Bhagavad-Gita - Chapter I, Verse 7-8

THE SEVEN COMMANDERS OF IGNORANCE

asmakam tu visista ye tannibodhavijottama
nayakah mama sainyasya samjnartham tan bravimi te bhavanbhismasca karnasca krpasca samitinjayah asvattama vikarnasca sauadattistathaiva ca

Oh, chief of Brahmins, Guru Dronacharya, the leader of my army, please now know that I shall mention, for your information, those who are most distinguished commanders among us. Besides your invincible self, there are Bhishma, Karna, Kripa - ever-victorious in battle - Asvatthama, Vikarna and Saumadatti (Bhurishraba).

Having seen the powerful soldiers of Pandava, the spiritual party, Duryodhana, the leader of the human mind, got nervous and felt that his side might not win the battle. Therefore, he first flattered his Guru, Dronacharya by saying, "In our regiment you are the topmost warrior, because you are the Guru of both the Kauravas and the Fandavas; undoubtedly, no one can win the battle." The next warrior is the commander-in-chief, Bhishma, followed by the warriors Karna, Kripa, Asvatthama, Vikarna and Jayadratha (son of Somadatta).

The preceding chapter discusses the warriors of Kaurava (our biological forces) in detail. In every human being there are two qualities. One is evil and the other is good. Generally, human beings remain absorbed in the material world: memory, prosperity, pleasure of senses, concern with status, addiction, fear, weakness of mind, delusion and doubt. They think they are very rich and will remain extremely happy with these qualities and properties. This is all ignorance. Dronacharya is the Guru of both the Kauravas and Pandavas. Dronacharya means a man of vacillating temperament. If a person is always fickle, how can he win in the battle of human life? Fickleness cannot attain peacefulness.

The second warrior of Kaurava, Bhisma, is the commander-in-chief. Bhishma means a false sense of prestige and firm determination of mind. He has a strong ego and is determined not to see the face of Shikhandi. If this resolution is maintained by the commander-in-chief, how can he fight when he sees Shikhandi standing before him? Thus, all human beings remain absorbed in the material world with fickleness and we are not willing to fight our evil propensities. Therefore, we cannot gel peace.

The third warrior is Karna, who is dangerous and very powerful. Karna means our ears. Our ears are always willing to hear melodious songs. We are always busy with TV or radio. Early in the morning we set our radios to go on when we are sleeping. Having heard the sound, we will be enticed. In this way we have no morning sacrifice to God. We are not praying, not meditating - not even telling God, "Oh, Lord! I was extremely tired last night and You have given me a nice rest in the night, and I am indebted to You. In the morning I have gained fresh energy and agility, so I offer my gross, astral and causal body to Thee. If You do not inhale through my nose, I am a dead body; You are the sole doer in me; You are inhaling through me." But we do not do this. We are always absorbed with the melodious songs, gossiping, scandal-mongering, finding fault and weakness in others, and other bad habits. Kama means ear. If you speak ill of someone, something which is not true, our ears will believe it and will cherish the misconception and misimpression.

The fourth warrior is Kripa, which means attachment and attraction. Suppose you see some beautiful flowers or an attractive human being with your eyes? Your heart and mind will immediately be absorbed. You will be attached and absorbed in that, and you will totally forget that you cannot be absorbed without Soul. We are not perceiving Soul, as we are absorbed in matter and memory. We have fickleness and restlessness of the heart. Through this, we will get heart trouble and many types of diseases in the body. Thus, we do not have peace, which is our birthright.

The fifth soldier of Kuru paksha, which means our biological force, is Asvatthama, the son of Dronacharya. Dronacharya is fickle and so his son is also very restless. The metaphorical meaning of Asvatthama is endless desire. When one desire is fulfilled, immediately another desire comes. These desires are the main hinderance of Soul Culture for every human being. Until a devotee can remove his ambitions, his extrovert stage, he cannot perceive the truth of life and cannot get peace of mind.

The sixth soldier is Vikarna. Metaphorically, Vikarna means disbelieving in a person. The person may be innocent, but on the basis of having heard something against him, without determining whether it is right or wrong, takes drastic action against him. Likewise, people in general remain very far from Truth. When people say that self-realization is very difficult, we believe it without remembering that the Self is always within us. Without Self we would have no sight, no sound, no touch sensation, no passion, and no anger. We would not have any life in our body. Self is doing everything. If we follow the Bhagavad-gita and practice Kriya Yoga, we can perceive, conceive and realize the Self in our every work. But we do not do it, because we are Vikarna. We have heard many things against it, and that firm belief does not allow us to judge what is right or what is wrong.

Saumadatti is the seventh solder of the Kauravas. Saumadatti is the son of Somadatta; his name is Bhurishraba, also. Bhur means extreme, and sraha means hear. Bhurishraba is one who hears a lot of things, so his mind is bewildered. Suppose somebody hears much about Hinduism, Islam of Judaism, and his mind is changed. He leaves his own religion and follows the religion of some other person. In this way he is bewildered and perceives nothing. In the Bhagavad-gita, 3rd Chapter, 35th verse and 18th Chapter, 47th verse, it is written that everyone should follow his own religion. It is wise to die remaining in your own religion; you should not follow the religion of other persons. In this world we find that many people are like Bhurishraba. They hear much and talk about many religions, but they have accepted neither their own religion nor that of others. That type of person cannot perceive the Truth and gain the ultimate goal of their life.

AUM