गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके | हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् || 5 || |
|---|
“It is better to live in this world by begging than to enjoy life at the cost of killing great souls who are our teachers. If we kill them, the wealth and pleasures we enjoy will be tainted with blood.”
Commentary
Arjuna expresses his perspective by stating that he considers it preferable to sustain oneself in this world through humble means like begging, rather than indulging in a life of wealth and enjoyment that comes at the expense of killing revered souls who have been their teachers and guides. Arjuna emphasizes that if they were to kill these respected individuals, the material gains and pleasures they would obtain would be tainted with the sin of bloodshed.
Arjuna compares the two choices he is facing: one of renouncing the battle and living as a beggar, and the other of continuing the battle and potentially killing his revered teachers and guides, represented metaphorically as his “preceptors” – Ego and Prenatal Habit-instincts.
In the realm of ordinary awareness, the ego assumes the role of a guiding force, shaping our thoughts, emotions, and aspirations. It molds our desires and ambitions under the influence of established habits. Consequently, both the ego and these ingrained habits act as the primary teachers, directing and influencing all of our human endeavors.
All sensations including taste, sound, sight, touch, and smell, are not experienced solely on the skin’s surface but are processed within the brain as mental reactions. The mind can contact sensations only through thoughts. The dream state is the best analogy. While are you asleep, the enjoyment of the sensation of a mango in your dream is nothing but a thought that is pleasurably reacted upon and enjoyed by another thought of your dream self. Your dream self, the dream mango, your dream sensations and the dream pleasure you derive are all nothing but relative thoughts in your own dream that you materialized and enjoyed with true dream senses. Similarly, this phenomenal universe is a materialized thought of the Great Creator, with specific laws and independent Will Power given only to human beings either to accept or reject Him.
Unlike the mind that needs external stimulus for temporary pleasures, the soul has inherent bliss-producing qualities. Contentment, ever new joy, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence are not acquired qualities, but are an integral part of the soul.