Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand Ji
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CHAPTER 1
The Yog of Irresolution and Grief
भवान्भीष्मश्र्च कर्णश्र्च कृपश्र्च समितिंजयः । [ “Your venerable self, Bheeshm and Karn, and also Kripa-victor in wars, Ashwatthama and Vikarn, as well as Saumdutti (Bhurishrawa, son of Somdutt).” ] The commander-in-chief is Dronacharya himself, symbolizing dual conduct. And then there is the grandsire Bheeshm, the very image of delusion. Delusion is the fountainhead of deviation from the ideal state. Since it survives till the very end, delusion is the grandsire. The whole army has perished, but Bheeshm yet lives on. He lies unconscious on his bed of arrows and still continues to breathe. Like Bheeshm, too, are Karn, a betrayer of the sacred character of Self, and the conquering warrior Kripacharya. Kripacharya represents the act of compassion by the seeker in the state before Self-realization. God is the mine of compassion and the sage attains to the same state after fulfillment. But during the period up to accomplishment, so long as the worshipper is removed from God and God is removed from him, when the uncongenial impulses are still alive and strong, and he is besieged by delusion-if the seeker feels compassion at this stage, he is destroyed. For acting with pity, Sita had to undergo penance in Lanka for years[1] |
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References and Context
- ↑ Sita was the wife of Lord Ram, who was the main character of the epic Ramayan. Mother Kaikayi banished him as a recluse to the forests. Obeying the order of his mother Lord Ram stayed in the jungles. Sita appealed to Lord Ram to bring her a ‘‘Golden Deer’’. Ram in order to fulfill his wife’s desire, went after the deer but instructed her for her protection not to leave the safety of her meditation hut no matter what the temptation, while she was alone, until he returned. Once Ram had left, seeing Sita alone and unprotected, Ravan-Evil king of Lanka who lusted after Sita and wanted her for his wife approached the hut in the disguise of a sage. Sita compassionately came out to offer alms to the apparent sage. Exploiting the situation, Ravan carried Sita away and Sita had to stay in Lanka held captive for many months thereafter. If Sita had waited for Ram to come back, as he had instructed her and not left the safety of her meditation hut out of an ill advised (what in Buddhist literature is called ‘‘idiot compassion’’- that is neglecting to take care of your own well being in the name of helping others) feeling of pity and compassion for the begging sage, then she could have avoided all the torture and troubles that she then had to undergo.)