Uncovering Arjuna's Questions from Bhagavad-gita
Bhagavad-gita As It Is consists of 700 verses, of which Lord Kṛṣṇa speaks 573 verses, Arjuna speaks 83 verses, Sañjaya speaks 41 verses and King Dhritarashtra speaks one verse. Here below is a compilation of all the questions that Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa, which made this conversation the most pertinent dialogue of all times. In fact the Gita can be considered a question-answer session and it can be divided into 3 basic themes:
Chapters 1-6 are about Karma and how Karma leads to Bhakti. It also often refers to term yoga of how to live.
Chapters 7-12 are about bhakti-yoga, or yoga of how to love.
Chapters 13-18 are about Jyana and how Jyana leads to Bhakti. In other words the yoga of how to let go.
The questions of Arjuna are of different natures. Those that Arjuna is asking in the first chapter up to verse BG2.04 are more or less doubts, confusions arising from his attachment to his family, which drive Arjuna to refrain from fighting. He is justifying himself as he wants to refrain from any violence. Kṛṣṇa however has a different opinion about this and he calls it - impurities (kaśmalam), degrading impotence (klaibyam) and petty weakness of the heart (hṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ). BG 2.02-03
Everything turns around when Arjuna submits himself to Kṛṣṇa in humble surrender and asks Him what is best to do. In other words, he asks what is dharma. (BG 2.07) Dharma in this verse refers not to religion, but to ‘the right thing to do’. Interestingly , Arjuna asks the question in a universal tone rather than drawing it personally to his situation or to the battle of Kuruksetra and this impels Kṛṣṇa to speak the timeless wisdom of the Vedas in a universal way also, very valid for every living entity. This opens up a whole sequence of philosophical questions and answers which make a perfect dialogue. Kṛṣṇa’s answer to this question n fact drives the entire dialogue of the complete Bhagavad-gita. Interesting point is also how King Drtarasthra in his first verse was fearing that Kuruksetra as a place of pilgrimage will have an influence on his sons and they will turn around to fight for dharma. In fact this did not influence his narcissistic son Duryodhana, but it profoundly influenced Arjuna, whose first significant question is about dharma.
The next set of questions is towards the end of the second chapter (BG 2.54) after Kṛṣṇa explains to Arjuna the process of working without attachment - karma-yoga. Arjuna wants to hear more about the characteristics of the self-realized persons. His questions are very poetic and in one sense Kṛṣṇa doesn't take them as literal questions. This links the conversation very much to its actual title Song of God, which is not only a philosophical thesis, but also a masterpiece poem.
In the questions from the third Chapter (BG 3.1-2) Arjuna seeks clarification from Kṛṣṇa about peace. In their earlier discussion Kṛṣṇa is talking about shanti - peace (BG 2.65-71), which resonated with Arjuna, as he didnt want to fight his family. At the same time Kṛṣṇa is urging Arjuna to fight (BG 2.37-38), thus the confusion. Of course Kṛṣṇa is talking about the inner peace and not the outer peace. That state of consciousness is a result of work with detachment. For Arjuna it means then to fight as a duty without being obsessed with profit-loss calculations. Fight externally and find peace internally. Any work done with attachment is inauspicious. Hence, Kṛṣṇa instructs Arjuna not to give up his duty, but to give up attachment while doing his duty.
Later on in chapter 3, Arjuna wants to dig deeper to find an answer to his other dilemma. What is it that impels us often to act in a way that is not good for us, as if by force? (BG 3.36) What is that enemy who is destroying us and our inner peace? Yes it is not an outer enemy that we need to battle against, but an inward enemy who is sleeping with us inside. “Lust only Arjuna, which is the all-devouring enemy of this world.” This of course does not necessarily mean only sexual and sensual enjoyments, but any sort of temptations which distract us from our smooth sail towards pure devotional service and full surrender to the Lord. If unchecked this inward enemy is out to get us and destroy us, so it is of utmost importance to properly identify this enemy inside and guard ourselves from it.
Arjuna’s next question 4.04 is an amazing blend of his humility and curiosity. Kṛṣṇa talks how He has instructed this science long ago to the Sungod, which Arjuna finds contradictory, as Sungod is much older than both of them. Yet, the way he asks more details about this is not challenging nor belittling. He is putting the incomprehension upon himself. Even though he has accepted Kṛṣṇa as his Guru, he is not just blindly accepting everything, giving up his intelligence, but submitting his incomprehension before the Lord in a very respectable way for further clarification. This shows both Arjuna’s humility and intelligence.
The question in Chapter 5 (BG 5.01) seems to be a repeat of the question from BG 3.1-2. “Should I work or renounce work?” Why then Kṛṣṇa talks about yoga-sannyasa-karmanam. Arjuna is thinking in a linear black & white way, yet Kṛṣṇa is introducing the tridimensional aspect of karma yoga - all aspects of different colors. Not renunciation of work, nor working alone, but renouncing selfish motivation and working for a higher purpose (sannyasa of karma through yoga).
Questions from Chapter 6 deal with Arjuna’s new fears and doubts (BG 6.33-34). First he presents before Kṛṣṇa the difficulty to control the mind as it is very powerful. Even Though it is not a direct question, Arjuna is presenting his concern which contains an implicit question. Arjuna is like a student who is telling his teacher: “This topic is very difficult to understand.” Kṛṣṇa’s encouraging answer to this (overcoming the power of the mind by suitable practice and detachment) raises Arjuna’s new doubt - What will happen if one doesn't make it all the way through? Will he perish like a riven cloud? Kṛṣṇa is quite sensitive and can feel Arjuna’s anxiety. He therefore first pacifies him that a transcendentalist is never overcome by evil. He then explains to Arjuna the whole sequence of alternatives of what happens to the soul when leaving the present body and encourages him to always be a yogi.
At the end of chapter 7, Lord Sri introduces some terminologies about Himself to Arjuna, which baffle him and thus in the beginning of Chapter 8, ArKṛṣṇajuna immediately asks the Lord to explain these. BG 8.01-02 Thus it reveals Arjuna’s eagerness to understand these new terms.
In order to declare the Superiority and Divinity of the Lord for all times to come, Arjuna asks the Lord to explain all His different opulences (vibhutis) as well as His universal form (Virat-rupa) in chapters 10 and 11. Also, when Krishna declares the importance and glory of remembering him in the Chatur-Shloki Gita (10.08-11), Arjuna asks how Krishna can be remembered while functioning in the world (10.17).
Most of the questions that Arjuna asks are connected to what Kṛṣṇa speaks in the previous discussion. But some of Arjuna’s questions are actually not connected to the actual context of the Gita; they are based on themes Arjuna has heard earlier in his life, themes that he wants to understand in the light of the Gita. Arjuna’s questions in chapter 13 fall in this latter category. Here, he wants to know about the system of sankhya, within which these terms are common, and about how that system fits into Krishna’s teachings in the Gita.
After the detailed explanation of the sankhya philosophy and how the modes of material nature bind us, Arjuna asks what are the symptoms and behaviors of those who have transcended the modes and how to do it - BG 14.21. Even Though Kṛṣṇa explains the internal and external characteristics of those who have transcended the modes, He ultimately stresses that no level of philosophical and intellectual understanding of how the modes bind us will help us, if we don't have bhakti in our heart. The only means to ultimate freedom and to transcending the modes is undeviating bhakti-yoga (14.26 - this is also the only verse that we find the occurrence of the compound-word ‘bhakti-yoga.’
Throughout chapter 16, we get to know the sharp contrast between the demoniac and divine qualities - the ungodly faithlessly reject scripture and follow their lower desires, whereas the godly faithfully follow scripture and restrain their lower desires . Krishna safely assures Arjuna that he is on the good white side whereas Duryodhana is on the wrong black side. Thus Arjuna’s question in chapter 17 (BG 17.01) about all the shades of grey in between is remarkable in a sense that he wants to gain a holistic understanding of reality, not just a self-congratulatory picture of things.
There is only one question in the last chapter of Gita BG 18.01 - what is the difference between sannyasa (outer renunciation of action) and tyaga (inner renunciation of attachments to the fruits of action). At the Gita’s start, Arjuna was torn between two options: fight and become entangled in the bad karma of killing his relatives or renounce and fail in his duty as a kshatriya. Krishna offered him a middle way: fight as a duty without attachment to the results (02.47). Thereafter, Krishna reinforced that theme of detachment-in-engagement from different perspectives: the karma-yoga perspective in the first six chapters (e.g. 03.30, 05.12) and the bhakti-yoga perspective in the next six chapters (e.g. 09.27, 11.33). Arjuna’s question suggests that he wanted to understand that theme from the jnana-yoga perspective presented in chapters 13-17.
Arjuna’s questions throughout the Gita show is unashamed eagerness to learn, his amazing attentiveness while listening to Kṛṣṇa explanations, he wants to understand clearly with vivid examples and he seeks practical guidelines, which he can apply in his life. He was the top student for Krishna to reveal this treasure-house of knowledge and realizations within the Bhagavad-gita.