Srimad Bhagavad Gita is a text that has been commented upon by many saints, seers, scholars and even freedom fighters.
In one such classic commentary by Adi Shankaracharya called the Shankara Bhashya, the master throws light on the crux of the human problem in the introduction to the Gita.
Bringing the scene of the battlefield to our mind, he says that Arjuna looks at all the people in the opposing faction and thinks aloud, “Aham Esham Mama Ete” meaning “I am this (the body and mind) and these (bodies and minds) in front of me are mine.” Besides labelling this thought as “mad” and “deluded”, Adi Shankaracharya presents a beautiful life equation to show how these thoughts go on to destroy our present lives and also pave the way for future. Due to these two deluded thoughts of “I am this and these people are mine”, Arjuna developed two main emotions called sneha (attachment) and viccheda (repulsion).
These two emotions, born out of deluded thinking, left Arjuna perplexed. The attachment when gratified gives joy. When we are separated from objects of attachment, which is a very likely possible in this world, we experience sorrow. When sorrow is deep and irreparable, existing for a long period of time, it becomes dense and leads to positive delusion of the mind. Therein arises the question: “How can I kill Bhishma and others with arrows?” A soldier has misplaced compassion for friends and relatives who very knowingly have arranged themselves in the enemy line.
So what happens when our mind is surrounded by the thick clouds of sorrow and delusion? The clear intellect or capacity to think intelligently is shrouded with ignorance. What happens when our intellect is botched up? The individual in this state of mind runs away from the call of duty.
Not just stopping with that, they run after something which they need not do, or take up work which is not their responsibility, or perform forbidden actions.
What happens when they dodge their duty or perform forbidden actions? Or even if they take up their call of duty, how do they do it? They do it with a strong notion of doership, expecting selfish results for those actions.
In the process of doing work in this manner, out of ignorance, they collect results for good or prohibited actions as the case may be. This helps ensure future births. Birth and death are not the mere changes in life time, but it is ridden with its store of joy and sorrow as well. This is called samsara or the wheel of transmigration and constant change. Sorrow and delusion are the seeds of samsara.
Is there a way out? There is none, other than the right knowledge of one’s own true nature, says the Acharya, explaining how Lord Krishna, through Arjuna, gave the knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita to
the whole world so that we may find the way to our true nature and come out of the cycle of birth, suffering and death.
(www.sharanyachaitanya.blogspot.in)