Bg. 18.73

BG 18.73
Srila Prabhupada 100+

Devanagari

नष्टो मोह: स्मृतिर्लब्धा त्वत्प्रसादान्मयाच्युत । स्थितोऽस्मि गतसन्देह: करिष्ये वचनं तव ॥ ७३ ॥

Verse text

arjuna uvāca naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā tvat-prasādān mayācyuta sthito ’smi gata-sandehaḥ kariṣye vacanaṁ tava

Synonyms

arjunaḥ uvāca Arjuna said ; naṣṭaḥ dispelled ; mohaḥ illusion ; smṛtiḥ memory ; labdhā regained ; tvat-prasādāt by Your mercy ; mayā by me ; acyuta O infallible Kṛṣṇa ; sthitaḥ situated ; asmi I am ; gata removed ; sandehaḥ all doubts ; kariṣye I shall execute ; vacanam order ; tava Your.

Translation

Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

73. Arjuna said: My delusion has been destroyed, and my memory has been restored by Your mercy, O Acyuta. I remain without doubts, and will follow Your instructions.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

73. Arjuna said: My delusion has been destroyed, and my correct vision has been restored by Your mercy, O Acyuta. I remain without doubts, and will follow Your instructions.

Purport

The constitutional position of a living entity, represented by Arjuna, is that he has to act according to the order of the Supreme Lord. He is meant for self-discipline. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that the actual position of the living entity is that of eternal servant of the Supreme Lord. Forgetting this principle, the living entity becomes conditioned by material nature, but in serving the Supreme Lord he becomes the liberated servant of God. The living entity’s constitutional position is to be a servitor; he has to serve either the illusory māyā or the Supreme Lord. If he serves the Supreme Lord he is in his normal condition, but if he prefers to serve the illusory, external energy, then certainly he will be in bondage. In illusion the living entity is serving in this material world. He is bound by his lust and desires, yet he thinks of himself as the master of the world. This is called illusion. When a person is liberated, his illusion is over, and he voluntarily surrenders unto the Supreme to act according to His desires. The last illusion, the last snare of māyā to trap the living entity, is the proposition that he is God. The living entity thinks that he is no longer a conditioned soul, but God. He is so unintelligent that he does not think that if he were God, then how could he be in doubt? That he does not consider. So that is the last snare of illusion. Actually to become free from the illusory energy is to understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and agree to act according to His order. The word moha is very important in this verse. Moha refers to that which is opposed to knowledge. Actually real knowledge is the understanding that every living being is eternally a servitor of the Lord, but instead of thinking oneself in that position, the living entity thinks that he is not a servant, that he is the master of this material world, for he wants to lord it over the material nature. That is his illusion. This illusion can be overcome by the mercy of the Lord or by the mercy of a pure devotee. When that illusion is over, one agrees to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is acting according to Kṛṣṇa’s order. A conditioned soul, illusioned by the external energy of matter, does not know that the Supreme Lord is the master who is full of knowledge and who is the proprietor of everything. Whatever He desires He can bestow upon His devotees; He is the friend of everyone, and He is especially inclined to His devotee. He is the controller of this material nature and of all living entities. He is also the controller of inexhaustible time, and He is full of all opulences and all potencies. The Supreme Personality of Godhead can even give Himself to the devotee. One who does not know Him is under the spell of illusion; he does not become a devotee, but a servitor of māyā. Arjuna, however, after hearing Bhagavad-gītā from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, became free from all illusion. He could understand that Kṛṣṇa was not only his friend but the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he understood Kṛṣṇa factually. So to study Bhagavad-gītā is to understand Kṛṣṇa factually. When a person is in full knowledge, he naturally surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. When Arjuna understood that it was Kṛṣṇa’s plan to reduce the unnecessary increase of population, he agreed to fight according to Kṛṣṇa’s desire. He again took up his weapons – his arrows and bow – to fight under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

“What else can I ask? Having given up all duties, surrendering to You completely, without worries, I now completely trust You.” Thus he speaks this verse. “I am ready to follow You, who are worthy of surrender. That is the duty of me, who have surrendered to You. I have no use for following my varṇa and āśrama, nor jṣāna-yoga or other processes. Starting today, I have given them all up.” “Oh My dear friend Arjuna, I have some remaining work to do in relieving the burden of the earth. I want you to do that work.” When the Lord said this, Arjuna, with Gāṇḍīva bow in hand, rose to fight.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Being asked by Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna answers that he has understood, by reciting the results. Ignorance (mohaḥ), the opposite of knowledge, has disappeared, by Your mercy alone. I have understood correctly the nature of things (smṛtiḥ labdhā). I have had all my doubts now cleared. I will follow your instructions. What he has said is this. All the living entities such as devas and men have the conception of being their bodies, and being independent in their actions. Men worship the devas, and the devas bestow on men what they desire. But who is the real Lord? I previously had the illusion, the opposite of knowledge, that prakṛti is the cause of the world. In contrast to that, I thought the Lord was without qualities and form, and was indifferent to men’s affairs. That illusion has been destroyed by the teachings acquired from You. I have now true knowledge of that Lord who is the famous possessor of form and powers, a form of knowledge and bliss; who is an ocean of good qualities such as omniscience, omnipotence, and satya saṅkalpa; who is the friend of His devotees, though the Lord of all; who creates the variegated bodies in the universe according to the karmas of the jīvas just by His will, through His energies of jīva, time and prakṛti; who treasures the selfless devotee to whom He gives even Himself. And I understand that the Lord is You, the son of Vasudeva, situated as my friend. Therefore I surrender to ou. You will never abandon me. This doubt has been destroyed. If You have Your goals to achieve of ridding the earth of its burden, and You want me who have surrendered to You to do it, then I will obey Your words. Thus Arjuna rose with bow in hand.

Surrender Unto Me

After surrendering to Krsna and hearing from Him then Arjuna was prepared to fight according to Krsna's instructions in proper consciousness, Krsna consciousness. [K. SANJAYA'S PREDICTIONS (18. 74‑78) Sanjaya ecstatically thinks of the wondrous form of Krsna and predicts victory for Arjuna, the supreme archer, and Krsna, the master of all mystics. ]