Sai Baba Gita - Infatuation will Destroy your Courage and Will

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Infatuation will Destroy your Courage and Will

Before the great war referred to in the Gita, Arjuna had participated in a

number of battles, but never before had he been overcome by despondency and

attachment. Now, the same Arjuna was overwhelmed with grief when he realized

that the opponents he had to fight were his own grandfather, his kinsmen and

his teacher. This possessive feeling made him feel dejected. He became a victim

of infatuation; the feeling of my-ness had crept in. As this attitude grew, its

consequence, which is sorrow, also grew along with it. Previously, when Krishna

went on his peace mission to the opposing side, Arjuna discouraged it. He urged

immediate war. He tried to convince Krishna that the mission would fail, that

talk would prove futile and only a victorious war could restore to them the

kingdom which had been stolen from Arjuna and his brothers.

At that time, Arjuna told Krishna, "This struggle for right cannot be settled by

peaceful means. Our enemies will never agree to the terms of your peace mission.

Their hatred and greed is unappeasable. Why waste your time and efforts on them?

Good and evil cannot coexist; they are incompatible; they will never join

together. Your mission is bound to fail." Then, Arjuna was full of courage and

determination because he was not seeing his grandfather, his teacher, his

relatives and many of his friends facing him on the opposing side. Before this

possessive vision emerged on the eve of the war, it seemed that Arjuna had a

very broad vision. But now, standing in the middle of the battlefield, Arjuna's

vision was beclouded. His eyes became dim. His heart was heavy and his mind

confused. When he saw his close relatives and some of his friends arrayed on

the other side ready to fight him, he felt dizzy. He said, "Krishna, I will not

fight!"

Remember that Arjuna was about to fight a war to protect righteousness, a war

for which he had been preparing for many years. He was already on the

battlefield and the war was about to commence. Was that the time to look upon

his opponents as relatives? When Krishna heard Arjuna's words he got very

angry. He told Arjuna, "This is faint-heartedness. It doesn't become you! A

fearless person like you, who has always walked proudly with his head held high

like a true hero, now seems to be suffering from timidity. A person who suffers

from such faint-heartedness cannot be my disciple. The war is about to start.

The final preparations for war have been going on for the past three months,

and now the battle plans have been set.

"If you had shown this kind of hesitation in the beginning I would surely not

have taken on this task of driving your chariot. At this late stage you are

hesitating, after you have convinced friends and relatives of the rightness of

your cause and have persuaded them to join your side. Now with them all

assembled here, you are laying down your weapons and giving up ignominiously.

Is that the way for a hero to act? You are destroying the true spirit of your

royal line, whose sworn duty is to protect honor and righteousness. If you

continue in this way as a timid, faint-hearted weakling, the coming generation

will laugh at your cowardice. You have taken the name of Arjuna but you are not

living up to that name!"

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita145.html

Sai Baba Gita, Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press -

http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903Online Edition:

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html

 

 

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