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Swami Krishnananda Shashtyabdapurti Mahotsava Commemoration Volume
A Souvenir released on Swami Krishnananda's 60th Birthday

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Table of Contents

  • Articles about Swami Krishnananda

Vishada Yoga

by P. Subbaramayya Naidu

You will be wondering that at the end of the First Chapter it is designated as a Yoga, viz., Arjuna Vishada Yoga. It is a Yoga; a wonder indeed. It is as much a Yoga as any other chapter of the Gita is. It is an inseparable vital limb of the entire body of the doctrine. It is a Yoga and therefore it cannot be escaped or glossed over or passed over."—So says Swami Krishnananda in The Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita.

The First Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita begins with a dramatic set-up. The armies of the Pandavas and the Kauravas assemble at the battle-field of Kurukshetra. Arjuna asks Sri Krishna, his charioteer, to take his chariot in between the two armies. There he sees Bhishma, his grandsire, Drona, his teacher, and all his kith and kin. Arjuna is overpowered with grief and compassion. He throws away his bow Gandiva and tells Sri Krishna, "I cannot fight and kill these people". Sri Krishna wants to infuse strength in Arjuna and begins His immortal message of the Bhagavad Gita.

What is Vishada Yoga? All saints have to pass through Vishada Yoga before they attain illumination. Vishada means affliction, grief. Yoga means restraint of all the modifications of the mind. It means equanimity of mind amidst success and defeat, gain and loss, praise and censure. But we generally weep from birth to death and from morn till night in many a. way for many a thing. Some weep for riches, some for children, some for name and fame. Can we call this sort of Vishada or grief as Vishada Yoga? This craving for mundane things cannot be described as Vishada Yoga, for this craving is due to ignorance of truth. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is correct when he says, "Men weep streams of tears, because a son is not born to them; others wear away their hearts with sorrow, because they cannot get riches. But how many are there who weep and because they have not seen God? He finds who seeks Him; he who with intense longing weeps for God, has found God". This weeping for God is Vishada Yoga. This for Truth is Vishada Yoga.

Arjuna received Gitopadesa from Sri Krishna as the representative of humanity as a whole. He was no doubt subject to grief and illusion before the commencement of the great war on account of his attachment. But Arjuna did not weep for perishable enjoyments of the world. He did not care for kingdom, victory and enjoyment. As a true devotee, he tells Sri Krishna, "My Lord! I am overpowered by mental weakness. I am in a dilemma. My mind is in great confusion. I am not in a position to decide which is Dharma, which s Adharma. I do not know whether I should fight or not in this war. I am your disciple. I surrender myself completely to you. Kindly enlighten and guide me". Arjuna weep before God in total surrender. This is dr the picture painted in the First Chapter. This is Vishada Yoga.

Has not Jesus Christ said: "Blessed are those that, mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness; for they shall be filled"? Arjuna mourned before God. He was comforted. He hungered and thirsted for righteousness. And his cup was filled. This is Vishada Yoga.