The Bhagavadgita -S. Radhakrishnan
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CHAPTER 2
Samkhya Theory and Yoga Practice
7. karpanyadosopahatasvabhavali (7) My very being is stricken with the weakness of (sentimental) pity. With my mind bewildered about my duty, I ask Thee. Tell me, for certain, which is better. I am Thy pupil ; teach me, who am seeking refuge in Thee.niscitam: for certain ; Arjuna is driven not only by despair, anxiety and doubt but also by an ardent wish for certainty.To realize one's unreason is to step towards one's development to reason. The consciousness of imperfection indicates that the soul is alive. So long as it is alive, it can improve even as a living body can heal, if it is hurt or cut to a point. The human being is led to a higher condition through a crisis of contrition. It is the general experience of seekers that they are assailed by doubts and difficulties, even when they are on the threshold of light. The light as it begins to shine in any soul provokes the darkness to resist it. Arjuna faces difficulties, outward and inward, such as the resistance of relations and friends, doubts and fears, passions and desires. They must all be laid on the altar and consumed in the fire of wisdom. The struggle with darkness will continue until the light fills one's whole being. Weighed down by wretchedness, confused about what is right and wrong, Arjuna seeks light and guidance from his teacher, the Divine with him, within his self. Man cannot be left to his own devices. When one's world is in ruins, one can only turn within and seek illumination as the gift of God's infinite compassion.Arjuna does not ask for a metaphysics as he is not a seeker of knowledge ; as a man of action he asks for the law of action, for his dharma, for what he has to do in this difficulty. "Master, what wouldst thou have me to do?" Like Arjuna, the aspirant must realize his weakness and Ignorance and yet be anxious to do God's will and discover what it is. |
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