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2. From where has this dejection come upon you at this critical hour for this is unworthy of noble people, bringing neither heaven nor fame?
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When a person is down and dejected, lost his self-confidence and about to give up struggling in life, what revive his sagging spirits initially are a few soothing words that remind him of his real potentialities and his original purpose in life. The words might come from within or without and some times from God Himself who is ever loving and ready to help his troubled devotees. Lord Krishna who is well aware of Arjuna's predicament is quick and prompt in reminding him of the need of the hour and the duty he is supposed to perform as worthy noble man.
It is well known that questioning and comparison distract the mind of a dejected man. Questions make the individual think and come out of his emotional problems. Comparisons expose his inadequacies and inherent fears and help him adjust himself to the new demands. Lord Krishna, Master of all consciousness knows how to bring Arjuna into his normal mood so that he can be prepared to receive higher knowledge and become free from the darkness of his mind. Notice the way He is appealing to the vanity of Arjuna by putting him in contrast with the noble people. This is to make his ego adjust itself to the demands of an expected social behavior.
If you read this verse and the subsequent verse you will notice that Lord Krishna is not rushing Arjuna directly into spiritual matters. His aim is to calm him down by a direct appeal to his ego in a language that is very familiar to it. For any spiritual transformation to take place in the individual effectively, it is the ego that has to be first attracted and purified. The ego that binds you in the beginning ultimately sets you free. In its bondage lies freedom. In its sleep is hidden ultimate awakening. In its ignorance lies the seed of knowledge. When God wills the ego becomes a candle of light and shows the way.
In fact if we look at it carefully, spiritual quest in human beings begins when the ego is attracted harmlessly towards divine matters. This attraction begins when the ego fails to deal with some critical life situation or achieve some difficult aim in life. In the beginning, out of its vanity, the ego refuses to acknowledge divine help and looks to the spiritual life primarily for the possible fulfillment of its unfulfilled desires. But what begins primarily as a prayer for the fulfillment of some worldly desire ultimately changes into a sincere aspiration for inner transformation. Then the divine illuminates the consciousness and transforms the ego. The ignorant mass of clay becomes a beautiful vessel in His graceful hands. Arjuna
was not perhaps even aware what was in store for him when he actually poured out his heart in front of Lord Krishna. He would not have perhaps expected that a mere prayer for some worldly solution would end up as an immortal celestial song.
Commentary by Jayaram V
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