Chapter 2 Shloka 5

गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके।

हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान्।।५।।

Arjuna continued:

It is better to partake of alms without slaying

these venerable teachers, rather than partake

of worldly pleasures soaked with the blood of

these elders who are desirous of wealth and material goods.

Chapter 2 Shloka 5

गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके।

हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान्।।५।।

Arjuna continued:

It is better to partake of alms without slaying these venerable teachers, rather than partake of worldly pleasures soaked with the blood of these elders who are desirous of wealth and material goods.

To absolve himself from all blame and to establish his misplaced principles, Arjuna repeats his justification by quoting knowledge. In doing this he is going against his own nature; he is seeking to escape from this battle and hide his moha.

He alludes to his Guru as an ‘anubhavi’ forgetting that a true Guru must be:

1. An example of greatness and righteousness;

2. One who guides us towards abidance in Brahm;

3. One who guides us towards a life dedicated to the Supreme;

4. One who directs us towards Truth in its entirety;

5. One who imparts the practical knowledge of truth and untruth;

6. One who takes us on the northward path (towards luminescence or heaven-wards);

7. One who directs us away from the southward path (from darkness or hell);

8. One who guides us in the practice of divine qualities.

Who is an Anubhavi (अनुभवी)?

a) One who has passed the test of practical knowledge;

b) One whose life is proof of that knowledge;

c) One whose daily life and actions is a constant flow of knowledge;

d) One who embodies the scriptural tenets in his life.

Therefore, the knowledge of the Anubhavi is tested and manifest through his life. His knowledge is not based merely on scriptural theory, but on his life’s experience.

In fact, one can easily comprehend the Scriptures and the translation of divinity in life through such a one’s living example.

1. What is the love of a detached one?

2. How can one who is justice itself also be the embodiment of compassion?

3. How can one who is ahimsa embodied, involve himself in a bloody war?

4. In his otherwise quiescent life one can witness the thunderous dance of destruction.

5. How can one who is the image of forgiveness quell the wicked and the evil with equal aplomb?

All these seemingly contradictory qualities can indeed be found in the life of a Realised Anubhavi. The secret of their actual unity can be discovered if one witnesses such a one:

1. Their lives demonstrate how one who performs all actions can indeed be a non-doer;

2. They prove that one may partake of all pleasures and yet be a non-participant.

It is only they who fully understand, through practice, how a gunatit (one who has transcended all qualities) is a fount of those very qualities; and how a Sthit Pragya or one established firmly in the Truth, is completely identified with each being.

Arjuna called Dronacharya an ‘Anubhavi’; this was an undue credit given. An Anubhavi has no strong likes and dislikes and never resorts to injustice; he takes no cognisance of the enmity of another, nor does he abide in egoistic pride. He is not influenced by his own or another’s qualities.

Dronacharya was bound by likes and dislikes. He supported injustice and was egoistic, greedy and influenced by gunas. Thus he was not fit to be called an Anubhavi. Arjuna himself acknowledges here that it was not befitting to kill his Gurus ‘who were besotted with materialistic gains’.

Such a Guru cannot be revered for he is neither a Knower of Brahm, nor does he have any faith in the Supreme.

It was not only right but imperative that Arjuna should have dissociated himself from a Guru like Dronacharya. It was only right that he should fight a Guru who was aiding and abetting sinners. Yet, Arjuna continues to preach to Lord Krishna, failing to recognise the very Embodiment of Knowledge standing before him!