Was Arjuna the first and the most original journalist? I sometimes wonder he was. Although no-one calls him one or for that matter he has never ever been labelled as a journalist in the epic Mahabharata, I think he was one. My feeling stems from the wonderful dialogue that he had with Lord Krishna when he developed cold feet at the beginning of the Mahabharata war.
If you closely look at the questions he asked his charioteer guide and friend Krishna – the Supreme Personality of Godhead, according to Hindu mythology – during the Bhagavad Gita, you realise that they could have come only from a brilliant student with a journalistic bent of mind. And so was the supreme archer, I guess. I think Lord Krishna initially only wanted to teach Arjuna about his supreme duty (Karma Yoga) which is beautifully mentioned in Chapter 2 verse number 47 of the Bhagavad Gita.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||
karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo stvakarmaṇi
(You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.)
This sloka from Bhagavad Gita is a philosophy that is common knowledge and universally applicable. It applies to everyone whether you believe in it or not.
But Arjuna was not satisfied with Krishna's sermon on duty. His inquisitiveness grew further and he kept on asking questions, and the Lord revealed himself. And the Bhagavad Gita graduated from Karma Yoga to Bhakti Yoga and finally to Gyana Yoga. Altogether there are 18 chapters in the Song of God with 700 verses. The first six chapters talk about Karma Yoga, the next six focus on Bhakti Yoga and the last six emphasise on Gyana Yoga.
The point here to make is – in today's world almost all the journalists know the answer to the questions they pose to the authority. So there isn't much revelation to them, because they know what is coming. There is no excitement in hearing the reply. They are only interested in getting the quote from the horse's mouth.
But in Arjuna's case it was different. He didn't know the answer. He only had questions to pose to the authority (Krishna). Each and every revelation from the Lord was a revelation to Arjuna, each and every reply from the God was an education for Arjuna. And that's what makes him stand out from the horde of journalists we have today.
Now, do you think I am wrong in assuming Arjuna was the first and the most original journalist?
