Monday, July 29, 2013

Bhagavad Gita Verse 73, Chapter 18

Arjuna uvaacha:
nashto mohaha smritirlabdhaa tvatprasaadaanmayaachyuta |
sthitosmi gatasandehaha karishye vachanam tava || 73 ||

 
Arjuna said:
My delusion has been destroyed, and my memory has been restored with your grace, O infallible one. I stand with my doubts removed. I shall do as you say.

 
nashtaha : destroyed
mohaha : delusion
smritihi : memory
labdhaa : restored
tvat : your
prasaadaan : grace
mayaa : by me
achyuta : O infallible one
sthitaha : stand
asmi : I
gatasandehaha : doubts removed
karishye : I shall do
vachanam : words
tava : your
 
If we recall, the first words uttered by Arjuna in the Gita were as follows : O achyuta, O infallible one, in preparation for combat, position my chariot between the two armies. Arjuna uses the same address, achyuta, the infallible one, in this shloka. So the conversation that was initiated by Arjuna is concluded here. Arjuna says that the ignorance of his true nature is no more, since he has regained his smritihi, his memory, the knowledge of his true self. When one comes to know about their true self, there is no more delusion in this world. Everything is seen for what it really is, an illusion, a superimposition by maaya on the self.
 
There is another significance of the word achyuta. While we forget our true nature, and erroneously take maaya to be real, Ishvara is always standing firm in his position as unaffected by the superimposition of maaya. Since he is infallible, only with his grace can we overcome our delusion and come out of the cycle of birth and death, of samsaara. Removal of delusion is the aim of all spiritual teaching, as we saw earlier. All that remains is to stand firm, to be stitaha, in the knowledge of our true self.
 
From the standpoint of the world, Arjuna was convinced that performing his duty as a warrior was the right decision to make at this point. Therefore, he acknowledged that the teaching of the Gita benefitted him, and that he was ready to fight in the war. From the highest standpoint of the absolute, Arjuna's sense of agency, his sense of doership, had gone away, once he understood that the self can neither do anything, nor can it enjoy anything. He performed actions spontaneously, in the service of Ishvara. In the words of Shri Shankaraachaarya, he had achieved the ultimate goal of life. He did not have to accomplish anything else.

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