From Surrender to Salvation By-Kumar Bahukhandi

The Gita is a divine song of songs that teaches mankind to surrender itself to god to gain salvation. This is the advice of Krishna to Arjuna in the battle feild of Kurukshera when Arjuna on the eve of the decisive battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas showed his unwillingness to fight with his own kinsmen.

 Bow in hand, Arjuna ask Krishna to put his chariot between the two armies and surveyed the entire battle field where the warriors of Bhishma & Drone Stud. His heart filled with compassion for his kinsmen to where poised for of senseless battle and utter distriction.

 His limbs grew stiff, his tongue got parched and his body trembled like a tender leaf. He saw the futility of killing his relative in the battle. He did not want victory, Kingdom, nor the luxuries and pleasures of Life he thought it better to be killed than to kill for the sovereignty of the three words. He saw the war to be profitless. The deadly sin of killings his kinsmen would condemn him forever.

 He knew that his kinsmen, greedy for victory, where bent on destroying their own race, creating bitter antagonism among friends. Reluctant to kill his own clain, he wanted to beat a retreat. He had had solid reason for his stand : It would lid to the complete distriction of the family; The time – honored traditions would be destroyed; virtue would be lost; the satin of sin would corrupt the women; there race would be annihilated and hurled into hell; caste distinction would disappear. Instead of looking on war as all glory, he was prepared to be killed unarmed and unresisting.

 Setting aside his bow and arrows, Arjun sat at the back of his chariot. His mind, perturbed at the anguish of the battle field, was puzzled about his duty of not to fight. At length, horrified at the impending carnage and the deadly sin of program, he refused to fight. He was unable to justify killing as a righteous act. His uprightness was in conflict with his social obligation.

 Finding the protagonist refectory, Krishna acted as a detonator to fire Arjuna's zeal to fight a persuaded him that he was grieving over those who should not grieved over. His delusion was due to ignorance. Fleeting feelings of despair and hope should be ignored by a wise man in different to pain and pleasure because the body, being destructive is slain but not the immortal soul.

Body like the warm out garment s is discarded to put on a new one. Soul above all, is eternal, omnipresent, immovable, constant and everlasting:

 Death is inevitable. So it is improper to grieve over the slain.

 Krishna cajoled Arjuna to believe that for a man of warrior class nothing was more righteous than war. So he should not waver from his duty. Abandonment of duty would bring ignominy and infamy, worse than death. People would mock at him because he had fled from the battlefield. It would be wise on his part to take selfless action and direct his pin – pointed intellect to fight without remorse. Work was his right but not its fruit which should not, however, incline to inaction:

 

 He urged Arjuna to perform his duty dwelling in yoga which is equanimity, and skill in action lies in practice. When mind gets confused by conflicting statements, he should remain steadfast and firm in meditation to attain union with god.

 Arjuna extolled Krishna as the knower of self through self and desired to witness his universal form .The moment of epiphany came when Krishna revealed his 'Vishwarupa' to Arjuna who realised that his friend Krishna was god and awestruck with terror Arjuna beseeched him to manifest his four-armed gentle self which Krishna did. Arjuna's mind, regaining calm and composure, returned to its normalcy. His clear –sighted disillusionment brought peace. He insisted on Krishna to show him the easiest way of salvation to be followed by an ordinary man too innocent to comprehend the metaphysics of transcendental religion. So Krishna's ultimate advice to Arjuna was:

 "Giving up all duties (righteous and unrighteous act) come unto me for refuge. I shall absolve you of all sins, grieve not".

 The relevance of the Geeta to the modern world cannot be lost sight of. It teaches the mankind thus: "Do your duty that is best and leave unto god all the rest". Duty resolves all conflicts. Therefore, William Wordsworth called it "The stern daughter of god. Through yoga ( the meditation on god ) one attains a state of mind which does its results. Selfless labour is 'Nishkam-karma' which elevates us to a spiritual level where neither good nor evil affects the soul which, rising above ignorance, action and self-righteousness, seeks union with god. For the aim of every soul is to work out its own salvation through self-surrender to god.

 Thus the sermon of Krishna to Arjuna before the battle is a gospel to all mankind to face life boldly.