Reply To: Why sannyasa ashrama of Sidhartha was accepted but Arjuna was asked to deny?

[Medhavini Sakhi Devi Dasi JPS]

Hare Krishna

PAMHO AGTSP AGTSSGG

It is perfect understanding that whoever Krsna might have chosen, victory would have been theirs because of the exclusive presence of Madhava, the husband of Goddess of Fortune on their side. So whether it was Arjuna or Yudhishtira or Nakula whomever, Lord Krsna would have chosen, they would have definitely emerged victorious.

Krsna is abhijnah svarat – all knowing & completely independent – Out of Krsna’s supreme will, Krsna chose Arjuna and Krsna mentions in BG 9.1 – idam tu te guhyatamam pravaksyamy anasuyave – I choose you Arjuna because you are non- envious of Me. There are so many devotees who are non-envious and Krsna knows each one of them as He is abhijnah – all knowing, but Krsna chose Arjuna to become nimitta matram – an instrument to give this knowledge of Bhagavad Gita to all mankind.

Regarding the query of why Krsna did not instruct Arjuna to take sanyasa ashram is for the reason mentioned by Krsna in BG 3.21 – yad yad acarati sresthas tat tad evetaro janaaha – Whatever a leader performs, the common men follow that. Arjuna was a leader chosen by Lord Krsna to set a path for all mankind to follow. Arjuna had to set the path of performing his svadharma of fighting, by following instructions of his spiritual master, who in this case happened to be Lord Krsna Himself!

Indeed, without changing Arjuna’s ashram to sanyasa, Lord Krsna ensured that Arjuna practiced the essence of sanyasa dharma. i.e. Arjuna gave up his own mental speculative idea of false renunciation of going to the forest, while his mind would be contemplating on war being of ksatriya nature. He had various ideas why not to fight the war as he expressed to Krsna in chapter 1 – he would be incurring sinful reactions, would not be able to enjoy kingdom after killing kinsmen,Dronacharya & others, no protection for ladies resulting in varnasankara). He gave up all those speculative ideas and got ready to fight the war as per the guidance of his spiritual master, who happened to be Krsna Himself.

Lessons for us: Like Arjuna, we should also give up our attachment to our own ideas of renunciation/ austerity/ service and follow instructions of our spiritual master/ spiritual authority coming in bonafide parampara as by pleasing our spiritual authority, we will please Krsna ( yasya prasadad bhagavat prasado – Guruvashtakam)

Krsna gave general principles to be followed by mankind through Arjuna. For any specific application of any principle, especially when in doubt, best is to ask our spiritual authority according to directions given bin 4.34 of BG (tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya)… They would help us apply the general principle in our specific context to further advance in our devotional service/ Krsna consciousness.

Another lesson for us through this is that we may consider anything morally correct or incorrect according to our limited understanding of the scriptures, but we NEED TO CHECK WITH OUR SPIRITUAL MASTER/ SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY IF OUR UNDERSTANDING IS CORRECT & APPLY THE PRINCIPLE ACCORDING TO THEIR GUIDANCE.

Also, another point worth contemplating is that there is no need to compare why Siddhartha/Gautam Buddha took sanyasa and why Arjuna was not allowed to take Sanyasa as the Lord decides what is best in different time, place & circumstances to fulfill various purposes. The purpose of Buddha’s incarnation was to stop violence to animals which was rampant at the time due to misintrepretation of vedic texts pertaining to offering animals in sacrifice. More importantly , SUCH COMPARISON DOES NOT FACILITATE OUR PROGRESS IN BHAKTI AND HENCE IT WOULD BE SRAMA EVA HI KEVALAM (useless endeavor)

I hope this addresses your query in entirety… Thank you for your wonderful question. I would also request senior devotees to make addition/ correction as they may deem appropriate. Many Thanks, Kind Regards,

Yours in service

Medhavini Sakhi Devi Dasi