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TEXT 1 arjuna uvaca
SYNONYMS
TRANSLATION  Arjuna said,
O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation [tyaga]
and of the renounced order of life [sannyasa], O killer of the Kesi demon,
Hrsikesa.
PURPORT Actually the
Bhagavad-gita
is finished in seventeen chapters. The Eighteenth Chapter is a supplementary
summarization of the topics discussed before. In every chapter of Bhagavad-gita,
Lord Krsna stresses that devotional service unto the Supreme Personality
of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life. This same point is summarized
in the Eighteenth Chapter as the most confidential path of knowledge. In
the first six chapters, stress was given to devotional service: yoginam
api sarvesam... "Of all yogis or transcendentalists, one who
always thinks of Me within himself is best." In the next six chapters,
pure devotional service and its nature and activity were discussed. In
the third six chapters, knowledge, renunciation, the activities of material
nature and transcendental nature, and devotional service were described.
It was concluded that all acts should be performed in conjunction with
the Supreme Lord, summarized by the words om tat sat, which indicate
Visnu, the Supreme Person. In the third part of
Bhagavad-gita, devotional
service was established by the example of past acaryas and the Brahma-sutra,
the Vedanta-sutra,
which cites that devotional service is the ultimate
purpose of life and nothing else. Certain impersonalists consider themselves
monopolizers of the knowledge of Vedanta-sutra, but actually the
Vedanta-sutra is meant for understanding devotional service, for
the Lord Himself is the composer of the Vedanta-sutra, and He is
its knower. That is described in the Fifteenth Chapter. In every scripture,
every Veda, devotional service is the objective. That is explained
in Bhagavad-gita.
As in the
Second Chapter a synopsis of the whole subject matter was described, similarly,
in the Eighteenth Chapter also the summary of all instruction is given.
The purpose of life is indicated to be renunciation and attainment of the
transcendental position above the three material modes of nature. Arjuna
wants to clarify the two distinct subject matters of Bhagavad-gita,
namely renunciation (tyaga) and the renounced order of life (sannyasa).
Thus he is asking the meaning of these two words.
Two words
used in this verse to address the Supreme Lord--Hrsikesa and Kesi-nisudana--are
significant. Hrsikesa is Krsna, the master of all senses, who can always
help us attain mental serenity. Arjuna requests Him to summarize everything
in such a way that he can remain equipoised. Yet he has some doubts, and
doubts are always compared to demons. He therefore addresses Krsna as Kesi-nisudana.
Kesi was a most formidable demon who was killed by the Lord; now Arjuna
is expecting Krsna to kill the demon of doubt.
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