Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand 51

Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand Ji

CHAPTER 1 The Yog of Irresolution and Grief तस्य सञ्जनयन्हर्षं कुरुवृद्धः पितामहः। सिंहनादं विनद्योच्चैः शङ्खं दध्मौ प्रतापवान् ॥12॥ [ “To Duryodhan’s delight then, his mighty grandsire and the eldest of the Kaurav (Bheeshm) blew his conch to blare forth a lion-like roar.’’ ] Conches are blown after the Kaurav have taken stock of their strength. The trumpeting of conches is a declaration of the intention, of each of the chiefs, of what he can offer after conquest. The mighty grandsire Bheeshm, the eldest of the Kaurav, blows his conch to produce a lion-like roar which gladdens Duryodhan’s heart. The lion represents the terrible, tooth-and-claw, aspect of nature. Our hair stands on end and our hearts beat violently when we hear the roar of a lion in a still, solitary forest even though we are miles away from the beast. Fear is a property of nature, not of God. Bheeshm is the very image of delusion. If delusion prevails, it will enwrap the material world’s forest of fear which we inhabit in yet another shroud of fear to make the existing dread even more frightening. Delusion cannot offer anything else except this. So renunciation of the material world is the right step for one who quests for Self-realization. Worldly inclinations are like a mirage-a mere shadow of ignorance, and the Kaurav have nothing to declare against this. Numerous conches from their side are trumpeted simultaneously, but they altogether inspire no other feeling except fear. Fear, although in varying degrees, is born out of each perversion. Similar is also the message of the conches of the other Kaurav chiefs.