| 15. From all this discussion, you
would have understood that the purpose of the Gita is to remove the illusion
that stands between us and our svadharma. Arjuna was perplexed about his dharma, a
delusion had arisen in
his mind over his svadharma. As soon as Sri Krishna points this out, Arjuna
himself admits it. The Gita's main task is to remove this illusion, this
sense of "mine", this attachment.
This is why, after Arjuna has listened to the
whole of the Gita, Sri Krishna asks him, "Arjuna, you have got over the illusion, haven't you?"
And Arjuna replies, "Yes, Lord. The illusion has left me; my svadharma
is clear to me." If then we put together the beginning and the end of the Gita, we see that its aim and
effect is to remove illusion. This is true not only of the Gita, but of the
whole of the Mahabharata. Vyasa said right at the beginning of the Mahabharata, "In this epic, I am
lighting a
lamp to dispel the dark illusion that covers the heart of humanity."
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