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09/26/2003
BHAGAVADA GITA
CHAPTER 1
1.1:
Dhritarāstra said:
Assembled
in Dharmaksetra and Kuruksetra eager for battle, what did my people and the
sons of Pandu do, O Sanjaya?
Dharmaksetra:
The field of righteousness. Kuruksetra: The field of Kurus. The implication is
that a battle is about to happen between the forces of right and wrong in the
land of the Kurus.
Seeing the Pandava army in battle formation,
Duryodhana approached his teacher and (the king) spoke these words.
Drona was his Guru.
1.3: Behold this great army of the sons of
Pandu deployed in battle formation by the son of Drupada, your intelligent
disciple, O teacher.
1.4: Here are the heroes and the great
archers equal to Bhima and Arjuna in battle: Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada,
the great fighters.
1.5: Dhristaketu, Cekitana, valiant Kasiraja,
Purujit, Kuntibhoja, and Saibya, the foremost among men.
1.6: Yudhamanyu the valiant, Uttamauja the
powerful, the son of Subhadra, and the sons of Draupadi are great chariot
fighters.
1.7: Know also, O Dvija Uttama, the leaders
of the army, who are distinguished. I will name them for your
information.
Dvija-Uttama: The “twice-born supreme,” the
best of the Brahmanas.
1.8: (Like) yourself, Bhishma, Karna,
victorious Kripa, Asvatthama. Vikarna, and the sons of Somadatta as well.
1.9: Many other heroes, for my sake, have
risked their lives. They are equipped with many different kinds of weapons, and
all of them are proficient in war.
1.10: Our strength is unlimited, protected by
Bhisma. Protected by Bhima, the strength of Pandavas is limited.
1.11: All of you, stationed everywhere on all
fronts in your respective positions, protect Bhisma.
1.12: The valiant Bhishma, the elder of the
Kurus and the grandfather, roared like a lion and blew his conch loudly to
cheer up Duryodhana.
1.13: Thereafter, conches, kettledrums,
trumpets, tabors, and horns were sounded all together. It was a tumultuous riot.
1.14: Thereafter, Madhava and Pandava (Lord
Krishna and Arjuna) sitting on the great chariot yoked with white horses
sounded the divine conches.
1.15: Hrisikesa blew His conch, Pāchajanya; Dhanajaya
blew his conch, Devadatta; and Bhima the big eater and formidable doer of deeds
blew his big conch, Paundra.
Hrisikesa is Lord Krishna. Dhananjaya is
Arjuna. Bhima is Arjuna's sibling.
1.16-18: Yuddhisthira, Nakula and Sahadeva,
Sikhandin, Dhristadyumna, Virata, Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and
the son of Subhadra all blew their respective conches.
The verses were condensed to convey the
meaning only. Nakula and Sahadeva are twins.
1.19: The tumultuous roar (of the conches),
reverberating through the sky and the earth, tore the hearts of the sons of
Dhritarastra (the Kauravas).
1.20: O King, thereupon Arjuna, whose
flag
bore the crest of Hanuman, seeing the sons of Dhritarastra ready for battle,
took up his bow, and spoke these words to Lord Krishna.
Hanuman means that he is heavy-jawed; he is
the chief of Vānarās, ape-like beings, which helped Rama fight Ravana, the
demon-king of Sri Lanka. The latter abducted the wife, Sita, of Lord Rama; when
Rama sent Lord Hanuman to look for Sita, he reached Lanka in one long jump.
Ravana ordered his servants (Raksasas/devils or demons) to set Lord Hanuman’s
tail on fire, and paraded Hanuman on the streets of Lanka with his tail in
blaze; abducted Sita, knowing this, invoked Agni, the Lord of Fire, who let the
end of the tail glow in the flame, but not burn and stay fire-resistant.
Hanuman, in the spirit of teaching a lesson
to Ravana and Indrajit, set the city on fire. Lord Hanuman's services are
recognized and celebrated by man and God and He is always imaged along with
Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana, Rama's brother. Hanuman claims His lineage from
Vayu, the wind God and Añjanā, an apsarasa. An apsarasa is a celestial nymph
and dancer and is usually a mistress of Gandharva living in Svarga, Indira's
paradise. Lord Hanuman's image adorns Arjuna’s flag.
Author's note: Smokes, flags, and drums have been in use for a long time. It is claimed that Egyptians used the flags as early as 4000 B.C., on their ships identifying its registry. Vexillum is the Latin word for flag. A flag historian is called Vexillologist. Sanskrit word for flag is Dhvaga. Flags were used in ancient India in front of liquor stores, announcing they were open for business.
Hanuman
1.21- 22: O Acyuta (Krishna), stand my
chariot between the two armies in order for me to look upon those who are eager
for a battle and with whom I have to fight.
The verses were condensed to convey the
meaning only.
1.23: I wish to see those assembled here
willing to fight and serve the evil-minded son of Dhrtarāstra.
1.24: Sanjaya said:
O Bharata (Dhrtarāstra), having been
addressed by Gudakesana (Arjuna), Hrsikesa (Lord Krishna) placed the best of
chariots in the midst of both armies.
1.25: Facing Bhisma, Drona, and all great
chiefs (the Lord) said to Partha: Behold (all of) the Kurus gathered thus.
1.26-29: Partha could see standing there (on
the battlefield) fathers, also grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles,
brothers, sons, grandsons, friends too, fathers-in-law, well-wishers and the
armies of both sides. Kaunteya, after seeing all of them, and all kinds of
relatives, overwhelmed by compassion and lamentation spoke. Arjuna said: O
Krishna, after seeing all the relatives present before me all ready and eager
to fight, I feel the limbs of (my) body shake, (my) mouth dry, my body quiver,
and my hair stand on end.
1.30-31: My bow, Gandiva, is slipping from my
hand. My skin is burning. I am not able to stand steadily. I am forgetting
myself. My mind is reeling. I see evil omens. I do not see any good in killing
my own kinsmen in the battle.
1.32: O Krishna, I long neither for victory,
nor for kingdom and happiness. O Govinda, of what use is the kingdom,
enjoyment, or life
1.33: They, for whose sake kingdom,
enjoyment, and happiness are desired, are standing here in the battlefield
ready to give up their lives and riches.
1.34: Teachers, fathers, sons, as well as
grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and
other relatives.
1.35: I do not want to kill them, though they
(want to) kill me, O Madhusudhana, even for the three worlds, not to speak of
an earthly kingdom.
1.36: By killing the sons of Dhrtrastra, what
pleasure can there be? O Janardhana, upon killing these armed aggressors sin
will come upon us.
1.37: Therefore, it is not becoming of us that
we kill the sons of Dhritrastra. How, by killing kinsmen, can we become happy O
Madhava?
1.38: Even if they, whose minds
are overwhelmed by greed, do not see sin in the ruin of the family, or crime in
treachery to friends…
Even if they, whose greed overwhelms their
mind, do not see sin in the ruin of the family, or crime in treachery to
friends…
1.39: Why should not we have the wisdom to
see the crime in the ruin of the family O Janardhana, and turn away from the
sins?
1.40: With the ruin of the family, the
eternal kula dharma is destroyed. When dharma is destroyed, the whole family
turns to adharma.
Kula dharma: Established order of the family,
family institution. Dharma: Established order. Adharma: Unrighteousness.
1.41: When Adharma prevails, O Krishna, the
women of the family become morally corrupt, and when women are tainted, O
Varsneya (Krishna), Varna Samkara comes into existence.
To this day in India, women bear the heavier burden than men in guarding morality and any scrofulousness on their part brings disproportionably erosive shame to the family.
Adharma: Unrighteousness. Varna Samkara:
mixture of castes by intermarriage.
1.42:
Commingling (of castes) brings hell to the family and those who
destroyed the race. The spirits of the ancestors fall, deprived of their
offerings of food and water.
Purport:
Because commingling of castes, the family and
the destroyers of the race go to hell. The spirit of the ancestor falls,
deprived of the offerings of food and water.
Sankara: Commingling of castes looked down
upon at that time as miscegenation was looked down upon in the west in the
past. Kula-ghānām: destruction of race
Apart from four main castes, Brahmin,
Ksatriya, Vaisya and Sudra, there is the fifth class, Antyaja. Antya (last in
order) + Ja (caste) = the lowest caste. The Antyajas are the washer men,
tanners, mimics (actor), Varudas (cane-weavers), Kaivartas (fishermen), Bhedas*,
and Bhillas (hill tribes).
Bhedas*: name of certain tribe.
Below these people, there are the Mlecchas
and Dumbas. Mlecchas generally are the foreigners, barbarians, non-Aryans and
those who do not speak Sanskrit. Dumbas are basket and rope makers, cremation
workers, street musicians and
dancers.
Commentary section following chapter and
verse 5.18, describes mixed castes according to Garuda Purana 1.96-1-73, as
narrated by Yajnavalkya.
1.43: By such evil deeds such as kula ghānām
and Varna Sankara, eternal Jāti dharmā and kula dharmā are destroyed.
Kula ghānām: destruction of race. Varna Sankara: mixture of castes by
intermarriage. Jāti dharmā: established order of caste or institution of
caste. Kula
dharmā: established order of the family, family
institution, practice or observance peculiar to a tribe or family,
peculiar duty of a caste or race.
1.44: We have heard it said (by the learned)
that those men, whose kula dharma is destroyed, O Janardana, would always dwell
in hell.
Purport: O Janardana, we heard it said (by
the learned): once kula dharma is annihilated, hell is the habitation for these
men.
1.45: Alas! We have decided to commit great
sins, by getting ready to kill our kinsmen because of greed for the pleasures
of kingdom.
Rājya-sukha-lobha: kingdom-pleasure-greed:
greed for the pleasures of kingdom.
1.46: Better would it be for me, if the sons
of Dhritrastra with weapons on hand were to kill me on the battlefield, while
I, unarmed, offer no resistance.
Purport: It is better for me that the sons of
Dhritrastra kill me on the battlefield with weapons on hand, while I am unarmed
and offer no resistance.
1.47:
Sanjaya said:
Thus
saying in the battlefield, Arjuna sat down on the seat of the chariot, laying
aside his bow and arrow with his mind taken over by sorrow.
End BG Chapter 1