Thursday, June 15, 2006
GITA 108 DAYA - DAY 5
5. Ego is the 'Duryodhana' state of mind.
Every one of us, when expressing ego, we are showing the Duryodhana state of mind. Symptoms of this include trying to be a ‘big shot’ everywhere, speaking with spite and giving out commands to people who deserve respect.
In the first chapter of Gita, Duryodhana’s dialogue with his teacher Drona is an example of this arrogance. He is telling “have a look at the army of Pandavas led by Drishtadhyumna who is the son of your arch rival". This dialogue is aimed at enflaming rage in Drona. Duryodhana shows the audacity of introducing his own army to his perceptor. “In my army also, there are noble people such as yourselves and Bhishma”, so says Duryodhana. Bhishma represents the fear in man and Drona the state of duality. This nature of seeing things in ‘twos’, is the root cause of fear and confusion. The fear of death is the greatest of all and this fear is primordial as the great grand father Bhishma himself. Only a ‘shikhandi’ can win over Bhishma – a shikhandi is some one who has cut his locks of hair (sikha).
The locks of hair represent the relationships of oneself to the world. Cutting the sikha is done when one becomes a monk and it symbolizes his renunciation (samnyasa) of the world. Samnyasa is a state where the notions of dualities do not exist. At that state, there are no man or woman; brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya or sudra. One can win over the fear of death only with this attitude (samnyasa bhava).
The army of Pandavas symbolizes the noble qualities of truthfulness, conviction, liberation, knowledge, prowess and charity. Their men or army are all equal to Bhima and Arjuna in their ability. Bhima represents noble action and Arjuna, the straight forward and single pointed wisdom.
Gita illustrates the Pandavas as the noble ones carrying bows and arrows. The mantra of pranava (Om) is the bow. Arrow is the atma- ones own self. The aim is “Brahmam”- liberation. Once the arrow is shot, the goal and the arrow becomes one and the same. This is the war of righteousness (dharma yudha). This internal fight is the war described in the Bhagavad Gita and not the war with destructive weapons. All wars fought with weapons have never been able to provide anyone with righteousness (dharma) or peace (santhi).
Every one of us, when expressing ego, we are showing the Duryodhana state of mind. Symptoms of this include trying to be a ‘big shot’ everywhere, speaking with spite and giving out commands to people who deserve respect.
In the first chapter of Gita, Duryodhana’s dialogue with his teacher Drona is an example of this arrogance. He is telling “have a look at the army of Pandavas led by Drishtadhyumna who is the son of your arch rival". This dialogue is aimed at enflaming rage in Drona. Duryodhana shows the audacity of introducing his own army to his perceptor. “In my army also, there are noble people such as yourselves and Bhishma”, so says Duryodhana. Bhishma represents the fear in man and Drona the state of duality. This nature of seeing things in ‘twos’, is the root cause of fear and confusion. The fear of death is the greatest of all and this fear is primordial as the great grand father Bhishma himself. Only a ‘shikhandi’ can win over Bhishma – a shikhandi is some one who has cut his locks of hair (sikha).
The locks of hair represent the relationships of oneself to the world. Cutting the sikha is done when one becomes a monk and it symbolizes his renunciation (samnyasa) of the world. Samnyasa is a state where the notions of dualities do not exist. At that state, there are no man or woman; brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya or sudra. One can win over the fear of death only with this attitude (samnyasa bhava).
The army of Pandavas symbolizes the noble qualities of truthfulness, conviction, liberation, knowledge, prowess and charity. Their men or army are all equal to Bhima and Arjuna in their ability. Bhima represents noble action and Arjuna, the straight forward and single pointed wisdom.
Gita illustrates the Pandavas as the noble ones carrying bows and arrows. The mantra of pranava (Om) is the bow. Arrow is the atma- ones own self. The aim is “Brahmam”- liberation. Once the arrow is shot, the goal and the arrow becomes one and the same. This is the war of righteousness (dharma yudha). This internal fight is the war described in the Bhagavad Gita and not the war with destructive weapons. All wars fought with weapons have never been able to provide anyone with righteousness (dharma) or peace (santhi).
# posted by Sukumar Canada @ 10:52 PM 
