Here, we find Lord Krishna, the teacher of the Geeta, putting a leading question to his disciple, Arjuna, giving him a chance to say how much he has benefited from the discourses. Of course, Krishna had no doubt about it; but it is only like a doctor, who, confident of his own achieved success, looks at the beaming face of the revived patient and enquires “how are you feeling now?” This is only to enjoy the beaming satisfaction that comes to play on the face of the relieved patient.
HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING WITH AN ATTENTIVE MIND? — The very question implies that if you have been attentive you must have understood sufficiently the logic in the things, beings and happenings around, and therefore, your relationship with them also. The study of Vedanta broadens our vision, and we start RE-COGNISING, in a new light, the same OLD SCHEME-OF-THINGS around us, and then its previous ugliness gets lifted as though by magic.
HAS YOUR DISTRACTION OF THOUGHT, CAUSED BY ‘IGNORANCE,’ BEEN DISPELLED? — The false values that we entertain distort our vision of the world and our judgement of its affairs. The delusion of mind was expressed by Arjuna in the opening chapters of the Geeta (I-36 to 46, and II-4 and 5).
Amputating a septic toe to save the body is no crime; on the contrary it is a life-giving blessing; it is not a toe destroyed, but it is a body and its life saved. The CULTURAL CRISIS of those times had egged the Kauravas on to rise up in arms against the beauty of the spiritual culture of the land. Arjuna was called upon by the era to champion the cause of the righteous. It was indeed a false reading of the situation that perverted the judgement of the Pandava Prince, as a consequence of which he became utterly broken down, and came to entertain a neurotic condition in himself. The fundamental cause of all confusions was his own “NON-APPREHENSION OF REALITY” called in Vedanta philosophy as “ignorance” (Ajnaana). When this “ignorance” is removed by the “APPREHENSION OF REALITY,” termed as “knowledge” (Jnaana), the entire by-products of “ignorance” are all, in one sweep, eliminated. Hence the logic of this enquiry from the teacher.
True “knowledge” expresses itself in one’s own dexterity in action and it should fulfil itself in the splendour of its achievements in the service of society. In case Arjuna has understood the philosophy of the Geeta he will no more hesitate to meet the challenges as they reach him. This seems to be the unsaid idea in the heart of the Lord.
ARJUNA CONFESSES THAT HIS CONFUSIONS HAVE ENDED:
