Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand 90

Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand Ji

CHAPTER 2 Curiosity About Action He even cites prevailing customs to justify his infatuation, just as Arjun does when he insists that family rites are Sanatan Dharm. The war will cause the extinction of the Sanatan Dharm itself and, along with that, destruction of families and loss of civilized ways. Far from being an independent view of Arjun, his ideas only reflect some inherited creeds he had acquired earlier before approaching an accomplished teacher such as Krishn. Mired in these traditions, men devise numerous religions, sects, groups small and large, and castes beyond reckoning. Some press the nose while others pierce their ears, while yet others lose their dharm because they are touched by someone, or because their food and drink are defiled. Is it just to blame the so called “untouchables” or non-Hindus for this state of affairs? By no means. The blame should rather be apportioned among those who propagate delusions in the name of dharm. As for us who listen to them, we are blind victims of what are but misguided customs, and so we, too, have to bear part of the blame. In Mahatma Buddh’s time there was a sect called Kesh-Kambal , the members of which regarded the practice of growing hair, so that it could be used like a blanket, as a standard of perfection. There have been some who thought it pious to live like cows, while others have lived and conducted themselves in the manner of dogs. But all these were only stupid customs that have nothing to do with awareness of God. There were schisms and foolish customs in the past, and they are with us even today. There were also divisions and stupid customs in Krishn’s time, and Arjun is a victim of some of them.