Gita Chapter 2 (Part 1)

Maximum Happiness to the Maximum Number of People for the
Maximum Time
CHINMAYAMISSIONBOSTON
The Holy Geeta
Chapter 2 – The Yoga of Knowledge

Bhagavad Geeta – Divine Song
Tat Tvam Asi – That Thou Art
Chapters 1-6
1. Arjuna Grief
2. Yoga of Knowledge
3. Karma Yoga
4. Ending Action in Knowledge
5. True Renunciation
6. Meditation
Chapters 7-12
7. Knowledge & Wisdom
8. Imperishable Brahman
9. Royal Secret
10.Divine Glories
11.Cosmic Form
12.Devotion
Chapters 13-18
Tvam-Thou
Tat-That
Asi-Art

Chapter 1: Yoga of Arjuna Grief
• Arjuna is
overwhelmed by
circumstances
• Wants to retreat from
the battlefield
• Emotional state
• Rationalization of
emotion
• Our own day-to-day
‘battle’ – Good vs
Bad

Key Messages of Chapter 1
 Contrast between ‘external’ battle and ‘internal’ battle
 Physical & Mental reactions when you are under ‘stress’
 Look from multiple angles – context determines action
 Practical Tips:
 How to face a stressful or difficult situation
• Escape
• Suffer
• Change (yourself not your surroundings)
 Turning excuses into resolutions

Chapter 2 - The Yoga of Self-Knowledge (Sankhya Yoga)
3. Karma Yoga (47-60) 4. Bhakti Yoga (61-70) 5. Gnana Yoga (71-72)
1. Arjuna’s Total Surrender to Krishna (1-10)
Today’s Discussion
2. Nature of Reality (11-46)

Chapter 2 – The Yoga of Self-Knowledge (Sankhya Yoga)
• Sanjaya said:
1 To him who was thus overcome with pity and despondency, with eyes
full of tears and agitated, Madhusudana spoke these words
• Blessed Lord said:
2. Whence is this perilous condition come upon thee, this dejection, un-
Aryan-like, heaven-excluding, disgraceful, O Arjuna?
3. Yield not to impotence, O Partha! It does not befit thee, Cast off this
mean weakness of heart! Stand up, O Parantapa (O scorcher of foes)!

• Arjuna said:
4 How, O Madhusudana, shall I, in battle, fight with arrows against
Bhishma and Drona, who are fit to be worshipped? O Destroyer of
enemies!
5 Better indeed, in this world, is to eat even the bread of ‘beggary’ that
to slay the most noble of teachers. But, if I kill them, even in this
world, all my enjoyments of wealth and desires will be stained with
blood.
6 I can scarcely say which will be better, that we should conquer them
or that they should conquer us. Event the sons of Dhritarashtra, after
slaying whom we do not wish to live, stand facing us.

• Arjuna said:
7 My heart is overpowered by the taint of pity; my mind is confused as
to duty. I ask Thee. Tell me decisively what is good for me. I am Thy
disciple. Instruct me, who has taken refuge in Thee.
8 I do not see that it would remove this sorrow that burns up my
senses, even if I should attain prosperous and unrivalled dominion on
earth, or even Lordship over gods.
• Sanjaya said:
9 Having sopken thus to Hrishikesha, Gudakesha, the destroyer of foes,
said to Govinda: “I will not fight”; and became silent.

Chapter 2 – Key Concepts
• Leadership qualities of Lord Krishna
• Significance of ‘total surrender’
• Delusion (Moha)  Sorrow (Soka)

Chapter 2 – Discussions
• What leadership qualities does Krishna exhibit?
• Practical:
 How do you react in ‘stressful’ situations – do you
invoke the ‘Arjuna’ in you or the ‘Krishna’ in you?

Chapter 2 – Class Exercise
1. Krishna listens to Arjuna, does not interrupt, diagnoses the situation and gets his
attention before advising
2. Invests in unlocking Arjuna’s own potential
3. Does not take over Arjuna’s fight (lesson in delegating)
4. Remains a guide throughout the battle (does not leave Arjuna to sink or swim)
5. Has won the trust of Arjuna, by his actions and words, to be a source of wisdom, always
acting for Arjuna’s higher good.
6. Has no personal ego or agenda
7. Is unrelenting in active opposition to evil, support of dharma
8. Stays cool and thoughtful in battle – grace under pressure
9. Raises Arjuna’s perspective (reframes to positive). Higher Duty, Noble Cause
10. Constantly refers to him as “maharathi”, a respectful term. Never criticizes, Restores
Arjuna’s faith in his own higher nature and capability. Shows him a vision of what Arjuna
can be

Chapter 2 – Significance of Total Surrender
• Arjuna said:
7 My heart is overpowered by the taint of pity; my mind is confused as
to duty. I ask Thee. Tell me decisively what is good for me. I am Thy
disciple. Instruct me, who has taken refuge in Thee.
• Why does Krishna wait until Arjuna totally ‘surrenders’?
• What is the ‘symbolic’ meaning of Arjuna ‘totally
surrendering to Krishna?

Chapter 2 – Delusion & Sorrow
• Delusion (Moha) --> Sorrow (Soka)
• What is ‘delusion’?
• Why does ‘delusion’ lead to ‘sorrow’?

Chapter 2 – Delusion & Sorrow
• Delusion (Moha) is confusion about our identity
 Ignorance of our ‘identity’
 Forgetting our ‘identity’
• Confusion in Identity --> Confusion in duties
• Confusion in duties --> Paralysis, sorrow, grief….
Next 25 verses Krishna explains our ‘true identity’

Chapter 2 – Summary of class
• Leadership qualities of Lord Krishna
• Significance of ‘total surrender’
• Delusion (Moha) --> Sorrow (Soka)

Chapter 2 – Summary of class
• What is Real?
• What is Unreal?
• What can we practice?

Weapons cleave it not…

Water moistens it not…

Chapter 2 – What is real?
The Real always IS
 No birth or death
 Indestructible and Imperishable
 Changeless
 Eternal

Chapter 2 – What is Real?
16. The unreal has no being; there is no non-being of the Real; the truth about
both these has been seen by the Knowers of the Truth (or the Seers of the
Essence)
17. Know That to be Indestructible by which all this is pervaded. None can
cause the destruction of That --- the Imperishable.
18. They have an end, it is said, these bodies of the embodied-Self. The Self is
Eternal, Indestructible, Incomprehensible. Therefore, fight, O Bharata.

19. He who takes the Self to be the slayer and he who thinks He is slain,
neither of these knows. He slays not, nor in He slain.
20. He is not born, nor does He ever die; after having been, He again ceases
not to be; Unborn, Eternal, Changeless and Ancient, He is not killed
when the body is killed.
21. Whosoever knows Him to be Indestructible, Eternal, Unborn, and
Inexhaustible, how can that man slay, O Partha, or cause others to be
slain?

22. Just as a man casts off his worn out clothes and puts on new ones, so also
the embodied-Self casts off its worn out bodies and enters others which
are new.
23. Weapons cleave It not, fire burns It not, water moistens It not, wind dries
It not.
24. This Self cannot be cut, nor burnt, nor moistened, nor dried up. It is
eternal, all-pervading, stable immovable and ancient.

25. This (Self) is said to be Unmanifest, Unthinkable, and Unchangeable.
Therefore, knowing This to be such, you should not grieve
• UNMANIFEST: A thing is called manifest when we can perceive it through
one or the other of our sense-organs. That which is beyond all five sense
organs is called Unmanifest
• UNCHANGEABLE: This term indicates that the Self is without parts
because things that have parts in themselves are things which have ‘form’
and those that have ‘form’ must necessarily come under the category of
FINITE and exhibit in themselves various modifications and changes

Dies and is every changing

It is destructible & perishable

Chapter 2 – What is Uneal?
The Unreal
 Born again and again
 Destructible and Perishable
 Changes constantly
 Impermanent

Chapter 2 – What is unreal?
13. Just as in this body the embodied (soul) passes into childhood, youth and
old age, so also does he pass into another body; the firm man does not
grieve at it.

Chapter 2 – What is unreal?
14. The contact of the senses with objects, O son of Kunti, which cause heat
and cold, pleasure and pain, have a beginning and an end; they are
impermanent; endure them bravely, O descendant of Bharata

Chapter 2 – Class Exercise – Maya walk
• Form two groups
 Make a list of names and forms around you
 Discuss what is the source for each of them
 Discuss what is
 Real about these
 Unreal about these

Gita Chapter 2 (Part 1)

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