Zitat von Vedanta am 30. April 2017, 10:01 Uhr

Class on Hinduism (8^th Part, 3^rd continuation)
HH Shri Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji Maharaja

Then Arjuna says:

yotsyamānān avekṣe 'haṁ   ya ete 'tra samāgatāḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddher   yuddhe priya-cikīrṣavaḥ

I shall observe those who have assembled here for this battle ready to fight and wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Duryodhana.

- Bhagavad Gita 1.23

He is calling Dhṛtarāṣṭra‘s sons, Duryodhana etc. as durbuddhi or evil-minded. He is considering them as his enemies, naturally, and he wants to fight with them. This is his mood. But now is mood is going to take a 180 degree turn. Like you are driving on the highway and there is snow, and suddenly you are going in the opposite direction [laughter in the audience]. This has happened to you sometimes? This is what Arjuna is going to do. He is going to do a flip and this is a very interesting turn in Bhagavad Gita.

So Sañjaya said Kṛṣṇa put the chariot in the middle of both armies as He was ordered - because He is the driver, He has to follow the instruction. But what Kṛṣṇa is doing is that He specifically puts the chariot in front of Bhīṣma and Droṇa, as described in the next two verses:

sañjaya uvāca
evam ukto hṛṣīkeśo   guḍākeśena bhārata
senayor ubhayor madhye   sthāpayitvā rathottamam
bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ   sarveṣāṁ ca mahī-kṣitām
uvāca pārtha paśyaitān   samavetān kurūn iti

Sañjaya said:
O descendant of Bharata [Dhṛtarāṣṭra], thus addressed by Guḍākeśa (Arjuna), Hṛṣīkeśa (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) placed the magnificent chariot between the two armies, facing Bhīṣma and Droṇa and all the rulers of the earth and said, “O Pārtha (Arjuna), behold these Kauravas assembled here.”

- Bhagavad Gita 1.24-25

So Kṛṣṇa does this specific trick on Arjuna that He puts the chariot where there are Bhīṣma and Droṇa and says:

Look at THIS!
This is what you have to fight.

He is showing him his attachment. This is the job of guru and Kṛṣṇa is the guru here. His job is to show the student his shortcomings. Guru is not there to praise the disciple and flatter him and keep him in illusion. Rather, his job is to show him or her what a nonsense he or she is, because only then the person will realize and try to rectify it.

Being guru is a tough job,
don‘t think it is some pleasurable thing!

It is a difficult job because you have to deal with people who have problems. And they don‘t want to admit it. And his job is to explain it to them so that they can know what is the problem and correct themselves.

Kṛṣṇa is playing this game here very coolly. He [Arjuna] came like you come to spiritual life - why do you come to spiritual life? Because you wan‘t to become enlightened which means you want to bring about a change in yourself. Which means you want to improve, which means you want to get rid of your unwanted behavior and unwanted qualities. That‘s the reason one comes to spiritual life. But once you come there and the teacher starts doing his job, then you don‘t like it and think:

Why is he going to trouble me like this?

Therefore Kṛṣṇa is doing this without telling it to Arjuna. He is doing it in a very covered manner so that Arjuna does not even know it. He did not tell Arjuna:

Look boy, you have a big problem.
Your heart is full of attachment
and you better give it up!

He didn‘t say like this. He just takes him there and says: Look at this! [laughing in the audience]. Arjuna did not know this, being a simple fellow he did not know what Kṛṣṇa is doing. So when the chariot was put in front of Bhīṣma and Droṇa, then Arjuna starts seeing and he says:

Whaaat?!?
What is this?
I have to fight with these people?
My own guru?
My own grandfather?
My own relatives?

Because everybody was there. So this is a shocking thing. Usually, we don‘t get such a shock in our life. Once in a while, our shortcomings are exposed to us. Some friend may tell you, or some incident may reveal to you your black side - one little side, not the complete thing. That itself may be a little disturbing to you. But in case of Arjuna, everything was revealed in just one shot. All his attachments were just standing there, that‘s the shocking thing.

Arjuna got an 11,000 Volt shock.
Not 110 Volt - that has no meaning,
that would not have woken him up.

So therefore, what happens, when we get a shock which is only 110 Volt, we don‘t wake up. We tolerate it and we continue with our nonsense. But when you get a shock of 11,000 Volt, you fall on the ground, you don‘t continue. And you start thinking:

My God!
I‘ve got to do something about it!
I don‘t want this shock again!!

[Laughing in the audience] Right? So Arjuna got a shock of 11,000 Volt, not 110 Volt. Because all of his attachments personified were standing there. This is what he sees in verses no. 26 and 27 (first half):

tatrāpaśyat sthitān pārthaḥ   pitṝn atha pitāmahān
ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn   putrān pautrān sakhīṁs tathā
śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva   senayor ubhayor api

 There Arjuna saw in both the armies his paternal and maternal uncles, grandfathers, teachers, brothers and cousins, sons and nephews, grandnephews, friends, fathers-in-law and well-wishers.

- Bhagavad Gita 1.26-27a

So is there any relation which is not mentioned here? Everything [is there].

tān samīkṣya sa kaunteyaḥ   sarvān bandhūn avasthitān
kṛpayā parayāviṣṭo   viṣīdann idam abravīt

The son of Kuntī, seeing all these relatives present on the battlefield, became overwhelmed with deep compassion and while grieving spoke the following words.

- Bhagavad Gita 1.27b-28a

Arjuna sees this and he wakes up. Till now he was sleeping. There are two ways you can fight, two types of people who can fight. One who is sleeping, and one who is completely awake. One who is in between, he cannot fight. That means: A person who is ignorant, does not understand what is life, is just attached for his or her welfare. One who is selfish, basically, can fight. And kill others. Because that‘s the meaning of being selfish that for my own sake, for my own pleasure, I can kill others.

Killing here does not mean physically killing, it could be just

exploiting,
cheating,
tricking,
deceiving,
telling lies …
or doing something to take advantage of another person.

You can do that when you are very much attached to your own pleasure and enjoyment. Or one who is beyond attachment, he can also fight knowing that this is needed to do good to others, not out of selfishness. Therefore:

Either a person
who is completely unselfish - he can fight,
or one who is very selfish - he can fight.

One who is in between - he will dangle.
Sometimes he will dangle towards selfishness,
and sometimes he will dangle towards unselfishness,
and he will not be able to make up his mind.
He will go into confusion
and not be able to take an action.