TEXT 8
na hi prapasyami mamapanudyad
yac chokam ucchosanam indriyanam
avapya bhumav asapatnam rddham
rajyam suranam api cadhipatyam
SYNONYMS
na--do not; hi--certainly; prapasyami--I see; mama--my; apanudyat--can drive away; yat--that; sokam--lamentation; ucchosanam--drying up; indriyanam--of the senses; avapya--achieving; bhumau--on the earth; asapatnam--without rival; rddham--prosperous; rajyam--kingdom; suranam--of the demigods; api--even; ca--also; adhipatyam--supremacy.
TRANSLATION
I
can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my
senses. I will not be able to destroy it even if I win an unrivaled
kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven.
PURPORT
Although
Arjuna was putting forward so many arguments based on knowledge of the
principles of religion and moral codes, it appears that he was unable to
solve his real problem without the help of the spiritual master, Lord
Sri Krsna. He could understand that his so-called knowledge was useless
in driving away his problems, which were drying up his whole existence;
and it was impossible for him to solve such perplexities without the
help of a spiritual master like Lord Krsna. Academic knowledge,
scholarship, high position, etc., are all useless in solving the
problems of life; help can only be given by a spiritual master like
Krsna. Therefore, the conclusion is that a spiritual master who is one
hundred percent Krsna conscious is the bona fide spiritual master, for
he can solve the problems of life. Lord Caitanya said that one who is
master in the science of Krsna consciousness, regardless of his social
position, is the real spiritual master.
kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 8.127)
"It does not matter whether a person is a vipra
[learned scholar in Vedic wisdom] or is born in a lower family, or is
in the renounced order of life--if he is master in the science of Krsna,
he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual master." So without being a
master in the science of Krsna consciousness, no one is a bona fide
spiritual master. It is also said in Vedic literatures:
sat-karma-nipuno vipro mantra-tantra-visaradah
avaisnavo gurur na syad vaisnavah sva-paco guruh
"A scholarly brahmana,
expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a
spiritual master without being a Vaisnava, or expert in the science of
Krsna consciousness. But a person born in a family of a lower caste can
become a spiritual master if he is a Vaisnava, or Krsna conscious."
The
problems of material existence--birth, old age, disease and
death--cannot be counteracted by accumulation of wealth and economic
development. In many parts of the world there are states which are
replete with all facilities of life, which are full of wealth, and
economically developed, yet the problems of material existence are still
present. They are seeking peace in different ways, but they can achieve
real happiness only if they consult Krsna, or the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam--which constitute the science of Krsna--or the bona fide representative of Krsna, the man in Krsna consciousness.
If
economic development and material comforts could drive away one's
lamentations for family, social, national or international inebrieties,
then Arjuna would not have said that even an unrivaled kingdom on earth
or supremacy like that of the demigods in the heavenly planets would not
be able to drive away his lamentations. He sought, therefore, refuge in
Krsna consciousness, and that is the right path for peace and harmony.
Economic development or supremacy over the world can be finished at any
moment by the cataclysms of material nature. Even elevation into a
higher planetary situation, as men are now seeking a place on the moon
planet, can also be finished at one stroke. The Bhagavad-gita confirms this: ksine punye martya-lokam visanti.
"When the results of pious activities are finished, one falls down
again from the peak of happiness to the lowest status of life." Many
politicians of the world have fallen down in that way. Such downfalls
only constitute more causes for lamentation.
Therefore,
if we want to curb lamentation for good, then we have to take shelter
of Krsna, as Arjuna is seeking to do. So Arjuna asked Krsna to solve his
problem definitely, and that is the way of Krsna consciousness.