प्रथमोSध्यायः… (Continued 1:20 – 1:23)
अथ व्यवस्थितान्द्रिष्ट्वा धार्तराष्ट्रान् कपिध्वजः |
प्रवृत्ते शस्त्रसम्पाते धनुरुद्यम्य पाण्डवः ||20||
हृषीकेशं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते |
अर्जुन उवाच
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेSच्युत||21||
यावदेतान्निरीक्ष्येऽहं योद्धुकामानावन्स्थितान् |
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन्रणसमुद्यमे ||22||
योत्स्यमानानवेक्षेSहं य एतेSत्र समागताः |
धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्बुद्धेर्युद्धे प्रियचिकीर्षवः ||23||
|| परमपूज्य, प्रातःस्मरणीय पं. श्री मुरलीधर जी मिश्र||
Lovely Souls,
Shivoham!
I bow down to the divine seated in your heart.. please accept my salutations.
Just at this time when uproarious sound of chochshells was done in the battlefield Arjuna, the son of Pandu, seated in the chariot bearing the flag marked with Lord Rama’s servitor Hanuman, took up his bow and prepared to shoot his arrows. O King, after looking at the sons of Dhritarashtra drawn in military array, Arjuna then spoke to Lord Krishna these words.
Arjuna said: O infallible one, please place my chariot between the two armies so that I may see all present here, those desirous to fight and those with whom I must contend in this great trial of arms.
Let me have a look at those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.
The battle is about to begin. Formal procedure of declaring the war by blowing the conchshells is completed. Arjuna is keen to take on the enemies and in the process he reaches out to his bow… He is getting ready for the battle. Looking at the enemy’s army formation he instructs his charioteer Krishna place his chariot in the middle of both the Armies so that he can have a good view of those whom he was to engage in battle with.
If you closely see how Arjuna is speaking then you will know Arjuna is confident of his strength. He is not only confident of his personal and his army’s strength, but seems reminding himself of the purpose why he was there. He uses words like “..let me see with whom I must contend in this great trial of arms”. You must never forget the purpose why you have chosen to be here in the first place. While you may be confident of your strength you should always have a good view of the major challenges, obstacles.. here in Krukshetra the great warriors are the challenges and Arjuna is proceeding with caution.. he is not taking his enemies for granted like Duryodhana who was presuming his supremacy. Howsoever skilled, equipped or powerful you are don’t ever underestimate your challenges.
You see Arjuna requesting his chariot to be drawn to a vantage point.. just in the middle of both the armies. A perfect decision indeed. He is not only evaluating the challenges but also reviewing his own army’s arrays this way. By virtue of his position he can take an objective view of both the sides. And here he is also trying to see who all have come to fight against him.. how many and who were his acquaintances, past friends, relatives etc. standing against him. Tough times always give you such a golden opportunity and you can see who are your true well-wishers and who so far were doing only lip service. It is rightly said by great Sufi poet Abdulrrahim Khan “रहिमन विपदा हू भली जो थोड़े दिन होय| हित अनहित या जगत में जान पडत सब कोय ।|” Tough times are blessings in disguise for it gives us clear view of who are our true friends and who are not. But Arjuna is quite modest in his expressing his anger towards all those men. He is not calling those old friends and relatives bad rather he says “they have come to please evil-minded son of Dhritrashtra”. Noble man he proves himself yet again. He is directly acknowledging their compulsions.. By saying “they have come to please..” he means that these my old time friends and relatives are not having enmity with me but have come to please Duryodhana.
Clearly, true forgiveness comes from understanding other’s compulsions. So next time you see someone not coming up to your expectations extend your empathy. This does not mean you will not have to oppose or fight with them for being on the wrong side but you shall have no malice towards them any moment. Also you will feel completely free of any sort of emotional burden which may otherwise haunt you as you may see them ditching or back-stabbing you.
More tomorrow…
Shivoham
– Ach. Agyaatdarshan Anand Nath
Its all about you! 