Sunday, July 28, 2013

Bhagavad Gita Verse 72, Chapter 18

kacchidetachhrutam paartha tvayaikagrena chetasaa |
kacchidajnyaanasammohaha pranashtaste dhananjaya || 72 ||

 
Has this been heard by you, O Paartha, with a focused mind? Has your delusion of ignorance been destroyed, O Dhananjaya?
 
kacchit : has
etat : this
shrutam : been heard
paartha : O Paartha
tvaya : by you
ekagrena : focused
chetasaa : mind
kacchit : has
ajnyaanasammohaha : delusion of ignorance
pranashtaha : destroyed
te : your
dhananjaya : O Dhananjaya
 
The goal of the Upanishads, the portions of the Vedas that deal with the eternal essence, is to reveal the true nature of the self. All of us are living in ignorance of our true nature. This ignorance affects everyone, it is natural to all humans. Like someone who has multiple personality disorder needs treatment to understand who they really are, all of us need a qualified teacher who can impart the knowledge of the Upanishads to us so that we can regain the knowledge of our self.
 
Shri Krishna taught the Gita, which is also another Upanishad, so that Arjuna and other seekers in the future could annihilate their ignorance about their true nature as the self. He employed logic, reasoning, scriptural authority, emotion, psychology, every trick in the book to ensure that Arjuna could grasp the message of the Gita. Having done all that, he still wanted to give Arjuna the chance to ask any other doubts or questions with regards to the teaching. He also asked Arjuna whether he had listed with focus, or whether his mind was wandering.

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