Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand 32

Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand Ji

PREFACE And hasn’t Krishn given the assurance earlier that, enlightened and redeemed by the yagya of knowledge, many sages have been blessed with a direct perception of him? What after all does Yogeshwar Krishn intend to communicate? Arjun is a personification of affection and dedication, and these are feelings shared by all mankind. No man devoid of these sentiments has seen the coveted God before and no man devoid of these sentiments can see him in the future. In Goswami Tulsidas’s words, Ram cannot be realized without loving faith despite endless recitation, yog, and relinquishment. So Arjun is a symbolic figure. And if it is not so, it would be wiser of us to keep the Geeta aside, for in that case Arjun alone was entitled to perception of God. At the end of the same chapter (i.e., 11), Krishn assures his friend and devotee, “O Arjun, scorcher of enemies, a worshipper can know this form of mine directly, acquire its essence, and even become one with it by total and unswerving devotion.” “Intent devotion” is only another expression for “tender affection.” And that is the distinguishing mark of Arjun. He is also a symbol of seeking. An avatar, too, is symbolical and so are also all the other characters of the Geeta so that we may be enabled to see in the great war of Kurukshetr “the battle-field of the Soul.”