Some people ask: “When the Gita (13.10) asked Arjuna to become detached from family members such as sons, why did he become so distraught after Abhimanyu’s death? Did he forget the Gita?”
No, not at all.
It is we who have forgotten the purpose of detachment and the purpose of the Gita itself.
The Gita’s purpose is to inspire us to offer all our love to Krishna. For offering our heart thus, we need a clear head to see objectively how our heart is presently misdirected and how it can be redirected. Detachment enables us to have such clear-headed perception and to thereafter practice bhakti-yoga wholeheartedly without being distracted by our material attachments to relatives.
But bhakti-yoga is so inclusive that it enables us to offer our love to Krishna not just directly but also indirectly through this world. By seeing our relatives in relationship with Krishna, as his parts entrusted to our care, we can devotionalize our material relationships. When we act responsibly and sensitively in such Krishna-centered relationships, we go closer to Krishna and help our loved ones move closer to him too.
Arjuna had such a relationship with Abhimanyu. If he had been apathetic on the death of his son, who had gallantly served Krishna, he would have been hard-hearted – not just towards his devotee-son, but also towards the Lord with whom his son shared a bond of love.
Such hard-heartedness is unhealthy for devotion, desensitizing one to emotions in relationship with Krishna.
Arjuna demonstrated his detachment not by becoming stone hard-hearted at the death of Abhimanyu, but by his clear-headed continuation, indeed intensification, of his service to Krishna.
By learning from Krishna’s words and Arjuna’s example, we can stay clear-headed without becoming hard-hearted. Practicing bhakti-yoga thus, we can gradually enter and help others enter Krishna’s world of love.
Explanation of article:
There is a vast contrast between detachment and indifference. Detachment comes from the realization that there is no such thing as ‘my wife, my son and my house’. Everything belongs to Lord Sri Krishna and He is the ultimate controller of everything. The people and things we are surrounded with are precious gifts we receive from the Lord to celebrate His loving exchanges with. We carefully interact with these valuable gifts to inspire and enliven our love for Govinda in the current of His ever-expanding Love for us.
I was diagnosed with schizophrenia nearly twenty years ago. I take a minimal dose of an anti-psychotic and an anti-depressant at bedtime. This allows me to be fully functional during my waking hours. I am sixty years and desire initiation, however, I need to know if taking my medication in this way is a violation of the regulative principle of no intoxication. I truly desire your guidance in this matter. Lovingly serving Krsna, Bhakta Jack Hansen
Certainly, you can take.
I have answered here in more detail,
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2014/08/does-taking-anti-depressant-drugs-as-medicine-violate-the-no-intoxication-principle/
With best wishes for your good health,
ys
ccdas
Yes…Krishna centeredness will give rise to clear-headedness