Osho’s Commentary

He presents two poles: to be an emperor or to be a beggar. But to kill his teachers and enjoy a blood-stained kingdom is unacceptable. He would rather live by begging. The ego always lives in extremes. It can be the greatest sinner or the greatest saint, but it must be the greatest. It avoids the middle, because in the balanced middle, the ego dissolves. Arjuna is saying, “I would rather be the greatest beggar than a sinful king.” But this too is a game of the ego. He is asking Krishna what is right, what is dharma. But he has already decided. He has already concluded that it is better to be a beggar. He is not really asking; he is seeking confirmation for his own decision. And then he says, “I am your disciple. Teach me.” This looks like surrender, but it is a very clever move of the mind. When you cannot win an argument, you surrender. But it is a false surrender, a tactic. Arjuna has not yet become a true disciple. A true disciple is an emptiness, ready to receive. Arjuna is still full of his own ideas, his own conclusions. He is a beautiful, complex, and utterly confused man—just like all of us.