Chapter 1: Arjuna Viṣhāda Yoga – Transforming Grief into Yoga / Verse 47

For any famous heroic fighter to put his weapons down and be drowned in grief right in the battlefield, where he stands to display his rare skills, is unthinkable. But, this is what the great fighter Arjuna did! The world was witnessing such a scene perhaps for the first time.

Its implications are complex, ever-relevant. No human will have the desired strength and resolve, if he relies only on the efficacy of external possessions, and the mental and intellectual attainments. For, all these may desert the possessor or become worthless in the absence of inner strength.

The real strength springs from the Soul within, the one abiding presence everyone refers to as ‘I’. The earlier this is recognized, the better. Spirituality commences from here. Its pursuit is inner, but the effects visible and universal!

For Arjuna thus, the dawning of spiritual quest was through grief. Grief, when introspected over, will take one to the inner blissful Self, redressing grief for ever.