When did this dejection come to you, this stain and darkness of the soul

Sankhya Yoga 

Chapter 2, Verse 2

 

śrī bhagavān uvāca 

kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ 

viṣame samupasthitam 

anāryājuṣṭam asvargyam 

akīrtikaram arjuna

 

The Lord says: When did this dejection come to you, this stain and darkness  

of the soul, in the hour of difficulty and peril, O Arjuna? This is not the way  

cherished by the noble man: this mood came not from Heaven, nor can it  

lead to Heaven, and on Earth it is the forfeiting of glory.

Here Lord Krishna Himself starts speaking. He says that Arjuna’s heaviness of heart and low spirits are due to over sentimentality. He says, “You have made yourself weak. It is your willingness to become weak!”

 

Krishna continues, “I am taken aback! I am shocked to see that here, in the middle of the battlefield, you are in such a state! This state is very dangerous and difficult! We are in the middle of the battlefield and now you feel like this? If you would have felt like this before coming on the battlefield, I would understand. But now we are here. This is not a noble feeling. It is not the feeling of a noble man. There is no place for sadness, cowardice or pain on the battlefield. Elsewhere, yes! There is a place for everything. But this is completely out of place here! How can you fight all these great heroes if you are so faint-hearted? With a heart like this, it is very difficult to fight. Where did you get this faint-heartedness? Where did it come from?” Krishna has never known Arjuna to be like this – very sentimental and soft-hearted. Calling this dejection and faint-heartedness of Arjuna unworthy of a noble soul, He says, “If you are like this, how can you even talk about gaining Heaven?” If you are weak, you can’t expect God-Realisation! If you are weak, you can’t expect God to act through you! He will not reveal your dharma to you! God knows that there is no use in throwing pearls to pigs. They will not know what to do with them. They will trample over them; they will not value them. Arjuna’s faint heartedness is not worthy of a warrior on the battlefield.

 

If you are weak on your path in life, you can’t do anything. If you are weak on your path towards God-Realisation, how can you attain God? Krishna says, “I am really amazed. O Arjuna, this is not the way cherished by the noble man: this mood came not from Heaven, nor can it lead to Heaven. This weak kind of mood, this weakness will not lead you anywhere. You are noble.” “Noble” here doesn’t mean that one is of the noble or royal class. By saying to Arjuna, “You are noble,” Krishna means, “You are strong, you are powerful! You are dharma! You have the knowledge of the Self. This is not the place for weakness. This kind of thing will not inspire others. All know you as a great warrior.”

 

Do you remember before the war, when King Virata’s son was going to fight the Kauravas? Arjuna was still disguised as the woman, Brihannala. Though he was dressed as a woman, everyone was always talking about how strong he was. When Arjuna told the son of King Virata, “Go and get my bow, my Gandiva,” he asked, “How will I know what your bow looks like?” Arjuna said, “There is a tree in front of me. Go! You will find my bow there. It is as tall as a palm tree.” That’s how tall the bow of Arjuna was! So you can imagine how tall the Pandavas were! How strong and powerful they were! 

Lord Krishna continues, “This weak kind of mood will not lead you to Moksha. There are four types of noble qualities in life: Moksha (salvation); dharma (virtue);artha (wealth); and kama (enjoyment). This is not how to achieve them! To attain these noble qualities, you have to be strong in life! How can you talk about attaining salvation when you are in this pitiful state? Especially at this odd hour, when you are on the battlefield, My dear!” In Chapter 1, I said – what if you go to the doctor and the doctor just starts crying with you – how can the doctor help you?

Here Krishna becomes the Guru and says, “Look at this world! These excuses are nothing. Your dharma is to fight!” This could appear very terrible! Some people would say, “But Krishna is God, He could change everything!” Of course He could change everything! He can change everything by His will. But, no. He planned to give this knowledge to the world, to remind the world of this knowledge.

Bhagavad Gita