II: 1

[Krishna Jaya]

                                                        CHAPTER  TWO

                       

                                                         BUDDHI YOGA

 

                                           THE  YOGA  OF  DISCERNMENT 

 

Verse 1

 

As Arjuna sits there,

Overwhelmed with pity, desperate,

Tears streaming from his eyes,

Madhusudana (Krishna) speaks these words to him:

 

Sri Aurobindo:

 

"Arjuna's pity is quite another thing from the godlike compassion mentioned later in the Gita, which observes with an eye of love, wisdom and calm strength the battles and the struggles of humanity, its joys and sufferings, entering into it all to help and to heal.  Arjuna's pity, rather, is a form of self-indulgence.  It is the physical shrinking of the nerves from the act of fighting.  Invaded by this self-indulgent pity, Arjuna has lapsed into unheroic weakness which will immediately draw a strongly worded rebuke from the divine Teacher."