Proud to be human

We are humans, the finest product of evolution,

Fit to be the ruler of the world by mere definition,

We effortlessly turn away our faces from a man dying on the street,

Illiterates and jobless may worry; we don’t ‘even a little bit’.

We boast of our clean house and clean clothes,

And it is the same we who spits in government offices and roads!

We ardently ask for mercy from our merciful father,

But to the poor chap, hardly we show any mercy ever

But worry not, for we are the flag bearers of new age and culture,

And these concepts are for the old fashioned sympathizers.

Instead we taunt and entertain ourselves at the expense of the poor mad beggar

We boast proudly about our religion and culture,

Yet it is some among us who molests somebody’s sister, mother or daughter.

We proclaim that animals are unpredictable

And we the civilized of all have the right to kill for mere perishables (don’t we?).

We fight often in the name of god and religion,

When the massage of all religions have been of love and compassion.

But these words are only for the fools to follow (isn’t it?)

We are learned enough (aren’t we?), why think about these things and wallow?

Skeptics may say whatever till their voice slowly begins to wane…

Still we are and will always remain human

The finest product of evolution!!

                                                                                               -Debabrata Banerjee

Lead Me, dear, O my dear

With the wind gliding smoothly across your sail,

I look in amazement, o sailor! How you sail your boat in gale;

At this fateful day of the year,

When the nature has gone black with fear

And one trembles as the clouds roar and heaven tear.

Followed by occasional spewing of fire by some terrible monster is in the sky,

That can make even the mighty wail and cry

Where have you come from, ferrying what in valuables so dear?

Who are you, ferrying at such ease without showing a sign of fear?

Beating and penetrating the darkness with all your might,

You have come sailing O, warrior of light.

With a smile lingering on your face

You navigate the turbulent waters with grace

Will you lend me a place in your boat o, navigator?

To, let me travel with you somewhere very far?

I have traded all my life on this bank,

Now, as the day is nearing its end, I want to see life’s other flank.

But my boat is lying battered, & my sailor is drunk

But I want to leave all liabilities and assets behind,

Before, the darkness makes me too blind,

And move forward in search of new light.

Be my guide, o! Dexterous sailor to cut through this dark night

Help me find my path, a path to new dawn, filled with new light….

-Debabrata Banerjee  

Gita in brief according to my understanding-3

Having looked at the three fundamental points about understanding Gita in my previous posts namely :-

1.    Where is the battle field (kurukhetra)?

2.     Who is Krishna? & 3. Who is Arjuna?

Let us now look at the point why Krishna took the pain of illustrating whole of Gita to Arjuna.

As I have stated before Arjuna represents a devotee of the highest order. A devotee so ideal that even Krishna says “among Pandavas I am Arjuna”… Chapter11, Sloka 37.  We also learn from Gita that Arjuna is Khatriya. (Before someone associates it with the four classes prevalent today in the Hindu society I must clarify that it is not. To understand it in detail please clicks on the hyperlink over the word.) When a yogi comes to this Khatriya stage there begins a decisive battle between his good qualities and bad qualities like kam, krodh etc. Even Krishna says in sloka 31 of chapter 2 even if you look at your swadharma, there is no other better option available for you than to engage in this battle. At this point it also became relevant to Arjuna that he had to cut off ties with his families in order to proceed further as a yogi.

 At this point in time Arjuna gets caught in a big dilemma. His mind revolts and does not want to cutoff ties with his family. His senses start getting better of him and he laments saying that he is not ready for this war. He says “my mind is not under my control.” Chapter1, Sloka 30. He goes on to add that I don’t want any thing. “Neither the kingdom of whole world nor the position of Indra (ruler of gods) will convince me in fighting this war.” Chapter2, Sloka 8.  “How will I fight against my family members” (how will I cut ties with them)... Chapter1, Sloka 32-33. These questions and dilemma are not of Arjuna alone but every devotee who comes in this Khatriya stage and is of Rajarsha characteristics has to face this dilemma. But every devotee is not so lucky to get a teacher like Krishna. They get attracted to the psychic powers that they receive due to the practice of yoga up to this stage. They do not wish to go further and the process of spiritual development prematurely stops in them. This is stated by lord Krishna as “evam paramparapraptamimang rajashrayo biduh, Sa kaleneha mahata yoga nasta parantapa”… Chapter4, Sloka 2. So Krishna clarifies this dilemma not only for arjuna but for all other devotees in future.Infact Krishna clarifies the doubt so well that even Arjuna admits in the penultimate chapter that "All my doubts have ended and I have recovered my memory and now I am ready to do whatever you say"....  Chapter4, Sloka 73.

To be continued....4

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