The Geeta and the Swadharma by Vinoba Bhave Summary in English
The Gita is a wonderful epic. It was set in the Mahabharata. Its message was unveiled in the battlefield, with seven divisions of the Pandava army on one side and eleven divisions of the Kaurava army on the other.
The Gita was preached by Lord Krishna before Arjuna on the battlefield. The Geeta has always been inspiring generations for their sense of beauty. It helps us to transcend all the worldly associations within our duties. This helps us to do our job without favouritism. The Geeta asks us only โKarmaโ and โSwadharmaโ to believe. If thereโs something between us and our swadharma, Geeta is trying to remove these delusions.
Arjuna was a Kshatriya. He knew to fight in war very well. The intrinsic tendency to fight was still very much a part of his nature. War was for him his natural and inescapable duty. He had slain innumerable Warriors in many a battle. But he was trying to avoid war under the spell of delusion i.e., attachment of his close friends and relatives. Even Krishna tried himself to meditate, but all of this was in vain. And Arjuna was eventually on the battlefield to fulfil his mission of waging war with the Kauravas. He had made Krishna his charioteer.
He was thronged by many mighty kings. But before he could begin the fight he had a close look at the people who had gathered in the battlefield. He wanted to see all those faces against whom he had to start a battle and found his loved ones on both sides. Now it was not easy for him to fight against his own people. The actual sight of all his relatives standing there ready to fight had a devastating impact on Arjunaโs mind. So, he lost his nerve and there was deep anguish in his heart. For him, it was disgusting to fight with his own people. A question arises here. If those standing before him had not been his relatives, would Arjuna have felt the same pain? Of course not.
It means his commitment and attachment to his kith and kin do not allow him to fight. This relation to the kith and to the family clouds his sense of obligation. He says to Krishna that he is not going to go for war. War is never nice because the entire clan is lost and there is complete destruction and loss.
The arguments of Arjuna were not baseless. The point, however, was that he did not express his own authentic didi. His words seemed wise, but they were not. This was realised by Lord Krishna and his delusion was dismissed by ignoring all his(Arjunaโs) arguments. He was well aware that Arjuna was not the man who believed in non-violence. War was his natural and unavoidable obligation for him. But because he was in the spell of delusion he was trying to avoid it. He would be ready to fight with all energy when this delusion is removed.
Lord Krishna preached the Gita to eradicate the delusion that lied between us and our Swadharma. Arjuna was uncertain about his Dharma. He was overcome by the illusion of his Swadharma. Krishna criticized him harshly so that he could not ignore the call of duty. And at the end of the Gita, Arjuna was utterly disillusioned. He realised what his Swadharma was. Thus, the avoidance of deceit is the core message of this lesson.
Questions and Answers
Q. Why did Arjuna ask Krishna to place the chariot between the two armies?
Ans. Arjuna asked Krishna to take his chariot between the two armies because he wanted to look at the people closely who had assembled there to fight with him. He wanted to see all those faces against whom he had to start a battle.
Q. What made Arjuna lose his nerve?
Ans. When Arjuna’s chariot was placed between the two armies so that he could have a close look at all those people whom he had to fight, he got nervous. He found all his near and dear ones on both sides. He found four generations of his own people intend on fighting to the finish. The actual sight of all his relatives standing there ready to fight had a devastating impact on Arjuna’s mind. So, he lost his nerve and there was deep anguish in his heart.
Q. What does the Geeta nowhere deal with and Why?
Ans. The Geeta was preached by Lord Krishna before Arjuna in the battlefield. Since ages, the Geeta keeps inspiring generation for their sense of beauty. It teaches us to overcome all the worldly attachments which come between the fulfilment of our duties. It teaches us to follow our duty without making any favouritism. The Geeta teaches us to believe in only โKarmaโ and โSwadharmaโ. If anything stands between us and our swadharma, Geeta tries to remove such delusions.
Short Answer Questions
Q.1. What does Vinoba Bhave say about his heart and mind?
Ans. Vinoba says that the Gita teaches to remove the delusion that distracts him from his duty.
Q.2. Where does he soar high and how?
Ans. He soars high in the vast expanse of the Gita on the twin wings of faith and experimentation.
Q.3. What does Vinoba Bhave compare the Gita with?
Ans. Vinoba Bhave compare the Gita with the ocean of Nectar
Q.4. Where has the Gita been set?
Ans. The Gita has been set in the middle of the great epic Mahabharata.
Q.5. What does it take life?
Ans. It looks like a lighthouse.
Q.6. Whom had Arjuna single- handedly routed and when?
Ans. Arjuna was a great Warrior. He had fought hundreds of battles. He had a single-handedly routed Bhishma, Drone and Karna when they had invaded the Virat Kingdom.
Q.7. Why did Arjuna ask Krishna to place his chariot between two armies?
Ans. Arjuna had come to the battlefield to fight a war. Krishna was his Charioteer. But before starting the war, he asked Krishna to place his chariot between the two Armies because he wanted to have a look at the people who had assembled there to fight with him.
Q.8. What made Arjuna lost his nerve?
Ans. Arjuna saw his kith and kin, near and dear ones arrayed on both the sides in the battlefield. This made him lost his nerve. He found it difficult to fight with his own people.
Q.9. Where does the Gita nowhere deal with and why?
Ans. The Gita now hair deals with the opinion that Arjuna had really become a votary of nonviolence. Had he really become so, he would not have been satisfied until his arguments have been convincingly answered.
Q.10. What then is the purpose of the Gita?
Ans. The purpose of the Gita is to remove the delusion that stands between us and our Swadharma. When criticizing him, he himself admits it. The Gitaโs main task to remove that delusion, that attachment.
Q.11. What specious argument did Arjuna put before Lord Krishna?
Ans. It was an attachment with his kith and kin, near and dear ones that clouded his sense of duty. He suddenly begins to evade war under the spell of delusion i.e., attachment to his friends and relatives. He philosophised so that war might not occur. He put before Krishna the specious argument that war in itself was sinful that it would destroy the clean, eclipse dharma and bring total destruction.
Q.12. What proved that Arjuna had not become a votary of nonviolence?
Ans. Arjuna had not really become a votary of nonviolence. Being a Kshatriya, fighting was in his blood. The intrinsic tendency to fight was still very much a part of his nature. War was for him his natural and inescapable duty. He had slain innumerable Warriors in many a battle. But he was trying to evade war under the spell of delusion i.e., attachment of his close friends and relatives.