Arjuna Vishaada Yoga

Bhagavad-Gita starts with Arjuna's despair. The first chapter is called as Arjuna's Grief. we also go through lot of grief everyday in our life. But we have to learn to make this grief as "YOGA". This is the essence of this chapter. To read the chapter, it feels like a regular story just before the war. But if we keenly observe we can learn the deeper meanings of this amazing scripture. This will provide us the essential elements that are required for human existence.

This chapter has 47 verses. The chapter starts when King Dhrutarashtra asks Sanjaya to provide the details of the war. Duryodhana goes to Great Guru Drona and describes the the greatness of army and the names of great warriors. Then all of them were blowing their conchs (sankh) and Arjuna realizes that the war is about to start, asks Srikrishna to take him to the middle of the two armies. He then sees the forces on  both sides and realizes that everyone there belong

to his clan one way or the other. How can he kill own Great grandfather? How can he kill his own teacher who gave everything to him and loved him equal to or more than his own son? How can I kill my own brothers? Even if I win this war, what good is this win? How horrible are the consequences of war? So many people will die. So many ladies will be without husbands and so many children are going to be without fathers. He says "I do not care even if I die, but I do not want to kill all these people". he drops all his fighting gear and sits in the back of his chariot. Sanjaya concludes this chapter by telling all these details.  

Arjuna is a great warrior. He won so many battles and came out as unbeaten hero. When Dharmaraja wanted to do Raajasuya Yaaga, Arjuna alone defeated so many kingdoms, brought all the wealth to his brother, there by getting the name Dhanunjaya. He even helped the Devatas (Demi Gods) to defeat the Demons. He is so great that he even fought against Parama Siva himself. This great of a warrior when it came to his own people, he felt different. He was in dilemma. Usually if anyone has a difficulty, we feel pity for a little while and move on. When something happens to our own family, whole world falls apart. All the walls crumble. We feel like the ordeal will never end.  Same thing happened to Arjuna also. He killed so many people before but now he feels different and tells Lord Krishna that the war is detrimental, so many will die. 

How Arjuna's grief became Yoga? Because he is expressing his frustration in front of Lord himself who is a Great Guru. That is why this despair became Yoga. There is none other than Sri Krishna who can understand this dilemma of life better. From this grief came a beautiful and complete Bhagavad- Gita.  The great Valmiki before he started the epic Ramayana experienced a strong feeling when two birds died in front of him. He immediately says the following sloka. 

mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhā tvamagamaḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ! 
yat krauñcamithunādekam avadhīḥ kāmamohitam!! 

You will find no rest for the long years of Eternity For you killed a bird in love and unsuspecting!!  This happened to be the first sloka and he is known as Adikavi (first poet) and later Ramayana emerged. 

Sri Sai Satcharita also was started with some kind of tragedy that is Cholera killing people in Shirdi. Baba used Hand Mill to grind wheat so that he can hold the cholera in the out skirts of Shirdi. There are two stones in the hand mill representing the battlefield of life and we are in the mist of this. We never try to come out of this so called Life's grind. So let us see what we can learn from Bhagavad-Gita and how we can change our lives. We have to us this knowledge to change every thing we do to Yoga.

OM SRI SAMARDHA SAINATH MAHARAJ KI JAI!