Zitat von Vedanta am 15. April 2017, 19:13 Uhr

Class on Hinduism (Part 8, continued)
HH Shri Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji Maharaja

Our human body is the field of action. This is where we perform karma, good or bad. And from this, the result comes. Just like in the field you sow some seeds and from that the crop comes out, our body is also a field because we are performing actions and like a crop it gives us some result. In this way you can sow the seed of dhārma or you can sow the seed of adhārma . You can sow the seed of good action. Good action means action which results in happiness. Bad action means action which brings you distress. You can sow both types of seeds in this body. That is also the significance of this verse.

Basically, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks only this one verse in the whole Bhagavad Gita and then the rest of the Gita is a response to this question by his secretary Sañjaya. And when he starts explaining the refers to the dialogue between Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa. Mostly you will see Kṛṣṇa speaking and Arjuna raising a question, but this is being related by Sañjaya to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, which in turn is being related by Vaiśampāyana to Janamejaya. This is how - I was telling - inside the story there is another story and another story … one speaker will say, „well he said like this ...“ and while he is describing that he will tell that another speaker comes in. Sometimes, there may be five levels of speakers. So here, at least there are three levels. Now Sañjaya starts replying. In the first few verses he is basically referring to the armies of both sides.

sañjaya uvāca
dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā
ācāryam upasaṅgamya rājā vacanam abravīt

Sañjaya said:
After seeing the army of the Pāṇḍavas arrayed for battle, King Duryodhana, approaching his teacher Droṇa, spoke the following words.

- Bhagavad Gita 1.2

This is the opening description. Although many things would have happened, but the way it is being described is obviously with a purpose. The same story can be described in so many different ways depending on the interest of the person. Vyāsa’s interest is not just telling us the history, he wants to give us some education through it. For that reason, he chooses to describe in that particular manner. Maybe many other things happened too, but he is not talking about it. He talks of this specific incident. In other places, there are many other things described. Other puranas sometimes may give more details of the story, or provide a new story. There was another Mahābhārata written by a disciple of Vyāsa, which is called Jaimini-Mahābhārata. Therein, he tells stories which are completely different and not found in this Mahābhārata. So Jaimini had different interest in describing the stories and Vyāsa also had a different interest. So Duryodhana goes to his teacher Droṇācharya and says:

paśyaitāṁ pāṇḍu-putrāṇām   ācārya mahatīṁ camūm
vyūḍhāṁ drupada-putreṇa   tava śiṣyeṇa dhīmatā

O teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pāṇḍu arrayed for battle by your intelligent student [Dhṛṣṭadyumna], the son of Drupada.

- Bhagavad 1.3

You see now, how cleverly he is speaking. He is telling his teacher, „look at the army which has been arranged by your intelligent disciple“. And who is this intelligent disciple? He is the son of Drupada. And who is Drupada? Your arch enemy! Because that‘s how the whole thing started, Droṇa and Drupada first they were friends and classmates but later on they became enemies. When Droṇācharya asked for a cow from King Drupada, he said:

I don‘t recognize you.
Who are you?
Get lost!

Then Droṇācharya wanted to take revenge and he taught the Pāṇḍavas [martial arts]. And then Arjuna brought Drupada alive before him. Later on, when Drupada did the sacrifice and Dhṛṣṭadyumna was born, he sent him to Droṇācharya, „you go and learn from him [martial arts]“. So Dhṛṣṭadyumna is also a student of Droṇācharya, although he was born to kill him. Therefore, Duryodhana wants to make Droṇācharya a little angry by sarcastically saying, „look, your intelligent disciple“, which actually means „you are such a fool that you taught this fellow who is meant to kill you! Actually, you are digging your own grave, or at least you were teaching him how to dig the grave for you. This is your intelligence“. By calling Droṇācharya‘s disciple as being intelligent, Duryodhana is implying that „you are not so smart, my teacher“. Why is he saying so? Obviously, so that Droṇācharya gets angry, because for fighting you have to be in an angry mood, right? If you are just smiling and joking you can‘t expect to fight. Therefore, he is trying to incited his anger, and especially anger against these people, because he knew that Droṇācharya had a soft heart for the Pāṇḍavas. Arjuna was the best and favourite disciple of Droṇācharya and Droṇācharya loved Arjuna very much. And now this Arjuna is on the opposite side, so Droṇa may not fight wholeheartedly. But Duryodhana wants him to fight wholeheartedly, because the victory depends on how Droṇa and Bhisma will fight. Therefore, he is saying:

Look, you think that your disciples are very loving towards you - but what they are doing? They have made Dhṛṣṭadyumna as commander of their army. And who is Dhṛṣṭadyumna? He was born to kill you! That means, they are hell-bent on killing you!

That‘s what is being indicated. I am just trying to show you how the verses may look simple, but they have an implied meaning behind them. So he is actually trying to incite the anger of Droṇācharya by telling him that „the Pāṇḍavas are not so loving towards you, rather they want to kill you. Otherwise, why they have made Dhṛṣṭadyumna as their commander-in-chief? There are many other great heroes on their side. They could have made Arjuna as their commander-in-chief, they could have made Bhīma as their commander-in-chief, or people like Sātyaki, Kuntibhoja, Drupada, Kāśirāja, … there are so many of them. Why Dhṛṣṭadyumna? Because they want to kill you.“

Now you wake up and fight!

This is the message Duryodhana is telling without telling to Droṇācharya. This is his expertise. This is how politicians work. Politicians say one thing and they intend another thing. That‘s how they get votes from the people. They inspire the people to vote for them by saying so many things and trying to prove how they are going to do good to them. But when they get power, you don‘t know what they will do, because they never intended that anyway.

In the next three verses, he gives the list of great persons who are on the side of the Pāṇḍavas, and he says that they are all equal to Bhīma and Arjuna in fighting, the two big heroes on the side of the Pāṇḍavas. As I said, Arjuna was the greatest archer of his time and Bhīma was physically very strong. So Duryodhana said, „look at the other side, these are the great people and you please know this“. Then he talks about his own side in verse number 7, and in verse number 8 he gives the list of great people on his side. He says:

bhavān bhīṣmaś ca karṇaś ca   kṛpaś ca samitiñjayaḥ
aśvatthāmā vikarṇaś ca   saumadattis tathaiva ca

[There are] Yourself, Bhīṣma, Karṇa, Kṛpa, who is the winner of battles, Aśvatthāmā, Vikarṇa and Bhūriśravā, who is the son of Somadatta.

- Bhagavad Gita 1.8

These are the great fighters on his side. The way he is listing them, he also has some motive behind it. Actually, Bhīṣma is the seniormost person on this side and the greatest fighter, so he should have started with Bhīṣma. But he starts with Droṇācharya because his interest was to make Droṇa angry on the Pāṇḍavas and also flatter him to favour him. That‘s what he is trying to do here. And that‘s the reason why he actually approached Droṇācharya. There was no reason to go to Droṇācharya, he should have gone to Bhīṣma, because it is Bhīṣma who is the commander-in-chief of the army. Why is he going to Droṇācharya, who has to work under Bhīṣma? Because he wanted to make sure that Droṇācharya won‘t favour the Pāṇḍavas. That is the reason why he spoke about Dhṛṣṭadyumna and that is the reason why he is now listing him first and afterwards he is listing Bhīṣma and then Karṇa, then Kṛpācharya. Kṛpācharya was the brother-in-law of Droṇācharya. Then he lists his son to please him again, „your son is also a great fighter, he is there on our side“. This is what he is basically trying to do. He doesn‘t actually talk about himself. He could have said „I am also there“, because he is also a big fighter, the very word „Duryodhana“ itself means „who is a big fighter“. Yet he is showing humility in front of his teacher although he is one of the proudest persons, knowing well that this pride now is not healthy or helpful.

Then he says:

aparyāptaṁ tad asmākaṁ   balaṁ bhīṣmābhirakṣitam
paryāptaṁ tv idam eteṣāṁ   balaṁ bhīmābhirakṣitam

The strength of our army, well protected by Bhīṣma, is immeasurable, while the strength of their army, fully protected by Bhīma, is limited.

- Bhagavad Gita 1.10

So he says that, „our army is protected by Bhīṣma, our strength is immeasurable, don‘t worry, we will win!“

When saying this, he felt that, „maybe Bhīṣma is feeling a little slighted that why am I talking only to Droṇācharya and not paying any attention to Bhīṣma as the commander-in-chief, the seniormost person and the greatest fighter on this side“. Then he speaks verse number 11:

ayaneṣu ca sarveṣu   yathā-bhāgam avasthitāḥ
bhīṣmam evābhirakṣantu   bhavantaḥ sarva eva hi

[To his army Duryodhana then said] Therefore, situated in your assigned places on all fronts, all of you protect Bhīṣma alone on all sides.

- Bhagavad Gita 1.11

Now he says that, „you just have to protect Bhīṣma. If he is protected then nobody can conquer us.“

Bhīṣma understood, he must have been smiling inside knowing what Duryodhana was trying to do, because Bhīṣma is also a royal person and thus knows very well the royal politics. Knowing this, he did not say anything. He just blew his conch. He understood that Duryodhana is having some fear in his mind which was the reason why he was speaking like this.

This is also interesting that Duryodhana has a much bigger army - at least 40 % extra - than the Pāṇḍavas. And he has the biggest heroes on his side. He has Bhīṣma, he has Droṇācharya, he has Karṇa. People like Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa and Aśvatthāmā they could actually fight with millions of people alone. They knew such art of fighting. If you read the description which is given, it is amazing what they all could do. They could create fire, they could bring rain, they could blow heavy winds, they could bring hailstorm, they could do all kinds of things. It was not just fighing with bow and arrow, but they knew the art of chanting mantras along with the arrow. They could actually drop an arrow like a bomb and kill a million people in one shot. They had this [capability].

So with all this, Duryodhana is afraid. On the other side, the main hero basically is Arjuna. Arjuna is the only one who can stand against Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa, Aśvatthāmā, Kṛpācharya - at least regarding these five people, there was nobody else on the other side who could take on them. So why is he still in fear? This is because

Whenever you do something
illegal, immoral or unrighteous,
FEAR comes.

Even if you are powerful, even if you are the President of the country. If you do something wrong, you have a fear inside.

Duryodhana knows that what he is doing is wrong. And therefore he is fearing. Otherwise, why should he fear? The Pāṇḍavas are not fearing, although they are small in number and in comparison less powerful. But they were not in fear. Actually, by seeing the army [of the Kauravas] like this, they should surrender, there is no point in fighting with these great people here.

Bhīṣma understands this and therefore, he is trying to encourage Duryodhana:

tasya sañjanayan harṣaṁ   kuru-vṛddhaḥ pitāmahaḥ
siṁha-nādaṁ vinadyoccaiḥ   śaṅkhaṁ dadhmau pratāpavān

[Sañjaya said] The senior leader of the Kuru dynasty, grandfather Bhīṣma, cheering him (Duryodhana) on, roared loudly like a lion and blew his powerful conch.

- Bhagavad Gita 1.12

So when Duryodhana was talking like this, then this old man [Bhīṣma] - he was 100+ years at that time - he roared and then blew his conch.

Here in India, if you go to the temples when they start the ceremony called ārati, they start with a conch. Blowing the conch is considered to be very auspicious. It creates some auspicious vibrations. It is also said that it kills some unwanted bacteria. Usually, whenever a religious ceremony begins, it begins with blowing of the conch. They also blow the conch when the ceremony ends. This battle was also a religious battle, because for kṣatrīyas, battle is just like doing ārati in the temple. Therefore, the battle used to begin with blowing of the conch. Bhīṣma blows his conch, because he is the seniormost person. He gives the signal, „now we can start fighting“, which also [indirectly] means that he is telling to Duryodhana:

Now go back to your chariot
and stop all this description we already know.
Better get on the job. Don‘t be scared.

When he [Bhīṣma] blows the conch, then everybody starts blowing their conches. Every hero, every warrior had a conch with them, e.g. if they wanted to send a message of starting or stopping.