Krishna Himself came to this world 5,000 years ago and spoke Bhagavad-gita to His friend Arjuna.
At the last moment before entering a momentous battle, the great
warrior Arjuna began to wonder: “Why should I fight? What is the meaning
of life? Where am I going after death?”
In response, Krishna brought His friend from confusion to spiritual enlightenment.
The Gita contains detailed explanations of the infinite soul (God), the finite soul (the living entities), karma
(work in this world), time, and creation, and concisely explains the
nature of consciousness and the universe—all in a relatively short seven
hundred verses.
Bhagavad-gita is in a category of its own in philosophy and
theology. It has been pondered and deeply admired by philosophers and
scholars around the world for centuries. It is considered the essence of
India’s spiritual wisdom. For anyone interested in understanding the
soul, God, and the intimate relationship between the two, the Gita is an
essential introduction. The text is incomparably deep and sublime.
The
Gita begins before the start of the climactic Mahabharata war, where
the Pandava prince Arjuna
is filled with doubt on the battlefield. Realizing that his enemies are
his own relatives, beloved friends, and revered teachers, he turns to
his charioteer and guide, Krishna, for advice. Responding to Arjuna’s
confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a
warrior and prince, elaborating on a variety of philosophical
concepts. The Song of the Bhagavan, often referred to as simply the
Gita, is a 700-verse scripture that is part of the Hindu epic
Mahabharata. This scripture contains a conversation between Pandava
prince Arjuna and his guide Lord Krishna
on a variety of theological and philosophical issues. The Bhagavad
Gita’s call for selfless action inspired many leaders of the Indian
independence movement including Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who referred
to the Gita as his “spiritual dictionary”. There are four main themes
of Bhagavad Gita :
1. Yoga (Perfect way of life)
Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita refers to the
skill required in a human being for union with the ultimate reality/ the
Absolute/ God. In his commentary, Root meaning of yoga is ‘yoking’ or
‘preparation’/ ‘spiritual exercise’, which conveys the various nuances
in the best way. The eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad Gita have a
progressive order, by which Krishna leads Arjuna up the ladder of Yoga
from one rung to another.
Karma yoga :
Since it is impossible for living beings to avoid action all together,
the Bhagavad Gita therefore offers a practical approach to liberation in
the form of Karma yoga. The path of Karma yoga upholds the necessity of
action. However, this action is to be undertaken without any attachment
to the work or desire for results. Bhagavad Gita terms this inaction in
action and action in inaction (4.18). Gandhi said, ‘The object of the
Gita appears to me to be that of showing the most excellent way to
attain self-realization’, and this can be achieved by selfless action,
By desireless action; by renouncing fruits of action; by dedicating all
activities to God, i.e., by surrendering oneself to Him/Her body and
soul. Gandhi called Gita, The Gospel of Selfless Action. In order to
achieve true liberation, it is important to control all mental desires
and tendencies to enjoy sense pleasures.
Bhakti yoga : The
introduction to chapter seven of the Bhagavad Gita explains bhakti/
worship which consists of unceasing and loving remembrance of God. Faith
and total surrender to a chosen God are considered to be important
aspects of bhakti.
Jnana yoga : Jnana yoga is the path of wisdom, knowledge, and direct experience of Brahma
as the ultimate reality. The path renounces both desires and actions,
and is therefore depicted as being steep and very difficult in the
Bhagavad Gita. This path is often associated with the non-dualistic
Vedantic belief of the identity of the Soul (Atma) with the God
(Brahma). For the followers of this path, the realisation of the
identity of Soul and God is held as the key to liberation. 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 Brahma conception. Those who see with eyes of knowledge
the difference between the body and the knowledge of the body, and can
also understand the process of liberation from bondage in material
nature, attain to the supreme goal.
Dharma is referred in the first verse of the Bhagavad Gita itself. Dhritarashtra refers to the Kurukshetra
as the ‘Field of dharma’. Dharma in this verse refers to the eternal
order and duties which pervades the whole cosmos and is ultimately true
and right. Therefore, ‘Field of action’ implies the field of
righteousness, where truth will eventually triumph. Some expert also see
the ‘Field of action’ as the world which is a ‘battleground for moral
struggle’ for every human being. Responding to Arjuna’s despondency,
Krishna asks him to follow his path of his duty/ religion as he things
of what is right from within (swadharma). Swadharma literally means work
born out of one’s nature and in this verse, is often interpreted, in
case of Arjuna in the battlefield, as the duty of a warrior. Eighteenth
chapter of the Gita examines the relationship between self observed
duties (Swadharma) and character (swabhava) or inherent nature. In this
chapter, the self observed duties of an individual is linked with the
qualities/ attributes or tendencies arising out of one’s character. The
idea that an individual’s duty is based on their essential nature
allowed us to deduce the doctrine that ‘the functions of a man ought to
be determined by his natural turn, gift, and capacities.’ Gandhi found
in the concept of your own duties or religion (swadharma), the basis for
his idea of using products produced by self (swadeshi). To him,
swadeshi was ‘swadharma applied to one’s immediate environment’
Liberation or moksha in Vedic philosophy
is not something that can be acquired or reached. The Soul (Ātma) is
something that is always present as the essence of the self, and can be
revealed by deep intuitive knowledge. While the Upanishads largely
uphold such a monistic viewpoint of liberation, the Bhagavad Gita also
accommodates the dualistic and theistic aspects of moksha. The Gita,
while occasionally hinting at impersonal Brahma as the goal, revolves
around the relationship between the Self and a personal God. A synthesis
of knowledge, devotion, and desireless action is given as a
prescription for human who otherwise live a confused life, it is the
solution given by Krishan to Arjuna’s despondence.
Bhagavad Gita is totally different from
any other religious scriptures that we come across. Gita broadcasts its
message in the centre of the battlefield. The choice of such an unholy
ambiance for the delivery of a philosophical discourse has been an
enigma to many western philosophers and thinkers. Gita’s subject is the
war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must
wage if he or she is to emerge from life victorious, and the language of
battle is often found in the scriptures, for it conveys the strenuous,
long, drawn-out campaign we must wage to free ourselves from the tyranny
of the ego, the cause of all our suffering and sorrow. Arjuna is
considered as an allegory of our Soul (Atma), Krishna as an allegory of
God (Brahma), Arjuna’s chariot as the body, and Dhritarashtra, the blind
king, as the ignorance filled mind. Gandhi in his commentary on the
Gita interprets the battle as ‘an allegory in which the battlefield is
the soul and Arjuna, man’s higher impulses struggling against
evil’. Swami Vivekananda said, ‘This Kurukshetra War is only an
allegory. When we sum up its esoteric significance, it means the war
which is constantly going on within man between the tendencies of good
and evil.’ According to Vivekananda, ‘If one reads this one Shloka, one
gets all the merits of reading the entire Gita; for in this one Shloka
lies imbedded the whole Message of the Gita.’ क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ
नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते । क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परंतप॥ (Do
not yield to unmanliness, O son of Prithâ. It does not become you.
Shake off this base faint-heartedness and arise, O scorcher of enemies!
- (Bhagavad Gita 2.3)
The Bhagavad Gita is divided into
eighteen chapters. The Sanskrit editions of the Gita name each chapter
as a particular form of yoga. However, these chapter titles do not
appear in the Sanskrit text of the Mahabharata. Each of the eighteen
chapters is designated as a separate yoga because each chapter, like
yoga, ‘trains the body and the mind’.
- Arjuna Vishaad Yoga – The Yoga of Dejection of Arjuna (46 verses): Arjuna has requested Krishna to move his chariot between the two armies. His growing dejection is described as he fears losing friends and relatives as a consequence of war.
- Saankhya Yoga – The Yoga of Knowledge (72 verses): After asking Krishna for help, Arjuna is instructed into various subjects such as, Karma yoga, Jnana yoga, Sankhya yoga, Buddhi yoga and the immortal nature of the soul. This chapter is often considered the summary of the entire Bhagavad Gita.
- Karma Yoga – The Yoga of Action (43 verses) : Krishna explains how performance of prescribed duties, but without attachment to results, is the appropriate course of action for Arjuna.
- Gyaan Karma Sanyaas Yoga – Yoga of Knowledge as well as discipline of Action and Knowledge (42 verses): Krishna reveals that he has lived through many births, always teaching yoga for the protection of the pious and the destruction of the impious and stresses the importance of accepting a guru.
- Karma Sanyaas Yoga – The Yoga of Action and Knowledge (29 verses): Arjuna asks Krishna if it is better to forgo action or to act (“renunciation or discipline of action”).[26] Krishna answers that both are ways to the same goal,[27] but that acting in Karma yoga is superior.
- Aatma Saiyam Yoga – The Yoga of Self Control (47 verses): Krishna describes the Ashtanga yoga. He further elucidates the difficulties of the mind and the techniques by which mastery of the mind might be gained.
- Gyaan Vigyaan Yoga – The Yoga of ‘Knowledge of Nirguna Brahma and the Knowledge of Manifest Divinity’ (30 verses): Krishna describes the absolute reality and its illusory energy Maya.
- Aksara–Brahma yoga – Attainment of Salvation (28 verses): This chapter contains eschatology of the Bhagavad Gita. Importance of the last thought before death, differences between material and spiritual worlds, and light and dark paths that a soul takes after death are described.
- Raja–Vidya–Raja–Guhya yoga – The Yoga of Royal Knowledge and the Royal Mystery (34 verses): Krishna explains how His eternal energy pervades, creates, preserves, and destroys the entire universe.
- Vibhuti–Vistara–yoga – The Yoga of Heavenly Perfections (42 verses): Krishna is described as the ultimate cause of all material and spiritual existence. Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Supreme Being, quoting great sages who have also done so.
- Visvarupa–Darsana yoga – Yoga of the Manifesting of the One and Manifold (55 verses): On Arjuna’s request, Krishna displays his “universal form” (Visvarupa), a theophany of a being facing every way and emitting the radiance of a thousand suns, containing all other beings and material in existence.
- Bhakti yoga – The Yoga of Faith (20 verses): In this chapter Krishna glorifies the path of devotion to God. Krishna describes the process of devotional service (Bhakti yoga). He also explains different forms of spiritual disciplines.
- Ksetra–Ksetrajna Vibhaga yoga – The Yoga of Separation of Matter and Spirit (35 verses): The difference between transient perishable physical body and the immutable eternal soul is described. The difference between individual consciousness and universal consciousness is also made clear.
- Gunatraya–Vibhaga yoga – Yoga of Separation from the Qualities (27 verses): Krishna explains the three modes of material nature pertaining to goodness, passion, and science. Their causes, characteristics, and influence on a living entity are also described.
- Purusottama yoga – The Yoga of Attaining the Supreme (20 verses): Krishna identifies the transcendental characteristics of God such as, omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.[38] Krishna also describes a symbolic tree (representing material existence), which has its roots in the heavens and its foliage on earth. Krishna explains that this tree should be felled with the ‘axe of detachment’, after which one can go beyond to his supreme abode.
- Daivasura–Sampad–Vibhaga yoga – The Yoga of Separateness of the Divine and Undivine (24 verses): Krishna identifies the human traits of the divine and the demonic natures. He counsels that to attain the supreme destination one must give up lust, anger, greed, and discern between right and wrong action by discernment through intellect (Buddhi) and evidence from the scriptures.
- Sraddhatraya-Vibhaga yoga – Yoga of the Threefold Kinds of Faith (28 verses): Krishna qualifies the three divisions of faith, thoughts, deeds, and even eating habits corresponding to the three modes.
- Moksha–Sanyasa yoga – Yoga of Deliverance and Renunciation (78 verses): In this chapter, the conclusions of previous seventeen chapters are summed up. Krishna asks Arjuna to abandon all forms of dharma and simply surrender unto him and describes this as the ultimate perfection of life.
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