Shrimad Bhagavad Gita- Arjuna's Grief & Realisation Through Knowledge (Chapter 1 & 2)

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"Yield not to impotence, O Partha! It does not befit thee."

The first chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, is all about atmosphere It sets the tone for the coming discourses in a dramatic fashion. Grief, it is said, can be a powerful trigger for transformation. It was so in Arjuna's case, when he lost his nerve as he stood in the middle of the battlefield. Disillusioned and in a state of emotional breakdown, he launches into a series of arguments against the war to a silent Lord Krsna.

This condition of Arjuna is not new; it lies hidden within each of us and appears when we are poised to act, crippling us of our capabilities. It is for this condition that Lord Krsna provides a remedy in the following discourses that we call the Bhagavad-gita.

The second chapter of the Bhagavad-gila is what one would call a statement of intent. It begins with Arjuna totally surrendering to the Lord. The strategic and logical Lord Krsna then gives an exhaustive summary of the contents of the Gita starting by defining the logic of thought in the philosophy and then goes on to roughly sketch the different paths that lead to God- The Path of Action, The Path of Love and the Path of Renunciation. In a nutshell, it is the epitome of the entire Bhagavad-gita.

As detailed under 'Mahabharata in brief' on return from their long sojourn of 13 years in forest and incognito, Pandavas claimed their kingdom back, as assured by Dhitarastra at the time of their departure. Duryodhana who enjoyed the empire without a rival all these years refused to surrender even 'enough land which can be carried on the tip of a needle, without war.'

War thus became inevitable and Pandavas approached their mother Kunti for permission. Kunti had a unique personality with exemplary forbearance. She desired no worldly pleasures nor kingdom. She even implored upon Lord Krsna to grant her the boon of adversity, which retains one on the path of righteousness and she may have Lord's rare vision always enabling her to be out of the cycle of rebirth samsara cakra (Srimad Bhagavata 1.8.25). But two incidents had hurt her too deeply to be cured. even after a lapse of time one was the sadistically vain effort by Duryodhana to disrobe her beloved daughter- in-law Draupadi in the presence of all the courtiers in the assembly and other the vainglorious effort by Duryodhana, Duhsasana, Karna, Sakuni, and others to arrest Lord Krsna, when he went to Hastinapura as a rajaduta (royal emissary) of Pandavas with a proposal of reconciliation, against all cannons of righteous behaviour on the part of a king worth his salt. Kunti thought that such villians need to be put to death before they perpetrate further sinful felonies on the society. She, therefore, granted permission.