Arjuna surrendered unto Shri Krishna,
and consequently this Bhagavad-gita was spoken. Not only Arjuna, but
every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence.
Our very existence is in the atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we
are not meant to be threatened by nonexistence. Our existence is
eternal. But somehow or other we are put into asat. Asat refers to that
which does not exist.
Out of so many human beings who are
suffering, there are a few who are actually inquiring about their
position, as to what they are, why they are put into this awkward
position and so on. Unless one is awakened to this position of
questioning his suffering, unless he realizes that he doesn't want
suffering but rather wants to make a solution to all suffering, then one
is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when
this sort of inquiry is awakened in one's mind. In the Brahma-sutra this
inquiry is called brahma jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. Every activity
of the human being is to be considered a failure unless he inquires
about the nature of the Absolute Truth.
Therefore those who begin to question
why they are suffering or where they came from and where they shall go
after death are proper students for understanding Bhagavad-gita. The
sincere student should also have a firm respect for the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Such a student was Arjuna.
Lord Krishna descends specifically to reestablish the real purpose of
life when man forgets that purpose. Even then, out of many, many human
beings who awaken, there may be one who actually enters the spirit of understanding his position,
and for him this Bhagavad-gita is spoken. Actually we are all swallowed
by the tigress of nescience, but the Lord is very merciful upon living
entities, especially human beings. To this end He spoke the
Bhagavad-gita, making His friend Arjuna His student.Arjuna being an associate of Lord Krishna, Arjuna was above all ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignorance on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra just to question Lord Krishna about the problems of life so that the Lord could explain them for the benefit of future generations of human beings and chalk out the plan of life. Then man could act accordingly and perfect the mission of human life.
Being an associate of Lord Krishna, Arjuna was above all ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignorance on the
Battlefield of Kurukshetra just to question Lord Krishna about the
problems of life so that the Lord could explain them for the benefit of
future generations of human beings and chalk out the plan of life. Then
man could act accordingly and perfect the mission of human life.
The Bhagavad-gita should be taken up in a
spirit of devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Krishna,
nor should he think that Krishna is an ordinary personality or even a
very great personality. Lord Shri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
So according to the statements of Bhagavad-gita or the statements of
Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita, we
should at least theoretically accept Shri Krishna as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, and with that submissive spirit we can
understand the Bhagavad-gita. Unless one reads the Bhagavad-gita in a
submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gita,
because it is a great mystery.
Lord Brahma explains in Brahma samhita(Bs 5.1) as follows:
"Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is
the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He
is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime
cause of all causes."
CC Madhya 8.136
“The transcendental body of Sri Krishna
is eternal and full of bliss and knowledge. He is the son of Nanda
Maharaja. He is full of all opulences and potencies as well as all
spiritual mellows.
In the Sama-veda Upanishad, it is
stated that Lord Sri Krishna is the divine son of Devaki. Therefore
Lord Sri Krishna is the primeval Lord, and if any transcendental
nomenclature is to be understood as belonging to the Absolute
Personality of Godhead, it must be the name indicated by the word
Krishna, which means the all-attractive. In the Padma Purana, it is
also stated that out of the innumerable names of the Lord, the name of
Krishna is the principal one.
In Bhagavad-gita 10.12-13 Arjuna declares Krishna as the Supreme Lord:
“Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode
and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You
are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn
and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita,
Devala, and Vyasa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are
declaring it to me.”
In Bhagavad-gita, the Lord asserts Himself to be the original Personality of Godhead
In Bg 10.8 Lord Krishna says:
“I am the source of all spiritual and
material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this
perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their
hearts.”
In Bg 15.19 Lord Krishna says:
“Whoever knows Me as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is to be understood as the
knower of everything, and he therefore engages himself in full
devotional service, O son of Bharata.”
Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
is the proprietor of all riches. There are many rich men in the world,
but no one can claim that he possesses all the wealth. Nor can anyone
claim that no one is richer than Him. We understand from the Shrimad-Bhagavatam however, that when Sri Krishna
was present on this earth He had 16,108 palaces where His near and
dear ones lived, and each palace was made of marble and bedecked with
jewels. The rooms were filled with furniture made of ivory and gold,
and there was great opulence everywhere. In the history of human
society we cannot find anyone who had 16,000 palaces.
that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without
acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Ravana.
Ravana was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his
kingdom,Lanka, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he
did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Ramachandra and defied Him by
stealing His wife, Sita, Ravana was killed, and all his opulence and
power were destroyed.
