Long after the battle of “Mahabharata” as Arjuna sat in the company of Krishna in Hastinapur, he prayed that the latter narrate the “Gita” to him again. Krishna expressed his inability. When Arjuna insisted that his friend do so, Krishna said,   “What was narrated in the Kurukshetra, the battle ground of the Great War, was a narration from Krishna, the Consciousness, a state which lay beyond the realm of the attributes which binds Consciousness to the otherwise inert. Krishna that now sits in your company is “Krishna the mortal” subject to the mortal attributes that embraced by Consciousness give expression to the “being”.

 At Kurukshetra, I had travelled beyond my senses, my reason, my ego into the realm of the all pervading, indivisible Consciousness the ultimate source of all.  And in oneness with it, drew the Gita from the ancient thought of the Rishis and the Munis, which described the purpose of humanity and its conduct. What you see of me presently is the “Ego”, the “I”, the mortal. What you saw in Kurukshetra was the Conscious “I” in the same mortal, free from its association with the ego. The mortal “I” who now I am, reduces me in my capacity to give what you ask, because I have descended from the divine state of my Consciousness to the bondages of mortality which incapacitate me presently. 

Oh Krishna!  persisted Arjuna, we grew up together as mates, and it is you who instilled courage in me to fight the great battle. It was you who had lifted me from the state of despondency to fight with the evil forces of the Kauravas who were my own, and appeared mightier than the strengths at my command. It was you who had organized my senses and my mind to submit to the command of reason, to give expression to an organized engagement with the forces of the evil, the Kauravas, and made me bring them to submission.

 It was you who had helped me overcome my bondage to travel into the realm you speak of, where I saw the unending expanse of the Consciousness, on which all else rested and in oneness with this Consciousness where the barriers of time and space stood removed, I stood, a being, enlightened and realized of my true self, the foundation of all existence. But despite the oneness with my true self which came through your guidance, I become weak again in time in the course of my engagement with the business of my kingdom. I am drawn away from the Consciousness that I had realized. So! Dear Krishna! Please share with me, once again the knowledge of the ancient sages. Enable me to attain oneness with my Consciousness, to serve my people better. Oh Krishna! Oh Consciousness! the reservoir of all knowledge, please help me.

Oh Arjuna! What you seek of me is a gigantic task, yet attainable. I have been your childhood friend. I was your mind and guide in the great battle. I was your charioteer who held the horses in your chariot to be organized and through such organization withheld these from pulling the chariot in different directions as the senses pull your mind presently. I brought them under the command of my reason to lead them to desirable directions. When in the midst of the battle you became despondent, I drew for you the wisdom and direction from the teachings of the ancient sages.

 The teachings that were the product of minute observations, meditation and logical analysis revised uninterruptedly by the ancient tradition of the teacher and the disciple unfolding the wisdom of governance of the mind in its attitude and conduct towards human values, problems and situations. The war was great and the need for the resolve to win it greater. The reservoir that held the knowledge of the ancient sages was too vast to be imbibed in the midst of the battle which had already commenced. It was our reliance on the Consciousness that removed the barriers of time and space and enabled the comprehension of the vast knowledge, adherence to which made you victorious in the Great battle.

 The narration of the “Gita,” the song of God, that you seek, can come to you, just as it comes to any mortal but this would require resolve and patience. Oh Arjuna!  You, a king, are a chariot now being pulled by the horses in different directions. You have no able charioteer now who can reign in these horses and unless you learn the art of reigning in these, or your senses that pull you in different directions, you would be losing grasp of the knowledge of the sages which was revealed to you on the eve of the Great battle and which remains unexhausted in the reservoir from where we had drawn previously.

 This journey would have to be undertaken by us jointly as mortals till such time as we arrive at the doorstep of that realm, the understanding, the realization,” the Consciousness, the ultimate reservoir of peace where there is no distinction between you and me in the ascended realm where we become “I” the “Consciousness.”

 

To be continued………………