Kṛṣṇa speaks to Arjuna as a friend (Bg 2.1 to 2.3)
After Arjuna concludes his arguments and puts aside his bow, Kṛṣṇa finally speaks, challenging Arjuna’s weakness, and reminding him of his duty as a kṣatriya.
« The Song of God—Volume 1, chapters 1-6
CHAPTER TWO:
Contents of the Gītā Summarized (Sāṅkhya-yoga)
In the first chapter, Arjuna gives moral, social, and religious arguments based on his previous knowledge. However, none of it can solve his dilemma. Having come to a dead end, he finally puts his bow aside and sits on the chariot, overwhelmed by grief. This creates the opening for Kṛṣṇa to instruct him in chapter two. First, Kṛṣṇa speaks as a friend, but when Arjuna surrenders as a disciple, Kṛṣṇa assumes the role of spiritual master and begins to give transcendental knowledge. This shows us the basic process for obtaining transcendental knowledge.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura describes the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā as a summary of the entire text. The three main topics of the Gītā are karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, and bhakti-yoga. Karma-yoga is the process of connecting our practical actions to the service of the Lord, while jñāna-yoga means the cultivation of transcendental knowledge as a process of connection with Him. Although defined as separate processes, they are better understood as progressive steps on the staircase leading to bhakti-yoga—the ultimate process of uncovering our original attitude of devotional service to the Lord. As Kṛṣṇa explains, one who achieves perfection on either the path of karma-yoga or jñāna-yoga achieves the result of both, which is elevation to the path of bhakti-yoga, pure devotional service.
In the second chapter, Kṛṣṇa explains both karma-yoga and jñāna-yoga through logical reasoning; hence, this chapter is called “Sāṅkhya-yoga.” The term Sāṅkhya is associated with two distinct philosophical systems: one taught by Lord Kapila, the son of Devahūti, and the other by the atheistic Kapila. However, the Sāṅkhya that Kṛṣṇa presents here is not directly connected with them. In this context, Sāṅkhya simply means “systematic knowledge,” the process of transcendental reasoning that brings us out of material conditioning by understanding the difference between spirit and matter and realizing our eternal, blissful nature.
Kṛṣṇa speaks to Arjuna as a friend (Bg 2.1 to 2.3)
After Arjuna concludes his arguments and puts aside his bow, Kṛṣṇa finally speaks. Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna’s natural relationship is one of friendship; therefore, Kṛṣṇa starts by speaking in a friendly way, challenging Arjuna’s weakness, and reminding him of his duty as a kṣatriya.
Text 1: sañjaya uvāca
tam tathā kṛpayāviṣṭam, aśru-pūrṇākulekṣaṇam
viṣīdantam idam vākyam, uvāca madhusūdanaḥ
Sañjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words.
Text 2: śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kutas tvā kaśmalam idam, viṣame samupasthitam
anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam, akīrti-karam arjuna
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planets but to infamy.
Text 3: klaibyam mā sma gamaḥ pārtha, naitat tvayy upapadyate
kṣudram hṛdaya-daurbalyam, tyaktvottiṣṭha paran-tapa
O son of Pṛthā, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra was probably very happy to hear about Arjuna’s mood of renunciation. Arjuna was the most powerful commander on the side of the Pāṇḍavas, and if he abandoned the battle, their victory, by material calculation, would be almost certain.
However, Sañjaya disappointed him by referring to Kṛṣṇa as Madhusūdana. Previously, Kṛṣṇa had killed the demon Madhu, and thus He was perfectly qualified to kill Arjuna’s doubts and reinforce his will to fight. Arjuna had also called Kṛṣṇa Madhusūdana in chapter one, indicating that although he was in doubt about what to do, he was not giving up, but trusting that Kṛṣṇa would kill the demon of doubt inside his mind and show him the proper path to follow. Thus, the illusion of Arjuna is just temporary: he is in the process of surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, and when he surrenders, Kṛṣṇa will swiftly destroy his doubts. By acting on this knowledge, Arjuna will find the determination to fight to the best of his ability and defeat the army of Duryodhana. Sañjaya is thus very tactfully transmitting this truth to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. At the end of the Bhagavad-gītā, he will reveal that there is no hope for victory on the side of Duryodhana because Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are on the other side.
For now, however, Arjuna is still addressing Kṛṣṇa as a friend, and Kṛṣṇa answers by playing the role of a friend, questioning how Arjuna could deviate from the principles of dharma in this way, refusing to fulfill his duty as a kṣatriya. He addresses Arjuna as Pārtha, the son of Pṛthā (or Kuntī, who is the sister of Kṛṣṇa’s father Vasudeva), reminding him of their family connection, and then as Parantapa (chastiser of the enemies), indicating that as such an exalted and powerful person, it was not befitting him to behave in such a way.
The family connection indicated by Kṛṣṇa also indicates another important concept in Vedic culture: social positions being based on qualification, not on heredity. As Kṛṣṇa makes clear later in the Bhagavad-gītā, the varṇāśrama system, based on the four social classes, was created by Kṛṣṇa Himself as a natural system for the proper working of society. One’s position as a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, or śūdra within the system is not based on lineage or ancestry, but on qualification. The son of a brāhmaṇa who doesn’t show qualifications similar to his father’s is called a brāhma-bandhu (a relative of a brāhmaṇa), and not a brāhmaṇa. Similarly, an unworthy kṣatriya who shows cowardice is called a kṣatriya-bandhu. By his words, Kṛṣṇa indicated his concern. Compassion is surely a noble principle, but the battle of Kurukṣetra was not the proper place to apply it.
As Prabhupāda mentions: “Arjuna was the most intimate friend of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa was directly guiding him on the chariot; but if Arjuna abandoned the battle, despite all these credits, he would be committing an infamous act. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said that such an attitude in Arjuna did not fit his personality.”
Kṛṣṇa defines the hesitancy of Arjuna as “anārya”, not befitting a person who knows the value of life. Originally, the word “ārya” denotes followers of Vedic culture, the learned people who would conduct their lives according to the teachings of the Vedas. They would form the developed societies and would contrast with the non-āryans, people outside Vedic culture who would generally be aborigines living in forests and mountains. Later, Hitler tried to appropriate this concept into all the insanity that followed, but this was a misrepresentation of the term. The word ārya does not denote a certain race, but followers of the spiritual culture of the Vedas.
As a friend, Kṛṣṇa manifested His concern, saying that such deviation from the principles of dharma would not bring any good result to Arjuna (leading not to higher planets but to infamy), and encouraging him by telling him to give up such petty weakness of heart and fight, as he was trained to do.
Main points in the purports of Śrīla Prabhupāda:
“Sañjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words.”
a) Material compassion for the body comes from ignorance of one’s real nature as a soul. Compassion for the soul, however, is self-realization.
b) The body is like an outward dress for the soul, and thus, mere compassion for the body is compared to trying to save the clothes of a drowning man. When the soul has fallen into the material ocean of ignorance, merely saving the body will not help. Kṛṣṇa speaks the Bhagavad-gītā to dissipate this lamentation in both Arjuna and us.
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planets but to infamy.”
a) The Absolute Truth is understood at three levels: Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān, which can be compared to the three aspects of the sun: the sunshine, the sun as a disk in the sky, and the internal affairs of the planet. One who can enter into the sun and know what is going on there is the advanced student. Kṛṣṇa is directly Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore, devotees who have realized Him are the topmost transcendentalists.
b) There are many powerful people in the universe, but only Kṛṣṇa can claim to possess all riches, all strength, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge, and all renunciation. Therefore, the full meaning of the word “bhagavān” is found in Kṛṣṇa only. Brahmā himself concludes in the Brahma-samhita that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and there is no one equal to or above Him.
c) The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes: ete cāmśa-kalāḥ pumsaḥ, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. There are many incarnations, who are plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of the Supreme, but Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.
d) In the personal presence of Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna’s lamentation was unbefitting; therefore, Kṛṣṇa expressed His surprise: kutaḥ, where from? Such deviation from duty was not expected from a follower of the Vedas such as Arjuna; therefore, it is described as befitting the non-āryans.
“O son of Pṛthā, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.”
a) Kṛṣṇa calls Arjuna the son of Pṛthā, emphasizing his exalted lineage. Kṛṣṇa did not want Arjuna to become a kṣatriya-bandhu, an unworthy son of a kṣatriya. If Arjuna abandoned the battle, he would be committing an infamous act.
b) Arjuna spoke about abandoning the battle on the grounds of compassion for his relatives, but Kṛṣṇa dismissed it as mere weakness of heart.
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« The Song of God—Volume 1, chapters 1-6
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