Uddhava seeks answers to many questions from Lord Krishna, and the Lord gives him crisp explanations, said P.T. Seshadri in a discourse. Uddhava wants to know the meaning of jugupsa, sukha, dukkha, pantha, dunmaarga, svargah, naraka and griha. The Lord says that to be afraid to do wrong is jugupsa. Not desiring anything is beauty. Sukha is to see good luck and misfortune alike. Dukha is the anticipation of carnal pleasures.
To Uddhava’s question about pantha, the right path to take, the Lord says that trying to reach Him is the right path. Dunmaarga, the bad path, is enjoying only the pleasures of worldly life. Having sattva guna is svarga. If tamasic qualities dominate one’s mind, that is naraka. The Lord says that the bodies of human beings constitute His griha. Not only does Uddhava want many things to be defined by the Lord, he also wants to know who are the people who answer to various descriptions. He asks who are the people who can be called pandita, moorkha, aadhya, daridra, kripana, Iswara. The Lord replies that he who knows the difference between worldly attachments and moksha is a pandita. He who thinks the body and the atma are one and the same is a moorkha. Aadhya is one who is blessed with a wealth of good qualities. Daridra is a person who is discontented. Kripana is a petty man, who has no control over his senses. Iswara is the One who is beyond the three gunas.
The Lord then tells Uddhava that the cause for a lot of sorrow in this world is money and the greed to get more and more money. The desire to amass wealth makes us miserable. It is the bent of mind we havethat urges us to go after riches. So, ultimately, it is the mind that is the culprit. If we keep the mind under control, then sorrow can be kept away.
