Victim Mentality & Lack of Confidence Always Leads to Negative Consequences

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita: Arjuna Vishada Yogam: Chapter 1: Verse 44

अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम् |

यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यता: || 44||

aho bata mahat pāpaṁ kartuṁ vyavasitā vayam

yad rājya-sukha-lobhena hantuṁ sva-janam udyatāḥ|| 44||

 Shloka Translation

BG – Ch. 1- Ver. 44: Alas! It’s strange that we’ve made up our minds to commit such an evil crime. We are focused on killing our kinsmen, driven by a craving for kingly delights.

Explanation

Selfish motivations can lead someone to commit wicked acts like killing their own sibling, father, or mother.    Arjuna, a pious follower of the Lord, is constantly aware of moral standards and takes care to refrain from such behaviour.

Even though everyone would suffer as a result of this war, Arjuna was startled to find that both the fighters and the families they would leave behind were itching to commit this evil. He began with the word “aho,” which means “alas.” He listed every disaster that would occur immediately if this war broke out, but he was neglecting the exact reality that if the wrongdoers were not punished, it would result in even more harm to society.

Reflection

Arjuna is declaring that the Kaurava army is sinning by eradicating the Kuru clan. He understands that it is wrong and will not participate in it, thus he won’t fight.

Once more, we can observe moha at work. Arjuna possessed moha for the entire Kuru dynasty, whereas Duryodhana had moha for the Kauravas. Despite having a larger heart than Duryodhana, Arjuna’s moha impaired his judgement in the same way that it did Duryodhana’s.

Furthermore, Arjuna exhibits the stereotypical “victim” perspective where one cannot perceive themselves in control of a situation. One of the greatest fighters in history used language that a weakling would use because his moha had such perfect control over his thoughts.

To acquire knowledge and to implement that knowledge in life one needs to be mentally and physically active and healthy and for that daily meditation is a great tool.

There are various types of meditation like Buddhist meditation, heartfulness meditation, mindfulness meditation, meditation for stress, and each meditation benefits are countless. There is also numerous meditation techniques for beginners which help in practicing daily meditation so go ahead and start your journey towards a peaceful and balanced life.

In the next verses, we will see Arjuna becoming weaker and getting prepared even to get himself killed in the hands of Kauravas.

Let’s learn to live with “The Gita” via Meditation Affinity…