In this series of articles, I would like to share with you the essence of each chapter of Bhagavad Gita.
This series of articles is mainly written for the devotees of Bhagavan who may not have enough time or conducive atmosphere to study Bhagavad Gita in detail in their busy scheduled life. If this series of articles benefit them, then I consider it as a great puniya for myself.
INTRODUCTION
Bhagavad Gita comes in the Bhishma parva of Mahabharata.
The eldest son of the Kauravas, Dhritarashtara, was blind. Therefore, the power to rule Hastinapura kingdom went to his younger brother Pandu. After Pandu’s death it is customary that the kingdom should come to the children of pandu. But due to circumstances, Dritharastara was made the king and when the pandu’s children, the Pandavas returned from the forest, King Dritarashtara refused to give back the kingdom and he wanted his son Duryodhana to rule the kingdom.
This injustice was opposed by Bhagavan Krishna who was the relative of both Pandavas and Kauravas, but very close to Pandavas because they followed dharma. The Kauravas did injustice to Pandavas in many ways and refused to give back the kingdom. Bhagavan Krishna went as a messenger of Pandavas to the Hastinapura Kingdom and requested King Dhritarashtara to give the ancestral property back to the Pandavas. However, King Dhritarashtara refused not only to give back the kingdom, but also refused to give even a piece of land to the Pandavas. When all the dialogues failed situation demanded a battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas to decide the ruler of Hastinapura.
Bhagavan Krishna stood with the Pandavas and he became the charioteer of Arjuna in the battle field. Arjuna was extremely talented and skilled but his knowledge was covered by ignorance. In the battle field Bhagavan Krishna removed his ignorance with the hymn of knowledge – Bhagavad Gita.
Bhagavad Gita has seven hundred slokas, divided in to eighteen chapters. Five hundred and seventy-two slokas were spoken by Bhagavan Krishna and the rest are the slokas spoken by Arjuna and Sanjaya.
Ved Vyasa gave a unique power to Sanjaya, the charioteer of Dhritarashtara, to see the happenings in the battlefield and report the same to the blind king. On the tenth day of the battle, Bhishmacharya, the commander of the Kauravas, and the great grandfather of Arjuna was defeated by Arjuna. Arjuna and Bhishmacharya were so close to each other; King Dhritarashtara questioned the mental strength of Arjuna to defeat Bhishmaacharya. He asked Sanjaya, that what gave Arjuna the power to defeat Bhishmapithaamaha. Sanjaya said that the advice given by Bhagavan Krishna in the battle field at the commencement of the battle changed the mind of Arjuna; and Sanjaya begins to retell Bhagavad Gita on the tenth day of the battle. This the back drop of Bhagavad Gita.
CHAPTER 1
Bhagavad Gita begins not with the words of Bhagavan Krishna or Arjuna, but with the words of Dhritarashtara. It was the question of Dhritarashtara as a father and not as a King about the happenings in the battle field. Chapter 1 has forty-seven slokas and it explains the armies arrayed in the battle field and the depressed mind of Arjuna.
When Arjuna entered the battle field in the chariot driven by Bhagavan Krishna, he was shocked to see his near and dear ones ready to fight for a piece of land. The army of the Pandavas was arrayed under the leadership of Dhrishtadyumna, and the Kauravas under the leadership of Bhishma. The conches were blown as a mark of the commencement of the battle. Bhagavan Krishna blew his Panchajanya and Bhishma his Devadutta. Flowing them many blew their conches and the sound pierced the sky. Seeing the men arrayed in Dhritarashtara’s side ready to discharge weapons to kill him and his brothers and realizing whom and all he has to kill to get back power and rulership, the mind of Arjuna oscillated.
Arjuna asked Bhagavan Krishna to place the chariot in the middle of the battle field so that he can see clearly who are all are desirous to fight with him and to know with whom he must fight. As requested, Bhagavan Krishna placed the chariot in the middle of the two armies – in front of Bhishma and Drona, and the great rulers on the Earth. Arjuna saw fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons and once dear friends arrayed ready to kill him. They all turned hostile for a piece of land. Arjuna spoke to Bhagavan Krishna in words sorrowfully –‘My limbs fail and my mouth is parched, my body quivers, my Gandiva (bow) slips from my hand. I do not see any good in killing my kinsmen in battle; I see no victory, kingdom or pleasure; I do not wish to kill my relatives or friends or teachers for power, though they wish to kill me. If I kill the sons of my uncle only sin will accrue me. They may be interested in killing me, but not me. If I kill the men in battle, their families will perish. It is not dharma to destroy a family. They will suffer in many ways. We are involved in a sin for the greed of a kingdom. If they want to kill me, I am happy to die but I will not slay them in the battle’ Having said this Arjuna sat on the seat of the chariot with his mind overwhelmed with sorrow.
The reply of Bhagavan Krishna to the dejection of mind of Arjuna is the entire Bhagavad Gita.
Let us see the reply of Bhagavan Krishna in the next article.
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