In the first chapter of Bhagavad-gita we are given the picture of the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, and Arjuna requests Kṛṣṇa to place the chariot in between the two soldiers. Now, after seeing the soldiers and the kings and other party, Arjuna becomes aggrieved, so much so that he did not want to fight, and he was crying. Now, Dhrtarastra asks Sanjaya: “Then what happened next?”
Dhrtarastra was very much anxious. He said: dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre samaveta yuyutsavah [Bhagavad-gita 1.1]. “Now these two parties, yuyutsavah, both of them were desirous of fighting.” Mamakah pandavas caiva [Bhagavad-gita 1.1]: “One party is mamakah, my sons, and the other party is Pandavas, the sons of my brother, Pandu.”
Now, the word is used: yuyutsavah. “They assembled for fighting.” This word is still used in Japanese for fighting, jujitsu. Then what is the use of asking: kim akurvata, “Then what did they do?” It is natural to conclude that when they assembled for fighting, so there must be fighting. But why he was asking: kim akurvata?
His suspicion was that because the parties assembled in the dharma-ksetra, the sacrificial field of Kuruksetra, they might have changed their minds. Still, in India, if two parties are fighting, they go to a temple, present their case before the Deity, and ask Him to mediate the conflict. This temple system still exists in the villages, and they do not dare to speak lies before the Deity. So the misunderstanding becomes settled by the influence of the Deity. No pious person will dare to speak a lie before the Lord, who as the witness within the heart, knows everything.
So Dhrtarastra was asking whether the two parties have settled up due to the influence of the sacred place, dharma-ksetra. He did not want that. He wanted that “These Pandavas should be killed, and my sons the Kauravas should come out victorious so that there will be no enemy.” He was very much anxious to place his sons on the throne.
Because Dhrtarastra was blind, he could not inherit the throne of Emperor of the Vedic Empire. His younger brother Pandu was given the throne. Now, after the death of his younger brother, he thought that “I missed the opportunity of sitting on the throne. Why not my sons? They have got actual right.”
That is the background of this battle of Kuruksetra. Dhrtarastra was always devising some unfair means how the sons of Pandu, his nephews, Arjuna and his four brothers, could be deposed and his own sons would sit on the throne. That was his idea. Therefore he inquired, kim akurvata.
Otherwise, there was no question of inquiring kim akurvata. They went there to fight, so as warriors and men of determination, naturally they’ll fight. But he suspected, “What if they have made some compromise?” He wanted that “There must be fighting. And they are five brothers. My sons are one hundred in number. So they should be killed, and my sons will be without any rivalry.”
This is the background of Kuruksetra. But another thing is that Kuruksetra is a dharma-ksetra, or place of religious pilgrimage for the Kuru dynasty from time immemorial. The effect of the dharma-ksetra was visible in Arjuna. Because he was a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, therefore he felt: “What is this? Why shall I kill my brothers?” Because he was devotee.
This sentiment came into the mind of Arjuna, not on the other side, Duryodhana, although both of them were at the dharma-ksetra. The effect of dharma-ksetra was manifest in Arjuna, not Duryodhana. This is the symptom of Arjuna’s purity. If one is pure, then the effects of dharma becomes manifest very quickly.
na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.” [Bhagavad-gita 7.15]
Kṛṣṇa says that those whose whole life is sinful, duskrtinah, do not surrender to Him. Krti means one who has got good intelligence. But duskrtinah means the intelligence is misapplied for sinful activities.
For pious activities good intelligence is required. But those who are applying their brain for mischievous activities, they are called duskrtinah. So duskrtinah... Na mam duskrtino mudhah. Why do they misapply their intelligence? Because they are mudhah, asses.
If one has got a good brain, he should apply it for good work. That is called jnana-khala. But a rogue also has a good brain, but he’s applying for mischievous activities, for making people unhappy. That is not the right use of intelligence, therefore Kṛṣṇa calls them mudha: literally asses, donkeys.
So the effect of the dharma-ksetra, Kuruksetra was visible in Arjuna, not in Duryodhana. That is the difference between a mudha and a devotee. Therefore Arjuna was crying: “I am put in such difficult a position that I have to fight and kill my cousin-brothers, my nephews, my grandfather.”
He was too affected to fight. Although it seems like weakness, it is not actually weakness, but compassion. Arjuna was not a coward; but out of compassion, because he was devotee, he was para-duhkha-duhkhi. The symptom of a devotee is they are unhappy by seeing others unhappy.
Generally, if a person sees somebody happy, he becomes unhappy, envious: matsarata. That is the consciousness in the world today. If I see my brother is very happy, he has improved in his material condition, then I become unhappy: “He has advanced so much, and I could not do so.”
This is material civilization: people are envious, matsarata. Everyone is envious; their sympathy is only lip sympathy. Actually, everyone is envious. Brother to brother, wife to husband, neighbor to neighbor, businessman to businessman, nation to nation. This is material consciousness: envious, matsarata.
Therefore spiritual advancement is for people who are not envious. Therefore Vyasadeva says in the introduction of Srimad-Bhagavatam:
dharmah projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam
vedyam vastavam atra vastu sivadam tapa-trayonmulanam
srimad-bhagavate maha-muni-krte kim va parair isvarah
sadyo hrdy avarudhyate ’tra krtibhih susrusubhis tat-ksanat“Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhagavata Purana propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhagavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.2]
Vyasadeva asks, “Who are the candidates to understand this science of God, Srimad-Bhagavatam? It is not for the persons who are entangled in dharmah kaitavah, cheating religious system.” Kaitava means cheating. So according to Srimad-Bhagavatam, all types of cheating religious systems are rejected from this Esoteric Teaching. It is meant only for persons who are not envious, paramo nirmatsaranam satam: fully honest and pure in heart.
Vastavya-vastu. One who wants to learn reality, not false reality. Here in this material world, everything is false reality. Just like if we are trying to find water in the desert. There is no water in the desert. But we may see a mirage, a false vision of water. An ignorant person lost in the desert, if he sees a mirage of water, runs after it and dies.
So here in this material world, every one of us is running after the false mirage that there is happiness in this material body, in material possessions or material designations. This is the condition of the spirit soul in material existence. We are searching for happiness in a place where by nature there is no real happiness to be found, so we are tricked again and again by false happiness. This is the existential human condition, and therefore we are angry, hateful and envious.
Kṛṣṇa speaks Bhagavad-gita to help us get out of this ignorance and enviousness. The basic principle of Bhagavad-gita is to bestow spiritual liberation upon everyone. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is the gate of liberation.
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