Ajuna Vishaada Yoga
Chapter 1: Verses 24-25
sanjay uvāca
evam ukto hrṣikeśo
guḍākeśena bhārata
senayor-ubhayor madhye
sthāpayitvā rathottamam
bhişma drona pramukhataḥ
sarveṣāṁ ca mahīkṣitām
uvāca pārtha paśyaitān
samavetān kurūn iti
Sanjaya said: Thus addressed by Gudakesha (one who has overcome sleep: Arjuna), Sri Krishna, O Bharata, having stationed the best of all chariots between the two armies, in front of Bhishma, Drona and all the princes of this Earth, said, "O Paartha (Arjuna), behold these Kurus gathered together."
Here Sanjaya called Arjuna 'Gudakesha, which means the conquerer of sleep. Arjuna had conquered sleep. That was why he could carry on with his activities without taking any rest. This is what Kriya does! If one sleeps too much, one is drained of life energy. If one sleeps less, one is full of energy. In all his activities, Arjuna never felt oppressed from too much sleep. Calling Arjuna 'Gudakesha, Sanjaya was saying that the sons of Dhritarashtra would never overcome Arjuna, because Arjuna was ever alert. There was not one moment when he was lazing around. He was always ready!
Lord Krishna said, "Behold these Kauravas who have gathered together here." Krishna had placed the chariot between the two armies as Arjuna had asked because these were the rules of the charioteers. The charioteer had to do what the warrior requested. So Krishna brought the chariot to a standstill there between the armies and said, "Behold them! Be careful of them!" His words had deep meaning. Krishna used the word 'Kurus, because, even if they were all from the same Kuru dynasty, many of them had sided in a completely wrong way. He said, "Behold, all these people! Most of them are your family It was an invitation for Arjuna to see that, though these were his close friends, his close family, within their hearts they were not really family. Why did Krishna do that? It is very interesting! Because Krishna knew that Arjuna held them very dear, that he still had certain feelings for them, which had to be removed.
Arjuna had deep identification and attachment to his family. He had love for them. It is like your love for the negative qualities in yourself. Why do you think the negative qualities always come back again and again? Because of your relationship with them. Because you like to call them and awaken them. You like to see them. That's why. Until they are completely killed and removed, they will stay there. Sometimes you don't want to see them, but they are there. Lord Krishna knew that these qualities were present deep inside of Arjuna's heart. He wanted to uproot them completely, from deep inside. Krishna wanted to remove this blood affection, this blood relationship. He used Arjuna as an instrument to show what Christ taught: "Whoever is worthy of their fathers: and mothers, they are not worthy of Me. Whoever is attached to anything, is not worthy of Me. I have come to separate the daughter from the mother, the son from the father" Isn't that what Christ said? Krishna was teaching the same thing to Arjuna. How can one be surrendered to the Divine, if one is still attached to perishable things? How can one surrender to the Divine, how can God reveal Himself in His fullness, when one is hanging on to limitation?
Arjuna's heart pained him because of his compassion. Krishna wanted to remove all this dejection, all these thoughts from his mind, all these thoughts of relationships from deep inside. Only then would Arjuna be ready to receive the Brahma Jyaan. Krishna was preparing him! Until all these negative things are uprooted from the heart, how can Divine knowledge be given to someone? Christ talked about not giving knowledge to somebody who is not ready. It's like 'throwing pearls before swine' That's how it is! If one is not ready, whatever you say, one will again become blind.
Krishna brought the chariot between the two armies to remove all these negative qualities, one by one, to clarify the mind of Arjuna, so that later on, he could receive the Amrit of the Gita, he could receive the Lord Himself in the form of the Gita.
Bhagavad Gita
