Translator: Ramanand Prasad
Year: 1988
- Arjuna's Decision - This story starts with Sanjaya telling King Dhritarashtra how all of his warrior stacks up against the Pandava's warriors. They are basically game planning for the upcoming battle. It reminds me of game planning for a football game, trying to decide each team's strengths and weaknesses and where to attack a defense or offense. If I were to retell this story, I could retell it a couple different ways. I could tell it as an announcer setting the stage for the big game between two rival football teams, the Pandavas and the Kauravas.
I could also tell this story from the perspective of fans of the two opposing teams, arguing about why their team is going to win the big game. The setting would probably be in a bar on a Friday night before the game on Saturday.
- Arjuna tells Krishna that he does not want to fight against his cousins and the people that have raised him and Krishna talks him into it, telling him why he should. I think this story would be interesting if the Pandavas decided not to fight the Kauravas and go back to living in the forest. Durodhana would celebrate at first, but no one else would and no one would talk to him anymore afterwards. He would become lonely and seek out the Pandavas where he would find acceptance and friendship.
- I find it interesting that Krishna tells Arjuna that if you nourish the Devas by Yajna and learn to give up all personal desires, the Devas will fulfill all of your desires.
- I do like that Krishna says that even though there is nothing in the world (he says worlds) that he should do or obtain, he still does work because if he doesn't do work, people will follow his lead and the would would perish. He also talks about not having attachment to the results of the work that you do and trusting that everything happens the way that it should. I feel that if people lived this way, they would be a lot less stressed, and possibly happier. But it is a very hard to control your mind in that way.
Krishna and Arjuna
Image Author: Arnab Dutta
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
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