Acharya Ram Vakkalanka on Be Your Greatest Self Right Now!

Most people dream of being great and wonder why greatness seems to elude them. The truth is, we are afraid of greatness, we are afraid of our highest potential, we are afraid of our own brilliance and we are afraid of allowing our inner light to shine through. We are fearful of all these things because they impose upon us a sense of responsibility to be our best and make a difference in the world. The Bhagavad Gita offers us an inspirational story about the great archer-warrior named Arjuna, who is prevented from shrinking from his own greatness when faced with the battle of his lifetime.  In this story, the Gita was taught to Arjuna, not in the peaceful settings of an Ashram or a retreat under extraordinary circumstances: right in the middle of a battlefield. What can be a better place to learn about the immortality of the Self than on a battlefield, where life and death are separated by a thin line, and where the worst fears lurking secretly inside ourselves tend to come out? 

Let us look at the history behind this great battle to understand the message of Gita better.

Once upon a time, in ancient India, the Chandra Vamsha dynasty ruled. The king had three sons: Dhrutarashtra, Pandu and Vidura. Usually, the eldest son would become the heir to the throne, but since Dhrutarashtra was born blind, the family elders appointed the second son Pandu as the man who would succeed his father on the throne. Dhrutarashtra had 100 sons and one daughter (called the Kauravas), and King Pandu had five sons (called the Pandavas). King Pandu, unfortunately, passed away at a young age leaving his widow and five young sons to the care of his family members. The family elders and royal advisors appointed the eldest son of Pandu, Yudhisthira, as the Prince and entrusted Dhrutarashtra, the blind man, with the responsibility of taking care of the kingdom in the interim. The Kauravas, who were led by Duryodhana, the eldest son, were greedy and vicious and did not want the kingdom ruled by the Pandavas. Right from childhood, the Kauravas made various attempts to kill the Pandavas, but they failed, thanks to the watchful eyes of the family elders. This protracted feud culminated in an epic battle where almost every king in ancient India was forced to take a stand and join either the Kauravas or the Pandavas. The only individual who refused to join the war was a sagacious personality named Krishna.

Before the battle, both Duryodhana and Arjuna (the middle son of the Pandavas) approached Krishna and entreated him to join their side. Krishna told Duryodhana and Arjuna that they had to decide between themselves who would get Krishna's army and who would get Krishna himself as an advisor. Duryodhana, believing in the strength of numbers, chose Krishna's army. Arjuna, believing in himself, chose Krishna, requesting him to be his charioteer.

On the day of the battle, Arjuna asked Krishna to drive his chariot between both armies so he could size them up. From that vantage point, Arjuna looked around him and found relatives, teachers, friends, and acquaintances on both sides of the battle. Arjuna, at this critical juncture, was plunged into confusion. He was unsure whether his duty was to fight for justice and righteousness, or to yield to the emotional turmoil of warring with people he cared about and walk away from the battle, an ignominious man. Paralyzed into inaction by these conflicting thoughts, Arjuna sought the guidance of Krishna to show him his Dharma, or duty, in these circumstances. 

The inevitable question is, why is a lesson that was taught on a battlefield 6,000 years ago still relevant to us today? Because its messages of doing one's Dharma in the face of uncertainty and fear of failure, and of standing up to one's greatness is as pertinent today as it was then.   

Dhrutarashtra, the blind man temporarily put in charge of the kingdom, symbolizes the lower, ignorant self. The 100 evil sons of Dhrutarashtra symbolize the unbridled ten senses (five senses of knowledge and five senses of action) running amuck in ten directions. The five noble sons of Pandu, led by Krishna, symbolize the five senses that are led by the divine Self. The mind is the great kingdom that both negative and positive forces fight for.  Kurukshetra is nothing but our body, where this battle between positive and negative forces takes place eternally.

Life is a very powerful teacher. However, death is the most powerful teacher. In the face of death, only what is truly important stands. Everything else--all doubts, all pride, all fears, all expectations--falls away. In the face of death, you avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose; in the face of death, you have no reason not to follow your heart. 

The Gita makes us question all that we blindly hold as inviolable and to build a new paradigm of life from the ground up. The Gita clears the confusion about whose side to take in the eternal battle between the negative and positive thoughts in our minds. The Gita teaches us how to live like a lotus flower, untouched by the murky waters of mundane existence. The Gita teaches us to do our duty without attachment, it helps us to be steady in the face of failure and success, and it exhorts us not to be afraid of death by savouring life fully. 

If the message of Gita were to be summarized in one sentence, it would be this: live your Dharma here and now--no matter what--for that is the only way to be your greatest Self.

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