Yoga as Rejected by Arjuna 25
\elling us which way to turn. Thus the sum and
substance of the yoga system is to control the agi-
luled mind. In the meditational yoga system the
mind is controlled by focusing on the Supersoul—
that is the whole purpose of yoga. But Arjuna says
that controlling this mind is more difficult than
stopping the wind from blowing. One can imagine
a man stretching out his arms trying to stop a hurri-
cane. Are we to assume that Arjuna is simply not
sufficiently qualified to control his mind? The actual
fact is that we cannot begin to understand the
immense qualifications of Arjuna. After all, he was a
personal friend of the Supreme Personality of God-
head. This is a highly elevated position and is one
that cannot be at all attained by one without great
qualifications. In addition to this, Arjuna was re-
nowned as a great warrior and administrator. He was
such an intelligent man that he could understand
Bhagavad-gita within one hour, whereas at the
present moment great scholars cannot even under-
sland it in the course of a lifetime. Yet Arjuna was
thinking that controlling the mind was simply not
possible for him. Are we then to assume that what
was impossible for Arjuna in a more advanced age is
possible for us in this degenerate age? We should not
for one moment think that we are in Arjuna’s
category. We are a thousand times inferior.
Moreover, there is no record of Arjuna’s having
executed the yoga system at any time. At the same
time Arjuna was praised by Krsna as the only man
worthy of understanding Bhagavad-gita. What was
Arjuna’s great qualification? Sri Krsna says, “ You
