Bhagavad Gita

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From Buddhist Encyclopedia

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit: भगवद् गीता - Bhagavad Gītā) is an ancient Sanskrit text comprising some 700 verses of the Mahabharata (Bhishma Parva chapters 23 – 40). The verses, using the range and style of Sanskrit meter (chandas) with similes and metaphors, are very poetic; hence the title, which translates to "the Song of the Divine One", of Bhagavan in the form of Krishna. It is revered as sacred by the majority of Hindu traditions, and especially so by followers of Krishna. In general speech it is commonly referred to as The Gita

The content of the Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra just prior to the start of a climactic war. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties and elaborates on number of different Yogic and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy. During the discourse, Krishna reveals his identity as the Supreme Being Himself (Bhagavan), blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring glimpse of His divine absolute form.

The Bhagavad Gita is also called Gītopaniṣad, implying it to be an 'Upanishad'.<ref>The "tag" found at the end of each chapter in some editions identifies the book as Gītopaniṣad. The book is identified as the essence of the Upanishads in the Gītā-māhātmya 6, quoted in the introduction to While technically it is considered a Smriti text, it has singularly achieved a status comparable to that of śruti, or revealed knowledge.

Background

The discourse on the Bhagavad Gita begins before the start of the climactic battle at Kurukshetra. It begins with the Pandava prince Arjuna, as he becomes filled with doubt on the battlefield. Realising that his enemies are his own relatives, beloved friends, and revered teachers, he turns to his charioteer and guide, Sri Krishna (an avatar of Sri Vishnu), for advice.

Krishna counsels Arjuna, beginning with the tenet that the soul is both eternal and immortal. Any 'death' on the battlefield would involve only the shedding of the body, but the inner soul is permanent. Krishna goes on to expound on the yogic paths of devotion, action, meditation and knowledge. Fundamentally, the Bhagavad Gita proposes that true enlightenment comes from growing beyond identification with the Ego, the 'False Self', and that one must identify with the Truth of the immortal Self, (the soul or Atman). Through detachment from the material sense of Ego, the Yogi, or follower of a particular path of Yoga, is able to transcend his illusory mortality and attachment to the material world and enter the realm of the Supreme.

To demonstrate his divine nature, Krishna grants Arjuna the boon of cosmic vision (albeit temporary) and allows the prince to see his 'Universal Form'. He reveals that he is fundamentally both the ultimate essence of Being in the universe, and also its material body. This is called the Vishvarupa/Viratrupa.

The Gita refers to the war as Dharma Yuddha, meaning a just war. Chapter 4, verse 7, clearly states that God takes incarnation to establish righteousness in the world.

Dating of the text

Though it is not exactly clear when the Bhagavad Gita was composed, the majority of historians assume a date between 500 and 50 BCE. There is, however, considerable debate on the subject. Based on the differences in the poetic styles and supposed external influences such as Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, certain scholars have expressed the opinion that Bhagavad Gita was added to the Mahabharata at a later date. <ref>See The Bhagavad Gita by C. Jinarajadasa, From the Proceedings of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society, Amsterdam 1904.</ref>

Theories based on archaeoastronomical calculations from passages of the Mahabharata place the incidents upon which the Gita is based around 5561 BCE[1]. The traditional date reflecting the beliefs of many devotional Hindus places the text in the 4th millennium BC. See Mahabharata]for a discussion of attempts to date the epic as a whole.

The Scripture of Yoga

The Gita addresses the discord between the senses and the intuition of cosmic order. It speaks of the Yoga of equanimity, a detached outlook. The term Yoga covers a wide range of meanings, but in the context of the Bhagavad Gita, describes a unified outlook, serenity of mind, skill in action, and the ability to stay attuned to the glory of the Self (Atman), which is of the same essence as the basis of Being (Brahman). According to Krishna, the root of all suffering and discord is the agitation of the mind caused by selfish desire. The only way to douse the flame of desire is by simultaneously stilling the mind through self discipline and engaging oneself in a higher form of activity.

However, abstinence from action is regarded as being just as detrimental as extreme indulgence. According to the Bhagavad Gita, the goal of life is to free the mind and intellect from their complexities, and to focus them on the glory of the Self, by dedicating one's actions to the divine. This goal can be achieved through the Yogas of meditation, action, devotion and knowledge. The Gita describes the best Yogi as one who constantly contemplates God.

Krishna summarizes the Yogas through eighteen chapters. There are four kinds of Yoga - Raja Yoga or Psycho-Physical Meditation,Bhakti Yoga or Devotion, Karma Yoga or Selfless Action, and Jnana Yoga or Self Transcending Knowledge.

While each path differs, their fundamental goal is the same - to realize Brahman (the Divine Essence ) as being the ultimate truth upon which our material universe rests, that the body is temporal, and that the Supreme Soul (Paramatman) is infinite. Yoga's aim (moksha) is to escape from the cycle of reincarnation through realization of the ultimate reality. There are three stages to self-realisation enunciated from the Bhagavad Gita:

1. Brahman - The impersonal universal energy

2. Paramatma - The Supreme Soul sitting in the heart of every living entity.

3. Bhagavan - God as a personality, with a transcendental form.

The below are quotations from Krishna concerning the four principal yogas of the Bhagavad Gita:

On The Goal Of Yoga

" And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me (Krishna) alone, at once attains My (Krishna's- Transcendental) nature. Of this there is no doubt."[2]

On Bhakti Yoga

Put simply, Bhakti Yoga is Service in Love and Devotion to God (Krishna in the context of the Bhagavad Gita).

"I consider the Yogi-devotee - who lovingly contemplates on Me with supreme faith, and whose mind is ever absorbed in Me - to be the best of all the Yogis". [3] "After attaining Me, the great souls do not incur rebirth in this miserable transitory world, because they have attained the highest perfection." [4] "... those who, renouncing all actions in Me, and regarding Me as the Supreme, worship Me... For those whose thoughts have entered into Me, I am soon the deliverer from the ocean of death and transmigration, Arjuna. Keep your mind on Me alone, your intellect on Me. Thus you shall dwell in Me hereafter." [5] "And he who serves Me with the yoga of unswerving devotion, transcending these qualities [binary opposites, like good and evil, pain and pleasure] is ready for liberation in Brahman." [6] "Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, offer service to Me, bow down to Me, and you shall certainly reach Me. I promise you because you are My very dear friend." [7] "Setting aside all meritorious deeds (Dharma), just surrender completely to My will (with firm faith and loving contemplation). I shall liberate you from all sins. Do not fear." [8]

On Karma Yoga

Karma Yoga is essentially Acting, or doing one's duties in life as per his/her dharma, or duty, without concern of results - a sort of constant sacrifice of action to the Supreme. It is action done without thought of gain. In a more modern interpretation, it can be viewed as duty bound deeds done without letting the nature of the result affecting ones actions. It is said that the results can be of 3 types - as aimed for, opposite of what is aimed for, or a mixture of these. If one can perform his duties (as prescribed in the Vedas) without any anticipation of the result of his actions, he is bound to succeed. It includes, but is not limited to, dedication of one's chosen profession and its perfection to God. It is also visible in community and social service, since they are inherently done without thought of personal gain.

Krishna advocates Nishkam Karma Yoga (the Yoga of Selfless Action) as the ideal path to realize the Truth. Allocated work done without expectations, motives, or thinking about its outcomes tends to purify one's mind and gradually makes an individual fit to see the value of reason and the benefits of renouncing the work itself. These concepts are vividly described in the following verses:

"To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction" -- verse 47, Chapter 2-Samkhya theory and Yoga practise, The Bhagavadgita - Radhakrishnan

"Fixed in yoga, do thy work, O Winner of wealth(Arjuna), abandoning attachment, with an even mind in success and failure, for evenness of mind is called yoga" -- verse 48, Chapter 2-Samkhya theory and Yoga practise, The Bhagavadgita - Radhakrishnan

"With the body, with the mind, with the intellect, even merely with the senses, the Yogis perform action toward self-purification, having abandoned attachment. He who is disciplined in Yoga, having abandoned the fruit of action, attains steady peace..." [9]

In order to achieve true liberation, it is important to control all mental desires and tendencies to enjoy and sense pleasures. The following verses illustrate this:

Verses 62,63, chapter 2- Samkhya theory and Yoga practise', The Bhagavadgita - Radhakrishnan'

"When a man dwells in his mind on the object of sense, attachment to them is produced. From attachment springs desire and from desire comes anger."

"From anger arises bewilderment, from bewilderment loss of memory; and from loss of memory, the destruction of intelligence and from the destruction of intelligence he perishes"

On Jnana Yoga

Jnana Yoga is a process of learning to discriminate between what is real and what is not, what is eternal and what is not. Through a steady advancement in realization of the distinction between Real and the Unreal, the Eternal and the Temporal, one develops into a Jnana Yogi. This is essentially a path to God through knowledge and discrimination.

"When a sensible man ceases to see different identities due to different material bodies and he sees how beings are expanded everywhere, he attains to the Brahman conception." <ref> Bhagavad Gita 13.31 </ref>

"Those who see with eyes of knowledge the difference between the body and the knower of the body, and can also understand the process of liberation from bondage in material nature, attain to the supreme goal." <ref> Bhagavad Gita 13.35 </ref>

On Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga is the stilling of the mind and body through meditating techniques, geared at realizing one's true nature. This practice was later described by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras.

" To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should be neither too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogi should then sit on it very firmly and practice yoga to purify the heart by controlling his mind, senses and activities and fixing the mind on one point. One should hold one's body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose. Thus, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life. Thus practicing constant control of the body, mind and activities, the mystic transcendentalist, his mind regulated, attains to the kingdom of God [or the abode of Krishna] by cessation of material existence." [10]

Influence of the Bhagavad Gita

In many ways seemingly a heterogeneous text, the Gita reconciles many facets and schools of Hindu philosophy, including those of Brahmanical (i.e., orthodox Vedic) origin and the parallel ascetic and Yogic traditions. It comprises primarily Vedic (as in the four Vedas, as opposed to the Upanishads/Vedanta), Upanishadic, Sankhya and Yogic philosophies. For its religious depth, quintessential Upanishadic and Yogic philosophy and beauty of verse, the Bhagavad Gita is one of the most compelling and important texts of the Hindu tradition. It is considered by many as one of the world's greatest religious and spiritual scriptures.

It had always been a creative text for Hindu priests and Yogis. Although it is not strictly part of the 'canon' of Vedic writings, almost all Hindu traditions draw upon the Gita as authoritative. Some claim that it may have been inserted into the Mahabharata at a later date, but this is only natural as it sounds more like an Upanishad (which are commentaries that followed the Vedas) in thought than a Purana (histories), of which tradition the Mahabharata is a part.

For the Vedantic schools of Hindu philosophy, it belongs to one of the three foundational texts (Sanskrit: Prasthana Trayi, literally three points of departure)( the other two being the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras). Every such school is required to have a commentary on the three. The oldest available commentary is from Adi Shankara but he mentions older commentators. He is followed by classical commentators like Anandagiri, Shridhara Swami, Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, Ramanuja, Madhvacharya, Nimbarka, Vallabha and Dnyaneshwar. While the traditional text commented upon by many scholars, including Adi Shankara and Ramanuja, consists of 700 verses, a recension of the text from Kashmir has an additional 15. The renowned philosopher Abhinavagupta(10-11th century CE) has written a commentary on this recension called Gitartha-Samgraha. Other ancient and medieval scholars (like Vedanta Desika in the Tatparya-Chandrika) seem to be aware of such additional verses but prefer not to comment on them.

Among the great sages and philosophers who have drawn inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita is Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who initiated public singing of the "Hare Krishna" mantra.

Mahatma Gandhi derived great moral strength from Bhagavad gita, which is evident in his words:

"The Geeta is the universal mother. I find a solace in the Bhagavadgeeta that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there, and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies - and my life has been full of external tragedies - and if they have left no visible or indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavad Gita."

Swami Vivekananda, the follower of Sri Ramakrishna, was known for his commentaries on the four Yogas - Bhakti, Jnana, Karma and Raja Yoga. He drew from his knowledge of the Gita to expound on these Yogas. Swami Sivananda advises the aspiring Yogi to read verses from the Bhagavad Gita every day. Paramahamsa Yogananda, writer of the famous "Autobiography of a Yogi", viewed the Bhagavad Gita as one of the world's most divine scriptures.

A minority of Hindus, belonging to some Saivite sects, reject the Gita's authority.<ref>A spokesman for this point of view was the late Saivite guru Subramuniyaswami. [11]</ref>

Upon witnessing the world's first atomic blast in 1945, J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and director of the Manhattan Project, quoted "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" based on verse 32 from Chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita. In Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket, the US Marine Animal Mother has "I am become Death" written on his helmet, possibly in reference to Oppenheimer. Coincidentally, in Kubrick’s next film, Eyes Wide Shut, a shloka from the Bhagavad Gita is used during an explicit sex scene, and was removed from the British version of the film as a result of protests from the Hindu community.

Notes

See also

• Bhagavad Gita As It Is
• Mahabharata

References

• Full text in Sanskrit with Devanagari (Wikisource)
• English translation by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (Wikisource)
• English translation by Sir Edwin Arnold (Wikisource)

External links: the text and translations

Numerous readings and adaptations of the Bhagavad Gita's 700 verses are published in many languages. Traditionally the commentators belong to spiritual traditions or schools (sampradaya) and Guru lineages (parampara), which claim to preserve teaching stemming directly from Krishna himself and thus to be most faithful to the original message.

It should be kept in mind that different translators and commentators have widely differing views on what multi-layered Sanskrit words and passages truly signify, and their best possible presentation in English depending on the sampradaya they are affiliated to. Especially in Western philology, interpretations of particular passages often do not agree with traditional views.

• Gita Supersite Multilingual Bhagavadgita with translations and both classical and contemporary commentaries.
• Edition by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada with the original Sanskrit, word-for-word meanings, translation, and commentary
• About Bhagavad Gita As It Is (Krishna.com)
• Srimad Bhagavad-Gita Overview by Jagannath Das
• Swami Chinmayananda translation and commentary
• Sir Edwin Arnold translation
• Kashinath Trimbak Telang translation
• Mahatma Gandhi translation and interspersed commentary
• Swami Nirmalananda Giri translation in metered verse for singing.
• Dr. Ramanand Prasad translation
• Sanderson Beck translation
• Swami Tapasyananda translation
• Bhagavad Gita commentary by Paramahamsa Swami Sivananda Saraswati
• William Quan Judge translation
• Translation by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

Commentaries

• Six commentaries - Adi Sankara, Ramanuja, Sridhara Swami, Madhusudana Sarasvati, Visvanatha Chakravarti and Baladeva Vidyabhusana (Roman transliteration of Sanskrit)
• Bhagavad Gita introduction lecture by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
• Commentary on the Gita by Swami Nirmalananda Giri]
• Bhagavad Gita with Commentaries of Vladimir Antonov
• The Nectar of Govinda Lila : Discourses by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja on Bhagavad-Gita 18.65
• God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita - A Translation and
• Commentary by Paramahansa Yogananda. Excerpt
• Essays on Gita by Sri Aurobindo

Audio

• Verses in Sanskrit, transliteration, Hare Krishna-influenced translations and accompanying chants in Realaudio
• Recitation of verses in Sanskrit (downloadable mp3s)
• Bhagavad Gita Sung in English, in streaming Realaudio
• The Gita read in English. Streaming audio for each chapter. (Translation: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)
• Bhagavad Gita Online Classes by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
• Bhagavad Gita in 6 Languages
• Bhagavad Gita Lectures in English (MP3)

Selections

• Devanagri Sanskrit transliterations and Hare Krishna-influenced Sanskrit-to-English translations for all 700 verses
• Gita excerpt from the Mahabharata by Kisari Mohan Ganguly (published between 1883 and 1896)
• Maharshi Gita Verses from the Bhagavad Gita arranged by Ramana Maharshi to give its essential meaning.
• http://home.att.net/%7Es-prasad/geeta.htm
• Live Happily the Gita Way a sequence of 12 lectures, by profvk

Eknath Easwaran's poetic translation

• The Way of Love
• The Illumined Man
• What Is Real Never Ceases
• Whatever You Do
• Be Aware of Me Always

Miscellaneous

• Vedantic commentary on the Gita.
• International Gita Society
• Gita4free.com
• Geeta Kavya Madhuri: Samples of metered translation into Hindi verse by Prof. Rajiv Krishna Saxena
• An article in Hindi about the cycles of origin and destruction of universe as explained in Bhagavad-Gita

Gujarati

• Saral Gita - translation of Bhagavad Gita along with sanskrit verses, mp3 audio of select chapters in Gujarati.