श्रीभगवानुवाच |
कुतस्त्वा कश्मलमिदं विषमे समुपस्थितम् |
अनार्यजुष्टमस्वर्ग्यमकीर्तिकरमर्जुन || 2||
śhrī bhagavān uvācha
kutastvā kaśhmalamidaṁ viṣhame samupasthitam
anārya-juṣhṭamaswargyam akīrti-karam arjuna
Arjuna—O Arjuna!; śhrī-bhagavān uvācha—the Supreme Lord said; kutaḥ—wherefrom; tvā—to you; kaśhmalam—dejection; idam—this; viṣhame—in this hour of peril; samupasthitam—taken hold; anāryajuṣhṭam—unworthy; aswargyam—heaven-excluding; akīrti-karam—shameful
Translation:
The Lord said: O Arjuna! Whence, in this critical situation, has this mental dejection takes hold of you, shameful and Heaven-excluding?
Commentary:
Dejection: Lord Krishna describes the mental weakness of Arjuna as dirty and wretched. In the same way as dirt covers the physical body the mind becomes impure by sorrow, fear, distress, and hatred. And even as one washes the body by cleansing material, one should clean the mind by the knowledge of Atma. Arjuna,s mental filth was washed off by the Lord’s teaching. It is the duty of every individual to purify the mind-stuff of its ignorance and passion by a study of the Gita.
Unworthy: There are two types of men in the world – the wise and the ignorant. Those who follow the righteous path, who seek light and purity, who are bold and active, are the wise. This is the aryan way of life. The other category of men live in ignorance, are subject to dark passions, follow the demonic way, and fall into sorrow and despair. This is the un aryan way of life. It behooves everyone to question himself whether he belongs to the former or later class of men, and strive to attain to the level of the wise by determined effort.
Incidents from Swami Turiyananda’s Life (viṣhame—in this hour of peril)
One morning before daybreak in North Calcutta, a teenage boy was bathing in the Ganges when he saw something floating near him. Some people on the shore saw it too, and shouted: “Crocodile! Crocodile! Come out quickly!” The boy immediately rushed towards the shore; but he stopped while still standing in the kneedeep water and thought to himself: “What are you doing? You repeat day and night, ‘Soham! Soham!’ [I am He! I am He!] And now all of a sudden you forget your ideal and think that you are the body! Shame on you!” He immediately went back into the deep water and continued his bathing. Fortunately, the crocodile had left. This fearless boy was Harinath Chattopadhya, who would grow up to become Swami Turiyananda.
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Vedanta says that a knower of Brahman becomes fearless. Fear originates from duality. Because an illumined soul experiences the nondual Brahman, he can never fear anyone. Once while in the Himalayan region in Tihiri-Garhwal, Turiyananda was living in a thatched hut that had a broken door. One night he heard the villagers cry, “Tiger! Tiger!” He immediately put some bricks behind the door to protect himself. Just then he remembered a passage from the Taittiriya Upanishad that declares that even at the command of Brahman the god of death does his duty like a slave. His awareness of the Atman awakened, and defeated the body idea. He kicked the piles of brick away from the entrance, and sat for meditation. Fortunately, the tiger did not show up.
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In later years Turiyananda underwent several surgeries, but he never allowed the doctors to use chloroform. He simply withdrew his mind from the body like a yogi; he showed no sign of pain during surgery.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
There are certain works which are, as it were, the aggregate, the sum total, of a large number of smaller works. If we stand near the seashore and hear the waves dashing against the shingle, we think it is such a great noise, and yet we know that one wave is really composed of millions and millions of minute waves. Each one of these is making a noise, and yet we do not catch it; it is only when they become the big aggregate that we hear. Similarly, every pulsation of the heart is work. Certain kinds of work we feel and they become tangible to us; they are, at the same time, the aggregate of a number of small works. If you really want to judge the character of a man, look not at his great performances. Every fool may become a hero at one time or another. Watch a man do his most common actions; those are indeed the things which will tell you the real character of a great man. Great occasions rouse even the lowest of human beings to some kind of greatness, but he alone is the really great man whose character is great always, the same wherever he be. [Source]
More questions arise in connection with this. It is very easy to talk. From my childhood I have heard of seeing God everywhere and in everything, and then I can really enjoy the world, but as soon as I mix with the world, and get a few blows from it, the idea vanishes. I am walking in the street thinking that God is in every man, and a strong man comes along and gives me a push and I fall flat on the footpath. Then I rise up quickly with clenched fist, the blood has rushed to my head, and the reflection goes. Immediately I have become mad. Everything is forgotten; instead of encountering God I see the devil. Ever since we were born we have been told to see God in all. Every religion teaches that — see God in everything and everywhere. Do you not remember in the New Testament how Christ says so? We have all been taught that; but it is when we come to the practical side, that the difficulty begins. You all remember how in Æesop’s Fables a fine stag is looking at his form reflected in a lake and is saying to his young one, “How powerful I am, look at my splendid head, look at my limbs, how strong and muscular they are; and how swiftly I can run.” In the meantime he hears the barking of dogs in the distance, and immediately takes to his heels, and after he has run several miles, he comes back panting. The young one says, “You just told me how strong you were, how was it that when the dog barked, you ran away?” “Yes, my son; but when the dogs bark all my confidence vanishes.” Such is the case with us. We think highly of humanity, we feel ourselves strong and valiant, we make grand resolves; but when the “dogs” of trial and temptation bark, we are like the stag in the fable. Then, if such is the case, what is the use of teaching all these things? There is the greatest use. The use is this, that perseverance will finally conquer. Nothing can be done in a day. (Chandogya Upanishad 7.1.3, BG 6.35) [Source]
Question: What are weakness, sorrow, and fear?
Answer: They are the dirt of the mind. The ignorant fall prey to them. They pull down a man from ascending to higher levels of existence. They bring shame and disgrace.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 🔻 (72 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 |
