:03:30] save this patient maybe that patient's
[01:03:32] likelihood of being saved is very high
[01:03:35] but
[01:03:36] if that patient doesn't get the uh organ
[01:03:39] organ okay that's bad but if to give
[01:03:44] that patient the organ I have to remove
[01:03:46] life support from here so in one sense
[01:03:49] you could say here both of them are
[01:03:51] critically ill but there are high
[01:03:53] survival chances here
[01:03:56] h
[01:03:58] and here there are for the son low
[01:04:00] survival chances
[01:04:02] but still
[01:04:04] it's not an easy decision
[01:04:07] so Arjuna feels is that how can I fight
[01:04:11] over here? [cough and clears throat]
[01:04:13] If I if I fight, I'm going to kill my
[01:04:15] own relatives. Yes, I'm a warrior, I
[01:04:18] meant to fight. But but these are my own
[01:04:22] people. Now, of course, another part of
[01:04:25] Arjuna moves that just because I don't
[01:04:28] fight doesn't mean the war is going to
[01:04:31] get over. I may not want to fight, but
[01:04:34] the kumas are not likely to stop
[01:04:36] fighting. Even if we just give up our
[01:04:40] claim to the kingdom, the kowas may
[01:04:43] still chase those attack users in the
[01:04:44] forest. And then will I not protect my
[01:04:47] own family?
[01:04:49] I may be ready to die also. But will I
[01:04:53] be ready to see my own brothers and my
[01:04:55] wife being killed?
[01:04:57] Yes.
[01:04:59] Or even if I they don't persecute me,
[01:05:03] there are so many warriors who have come
[01:05:06] to support us.
[01:05:08] The kowavas will try to settle try to
[01:05:12] persecute them. You chose the opposite
[01:05:14] side like in a political party you know
[01:05:18] say the two political parties are there
[01:05:19] in a in a election and say one party
[01:05:23] wins and they try to find out who
[01:05:25] support who gave funds to the other
[01:05:26] political party. Now we will teach you a
[01:05:29] lesson. You supported them. So oh they
[01:05:31] will get after they'll go after our
[01:05:33] allies. Can I can I watch that
[01:05:35] happening? So basically for him he sees
[01:05:40] how horrible fighting will be. Another
[01:05:43] side he says not fighting is also no
[01:05:45] real solution.
[01:05:47] So he becomes so overwhelmed that he
[01:05:52] just puts aside his
[01:06:00] so chapter ends with Arjuna putting
[01:06:02] aside his power
[01:06:05] saying
[01:06:07] he basically says I won't fight but it's
[01:06:11] more
[01:06:12] I just don't know what to do. I just
[01:06:15] don't know what to do.
[01:06:17] And this Arjuna's bow
[01:06:22] actually
[01:06:24] it represents
[01:06:26] our determination.
[01:06:28] The life can put all of us in situations
[01:06:33] where we lose our determination.
[01:06:36] And at the start of the Gita,
[01:06:38] Arjuna's bow is lowered.
[01:06:44] By the end of the Gita, [clears throat]
[01:06:48] Arjuna's bow will be raised once again.
[01:06:52] And the Gita helps Arjuna regain his
[01:06:56] vision, regain his determination,
[01:06:59] regain his enthusiasm.
[01:07:01] And similarly for all of us, life's
[01:07:04] perplexities may just discourage us, may
[01:07:08] make us want to put aside our hope. If
[01:07:10] we understand the message of the Gita,
[01:07:13] we all can be inspired to raise our go
[01:07:18] in readiness to fight. So how that
[01:07:21] happens, how the Gita gives such a
[01:07:24] morale boosting message that we'll
[01:07:27] discuss over our future sessions. So
[01:07:30] I'll summarize what to discuss today
[01:07:35] broadly in this chapter one overview
[01:07:37] that we did.
[01:07:42] We discussed we started with discussing
[01:07:43] a 1.1 where we discussed how the
[01:07:46] significance of the word dharma that is
[01:07:50] the question over there is what
[01:07:52] influence is it going to have
[01:07:55] that's why you ask that the dharmaketra
[01:07:58] what happened so it's a self-evident
[01:08:00] question but it's not actually a
[01:08:01] self-evident question there's something
[01:08:02] deeper going on and what it shows from
[01:08:05] 1.2 into 111 is that there is no
[01:08:09] influence
[01:08:11] on Duryodhan
[01:08:14] that Duryodhan continues to be his
[01:08:17] normal politicking self although he's
[01:08:20] shaken but he tries to cover it up and
[01:08:23] he continues politicking you know inside
[01:08:26] this person speak this way to that
[01:08:28] person try to go that person so
[01:08:32] dharma has no effect over there but then
[01:08:35] What happens we discussed is that in
[01:08:38] 1.14 we discussed Krishna's injury
[01:08:43] and over here all that is going on is
[01:08:47] basically the Pandavas
[01:08:50] seem to be getting a upper hand.
[01:08:54] The the way things are moving is that
[01:08:58] first Duryodhan was shaken
[01:09:01] then he had a slip of tongue.
[01:09:04] He spoke some then what happened was
[01:09:07] that their hearts were shattered when
[01:09:09] the conscious were blown. So overall
[01:09:12] things seemed to be going in a
[01:09:13] particular way but then suddenly
[01:09:17] something happens. What is that?
[01:09:20] Actually dharma
[01:09:22] has a influence on Arjuna.
[01:09:26] The place of dharma does not cause any
[01:09:30] rethinking
[01:09:32] for duryodan but causes rethinking for
[01:09:36] Arjuna. So Arjuna sees
[01:09:40] and after sees what happens is he feels
[01:09:45] he feels fear. He feels fear but the
[01:09:48] fear is not of death. It is a fear of
[01:09:54] fear of
[01:09:55] wrongdoing.
[01:09:57] So
[01:09:59] we discuss how here Arjuna is he
[01:10:03] actually responsible
[01:10:05] and he is reflective.
[01:10:08] So these are his qualifications
[01:10:12] that have been demonstrated for
[01:10:15] receiving the Gita.
[01:10:19] He will be able to receive the knowledge
[01:10:20] of Gita because he's responsible and
[01:10:22] reflective. We discussed the responsible
[01:10:24] means like a doctor worried what I
[01:10:27] should do what I should not do that not
[01:10:29] because the doctor is afraid of catching
[01:10:31] the infection but doctor worried that I
[01:10:34] may not be able to treat the important
[01:10:35] person properly. Then we discussed what
[01:10:37] was Arjuna's dilemma. Dilemma was two
[01:10:41] duties were pulling him in opposite
[01:10:44] directions.
[01:10:46] One was
[01:10:48] his chhatria dharma which he had come
[01:10:51] ready to do that is I'll fight other was
[01:10:54] his kula dharma. How can I fight against
[01:10:57] my relatives? And he just felt
[01:11:02] and then lastly we discussed how
[01:11:05] eventually [snorts]
[01:11:08] that Arjuna who is demoralized
[01:11:11] Arjuna's Gandhiva
[01:11:14] it is b it is lowered but by the Gita's
[01:11:17] message it will become raised. So same
[01:11:21] way I mean we started by discussing how
[01:11:23] the Gita is a three-level conversation.
[01:11:27] So it is a Krishna Arja conversation,
[01:11:30] Sanja Dutrashtra conversation and it is
[01:11:32] a karma and atma conversation. So at
[01:11:36] this level we all can also become
[01:11:41] energized, enthused, enlightened by the
[01:11:45] Gita and this is in fact the timeless
[01:11:49] objective of the Gita. But when we feel
[01:11:52] overwhelmed, when we feel confused, how
[01:11:54] can we elevate ourselves?
[01:11:59] So I have written a [snorts]
[01:12:02] small poem which describes Arjuna's
[01:12:05] plight in chapter one of the Gidda.
[01:12:07] [snorts] So I'll read this out. So
[01:12:09] Arjuna is feeling how how can I fight
[01:12:13] and kill those whose pleasure is my
[01:12:16] heart's will? A kingdom is worth no more
[01:12:20] than mere mud if it's caught at the cost
[01:12:23] of their blood. Killing them will make
[01:12:26] the this world into hell and send me a
[01:12:30] wild killer to eternal hell. Better I
[01:12:35] live penniless or die defenseless
[01:12:38] than fight for a greed that makes me
[01:12:41] heartless.
[01:12:42] Fighting this war is a thing never to
[01:12:45] do. Fighting this war is the only thing
[01:12:48] to do. So shout to parts of me with much
[01:12:52] ado. I don't know. I just don't know
[01:12:56] what to do.
[01:13:01] [applause]
[01:13:13] Do we have time for questions? Should we
[01:13:14] take it?
[01:13:16] We'll take a few questions. How you have
[01:13:18] some mic? Yeah.
[01:13:19] Yes. Yes, please.
[01:13:23] I couldn't understand
[01:13:27] like how was very well qualified for
[01:13:30] receiving Gita's knowledge like he
[01:13:32] didn't thought about all this before
[01:13:36] like there were months of preparations
[01:13:37] going on he's just thinking like at the
[01:13:40] right moment now it's time to fight
[01:13:43] everything is prepared everything is at
[01:13:44] its peak
[01:13:46] now he's thinking about it so it's oh
[01:13:48] he's like very well qualified
[01:13:50] well it's okay it is not that they are
[01:13:52] not thought about this before the this
[01:13:55] is the bishu parva before that there are
[01:13:57] two parvas mainly the yoga parva in the
[01:14:02] yoga parva the pandas are doing two
[01:14:04] things they are gaining allies for the
[01:14:07] fight and they are trying to do peace
[01:14:10] negotiations to avoid the fight and
[01:14:12] there is that deliberation happening so
[01:14:15] this whole point of kulah dharma and
[01:14:18] dharma these two duties talks about it
[01:14:21] Krishna talks talks about it. That's why
[01:14:23] there's a lot of hesitation,
[01:14:24] deliberation. But this comes at a flash
[01:14:28] point that
[01:14:31] when the actual war is about to happen,
[01:14:33] these questions come with a far more
[01:14:38] crushing impact.
[01:14:40] It's uh when the actual situation comes,
[01:14:44] the gravity of it becomes much more
[01:14:46] real.
[01:14:49] Like say somebody has to become a
[01:14:51] surgeon then you have to actually cut
[01:14:54] open a human cadaavver a human body now
[01:14:57] you say yeah I can cut it actually when
[01:15:00] you see a human body even if it is dead
[01:15:02] we start cutting it at that time it's
[01:15:05] not easy so Arjuna has thought about
[01:15:08] this earlier but now when the gravity
[01:15:11] the immensity of the situation comes
[01:15:14] upon him it all registers with far
[01:15:16] greater force
[01:15:19] So all the previous thinking that had
[01:15:21] happened has now become much much more
[01:15:24] real.
[01:15:33] Uh you said that uh there are different
[01:15:35] meanings to like Sanskrit words there
[01:15:38] are different meanings to it. Uh how do
[01:15:40] we know that what uh meaning that what
[01:15:43] meaning we have to use what meaning that
[01:15:44] particular context?
[01:15:46] Yes. So meanings
[01:15:50] are determined in general universal
[01:15:52] principal language. There's content and
[01:15:55] there is context.
[01:15:58] We look at what is being said and look
[01:16:00] at where it is being said and based on
[01:16:03] that we learn. So that is why we cannot
[01:16:07] just use a dictionary.
[01:16:10] Somebody has to actually understand that
[01:16:12] language. You can't just look at a
[01:16:14] dictionary look at this word look at
[01:16:15] that word. The more you understand the
[01:16:17] language you have to understand the
[01:16:19] subject
[01:16:21] to understand the world view over there.
[01:16:25] So basically to understand it first of
[01:16:28] all language is important but beyond
[01:16:31] language there is subject just like say
[01:16:35] uh suppose there is some very important
[01:16:38] book on physics
[01:16:41] that is in English and say it is to
[01:16:43] translate into Hindi. So just because
[01:16:46] somebody knows English very well, can
[01:16:50] they translate that book? Yeah,
[01:16:52] knowledge of English is necessary.
[01:16:54] But you need something much more, isn't
[01:16:56] it? Because physics is subject in
[01:16:59] itself. So first knowledge of English is
[01:17:02] required. Then language of the so
[01:17:05] knowledge of knowledge of language is
[01:17:07] required then knowledge of the subject
[01:17:08] is required. Then after that it is best
[01:17:13] if there is knowledge of the author also
[01:17:16] because each author speaks in a
[01:17:18] particular way writes in a particular
[01:17:20] way. So that's why to understand the
[01:17:22] Gita one needs knowledge of Sanskrit one
[01:17:25] needs knowledge of the philosophy of
[01:17:27] those times and one needs knowledge of
[01:17:31] the speaker Krishna.
[01:17:33] When all these three are there then that
[01:17:35] person is actually qualified to properly
[01:17:39] understand and explain the
[01:17:42] Gita has a commentarial tradition and a
[01:17:44] person who has who doesn't come as a
[01:17:48] part of the commentary commentarial
[01:17:49] tradition that is the tradition of
[01:17:50] commentators they may write something on
[01:17:53] the Gita Brahan would say often that
[01:17:55] such such translations of the Gita they
[01:17:58] are not Bhagat Gita as it is they are
[01:18:01] Bhagita as you
[01:18:03] [laughter]
[01:18:06] So basically we bring our own
[01:18:08] conceptions into Gita at that time.
[01:18:11] Yes please. Okay the mic is here.
[01:18:14] Can you hear first go? Leave it here.
[01:18:21] Harrishna first thank you for giving
[01:18:23] such an interesting explanation on the
[01:18:25] first chapter. Uh like my doubt is
[01:18:28] regarding the overall discussion of
[01:18:29] Bhagat Gita. uh like if a friend if a
[01:18:33] friend askked from his friend about the
[01:18:35] uh how to play cricket he will answer
[01:18:38] about that topic but uh in Gita we see
[01:18:42] that he the confusion in Arjun's mind is
[01:18:45] regarding his dharma but Krishna has
[01:18:48] answered other things also like karmog
[01:18:51] and bakti yog and all other stuff like
[01:18:54] uh the other friend is giving the rules
[01:18:56] of cricket and tennis golf geography
[01:18:59] history all things other things also. So
[01:19:02] uh so so how is this explainable?
[01:19:05] Good point. It's going to come in
[01:19:07] tomorrow's session but we can mention it
[01:19:09] over here. See into any book you know it
[01:19:13] has
[01:19:15] every every book any every narrative say
[01:19:18] even a movie it is there there is
[01:19:20] something which is specific
[01:19:23] and there is something which is
[01:19:24] universal.
[01:19:26] So if you consider any movie the movie
[01:19:28] might be how her wrote this hero made
[01:19:30] this heroin how they did this how they
[01:19:32] did that but there's some universal
[01:19:34] themes there could be class differences
[01:19:37] between wealthy and poor there could
[01:19:39] cost differences there could be the
[01:19:42] movie could be about uh uh maybe
[01:19:45] geographical distances that you know one
[01:19:48] person has to go to another country
[01:19:50] there are universal themes that are
[01:19:51] there so generally speaking in a story
[01:19:55] the universal themes are addressed
[01:19:57] somewhat indirectly the focus on the
[01:20:00] specific characters [clears throat]
[01:20:01] but sometimes those characters may have
[01:20:03] discussions directly where the universal
[01:20:04] themes come up so when Arjuna asks a
[01:20:07] question in 2.7 it is this question he
[01:20:12] doesn't he asks what is dharma he does
[01:20:16] not ask should I fight a question at
[01:20:19] three levels he could have asked should
[01:20:21] I fight
[01:20:25] He could have asked what is my dharma
[01:20:31] but what he asked is simply what is
[01:20:34] that? [cough]
[01:20:35] [clears throat]
[01:20:36] So he is himself
[01:20:38] asking the question at a very universal
[01:20:40] level
[01:20:42] and so the specific is the battle
[01:20:46] but the universal theme is the right
[01:20:49] thing to do
[01:20:53] and the Gita speaks at that level
[01:20:57] because Arjuna himself raises the
[01:20:58] question at that level. If the Gita had
[01:21:00] simply spoken about you know should have
[01:21:02] been a fight should have not fight then
[01:21:04] that book would have been of interest
[01:21:06] only to people who are what we call as
[01:21:08] history buffs you know those interested
[01:21:10] in some historical battle that happened
[01:21:12] sometime [laughter]
[01:21:15] Gita has become a book of universal
[01:21:17] relevance because it addresses issues
[01:21:20] that are universal.
[01:21:23] Okay. Thank you.
[01:21:25] Yes please. It was in between you told
[01:21:27] that there was a moment when Dharaj's
[01:21:29] tongue slipped. So what was that point?
[01:21:32] That same verse.
[01:21:35] So when he uses the word aparam
[01:21:37] he intends it to be immeasurable. But
[01:21:40] the word can also have the meaning
[01:21:42] insufficient.
[01:21:44] So now which meaning will be taken?
[01:21:48] So that's that's a problem. So that in
[01:21:51] that sense it's a slip of tongue from
[01:21:53] his side.
[01:21:54] Okay. Thank you.
[01:21:56] Yes, please. Yeah, we come back to you.
[01:21:58] Don't mind. You ask one question, we
[01:22:00] come back to you. Yeah.
[01:22:06] The difference between overthinking and
[01:22:08] deep thinking. So my question is that
[01:22:10] whenever we are in a situation, so we
[01:22:14] tend to think but we cannot measure that
[01:22:16] I'm overthinking or I'm deep thinking.
[01:22:19] So how can we properly identify in those
[01:22:22] situations that if I'm overthinking or
[01:22:25] if I'm thinking the right right
[01:22:27] direction.
[01:22:29] See generally speaking
[01:22:32] a thinking is not very linear but
[01:22:36] broadly speaking. So if we can say
[01:22:40] if there is
[01:22:42] time in thinking
[01:22:45] and there is clarity in thinking.
[01:22:52] So generally speaking when we think more
[01:22:56] we'll get greater clarity but after some
[01:22:59] time we'll hit a plateau. We think more
[01:23:02] we don't get anything and after
[01:23:04] sometimes the more we think the more.
[01:23:06] [laughter]
[01:23:10] So now it is it may be possible that
[01:23:13] there is further clarity also to be got
[01:23:15] but that means we have hit the limits of
[01:23:18] our thinking. So if you have to think
[01:23:20] further we have to consult someone else.
[01:23:22] So basically uh the test is whether my
[01:23:26] thinking is increasing my clarity or
[01:23:29] decreasing my clarity. So now clarity
[01:23:32] does not necessarily mean certainty.
[01:23:34] Life is sometimes so complex that we may
[01:23:37] get clarity
[01:23:40] but we may never get certainty or we may
[01:23:44] not uh uh it's certainty is less likely
[01:23:47] but even if we get greater clarity
[01:23:49] that's good. So even if we don't clear
[01:23:52] answer what to do I just get a clearer
[01:23:55] understanding
[01:23:56] of what all is at stake. So sometimes
[01:23:59] I'm confused
[01:24:01] and I'm confused why I'm confused.
[01:24:04] Isn't it? But I'm confused and I'm clear
[01:24:07] why I'm confused. That is a better state
[01:24:10] to be.
[01:24:12] Okay, this issue is here. This issue is
[01:24:13] here and these two options I'm not able
[01:24:15] to decide which option to take. So that
[01:24:17] we might at least get greater clarity.
[01:24:20] Then if clarity is increasing it's it's
[01:24:22] deep thinking.
[01:24:25] Yes. Okay.
[01:24:29] Duryodhan has dured Duryodhan shaken
[01:24:33] even he
[01:24:37] well he was shaken because he came into
[01:24:41] the battle very overconfident
[01:24:44] in fact the previous night before the
[01:24:47] war started he sent Shahuni's son to
[01:24:50] incight
[01:24:52] to to provoke the bandas he thought that
[01:24:56] you know I have got such a big army me
[01:24:58] that I want to crush them and it won't
[01:25:01] be even a fight. It won't be much fun.
[01:25:03] He said if I anger them a little bit
[01:25:05] then there'll be some fun in fighting.
[01:25:08] So he basically sent a messenger and in
[01:25:10] that message he inserted everyone
[01:25:14] you think you're so powerful I reduced
[01:25:16] you to a mere cook
[01:25:19] and a you think you're so powerful
[01:25:21] because of me you became a unul.
[01:25:24] I basically systematically insulted
[01:25:27] everyone
[01:25:28] and now this was such an insulting
[01:25:30] message that he sent Shapi son Shapi son
[01:25:33] said first of all you know please
[01:25:34] remember that the messengers would never
[01:25:36] be punished these are not my words
[01:25:38] [laughter]
[01:25:41] I am only conveying a message [laughter]
[01:25:46] so he was so overconident this is going
[01:25:48] to be a cakewalk but when he saw how
[01:25:53] confident Ident the Pandavas were how
[01:25:56] well prepared they were so he realized
[01:25:59] see although on one side he had a ego
[01:26:01] that I'm going to win easily but still
[01:26:03] he was a warrior and he could make out
[01:26:05] you know this these are these are not
[01:26:07] going to cave in very easily like say
[01:26:09] somebody is a somebody is a trained
[01:26:12] martial martial fight martial
[01:26:15] trained martial arts and that person
[01:26:17] sees maybe they they're attacked by four
[01:26:19] five wundas now thugs they're attacking
[01:26:23] Now that person can make out like some
[01:26:25] people this person is really he's a
[01:26:28] trained fighter this person may be hefty
[01:26:29] but this person does no fighting just by
[01:26:31] their posture just by their movements
[01:26:32] you can understand a little bit so while
[01:26:35] Duryodan had that arrogance but still he
[01:26:37] was shaken I didn't expect them to be so
[01:26:40] well prepared to fight so that was the
[01:26:42] shaking
[01:26:49] you said that is qualified by because
[01:26:53] he's respons he's he is responsible and
[01:26:55] reflective what does mean reflective
[01:26:57] refle reflection reflection means
[01:27:00] thinking deep thinking so reflective
[01:27:03] means one who is doing deep thinking so
[01:27:06] he's aware of his responsibility that's
[01:27:08] responsible and he is thinking deeply
[01:27:12] about how well I can ex how how can I
[01:27:16] execute my responsibility properly so in
[01:27:19] that sense he's reflecting
[01:27:21] thank
[01:27:22] Just a follow up in that
[01:27:25] uh like are there any other qualities of
[01:27:29] Arjuna that made him um worthy like
[01:27:33] of receiving the knowledge of?
[01:27:36] Yes, of course. See, we are looking at
[01:27:38] it from the linear textual context
[01:27:42] as it is revealed in this particular
[01:27:44] chap this particular chapter. But beyond
[01:27:46] that, we know Krishna himself will say
[01:27:48] later in the fourth chapter.
[01:27:51] that I'm going to speak this knowledge
[01:27:53] to you in 4.3 says because
[01:27:56] you are my devotey you are my friend so
[01:27:58] when Arjuna was born
[01:28:02] Pandu he was seeking different children
[01:28:05] so he first said that I need a successor
[01:28:07] so he said I want a son who will be who
[01:28:10] will be dedicated to dharma
[01:28:13] and he got his but then he thought it's
[01:28:16] good to have a son dedicated to dharma
[01:28:18] but dharma cannot be
[01:28:20] protected unless there's bala.
[01:28:24] So he said give me a son with great
[01:28:25] bala. Whom did he get by that?
[01:28:29] And then he thought deeply that yes
[01:28:32] dharma bala all important but ultimately
[01:28:36] bi is the most important thing. So he
[01:28:39] said I want a son who will be a great
[01:28:43] and then he got arjuna. So Arjuna's
[01:28:47] devotion is an important qualification.
[01:28:51] However, the Gita in its narrative in
[01:28:53] the first chapter does not focus on
[01:28:55] that.
[01:28:58] Thank you.
[01:29:00] After what my what is what he has for
[01:29:04] other child.
[01:29:07] [laughter]
[01:29:13] Okay. We are doing Brahma. you have
[01:29:15] kathaging [laughter]
[01:29:20] story actually he he stops with three
[01:29:23] sons
[01:29:25] because kunti says that see you probably
[01:29:28] know the story that he could not because
[01:29:30] of a curse pandu could not have a son
[01:29:33] himself so the gods various gods came
[01:29:36] and through the there's a ritual called
[01:29:38] yoga nyoga means that if a woman for
[01:29:41] whatever reason if her husband is dead
[01:29:44] or whatever reason the husband is not
[01:29:46] able to get a child then some other
[01:29:47] respectable male can come and get a
[01:29:50] child but that child is considered to be
[01:29:52] a member of that dynasty not that man
[01:29:54] and that man should not have anything to
[01:29:56] do with afterwards so that's how they
[01:29:58] had these three children and in this
[01:30:00] case count had a benediction by which
[01:30:03] she could ask for the das
[01:30:05] so she asked for three and then pandu
[01:30:09] wanted more but count said that in
[01:30:12] according shastra that is Yoga is an
[01:30:15] exception and you can say
[01:30:19] generally if somebody is a king they
[01:30:22] need a air
[01:30:24] you know air is the successor and they
[01:30:27] may need a spare
[01:30:29] and spare [laughter] means if something
[01:30:31] happens to air you have a spare
[01:30:34] [laughter]
[01:30:37] now you can have a spare spare also
[01:30:39] [laughter]
[01:30:41] a third child but he says this is not a
[01:30:44] provision to be misused. So they say
[01:30:47] that yoga should not use more than three
[01:30:49] times. Count quotes that
[01:30:53] Pandu agrees
[01:30:55] but then after that as Kunti's children
[01:30:57] are going on Pandu has another wife Madi
[01:31:00] and she feels this great sense of
[01:31:02] emptiness. I don't have any children at
[01:31:03] all. So she approaches
[01:31:08] Pandu
[01:31:09] and she exposes out her heart to him and
[01:31:12] he says Padi says that if I request Kiy
[01:31:16] won't listen but you please tell her and
[01:31:19] then when he tells
[01:31:23] count agrees
[01:31:25] and Madin thinks that
[01:31:28] uh you know I may not get many chances
[01:31:31] from Mi. So she calls the Ashwini
[01:31:33] Kumaras who are twin brothers and she
[01:31:35] gets two sons
[01:31:37] and Gi says what she as he says she
[01:31:40] asked for two more she'll have more
[01:31:42] children than me. So he says no more
[01:31:43] after this. So the two children whom he
[01:31:46] has and sah they are more from Matu's
[01:31:50] desire. So at that time Bandu doesn't
[01:31:53] ask for specific qualities over there.
[01:31:57] Thank you. Thank you very much.