(Image Courtesy Mahanidhiswami)

It Was Not Just Shri Krishna’s Discourse, But His Grace That Erased Arjuna’s Ignorance

अर्जुन उवाच |

नष्टो मोह: स्मृतिर्लब्धा त्वत्प्रसादान्मयाच्युत |
स्थितोऽस्मि गतसन्देह: करिष्ये वचनं तव ||18. 73||

Arjuna uvācha

naṣhṭo mohaḥ smṛitir labdhā tvat-prasādān mayāchyuta
sthito ‘smi gata-sandehaḥ kariṣhye vachanaṁ tava|| 73||

Shloka Translation
BG – Ch. 18- Ver. 73:

O Infallible One, through your grace, my delusion has been destroyed, and I am now in possession of knowledge, exclaimed Arjuna. Now that I’m free of uncertainty, I’ll follow Your directions.

Explanation

Arjuna was initially confronted with a perplexing circumstance and uncertain of his role in it. He had given up his weapons and slumped down on his chariot, overcome with grief.

He had acknowledged that the grief that assaulted his body and perceptions had no cure. However, he suddenly notices a full transformation in himself and declares that he is placed in wisdom and no longer confused.

He has submitted himself to God’s will and will carry out Shree Krishna’s instructions. This was how the Bhagavad Gita’s message affected him. But he ends with the phrase “O Shree Krishna, it was not just your discourse, but your grace that erased my ignorance,”
Grace is not necessary for material knowledge. While we can pay an educational institution or a teacher to give us knowledge, spiritual knowledge cannot be bought or sold. It is presented by grace and accepted by faith and modesty. So, if we approach the Bhagavad Gita with a sense of superiority—”I am so smart. We will never be able to understand it. I will assess the net worth of this communication.
Our intellect will focus on some apparent flaw in the text and then reject the entire book as false under that pretence. In the previous 5,000 years, there have been countless commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and countless readers of the divine message, but how many have attained enlightenment like Arjuna? If we want to genuinely understand this wisdom, we must not only read about it but also draw Shree Krishna’s favour toward us by having a loving attitude of surrender. By his grace, we will then understand the meaning of the Bhagavad Gita.

Verse & what we can learn

Remember that Arjuna’s first words in the Gita were: “O achyuta, O infallible one, position my chariot between the two armies in readiness for battle.” In this shloka, Arjuna uses the same address—achyuta, the unfailing one. This is where the conversation that Arjuna started comes to an end.

Since he has reclaimed his smritihi, or memory, and knowledge of his inner self, Arjuna claims that he is no longer unaware of his true nature. There is no longer any illusion in this world once one discovers their genuine self. Everything is recognized for what it truly is: an illusion that maaya’s has superimposed on the self.

The term achyuta also has another meaning. Ishvara is constantly firm in his position as untouched by the superimposition of maaya, standing in contrast to how we forget our actual essence and mistakenly believe maaya to be genuine.

He is infallible, thus we can only escape the cycle of birth and death, or samsara, with the help of his grace. As we saw before, the goal of all spiritual instruction is the dispelling of delusion. All that is left to do is to remain steadfast, or to be stitaha, in the awareness of our actual selves.

Arjuna felt certain that carrying out his obligation as a warrior at this time was the proper course of action from the perspective of the world. He consequently acknowledged the value of the Gita’s teachings and declared himself prepared for battle. Once Arjuna saw that the self is incapable of either doing anything or enjoying anything, his feeling of agency and doership vanished from the perspective of the ultimate absolute. In the service of Ishvara, he made decisions on the spur of the moment.

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 shloka Sanjaya speaks.

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