Jnaneshwari (Bhavartha Dipika)

by Ramchandra Keshav Bhagwat | 1954 | 284,137 words | ISBN-10: 8185208123 | ISBN-13: 9788185208121

This is verse 1.28-30 of the Jnaneshwari (Bhavartha-Dipika), the English translation of 13th-century Marathi commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita.—The Dnyaneshwari (Jnaneshwari) brings to light the deeper meaning of the Gita which represents the essence of the Vedic Religion. This is verse 28-30 of the chapter called Arjuna’s Dolour.

Verse 1.28: “Assailed by extreme compassion, spake thus in dolour: “Seeing, O Krishna, (my own) kith and kin here stationed in eagerness for combat,

Verse 1.29: “My limbs droop down; my mouth is parched up; and there comes over my body tremor and horripilation.

Verse 1.30: “My Gandiva (bow) drops down from my hand, and my skin burns all over; I am unable to keep standing, and my mind seems as though in a whirl.” (193)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

“O Lord Krishna! hear me. I saw all these men but they all appear to me to be members of the common lineage. All these Gotra-members are prepared for war; but how would it be proper for us to fight with them, I cannot think of anything, I have lost entirely memory of my very person and my mind is also not in its normal mood at the very mention of war. The body has become shaky, the mouth parched, and the limbs crippled. There has come over my entire body tremor and horripilation, and there has arisen a feeling of excessive inflammation, my hand has become powerless even to hold the bow. I did not come to know when it dropped down from my hands; so much has my heart become full of delusion. I wonder that this feeling of perplexity should become stronger than my mind which is normally harder than a stone—so strong and very ruthless.” It is wonderful that Partha who once conquered God Shiva on the battle-field and chastised even Yama should be overpowered by perplexity in a moment. A black bee can pierce through any wood however dry, but it cannot pierce through a delicate bud but gets caught into it when it closes in. It cannot cut any part of a lotus even though its life is lost; such is the soft love and tender pity difficult to destroy. Samjaya says to the King Dhritarashtra. “The natural feeling of tender emotion, which was a power working as the Power of the Creator and which cannot be kept in bounds even by Himself, overpowered Dhananjaya. Hear then that Arjuna seeing all his kith and kin, forgot his own self-respect which is essential in war. It is not understood how this feeling of compassion rose up in the mind of Partha.” Arjuna then said, “O Krishna, I do not feel like staying here. My mind has become extremely enfeebled and my tongue has begun to blurt seeing that all these are to be killed.

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