The Gita: Srimad Bhagwadgita: श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता : Chapter 2:27

I, Acharya Agyaatadarshan Anand Nath sa-shaktikaayai bow down at the lotus feet of my first Guru, my revered father Pandit Shri Murli Dhar ji Mishr,  Vidya Guru Kaul Shiromani Shri Shivanand Nath ji, Yoga Guru Paramhamsa Shri Balendu Giri ji Maharaj, Tantra Guru Shri Shri Anta Devji Maharaj, Vama Guru Shri Kaleshwaranand Ji Maharaj and all the compassionate Masters, divine souls of Gurumandala..  I pray for their love, support and guidance always..

Shivoham!

जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च |
तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि || 27||

jaatasya hi dhruvo mrityur dhruvam janma mritasya cha
tasmaad aparihaarye ’rthe na tvam shochitum arhasi ||27||

jaatasya — of one who has taken his birth; hi — certainly; dhruvah — a fact; mrityuh — death; dhruvam — it is also a certain; janma — birth; mrritasya — of the dead; cha — also; tasmaat — therefore; aparihaarye — of that which is bound to happen or unavoidable; arthe — in the matter; na — do not; tvam — you; shochitum — to lament; arhasi — befitting

Translation – Death is certain for the one who has been born, and rebirth is inevitable for the one who has died. Therefore, you should not lament over the inevitable.

Arjuna is confused and deluded thus he has forgotten his Dharma. Krishna, the teacher is making his disciple Arjuna come out of his confusion and state of delusion. Arjuna is representative of action and Krishna represents ultimate wisdom. Action without wisdom i.e. proper understanding brings guilt, resentment and repentance. Now you may ask what does Dharma mean. Action coupled with wisdom, right action at the right time is Dharma. Arjuna is not vary of killing but he is shattered at the thought of killing his own grandfather, teacher and relatives. Many people with ordinary wisdom find it unpalatable that Krishna is advocating killing of one’s own family members and what kind of Dharma it is? Well, just now I told you that right action at the right time is dharma – This is a battle-field where Kauravas and those who support Kauravas are standing there. At the battlefield your opponent is a warrior – Kauravas and people on his side are not confused. They are there as warriors without any second thought or confusion in their minds. Arjuna is deluded due to moha (attachment) and ignorance and taking his opponents as his relative. Krishna as a teacher is therefore just putting things in perspective. Don’t think Arjuna is going to be doing any sort of Yoga during the battle rather as soon as his confusion is going to be removed he will simply be available for the war at hand. His confusions were around killing i.e. death therefore Krishna has just try to place the right kind of arguments that are rooted in deeper understanding of this world’s affair. He is clearing Arjuna’s confusions about death. This shloka along with some preceding verses are not direct experience of Arjuna but he is accepting them verbatim as they come from the seat of Master. A simple takeaway here is that a disciple needs to trust the teacher.

Now what this shloka says? Here Krishna says “Death is certain for the one who has been born, and rebirth is inevitable for the one who has died. Therefore, you should not lament over the inevitable.” Let me tell you that if you can accept and assimilate the deeper meaning of this verse, you shall always live your life joyously and fearlessly. Everyone is fearful for one’s own death or death of his/her own people but if you have faith in Master’s words you will truly accept this and know that there is no real death ever. However it is not as easy and this I am telling you with my own personal experience. It takes a lifetime of Sadhana or even many to recognize only this much – that there is no real death and when you really do – it is real freedom!

Even when you have faith and respect for the teacher if we tells you a thing which is completely out of your personal experience you will have doubts. For example I tell you that “In my journey to Kailasha Mansarovar I have seen Lord Shiva walking on the snow laden peaks.” And suppose you know that I have never been to Mount Kailasha then will you still believe my statement? Never! Your acceptance the second fact i.e. ‘my seeing Lord Shiva walking on the mountains’ can stand only if you in your experience know that I had gone to Kailasha sometime in the past. And if I have gone there multiple times; lets say 7 times the chances of your accepting my story would be even higher. Now, look at the way Krishna is piggybacking his knowledge with the  experience of Arjuna. He is an authority and could have told Arjuna that “The one who dies is born again.” But instead first he is stating a fact that is in the experience of his disciple. Although you need no Guru or Master to tell you that the one who is born is sure to die. Do you? But you see Krishna still he states that relative truth which is in the experiential domain of Arjuna. Arjuna knows this first fact so deeply – that the one who is born has to die. It is his own direct experience and he can not doubt this fact thus now he is in the accepting mode. In this accepting swing when Krishna adds his own knowledge that the one who dies gets born without any doubt Arjuna accepts it. At least for that moment he is receptive to accept therefore.

A teacher must thus always know one’s disciple depth of direct experiences in order to impart higher principles. The sermons of a Master won’t even touch a student if something is stated by a teacher which is contrary to student’s personal experience.

Krishna is pointing that death of ‘born’ is certain and adds his own experience in the same breath that “The one who dies is born again. This too is certain. So, Arjuna, it is not that if you disengage from the war they will live here forever.. they will certainly be dead sooner or later.. and they will be born again. This is another reason why you should not grieve about it.”

More later..

Shivoham!

-Acharya Agyaatadarshan Anand Nath