The Bhagavad-gita begins with an expression of meekness that may be misconstrued as a sign of abject weakness: the surrender to God of a strong-bodied, virile warrior, Arjuna (02.07).
Yet the Gita concludes with the supposedly weak warrior enthusiastically empowered, with bow upraised in resolute readiness to discharge his duty as a heroic warrior (18.78).
This points to the counterintuitive truth that meekness before God is not weakness, but the way to overcome weakness. What weakens us is not the external expression of meekness such as prayer, but the internal invasion of impurities such as tension, confusion and dejection that sap our determination. Meekness before God connects us with his supreme strength, empowering us to counter such inner weaknesses.
Unfortunately, not being able to perceive the weakening effect of the inner impurities and the strengthening effect of devotion to Krishna, we mistake meekness to be weakness. Such misperception is like a sickness-induced hallucination that makes patients mistake the cure for their suffering to be its cause.
What is the spiritual sickness that perverts our vision?
The craving for independence induced by the false ego.
We are souls, parts of Krishna, who by nature are meant to love and serve him. Such submissive connection with him brings the supreme happiness and comprises our eternal liberated existence. But the false ego, the vortex of our spiritual sickness, makes us mistake independence from Krishna to be strength and dependence on him to be weakness.
Fortunately, we have our God-given intelligence, and we can boost it by open-minded scriptural study. This combination of personal and scriptural intelligence can persuade us to at least try out the remedy of meekly taking shelter of Krishna. By thus uprooting the ego, we can realize how meekness is not weakness, but the way to overcome weakness.
Really cogent and succinct article PG, your articles are source of practical Krishna consciousness. I feel so much connected with BG and it make intuitive sense after reading this. Specially the emphasis on how negative emotions are saping our energy and how to reclaim it with amenability unto lotus feet of Krishna.
Thanks PG for this great service may God fulfill all your desires. Besides I must say your articles always give a side benefit of improving one’s vocabulary specially for students/ people preparing for GRE, GMAT, CAT etc.