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PHRASES IN THE GITA - 107

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PHRASES IN THE GITA - 107


अनित्यम् असुखम् लोकम्  ...  (अध्याय ९ - श्लोक ३४)
அநித்யம் அஸுகம் லோகம்  ...  (அத்யாயம் 9 - ஶ்லோகம் 34)
Anithyam Asukham Lokam  ...  (Chapter 9 - Shlokam 33)

Meaning :  This world is temporal and bereft of pleasures ...

This is one of the few ideas , oft repeated in The Gita .  This world is 'temporal'.  The pleasures are transient .  What is the need for repetition ?  Prime reason is that the Gita is a dialogue , a dialogue between Arjuna and Shri Krishna .  It is not a pre-planned and streamlined flow of thought as in a speech .  Ideas and words are repeated in course of an informal dialogue because of interruptions , questions and doubts raised by listener .  Repetition is also necessitated because Arjuna is a common man like us .  There is a Tamil saying which means that , "a whip cracked once is enough for a bull and a word said once is enough for a man" .  It is true , but not applicable to all the men .  Arjun is no exception .

He is an ordinary human .  (One common human defect needs to be highlighted here .  We regard a person with extra ordinary skills as a Master .  An excellent actor , a great singer , a master orator and good writer are greats in their fields , only in their fields .  They remain very ordinary in other fields and in attitudes on various aspects of life .)  Arjuna was told an eighteen chapters long Gita .  At the end , he assured Shri Krishna that , "now , I am settled as my doubts and confusions are cleared .  I will do as you direct me" .   But , what did he do after eleven days of war on the day when his son Abhimanyu was killed ?  He broke into fits of emotion and wanted to commit suicide .  After the Kurukshetra war was over , Pandavas were quietly conversing in the palace .  Arjuna said to Shri Krishna , "Hey Krishna !  I was in an excited state of mind on the day you told me the Gita and hence could not grasp the same .  Now , we are in a relaxed mind set .  It will benefit us if you could repeat the Gita now" .

For commoners , an idea told once does not get understood and entrenched in hearts .  He needs the idea to be repeated .  The idea has to be heard or read again and again and hasto be introspected , for it to be digested and grasped .  The same idea is understood in different dimension when read or heard in different phases in life .

Hindu Dharma does not suggest that the world is a falsehood .  It does not ask us to reject the world .  It only says that the world is a myth or an illusion .  It seems to exist .  It seems to exist eternally .  In reality , it is continuously changing and moving towards destruction .  It appears to be pleasurable but in fact is mixed with pains .  Hindu Dharma warns us to be aware and not get entrapped in this mire .  Our life is short .  It consists of ignorance ridden childhood and boyhood , inability-ridden old age and periods of sickness .  The life period after you subtract these periods is period of Youthfulness and is almost one third of the total life span .  This phase in life is phase of activity , energy and enthusiasm , but is very short .  "Oh ! my dear man !  please do not be mesmerized by the glorious appearance of the world and lose the precious youthful phase of your life" , warns Hindu Dharma .

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