On the battlefield of Kuruksetra, Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna to kill his unscrupulous relatives, who had unfairly taken the kingdom from Arjuna and his brothers. Arjuna did not want to do this, and justified his position by citing religious principles. Kṛṣṇa responded that such compassion was material, and did not justify Arjuna’s hesitating to do his duty as a warrior.
Arjuna then argued that his gurus were also in the opposing army, and one should not kill one’s guru under any circumstances. Kṛṣṇa’s position was that since they had joined the opposing party, such gurus were fit to be rejected, since they did not follow the principles of dharma. As far as we are concerned, as spiritual students we are not to kill anyone or even cause anyone undue anxiety. But we should reject any so-called guru who falls down from the real standard of spiritual life given in the Vedas.
The example is Prahlad Maharaja. Prahlad Maharaja was the son of Hiranyakasipu, a great demon. Kṛṣṇa appeared as Nrsimhadeva, the ferocious half-man, half-lion incarnation, just to kill Hiranyakasipu. So Prahlad Maharaja was standing nearby while Nrsimhadeva was killing his father.
In Vedic spiritual society, the father is guru. Sarva-devamayo guruh: all our superiors are guru, teacher, and must not be disrespected. Similarly, the father is also guru; at least, within the context of the family. Materially the father is guru. So how could Prahlad Maharaja allow Nrsimhadeva to kill his father?
If you saw that your father is being killed by someone, would you just stand there? Would you not protest? Isn’t that your duty? When your father is attacked, you must protest. At least, if you are unable to stop it, you must fight. You first of all lay down your life: “How is that, my father is being killed in my presence? I cannot allow this; I must fight.” That is our duty.
But Prahlad Maharaja did not protest. He could have requested—he is devotee—“My dear Sir, Prabhu, my Lord, if You please, You can excuse my father.” But Prahlad didn’t say anything. He knew that “My father is not being killed. He is a spirit soul. Only the body of my father is being killed.”
Later on he begged to save his father in a different way. First of all, when Nrsimhadeva was angry, He was killing the body, but Prahlad knew that “The body is not my father. The soul is my father. So let the Lord satisfy Himself by killing the body of my father; then I shall save him.”
Lord Nrsimhadeva, after killing Hiranyakasipu, offered Prahlad Maharaja, “Now you can take any kind of benediction you like.” Prahlad Maharaja replied, “My Lord, we are materialists. I am born of a sinful father, absolutely materialist. So because I am born of a materialist father, I am also materialist.
“You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You are offering to give me some benediction. I can take any kind of benediction from You. I know that. But what is the use of it? Why shall I ask You for any benediction? I have seen the example of my father. Materially, he was so powerful that even the demigods—Indra, Candra, Varuna—were threatened by his angry red eyes.
“And he was so powerful, he gained control over the whole universe. He had incredible riches, wealth, power, reputation, everything material complete, but You have finished it in one second. So why are You offering me such material benedictions? What shall I do with them? If I take material benediction from You, and I become puffed up and do everything wrong against You, then You can finish it within a second.
“So kindly do not offer me such benediction of material opulence. Please give me the benediction to be engaged in the service of Your servant. I want this benediction. Please benedict me, that I may be, not directly Your servant, but engaged in the service of Your servant.”
Then, after many prayers, pacifying the Lord—for He was very angry—Prahlad asked, “My dear Lord, I would ask You one benediction. My father was a very staunch enemy of You; that was the cause of his death. Now I ask You to kindly excuse him and give him liberation.”
This is Vaiṣṇava son. He did not ask anything for himself. And although he knew that his father was demonic and the greatest enemy of devotees, still, he asked the Lord, “May this poor fellow be liberated.”
So Lord Nrsimhadeva granted Prahlad’s request. He said, “My dear Prahlad, not only your father, but your father’s father, and his father, up to fourteen generations, all are liberated because you are born in this family.” So anyone who has become a Vaiṣṇava, a devotee of the Lord, is giving the greatest service to his family. Because everyone in relationship with him, his father, mother, anyone, all will be liberated.
Just like in the modern army, if a soldier dies in combat, his family is taken care of by the government. Similarly, if one becomes a pure devotee, his family has no worries about anything, because the Lord protects them. To become a devotee is the greatest qualification. He has got everything.
yatra yogesvarah krsno
yatra partho dhanur-dharah
tatra srir vijayo bhutir
dhruva nitir matir mama“Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.” [Bhagavad-gita 18.78]
When there is Kṛṣṇa and when there is devotee, all victory, all glories are there. That is guaranteed.
So gurun ahatva. A devotee of Kṛṣṇa, if need be, if somehow or other he finds himself in relationship with an unqualified guru, can reject him. Unqualified guru means one who does not know how to guide the disciple according to the principles of the Esoteric Teaching. A guru’s duty is to guide the disciple to the highest stage of self-realization. But if the so-called guru does not know, or has not himself attained that stage, he can be rejected.
That is Jiva Gosvami’s statement: karya-karyam ajanatah. If by some mistake, you have accepted somebody as guru who does not know what to do and what not to do, he can be rejected. By rejecting him, you can accept an actual bona fide guru. So guru is not to be killed, but false guru can be rejected. That is the injunction of the sastra, the Vedic scriptures.
Bhismadeva and Dronacarya were certainly gurus, but Kṛṣṇa indirectly give the indication to Arjuna, that “Although they are in the position of guru, they have fallen down, so you can reject them.” Karya-karyam ajanatah. “They do not know factually.”
For example, Bhismadeva considered his position materially. He knew everything from the beginning, that the Pandavas were orphans, fatherless children, and he raised them from the very beginning. Not only that, he was so much affectionate to the Pandavas that when they were banished to the forest, Bhismadeva was crying, that “These five boys, they are not only pure and honest, but also Arjuna and Bhima are the most powerful warriors. And their mother Draupadi is practically directly the goddess of fortune. And they have got the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa as their friend. And they are suffering?” He cried. He was so affectionate.
Therefore Arjuna is considering, “How can I kill Bhisma?” But Kṛṣṇa is advising, “Yes, he must be killed because he has gone to the other side. He has forgotten his duty. He should have joined you. Therefore he is no more in the position of guru. You must kill him. He has wrongly joined the other party. Therefore there is no harm in killing him and similarly Dronacarya. I know they are great personalities, they have got great affection. But only on material consideration they have gone there.”
What is that material consideration? Bhisma thought that “I am maintained by the money of Duryodhana. Duryodhana is maintaining me, and now he is in danger. If I go to the other side, then I would be ungrateful. He has maintained me for so long. And if, in time of danger when there is to be fighting, I go to the other side, that will be dishonorable.” He thought like that. He did not think that “Duryodhana may be maintaining me, but he is a criminal because he usurped the property of the Pandavas.” But it is his greatness. He knew that Arjuna would be undefeatable because Kṛṣṇa was there to protect him. So he thought, “From a material point of view, I must be grateful to Duryodhana.” Dronacarya was in the same awkward position, because they both were maintained by Duryodhana’s side of the royal family.
Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said
visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile nahe krsnera smarana“When one eats food offered by a materialistic man, one’s mind becomes contaminated, and when the mind is contaminated, one is unable to think of Kṛṣṇa properly.” [Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila 6.278]
Even such great effulgent personalities as Bhisma and Drona became darkened, contaminated because they took money from Duryodhana. If I am supported by somebody who is too materialistic, then that will affect me. I will also become materialist by the influence of his association.
So Caitanya Mahaprabhu has warned that “Do not accept anything from visayi, sense enjoyers, who are not devotees, because it will make your mind unclean.” Therefore a first-class brahmana or Vaiṣṇava, will not accept money directly, but lives in temples or ashrams from money given in charity to the Deities by the householders. They accept bhiksa, or alms.
Just like in the sloka we are studying, it is said sreyo bhoktum bhaiksyam apiha loke, “It is better to live by begging in this life.” When you ask somebody for a donation, it acts to clear the karma from their account. Still, asking bhiksa from a person who is too materialistic is prohibited. But bhiksa or begging is allowed for sannyasis, and for brahmanas.
Therefore Arjuna is arguing that “Instead of killing my gurus who are great personalities, mahanubhavan, better I should take to the profession of a brahmana and beg from door to door.” That was Arjuna’s proposal: bhaiksyam, begging. A brahmana or a sannyasi can beg alms, but not a ksatriya or a vaisya. That is not allowed; in fact, it would have been highly dishonorable because a ksatriya, a warrior-king is not supposed to beg charity from anyone.
So on the whole, Arjuna is illusioned—illusioned in the sense that he is forgetting his duty. He is a ksatriya, so his duty is to fight; never mind who the opposite party is; a ksatriya will not hesitate to kill his own son if he is inimical to religious principles. Similarly, if the father is inimical to dharma, the son should not hesitate to kill his father. This is the stringent duty of the ksatriyas, no personal consideration allowed. Arjuna wants to put his personal considerations ahead of his social duty, sentiment ahead of justice; but Kṛṣṇa does not like that. A ksatriya cannot consider like that, because his duty is to protect the social order according to the principles of dharma, without consideration of bodily relationships.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa sarcastically said, klaibyam: “You don’t be coward. Why are you becoming coward?” These topics are still part of the introduction to the real message of Bhagavad-gita. Later on, Kṛṣṇa will give him spiritual instruction, speaking as a guru. This sloka is still on the platform of ordinary talks going on between friends.
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