Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 1 Synopsis

 

The crisis is a part of everyone's life 5,000 years ago arjuna faced the biggest crisis of his life when he entered the battlefield of Kurukshetra which was the most anticipated movement of arjuna's life for which he had prepared for not only 12 long years of his exile but also all his life. 

 

Kshatriya, to establish dharma, has to fight and this is the biggest battle of the life of Arjuna and for Kshatriya, it is an honor for them to go and fight, they're not scared of giving up their life neither they're scared of taking life. So Arjuna, being a Kshatriya, the moment that he cherished and prepared all his life has come and suddenly when he entered the battlefield he went through an incredible crisis. Of course, there was a crisis that was about to begin right on the battlefield when the war would begin then there would be a lot of sorrow and death. But before that crisis arjuna went through an internal crisis wherein he became totally confused, what am I doing? why am I doing? Have I made the right decision to come to this battlefield? and like this, he began to question his decision and about his purpose in life and that's how the Bhagavad-gita begins.

 

This crisis of arjuna can change the future discourse of the entire world. If arjuna would have walked away from the battlefield, then the situation would have been entirely different, probably you and I today would not have had the Bhagavad-gita to read or study. But because arjuna decided to take guidance from Lord Krishna and accepted him as a teacher, therefore, the discourse of the battle of Kurukshetra is changed. Ultimately what began with the crisis for Arjuna at the end of Bhagavad-Gita led to a resolution where Arjuna became again fixed in the purpose of his life and his decision and that is how the Bhagavad-Gita begins. 

 

Chapter one of Bhagavad-Gita is titled "Observing The Armies" or is also called Arjun Vishad Yog. Now let's look at the title of the chapter, it reflects the main theme of the chapter. Here, the title of chapter one is observing the armies, seeing the armies which means to see through our vision, but that's not correct. These eyes are just an instrument, we don't actually see it from our eyes, we see from our perceptions. Let me give you an example, a religious fanatic when he sees another person from another religion he sees that person as his enemy, however, when this religious fanatic sees a person from his community or who believes in his religion he calls him a brother, ultimately they're both a human being but why he has such a hatred for that person, he sees not only from the eyes he sees from his perceptions or the world views. So our perceptions of the world create a reality of our life and that is what the chapter talks about. Arjuna's bewilderment of crisis was because of his misconstrued or misidentified or corrupt perceptions of the corrupt worldview and that is what is the main theme of this particular chapter. 

 

Interestingly Bhagavad-Gita begins with not Krishna, not Arjuna, it begins with the most profound character of the whole of Mahabharata, Drithrashtra, very interesting name, you break the words and it becomes drith+rashtra (drith means determined which means attached, and Rashtra means to the kingship/throne). So Drithrashtra was so attached to the throne that he was willing to compromise anything or sacrifice everything just to fulfil his one desire to remain a king. Although he was not an appointed king, he was a temporary king who was given that kingship in the absence of Pandu. He didn't want Yudhishthira to get their rightful kingdom back, therefore he allowed all their misconduct and malicious activities against the Pandavas. In other words, Drithrashtra was acting behind the scene whereas Duryodhan was his puppet. Drithrashtra being a king had the opportunity to say no and reject Duryodhana's whims. So it was his obstinacy and deep-rooted material aspiration that brought the family, Pandavas, and Kauravas, together at the battlefield of Kurukshetra and therefore the Drithrashtra is asking to Sanjaya " O Sanjay, after gathering on the holy field of Kurukshetra, and desiring to fight, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do?". This question makes no sense, what do you think people do on the battlefield? Fight....right? But here actually Drithrashtra is fearful of the influence of the Dharmakshetra, the environment has its impact on our consciousness, it was a religious place hence Drithrashtra was worried and hoped that Duryodhana’s mind doesn't get changed under the influence of the pious place of Kurukshetra, he should not get carried away by the auspiciousness of that place and he should not become softer on Pandavas. This is not the only reason there are more reasons. 

 

Let me just explain a little bit more background, Maharishi Vyas, right before the battle of Kurukshetra began, had visited Hastinapur one last time to attempt to convince Drithrashtra to call off the war and fulfil the Pandavas requirements which was to give them at least five villages. But Drithrashtra did not agree to that and Maharishi Vyas became frustrated and when he was walking away from the palace at the last minute he turned around and looked at Drithrashtra and said "You fool! because of you, the whole world will suffer. I want you to see that suffering from your own eyes because you are responsible for what is about to begin, you don't know how many lives would be lost, how many wives will become widows, how many kids will become fatherless, how many mothers would not have a son to live on because of you. So I want you to see that suffering, therefore I want to give you this divine vision so that you can see”. Drithrahtra became petrified, he said, "No, my dear father, do not say this to me, I cannot stand this". He then empowered Sanjaya with that divine vision saying "Sanjay, I want you to narrate every single thing that goes on to the battlefield of Kurukshetra to Drithrashtra". So here is Sanjaya answering and now begins to explain what is happening on the battlefield.

 

We'll be studying the whole chapter of Bhagavad-gita through the acronym.

D: Drithrashtra & Duryodhana (Verse 1 to 12)

O: Ominous Results (Verse 13 to 20)

U: Uncertainty (Verse 21 to 27)

B: Bewilderment (Verse 28 to 30)

T: Turning Point (Verse 31 to 47)

 

D: Drithrashtra & Duryodhana (Verse 1 to 12)

We again come back to Sanjay, wherein he begins to speak to Drithrashtra and for very first he began to talk about the action of the Duryodhana, and then Sanjaya said to Drithrashtra that when the Duryodhana saw the huge army of Pandavas assembled at the battlefield he got terrified. He was worried about seeing this huge army along with that he had his own reasons to be fearful. Actually, through this set of verses from verse 2 to verse 12 Sanjay describes the activities or the actions of the Duryodhana, primarily his diplomacy wherein he goes and instigates his army men, his generals, inspire them to fight with Pandavas, and simultaneously it also depicts his inner fear. Why Duryodhana is fearful? There was no doubt that Kauravas would be victorious, first of all, they had 11 akshauhinis, a huge army double the size of Pandavas army. Secondly, Duryodhana had fighters like Bhishma, who had been blessed by his father that you get to choose when you want to die. Now how do you fight and win a war against such an army where you have Dronacharya, who was also blessed that he cannot be killed by anyone, and you had Kripacharya who was blessed that he cannot be killed/defeated and then you have great warriors like Ashwatthama then you have Jaidrath, 99 brothers of Duryodhana and Shakuni. When you have such a backing then why would the leader(Duryodhana) be still afraid and that is what has been described as fear and the reason for his fear is very simple. Just like a thief, how much ever he may be assured that the police or the political parties they're going to support him, and he has everything under his control yet there is a constant fear. Secondly, Duryodhana was doubtful about the loyalty of his people, he saw and knew that people are there with him for their selfish motivations. For example, Shakuni had his reason, Karna had his reason (Karna wanted to prove that he is the best archer by defeating arjuna) because of the selfish motivations already a tussle was going on between the leaders of the Kauravas army. Therefore, Duryodhana was worried about what if warriors like Bhishma Pitamah, Dronacharya halfway through the battle decide to quit, then who will protect him. This brings out a very important lesson which is "material security and resources does not guarantee success and fearlessness". It is often seen that people who have more possessions/wealth are often more fearful than ordinary people. 

 

When the individual becomes self-centred, egoistic, and is primarily interested in self-gain and then fear, anxiety and disappointment are inevitable as in the case of the Drithrashtra and the Duryodhana. Unfortunately, such an individual becomes oblivious to the ill effects of his action which means Drithrashtra & Duryodhana, both were not able to realize because of their self-centeredness and selfishness that more than 60 crore warriors are about to die in the next 18 days of the war. Thus after describing Duryodhana’s actions, Sanjaya begins to speak about what did Pandavas do and that brings us to the second section of this chapter where O stands for Ominous results from verse number 13 to verse number 20. 

 

O: Ominous Results (Verse 13 to 20)

Here Sanjaya describes the signs of victory of Pandavas. Sanjaya right in the beginning of war gives the indications to Drithrashtra why and how pandas would be victorious and it's not Sanjay speculating, he's sharing the facts of what he's seeing on the battlefield. When the Pandavas blew their conches and the trumpets as it is described in Mahabharata those who were sitting on the other horses or elephants fell from their seat, those who were standing on their feet collapsed on the ground with their heart pumping out of fear. So Sanjay talks about it and says that in the Drithrashtra there is no hope for you to win this war and the main reason why Sanjaya says that was Krishna's presence by the side of Pandavas.

 

Through this verses between verse number 13 to verse number 20, a key message that gets highlighted is that Lord's protection is guaranteed to his surrendered devotees regardless of whether the worldly odds seem stacked against the devotee, yet the devotee would be protected, whenever the devotee stands by the side of dharma. Therefore, Sanjaya explains Pandavas were fearless and this brings out an important lesson just like the fear of the Duryodhana brought about a lesson for us similarly the fearlessness of Pandavas teaches us a lesson that "it is our faith in Lord Krishna that determines our degree of fearlessness" 

 

For example, Krishna had announced before the beginning of the battle that he will not fight in the war or he will not pick up a weapon. So, both Arjuna and Duryodhana went to Dwarka, at the palace of Krishna and when they entered the chamber of Krishna, he was taking rest. Arjuna stood by the feet whereas the Duryodhana went and stood by the head of Krishna. Krishna got up and said, "yes, what can I do for you?" it was obvious they both have come to ask for help because everyone was preparing for the war. Duryodhana became agitated and said "Krishna how can you ask arjuna first, I entered your chamber first, so, therefore, I have the right" and Krishna said, "Arjuna is your younger brother, so the younger brother has a right to ask first and second thing, because I saw arjuna first that matters more, therefore I would award Arjuna the blessing to ask anything that he wants. So, before Arjuna could ask understanding the situation at hand Krishna said, "let me make this announcement to both of you I know why you have come but I have made my decision that I will not pick a weapon in the war, so here are two options for you to choose, either you can choose me without any weapon, I will not engage in war or else you can choose my Narayani sena which is so powerful that Narayani sena is enough to win the war. Duryodhana began to sweat because he thought for sure Arjuna will choose Narayani sena but without even blinking his eyes Arjuna said, "My dear Krishna, I only need you", immediately the sweat disappeared and suddenly his face had a blissful smile and then realizing the situation he became sober and then with a very sober voice, Duryodhan said "My dear Krishna, what can I do if my younger brother has decided to have you, No problem, I will keep Narayani sena now. Thank you so much!" and he walked away because he had nothing to do with Krishna and when he walked away Krishna looked at Arjuna and said "Arjuna, What did you do? Why did you make such a big blunder?" and Arjuna said "My dear Lord, how can you say this is a blunder? For us to win a war we never need your Narayani sena, we don't need your resources, we don't need your possession, we don't need your powers, what we need is you, my dear Lord, wherever you are for sure there will be victory and for me, there is nothing as important as your association. If you're there by my side at the battlefield, I alone can defeat all the Karnas." and that was the faith of arjuna. Therefore Pandavas were fearless, so fearlessness depends on the degree of our faith or surrender to Krishna. 

 

 

U: Uncertainty (Verse 21 to 27)

Here, Sanjay speaks about how Arjun asked Krishna to take the chariot in the middle of the battlefield because he wanted to observe the armies. This series of verses teach us, despite the intensity of the situation we should take the time to reflect. Arjuna asked Krishna, please drive my chariot in the middle of the battlefield, I want to see. He took the time to reflect, which means life may be crammed with responsibilities and pressing issues but attendance to such demands, your professional responsibilities, and other engagements should not be at the expense of quality spiritual introspection. Unfortunately, the chronic disease of modern man is the excuse of no time when it comes to soul searching. But look, Arjuna is on the battlefield where he could be killed any moment, yet he's taking a time to reflect and that's the point here.

 

 
B: Bewilderment (Verse 28 to 30)

Arjuna foreseeing the imminent suffering and the death of his relatives', friends and hundreds and millions of soldiers who have assembled at the battlefield, as a consequence of war, began to reflect on his decision to engage in the war and therefore he became bewildered or confused about what he should do here. The key theme in these three verses is that Illusion causes all problems in life, arising due to bodily identification. At this point of time, Arjuna being bereft of a broader spiritual vision, being affected by a narrow material understanding of life has got bewildered about his responsibility. Therefore he's confused about what he should do. An important lesson here is when one lacks an understanding of his spiritual identity, his relationship with the supreme lord, and the critical purpose behind this world and the purpose of his own life becomes disturbed and one becomes frustrated by life's challenges. Not knowing this subject matter is what drags the consciousness of an individual and fills the heart of an individual with pessimism and hopelessness. But one who understands the message of Bhagavad Gita can never be hopeless, Arjuna who was hopeless became hopeful again. This is the strength of the wisdom of Bhagavad Gita which establishes our spiritual identity and teaches us about the purpose of our existence and the purpose of this world. 

 

 

T: Turning Point (Verse 31 to 47)

Arjuna now begins to speak about different reasons for not engaging in the war and at the end of chapter one arjuna says Krishna I give up my Gandhiv with eyes filled with tears, sat down on the chariot and he told, Krishna, I cannot fight. So this section talks about the set of reasons that arjuna gave and there are very interesting reasons.

 

The very first argument that he gave was compassion. Arjuna said “What is the use of fighting in the war and winning a kingdom because people with whom you can enjoy and share happiness if they would die, if all my brothers and relatives, friends, and everyone would die on the battlefield, with whom would I share my happiness. Therefore, I quit, I would have to fight with my teachers, with my great grandfather Bhishma, who raised me as his son. If I kill my seniors I would incur great sinful reactions, so what is the use of fighting a war. All the warriors have assembled from all over the world on this battlefield of Kurukshetra there would be a massive massacre because of the death of hundreds and thousands and millions of Kshatriyas, there would not be any protectors of dharma in the respective kingdoms and because there would not be any protectors, the thieves would become the leaders of the society and that would lead to the destruction of the social structure and the family culture and traditions. I don't want to become responsible for destroying the lives of the future generation, by not ensuring that they get the right culture and the right parentage. I don't want to deprive the future generation of the support of their father".

 

That's how chapter one ends and this concluding section brings out a very important lesson, the cause of arjuna's bewilderment was his self-interest. He was thinking too much from his perspective, but again as I said observing the army meant seeing from his perception, of our worldviews, wherein arjuna forgot if he does not fight and adharmic king Duryodhana will become the leader of the society and undoubtedly, dharma will be demolished. Arjuna is not able to understand at this point and he is worried about his happiness that with whom would he enjoy if he doesn’t have friends and family members. He's worried about his sinful reactions, which is not true because it is not Pandavas who have invited Kauravas. Pandavas were forced into the war, so there cannot be any question of sin. Arjuna and Pandavas had assembled to protect dharma so there could not be any question of sin, so the cause of his bewilderment was his self-interest and limited perception of world views and the effect was a fear, loss of composure, and indecision. The message of Bhagavad-gita has the potential to empower us to make the right decision.