अर्जुन उवाच |
नष्टो मोह: स्मृतिर्लब्धा त्वत्प्रसादान्मयाच्युत |
स्थितोऽस्मि गतसन्देह: करिष्ये वचनं तव || 73||
arjuna uvācha
naṣhṭo mohaḥ smṛitir labdhā tvat-prasādān mayāchyuta
sthito ‘smi gata-sandehaḥ kariṣhye vachanaṁ tava
arjunaḥ uvācha—Arjun said; naṣhṭaḥ—dispelled; mohaḥ—illusion; smṛitiḥ—memory; labdhā—regained; tvat-prasādāt—by your grace; mayā—by me; achyuta—Shree Krishna, the infallible one; sthitaḥ—situated; asmi—I am; gata-sandehaḥ—free from doubts; kariṣhye—I shall act; vachanam—instructions; tava—your
Translation:
Arjuna said: My delusion is destroyed, I have regained my memory through your grace, ‘O Krishna! I stand firm, free from doubt; I will act according to your word.
Commentary:
With heart swelling with joy and happiness, Arjuna says that his delusion is destroyed by the teaching of the Lord. When Arjuna arrived on the battle-field, his mind was distracted by a hundred doubts. He could not decide what to do and how to act. He was perplexed and confused. Delusion dimmed his intellect. After hearing the Lord’s message, his delusion was destroyed. The Lord’s medicine cured Arjuna’s disease instantaneously. The Lord Himself is the Master and a devotee like Arjuna is the disciple. No wonder Arjuna directly perceived the Truth, and his heart was illumined with knowledge.
Spiritual knowledge is to be tested by personal experience. It is not mere talk. Arjuna felt the force and power of the Lord’s teaching. He felt a glow of the heart arising from true knowledge. Arjuna stands as a representative of common humanity. The Gita message which destroyed Arjuna’s ignorance and delusion is an unfailing cure for destroying the ignorance of every individual and helping him to realise the highest spiritual truth.
Smritirlabdha: After hearing the Lord’s teaching, Arjuna regained the memory of true Self which he had forgotten under the shadow of temporary delusion. The delusion being removed, he remembered his real nature. He realised in a flash that he was neither the body nor the mind, but the ever pure and ever perfect Atma. Atma is the ever-present Reality in every being. The man who is conscious of this truth is a Jnani, and the man who forgets it is an Ajnani. That is all the difference. But one’s being conscious or not conscious of the Reality does not make any difference at all for the ever-present Atma. It is there all the time, during all the states and conditions which overshadow man’s life from time to time. If a man wears a chain around his neck forgets it and goes about searching for it everywhere, and at last, discovers that. It is all along with him, he is not said to have gained anything at all. His memory is revived, and he finds the chain where was throughout his external search for it. So also, having forgotten the truth that he is Atma, man et Alma, man goes through all the troubles and sorrows of life, and at last he comes to know that what he thought to have lost was always there with him, and he is That (Atma). Such is the experience of Arjuna in the present situation. Sankara says:-
Atmatu satatam propto
hyapraptavad avidyaya
tannase praptavad bhati
svakanthabharanam yatha (Atmabodha)
The meaning of this verse is explained earlier in the paragraph.
Tvat prasadat: (by your grace)-God and Guru are essential factors in Self-realisation. It is by the grace of God and Guru that the seeker realises the truth. Without such grace, no amount of individual effort can remove the darkness of ignorance and delusion. The Hindu religion has therefore prescribed regular worship of God in various ways and also the service of the Guru in every possible way. By the grace of God and Guru, the bonds of Maya are broken and the seeker attains freedom. Arjuna here declares this ancient truth. By the grace of the Lord, Arjuna threw off the shackles of delusion and realised his original nature.
Achyuta: The word means one who does not fall from his original state. This address of the Lord is very appropriate in this context. The Lord remains ever pure and ever perfect, and so He alone can lift man from the dark pit of Samsara.
Gatasandehah: (Free from doubts)-In the state of ignorance, man is beset with innumerable doubts. When Self is realised all doubts and delusion are finally removed. They do not appear again in any form whatsoever.
Karishye vachanam tava: (I will act according to your word)-Thus says Arjuna after hearing the message of the Lord. His doubts are removed. He realises that he is no other than the ever pure and ever-perfect Atma. The wrong notion that he is the body is removed by true knowledge. So he says that he would act according to the will of the Lord, free from all doubt and the bondage of ignorance.
The seeker should always remember that the Master’s word is final in all matters. He must have such faith in the Master even after Self-realisation. The conduct of Arjuna throughout is a perfect example of the disciple’s attitude towards his Master.
When Swami Vivekananda was giving a speech in America, someone asked him during question hour: Swami, are you doing any kind of hypnotism? Got a straight answer: No, I am removing your hypnosis. You are already hypnotized. I am black, I am white, I am poor, I am rich etc. You are none of these things. You are the soul, that eternal being. That is your true nature. My job is to de-hypnotize you. This is the true religion.
Delusion vanishes. Delusion regarding one’s own true nature vanishes. We ‘know’ that we are this body and the mind. This knowledge is natural to us. When a person perceives Atman, he gets to know that he is not the body or the mind, but the awareness that precedes all beliefs and perceptions. So, consequent to this experience, will he begin to hate his body and mind? After the perception of Atman, the person will still be able to perceive his body and mind, and entertain a good amount of identification with both. But the dream would have broken down irreparably. It is very difficult to see how much this identification with one’s own body and mind colour our decisions and value system. Since that fundamental identification is changed from body-mind to pure awareness, this person’s decisions and value system will appear to be unique to us. Swamiji says: Each thought we think is tinged with our own character, so that for the pure and holy man, even his jests or abuse will have the twist of his own love and purity and do good. [Source]
The wise man beholds all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings; for that reason he does not hate anyone. To the seer, all things have verily become the Self: what delusion, what sorrow, can there be for him who beholds that oneness?
Related Articles:
- (O Krishna!) My mind is distracted by the taint of pity and I am ignorant of what my duty is, and so, I ask you to teach me what is good for me. I am your disciple. I take refuge in you. (BG 2.7)
- Having abandoned all duties (Dharmas) take refuge in Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve. (BG 18.66)
Question: How did the Gita message benefit Arjuna?
Answer: His delusion was destroyed. He recovered memory of his original state as Atma.
Question: How can man overcome the delusion caused by ignorance?
Answer: By worshipping God and serving wise Masters, man can overcome all difficulties on the spiritual path.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 18 🔻 (78 Verses)
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 |
| 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
| 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 |
| 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 |
