श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता गीतार्थ संग्रहोपैता It may be noted that Arjuna, the mightiest warrior of his age, enters the Kuruksetra battle-field. with a resolve to fight out the war to the end. But on arriving at the war-front, he gets confused; and he is unable to decide whether to fight or not and is inclined not to fight. This confusion and lack of decision on the part of Arjuna are according to Ag., mainly the results of the warrior's notion : "I want to enjoy the pleasure of kingdom; but I don't want it by shedding the blood of my own kith and kin, much more so the most venerable grandsire Bhīşma and the teacher Drona. For, I will incur great sins by such an act of killing." This particularisation of the obje- cts of desire and of hatred is to be avoided. For this purpose Arjuna is to be given a suitable instruction that may give him Sänkhya (proper perspective and realisation) of the self. For, this is the corner stone of the Principle of Yoga (action without craving for fruit). Arjuna has the instruction in detail, is relie- ved of his doubts and confusion and at the end resol- ves to fight indeed. But he has not, Ag. points out, got wisdom or Self-realisation. Hence, the necessity for the future Anugītā.* XX 1. Ch. I, 35 ff; II, 9-10. 2. Ch. I, 30-34; II, 4-6. 3. Ch. II, 40, 48. 4. Ch.XVIII, 73. Perhaps this observation of Ag., a great figure in the field of Sanskrit literary criticism, goes against R.D. Karmarkar's remark on the alleged awkwardness o the Anugita in the MB (See pt. II, p. 329). It is to be noted that Ramakantha knows the Anugita and he refers to it by name under ch.XIII, 13 etc. In his introduction to the bhasya, Sankara too refers to the Anugita by name andj (Contd.in p. xxi)
