Krishna and Arjuna

A sad and confused teenager once turned to the local PBS station, because he was tired of being sold sex. money, and lies on all the other networks. He ran across a rather odd show. It was an artsy film adaptation of the Mahabharata, that great Hindu epic. He happened to tune in a bit too late, well into the narrative. He knew that the Mahabharata was a deeply sacred text, and he was suddenly fascinated.

That young fellow didn't know if this version by Peter Brook was faithful or accurate to the source, but he knew that it touched his soul more deeply than he could ever explain. He saw Krishna explain to Arjuna about action, intention, and purpose. The film, offering only the briefest summary of the Bhagavad Gita, asked him to consider detachment.

"I am in anguish. I can't see where my duty lies! Teach me."

"Victory and defeat are the same. . . Seek detachment, fight without desire."

"Renunciation is not enough. You must act, yet action mustn't dominate you. . . In the heart of action, you must remain free from all attachment. "

"You must learn to see with the same eye a mound of earth, and heap of gold. A cow, and a sage. A dog, and the man who eats the dog. There is another Intelligence, beyond the mind."

"All men are born into illusion! How can one reach the truth, if one is born in illusion?"

"Slowly, Krishna led Arjuna through all the fibers of his spirit. He showed him the deepest movements of his being, and his true battlefield, where you need neither warriors, nor arrows. For each man must fight alone."

"I am all that you think, all that you say. Everything hangs on me, like pearls on a thread. I am the earth's scent, and the fire's heat. I am appearance, and disappearance. I am the trickster's hoax. I am the radiance of all that shines. I am time grown old. All beings fall into the night. And all beings are brought back to daylight."

"I have already defeated all these warriors. But he who thinks he can kill, and he who thinks he can be killed, are both mistaken."

"No weapon can pierce the life that informs you. No fire can burn it. No water can drench it. No wind can make it dry. Have no fear, and rise up. . . "

". . . Because I love you."

That silly young fellow started crying, and the folks he was with thought he was slightly insane. To this day, he thinks he finally became slightly more sane.

Written in 3/1997

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B4Z1PB97KY