Every one of us is an Arjuna! Part 1
Hello all,
Namaste! Today I am going to write about Mythology and how we can bring it into our everyday lives. Before starting this post, I want to mention that many times when I am reading a book or an article and later contemplating on them, insights flash across my mind like a lightning bolt. So some of the ideas I am going to discuss here came as insights to me. This is one of the very authentic resources I found, which can be of help in analyzing the ideas further.
Most probably many of you have heard about the epic Mahabharata and how in the middle of the story, in a battlefield called 'Kurukshetra'; two sets of cousins fight over land, surrounded by army, cavalry and elephants; the main warrior Arjuna is given philosophical guidance by Krishna, who is God or the Universal wisdom depicted as an 'avatar' in a human form.
The scene unfolds like this. The cousins 'Pandavas' and 'Kauravas' have decided to wage a war over the right to the kingdom. Arjuna, the main warrior prince among 'Pandavas' is ready for war in his armor, with his bow and arrow; he is the best-known archer in the whole kingdom. Arjuna asks Krishna, the charioteer of his chariot and who also is the avatar of divine or Universal wisdom to take the chariot to the middle of the two armies so that he can observe the strength of both sides. Once he gets to the middle, Arjuna becomes so overwhelmed by fear that he becomes unconscious. Once he regains consciousness, he throws away the bow and arrow and sits in the chariot saying he will not fight the battle. Then Krishna reminds him of his duty as a warrior and expounds the 'Bhagavad Gita' -the divine wisdom, which is considered as the gist of all the Vedas and Upanishadic literature of Sanatana Dharma. Finally, Arjuna realizes he has to do his duty whatever may be the circumstances and goes to war and wins it along with his brothers.
There is also a condition Krishna kept to Arjuna before becoming his charioteer; which is, "Arjuna I will become your charioteer and drive your chariot. You will have to fight the battle; I will definitely not take my weapon, but I will guide you properly to fight your battle". In this way, Krishna guided Arjuna's chariot and helped him win the war.
Many times we take the stories of the epics and mythology literally. How about in this case we take it metaphorically? Consider how each one of us, dealing with everyday matters all the time are pulled and prodded in so many directions with so many choices; many times we have no knowledge of where we are going and what is our true purpose or the meaning of life. Remember the vessel we discussed in our last post, we are like the vessel, which is just moving along in the ocean of life. But each one of us has an inner guidance or the small voice, which constantly tries to guide us. Many times we don't listen to it or drown it in our every day sprint called life.
Now let us consider that each one of us is an Arjuna, in the middle of a battlefield. On one side are the virtues like honesty, patience, justice, integrity, courage, prudence, faith, hope, which we can take as the Pandavas, Arjuna being one of them and on the other side are vices like ego, jealousy, greed, selfishness, lust, self-doubt, pride, anger, which are the Kauravas. We are standing in the middle of the battlefield, terrified, not knowing what to do? Many times like Arjuna, we throw our bow and arrow and sit in the chariot thinking, "No I don't want to fight this battle. It is too much for me to handle. How can I fight such a dreadful battle of life? Let me sit quietly and rest". At that time the small voice within us or our inner guidance prods us to stand up and fight and not to surrender to the bigger evil forces. That inner guidance we can relate to Krishna.
Then there are the horses of the chariot. How about we think of them as our five senses- touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight. They are pulling us in different directions all the time and we are having trouble to control them. Now think the reins of the horses as our mind, which wants to take us all over the world, aimlessly. Can we go to battle with such a chariot where the reins and horses are having their own will and say, where and how to proceed?
We have to control the horses who are the senses; take up the reins, control our mind and with the help of the inner voice, the charioteer for guidance, win the battle against the Kauravas with courage as well as determination. Not an easy feat to achieve. But every one of us has an in-house charioteer or the inner voice who can guide us perfectly to our destiny. Instead, what do we do? We run all over the world in search of wisdom, while the permanent guide is sitting inside each one of us always ready to guide us, only if we take the time to listen!
Of course, the inner guidance is not going to fight for us, just as Krishna said: "I will not take a weapon myself, but I will drive your chariot and guide you properly". It is not going to take the sword on our behalf, we have to fight our battles. But the inner voice is going to guide us to our destiny with accuracy, just only if we care to trust it. This battle happens in our mind all the time when we have to make a choice between good and evil. Every time we are flustered, tested and put on a knife's edge. Should we stand up as Arjuna, the Pandava and fight the vices or should we fight on the side of Kauravas? It is our choice and free will!
Now one more thing we need to keep in mind is that in the Kurukshetra war, Krishna sided with the Pandavas and defeated Kauravas. Kauravas were not able to get the blessing of the divine grace, Krishna. From this what can we interpret? God or the Universal Wisdom is only going to be available or take the side of the Pandavas or the virtues. Whoever is in the grip of the vices, they are not going to have the grace of the divine wisdom or the Universal Self. Of course, the ego or Duryodhana, the main Kaurava is going to try his level best to win the war. He will use every crook and hook available in his manual so that the Pandavas get defeated.
But remember ultimately Duryodhana gets killed and with the help of Krishna, Arjuna and the Pandavas win the Kurukshetra war. So only by killing our ego and surrendering to the Infinite
wisdom along with the above-said virtues whether Arjuna or we can acquire the kingdom. So let each one of us trust our inbuilt wisdom and may it guide us towards our true destiny!
I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉
Next week: Everyone of us is an Arjuna! Part 2
Note: Images by Swaroopa and Share inspire quotes .
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried".
All rights reserved to the author (SwaroopaStargazer) and SwaroopaBlog.
To my Blog readers: As all of you know, the European Union has passed laws regarding the collection of the user data. This is just to inform all my EU blog readers, I use Google Analytics, which Google provides, to look at from where readers are reading my blogs. I also use Specific feeds for their service for subscription. I don't collect or intend to collect user data to sell or provide to third-party applications. Regards,
SwaroopaBlog.
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog. The opinions and viewpoints shared here are that of the author/owner only. Even though the author/owner will try to research well before posting the information, the author/owner of this blog does not make any portrayal of the accuracy or correctness of the content on this blog or the links provided. The author/owner will not be liable for any omissions or inaccuracies occurred. The author/owner will not be liable for any damages or losses due to the use or display of this blog. These terms and conditions can change at any time. This blog is purely for informational purposes only.
© SwaroopaStargazer and Swaroopa, 2017.
Namaste! Today I am going to write about Mythology and how we can bring it into our everyday lives. Before starting this post, I want to mention that many times when I am reading a book or an article and later contemplating on them, insights flash across my mind like a lightning bolt. So some of the ideas I am going to discuss here came as insights to me. This is one of the very authentic resources I found, which can be of help in analyzing the ideas further.
Most probably many of you have heard about the epic Mahabharata and how in the middle of the story, in a battlefield called 'Kurukshetra'; two sets of cousins fight over land, surrounded by army, cavalry and elephants; the main warrior Arjuna is given philosophical guidance by Krishna, who is God or the Universal wisdom depicted as an 'avatar' in a human form.
The scene unfolds like this. The cousins 'Pandavas' and 'Kauravas' have decided to wage a war over the right to the kingdom. Arjuna, the main warrior prince among 'Pandavas' is ready for war in his armor, with his bow and arrow; he is the best-known archer in the whole kingdom. Arjuna asks Krishna, the charioteer of his chariot and who also is the avatar of divine or Universal wisdom to take the chariot to the middle of the two armies so that he can observe the strength of both sides. Once he gets to the middle, Arjuna becomes so overwhelmed by fear that he becomes unconscious. Once he regains consciousness, he throws away the bow and arrow and sits in the chariot saying he will not fight the battle. Then Krishna reminds him of his duty as a warrior and expounds the 'Bhagavad Gita' -the divine wisdom, which is considered as the gist of all the Vedas and Upanishadic literature of Sanatana Dharma. Finally, Arjuna realizes he has to do his duty whatever may be the circumstances and goes to war and wins it along with his brothers.
 |
| Geethopadesa - Divine guidance Image by Swaroopa |
Many times we take the stories of the epics and mythology literally. How about in this case we take it metaphorically? Consider how each one of us, dealing with everyday matters all the time are pulled and prodded in so many directions with so many choices; many times we have no knowledge of where we are going and what is our true purpose or the meaning of life. Remember the vessel we discussed in our last post, we are like the vessel, which is just moving along in the ocean of life. But each one of us has an inner guidance or the small voice, which constantly tries to guide us. Many times we don't listen to it or drown it in our every day sprint called life.
Now let us consider that each one of us is an Arjuna, in the middle of a battlefield. On one side are the virtues like honesty, patience, justice, integrity, courage, prudence, faith, hope, which we can take as the Pandavas, Arjuna being one of them and on the other side are vices like ego, jealousy, greed, selfishness, lust, self-doubt, pride, anger, which are the Kauravas. We are standing in the middle of the battlefield, terrified, not knowing what to do? Many times like Arjuna, we throw our bow and arrow and sit in the chariot thinking, "No I don't want to fight this battle. It is too much for me to handle. How can I fight such a dreadful battle of life? Let me sit quietly and rest". At that time the small voice within us or our inner guidance prods us to stand up and fight and not to surrender to the bigger evil forces. That inner guidance we can relate to Krishna.
Then there are the horses of the chariot. How about we think of them as our five senses- touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight. They are pulling us in different directions all the time and we are having trouble to control them. Now think the reins of the horses as our mind, which wants to take us all over the world, aimlessly. Can we go to battle with such a chariot where the reins and horses are having their own will and say, where and how to proceed?
We have to control the horses who are the senses; take up the reins, control our mind and with the help of the inner voice, the charioteer for guidance, win the battle against the Kauravas with courage as well as determination. Not an easy feat to achieve. But every one of us has an in-house charioteer or the inner voice who can guide us perfectly to our destiny. Instead, what do we do? We run all over the world in search of wisdom, while the permanent guide is sitting inside each one of us always ready to guide us, only if we take the time to listen!
 |
| Image courtesy- Share Inspire Quotes |
Now one more thing we need to keep in mind is that in the Kurukshetra war, Krishna sided with the Pandavas and defeated Kauravas. Kauravas were not able to get the blessing of the divine grace, Krishna. From this what can we interpret? God or the Universal Wisdom is only going to be available or take the side of the Pandavas or the virtues. Whoever is in the grip of the vices, they are not going to have the grace of the divine wisdom or the Universal Self. Of course, the ego or Duryodhana, the main Kaurava is going to try his level best to win the war. He will use every crook and hook available in his manual so that the Pandavas get defeated.
But remember ultimately Duryodhana gets killed and with the help of Krishna, Arjuna and the Pandavas win the Kurukshetra war. So only by killing our ego and surrendering to the Infinite
wisdom along with the above-said virtues whether Arjuna or we can acquire the kingdom. So let each one of us trust our inbuilt wisdom and may it guide us towards our true destiny!
I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉
Next week: Everyone of us is an Arjuna! Part 2
Note: Images by Swaroopa and Share inspire quotes .
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried".
All rights reserved to the author (SwaroopaStargazer) and SwaroopaBlog.
To my Blog readers: As all of you know, the European Union has passed laws regarding the collection of the user data. This is just to inform all my EU blog readers, I use Google Analytics, which Google provides, to look at from where readers are reading my blogs. I also use Specific feeds for their service for subscription. I don't collect or intend to collect user data to sell or provide to third-party applications. Regards,
SwaroopaBlog.
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog. The opinions and viewpoints shared here are that of the author/owner only. Even though the author/owner will try to research well before posting the information, the author/owner of this blog does not make any portrayal of the accuracy or correctness of the content on this blog or the links provided. The author/owner will not be liable for any omissions or inaccuracies occurred. The author/owner will not be liable for any damages or losses due to the use or display of this blog. These terms and conditions can change at any time. This blog is purely for informational purposes only.
© SwaroopaStargazer and Swaroopa, 2017.
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