written by: Jegadeesh Kumar
Venison is delectable
Deerskin is precious
Charming is her frightened look
Even at moments of grazing
Hungry Tiger is her only fear
The hunter’s arrow tears into the flesh,
Making her scalp horripilate
She falls in the hands of the guard,
Sun’s slithering on the sea
Sand-colored crabs peep from their burrows
Fingers aimlessly
Tear away the sandy surface
Softened by waves
Grey herons flying downhill,
Hunting little flounders
Ripples flinch at the tremor
Caused by fishing dhonis,
Taking refuge in the shore
In the presence of
The limitless expanse I sit
Dissolving
Like a tiny drop.
Read it in the Indian Periodical.
“I’ve decided to have the surgery in Singapore. That would be convenient for all,” she said.
The word surgery hit him only after a moment. “Surgery! What surgery?”
“Did you not hear what I said? You never pay attention! Just paying lip service. Sick”
Sick was a word she used often. Sam closed the laptop. “Tell me. Who’s having surgery?”
Verse 2.32
यदृच्छया चोपपन्नं स्वर्गद्वारमपावृतम् |
सुखिन: क्षत्रिया: पार्थ लभन्ते युद्धमीदृशम् || 32||
yadṛichchhayā chopapannaṁ swarga-dvāram apāvṛitam
sukhinaḥ kṣhatriyāḥ pārtha labhante yuddham īdṛiśham
yadṛichchhayā—unsought; cha—and; upapannam—has come upon; swarga—celestial abodes; dvāram—door; apāvṛitam—wide open; sukhinaḥ—happy; kṣhatriyāḥ—warriors; pārtha—Arjun, the son of Pritha; labhante—obtain; yuddham—war; īdṛiśham—such
O Partha, happy are the warriors to whom such opportunities to defend righteousness come unsought, opening for them are the doors to the celestial abodes.
The fruits of doing one’s duty
As per the Dharma shastra, one meets with the results of either his right or wrong actions. Based on the vision of shastra, there are two kinds of results of any action . Drushta phalam is the result of action that is visible to everyone. The invisible action is called the adrushta phalam. This kind of invisible result is promised by the shastra and one can only trust its words as there is no way to prove them. One has to simply perform his duties with trust and the invisible result follows. One such trust is, if one performs his duty properly he will enter heaven after death.
Yadruchaya means unexpected, unsought. Krishna says, for Arjuna the doors of heaven have been unexpectedly open by way of this war. Only fortunate kshatriyas will get this kind of an opportunity.
For everyone, very rarely in their lives, this kind of unexpectedly good time will come knocking at their doors. One must make use of it in order to be successful in life. Only those who know how to use these opportunities attain fame and name. Krishna further explains what would happen if this golden opportunity is not used properly.
Verse 2.31 One must not deviate from his Swadharma (one’s own duty)
स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि |
धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाच्छ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते || 31||
swa-dharmam api chāvekṣhya na vikampitum arhasi
dharmyāddhi yuddhāch chhreyo ’nyat kṣhatriyasya na vidyate
swa-dharmam—one’s duty in accordance with dharma; api—also; cha—and; avekṣhya—considering; na—not; vikampitum—to waver; arhasi—should; dharmyāt—for righteousness; hi—indeed; yuddhāt—than fighting; śhreyaḥ—better; anyat—another; kṣhatriyasya—of a warrior; na—not; vidyate—exists
Besides, considering your duty, you should not waver. Indeed, for a kshatriya, there is no better engagement than fighting for upholding righteousness.
From this verse onwards, Krishna talks about the absolute necessity of fulfilling one’s own duty. This is called swadharma. Dharma is of two kinds. Samanya dharma and visesha dharma or swadharma. Samanya Dharma is common to one and all. The examples of Samanya Dharma are cleanliness, non-violence, speaking truth etc.
But the vishesha dharma or swadharma changes from time to time and person to person. In our culture, a person’s life is divided into four ashramas, parts namely Brahmacharya, Grihasta, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa. The person has duties to fulfill in each of these ashramas. In Brahmacharya ashrama, which lies in the first twenty four years of one’s life, one has to dedicate his time for studies. He is not supposed to earn money for himself during this period. He should lead a simple lifestyle and serve his parents and teacher. Next comes Grihastha ashram in which a person marries and leads a family life. During this stage, he will work and earn to sustain his family. He is allowed to enjoy family life provided he attains them through proper and rightful means. The primary duty of a grihastha is to look after his family, raise children and help those around him. It is the duty of a grihastha to take care of people from other ashramas since they do not work to earn their means. After fulfilling the duties of grihastha a person enters vanaprastha. The word literally means living in the forest. The couple leave all their responsibilities to their grown up children who now are in their grihastha stage and choose to live a life of seclusion. They would dedicate their entire time for the study of shastra. Once their study is over, the couple either part or live under the same roof not as a couple but as two sanyasis. This sanyasa ashrama is the final stage of one’s life. The person spends his entire time in meditation and contemplation of the higher truth and lives until his prarabdha continues.
Based on the vision of shastra, people are divided into four categories, not by birth but by their profession and nature (gunas). The four (varnas) categories are brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra.
These are not only not based on people’s birth but no category is higher or none is lower to the other three. Each one has its place in the scheme of things. It is just that by nature each one chooses a different profession. A brhamana’s job is to learn and teach and not earn money for his living. A kshatriya’s job is to protect and save, a vaishya’s job is to run businesses and create wealth and a shudra’s job is to work and serve. One will be in any of these professions irrespective of the caste he is born into. Even children of the same parents could differ in their varnas based on their nature. Within the family one might choose to be a teacher while one might do business, hence it is possible to have a brahmana and a shudra within the same family based on their nature and chosen profession.
Once one has chosen a profession, he needs to adhere to all the guidelines for that varna. Here Arjuna is a kshatriya. As a kshatriya, Arjuna’s duty is to protect the dharma by fighting against Duryodhana. Krishna says if you consider swadharma of a kshatriya, which is protecting his own people by fighting enemies, there is no better engagement than the war that has come about.
Verse 2.30 Closing comments on atma anatma viveka (the descrimination of what is self and nonself)
देही नित्यमवध्योऽयं देहे सर्वस्य भारत |
तस्मात्सर्वाणि भूतानि न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि || 30||
dehī nityam avadhyo ’yaṁ dehe sarvasya bhārata
tasmāt sarvāṇi bhūtāni na tvaṁ śhochitum arhasi
dehī—the soul that dwells within the body; nityam—always; avadhyaḥ—immortal; ayam—this soul; dehe—in the body; sarvasya—of everyone; bhārata—descendant of Bharat, Arjun; tasmāt—therefore; sarvāṇi—for all; bhūtāni—living entities; na—not; tvam—you; śhochitum—mourn; arhasi—should
O Arjuna, the atma that dwells within the body is immortal; therefore, you should not mourn for anyone.
Krishna concludes by saying there is no reason to grieve
Krishna wants to summarize his teaching he started at verse 11 and concludes by saying the dehi which is the atma that dwells in all bodies (sarvasya dehe) can never be destroyed. He had presented his arguments and justification on the same in all possible ways. The physical body is transient. Hence no one can prevent it from being destroyed. The dehi, atma is eternal and hence it can never be destroyed. So both at the paramarthika (absolute) and at the vyavaharika (transactional) levels one does not have any reason to grieve. Krishna says due to these reasons you do not need to grieve about all these beings (sarvani bhutani). The word sarvani has a significance here. One need not grieve at all for ANY.
