Chapter 18 Shloka 78

यत्र योगेश्वर: कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धर:।

तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ।।७८।।

Wherever there is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga,

along with Partha, the wielder of the bow,

there, prosperity, victory, divine glory

and steadfast strategy will exist.

This is my confirmed belief.

Chapter 18 Shloka 78

यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः।

तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ।।७८।।

Now Sanjay speaks on his own behalf:

Wherever there is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, along with Partha, the wielder of the bow, there, prosperity, victory, divine glory and steadfast strategy will exist. This is my confirmed belief.

O seeker of the discerning intellect Abha! First of all you must understand the connotation of some terms.

Yogeshwar (योगेश्वर)

1. The Lord of Yoga.

2. One who knows all the secrets of Yoga.

3. One who knows every method of the attainment of Yoga.

4. One who knows the means towards unity.

5. One who has the ability to accomplish union on the mental plane.

6. One who possesses the ability to bring about the union with the object of one’s desire.

7. The Lord of those powers which can effect union with the desired fruit.

Dhanurdharah (धनुर्धारी) – Wielder of the bow

1. One who is equipped to fight.

2. One who is a brave warrior.

3. One who is prepared to stake his life.

4. One who is courageous by nature.

5. Here, Sanjay uses the term dhanurdhari for Arjuna, describing his undivided ability to engage in action.

6. The dhanurdhari or wielder of the bow, forgets himself and engages in battle.

Now understand that:

1. The Lord seeks nothing for Himself.

2. He has neither any plan nor any benefits to gain in any action.

3. He seeks neither victory nor recognition, nor does He fear defeat.

4. He is ever indifferent towards Himself.

5. He is unaffected by attributes, thus He understands the interplay of those attributes.

6. He is a Gunatit therefore He understands the influences of these attributes.

7. Being a Gunatit, He knows:

–  which attributes are mutually repelling;

–  which attributes attract each other;

–  which attributes are opposed to each other;

–  which attributes are malleable;

–  which attributes are stone-like and difficult to mould;

–  which attributes inspire cowardice in the individual;

–  which attributes inspire courage in an individual;

–  which attributes cause the individual to become a courageous warrior.

8. Being ever unaffected by all attributes, the Lord can look upon each situation with equanimity.

9. Little one, the Lord also knows which attributes are lacking in whomsoever He supports.

Most people are unsuccessful in their personal tasks because of their own lacunae. Their tasks are left incomplete because of the deficiency of their own intellect.

Now remember:

1. The Lord gets the other to perform the task.

2. He also bestows all credit for the success of the job to the other.

Little one, the Lord endows the necessary attributes upon that individual to make him successful in his job.

Now listen carefully. A human being is a hindrance to himself in the path of his own success. If you have been unsuccessful in achieving a chosen goal, you have obviously taken some wrong step which has led to failure. Therefore the Lord is bound to guide you in a direction opposed to what you are used to doing, in order to grant you success.

Therefore it is but natural that the Lord will always seem to be opposed to the one who has approached Him seeking the Truth.

1. The Lord had to cajole Arjuna to fight, even though originally it was Arjuna who was desirous of victory in battle!

2. In the very beginning the Lord pointed out Arjuna’s good and bad points.

3. The Lord thus clarified Arjuna’s intellect and perspective.

It is exceedingly difficult to change a person’s point of view or his intellectual understanding.

1. It is essential that one retains one’s friendship with the needy individual until the sought after fruit is attained.

2. Yet it is also imperative to be able to point out the mistake of the other, to grant him the success for which he aspires.

3. One should be able to break his erroneous concepts and beliefs to grant him the success he seeks.

4. One has to steadily lead him on towards the upward path to success, pointing out his lacunae which prove to be his hindrances.

5. One will be a veritable enemy of that person’s mind, persuading him through varied means, including incessant opposition, in order to grant him his sought after goal.

6. One should also be able to duck if the individual being helped takes offence to anything said or done in the furtherance of his goal.

7. Therefore one will continue to protect the other from himself until he gains the goal he seeks.

8. When you point out the other’s mistake, it is but natural that the other will fight you and be extremely angry with you and abuse you.

9. When the other is thus enraged, you will have to retain your calm and equipoise and also be ready to console and cajole him. As a result of your innate detachment, you will be ever silent about all that transpires with you in the bargain.

Little one, it is only a Yogeshwar or one who has mastered yoga who could identify with an ordinary person like Arjuna and endeavour so persistently for the latter’s success and establishment.

1. Thus the Lord identified with Arjuna.

2. He identified with Arjuna’s desires.

3. He protected Arjuna from his own cowardice.

4. He used several invectives in order to awaken Arjuna.

5. He endowed the highest knowledge in order to grant him success in his aspired goal.

6. He called him ‘friend, dearly beloved, My very own’ and used several other endearments in order to take him towards success.

7. The Lord even renounced His vows in order to grant Arjuna success.

8. He taught Arjuna several strategies in order to seek out his aspired goal.

Niti (नीति) – Strategy

Little one, now understand the true meaning of niti.

1. Niti is a means employed.

2. Niti is a method to gain success in a certain task.

3. Niti is a subtle shrewdness employed for success in one’s task.

4. It is a method of action employed to extract one’s chosen objective from another.

5. It is cajoling another through hidden means.

6. It is a name given to that code of conduct by which one can easily achieve one’s ends without any unpleasantness or quarrel.

7. Niti is another name for revealing a path.

8. Niti is skill in interaction.

Now understand little one, the combination of the divine intellect of Lord Krishna and Arjuna’s physical presence will inevitably grant success. This can only be made possible when:

a) a courageous warrior subjugates himself to a divine intellect;

b) a valiant wielder of weapons – a warrior, yields his body as an instrument in the hands of the Lord;

c) a warrior, possessed of a detached intellect, understands the Lord’s injunctions given in the Gita, and reverently follows them in life as the Lord’s own command;

d) such an aspirant lays both his essence and his manifest form at the Lord’s feet.

Little one,

1. The Lord awakens the other’s intellect.

2. The Lord allows the other to take his own decisions.

3. The Lord encourages the other to do all the work himself.

4. The Lord takes the other forward, engaging the other all the while in practical action.

Thus the aspirant is assured of ‘shri’ or prosperity and ‘vijay’ or victory.

Shri (श्री)

Little one, now understand the connotation of ‘Shri’.

1. Wealth and material assets.

2. Grandeur and glory.

3. Beauty.

4. One endowed with attributes of Truth and divinity.

5. An extraordinary power.

6. An elevated status.

7. Fame and renown.

Those who have subjugated themselves to the Lord will inevitably gain ‘Shri’.

Vijay (विजय) – Victory

When the Lord is with you, success is inevitable – even if it may take a long time to attain. When the Lord is with you, victory will undoubtedly be yours. You will win over all your enemies. Those who wish you ill will ultimately be defeated. No enemy can remain if the Lord is with you.

Little one, your victory will be in consonance with the change wrought within you – whether it be a mental change or a physical, gross change. If you are progressing towards the Atma, you will inevitably develop a dharma akin to that of the Lord. However, if you have some problem at the gross level, the Lord will take you ahead, teaching you various other methods. That Lord of Yoga, Sri Krishna, mounted on His Yogmaya, identifies with all beings. He steadily takes forward each of His devotees for their own personal benefit, descending to their level and urging them towards action which will ultimately lead to their cherished aim.

The Lord’s birth is especially for the protection of those who are embellished with divine attributes, yet do not have the strength to proceed ahead.

Little one,

1. The Lord does not protect the individual but his divine attributes.

2. The Lord is the servitor of those attributes, not of the individual.

Wherever someone calls out to Him for the protection of his virtue, He immediately proceeds to answer that call as the servitor of that virtue. The other may possess a thousand negative traits; the Lord pays no heed to those, but goes about protecting the least speck of a divine quality that inheres in that being. Just as a valiant man risks his own life to save a child who has fallen into fire, so also, if there is an element of divinity within you, the Lord will come speedily to protect it even at the risk of His life. And it is possible that, in the bargain, the fire of your anger burns Him in its flames!

Whichever tendency of yours calls out to the Lord with truth, that tendency is bound to attain victory.

Bhuti (भूति) – Divine glory

Bhuti is synonymous with Vibhuti. It means:

a) fortune,

b) success,

c) establishment,

d) divine prowess,

e) entity, existence,

f) greatness,

g) beneficent energy,

h) light.

Little one, where the Lord Himself stands beside Arjuna, the wielder of the bow, there:

1. Victory is inevitable.

2. Shri is certain.

3. Vibhuti is assured.

4. The Lord’s steadfast strategy is ever present.

One who seeks nothing for self, will inevitably suggest strategies for the other’s success.

1. Whatever may be our goal, the Lord guides us towards it through shrewd strategies.

2. The Lord Himself tells us the strategy for the successful fruition of our spiritual endeavour.

3. The Lord even shows us the path towards our worldly goals.

4. He shows us the correct method for dealing and interacting with the world.

The ordinary man of the world and the divine Lord both present a similar appearance. The only difference is that of Niti. The Lord utilises no strategy for His own establishment.