01-01 shloka
In the divine cosmic sphere of lifestyle according to dharma, kaama has started a fight of desires and desiring disguised as me-my-mine, wanting to possess and to have!
What is the son of paaNDu [Arjuna] learning [from shRiikRiishhNa]? What is he doing differently about this? To celebrate the realization of dharma?
Here dhRiitaraashhTra appears to be asking – how in the middle of dharma is it possible that possessiveness and desiring are having to flight over what is rightfully his… or he may be asking… How his personal fight to hold on to his possessions, to what rightly belongs to him, has become involved in the middle of a fight over dharma.
Here, he appears to extend his possessiveness to include the sons of his brothers, to the point that he objectifies them denying them their individuality and personhood. It also implies his perception that the sons of paaNDu under the guise of dharma-war are stealing from him.
THE CRITICAL CONCEPTS IDENTIFIED WERE…
The interplay of the two phrases – dharma kshetre [in the sphere of action of dharma]… kuru kshetre – This sphere of action appears to have many meanings hidden in the word kuru.
The word "dharma" is not expanded upon nor given a position of Eminence by dhRiitaraashhTra – it starts the question and also seems to phrase it. This may be because dhRiitaraashhTra did not want to emphasize it, or did not want to show his own "ignorance" that in spite of a comprehensive education from bhiishhmaH, he had never truly practiced the lifestyle of dharma. It is also likely, this his selfishness came out in his only goal being to keep the throne and kingdom without consideration of dharma.
kuru
here represents more than the dynasty of King kuru, setting the word as the root of the "kaurava" the descendents of kuru. This is in distinction from the earlier kings who were known by King bharata, and were called bhaarataH. It is significant to note that this term is revived and used often for the descendents of paaNDu.
Here the word "kuru", has come to represent nepotism and possessions. The kings and princes having forgotten that the biggest possession is the well-being of the citizens. Having forgotten this the kuru clan were now measuring everything by how much wealth they had and how aggressive they could be in getting more possessions and holding onto them.
kuru
also seems to represent, both in the life of dhRiitaraashhTra and in a literal sense – being burnt and consumed by the internal fire of sorrows.
kuru
in this verse seems to represent both the imagined loss of the kingdom and the throne because he was blind since birth not because he considered himself less capable/qualified.
kuru
also appears linked to the sorrow that the nephews were more accomplished than his own sons.
This internal fire "kuru" that consumed him, also resulted in the deaths of his sons and grandsons in the battle
kuru
is also reflected in the choice of the names that he gave to his sons example … duryodhanaH… dushaasana etc.
kuru
seems to be representing here… kaama… With the blind king personifying and epitomizing... the sorrow and anguish from having been consumed by all of his imagined entitlements having been stolen by others including fate.
In contrast with dharma which is presented as a clear-cut entity not requiring clarification, "kuru" appears to have numerous meanings which can only fully be understood when combined with the distinctive words that follow in the shloka.
kuru + kshetre
= the sphere of action, the driving principle, the fire that consumed from inside, the wish for possessing to the exclusion of everyone else
kuru + maamakaH
= the declaration by the blind king is of possessiveness – "mine". This is to the extent awful rubbing everyone of their sense of identity and personhood such that they become only narcissistic extensions whose only purpose is to gratify the demands however unreasonable of the kuru. It is important to note that the word maamakaa + H includes the ":" or visargaH which extends the word into a complete closed system. It is not the paternalistic and avuncular affectionate reference lending a sense of believing and belonging to a younger person – it is the total exclusive possessiveness in which the other person seemingly does not exist.
kuru + samavetaa
= very clearly states that tension that exists in the tightly bound closely and intimately connected desires and desiring which have not been gratified and are consuming, like a wild fire out of control, with demands and anger as the soldiers of frustration.
kuru + yuyutsa + vaa
= a fight that exists - a state of conflict - the fire that has been consuming for so long now clearly out of control, gathered together combatively with a desire for fighting without restraints anyone who would present the gratification of this all-consuming fire… With the hope of wishing and wanting all goes again to be burned and consumed by this internal desire and anger.
once again this is extended with the addition of + vaH {vaH at the word ending can also be written as vaa}
= representing the "total" universe. The kuru universe. Where everything is owned by kuru, is a possession of the kuru family
It is not clear in this shloka if dhRiitaraashhTra is aware at some level that Arjuna may handle his feelings or desires in a different way since he is accompanied by shRii kRiishhNa.
In keeping with the meaning of the shloka, it seems more likely that he is wanting to spy upon what Shri Krishna and Arjuna are doing, what strategy are they developing to rob him of his kuru possessions.
It appears to be the last ditch effort of a desperate man hollowed out and consumed internally with out-of-control passions, to find out what Arjuna and his allies, the "self-determined" enemies of kuru are going to do to rob him of what he has already lost.
kuru also seems to borrow from dharma, and it is the king's claim to "righteousness" and justification for the war -- as kuru-kshetra is linked as part of dharma-kshetre. This makes him the "real" victim. The "real" king facing rebellion from the paaNDava. As if he is under threat from the paaNDava and is "forced" into a spiritual war to protect and preserve his possessions and maintain order.
THE REAL MEANING OF duHkha
– is more than being burnt and consumed by the internal fire of sorrows.
This is also the most literal and correct meaning of "duH"; which is also the root of the word "duHkha".
duHkha
is a combination of 5 words - dush+dus>duH + stha>kha = inability to deal with the conflicts of pain and sorrow becoming the lifelong receptacle and living a lifestyle immersed in sorrow & pain and being consumed by this internal fire.
duH
= wishing or threatening malice/injury + dusa = harmful and injurious actions/behaviors + stha = large "earthen" vessel + kha = emptiness like in the 9 dvaaraH {deha = body} leading into dark closed cavities. The 9-dvaaraH in such persons are not ways for to interact with the world. They become the source of plotting ways to harm others to "fill" this pervasive sense of emptiness, which consumes them like a fire.
Please also note that there is an older meaning of duH << dus << duRa = opener/unlocker of divine guHyaM {undiscovered/unknown "secrets" jNaana} -- hence the name of Riishhii duRvaasaH = revealer of secrets of creation of shivaH... it would seem that the shRaapaH he used to distribute were really the "real" truth told bluntly.
This shows a window into how the fires of desires and desiring can consume a person, so much so that they live their life vicariously in envying and hating those that they feel have what they covet.
This juxtaposition of kuru-kshetra within dharma-kshetra indicates that it is not a simple dichotomy of good-bad. It presents the complex inner struggle in which good vs. bad are inextricably mixed. Two dissimilar things which are attached at one end, making it possible to separate them from each other but not completely {AdvaitaH}.
Perhaps an advance notice of the lessons still to come –kaama confusing jNaana, tripping up karma – however, defeated and diminished when both jNaana and karma work synergistically.
The real dichotomy and the universal meaning may be that
- kuru represents desiring, possessions and desires of kaama;
- while dharma represents sharing and giving with awareness and helping others even if it involves self-sacrifice {jNaana-karma}.
kuru
is living in the past, keeping account of all the real and imagined injuries, and
- dharma is going on with life, sharing and paying forward, both the "good" of the good/bad received and what else we have to offer and share.
kuru
- what has happened and what we received in the past cannot be changed - but wanting to change it consumes us
karma - while what we have to offer and share is a choice we execute in actions.
01-21/22
although the words here literally say...
place the chariot between the two armies gathered here, so i can see the battle arrangements, to prepare for combat,
However, for us this has more meaning and utility if we replace the words in context of acquiring jNaana and implementing karma in the fight against kaama...
O imperishable kRiishhNa, guide my life-chariot along the path of dharma-karma, through the armies of kaama gathered here to overwhelm me
"here" refers to this world, our life and existence
Acknowledgements:
Contributed by : Dr. Lal (State College)
