Dear Guru Maharaj, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Please accept my humble obeisances.
Hare Krishna!
I hope you are recovering from your travels and panca karma treatment.
HpSwami - AgtSP! ‼️
paoho & bw....
.... guess it is not recovering but rebuilding.
pancha karma breaks down the rusty structure of the gross body accumulated by years of distressed action and allows us to build a better tool based upon better activity.
I’m writing because I’ve been studying the Second Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita and have a question that I can’t settle on my own. I’d be grateful for your guidance.
In the purport to 2.2, Srila Prabhupada describes Arjuna’s lamentation as “impurities” that are “unbecoming,” and he calls his refusal to fight “an act of cowardice” that befits non-Āryans. In 2.1 he says this conduct “was not expected from him.”
But in the purport to 2.6, the same Arjuna is described as someone who “was not only a great devotee of the Lord but also highly enlightened and had complete control over his mind and senses,” and it concludes that “Arjuna was quite fit for liberation.”
I understand that both statements are meant for their own verses, and that Arjuna’s desire to beg rather than enjoy a kingdom does show detachment. Still, I get stuck on the strength of the words. Also, on keeping the verses in context, i.e., understanding that they are part of the book and do not stand alone for themselves.
If someone has complete control over mind and senses, how can he also be overcome by impurities?
If Arjuna can be called ‘highly enlightened’ and in ‘complete control of his mind and senses,’ and yet still act in a way Srila Prabhupada calls unbecoming, then I don’t understand what those words are meant to convey. In 2.7, Arjuna himself says his mind is confused and he doesn’t know his duty. How can I reconcile this with ‘complete control'.
My own attempt at an answer is this: Arjuna may be free from greed and from craving for enjoyment, but still attached to his family, and these are two different kinds of attachment. Or perhaps Srila Prabhupada is describing Arjuna’s true position and qualification, while the confusion is a temporary situation, or even a role he plays so that the Gita can be spoken for our benefit. But I’m not sure I’m understanding it rightly, and I don’t want to settle for an answer just because it sounds comfortable.
So, in a way, my questions are:
- How should I understand strong words like “complete control” and “highly enlightened” when they appear next to Arjuna’s evident grief and confusion?
- Is it correct to see Arjuna’s confusion as real, or as a pastime for our instruction?
- How should I approach this kind of tension when I meet it in other places in Prabhupada’s books?
I ask with respect and a sincere wish to understand. Please forgive any offense in the way I’ve put things.
Thank you for your time and grace.
Trying to be... your servant,
Namacarya Das
HpS/ASA - I, agtSP, understand that under his control his mind and senses are becoming contaminated, to show us the Bhagavad Gita.
We heard that Srila P'pada said that Arjuna forgot who Krsna was but he never ceased to love Him.
He let his lower memory become contaminated because he understood the desire of Krsna.
O. K.?.