WHY DOES KRISHNA LOVE ARJUNA MORE THAN HIS FAMILY PART 1 with Rajdipsinh Jhala (Credit: Pranshu Saxena )
.
..
In Mahabharata, Krishna made this quote twice
"My wives, my kinsmen, my relatives, none amongst these is dearer to me than Arjuna. O Daruka, I shall not be able to cast my eyes, even for a single moment, on the earth bereft of Arjuna. I tell thee, the earth shall not be reft to Arjuna."
.
..
This was made to Daruka, his brother and charioteer who was Satyaki’s charioteer of the 14th day of the War. On this day in battle, Arjuna did kill Jayadratha and cream of Kaurava army. This day swung the War completely in Pandava favor, destroying Kaurava numerical advantage and putting them on defensive. On this day, Vasudeva lost his eleventh son, first one since the dark days of Kamsa, the charioteer son who was Satyaki’s partner in his careening across the battlefield for past fourteen days. Today was the day Concept of We vs I was exemplified by the forces of Pandavas.
.
But this article is not about those things. This article is about the simple question asked by Rajdipsinh Jhala regarding why would Krishna rank his relationship with Arjuna higher than that of his familial bonds.
.
This was not the only place where Krishna emphasized his connection with Arjuna.
.
In Bhagavada Gita, Krishna straightaway states, I am Arjuna among Pandavas. Pandavanam_Dhananjayah
.
He again and again emphasizes about Arjuna “He that hateth him (Arjuna), hateth me. He that followeth him (Arjuna), followeth me. Thou hast intelligence. Know that Arjuna is HALF OF MYSELF! "
.
And when Krishna died, his dying declaration to his father was as related by Vasudeva to Arjuna:
" Yoham Tamarjunam Viddhi, Yo Arjunah Sohameva cha”.
“I am Arjuna & Arjuna is me”
.
..
And Arjuna was equally lost when Krishna was no longer around.
.
What Rajdip is asking us is to explain this song!
.
..
ये दोस्ती हम नहीं तोड़ेंगे
तोड़ेंगे दम मगर
तेरा साथ ना छोडेंगे
.
.
मेरी जीत, तेरी जीत
तेरी हार, मेरी हार
सुन ऐ मेरे यार
तेरा ग़म, मेरा ग़म
मेरी जान, तेरी जान
ऐसा अपना प्यार
ज़ान पे भी खेलेंगे
तेरे लिये ले लेंगे
सबसे दुश्मनी
ये दोस्ती...
(He that hateth him (Arjuna), hateth me. He that followeth him (Arjuna), followeth me. )
लोगों को आते हैं
दो नज़र हम मगर
देखो दो नहीं
(Thou hast intelligence. Know that Arjuna is HALF OF MYSELF!))
हों जुदा या ख़फ़ा
ऐ खुदा है दुआ
ऐसा हो नहीं
खाना-पीना साथ है
मरना-जीना साथ है
सारी ज़िन्दगी
ये दोस्ती...…
.
.
Why was Arjuna so special to Lord of the world, more than any familial or sensory relationships?
.
.
Why is Arjuna is dearest to Krishna more than his father, mother, wives and children?
.
Why is Arjuna the most favored one?
.
Before we start, we have to do a small quick refresher for those who come in late.
.
There were five major religions in India at the time of Mahabharata and its writing. That is even prior to the advent of Shramika sects and the texts always followed the concept, Tryartho Veda.
.
There are three meanings to each statement and you have to unite the three meanings to get at the great truth behind all the statements.
.
Each Sloka has an interpretation in each of these five panthas or paths and three layers or Arthas.
.
The Paths or Panthas are Pasupatya, Pancharatra, Samkhya, Yoga and Vedic.
.
The arthas are Uparicharira (Transcendental), Astikadi (As-is or Historical) and Dharmik (religious). Over the thousands of years, buddhijeevis have been examining and understanding and commentating on each of the slokas and for example in the modern Krishna cult, the four main streams or sampradayas of Rudra Vaisanava, Kumara Vaisanava, Brhma Vaisanava and Sri Vaisanava have their own takes and understandings on each and every sloka. Then we also have the Bhakti and Vatsalya intrepretations.
.
जाकी रही भावना जैसी | प्रभु मूरत देखी तिन तैसी
..
.
But, I will try and not go down that rabbit hole. I will explain my take on this one sloka or object from the Mahabharata, the elements of that are:
.
..
• I am Arjuna and Arjuna is Me.
• He who hates Arjuna hates Krishna and he who follows Arjuna is the only one who follows Krishna.
• Krishna loved Arjuna more than his wives and children and family.
.
For didactic purposes, there would be upakhyans that will interrupt the narrative. The original take was over hundred plus pages and I had to reduce it from trivikrama size to current form.
.
..
Let us start with Tryartho. There are three levels or meanings to Krishna’s love for Arjuna.
.
The first meaning arises straightaway. It arises from the simplest of the facts of the incremental development of Arjuna and Krishna in the Avatar cycle.
.
.
It arises from the very foundation of Indian society. From Dharma!
.
धारणाद्धर्ममित्याहु: धर्मो धारयते प्रजा: |
यस्याद्धारणसंयुक्तं स धर्म इति निश्चय: ||
.
Dharma is derived from Dharana! Dharana or Holding society together. If something is able to hold people together, no doubt that is Dharma.
.
Dharma, Yudhishthara himself in Mahabharata is needed to hold people together.
And Arjuna and Krishna have a unique relationship to Dharma itself.
.
Dharma, Yudhishthara himself had many famous children and most famous among them are Nara and Narayana.
.
The most powerful sages described in our Puranas are the children of Dharma. That relationship of siblings is the strongest which is further enhanced by them being identical twins. Born from same egg.
.
They keep getting born again and again in each Manvantara because of curse or guideline of Brahma to the Jaya gods in the hoary time immemorial.
.
The Puranas are very categorical. We have lost a lot of original Puranas and original stories so we have few stories only of the Svyambhavu (“Self Born, self created”) Manavantara and few of Chakshusha (thanks to Iranian sources) but mostly focused on this Manvantara, the seventh one.
.
..
One of the aspects of this unintentional or intentional editing of Pauranic Lore is that we do not need to concern ourselves about the stories of the past manvantaras. That is part of the lesson of the Karmic Chakra.
.
The mores and the intentions of society in past hoary ages do not needlessly concern us and especially should not consume us. The so called lost glories and lost faded gilt edged life of our distant ancestors is their karma, and their dharma. Not our Karma and not our Dharma.
..
As Manusmrti clearly identifies, the dharma of the day is dynamic, energetic, it is vibrant and vigrous, it is self-fulfilling and it vibrates to its own frequency and tones.
.
The old dharma and old beliefs are like static stopped water in a muddy puddle which is only good for creating germs and diseases and we should avoid these diseases of the mind.
.
We have to create our own identity. Our own pehchaan! Our own way, our own journey and our own destinations.
.
.
To understand that and to understand the Krishna’s statements regarding Arjuna, we have to discuss the Jaya gods specifically.
.
The dharma of the day, Dharma du jour is to serve the most number of people and to show the new paths and new destinations. It is to remove this old dead decaying dharma that constricts people inside narrow domestic walls and blinkered vision of horse’s spectacles that Jaya Gods come again and again on behest of Brahma.
.
..
They come again and again but they evolve new paradigms and new methods to solve the new social problems that confront them.
.
.
So Arjuna and Krishna had already gone through several of these cycles of being born again and again and coming to solve whatever confronts the society du jour, whatever their Father, Pater Familis Dharma needs them to do, they solve it, uniquely, matchlessly and exceptionally.
.
Jayas were created by the high Brahma from his mouth in the time before time, he created them for creating progeny and as guardians to the constructs that he will create, the several forms of creations and levels of jeevas or creatures, and one of those paradigms of creatures are us.
.
Jayas were: Darsha, Paurnamasa, Brhad Rathantara, Citti, Vicitti, Akuti, Kuti, Vijnatr, Vijnata, Manas and Yajna.
.
(Brhad one of the Jayas is Brahma in itself. The next level of Brahma after the Creator.
Brahad is the Creator worshipped by Uparicharira in Mahabharata in Santi Parva and thus may reflect the Transcendental version of Brahma the creator in itself.
This gives us an insight into the Tryartho this line of thought is. It is Uparicharira. Transcendental.
Rathantara would create the Gods and is the Father of Gods, thus he is Mahadeva, the divine charioteer. Yajna is the most powerful Indra of the Rgveda and Puranas and the avatar of Vishnu the preserver and his partner, his twin is Manas, the humanity of Man! )
.
Yajna and Manas are going to dominate this thread. We can go down the rabbit hole of explaining all their siblings and their roles, future and otherwise but suffice to say, they are the Guardians who will come again and again on behest of Brahma to set right what becomes wrong!
.
The mores and the philosophies of the old manvantars, old dead societies should not concern us. They can act as advisory, as illustrative examples but we should forge our own paths and our own destiny and our own philosophy anew as Jaya gods renew anew again and again.
.
And they would eventually come as Krishna and Arjuna.
The article continues.....
[ Part2: Uparicharira Pasupatya, Yoga and Samkhya @https://www.facebook.com/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/1021095048003377
Part3: Jaya Gods and Nasadiya sukta @ https://www.facebook.com/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/1022608504518698
Part4: Humour of Brahma @ https://www.facebook.com/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/1022609397851942
Part 5 under construction......
Why does Krishna love Arjuna more than his family #Summary Redux Part 1 (If you can't read above articles go through summary of specific part) @
https://www.facebook.com/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/1022630421183173 ]
.
..
In Mahabharata, Krishna made this quote twice
"My wives, my kinsmen, my relatives, none amongst these is dearer to me than Arjuna. O Daruka, I shall not be able to cast my eyes, even for a single moment, on the earth bereft of Arjuna. I tell thee, the earth shall not be reft to Arjuna."
.
..
This was made to Daruka, his brother and charioteer who was Satyaki’s charioteer of the 14th day of the War. On this day in battle, Arjuna did kill Jayadratha and cream of Kaurava army. This day swung the War completely in Pandava favor, destroying Kaurava numerical advantage and putting them on defensive. On this day, Vasudeva lost his eleventh son, first one since the dark days of Kamsa, the charioteer son who was Satyaki’s partner in his careening across the battlefield for past fourteen days. Today was the day Concept of We vs I was exemplified by the forces of Pandavas.
.
But this article is not about those things. This article is about the simple question asked by Rajdipsinh Jhala regarding why would Krishna rank his relationship with Arjuna higher than that of his familial bonds.
.
This was not the only place where Krishna emphasized his connection with Arjuna.
.
In Bhagavada Gita, Krishna straightaway states, I am Arjuna among Pandavas. Pandavanam_Dhananjayah
.
He again and again emphasizes about Arjuna “He that hateth him (Arjuna), hateth me. He that followeth him (Arjuna), followeth me. Thou hast intelligence. Know that Arjuna is HALF OF MYSELF! "
.
And when Krishna died, his dying declaration to his father was as related by Vasudeva to Arjuna:
" Yoham Tamarjunam Viddhi, Yo Arjunah Sohameva cha”.
“I am Arjuna & Arjuna is me”
.
..
And Arjuna was equally lost when Krishna was no longer around.
.
What Rajdip is asking us is to explain this song!
.
..
ये दोस्ती हम नहीं तोड़ेंगे
तोड़ेंगे दम मगर
तेरा साथ ना छोडेंगे
.
.
मेरी जीत, तेरी जीत
तेरी हार, मेरी हार
सुन ऐ मेरे यार
तेरा ग़म, मेरा ग़म
मेरी जान, तेरी जान
ऐसा अपना प्यार
ज़ान पे भी खेलेंगे
तेरे लिये ले लेंगे
सबसे दुश्मनी
ये दोस्ती...
(He that hateth him (Arjuna), hateth me. He that followeth him (Arjuna), followeth me. )
लोगों को आते हैं
दो नज़र हम मगर
देखो दो नहीं
(Thou hast intelligence. Know that Arjuna is HALF OF MYSELF!))
हों जुदा या ख़फ़ा
ऐ खुदा है दुआ
ऐसा हो नहीं
खाना-पीना साथ है
मरना-जीना साथ है
सारी ज़िन्दगी
ये दोस्ती...…
.
.
Why was Arjuna so special to Lord of the world, more than any familial or sensory relationships?
.
.
Why is Arjuna is dearest to Krishna more than his father, mother, wives and children?
.
Why is Arjuna the most favored one?
.
Before we start, we have to do a small quick refresher for those who come in late.
.
There were five major religions in India at the time of Mahabharata and its writing. That is even prior to the advent of Shramika sects and the texts always followed the concept, Tryartho Veda.
.
There are three meanings to each statement and you have to unite the three meanings to get at the great truth behind all the statements.
.
Each Sloka has an interpretation in each of these five panthas or paths and three layers or Arthas.
.
The Paths or Panthas are Pasupatya, Pancharatra, Samkhya, Yoga and Vedic.
.
The arthas are Uparicharira (Transcendental), Astikadi (As-is or Historical) and Dharmik (religious). Over the thousands of years, buddhijeevis have been examining and understanding and commentating on each of the slokas and for example in the modern Krishna cult, the four main streams or sampradayas of Rudra Vaisanava, Kumara Vaisanava, Brhma Vaisanava and Sri Vaisanava have their own takes and understandings on each and every sloka. Then we also have the Bhakti and Vatsalya intrepretations.
.
जाकी रही भावना जैसी | प्रभु मूरत देखी तिन तैसी
..
.
But, I will try and not go down that rabbit hole. I will explain my take on this one sloka or object from the Mahabharata, the elements of that are:
.
..
• I am Arjuna and Arjuna is Me.
• He who hates Arjuna hates Krishna and he who follows Arjuna is the only one who follows Krishna.
• Krishna loved Arjuna more than his wives and children and family.
.
For didactic purposes, there would be upakhyans that will interrupt the narrative. The original take was over hundred plus pages and I had to reduce it from trivikrama size to current form.
.
..
Let us start with Tryartho. There are three levels or meanings to Krishna’s love for Arjuna.
.
The first meaning arises straightaway. It arises from the simplest of the facts of the incremental development of Arjuna and Krishna in the Avatar cycle.
.
.
It arises from the very foundation of Indian society. From Dharma!
.
धारणाद्धर्ममित्याहु: धर्मो धारयते प्रजा: |
यस्याद्धारणसंयुक्तं स धर्म इति निश्चय: ||
.
Dharma is derived from Dharana! Dharana or Holding society together. If something is able to hold people together, no doubt that is Dharma.
.
Dharma, Yudhishthara himself in Mahabharata is needed to hold people together.
And Arjuna and Krishna have a unique relationship to Dharma itself.
.
Dharma, Yudhishthara himself had many famous children and most famous among them are Nara and Narayana.
.
The most powerful sages described in our Puranas are the children of Dharma. That relationship of siblings is the strongest which is further enhanced by them being identical twins. Born from same egg.
.
They keep getting born again and again in each Manvantara because of curse or guideline of Brahma to the Jaya gods in the hoary time immemorial.
.
The Puranas are very categorical. We have lost a lot of original Puranas and original stories so we have few stories only of the Svyambhavu (“Self Born, self created”) Manavantara and few of Chakshusha (thanks to Iranian sources) but mostly focused on this Manvantara, the seventh one.
.
..
One of the aspects of this unintentional or intentional editing of Pauranic Lore is that we do not need to concern ourselves about the stories of the past manvantaras. That is part of the lesson of the Karmic Chakra.
.
The mores and the intentions of society in past hoary ages do not needlessly concern us and especially should not consume us. The so called lost glories and lost faded gilt edged life of our distant ancestors is their karma, and their dharma. Not our Karma and not our Dharma.
..
As Manusmrti clearly identifies, the dharma of the day is dynamic, energetic, it is vibrant and vigrous, it is self-fulfilling and it vibrates to its own frequency and tones.
.
The old dharma and old beliefs are like static stopped water in a muddy puddle which is only good for creating germs and diseases and we should avoid these diseases of the mind.
.
We have to create our own identity. Our own pehchaan! Our own way, our own journey and our own destinations.
.
.
To understand that and to understand the Krishna’s statements regarding Arjuna, we have to discuss the Jaya gods specifically.
.
The dharma of the day, Dharma du jour is to serve the most number of people and to show the new paths and new destinations. It is to remove this old dead decaying dharma that constricts people inside narrow domestic walls and blinkered vision of horse’s spectacles that Jaya Gods come again and again on behest of Brahma.
.
..
They come again and again but they evolve new paradigms and new methods to solve the new social problems that confront them.
.
.
So Arjuna and Krishna had already gone through several of these cycles of being born again and again and coming to solve whatever confronts the society du jour, whatever their Father, Pater Familis Dharma needs them to do, they solve it, uniquely, matchlessly and exceptionally.
.
Jayas were created by the high Brahma from his mouth in the time before time, he created them for creating progeny and as guardians to the constructs that he will create, the several forms of creations and levels of jeevas or creatures, and one of those paradigms of creatures are us.
.
Jayas were: Darsha, Paurnamasa, Brhad Rathantara, Citti, Vicitti, Akuti, Kuti, Vijnatr, Vijnata, Manas and Yajna.
.
(Brhad one of the Jayas is Brahma in itself. The next level of Brahma after the Creator.
Brahad is the Creator worshipped by Uparicharira in Mahabharata in Santi Parva and thus may reflect the Transcendental version of Brahma the creator in itself.
This gives us an insight into the Tryartho this line of thought is. It is Uparicharira. Transcendental.
Rathantara would create the Gods and is the Father of Gods, thus he is Mahadeva, the divine charioteer. Yajna is the most powerful Indra of the Rgveda and Puranas and the avatar of Vishnu the preserver and his partner, his twin is Manas, the humanity of Man! )
.
Yajna and Manas are going to dominate this thread. We can go down the rabbit hole of explaining all their siblings and their roles, future and otherwise but suffice to say, they are the Guardians who will come again and again on behest of Brahma to set right what becomes wrong!
.
The mores and the philosophies of the old manvantars, old dead societies should not concern us. They can act as advisory, as illustrative examples but we should forge our own paths and our own destiny and our own philosophy anew as Jaya gods renew anew again and again.
.
And they would eventually come as Krishna and Arjuna.
The article continues.....
[ Part2: Uparicharira Pasupatya, Yoga and Samkhya @https://www.facebook.com/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/1021095048003377
Part3: Jaya Gods and Nasadiya sukta @ https://www.facebook.com/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/1022608504518698
Part4: Humour of Brahma @ https://www.facebook.com/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/1022609397851942
Part 5 under construction......
Why does Krishna love Arjuna more than his family #Summary Redux Part 1 (If you can't read above articles go through summary of specific part) @
https://www.facebook.com/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/1022630421183173 ]
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