“O Achyuta! Place my chariot in between the two armies. Let me see with whom I will have to fight” said Arjuna after he was satisfied with the formation of the Pandava army.
When Krishna did as told by Arjuna, he had a good look at those great warriors assembled from the Kaurava side and said, “O Krishna! Having seen my relatives assembled here my body is going numb and my mouth is going dry. I cannot stand, my Gandiva is slipping from my hand.”
Arjuna’s delusion
“I don’t see any good that can come from killing one’s relatives in a war. How can we be happy after killing all of them? Because of our greed for the kingdom and for the happiness, we have got ready to kill our relatives,” saying this Arjuna sat down in his chariot, threw away his Gandiva and his mind overwhelmed with grief.
Arjuna foresaw violence and destruction. The rest of the Pandavas, especially Yudhistira were not very far and could see what Arjuna was doing.
Krishna the Counsellor
Krishna completely understood the need to counsel Arjuna and allow him to choose with a calm mind. Everyone knows what followed.
In the end Krishna told Arjuna “I have explained to you this knowledge, having examined it completely, do what you wish to do.”
Krishna further asked “O Partha! Have you listened to this with single-minded concentration? O Djananjaya! Has your delusion of ignorance been destroyed?”
Arjuna’s Clarity
Arjuna replied, “O Achyuta! Through your blessings, my delusion has been destroyed. I have obtained the knowledge about what should be done and what should not be done. I’m steady, I no longer suffer from doubt and I will do what you instruct.”
As Arjuna was clear, he surrendered himself to Krishna, the almighty (creator, protector and the destroyer). He realised that it’s the karma that brought them to this spot, his dharma to surrender to the God and to fight the war to uphold dharma.
Choice – a powerful tool
Krishna let Arjuna choose what he wanted to do though he could have simply asked Arjuna to pick up Gandiva and fight for the sake of dharma. Krishna counselled Arjuna and once Arjuna had clarity, asked him to choose his path. We saw here Parasurama’s advice to Duryodhana where Parasurama let Duryodhana choose.
While Duryodhana chose to ignore, Arjuna accepted. In that moment they both wrote their own vidhi (fate).
Natarajan Sir, our English teacher in Class 11 asked us “we call ourselves more civilised does it mean Rama and Sita are less civilised?” The profound question stuck with me. When I look back, it was one of the driving forces to go in search of our roots. We all love stories. Through this platform I would like to share my perspective to the world. As Thiruvalluvar says don’t believe just because somebody says so, but corroborate.
எப்பொருள் யார்யார்வாய்க் கேட்பினும் அப்பொருள்
மெய்ப்பொருள் காண்ப தறிவு