Bagawata Purana - Part XIII
Krishna imparts Gita, In the chariot in war!
Krishna saves Arjuna in the battle field!
In fact, Krishna was the life breath of Pandavas, Mother Kunti and Draupadi. There are several episodes, which reveal the genuine love of Krishna to the brothers. He treated Arjuna as his best chum. They moved with each other in that capacity. Sri Krishna has spent more time in the company of Arjuna. Many may wonder why the Bagawat Gita was imparted to Arjuna when his elder brother Dharmaraja is an embodiment of virtue and righteousness.
Sathya Saibaba has answered this riddle. He said, though Dharmaraja is the personification of virtues, yet he lacked foresight. He will perform an action and feel guilty later. He had hindsight and not forsight. But Arjuna was steady out of all. Whether it is war or spirituality, he exhibited undaunted steadiness to pursue the path. When Krishna commanded him to fight, he argued with many reasons. He said, everyone in the opposite side is near and dear to him. How can he kill his grandpa who brought him on his own lap? How he can kill his own Guru Drona who gave him the knowledge of archery. Likewise each one is dear to him in one way or others. All are either cousins, uncles and close friends. What is the use of engaging them in war? After killing all of them and gaining the kingdom is worthless. Rather I will resort to begging!
Krishna saw that it is Arjuna’s body consciousness which prompt him to speak in this way. Krishna decided to impart truths in the mind of Arjuna. He said, Oh! Arjuna, whether you kill them or not, one day they will die. It is the duty of warrior caste to fight when the war is thrust upon him. You all have demanded your legitimate share of Kingdom. But the wicked Duryodhana has refused to give you even five villages. He is not ready to part with a needle head worth of land. I went there as an ambassador of Peace but what happened. None listened to me and they have abused me. In this circumstance, your duty is to fight the enemy in battle. Engage yourself in battle keeping me in your mind. You won’t accrue any sin.
Thus Krishna stood by Arjuna but he said, “I won’t weild any weapon. I will just be a charioteer of your chariot. The fact is whenever any missile was aimed at Arjuna by others, Krishna manipulated the chariot in different ways to avoid the missiles. It is the usual custom of the charioteer to first get down after the completion of everyday war and allow the warrior to disembark later.
But once Krishna asked Arjuna to get down. But Arjuna never listened it. Krishna commanded him to jump away from the chariot. Arjuna had to listen Krishna. Hence he leaped a long jump away from the chariot. Afterwards Krishna too jumped away from the chariot. Immediately, the chariot went into flame! All the missiles that struck the chariot were ineffective as long as Krishna was there. Had Krishna got down first, Arjuna would have perished in the flames. In order to save him, Krishna asked him to get down and move away! Only after this incident, Arjuna knew the reason for Krishna’s mysterious actions. Sometimes Arjuna behaved as though he is full of ego. Each and every time, Krishna enacted some leelas by which Arjuna’s ego was subdued. Rest in next part.