How to overcome acute despondency — just as Arjuna did on the battlefield?

Your question has three parts. The first part is not really a question, but rather an observation or statement. You have said that in a state of despair Arjuna laid down his bow, declaring, "I shall not fight," and sat down, while no reasoning seemed capable of bringing him out of that depression.

The second part is your actual question: Sometimes such deep sorrow and despondency fill the mind that no motivation, no reasoning, and no effort seem able to remove it. At such a time, what should we do so that the mind may emerge from that dreadful psychological condition?

The third question is this: how can the soul, bound by the deluding power of material nature, become free from bodily bondage and once again guide "it" toward the right direction?

Part One: Arjuna's Liberation from Despair

Arjuna certainly fell into despair, but he also emerged completely out of it. Through the teachings of Lord Krishna, he attained a knowledge that utterly destroyed his despondency. Toward the end of the Gita, this is clearly stated:

Meaning: "O Achyuta! By Your grace my delusion has been destroyed, my memory has been restored, I now stand free from doubt, and I shall act according to Your word."

This itself contains the answer to your question. Just as Arjuna became free from despair through the wisdom of the Gita, so too can any human being free himself from despondency by listening to, understanding, and assimilating the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. This freedom is not merely a temporary relief from one isolated sorrow. Gradually, it generates within a person such mental and spiritual strength that he begins to rise above all forms of despair in life.

That is why the wisdom of the Gita is not merely something to be read, but something to be deeply internalized. Read the Gita daily. Reflect upon its meaning. Slowly you will experience that your mind begins to move beyond sorrow and wander in inner spiritual bliss.

Part Two: The Soul, the Subtle Body, and the Source of Despair

It is important to understand that the soul itself does not actively "lead" the mind anywhere. The soul is fundamentally a witness. The active elements are the mind, intellect, and ego. These think, decide, desire, and experience pleasure and pain.

Together, the mind, intellect, and ego constitute the subtle body. All three belong to material nature. In modern language, they form what may be called our "empirical self" or psychological personality.

The soul itself neither thinks, nor acts, nor experiences pleasure and pain. In the Gita, Lord Krishna says:

Meaning: "All actions are performed by the qualities of material nature, but one whose mind is deluded by ego imagines himself to be the doer."

Hence, if despair is to be destroyed, its treatment must also occur at the level of mind, intellect, and ego. This is precisely what the Bhagavad Gita does. It reconstructs our consciousness. It reorganizes our mental structure.

Gradually, the wisdom of the Gita builds within a person an armor against despair. That armor consists of:

• The armor of detachment
• The armor of equanimity
• The armor of wisdom

Then, when the arrows of sorrow, insult, loss, fear, and failure strike the mind, they collide with this armor of knowledge and slide away harmlessly. The Gita itself calls this equanimity Yoga:

Therefore, daily study of the Gita is like adding one more layer to this protective armor every day. Slowly, the armor becomes so strong that the individual becomes inwardly secure. Then he may continue to live amidst sorrows, yet he no longer remains sorrow-stricken.

Part Three: Moksha — Liberation

Perhaps unintentionally, you touched upon a very profound spiritual truth when you spoke of the soul becoming free from bodily bondage. This is what is called Moksha, liberation.

When the soul becomes free not only from the gross physical body but also from the subtle body, namely the mind, intellect, and ego, then it abides in its original nature and attains the divine abode of God, the very realm from which it once came before becoming entangled in the cycle of rebirth within this world.

The Bhagavad Gita also imparts the knowledge of this path of liberation and teaches by what means one may transcend the cycle of birth and death. However, that perhaps was not the principal subject of your question.