________________
98
Gandhi's Teachers : Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta
where huge armies of cousin brothers Kaurvas and Pandavas had gathered to fight a war along with their many friends, allies and sympathizers. Just when the war was about to begin and first arrows shot, Arjuna' asks Lord Krishnalto guide his chariot to the middle of the two armies so that he may see who had come eager to fight and with whom he had to deal with. There in the battlefield, Arjuna sees his own greatgrandfathers, grandfathers, fathers, brothers, fathers-in-law, friends, sons, grandsons, sympathizers, and well-wishers, standing on opposite sides ready to combat. Arjuna is overwhelmed with compassion for the lives of the gathered warriors and becomes bewildered. He puts his bow and arrows aside and tells Lord Krishna that for no heavenly or worldly gains he will fight this war. At that moment, Lord Krishna advises Arjuna of his holy duty in an effort to prepare him for the war. Bhagavad Gita was spoken in the form a dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna and the topic of soul figured prominently in this conversation. Lord Krishna spoke to Arjuna as follows:
(0 Arjuna) while speaking the learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise, lament neither for the living nor for the dead. Never was a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings, nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. As embodied soul continuously passes in this body from boyhood to youth to old age, soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such changes. Those who are seers of truth have concluded that of the non-existent material body there is no endurance and of the eternal soul there is no change. This they have concluded by studying inner nature of both. That which pervades the entire body, you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul. The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable, and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end. Therefore, fight O descendent of Bharata. Neither he who thinks the living entity the slayer, nor he who thinks
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
