Pearls of Sri Bhagavat Gita - Chapter 1.45, 46

                                                     

Bg 1.45,46

aho bata mahat pāpaṁ
kartuṁ vyavasitā vayam
yad rājya-sukha-lobhena
hantuṁ sva-janam udyatāḥ

yadi mām apratīkāram
aśastraṁ śastra-pāṇayaḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus
tan me kṣema-taraṁ bhavet

Translation: 

Alas, we made efforts to commit great sin, by attempting to kill our own people, due to greed for the pleasures of the kingdom. It will be better for me if the sons of Dhritarashtra with arms in their hands; kill me in the war, myself not fighting back and being without arms.

                                                                    Import:

1) Arjuna said" I do not know already how to relieve myself from the sins due to my participation in gambling; but we are once again going to commit another sin."

But Sri Krishna replied " But whatever atrocities the Kauravas had done is also sin; therefore you have the right to fight against them."

Arjuna replied " Even still; the result of this war is only insignificant Rajyam ( Kingdom ) simply to satisfy ones own greed.

Sri Krishna Replied " But Sri Rama also fought in the war and also killed female demons not for insignificant pleasures but for the welfare of the whole world"

Sri Krishna said to arjuna " If you dont kill them; they will kill you ? "

Arjuna Replied " Its alright even if they kill me " . Its not out of fear Arjuna replied like this, Arjuna knew perfectly that he will win the war; but its due to his soft heart filled with compassion for his brothers he desisted from the war. He feared " If i killed them which is not according to relegious principles; he will incur sins

2) mahat pāpaṁ: After Hanuman was captured by Ravana; he decided to kill Hanuman as he did not follow the codes of a Messenger by killing many soldiers of Lanka; but Vibhishana  replied " Still on account of him being a Dhoota ( Messenger ) its Maha Papam ( a great sin ) to kill a messenger. Similarly Arjuna replied " Although the Kauravas had humiliated Draupadi and also tried to kill us; still if i kill them for the pleasure of my kingdom its a great sin.

 

Pearls of Sri Bhagavat Gita - Chapter 1.44

                                                       

Bg 1.44

utsanna-kula-dharmāṇāṁ
manuṣyāṇāṁ janārdana
narake niyataṁ vāso
bhavatīty anuśuśruma

Translation: 

Hey Krishna( Destroyer of Oppenents ), we have heard that eternal living in hell takes place of people who destroy the family virtues.

                                                                     Import:

1)  janārdana = One who is the destroyer of birth and death of his devotees.

 2) One can destroy our pappam ( sins ) by 2 ways

     a) Through Prayascittam

     b) By deeply regretting our mistakes.

Simply by doing wrong things again and again consciously and performing prayascittam will not work. Hence Arjuna felt; simply by fighting and killing and then doing prayascittam is of no use.

Only when we do any wrong things by mistake and if we deeply regret it and ensure we do not repeat it again; bhagavan will destroy our sins

Arjuna also felt that there could be many Bhagavatha Utthamas ( topmost devotees of Sri Hari ) in the opponent side and thus killing them will incur topmost Bhagavatha Apacharam ( Offence commited unto devotees of of Supreme Lord Sri Hari ) and thus he would go to Naraka ( Hell ).

Vedanta in Practical World - A Driving School

The Trainer sits beside the Learner driver of a car and instructs and guides him to adjust the gear, clutch and brakes of his vehicle to drive the car.
The Learner Driver is none other than the Jivatma, the Vehicle is nothing but the material body which is controlled and driven by the jivatma, the Trainer is none other than the Paramatma who sits close besides the jivatma and instructs and influences him in his journey in life to perform different actions based on the proportion of Papa- Punya Karma and the proportion of the 3 Gunas ( Sattva, Rajas and Tamas ) associated with the jivatma.
When the Learner Driver of a car refuses to follow the instruction of the Trainer; he meets with an accident, similarly our repeated refusal to listen to the instructions of the supreme lord from within as Paramatma and without through instructions of vedas and Spiritual Master will cause us to take repeated births and deaths in this Material world.

Pearls of Sri Bhagavat Gita - Chapter 1.43

                                                         

Bg 1.43

doṣair etaiḥ kula-ghnānāṁ
varṇa-saṅkara-kārakaiḥ
utsādyante jāti-dharmāḥ
kula-dharmāś ca śāśvatāḥ

Translation: 

By these sins of the destroyers of the family, causing such mixing of castes, eternal virtues of caste and the virtues of family also are destroyed.

                                                                     Import:

1) śāśvatāḥ: Varnashrama Kula Dharma have not been discovered recently, but its there and being practised eternally since time immemorial. Hence one must not give up ones authorized Kula Dharma which is practised from generations to generations.

2) jāti-dharmāḥ: It includes the 4 divisions such as Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. They are all coming from different parts of body of the Lord.

3) The Supreme Lord himself protected the Kulam of the Pandavas by protecting Parikshith from the weopen released by Ashwathama

Pearls of Sri Bhagavat Gita - Chapter 1.41, 1.42

                                                           

Bg 1.41,42

adharmābhibhavāt kṛṣṇa
praduṣyanti kula-striyaḥ
strīṣu duṣṭāsu vārṣṇeya
jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ

saṅkaro narakāyaiva
kula-ghnānāṁ kulasya ca
patanti pitaro hy eṣāṁ
lupta-piṇḍodaka-kriyāḥ

Translation: 

Hey Krishna, with the rising of Adharma, the family women become bad. With the women becoming bad; mixing of castes takes place. The mixing of Castes leads only to hell to those who destroy the family and the family also. The pitrus of these people fall indeed deprived of pinda and tarpana.

                                                                      Import:

Only if women take care of Kulam; Kulam will sustain; and only if women takes care of Kulam; man can achieve anything or do anything further. Vali said to Sri Rama in his death bed " Do you know why you have done this? its because Sita was not there by your side " .

The whole world revolves on the great responsibilities of women and family duties, When they give up resposibilities --> Varna Sankaram ( Mixing of castes) takes place --> Thus Kula Acharam ( traditional assigned duties ordained to each caste )will go away --> Hence people will stop doing Karmas --> Thus Pitrus ( forefathers) will fall devoid of sacrifices.

Because the vedas are injuctions of the Supreme Lord Sri Hari; If we perform it; the Supreme Lord will become pleased; else it will lead to unecessary problems in life.

Vedanta in Nature - A Baby Bird and its Nest.

A baby bird lives in a nest, is nourished by its parents and learns to fly. When the time comes for it to leave the nest because of unknown causes such as when the tree is cut; it utilizes its ability to fly and easily finds an another nest. The Tree is nothing but our Material Body and the baby bird is nothing but Atma ( Soul ) living within the material body, the ability to fly is nothing but wisdom in vedanta ( deep understanding of relationship between atma and Paramatma ) which is taught by the Mother Bird which is none other than an Acharya who blesses us with the Sword of Knowledge by which our deep rooted ajnana is destroyed. The new nest the bird finds is nothing but the Supreme Destination 'Sri Vaikuntha' which is attained by those vidwans who are blessed with the above knowledge.