Sri Krishna continues his discourse to Arjuna, explaining the causes by which the dark age comes into being. A community is formed by individuals, and however greatly the achievements of the whole may be praised, the contributions of its units cannot be ignored. When individuals are noble and rightly ordered, the community moves in harmony;…
Sri Krishna instructs Arjuna to remain steady in his conviction, for when the mind is guided by discriminative intellect it becomes self-governed, mastering both the inner and outer worlds. Instead of accumulating fresh liabilities through new bondages, the seeker gains release from the mental congestion caused by existing attachments. When the ego is completely surrendered,…
Sri Krishna, pleased with the steady gathering of his disciple Arjuna’s mind, gently loosened the knots that bound his inner focus. He taught that when the mind is single-pointed, when a person entertains one resolute determination and acts consistently toward its fulfilment, success inevitably follows. Yet most are victimized by ego, drifting among countless desires…
Krishna counselled Arjuna that he should cast aside grief when facing enemies, and that even the slaying of great men, when demanded by circumstance, is a rightful duty. Arjuna’s personal calling is that of a leader of his age, summoned to confront an unrighteous force. It is his duty not to waver but to stand…
Sri Krishna enlightens Arjuna by striking at the very root of ignorance. With firm compassion, he corrects superficial weakness and teaches that calm endurance, alike in pleasure and in pain, is the essential condition for true knowledge of the Self. This steady balance of mind is the very technique of self-realization. One who abides in…
Sanjaya, probing the depths of spiritual truth through the lens of Arjuna’s troubled mind, conveyed both the condition and the remedy offered by Lord Sri Krishna, while striking, as it were, upon the deaf and blind attitude of the monarch. Sri Krishna rightly discerned the source of Arjuna’s despondency and sought to uproot it at…
Sanjaya reports that Krishna, who had remained silent, now deliberately lashes out at the extreme anxiety of Arjuna. His silence had carried deep meaning, and when he finally spoke, his eloquence poured forth in carefully chosen words, each like a sharpened arrow. He declared that Arjuna’s mental state was neither sufficiently masculine to inspire passionate…
Sanjaya reported to the blind king how, by the divine will of Śrī Krishna, the entire battlefield stood revealed before Arjuna. As Arjuna gazed, his eyes rested not merely on opposing ranks but on faces long known and loved. He saw fathers and grandsires, teachers and venerable elders, brothers and cousins, friends and companions, bound…
All the commanders were thrown into intense strain the moment they heard the Marshal’s bugle, and each, stirred individually, lifted his own instrument and proclaimed the call to arms. Thus conches, kettle drums, tabors, trumpets, bugles, and cow horns burst forth together, hurling defiance and summoning battle. Sanjaya reported this sight to Dhritarashtra with reluctant…
Dharmaraja, having sought the blessings of the elders, returned to his ranks with a mind absorbed in the coded exchange he had held with Bhishma and Drona. Their counsel demanded subtlety to decipher, and their intricate, suggestive words swirled ceaselessly in his thoughts. The most difficult task before him was to understand Dharma. In the…
