Gita 2.7

Sadhak: "This verse feels different from everything before it. What changed in Arjuna?"

Guru: "Everything changed. For thirty-nine verses, Arjuna has been talking at Krishna—presenting arguments, building cases, defending his reluctance. In this verse, he stops talking at and starts asking of. The difference between argumentation and inquiry is the difference between ego and openness."

Sadhak: "But wasn't Arjuna already asking questions before?"

Guru: "He was asking rhetorical questions—questions that were really statements in disguise. 'How can I fight my teachers?' meant 'I should not fight my teachers.' But here he asks a genuine question: 'What is truly good for me?' He doesn't know. He admits he doesn't know. That admission is the doorway."

Sadhak: "The word 'kārpaṇya' is interesting—miserliness or weakness. Which is it?"

Guru: "Both meanings illuminate each other. A miser hoards out of fear—fear of loss, fear of inadequacy. Arjuna's compassion has become a kind of hoarding. He is clutching his family relationships so tightly that he cannot let go even when dharma demands it. This 'miserliness' of the heart is also a 'weakness' because it prevents right action."

Sadhak: "So compassion itself can become a fault?"

Guru: "Any virtue taken to an extreme or applied inappropriately becomes a vice. Compassion that prevents necessary action is not compassion but attachment wearing compassion's mask. Arjuna's genius here is that he recognizes this. He calls it a 'doṣa'—a defect in himself, not a virtue."

Sadhak: "What does it mean to be 'dharma-sammūḍha'—confused about dharma?"

Guru: "This is the honest confession of every sincere person facing a moral dilemma. Dharma is not always clear. Sometimes duties conflict. Should Arjuna honor his duty as a warrior or his duty to his teachers? His duty to his kingdom or his duty to his family? When dharmas conflict, the mind becomes 'sammūḍha'—totally bewildered. Only those who have never faced real ethical complexity think dharma is simple."

Sadhak: "The phrase 'śiṣyas te'ham'—I am your student—seems very significant."

Guru: "It establishes what is called the guru-śiṣya-sambandha—the sacred teacher-student relationship. Until this moment, Krishna was Arjuna's friend, cousin, charioteer. Now Arjuna formally acknowledges him as guru. This is not mere politeness. In the Vedic tradition, knowledge only flows when the vessel is prepared. By declaring himself a student, Arjuna prepares the vessel."

Sadhak: "And 'prapannam'—surrendered. That's a complete word, isn't it?"

Guru: "It is one of the most complete words in Sanskrit. 'Pra-panna' means 'fallen completely before,' 'taken total refuge in.' It appears again in the final verse of the Gita—'sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja.' What Arjuna begins here, Krishna will complete there. The seed of surrender planted in 2.7 flowers fully in 18.66."

Sadhak: "So this is really the beginning of the Gita's teaching?"

Guru: "Yes. Everything before was preparation—the setting, the crisis, the confusion. Here the teaching begins because here the readiness appears. The Gita could not be spoken to a debating warrior, only to a surrendered student. Arjuna's transformation from arguer to asker is what allows Krishna to transform from friend to teacher."

Sadhak: "I find it hard to surrender like this. My mind always wants to figure things out on its own."

Guru: "That is natural and even healthy up to a point. The mind should use its full capacity. But notice what Arjuna has done: he has used his mind fully—argued every angle, considered every consequence—and arrived at an impasse. Surrender is not the first resort of the lazy but the last resort of the intelligent who have reached the limits of their intelligence."