Until now in our study of Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna has been trying to justify his unwillingness to fight. He has invoked religious principles of nonviolence toward family members, but that excuse is not applicable because ksatriyas are not supposed to indulge in such sentimentality.
Then he tried to avoid fighting because his gurus, Drona and Bhisma, were on the opposing side. But because they had forgotten their proper duty as gurus, they were no longer considered qualified and could be rejected. Finally Arjuna realizes that he is wrong, but he cannot help himself; so he surrenders to Kṛṣṇa and accepts Him as guru.
karpanya-dosopahata-svabhavah
prcchami tvam dharma-sammudha-cetah
yac chreyah syan niscitam bruhi tan me
sisyas te ’ham sadhi mam tvam prapannam“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.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.7]
Prcchami tvam: “I am asking You.” Who is Arjuna asking? Kṛṣṇa. Why? Dharma-sammudha-cetah: “I am bewildered in my duties, dharma.”
dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam
“Religious principles are enacted directly by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.19]
Sammudha-cetah. “So what I have to do?” Yac chreyah. “What is actually my duty?” The word used is sreyah, here translated “what is best for me,” but actually means the ultimate goal.
They are two kinds of goals: sreyah and preyah. Preya means the immediate goal, and sreya means ultimate good. There is always a tension between immediate good and ultimate good, short-term and long-term benefits.
For example, a child wants to play all day. It is the nature of a child to want immediate gratification: sreya. But preya means he must go to school and get an education so that in future he will have good career prospects. That is the difference between preya and sreya.
So at first Arjuna wanted preya, the immediate gratification of not having to kill his relatives and teachers. Preya means he was thinking that: “I shall immediately be happy by not fighting, not by killing my kinsmen.” Therefore he was thinking like a child, he was asking for Preya.
But now he has come to his proper consciousness, and he’s asking instruction from Kṛṣṇa for the purpose of sreya. Yac chreyah syat: “What is actually my ultimate goal of life?” Yac chreyah syat niscitam: niscitam means conclusive, certain, without any mistake. Niscitam means there is no necessity of research; the question is already settled. Because our tiny human brain cannot find out what is the actual niscitam, the final sreya, ultimate good. You have to ask that from Kṛṣṇa, or his representative. These are the subjects of ultimate inquiry from the spiritual Master Teacher.
Yac chreya syat niscitam bruhi tan me: “Kindly speak to me that ultimate conclusion of knowledge, the highest good.” Why? Here he says: sisyas te ’ham [Bg. 2.7]. “Now I am accepting You as my guru. I become Your sisya, disciple.” Sisya means “Whatever you say, I will accept.” In other words, surrender and trust in the teachings of the guru. That is sisya, disciple.
The word sisya comes from sas-dhatu. Sastra, scripture, sasana, rulings, as of a judge or other authority, and sisya are all from the same root, sas. Sas-dhatu means rule, or ruling. We can be ruled, becoming a sisya of a proper guru. Or we can be ruled by sastra, weapon. If you don’t follow the king’s instruction or government’s instruction, then there is police force, military force. That is one kind of sastra. And there is sastra also. Sastra means book, scripture. Just like Bhagavad-gita. Everything we need to become self-realized is there in Bhagavad-gita, at least in summary form.
So we must be ruled, either by sastra, sastra or guru, or by becoming sisya. Therefore it is said: sisyas te ’ham. “I become Your student voluntarily; I surrender unto You.” And what is the proof that you have become sisya? Sadhi mam tvam prapannam. “Now I am fully surrendered.” Prapannam.
So to solve the real problems of human life, this knowledge is required: how to discover a real guru, and how to surrender unto him. Accepting a guru does not mean that I keep a guru as an order-supplier “My dear guru, I am suffering from this. Can you give me some medicine?” That is not real guru. If you are suffering from some disease, you go to a physician. It is not guru’s business to give you some medicine.
A guru’s business is to give you Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa sei tomara, Kṛṣṇa dite para: a Vaiṣṇava is praying to his guru: “Sir, you are a devotee of Kṛṣṇa; you can give me Kṛṣṇa if you like.” This is the position of sisya. Guru’s business is how to give you Kṛṣṇa, not anything material. For material things, there are so many institutions. But if you want Kṛṣṇa, then a proper guru is required. Who requires a guru?
tasmad gurum prapadyeta
jijnasu sreya uttamam
sabde pare ca nisnatam
brahmany upasamasrayam“Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.3.21]
Who requires a guru? Accepting a guru is not a fashion. “Oh, Madonna has got a guru. I shall also accept a guru.” Guru is only for one who’s serious. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta: one has to seek out a guru. Why? Jijnasu sreya uttamam: if one is inquisitive about the Supreme Absolute Truth. Do not take a guru to be your pet. “Guru will act according to my decision.” That is not the function of guru.
Guru means one who can give you Kṛṣṇa. That is guru. Kṛṣṇa sei tomara: “Kṛṣṇa is yours.” Because guru is Kṛṣṇa’s representative. That is stated in the Brahma-samhita.
vedesu durlabham adurlabham atma-bhaktau
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible through the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed spiritual devotional service.” [Brahma-samhita 5.33]
Vedesu durlabham. If you want to search out the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the four Vedas alone cannot help you. Vedas mean spiritual knowledge, and the ultimate knowledge is to understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa instructs, vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo: “By all the Vedas, I am to be known.” [Bhagavad-gita 15.15]. But if you want to study Vedas independently, without a bona fide guru, you will not be able to realize Kṛṣṇa. So the Vedas say,
tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham“To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.” [Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12]
Do you think you’ll understand Vedas by purchasing some book on Vedas at the local bookstore down at the mall? Realizing the purport of Vedanta is not so cheap. Without becoming initiated as a brahmana, nobody can understand Veda. It is a mystery; it is restricted to those who surrender. Without becoming a brahmana, nobody can study the Vedas successfully. Without initiation, deep surrender, direct personal instruction, what can you understand about the Vedas?
Therefore Vyasadeva, after compiling the Vedas and dividing them into four, he compiled Mahabharata. Because the subject matter of the Vedas is so difficult.
stri-sudra-dvijabandhunam
trayi na sruti-gocara
karma-sreyasi mudhanam
sreya evam bhaved iha
iti bharatam akhyanam
krpaya munina krtam“Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical narration called the Mahabharata for women, laborers and friends of the twice-born.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.4.25]
For women, laborers or sudras, and for the dvija-bandhu, those who are born in the family of a brahmana but do not have the qualifications of a brahmana. They cannot understand the Vedas. If these rascal dvija-bandhus and sudras, want to study Vedas; no, that is not possible. One first of all has to become situated in the brahminical qualifications:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: ‘Fearlessness; purification of one’s existence; cultivation of spiritual knowledge; charity; self-control; performance of sacrifice; study of the Vedas; austerity; simplicity; nonviolence; truthfulness; freedom from anger; renunciation; tranquility; aversion to faultfinding; compassion for all living entities; freedom from covetousness; gentleness; modesty; steady determination; vigor; forgiveness; fortitude; cleanliness; and freedom from envy and from the passion for honor—these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature.’ ” [Bhagavad-gita 16.1-3]
Then try to understand Vedas. Otherwise, what will you understand? You’ll misunderstand, and create problems for yourself and others with your learned-sounding, but actually foolish nonsense. Therefore, the Vedas themselves say:
tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham“To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.” [Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12]
You must approach a guru to understand the Vedas. And what is that understanding, the final conclusion of the Vedas? Vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [Bhagavad-gita 15.15]. To study the Vedas means to understand Kṛṣṇa, surrender unto Him and chant His Holy Names. This is Vedic knowledge.
aho bata sva-paco ’to gariyan
yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuh sasnur arya
brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te“O my Lord, a person who is chanting Your Holy Name, although born of a low family like that of a candala [dog-eater], is situated on the highest platform of self-realization. Such a person must have performed all kinds of penances and sacrifices according to Vedic rituals and studied the Vedic literatures many, many times after taking his bath in all the holy places of pilgrimage. Such a person is considered to be the best of the Aryan family.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.7]
So Arjuna says that: prapannam. “Now I surrender unto You. I am not going to talk with You as an equal, as if I know so many things. Please instruct me.” Arjuna has given so many arguments why he should not have to fight. What he was saying was right, but he was thinking on the material ontological platform.
But Vedic knowledge is spiritual, uttamam. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasu sreya uttamam: “Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.3.21] Then what do you get? Sreya uttamam, the ultimate knowledge. Yac chreya syat niscitam: The final, ultimate conclusion of all knowledge without any uncertainty or doubt. That instruction now will be given by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore in order to achieve the highest spiritual goal of life, one should fully surrender to Kṛṣṇa or His representative. Then his life is successful.
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