jabdakhata

Lord Krishna now enters into a conventional form of argument with Arjuna, based on principles of virtue and vice. He explains that for a Kshatriya or warrior like Arjuna, there is no nobler profession than participating in a righteous war, on the side of the good. One whose dharma or duty is to fight should be delighted at the prospect of fighting for good against evil. If one does not do that, he falls from a high pedestal and people, including his enemies, look down upon him. Such a person would fall from grace and for a very long period of time people would remember him as coward, not as compassion incarnate as he is trying to portray himself. If we look into the historical context we’ll see that there are enough instances to justify what the Lord said here. If for instance Britain or United States, out of sudden compassion and spirit of non violence would have refused to fight Hitler and Nazis, many more Jews and other innocents would have been killed. To fight a scourge o...

With monarchy and aristocracy getting rich, European nations had surplus wealth for patronizing art, culture, new explorations and sea voyages. This was one of the contributing factors behind the Renaissance. The great leaps made in art and literature were matched by the progress in science and philosophy. However Western philosophy and science were influenced by Helenic thoughts and Eastern ideas were not seriously considered or were not known at that time. The great strides made in Science were viewed with alarm by Church which saw its domination getting slackened with more liberal thoughts pervading the minds of educated and learned folks who were often the torch bearers of the society. At first the Church, with the help of the rulers, responded with brutal repression. Heretics and men (and women) of scientific temperaments were burnt alive, which resulted in a permanent rift between religion and science and in effect between spirituality and science. It is to be noted that in ...

The first three slokas in the second chapter of Gita is probably one of the greatest messages that Lord has for the mankind. This is proclaimed by none other than Swami Vivekananda in his lecture on Gita (Complete works of Swami Vivekananda). In no other scripture we find such a forceful exhortation. He says to Arjuna – Why are you dejected and despondent when there is a grave danger facing you? Where are all your bravery and noble instincts gone? Kutah tva kashmalam idam vishame samupasthitam Anaryajustam asargyam akirtikaram Arjuna Klaivam ma sma gamah Partha na etat tvam upapadyate ksudram hridayadaurvalyam tvyakta uttistha Parantapa “Do not become a eunuch, o mighty one, this does not befit you, the noble one, shun that small weakness which has gripped you, stand up and fight.” Through Arjuna this profound message is delivered to the entire mankind, to stand up and fight the terrible battle in the field of life, to be brave and bold and face all enemies. Therefore Gita is a...

The first and foremost point is Gita cannot be seen in isolation from Mahabharata. The two are intrinsically related, just like Krishna's relation to Arjuna as a teacher and a student, as two friends and cousins. Although there were overt and covert attempts in the last two hundred years to prove that Gita was perhaps a later addition to Mahabharata, such intellectual assertions did not gain much ground. In Mahabharata we see that a stage is set for a great battle, there is no way this battle can be avoided because Duryadhana, the usurper, who has also played many a tricks on his cousins, the Pandavas, is adamant. All peace overtures, even one made by Krishna himself fall into pieces because Duryadhana and the Kaurava camp are not ready to compromise. Duryadhana flatly refuses donating even five villages to the five Pandava brothers. He is confident of winning because he has so many great warriors in his camp. His camp is also numerically superior, and he also draws solace from th...

One of the major contentions of intellectuals against Gita is that Gita advocates war in contrast with Christian or Buddhist philosophies which value non violence above everything else. However they often tend to ignore the fact that the Vaishnava sect which is based upon the worship of Rama or Krishna as the incarnations of the supreme lord of the Universe, is fundamentally based on principles of non violence. Western academia’s love for non violence has led to the deification of Mahatma Gandhi as the incarnation of the age, just a shade below Christ and Buddha. Mahatma also defended Gita, but his interpretation was different. He was more defensive on the war advocacy part of Gita and postulated that the war described therein is symbolic, a representation of the inner conflict inherent in every human being. While this can verily be an interpretation, this is no reason for denying the war. Gita is definitely set against the background of war, the Great War between Pandavas and Kaurava...

Sri Ramakrishna, like a child, was always very guileless and straight in his evaluation of others, esp. the so called scholars and intellectuals with mere book learning (who do not have spiritual traits like discrimination and renunciation to complement the learning thus acquired). He equated them with larks and vultures which soar high up in the sky (a reference to the high social status of the former) but still have an eye on the charnel-pit of greed and lust. These intellectuals clamour for name and fame. Being obsessed and driven by their ego they are highly opinionated. They are egotists and treat anybody differing from their opinions contemptuously. There are many a living sample of them whose quotes and opinions many times appear on the front pages of the newspapers. They have certainly made a name in the academic and material world without providing any practical benefit to the society and mankind. They adorn academic chairs. They a...

Love is a much misunderstood subject. Normally in our selfish relationship we often misconstrue love as the possessive love. But possessive love is almost certainly selfish love, it is also not unrequitted. If for some reason the other party does not pay back, often the love vanishes and is replaced by its sworn enemy – hate and repulsion. Such type of love is called "Raga" in Sanskrit and is intrinsically linked to its opposite - "Dwesha" or hatred. Love of a divine nature is on the other hand most often unselfish, unpolluted and unrequitted. It is also unconditional, not dependent on anything else. It is non possessive, since it is unselfish – the lover has no hassles in sharing her object of love with others, because she knows that by sharing her own love will not diminish, instead it will magnify by coming in contact with other love sources. Most often in a family set up love is possessive, selfish and conditional and dependent on so many preconditions to ...