In the above famous picture, we observe Arjuna sitting on his knees with folded hands and praying to Lord Krishna for divine wisdom and guidance in the middle of the Kurukshetra war zone.
On his incessant requests, his charioteer Lord Krishna brought the chariot in the centre of both the armies facing each other for annihilation and elimination of each other to grab the kingdom by force. When Arjuna glanced at the opponents, he noticed Bhishma who fondled him lovingly and dearly since childhood, Dronacharya, his combat guru who made him expert in archery skill, and his cousins, such as Duryodhana and others with whom he played childhood games and rolled over the ground. His heart felt pelted and perturbed. He realised the evasive nature of worldly things and transient happiness of human life. "Am I going to assail and assassinate my own kith and kin for impermanent possessions to be gained by the victor?" Arjuna pondered deeply. Delusion, disappointment and despondency overpowered his mind. He quivered, staggered, stumbled and fumbled. He threw away his weapons on the ground and alighted from the chariot. Sensing the pitiable condition of Arjuna, Lord Krishna too got down from the chariot and asked the reason of his confusion. Arjuna fell at the Divine Lotus Feet of Lord Krishna and started sobbing by shedding copious tears. His enervation, debilitation and dejection were the consequences of his attachment.
When Arjuna sat on his knees with folded hands and prayed to the Lord for His exhortation, as he lost his fighting nerve, combat spirit to condemn his belligerents to dooms day, those who had disrobed his wife and usurped the kingdom. Listening to his fervent prayers, Lord Krishna's heart melted and He commenced His celestial song, which became the immortal divine song captioned "Bhagawad Gita". After listening to this Gitopadesha, Arjuna got rejuvenated and picked up his weapons and started lethal crusade against his warring opponents and finally attained the cherished victory by vanquishing the Kauravas. This episode depicts the power of prayer. The Lord always listens to sincere and fervent prayers of His devotees, when uttered with full faith and conviction. This is the essence of this episode.
Millions of people pray to their gods regularly in Asia, Africa, America, Europe, Australia and other countries. Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims and adherents of other religions have not lost their passion for sincere prayer. Often, they adhere to strictly regulated prayer-times. Prayer appears natural to them. Not to pray would be considered a sign of spiritual decadence or degeneration.
For the Christian, praying is like petrol for the car. Without it, Christians cannot make any progress in their spiritual sojourn. Muslims perform 'Namaz' which is indeed a prayer for blessings from Allah or God. Prayer is also an essential spiritual discipline for Hindus, Sikhs and Jews and Zoroastrians. Thus, all major religions offer prayers to the Divine Master uttering various Divine Names and visualizing different Divine Forms in myriad language with numerous physical postures.
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