Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Bhagavad Gita Verse 44-45, Chapter 1

utsannakuladharmaanaam manushyaanaam janaardana |
narakeniyatam vaaso bhavatityanushushruma || 44 ||
 
aho bata mahatpaapam kartum vyavasitaa vayam |
yadryaadjyasukhalobhena hantum svajanamudyataaha || 45 ||
 
 
People whose societal values have eroded, O Janaardana, reside in hell indefinitely, this I have heard.
 
Alas! It's unfortunate that we have decided to undertake this extreme sin. Our greed towards the pleasures of the kingdom has prepared us to kill our kinsmen.
 
utsanna : delapidated, eroded
kula-dharmaanaam : societal values
manushyaanaam : those people
janaardana : O Janaardana
narake : hell
aniyatam : indefinitely
vaaso : reside
bhavati : happens
iti : this
anushushruma : I have heard
 
aho : Alas
bata : it's unfortunate
mahat-paapam : extreme sin
kartum : undertake
vyavasitaa : decided to do
vayam : we
yat : that
raajyasukha : pleasures of kingdom
lobhena : greed
hantum : kill
svajanam : our kin
udyataaha : are prepared
 
Here, Arjuna concluded an argument that he had begun a few verses prior. According to him, a rise in lawlessness began a chain reaction which caused the entire civilization, not just the warmongers, to end up residing in hell indefinitely.
 
Let's summarize this argument. What Arjuna is saying, in simple words, is that the Kaurava army is committing the sin of destroying the Kuru clan. Since he can see that it is a sin, he will not join them in this act, and therefore not fight.
 
Again, we see moha at work here. Duryodhana had moha for the Kauravas, whereas Arjuna had moha for the entire Kuru dynasty. Even though Arjuna was more large-hearted than Duryodhana in his moha, moha clouded his judgement the same way it clouded Duryodhana's judgement.
 
Moreover, in verse 45, Arjuna's demonstrates classic "victim" mindset where one cannot see oneself in control of a situation, by using words such as "alas", "it is unfortunate". His moha took over his mind so completely that one of the world's foremost warriors spoke words that a weakling would use.

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