hen Rama is told that He is to be crowned king, He quietly agrees to act according to His father’s wish. When it turns out that He is to go to the forest, as per the boon granted by Dasaratha to Kaikeyi, Rama willingly submits to His father’s will. He is neither elated at the prospect of becoming King. Nor is he saddened by the thought of spending fourteen years in exile, in the forest, separated from His family. He has no plans of taking Sita or Lakshmana with Him. It is only because of their insistence that He agrees to let them come along with Him. So, Rama treats both joy and sorrow alike, showing us that we must not respond emotionally to what happens in our lives.
In the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, verse 38, Lord Krishna advises Arjuna about what his attitude should be to events in his life, said Kidambi Narayanan, in a discourse. Krishna says: sukha dukhE samE krtvA lAbhAlAbhau jayAjayAu - treat success and failure, profit and loss, happy occurrences and unhappy ones just the same. And that is what Rama demonstrates through His responses to His father’s orders and Kaikeyi’s wishes. Think of a stick, that is carried along by river water. If the current is swift, the stick moves fast. If the water moves slowly, so does the stick. The stick has no control over its movement. We should be like the stick. It may be argued that the stick is inanimate, while we are not. But the message which we should take from this example is that we have to accept the inevitable. The Pandavas want their share of the kingdom, but Duryodhana denies them this. They are prepared to settle even for much less. But Duryodhana is not prepared to give them anything. And war is thus thrust on them. Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to do his duty, without worrying about the results.
The Bhagavad Gita, a 700 verse Scripture of the Hindu dharma in Sanskrit, is the part of the Hindu Epic Mahabharata. Its literal translation is the ‘Song of the God’ and The Gita is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Arjuna, the Pandava prince, and his charioteer Lord Krishna.
The Gita begins before the start of the climactic Kurukshetra War, where the Pandava prince Arjuna is filled with doubt on the battlefield realizing that his enemies are his own relatives, beloved friends, and revered teachers. Facing the duty as a warrior to fight the Dharma Yudhha or righteous war between Pandavas and Kauravas, Arjuna is counseled by Sri Krishna to fulfill his Kshatriya (Warrior) duty as a warrior and establish Dharma. Thus, elaborating it to him in a variety of philosophical concepts. On a larger picture, it is rather a dialogue between diverging attitudes concerning methods toward the attainment of liberation (Moksha) and to achieve success in life for anyone at any age.
1. Our Duty our Responsibilities is our Dharma
The narrative in the Gita is at the Centre of the battlefield, Sri Krishna counsels Arjuna to fulfill his duty as a Kshatriya or a warrior particularly when it is in a war and to establish the righteous principles of the Dharma. As Sri Krishna puts it, “This duty consists first of all in standing in one’s ground and fighting for status. The main duty of a warrior is never to submit to anybody and he must resist any impulse to self-preservation that would make him avoid a fight.”
2. Everything Happens Only for Good
“Whatever happened, happened for the good. Whatever is happening, is happening for the good. Whatever will happen, will also happen for the good.” This quote from the Gita resonates with us at times when life ceases to be the way we want it to, at times when sorrows don’t seem to end and destiny still seems a long way. It simply means behind every failure and missed destinations, there is a bigger picture Lord Sri Krishna has set for us.
3. The Body Is Just Like Clothes for our Soul
The Aatman, the Sanskrit for the soul, cannot have a permanent end, it is immortal. The cessation of the physical form, the death, it’s just another step in the natural process of the Samsara, or reincarnation. “As a man casts off his worn-out clothes and takes on other new ones, so does the embodied soul cast off his worn-out bodies and enters other new.”
4. Deaths As an Opportunity to Transcend
Death is not a great calamity. As it has been mentioned in the Gita, “For sure is the death of all that comes to birth, sure is the birth of all that dies. So in a matter that no one can prevent thou hast no cause to grieve.” It is, in fact, a spiritual opportunity, that path that leads to perfect oneness with the supreme lord.
5. Change is Inevitable
Everything in the visible universe expects change itself, is subjected to the universal law of change. Nothing ever in our lives is permanent, the Gita tells you to accept the change. Wealth and all of the material possessions will cease, relationships will break and you will be left shattered, yet you will have to accept all of it. A new beginning will have to be from scratches, it is the law of change.
1 сен 2021
