Chapter 2. Contents of
the Gita Summarized
TEXT 8
na hi prapasyami mamapanudyad
yac chokam ucchosanam indriyanam
avapya bhumav asapatnam rddham
rajyam suranam api cadhipatyam
SYNONYMS
 na--do
not; hi--certainly; prapasyami--I see; mama--my; apanudyat--can
drive away; yat--that; sokam--lamentation; ucchosanam--drying
up; indriyanam--of the senses; avapya--achieving; bhumau--on
the earth; asapatnam--without rival; rddham--prosperous;
rajyam--kingdom;
suranam--of the demigods; api--even;
ca--also; adhipatyam--supremacy.
TRANSLATION
I can find
no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will
not be able to destroy it even if I win an unrivaled kingdom on earth with
sovereignty like the demigods in heaven.
PURPORT
Although Arjuna
was putting forward so many arguments based on knowledge of the principles
of religion and moral codes, it appears that he was unable to solve his
real problem without the help of the spiritual master, Lord Sri Krsna.
He could understand that his so-called knowledge was useless in driving
away his problems, which were drying up his whole existence; and it was
impossible for him to solve such perplexities without the help of a spiritual
master like Lord Krsna. Academic knowledge, scholarship, high position,
etc., are all useless in solving the problems of life; help can only be
given by a spiritual master like Krsna. Therefore, the conclusion is that
a spiritual master who is one hundred percent Krsna conscious is the bona
fide spiritual master, for he can solve the problems of life. Lord Caitanya
said that one who is master in the science of Krsna consciousness, regardless
of his social position, is the real spiritual master.
kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 8.127)
"It does not
matter whether a person is a vipra [learned scholar in Vedic wisdom]
or is born in a lower family, or is in the renounced order of life--if
he is master in the science of Krsna, he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual
master." So without being a master in the science of Krsna consciousness,
no one is a bona fide spiritual master. It is also said in Vedic literatures:
sat-karma-nipuno vipro mantra-tantra-visaradah
avaisnavo gurur na syad vaisnavah sva-paco guruh
"A scholarly
brahmana,
expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual
master without being a Vaisnava, or expert in the science of Krsna consciousness.
But a person born in a family of a lower caste can become a spiritual master
if he is a Vaisnava, or Krsna conscious."
The problems
of material existence--birth, old age, disease and death--cannot be counteracted
by accumulation of wealth and economic development. In many parts of the
world there are states which are replete with all facilities of life, which
are full of wealth, and economically developed, yet the problems of material
existence are still present. They are seeking peace in different ways,
but they can achieve real happiness only if they consult Krsna, or the
Bhagavad-gita
and Srimad-Bhagavatam--which constitute the science of Krsna--or
the bona fide representative of Krsna, the man in Krsna consciousness.
If economic
development and material comforts could drive away one's lamentations for
family, social, national or international inebrieties, then Arjuna would
not have said that even an unrivaled kingdom on earth or supremacy like
that of the demigods in the heavenly planets would not be able to drive
away his lamentations. He sought, therefore, refuge in Krsna consciousness,
and that is the right path for peace and harmony. Economic development
or supremacy over the world can be finished at any moment by the cataclysms
of material nature. Even elevation into a higher planetary situation, as
men are now seeking a place on the moon planet, can also be finished at
one stroke. The Bhagavad-gita confirms this: ksine punye martya-lokam
visanti. "When the results of pious activities are finished, one falls
down again from the peak of happiness to the lowest status of life." Many
politicians of the world have fallen down in that way. Such downfalls only
constitute more causes for lamentation.
Therefore,
if we want to curb lamentation for good, then we have to take shelter of
Krsna, as Arjuna is seeking to do. So Arjuna asked Krsna to solve his problem
definitely, and that is the way of Krsna consciousness.
  
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