Scriptured

“So, although Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and can see all that is past, present and future, to teach the people in general He used to always refer to the scriptures. For example, in the Bhagavad-gita, although Krishna was speaking as the supreme authority, He still mentioned and quoted Vedanta-sutra as authority.” (The Nectar Of Devotion, Ch 21)

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Friend1: The law is complicated.

Friend2: It is lengthy, as well. Consider how much new legislation passes each year.

Friend1: That’s why court cases aren’t always easily decided.

Friend2: You need good judges.

Friend1: There may be instances where someone is genuinely unsure of what is legal and what is not.

Friend2: Definitely. That’s why you consult the law. You see what it has to say. The idea is to not be biased. Don’t cheat based on your personal sentiment.

Friend1: I guess that’s why they scrutinize the candidates for the bench.

Friend2: Judges need to be fair, impartial, and intelligent.

Friend1: I like how on that one television show they created the word “lawyered.”

Friend2: Wherein someone’s argument is invalidated through citing previous examples or the laws themselves?

Friend1: Yeah. I mean it’s a comedy show, so the use of the word is also humorous.

Friend2: For sure.

Friend1: Are there cases in spiritual life where the right path is not clear?

Friend2: Unclear or unknown?

Friend1: Not clear from the perspective of the individual who is in doubt.

Friend2: Come on, you are really asking that question? The Bhagavad-gita is a shining example.

Friend1: Where Arjuna, the bow-warrior, is not sure how to proceed. The great war is about to commence. Millions have gathered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. This is the culmination of a long struggle, where the aggressor Duryodhana has gotten away with crimes for too long. This dispute over land and sovereignty has gone the distance, with physical conflict the only way to settle the matter.

Friend2: Exactly, and Arjuna is still hesitant. He makes up so many excuses to not fight.

Friend1: Some of them are good, right? Like the one about family traditions withering away with the increase in unwanted population that will surely result from the deaths.

Friend2: The excuse about non-violence. Respecting the elders in the family. Honoring the spiritual guide. Not being attached to enjoying the fruits of victory. Arjuna threw pretty much everything out there.

Friend1: And we know that he ended up going forward. Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, convinced him of the validity of the path. Could you say that Arjuna was lawyered?

Friend2: Scriptured would be more like it.

Friend1: Yeah? Even though Krishna is God and He is the one who speaks directly to Arjuna?

Friend2: On the surface it appears like that. The charioteer and friend to Arjuna proved His divine nature by showing the virata-rupa, the universal form. It was a unique vision, something that is terrifying. It would scare anyone straight.

Friend1: That’s what I was thinking.

Friend2: Krishna still cited authority on the relevant points. He didn’t make anything up. Granted, He is the origin of the chain of disciplic succession that teaches the science of self-realization to humble, inquisitive and surrendered souls. Nevertheless, blind faith is not the recommended option.

Friend1: Why is that? What is wrong with Arjuna following just because Krishna says so?

Friend2: Blind faith can be abandoned just as quickly as it is accepted. A sober, rational decision, based on deliberation of principles and laws of the spiritual science has a much stronger foundation, making it more difficult to be broken. It’s a strong resolve.

Friend1: Would it be fair to say that every argument made in favor of material life, to satisfy this desire or that, can be countered by some truth from shastra, or scripture?

Friend2: Yes; every materialist can be scriptured. If they can’t be, then shastra is deficient. We know that is not the case. Sense gratification, renunciation, knowledge, enjoying like animals, atheism, considering God to be impersonal - any conclusion based on mental speculation can be defeated through consulting the law codes that are passed on in written form at present. That is the meaning to Vedic culture, whose origin is Krishna. He is non-different from the Vedas, and one of the purposes of those works is to convince the doubting soul of the need to abandon sense gratification and instead seek the shelter of service to the Divine.

In Closing:

On legal matter sometimes in doubt,

No resolution consulting laws without.

With matter of dharma quandary the same,

Like Arjuna with false arguments came.

Shri Krishna the improper sentiment noted,

Gave truth through Vedic literature quoted.

Since God Himself practice not needed,

But to set example that way proceeded.