BG2.40

We are at the Sri Kamalavalli Nachiyar Temple at Urayur. Sri Ranganatha arrives here in the Tamil month of Panguni and on the 6^th day of the festival graces the devotees along with Sri Kamalavalli Nachiyar. Sri Mahalakshmi, from Sri Vaikuntam, incarnated as Sri Kamalavalli, the daughter of Nanada Chola king. The name Kamala is a very distinguished . The three syllables ‘ka’, ‘ma’ and ‘la’ make the name Kamala. ‘Ka’ indicates the Almighty and ‘ma’ indicates us, the jeevatma. ‘La’ indicates the give and take process. So, on one side the God, Paramatma is there and on the other side all the souls, atman are here. Sri Kamalavalli Nachiyar acts as a bridge between these two entities. Ignorance and limited wisdom we have and Sri Thayar gives s the knowledge and takes us to the Lord. Thus the significance of the syllable ‘la’ is represented by Sri Thayar. We are now just in front of this temple. She is the ruling deity here and Sri Namperumal visits as Sri Azhagiya Manavalan. We will see the 36^th sloka now. These three slokas –35^th, 36^th and 37^th- tell us where one should not show compassion. When Sri Krishna tells that others are going to talk ill of his valor, Arjuna asks how and why anybody should think badly of his valor:

avacya-vadams ca bahun
vadisyanti tavahitah
nindantas tava samarthyam
tato duhkhataram nu kim

"Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and scorn your ability. What could be more painful for you?"

There cannot be more distressing than these bad persons talking ill of Arjuna. They would describe him as spineless and a coward. Abuses, which cannot be listened to will be hurled at him. Those abuses also will be plenty. These words are going to be spoken by people, who always think ill of him. One can tolerate abuses from one’s parents or teachers or friends with good intentions. But in the case of those who are waiting for us to fall, we have to be very cautious. We can rely on people who are outspoken, but with people who are scheming, we have to be extremely careful. Arjuna should have by this time understood how Duryodana and others are dishonest and scheming. Bheeshma and Drona will not talk ill of Arjuna but these bad people are going to talk without hesitation. Arjuna can never tolerate anyone making any adverse remarks on his bow, Gandipa. Once he tried to kill his own elder brother Yudhishtra for a criticsm of his weapon. These wicked persons are going to denigrate Arjuna’s weapon. Will he tolerate that? They are going to belittle his competence. Those remarks will be awful and will frustrate the listener. If Duryodana or Karna abuses Arjuna and the listener is Bheeshma or Drona, such frustration is understandable. But the abuses will be so severe that if Duryodana ridicules Arjuna’s valor, Karna would close his ears and will be unable to bear the abuses or vice versa. There cannot be more distressing to Arjuna. This may make him angry and fight to stop this bad propaganda. This will make further adverse comments from all saying that Arjuna fought not a dharma battle, but just because he was abused. Arjuna is wondering how Sri Krishna can advise him not to run away from the war. Sri Krishna also ran away from war. Sri Krishna was born in Gokulam and after ten years, He lived in Mathura for some years. But King Jarasanda invaded Mathura several times. Seventeen times he invaded and Sri Krishna defeated him every time. Sri Krishna requested His brother Sri Balarama, to go to west seashore and reclaim land from the sea and establish a new city of Dwaraka. Sri Balarama did not agree. When next time Jarasanda invaded Mathura, Sri Krishna ran away from Mathura. Arjuna remembered this incident. But there are two main differences in the two incidents. Firstly, rules, which we follow, cannot be applied on the Lord. Secondly, Sri Krishna had vanquished Jarasanda several times and He was merely acting as though He was running away from Jarasanda out of fear. Here, for Arjuna this is the first time to fight with these people. So, how can he run away and compare this with Sri Krishna’s action? There are two neighboring countries, one powerful and the other weak. The weak country harasses the powerful one. Normally the powerful country ignores. But persistent such troubles would make one day the powerful country to pull-up and warn its neighbor. Our country has this culture and never it has initiated war against its neighbors. But once war is declared it has fought valiantly. This is what Gita or Upanishads preaches.