A stream cut off from the main river stagnates, putrefies and dies. Similarly a human being disconnected from the totality degenerates and falls into error, delusion and grief. The Bhagavad Gita lifts you out of despair and awakens you to your own glory and power. The moment you look at things from a personal angle there is sorrow. View the same thing from a larger perspective and peace prevails.
The grief-stricken Arjuna is reduced to tears. He lays down his bow and arrow and refuses to fight. He surrenders to Krsna and says, "I am your disciple. Please teach me". Arjuna is now ready for Krsna's message. Krsna smiles. He knows Arjuna is only going through a temporary setback and is confident of dispelling his confusion. He does not comfort Arjuna. He speaks the Truth – uncompromising and forthright. This dries the tears and makes Arjuna take notice. It removes the grief and despair and prepares Arjuna for the philosophy that is to come.
Krsna's opening words are - Arjuna, you speak words of wisdom but you mourn for those that should not be mourned for. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. Thus from verses 11 to 53 Krsna presents the highest knowledge – the indestructibility of the Soul. Atman, the real you, never dies. Even the mind and intellect do not perish. All that happens at death is that you leave behind the body and environment that no longer meet with your needs and move to another body and circumstances that are more suited for the fulfilment of your desires. Everything around us changes. One who is not troubled by these fluctuations and remains steady, equal to joy and sorrow, is fit for Immortality. In the midst of this cycle of birth and death it is your duty to act. For a ksatriya there is nothing more sacred than a righteous cause. You are fortunate to have such an opportunity that is a win-win situation. If victorious you will gain the vast kingdom. If you die you will attain heaven.
We are all warriors in the battle of life. Each one of us has obligations to perform. Do what you have to do, without attachment. Your right is to action only, not to its fruit. When you are free from attachment to action and anxiety for its fruit the mind is calm and intellect sharp and clear. The result is perfect action which gives the fruit of success, happiness and spiritual growth. If you act thus you will be freed from the sorrow and bondage of birth and death. Then through meditation you will transcend the mass of delusion and move to the state of Godhood.
In verse 54 Arjuna asks Krsna, “Who is a Perfect Person? What is his inner nature and how does he interact with the world?” Krsna defines a Perfect Person as one who has completely abandoned all desires as a result of being fulfilled in the Self by the Self. It is desire that takes away your might and power. To regain Perfection you need to drop desire. You can only pick up a higher desire that is more gratifying and fulfilling. As a result the lower fascinations and temptations drop of their own accord. The same principle works now. As a spiritual child you are stuck with physical and material playthings. Move to emotional joys and the material preoccupations no longer have a grip over you. Pick up an intellectual ideal and even the emotional attachments lose their charm. Take the final plunge to the spiritual and nothing will hold you back. All desires drop. You regain your Immortal stature.
Krsna emphasises the importance of sense control which requires a strong and alert intellect. He then gives the formula for self control. With a powerful intellect that keeps the senses and mind subdued you take off into higher realms. Krsna concludes by saying, “This is the state of Brahman. Having attained it one is not deluded again. Being established in it one attains union with Brahman even after death”. Once you reach the state of Enlightenment there is no falling back into the realm of the impermanent.
