[Advaita-l] gItA bhaashhya sudhaa bindavaH - 2

[Ramakrishna Upadrasta]

namaste Shri Subbu-ji,

Thanks for the comments.

2010/5/31 V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>:
> On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Ramakrishna Upadrasta <
> uramakrishna at gmail.com> wrote:

>>
>> 7. na hi atra yuddhakartavyataa vidhiiyate\, yuddha pravR^itta eva hi
>> asau shokamohapratibaddhaH tushhNiimaaste | ataH tasya
>> pratibandhaapanayanamaatraM bhagavataa kR^iyate | tasmaat 'yudhyasva'
>> iti anuvaadamaatram\, na vidhiH || 2.18 ||
>>
>>
>> ##Here, there is no injunction to take up the war as a duty, because
>> he (Arjuna), though he was determined for war, remains silent as a
>> result of being overpowered by sorrow and delusion. Therefore, all
>> that is being done by the Lord is the removal of the obstruction of
>> his duty. "Therefore, join the battle" is only an approval, not an
>> injunction.##
>>


> There is the Shaankara sUtra bhashya vaakyam:  shAstram jnApakam, na
> kaarakam.  The scripture is playing the role of 'reminding' or  'informing'
> the aspirant of a certain mode of action, its benefits, etc.  It does not
> force him into doing it.  The ultimate decision is left to the individual.
> This is where free will plays a great role. In this process, since the
> Shaastra is aiming at our 'hitam', ultimate good, it provides all help in
> seeing that we are equipped, enabled, in treading the path it holds out as
> being supremely benefical to us.

Also, the above sentence of the AchArya means that gItA is a vedanta
shaastra, a moxa shaastra, and not a mImAMsa-shaastra (which enjoins
one to do action) with its apUrva/vidhi/nishhedha categories. Now,
Arjuna had come to battle ready to fight and became sorrowful after
seeing his relations. The teaching of the gItA shaastra removed the
sorrow that was previously non-existent, with GYAna as the solution to
the shoka-moha of saMsaara. The Gita teaching did not create a new
situation which lead Arjuna to act. I think that is the point that
AchArya is making.

praNAmaH
Ramakrishna