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Commentary by Jayaram V
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10. Then Hrisikesa smiling, O Bharata, said these words to him in the middle of the two armies. |
There is a lot of symbolic significance hidden in the narrative account of the
Gita. The scripture can be truly interpreted at various levels. The characters and
ideas in the Gita can be explained from various points of view. Apart from Lord
Krishna, in the entire Gita, one comes across three personalities who participate
in the divine discourse and receive divine knowledge. In fact these three individuals
represent the three methods by which man can receive divine knowledge from God.
Arjuna represents the first method. He is the direct recipient of the Gita. Sanjaya
represents the second method. He receives it through clairvoyance, while Dhritarashtra,
the blind king receives it through the word of Sanjaya.
The direct method which Arjuna represents is possible only to very highly evolved
souls who are very rare to come across in human history. There might not be many
people in human history who might have stood face to face to with God and conversed
with Him so elaborately on temporal and spiritual matters as Arjuna did. But Arjuna
was a blessed soul who was given that rare honor and privilege by Lord Krishna.
Sanjaya, the psychic was not so fortunate. But he too was a man immense spiritual
strength who had mastered his body and mind to such an extent that they became perfect
vehicles to receive the divine knowledge through his psychic abilities without hindered
by his lower nature. History is replete with instances where men received divine
knowledge through their psychic powers. Many spiritual truths have been rendered
into religious verses through this method. Sanjaya was the ablest among them. He
received the entire Gita through his mind's eye. He was such a pure soul that there
was no trace of distortion or egoistic interference in his receptivity or expression.
He was truly and immensely a man of divine vision endowed with perfect psychic powers.
No wonder the Lord selected him as His vehicle for imparting the knowledge to Dhritarashtra.
Dhritarashtra received the knowledge through the third and the most common method:
from another person, from Sanjaya, the knowledgeable one who had already received
the knowledge from God (directly or indirectly). It is pertinent to note here that
Dhritarashtra in the Mahabharata is a blind king. His blindness in the Gita symbolically
stands for his ignorance or spiritual blindness. An imperfect soul, driven by his
desires and deeply attached to his family and kingdom, it is well known that it
was actually his blind passion for the throne of the Kuru empire and his hidden
partiality for his children which ultimately led to the battle of Mahabharata. He
was the central character who unleashed or permitted the forces of destruction.
Perhaps because of this reason and perhaps in order to give him an opportunity to
transform himself that Lord Krishna gave him a chance to receive the divine knowledge
indirectly through the mouth of Sanjaya, a learned man.
Bhagavadgita Chapter 2 Verses 1- 21
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