Shrimad Bhagavad Gita 1.29,1.30,1.31 and 1.32

दन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति।

वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते।।1.29।।

1.29 My limbs are weakened, my mouth gets parched,
my body trembles and my hairs stand erect.

गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्चैव परिदह्यते।

न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मनः।।1.30।।

1.30 The bow Gandiva slips from my hand and my skin is burning.
I can stand no longer. My mind seems to reel.

निमित्तानि च पश्यामि विपरीतानि केशव।

 न च श्रेयोऽनुपश्यामि हत्वा स्वजनमाहवे।।1.31।।

1.31 I see, Krsna, inauspicious omens. I foresee no good in
killing my kinsmen in the fight.

न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च।

किं नो राज्येन गोविन्द किं भोगैर्जीवितेन वा।।1.32।।

1.32 I desire no victory, nor empire, nor pleasures.
What have we to do with empire, O Krsna, or enjoyment or even life?

JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT

JAI MA BHARTI

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita 1.26,1.27 and 1.28

तत्रापश्यत्स्थितान्पार्थः पितृ़नथ पितामहान्।

आचार्यान्मातुलान्भ्रातृ़न्पुत्रान्पौत्रान्सखींस्तथा।।1.26।।

Then, Arjuna (son of Pritha) saw there (in the armies) stationed, fathers and grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons and friends too.

श्वशुरान्सुहृदश्चैव सेनयोरुभयोरपि।

तान्समीक्ष्य स कौन्तेयः सर्वान्बन्धूनवस्थितान्।।1.27।।

1.27. (He saw) fathers-in-law and friends also in both the armies. The son of Kunti, Arjuna, seeing all those kinsmen thus standing arrayed, spoke this, sorrowfully filled with deep pity.

अर्जुन उवाच

कृपया परयाऽऽविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत्।

दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम्।।1.28।।

1.29 My limbs are weakened, my mouth gets parched, my body trembles and my hairs stand erect.

At such a moment fraught with distress, it must have been extremely arduous for Arjuna to convey his feelings through mere words. The condition that Arjuna talks about here might look fustian to an uninterested reader, but someone who can verily muse on the veracious feelings of Arjuna will be compelled that even these words prove skimpy to depict Arjuna’s condition. Being made to load his quiver against those who taught him to use a bow, being made to use his sagacity against those who gave him this acumen would have certainly endowed him with a horripilation owing to the remorse and fear shrouding him. Unlike others he has been unable to ensconce himself with the fact that the knowledge he gained throughout his life will be exploited against those who showed him the path to this knowledge. Albeit his mind stands prepared to commence the combat, his heart enjoins him from takingup the Gandiva (his bow), and now he faces a quandary. Inundated with grief and beset by  this calamity, Arjuna starts to talk with Lord to know what his real Dharma is.

JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT

JAI MA BHARTI

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita 1.22,1.23,1.24 and 1.25

यावदेतान्निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान्।

कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन्रणसमुद्यमे।।1.22।।

1.23 I wish to see those gathered here ready to fight in this battle in order to please the evil-minded son of Dhrtarastra.

योत्स्यमानानवेक्षेऽहं य एतेऽत्र समागताः।

धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्बुद्धेर्युद्धे प्रियचिकीर्षवः।।1.23।।

1.23 These who have assembled here and want to accomplish in the war what is dear to the perverted son of Dhrtarastra, I find them to be intent on fighting.

सञ्जय उवाच

एवमुक्तो हृषीकेशो गुडाकेशेन भारत।

सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये स्थापयित्वा रथोत्तमम्।।1.24।।

भीष्मद्रोणप्रमुखतः सर्वेषां च महीक्षिताम्।

उवाच पार्थ पश्यैतान्समवेतान्कुरूनिति।।1.25।।

1.24 1.25 Sanjay said O scion of the line of Bharata (Dhrtararastra), Hrsikesa, being told so by Gudakesa (Arjuna), placed the excellent chariot between the two armies, in front of Bhisma and Drona as also all the rulers of the earth, and said, 'O Partha (Arjuna), see these assempled people of the Kuru dynasty.'

Here comes the most awaited moment of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita when a despondent Arjun feels hapless and dejected at watching his own kith and kin standing poised to combat him. Watching his teachers and beloved ones standing against him in this splendid battle gnaws Arjun incessantly and this forces him to make this unwonted move in the war. He wants to see the face of every person who was once very dear to him and is now standing in the arena in order to trounce him, he wants to see Pitamah Bhisma, against whose shoulders he would have snuggled when he was a child but is now forced to wrestle with them, he wants to look at Acharya Dhron who carved out a brilliant warrior in Arjuna but is now ready to pierce Arjuna's army with his insurmountable weapons. Arjuna is countenancing a cornucopia of misery which is making his heart bleed tears of dejection, and this is the capstone moment when he will start confabulating with the Lord regarding the apprehensions that are pinioning him from participating in the battle.

JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT

JAI MA BHARTI

THE ART OF GIVING

Many a time, a dissertation can seem so much humdrum and yet sometimes a beauteous couplet of two to three lines hurtles us into its deep profoundity that we are left enthralled and rapt. Some lines are so banal that we can gauge their meaning with just a dekko and some words are so deep that even a concentrated scrutiny appears to be futile.

And such are the words of Kahlil Gibran, the famous Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist. His lines not only leave you stupefied but also add insult to the injury by leaving you with a skepticism appurtenant to your tenacious beliefs. One such of his couplets left me befuddled and it did take me some time to verily appreciate and extol the covert beatify concealed between those naive lines.

The couplet goes like this

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

The first two lines seem not be hiding much, but the third line is the one that is engulfed by a very unfathomable meaning and hence we need to go beyond these mere words to unravel what Gibran wanted to convey to us.  

Gibran asks us to give but not for joy, for joy becomes a reward and giving is in vain if rewards are deemed as an end; he then asks us to not give with pain, for pain would nullify the very quintessence; finally, he talks about giving in a way which induces no joy in you and which forces out no pain out of you, which ultimately means give phlegmatically because only nonchalance to pain, happiness, merriment or joy indeed signifies the true act of giving. Mr. Khalil wants us to be like the silent myrtle in the valley which exudes fragrance not to please itself or anybody else but for the sake of exuding, he wants to be like the stolid myrtle which emanates aroma not to imbrue itself with joy but just because it is its work to give out. The author says that by giving we are not doing something extraordinary that we must be pleased and he wants us to understand that. The moment we extract joy out of our giving, the process in itself becomes a deal in which we have defalcated; the very moment we append our feelings with this act, the very quiddity of giving is lost in that transaction and what remains is just an fugitive human emotion that we have haggled out of this transaction. Gibran goes further to assert the vitality of his way of giving by saying that God deems only such givings as the as pious and I believe that the biggest proof of this hypothesis is nature. God has programmed nature to give to others without any feeling and I believe that he wants out act to be that pure too. He wants you neither to be pretentious nor be shrewd. He wants us to consider 'giving' as a responsibility executed and nothing more. And then only he will communicate through our eyes and talk with our lips.

JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT

JAI MA BHARTI 

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita 1.20 and 1.21

अथ व्यवस्थितान् दृष्ट्वा धार्तराष्ट्रान्कपिध्वजः।

प्रवृत्ते शस्त्रसंपाते धनुरुद्यम्य पाण्डवः।।1.20।।

O king! Then observing Dhrtarastra's men, arrayed when the armed clash had [virtually] begun, at that time, Pandu's son, the monkey-bannered one (Arjuna) raising his bow spoke these sentences.

अर्जुन उवाच

हृषीकेशं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते।

सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत।।1.21।।

1.21. Arjuna said O Acyuta! Please halt my chariot at a centre place between the two armies, so that I may scrutinize these men who are standing with desire to fight and with whom I have to fight in this great war-effort.

Finally, the 24^th sholka beckons towards the veracious commencement of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. Hitherto, the shlokas conveyed only things that Sanjaya could descry, but now, this is a yardstick for the beginning of a trail that is going to revolutionize, revamp and transmute the concept of spirituality for forever.

The first chapter of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita has been cognomen of “अर्जुनविषादयोग (The Yoga of The Despondency of Arjuna)”, and verily this is the first shloka that nudges us towards the dilemma in front of Arjuna.

Here Arjuna faces a predicament which seems to be working as manacles to his soul, his hands seem to be pinioned by the love and affection that he holds for his brothers and brethren and Sri Krishna will further try to redeem Arjuna of such fetters to edify him about his onus.

P.S.: One thing that we must always keep in our mind while perusing Bhagavad Gita is that we need to place ourselves in place of Arjuna. The most enthralling thing about the Bhagavad Gita is that this definitive text resolves all kinds of quandaries and issues that can ever be broached in a human’s mind. Make yourself stand in place of Arjuna and sooner or later your own inner queries will spring up in the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, and if you have been blessed with faculties to appreciate that, certainly, your problems will be allocated the perfect remedy.

JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT

JAI MA BHARTI

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita 1.14,1.15,1.16,1.17,1.18 and 1.19

ततः श्वेतैर्हयैर्युक्ते महति स्यन्दने स्थितौ।

माधवः पाण्डवश्चैव दिव्यौ शङ्खौ प्रदध्मतुः।।1.14।।

1.14. Then, mounted on mighty chariot, yoked with white horses, Madhava (Krsna) and the son of Pandu (Arjuna) blew their heavenly conch-shells;

पाञ्चजन्यं हृषीकेशो देवदत्तं धनंजयः।

पौण्ड्रं दध्मौ महाशङ्खं भीमकर्मा वृकोदरः।।1.15।।

 Hrsikesa (Krsna) blew the Pancajanya; Dhananjaya (Arjuna) blew the Devadatta; and the Wolf-bellied (Bhimi), of the terrible deeds, blew the mighty conchshell, Paundra;

अनन्तविजयं राजा कुन्तीपुत्रो युधिष्ठिरः।

नकुलः सहदेवश्च सुघोषमणिपुष्पकौ।।1.16।।

Kunti's son, the king Yudhisthira blew the Anantavijaya; Nakula and Sahadeva blew [respectively] the Sughosa and the Manipuspaka.

काश्यश्च परमेष्वासः शिखण्डी च महारथः।

धृष्टद्युम्नो विराटश्च सात्यकिश्चापराजितः।।1.17।।

1.17. And the king of Kasi, a great archer, and Sikhandin, a mighty warrior; Dhrstadyumna and the king of Virata, and the insurmountable Satyaki;

द्रुपदो द्रौपदेयाश्च सर्वशः पृथिवीपते।

सौभद्रश्च महाबाहुः शङ्खान्दध्मुः पृथक्पृथक्।।1.18।।

1.18. The Pancala king, a mighty archer; and Draupad's sons, who are five in number; and the mighty-armed son of Subhadra blew their own conch-shells individually.

स घोषो धार्तराष्ट्राणां हृदयानि व्यदारयत्।

नभश्च पृथिवीं चैव तुमुलो व्यनुनादयन्।।1.19।।

1.19. Revibrating in both the sky and the earth, the tumultuous sound shattered the hearts of Dhrtarastra's men.

P.S.: Owing to the structure of these shlokas, these were mere descriptions of the happening in the battlefield and hence no point germane to philosophy was there that needed to be expounded. Hence, I am providing the translations (provided by Dr. S. Sankaranarayan) only sans any commentary.

JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT

JAI MA BHARTI

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita 1.11, 1.12 and 1.13

अयनेषु च सर्वेषु यथाभागमवस्थिताः।

भीष्ममेवाभिरक्षन्तु भवन्तः सर्व एव हि।।1.11।।

1.11 Therefore in the rank and file, let stand firm in their posts, according to battalions; and all you generals about Bheeshma.

तस्य संजनयन्हर्षं कुरुवृद्धः पितामहः।

सिंहनादं विनद्योच्चैः शङ्खं दध्मौ प्रतापवान्।।1.12।।

1.12 Then to enliven his spirits, the brave Grandfather Bheeshma, eldest of the Kuru-clan, blew his conch, till it sounded like a lion's roar.

ततः शङ्खाश्च भेर्यश्च पणवानकगोमुखाः।

सहसैवाभ्यहन्यन्त स शब्दस्तुमुलोऽभवत्।।1.13।।

1.13 And immediately all the conches and drums, the trumpets and horns, blared forth in tumultuous uproar.

This shloka indeed marks the inception of one of the most seminal and cardinal wars in the history of the world. It was a clash of the most chivalrous and the mightiest. The cornucopian din caused by the uproarious sound of the conches, trumpets and horns was indeed intractable for this small world.

Albeit this two-line shloka may seem to be quite succinct, yet we cannot assay the gravity appended with these words which came out of the mouth of Sanjaya. These words marked the beginning of a conflict that was to be remembered till posterity, these words marked the genesis of a debate that would continue on forever. This preponderant deluge of sound marked the devastation of silence that prevailed between the two sides of the war, this inundation made the world convulse with curiosity. This sound of battle is unequivocally a watershed in the Bhagavad Gita.

JAI HIND,JAI BHARAT

JAI MA BHARTI