Chapter ONE

Arjun was a warrior.
Not just any, but the best of his times....
Landed up in the battle field,
in a war he didnt want to fight,
with people he didnt want ever
to come face to face against...
in the middle of a time when his mind was in a jitter,
the soul was in a fritter...
and peace was nowhere in sight...

But he had a friend.
The ONE full of wit and wisdom,
love and enchantment,
mischief and depth...

There they were:
staring at the fields
full of chariots, elephants,
swords armors and shields...

Disheartened and demoralised
as he saw his kin,
pondered Arjun: traumatised...
Why do i need to fight?
Why cant i simply pursue
the peace in which my heart delights?

what would i gain even if i did compete?
what would i gain by indulging in this meaningless strife?
what is the point of doing things
that dont let me shine in peace and light..

What is this fake name,
that anyway is in the grave going to hide..
and what would i do earning the glory
of a society
that honors might over right?

I dont really care...
i dont want to fight...
take me to the mountains
to meditate and get some insight...

Lucky indeed was he
for he had made his guide...
the ONE full of wisdom,
the spark of the all-might...

Holding the reins of his chariot,
appearing annoyed, hiding a smile:
sang the guardian of knowledge,
to dispel the ignorance
thru words of inner light....

and thousands of year later
stands me in the middle
of the night...
pondering: am i so far from
where Arjun was?
torn between whats easy and whats right?
what you need to do
and instead what u actually might?
between what the world honors
and what this little brain deems right?
between blaming the whole wide world
and the little self inside it...
all this time why did u not do it right?
are you sure if you really want
all the struggle and the fight...
why not just take the simple easy way of delight?
saying this to myself
i open the little booklet
Bhagavad Gita: the song of enlightenment
let us see what brought Arjun to light?

Chapter : The TWO!

Steps to light!

Turning to the ONE,
filled with remorse, confusion and plight
Arjuna said....
Oh dear i am lost!
please show me the way back to light!

not knowing what is dharma or adharma
neither right from wrong...
not desiring for name or fame or empire...
nor all the pleasures
just lead me to the way
back home, to respite!


Saying thus,
certain only of his uncertainty
unsure of his own might,
sat down Arjuna,
burdened with confusion,
heavy and burning in his plight....

Seeing his sorrow
and yet with a shining smile
The ONE sang words that
bedazzled Arjun with the Truth,
the Infinity, the light....

Wherefrom have you allowed these dark doubts
to dwell and deepen
and weaken your heart?
In the middle of the battlefield
stands the lion whimpering like a mouse...

Drop the excuses and
defamatory irresponsibility!
shake these weaknesses
and get up
to fight with all your ability!


grieving on that which is not worth,
you're misusing words to sound wise!
Neither regret for that which is gone
Nor worry for the one that hasnt even arrived,
trap the attention of the learned,
No! not at any price....

There never was a time
when you or me
or these people didnt exist
Neither will there be such
when we cease to be!

Just as the body
changes from child to youth to old age,
just as you wear fresh clothes...
just so
you change the body,

the seer doesnt get upset
by the apparent sunset!

fire and ice,
pleasure and despise,
touch but the matter
which is everchanging
with patience and endurance
move toward their fleeting demise!!

The wise doesnt lament,
moving through joy and misery
through all that which is changing,
rooted in the immortal-un-changing
with patience an intensity!

For in the untruth there is no feeling
Nor in their lack lies the truth!
One who sees both beyond lack and abundance,
he alone perceives the reality...

Imperishable is the truth-the life
that pervades all this
Nothing has the power
to mutate or mutilate it!

But that which it pervades -
these bodies
is anyway bound to collapse

Knowing the immortal
that sustains it
with certainty,
immerse in the war
Oh son of the earth!

For both those who appear to lose and die
and those who win in glory or vain,
neither know the immortal ONE,
not the slayer, not the slain!