We talked about the literary meanings of the first 8 or so shlokas. Now the real meaning . (that I understand , as was told by Yoganand. ) To get perspective on these one must understand the characters in the Mahabharata and their real meaning as was stated in the past . One must also , to some extent know the general concepts of Hinduism and how there are 3 bodies, how they are made and their composition. We will also talk about various stories that go with these characters and how they are related to the meaning and how they play in the evolution of the soul and it's uplifting, so that finally we can be with HIM and escape from cycle of birth and death.
1. The war that occurred did occur, but the war that is refereed in the Geeta is the war that occur inside us , between good and bad , and between the right and wrong. e.g. we need to loose , or one is diabetic and should not eat sugary things , but we 'succomb ' to the temptations and do what we should not do . So in the first shloka the 'battle field ' is our body and the fight is between our attachment to 5 sense organs (may called lust ) and the desire to control them with the meditation .
Drithrashtra signifies 'mind ' , as we know the 'mind ' is 'blind ' . It does not take in to account the consequences of our actions.In the previous example--we will gain weight and the diabetes will be out of control etc . and we eat . The intellect is the one which more rational. So the fight is between 'mind ' and the 'intelect ' .We have 5 sense organs and 5 organs of actions. (smell , touch, see. here, taste and speech, hands for the grasping, legs for locomotion, procreation and excretion. ) The 'children ' of the blind mind are 10 defects of each of these 10 , and so these are the 100 sons of Drithrashtra or the Kaurawas. As one recollects the Pandu represents the Intellect or Buddhi and their 5 children are the 5 pandawas, born when the intelect is 'united' with the 5 'chakras and the control over 5 great elements.
So the real meaning of the first one is that the blind mind asked how are the all the attachments (through mind works) are doing in the fight with the intelect and it's meditation efforts controlling the 5 chakras.
2. The king of all the attractions, the lust , the desires etc, is the Duryodhana. So when we are looking for the help , our actions are directed by our previous experiences and the impressions that we carry from our previous actions. e.g If we had eaten pizza in past and liked it , then when we are hungry ( or even when we are not hungry , but we see pizza we want to eat it ---engage in the action of eating. . )These are called impressions or ' Saunskara ' , that are carried in the astral body from one life to other. The Dronacharya represents these 'past impressions ' . These could be good or bad . So why is Dronacharya on the side of 'bad ' ?The answer is that most of us have more attachment to the sense organ desires and less to the good habits . Also when we are fighting we are likely to have more undesirable impressions than good ones. (that is the reason we are still 'fighting ' and not successful . ) During these times the past impressions are likely to take side of the bad or desires.
So the real meaning of this one is that the Son of the blind mind -king of the desires turned to the past impressions ( to guide him in the fight with the good actions . )
3. He -Duryodhana said that the army of sons of the Pandu is arranged by your student, son of Drupada. If one considers the Pandu the intelect or Buddhi to be guiding us in the fight, we need to know who is going to help and how do we improve the chances of the success. The answer is repeated efforts to control our sense organs and have pure actions and do meditation .So the army of Pandawas is going to be the good habits and the qualities that will be discussed latter related to meditation . In this shloka the name Drupada comes in . Many may not know him and only some may remember him . (so why is he mentioned here, if it;s just the another name? ) The answer is that Drupada was childhood friend of the Drona. Drupad is dispassion for the material enjoyment. In the Mahabharata story, these two friends were together in earlier part of their life , but then the Drupada became the king of state called Panchal. Then Drona wanted some cows , and went to the king Drupad and he did not help him and drove him out. So then Drona got angry and called his students at that time , --the Kaurawas and the Pandawas , The Arjuna went and defeated Drupada and was caught and then Drona released him , but allowed him to 'rule ' only 'southern ' half of the kingdom. Drupada was defeated but not going to quit. So he did a 'Yadnya ' , and got blessing from it and then had a son called Drishtadyumna (meaning -calm inner perception ) He was also taught by Drona . And he is the one who is now on the side of the Pandawas and is guiding rest of the army in the battle .
So now when one tries to meditate and try to run away from doing bad things , his previous habits and the impressions that they have left (Drona ) will try to disturb it , ask him to help him . In the early part of our efforts we are not likely to be successful but likely to succumb to old habits and impressions and loose the battle and will be 'bound ' by them . (This the defeat of the Drupada-dispassion for material things, by previous impressions -Drona . ) Now with more efforts and ' sacrifice ' ---Yadnya-, we will be successful . When we loose in our earlier efforts we do not go back to level 1 , but continue to have some control left , usually in the lower levels --so called southern part of the kingdom --which is our body . With efforts we are successful and this 'fruit ' of our effort will help us and guide us . One may ask why do we need 'help ' if we are successful . The answer is , just because we are successful once , does not mean that we will be free of all the attractions. (one can look at any Rhushi-sage from Vishmamitra to Durwas to know that we need to continue the efforts and be vigilant all the time . )
So the real meaning is that the inner calmness which comes after great sacrifice and efforts will guide the us in the battle against bad impressions and bad habits .
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