bewildered at the heart of
what one's duty should be
Srimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Chapter 2, TEXT 7:
kārpaṇya—miserly;
doṣa—weakness;
upahata—being
inflicted by; svabhāvaḥ—characteristics; pṛcchāmi—I
am asking; tvām—unto You; dharma—religion; saṁmūḍha—bewildered;
cetāḥ—in
heart; yat—what;
śreyaḥ—all-good;
syāt—may
be; niścitam—confidently;
brūhi—tell;
tat—that;
me—unto me; śiṣyaḥ—disciple; te—Your;
aham—I
am; śādhi—just
instruct; mām—me;
tvām—unto
You; prapannam—surrendered.
Now I am
confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this
condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your
disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.
By
nature's own way the complete system of material activities is a source of
perplexity for everyone. In every step there is perplexity, and therefore it
behooves one to approach a bona fide spiritual master who can give one proper
guidance for executing the purpose of life. All Vedic literatures advise us to
approach a bona fide spiritual master to get free from the perplexities of life
which happen without our desire. They are like a forest fire that somehow
blazes without being set by anyone. Similarly, the world situation is such that
perplexities of life automatically appear, without our wanting such confusion.
No one wants fire, and yet it takes place, and we become perplexed. The Vedic
wisdom therefore advises that in order to solve the perplexities of life and to
understand the science of the solution, one must approach a spiritual master
who is in the disciplic succession. A person with a bona fide spiritual master
is supposed to know everything. One should not, therefore, remain in material
perplexities but should approach a spiritual master. This is the purport of
this verse.
Who is
the man in material perplexities? It is he who does not understand the problems
of life. In the Garga Upaniṣad
the perplexed man is described as follows:
"He
is a miserly man who does not solve the problems of life as a human and who
thus quits this world like the cats and dogs, without understanding the science
of self-realization." This human form of life is a most valuable asset for
the living entity who can ultilize it for solving the problems of life;
therefore, one who does not utilize this opportunity properly is a miser. On
the other hand, there is the brāhmaṇa, or he who is intelligent enough to
utilize this body to solve all the problems of life.
The
kṛpaṇas, or miserly persons, waste their time in being overly affectionate for
family, society, country, etc., in the material conception of life. One is
often attached to family life, namely to wife, children and other members, on
the basis of "skin disease." The kṛpaṇa
thinks that he is able to protect his family members from death; or the kṛpaṇa
thinks that his family or society can save him from the verge of death. Such
family attachment can be found even in the lower animals who take care of
children also. Being intelligent, Arjuna could understand that his affection for
family members and his wish to protect them from death were the causes ot his
perplexities. Although he could understand that his duty to fight was awaiting
him, still, on account of miserly weakness, he could not discharge the duties.
He is therefore asking Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme spiritual master, to make a
definite solution. He offers himself to Kṛṣṇa
as a disciple. He wants to stop friendly talks. Talks between the master and
the disciple are serious, and now Arjuna wants to talk very seriously before the
recognized spiritual master. Kṛṣṇa is therefore the original spiritual master
of the science of Bhagavad-gītā, and Arjuna
is the first disciple for understanding the Gītā.
How Arjuna
understands the Bhagavad-gītā is stated in the Gītā
itself. And yet foolish mundane scholars explain that one need not submit to Kṛṣṇa
as a person, but to "the unborn within Kṛṣṇa."
There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa's within and without. And one who has no
sense of this understanding is the greatest fool in trying to understand
Bhagavad-gītā.
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