1. Arjuna misuses the name ‘Govinda’

    • Meaning of ‘Govinda’ – Krishna is the object of all pleasures for the cows and the senses
    • What Arjuna indicates by addressing Krishna as ‘Govinda’
      ⇒ He indicates that Krishna should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s senses
      ⇒ Material understanding of God – Materially everyone wants to satisfy his senses and wants God to be his order supplier for such satisfaction

    2. Right conception of the name ‘Govinda’

    • Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent they may covet
    • Because ‘Govinda’ is not meant for satisfying our senses
    • Right conception – When one tries to satisfy the senses of ‘Govinda’ without desiring to satisfy one’s own senses, then by the grace of ‘Govinda’ all the desires of the living entities are satisfied

    Srila Prabhupada now compares typical calculation of material life and transcendental life:

    3. Typical calculation of material life

    • Show off tendency – Everyone wants to show off his opulence to friends and relatives, but Arjuna fears that all of them will be killed on the battlefield
    • To be so-called ‘good man’ – Arjuna did not want to kill his relatives, and even if there was any need to kill them,he desires that Krishna kill them and he should not be involved

    4. Transcendental life  – Devotee wants to satisfy the Lord’s desire

    • Devotee can, Lord willing, accept all kinds of opulences for the service of the Lord
      ⇒ What is the Lord’s desire here – He wants Arjuna to fight
      ⇒ Why Lord is so determined to fight – He can excuse a person on His own account, but he excuses no-one who has done harm to his devotees
      ⇒ By the Lord’s plan they were already killed; He just wants Arjuna to be an instrument
    • If the Lord is not willing, devotee should not accept a farthing (One should give up all selfish likes and dislikes)
      ⇒ Similarly Arjuna is told to execute the Lord’s desire and not to exhibit his own desires
      ⇒ Of course Arjuna’s own desires do reflect the following qualities:
      ▪ Arjuna’s deep affection for community and family is exhibited here partially due to his natural compassion for them
      ▪ As a natural devotee Arjuna did not like to retaliate against his miscreant cousins and brothers.
    ← 1st Argument (1.28-1.30)
    Contents: Chapter 1
    3rd Argument (1.36-1.38) →

    1. Theme of this purport – Blind conception of life exhibited

    2. Arjuna refuses to fight: He appears to have even forgotten the moral codes of a ksatriya

    3. Arjuna’s proposal

    Text 1.32-1.35

    COMMON THEME : Arjuna exhibits “typical calculation of material life”. He feels that fighting will not give him any enjoyment even if he is victorious because:

    • He wants to show off his opulence and share with the society after victory
    • Also if there is any need to kill his relatives, let Krishna kill them
    Learnings from Purport 1.32-1.35

    1. Arjuna misuses the name ‘Govinda’

    • Meaning of ‘Govinda’ – Krishna is the object of all pleasures for the cows and the senses
    • What Arjuna indicates by addressing Krishna as ‘Govinda’
      ⇒ He indicates that Krishna should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s senses
      ⇒ Material understanding of God – Materially everyone wants to satisfy his senses and wants God to be his order supplier for such satisfaction

    2. Right conception of the name ‘Govinda’

    • Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent they may covet
    • Because ‘Govinda’ is not meant for satisfying our senses
    • Right conception – When one tries to satisfy the senses of ‘Govinda’ without desiring to satisfy one’s own senses, then by the grace of ‘Govinda’ all the desires of the living entities are satisfied

    Srila Prabhupada now compares typical calculation of material life and transcendental life:

    3. Typical calculation of material life

    • Show off tendency – Everyone wants to show off his opulence to friends and relatives, but Arjuna fears that all of them will be killed on the battlefield
    • To be so-called ‘good man’ – Arjuna did not want to kill his relatives, and even if there was any need to kill them,he desires that Krishna kill them and he should not be involved

    4. Transcendental life  – Devotee wants to satisfy the Lord’s desire

    • Devotee can, Lord willing, accept all kinds of opulences for the service of the Lord
      ⇒ What is the Lord’s desire here – He wants Arjuna to fight
      ⇒ Why Lord is so determined to fight – He can excuse a person on His own account, but he excuses no-one who has done harm to his devotees
      ⇒ By the Lord’s plan they were already killed; He just wants Arjuna to be an instrument
    • If the Lord is not willing, devotee should not accept a farthing (One should give up all selfish likes and dislikes)
      ⇒ Similarly Arjuna is told to execute the Lord’s desire and not to exhibit his own desires
      ⇒ Of course Arjuna’s own desires do reflect the following qualities:
      ▪ Arjuna’s deep affection for community and family is exhibited here partially due to his natural compassion for them
      ▪ As a natural devotee Arjuna did not like to retaliate against his miscreant cousins and brothers.
    ← 1st Argument (1.28-1.30)
    Contents: Chapter 1
    3rd Argument (1.36-1.38) →

      1. Theme of this purport – Blind conception of life exhibited

      2. Arjuna refuses to fight: He appears to have even forgotten the moral codes of a ksatriya

      3. Arjuna’s proposal

      Text 1.32-1.35

      COMMON THEME : Arjuna exhibits “typical calculation of material life”. He feels that fighting will not give him any enjoyment even if he is victorious because:

      • He wants to show off his opulence and share with the society after victory
      • Also if there is any need to kill his relatives, let Krishna kill them
      Learnings from Purport 1.32-1.35

      1. Arjuna misuses the name ‘Govinda’

      • Meaning of ‘Govinda’ – Krishna is the object of all pleasures for the cows and the senses
      • What Arjuna indicates by addressing Krishna as ‘Govinda’
        ⇒ He indicates that Krishna should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s senses
        ⇒ Material understanding of God – Materially everyone wants to satisfy his senses and wants God to be his order supplier for such satisfaction

      2. Right conception of the name ‘Govinda’

      • Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent they may covet
      • Because ‘Govinda’ is not meant for satisfying our senses
      • Right conception – When one tries to satisfy the senses of ‘Govinda’ without desiring to satisfy one’s own senses, then by the grace of ‘Govinda’ all the desires of the living entities are satisfied

      Srila Prabhupada now compares typical calculation of material life and transcendental life:

      3. Typical calculation of material life

      • Show off tendency – Everyone wants to show off his opulence to friends and relatives, but Arjuna fears that all of them will be killed on the battlefield
      • To be so-called ‘good man’ – Arjuna did not want to kill his relatives, and even if there was any need to kill them,he desires that Krishna kill them and he should not be involved

      4. Transcendental life  – Devotee wants to satisfy the Lord’s desire

      • Devotee can, Lord willing, accept all kinds of opulences for the service of the Lord
        ⇒ What is the Lord’s desire here – He wants Arjuna to fight
        ⇒ Why Lord is so determined to fight – He can excuse a person on His own account, but he excuses no-one who has done harm to his devotees
        ⇒ By the Lord’s plan they were already killed; He just wants Arjuna to be an instrument
      • If the Lord is not willing, devotee should not accept a farthing (One should give up all selfish likes and dislikes)
        ⇒ Similarly Arjuna is told to execute the Lord’s desire and not to exhibit his own desires
        ⇒ Of course Arjuna’s own desires do reflect the following qualities:
        ▪ Arjuna’s deep affection for community and family is exhibited here partially due to his natural compassion for them
        ▪ As a natural devotee Arjuna did not like to retaliate against his miscreant cousins and brothers.
      ← 1st Argument (1.28-1.30)
      Contents: Chapter 1
      3rd Argument (1.36-1.38) →

      2nd Argument - Loss of enjoyment (1.31-1.35)

      Text 1.31

      THEME :  Arjuna in a “blind conception of life” cannot see the right way to achieve even the material happiness. He argues that fighting will not offer him any enjoyment, even by victory.

      Learnings from Purport 1.31

      1. Theme of this purport – Blind conception of life exhibited

      • Without knowing one’s self interest as Vishnu, conditioned souls are attracted by bodily relationships, hoping to be happy in such conditions
      • One even forgets the causes of material happiness

      2. Arjuna refuses to fight: He appears to have even forgotten the moral codes of a ksatriya

      • Moral code of a ksatriya – For Arjuna kingdom is a must for his subsistence because ksatriyas cannot engage themselves in any other occupation
      • Two kinds of men enter the sun globe:
        ⇒ Ksatriya who dies directly in front of the battlefield under Krishna’s personal order.
        ⇒ The person in the renounced order of life who is absolutely devoted to spiritual culture.

      3. Arjuna’s proposal

      • He is reluctant to kill his enemies, what to speak of his relatives – He thinks that by killing them there would be no happiness in his lives
        ⇒ Analogy: Just like a person who does not feel hunger is not inclined to cook
      • He considers himself fit to go to the forest to live a secluded life of frustration.
        ⇒ He wants to escape because his sole opportunity in gaining a kingdom lies in fighting with his cousins and brothers which he does not like to do.
      Text 1.32-1.35

      COMMON THEME : Arjuna exhibits “typical calculation of material life”. He feels that fighting will not give him any enjoyment even if he is victorious because:

      • He wants to show off his opulence and share with the society after victory
      • Also if there is any need to kill his relatives, let Krishna kill them
      Learnings from Purport 1.32-1.35

      1. Arjuna misuses the name ‘Govinda’

      • Meaning of ‘Govinda’ – Krishna is the object of all pleasures for the cows and the senses
      • What Arjuna indicates by addressing Krishna as ‘Govinda’
        ⇒ He indicates that Krishna should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s senses
        ⇒ Material understanding of God – Materially everyone wants to satisfy his senses and wants God to be his order supplier for such satisfaction

      2. Right conception of the name ‘Govinda’

      • Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent they may covet
      • Because ‘Govinda’ is not meant for satisfying our senses
      • Right conception – When one tries to satisfy the senses of ‘Govinda’ without desiring to satisfy one’s own senses, then by the grace of ‘Govinda’ all the desires of the living entities are satisfied

      Srila Prabhupada now compares typical calculation of material life and transcendental life:

      3. Typical calculation of material life

      • Show off tendency – Everyone wants to show off his opulence to friends and relatives, but Arjuna fears that all of them will be killed on the battlefield
      • To be so-called ‘good man’ – Arjuna did not want to kill his relatives, and even if there was any need to kill them,he desires that Krishna kill them and he should not be involved

      4. Transcendental life  – Devotee wants to satisfy the Lord’s desire

      • Devotee can, Lord willing, accept all kinds of opulences for the service of the Lord
        ⇒ What is the Lord’s desire here – He wants Arjuna to fight
        ⇒ Why Lord is so determined to fight – He can excuse a person on His own account, but he excuses no-one who has done harm to his devotees
        ⇒ By the Lord’s plan they were already killed; He just wants Arjuna to be an instrument
      • If the Lord is not willing, devotee should not accept a farthing (One should give up all selfish likes and dislikes)
        ⇒ Similarly Arjuna is told to execute the Lord’s desire and not to exhibit his own desires
        ⇒ Of course Arjuna’s own desires do reflect the following qualities:
        ▪ Arjuna’s deep affection for community and family is exhibited here partially due to his natural compassion for them
        ▪ As a natural devotee Arjuna did not like to retaliate against his miscreant cousins and brothers.
      ← 1st Argument (1.28-1.30)
      Contents: Chapter 1
      3rd Argument (1.36-1.38) →
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