Chapter
1
“Having
assembled to fight at Kurushetra, what did my sons and
the
sons of Pandu do, Sanjaya?” asked King Dhrtarastra.
Sanjaya, his charioteer and confidant, who sees the battle
with divine vision given to him by the sage Vyasa, for
exactly this reason, describes what he sees.
He
sees…the king’s son, Duryodhana, de-facto
ruler of Hastinapura, approach his teacher Dhrona, and
remark: behold the vast army of the Pandavas, so expertly
arranged by Dhrstadyumna! Appraises the enemy’s
strength, he quickly recounts the names of the heroes,
beginning with great archers like Bhima and Arjuna, great
fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata, Drupada… There
are also great, heroic powerful fighters like Dhrstaketu,
Cekitana, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, and Saibya. The
mighty Yudhamanyu and the very powerful Uttamauja, and
the sons of Subhadra and Draupadi all of them very worthy
maha-ratis …
But,
let me tell you of the captains of my army, oh best of
the Brahamanas, went on the king. There are personalities
like you, Beeshma, Karna, Kripa, Asvatthama, Vikarna,
and the son of Somadatta called Bhurisrava who are all
victorious in battle. There are many other great heroes
prepared to lay down their lives for my sake. All of them
are equipped with different kinds of weapons and experienced
in the military science. ‘Our strength is immeasurable
and effortlessly protected by Beeshma; whereas the strength
of the Pandavas is limited however carefully it is protected
by Bhima!’ All of you now please give full support
to grandsire Beeshma, from your respective strategic positions.
Beeshma,
the grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, watched from close
by. The old warrior admired this squabbling grandson of
his. Duryodhana, made one formidable foe, fit it would
seem, to take on the Supreme Lord himself. It then struck
him that that was exactly what he was intently going about.
The Supreme Lord Krishna was the opponent – the
Pandavas were merely a front. Besides, he was fooling
nobody by his claim of being a non-combatant, as if his
very presence on one side were of no consequence. Thinking
thus, the Kuru warrior took a silent vow. I will make
the Supreme Lord Krishna to break his words. I will attack
Arjuna in such a fierce manner that the Lord will be forced
to show his hands, take up arms.
Then,
to gladden the heart of Duryodhana, the one man who has
the gumption to take on the Supreme Lord, to show his
solidarity with this blackest of sheep, Beeshma blew his
conch shell, long and hard. It had the desired effect.
Duryodhana was instantly enlivened. The dreadful lion-like
roar of the conch shell was prompted taken up by others
and soon the air was rend with the tumultuous sound of
hundreds of conch shells, large drums, kettledrums, and
horns.
On
the other side, both Lord Madhava and Arjuna stood resplendent
on a great chariot drawn by white steeds sounded their
conch shells. The Pancajanya and Devadutta, both with
their distinguished notes heralded their illustrious owners,
Krishna-Arjuna. Their near combined notes were also a
clear indicator as to which side dharma was on, and to
the select few, able to divine such matters, it was the
peerless note of victory.
The
Pancajanya, Devadutta was immediately followed by the
sound of a very large shell that could be recognized as
that of the Paundra, announcing its equally large owner,
Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of staggering
feats of strength! While in was Arjuna who was the better
warrior with his technique honed to perfection by end-less
hours of practice that often ran well into the night,
it was Bhima with his slapdash style and his prodigious
capacity of demolishing broad swathes of the army who
was feared more by the enemy. Also, Bhima was the invincible
shadow of Arjuna; they worked together as a team; it was
Bhima who made Arjuna invincible. Certainly, it was the
terrible image of Bhima that truly disturbed the Kaurava’s
sleep.
The
Paundra was immediately followed by the Ananta-vijaya
that heralded the righteous King, Yudhisthira, and a fraction
of a second later, the twin sounds of the Sughosa and
Manipuspaka, could be heard, heralding the Pandava twins,
Nakula and Sahadeva. If Bhima was Arjuna’s shadow,
the twins too were the guardians of the wheels of his
chariot. Thus, was formed an invincible attack configuration,
by the four Pandava brothers, which presumably won them
their vast kingdom.
Other
heroes, the great archer King of Kasi, the great fighter
Sikhandi, Dhrstadyumna, Virata, and the unconquerable
Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Darupadi, of Subhadra, all
blew their respective conch shells, and all of them announced
a very exacting image of their respective owners in the
minds of the gathered warriors. The combined sound reached
a tumultuous crescendo, reverberating both the earth and
the sky. It also shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhrtarastra.
Preliminaries
over, Arjuna primed to engage in battle. He felt invincible.
A quick appraisal left him in no doubt. His chariot was
drawn by celestial steeds, atop which fluttered the Hanuman-banner.
Had not Hanuman, helped Lord Ramchandra emerge victorious?
Speaking of which, was not the Supreme Lord Krishna Himself
his charioteer? Victory was assured.
Fully
prepared to let loose a shower of deadly arrows and vanquish
the army before him, the infallible archer threw them
a pitying glance. The lackluster sons of Dhrtarastra,
assembled in an indifferent military formation, seemed
to the infallible hero, as if arrayed for slaughter. Who
were these terribly misguided people assembled here ready
to die for that evil-minded Duryodhana?A sudden desire
to see them at close quarters possessed him and he requested
his esteemed charioteer, the Supreme Lord Krishna, Oh,
infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two
armies so that I may see with whom I must contend in this
great trial of arms. Hearing this unusual request, the
Supreme Lord Krishna, drew up the fine chariot amidst
the two armies.
Stationed now between the two armies, and within earshot
of Beeshma, Drona, and all the other chieftains on the
enemy’s side, the Lord said, Just see Arjuna, the
Kurus, they are all here!
The
Lord pointed reference to his kinfolk struck a chord.
It triggered a distressing realization. The entire Kuru
clan, Arjun’s very own family, was indeed assembled
here. His fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles,
brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and father-in-laws.
Suddenly and to his horror, he realized the game plan.
This was genocide, planned and brought to a meticulously
close by a particularly cruel twist of fate. He threw
a wild glance at the face of his charioteer, the Supreme
Lord, the destroyer-of-all-evil for answers, but found
it to be set in a grim death mask. How was it that he
never saw it in this light before?
Overwhelmed
by vision, Arjuna addressed the Supreme Lord, “Oh,
Krishna, seeing my friends and relatives present before
me in such a fighting spirit, my limbs are quivering,
and my mouth has gone dry. My body is trembling, my skin
is burning my hair is standing on ends and my bow Gandiva,
is slipping from my hands. I am unable to stand here any
longer, my mind is reeling… I see only reversals.
I do not see how any good can come from killing my own
kinsmen nor do I desire victory, kingdom or happiness.
Oh Govinda, what use is kingdom, happiness, or even life
itself when all those for whom we desire them are now
arrayed here on the battlefield? Oh, Madhusudana, I am
not prepared to fight with my kinsmen even in exchange
for the three worlds, let alone this earth.
Oh
Janardana, why should we who can see the crime in destroying
the family, engage in these acts of sin? With the destruction
of dynasty, family traditions dissipate and irreligion
takes over. When irreligion is prominent, Oh Krishna,
the women of the family becomes polluted and they then
give rise to unwanted progeny.
An
increase in unwanted population further destroys tradition,
including the stoppage of offering of food and water to
the forefathers, who consequently suffer in ghostly or
other hellish existences.
Destroyers
of family traditions will cause ‘varna-sankaras’
or polluted progeny to be born, who, not knowing better,
will wreak havoc with critical societal systems. The varna-ashrama
class structure, wherein society is divided into the four
varnas and four ashrams will undoubtedly be dismantled,
for it is easily misjudged. What they do not understand
is that Sanatana Dharma, which delivers spiritual-centric
progress to all, is depended on the varna-ashrama class
structure to deliver its product. If you dismantle one,
the other will automatically wither.
Having
worked himself into an argument wherein he, a Khsatriya,
duty bound to uphold dharma, would rather ‘let sinful
men live for the sake of upholding dharma,’ poor
Arjuna, now thoroughly bewildered and of course genuinely
perturbed, cast aside his bow and arrows, and sat down
in the chariot.
Philosophical Summary
Death is the main topic for philosophical consideration
here. The dialogue is therefore being held amidst the
two armies on the battlefield, where death is just about
the only thing on everyone’s mind. Death has always
remained a mystery to us. We cannot assimilate it with
our senses, see dead people or hear from them as to what
happens beyond this inscrutable curtain. And in all likelihood,
science, given its distaste from venturing beyond the
periphery of the senses, it will never be in a position
to deliver information on this subject either.
Science
has no answer, so, what do we do? Accept their ‘we-don’t-know’
which is really an admittance of ‘out of our preview’
as if there is nothing out there, nothing to be done or
gained? Close our eyes to death? Do nothing about it?
Not work to secure a better future?
Is
there no way we can peek behind the inscrutable curtains
of death in a convincing manner? Actually, there is a
way. We do have a tool with which to peek behind this
curtain. That tool is called philosophical enquiry. It
is a powerful, but unfortunately in modern times, it lays
disused thanks to science’s disenchantment and distaste
for it.
It
is important therefore to learn how to use this powerful
tool called philosophical enquiry. Here are a few pointers.
First
things first. Philosophical enquiry should not be confused
with freewheeling speculation. On the contrary, it is
a very systematic method of delving into a subject that
follows very rigorous and rigidly enforced rules. To use
an analogy, philosophical enquiry is very similar to rock
climbing. We are of course referring to scaling sheer
faces, where the only footholds available are actually
‘toeholds’ and are those near nonexistent
crevices, ledges, and cracks that only an expert rock
climber can discern. They are there, but you need to be
an expert to discern it and used it to climb up. These
are your logical steps in philosophical enquiry. They
are based on ground realities, meaning realities that
we can sense, measure, etc., but move upward into the
unknown, using logical conclusions. For example, when
discussing the topic of death, the ground realities that
can form the base would be:
Everybody,
everything dies. Refine that and you get: everything that
takes birth dies. There is no way one can peek beyond
the inscrutable curtain of death. You then take a look
at birth, for we already have a correlation between birth
and death. Remember, everything that is born dies. Taking
a serious look at birth which reveals the emergence of
beings – from behind a curtain. Another inscrutable
curtain? Is it the same curtain that appears to inscrutably
hide one world from another? Okay, take it run.
But before you run, know that this is sort of a science.
You need to be able to take sure steps and scale stratospheric
heights.
This,
therefore, is a problem area. What you may consider to
be a logical toehold may not actually be one. Any old
fool can spin a theology that looks very like a real thing.
Aided by a charismatic personality, expressive eyes and
a glib tongue, there are many out there that can and do
concoct ideologies that are not firmly grounded in logic.
Often its 80% borrowed real conclusions. We, the lay audience,
are in no position to make a judgment and will fall exactly
as a rock face climber will if he imagines a toehold where
none exists. Our loss will be incalculable.
Therefore,
philosophical enquiry relies on parampara, or schools
of thought that responsibly enshrines and carry philosophical
ideologies intact through generations. Thus, if you really
want to use this powerful tool called philosophical enquiry,
go to an established school of thought. Which is why,
even Sri Krishna advices in the Bhagavad-Gita as a matter
of course, go to a parampara, and learn the philosophical
conclusion from a teacher on that parampara.
As
is generally the case, when death is contemplated, most
people’s concerns merely extend to how their families
will cope with it, and fend for themselves. Still others
will be concerned with even more irrelevant things such
as will my death be an embarrassment to others, will I
be properly dressed, etc. Arjuna concern’s here
are along similar lines. His chief concerns are, what
will his kinsmen think, family traditions will be destroyed,
varna-shankaras will be born, the world will hurtle into
oblivion.
The
Supreme Lord Sri Krishna however does not approve of such
runaway histrionics. He then goes on to reveal exactly
what concerns a man should have when death stares him
in the face. The only thing one ought to worry about at
this point is about oneself, exactly as a man about to
embark on a journey, ought to worry about whether he is
packed and ready for his next stop.
Certainly
a refreshing new ideology. When generally our concern
are ‘to get our affairs in order’ meaning
of course last minute instructions to the bewildered missus
which end is which of your disorganized business or such
like, here is the Supreme Lord instructing us, stop, spare
a thought for yourself. Vaguely aware that there is nothing
material that can be taken along we assume that we ought
to meet death empty-handed. This is the proud legacy of
the western world. A criminal waste. There is much you
can and emphatically should take across with you beyond
death.
What
you could take home from this chapter
Science urges us to not see beyond death not because it
has any information about the subject matter but merely
because it does not have. And what is equally strange
is that although science is smart at cranking up theories
in general, it does have one about death. Clearly therefore,
this subject matter is taboo for the scientists, no more
than a ‘science verse religion’ standoff,
and in truth it has no conscientious opinion on the topic.
So,
where does that leave us? Would death not touch us because
science is still scratching its head on the issue? Do
we fritter away our lives in old age homes playing bingo?
Or, do we take the advice of the Bhagavad-Gita and phenomenally
improve our future prospects?
The
arguments of the Bhagavad-Gita you will find are steeped
in sound logic. If still you are not convinced, take a
reality check. Spend a day at the crematorium. Get the
real picture. Death is everywhere. Factor it into your
lives. Plan for it. Plan beyond it. Once you get familiar
with the process, you will find that is easy and wonder
why you, of all people, being so meticulous and caring,
neglected this vital spiritual welfare or evolution of
your family.
