Chapter 1 - The Bhagavad-Gita for Children

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10.0pt">ARJUNA’S CONFUSION Jai: I would like to know first how Lord

10.0pt">Krishna and Arjuna happened to talk on the battlefield, Grandma.

Grandma: It came about in this way, Jai. The war of Maha

FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">bharata was about to

begin after peace talks by Lord Krishna and others failed to avoid the war. When

the soldiers were gathered on the battlefield, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna to

drive his chariot between the two armies so that he could see those who were

ready to fight. Seeing all his relatives, friends, and soldiers on the

battlefield and fearing their destruction, he became compassionate. (Gita 1.34)

Jai: What does compassionate mean, Grandma? Grandma:

Compassion does not mean pity, Jai. That would be looking down on others as

poor, pitiful creatures. Arjuna was feeling their pain and their unlucky

situation as his own. Arjuna was a great warrior, who had fought many wars and

was well prepared for the war, but suddenly his compassion made him not want to

fight. He spoke of the evils of war and sat down on the seat of

his chariot, his mind full of sorrow. (Gita 1.47) He saw no use in fighting. He

did not know what to do. Jai: I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to

fight either. Why do people

fight, Grandma? Why are there wars? Grandma: Jai, there are not only

wars between nations, but quarrels between two people, quarrels between

brothers and sisters, between husband and wife, between friends and neighbors.

The main reason is that people are not able to let go of

their selfish motives and desires. Most wars are fought for possession and

power. But all problems could be solved peacefully if people could see both

sides of the problem and work out an agreement. War should be the last resort.

Our holy books say: One should not commit violence towards anyone. Unjustified

killing is punishable in all circumstances. Lord Krishna urged Arjuna to fight

for his rights, but not to kill needlessly. It was his duty as a warrior to

fight a declared war and establish peace and law and order on earth.

mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">We humans also have wars going inside all of us. Our

negative and positive forces are always fighting. The negative forces within us

are represented by the Kauravas and the positive forces by the Pandavas. The

Gita does not have stories in it to illustrate the teachings, so I will add

some stories from other sources to help you. Here is a story about negative and

positive thoughts fighting each other that Lord Krishna Himself told to Arjuna

in Mahabharata.

1. Mr. Truthful There once lived a great hermit, who was famous for telling

the truth. He had taken a vow not to lie and was popularly known as “Mr.

Truthful.” No matter what he said, everyone believed him because he had earned

a great reputation in the community where he lived and did his spiritual

practices. One evening, a robber was chasing a merchant to rob and kill him.

The merchant was running for his life. To escape from the robber, the merchant

ran towards the forest, where the hermit lived outside the village.The merchant

felt very safe because there was no way the robber could find out where he was

hiding in the

jungle. But the hermit had seen the direction in which the merchant went.The

robber came to the hermit’s cottage and paid his respects. The robber knew that

the hermit would tell only the truth and could be trusted, so he asked him

whether he had seen somebody running away. The hermit knew that the robber must

be looking for somebody to rob and kill, so he faced the big problem. If he told

the truth, the merchant would certainly be killed. If he lied, he would incur

the sin of lying and lose his reputation. Ahimsa (nonviolence) and truthfulness

are two most important teachings of all religions that we must follow. If we

have to choose between these

two, which one should we choose? This is a very difficult choice.

mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Because of his habit of telling the truth, the

hermit said: Yes, I saw someone going that way. So the robber was able to find

the merchant and kill him. The hermit could have saved a life by hiding the

truth, but he did not think very carefully and made a wrong decision. Lord

Krishna’s purpose in telling Arjuna this story was to teach Arjuna that

sometimes we have to choose between a rock and a hard place. Lord Krishna told

Arjuna that the hermit shared with the robber the sin of killing a life. The

robber could not have found the

merchant if the hermit had not told the truth. So when two noble principles

conflict with each other, we have to know which one is the higher principle.

Ahimsa has the highest priority, so the hermit should have lied in this

situation to save a life. One may not tell a truth that harms a person in any

way. It isn’t

easy to apply Dharma (or righteousness) to real life situations because what is

Dharma and what is Adharma (or unrighteousness) can sometimes be very difficult

to decide. In such a situation expert advice should sought. Lord Krishna gave

another example of a robber coming to a village to rob and kill the villagers.

In this situation, killing the robber was an act of nonviolence because killing

one person may save many lives. Lord

Krishna Himself, on several occasions, had to make such decisions to win the war

of Mahabharata and put an end to all the evil-doers.

'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Remember, Jai, do not tell a lie

and do not kill any living being or hurt anybody, but saving a life comes

first. Chapter 1 summary: Arjuna asked his charioteer friend, Lord Krishna,

to drive his chariot between the two armies so that he could see the Pandava’s

army. Arjuna felt great compassion to see his friends and relatives on the

opposite side, whom he must kill to win the war. He became confused, spoke of

the evils of war, and refused to fight.

2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in"> "Gurur Brahma Gurur

VishnuGurur Devoh Maheshwar;Gurur Shakshat ParambramhaTashmai Shri Gurur Veh

Namah"May the Merciful Sri Sai Baba always shower His grace on us and our

families and remove our problems and anxieties by giving us all - strength ,

goodluck, success and happiness with peace of mind.Sai bhakt,Deepa

Hdebu7366