The human dilemma

We are afflicted beings. The truly fortunate find a sadguru, who is capable of dispelling our ignorance. But we expect the guru to dispel our ignorance, with no effort of our own. We expect him to work miracles in spite of our stubbornness.

In the gītā, arjuna approaches none other than bhagavān srī kṛṣṇa himself, and spells out his ignorance. In return, in the first few verses of the second chapter, bhagavān starts his upadeśa. What is the result? arjuna continues to defend his poor judgement.

bhagavad-vacanam etat śrutvā, … duḥkham asahamānaḥ san, uktam eva arthaṁ viśeṣayitum arjuna uvāca . (tātparya-bodhinī)

arjuna may have heard what kṛṣṇa had to say, but he did not truly listen. He simply continues with his tirade. Quite representative of the seeker, mired in saṁsāra, isn’t he? And he isn’t the average seeker. arjuna after all means suddha-svabhāvaḥ, or the pure one. Not surprising, given that his own pūrva-karma entitled him to kṛṣṇa as his guru.