Lessons from Bhagavad Gita – Being Honest about one’s Weakness

Source: Hindu Blog

If Arjuna was a slave of his image then he would have lost the Mahabharata war. Arjuna was honest about this weakness and was ready to share it with Sri Krishna. The greatest warrior became a weakling and sat down asking guidance. The world got the Bhagavad Gita and Arjuna fought successfully for Dharma. Ramnath Subramanian, CEO and President, The Bhakti Center, explores this aspect of Bhagavad Gita in an article titled ‘The Bhagavad Gita and the Value of Vulnerability’ in the Huffington Post.

Excerpts from the article
This very lesson is conveyed at the onset of the Bhagavad Gita, India's classic on yoga and spiritual wisdom, where prince Arjuna provides a remarkable example of vulnerability. Arjuna was a veteran of many battles and had never lost a single combat. His acts of prowess, courage and intelligence were world-famous. Yet, Arjuna faced a situation where he had to fight his own kinsmen. 

His courage was tested and he broke down in front of his dear friend Krishna, expressing his distraught situation. In a matter of moments, Arjuna turned from a mighty warrior into a weakling, right in front of his opponents. In that exhibition of weakness, Arjuna exhibited great courage. It is that honest expression of weakness that set the stage for timeless wisdom to be spoken. Consequently, he received the strength and inspiration to confront his inner doubts and overcome them. 

The same can happen in our lives if we take the courage to be vulnerable; when we learn to walk through the door of fear that has kept us prisoners to our idealized self-image. We can wake up to our authentic potential and experience the sense of freedom. It can also help us better understand and be compassionate to another's needs.
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Bhagavat Gita for Beginers.

The following experience was obtained from the blog http://debu7370.blogspot.com/2010/06/shri-shirdi-sai-speaks-25th-june.html.

Introduction
Jai: Grandma, I have a hard time understanding the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita. Would you help me?
Grandma: Of course, Jai, I will be glad to. You should know that this holy book teaches us how to live happily in the world. It is an ancient holy book of Hindu Dharma (also known as Sanātana Dharma or Hinduism), but it can be understood and followed by people of any faith. The Gita has eighteen (18) chapters and a total of only 700 verses. Anyone can be helped by daily practice of only a few of its teachings.
The word ‘Bhagavad’ means God or The Supreme Lord, Bhagavān in Sanskrit. ‘Gita’ means song. Thus The Bhagavad-Gita means the Song of God or the Sacred Song, because it was sung by Bhagavān Shri Krishna himself.

Here is the introduction to the Gita:
In ancient times there was a king who had two sons, Dhritarāshtra and Pāndu. The former was born blind; therefore, Pāndu inherited the kingdom. Pāndu had five sons. They were called the Pāndavas. Dhritarāshtra had one hundred sons. They were called the Kauravas. Duryodhana was the eldest of the Kauravas.

After the death of king Pāndu, his eldest son, Yudhisthira, became the lawful King. Duryodhana was very jealous. He also wanted the kingdom. The kingdom was divided into two halves between the Pāndavas and the Kauravas. Duryodhana was not satisfied with his share. He wanted the entire kingdom for himself. He tried several evil plots to kill the Pāndavas and take away their kingdom. Somehow he took over the entire kingdom of the Pāndavas and refused to give it back without a war. All peace talks by Lord Krishna and others failed, so the big war of Mahābhārata could not be avoided.

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Karma and Liberation

The following was obtained from here

In verse 2.39, Krishna introduces the word Sankhya.

Aeshaa thae(a)bhihithaa saankhyae, buddhiryogae thvimaam s(h)ruNu
Buddhyaa yukthO yayaa paartha, karmabhandham prahaasyasi - 2.39

This knowledge imparted to you till now, deals with Sankhya. Now you listen to this (following teaching) which deals with Yoga. Endowed with this wisdom, you will give up all the bonds of Karma, Oh Arjuna !

Sankhya is one of the six systems of philosophy pertaining to Hinduism. In Gita, Krishna used that word to indicate self-knowledge. Sankhya and yoga are the theory and practice of religion. They do not come into conflict with each other but complement each other. As Atman is understood, life gets enriched.
Yoga is living the life with abundance. By practising yoga, mind becomes more pure and clarity emerges with regard to the concept of atma. Thus jnana and yoga mutually aid.
So Krishna goes on to explain how to harmonise atma and life.
The person who sinned in the past
And
The person who suffers in the present
are one and the same.
In short, the past sinner is the present sufferer!

According to our scriptures, this is the mind-intellect-equipment (sukshma sarira) in each of us.
Why pursue karma yoga?
The knowledge of karma yoga enables to destroy the bondage of karma.
karmabhandham prahaasyasi
Karma here means dharma-adharma, which means punya-papa, the good and the bad actions that alone bind the individual. So it is called the bondage of karma. But this bondage is destroyed by the knowledge made possible by karma-yoga.
Knowledge destroys ignorance and with that, doesrship is destroyed, causing all karmas to fall apart.
To achieve moksha (liberation) both karma yoga and jnana yoga are necessary. Both life-styles imply knowledge. First, to gain knowledge, we need a properly prepared mind and God's grace.
Swami Chinmayananda's words are very relevant here:
One who lives in perfect equanimity in all conditions must necessarily come to live in a realm of his own away from
The pleasure and pain of intellect
The sobs of success and failure of the mind
The fears of loss and gain in the flesh.
To the degree an individual detaches himself from his own body, mind and intellect, to that degree , his ego is dead and therefore, since the "sufferer" is no longer available, thjere cannot be any more "fruits of action" for him to suffer.
Krishna next goes on to praise karma-yoga.

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