"The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument."- Bhagavad Gita
One of the greatest and legendary of the Hindu scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita is an exceedingly sacred text for the Hindus. The Bhagavad Gita is also considered as one of the most substantial Sanskrit scriptural texts and religious classic over the world. The Gita constitutes a part of the Mahabharata and is treasured especially by the followers of Lord Krishna and is largely taken from the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata epic. The Sanskritic meaning of the sacred text stands for `Divine Song of God`. Bhagavad Gita is one of the most popular texts and widely translated scriptural texts after the Bible. Gita scriptures are meant for the entire human civilisation, irrespective of a person`s religious or ethnic background. The text is commonly referred to as `The Gita` and contains 700 verses in 18 chapters. Krishna the speaker of Bhagavad Gita is looked as the Almighty, the Supreme Being himself. The Gita is penned down in the form of a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, taking place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, just prior to the start of a climatic war. The Bhagavad Gita is sometimes also referred to as Gitopanishad, in addition to Yogopanishad, connoting down its status within the Upanishads. The date of composition of the text of Bhagavad Gita is not known with certainty, but it is believed to have been written around 150 B.C.
The most illustrious addition to Ved Vyas`s Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita recounts how Arjuna, the third amongst the Pandava princes, suffers from huge qualms and vulnerabilities about whether he should at all fight his cousins, the Kauravas, together with his masters and revered elders. Krishna, speaking with the authority of Lord Vishnu, persuades him that his action is just, that he is destined to complete his work here in the physical world, only to become one with Divinity. It is then that Arjuna`s military skill becomes a determinant factor in the ensuing Pandava victory. The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita are fundamental to Hinduism. It considers the nature of God and ultimate reality and provides three disciplines for transcending the boundaries of this material world.
Background of Bhagavad Gita
The background of Bhagavad Gita commences from that period when King Dhritarashtra pleads to Sanjaya, his advisor to narrate to him circumstances in the Kurukshetra battlefield. It is from Sanjaya Dhritarashtra hears that Arjuna, the third Pandava has suddenly sat down all dejected and downtrodden, denying to war against his own cousins, the Kauravas and teachers. It is here that Lord Krishna embarks on his historical journey to explain to Arjuna the pros and cons of war. Beginning with the tenet that souls are immortal, their deaths on the battlefields are just casting off the earthly bodies, Krishna counsels Arjuna. Krishna says, `The Spirit, which pervades all that we see, is imperishable. Nothing can destroy the Spirit.The material bodies which this Eternal, Indestructible, Immeasurable Spirit inhabits are all finite. Therefore fight, O Valiant Man!"
Arjuna`s lamentation served as a substantial prelude for background of Bhagavad Gita, after which Krishna charted his cardinal discourses. Lord Krishna`s pacifying discourses made up for a soothing balm while coifing the backdrop to Bhagavad Gita.
18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita
The Gita consists eighteen chapters in total. Each of the chapter with its thought, view and philosophy unveils the deeper truth of mankind whilst lucidly explaining the nature of consciousness, the self, and the universe.
| Arjuna perceives the Kauravas as the opponents and loses courage and bids Krishna to move the chariot between the hosts. |
Krishna teaches Jnana Yoga |
On the all-transcendent nature of God. |
| Krishna teaches Arjuna that the soul is immortal, only the body may be hurt. He asks Arjuna to be courageous and move ahead to kill his adversaries, even though they are his relatives. |
Krishna describes Brahman |
On the three gunas of Samkhya philosophy |
| Arjuna asks why should he fight if knowledge is more important than action. Krishna stresses the importance of doing the necessary without thinking about worldly order. |
Krishna teaches panentheism, "all beings are in me". |
Description of the tree symbol of the gunas, which has its roots in the heavens and its foliage on earth. This tree should be felled with the `axe of detachment`. |
| Krishna reveals that he has lived through many births and always teaches Yoga for the protection of the pious and the destruction of the impious. |
Krishna explains Vibhuti. |
Krishna distinguishes human traits of divine and of inferior nature. |
| Arjuna asks if it is better to act or to give up action. Krishna answers that both are beneficial, but that Karma Yoga is superior. |
On Arjuna`s request, Krishna comes in his true universal form `Vishvarupa`, emitting the radiance of thousand suns, containing all deities and all beings. |
Religion is divided into thought, deed and ingestion, corresponding to the three gunas. |
| Krishna describes the correct posture for meditation and how to reach Brahman through proper action. |
Krishna describes the process of devotional service (Bhakti Yoga). |
Dharma is to be upheld and one must perform one’s duty in renunciation. Arjuna follows the recommendation of Krishna and joins the battle. |
Concept and philosophy of Bhagavad Gita
Lord Krishna, Man and the essence of Karma Yoga forms the very base of the concepts of Bhagavad Gita. With its philosophical connotation the Bhagavad Gita addresses the strife between the senses and the intuition of cosmic order. It speaks of the Yoga of equanimity; however the term Yoga in the context of Bhagavad Gita demonstrates a rather unified outlook where serenity of mind, skill of action and indeed the power to stay attuned to the glory of the self (Atman) and the Supreme Being (Bhagavan) gains a deeper connotation. According to Krishna, the root of all suffering and discord is the agitation of the mind caused by selfish desire. The blinding ego, the sheer godless existence makes the godless individuals to surrender themselves to unquenchable passions; hypocritical, self-sufficient and arrogant as they are, they cherish false conceptions established on delusion; the denigrated work only to carry out their own diabolical purposes. Dousing the flame of desire to gain happiness is therefore indeed necessary and 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. According to the Bhagavad Gita, attaining the Nirvana whilst immersing ego is the goal of which can be achieved through the Yogas of meditation, action, devotion and knowledge. Krishna summarizes the Yogas through eighteen chapters and amidst the philosophies of three yogas, the Karma Yoga or the selfless action, The Bhakti Yoga or devotion and the Dhyana Yoga or Self Transcending Knowledge
While each path differs, their fundamental goal is the same - to realize the ultimate Divine essence, the Brahman. Path of right action advocated by Bhagavad Gita lays down specific processes to reach the Almighty and be one with him. According to Krishna advising Arjuna on matters of principles and moralities, one should always choose a righteous path, which can be attained by wisdom and perfect insight. Concentration and dedication is very much requisite in order to gain sublimity. Knowledge and experience in Bhagavad Gita preaches the basic underlying theme of the sacred text itself that of gaining right knowledge through meditative experiences.
Karma Yoga, the path of action in Bhagavad Gita describes two processes by which one can attain Nirvana, comprising the path of wisdom and path of action. No one can gain Supreme status by escaping work and again, he cannot stay inactive and refrain from work. Whatever happens in this physical world, it is essential to do one`s moralistic and righteous work to be one with the Almighty. On the other hand the Bhakti Yoga, the path of love in Bhagavad Gita enlists the sole way to reach, to unite with Lord-God, is by complete dedication towards the Almighty, i.e., Lord Krishna in this context. Total focus, total concentration is hugely necessary for such an act, contrary to which Krishna is always there to rescue one from the pits of falseness. Dhyana Yoga, the path of wisdom in Bhagavad Gita rests in the thought that one should possess right knowledge, right insight, in order to reach that path of right wisdom. The knowledgeable never discriminates between earthly pleasures; he seeks himself in each self and perceives others within himself.
To attain Nirvana, self-control in Bhagavad Gita is primary. Self control in Bhagavad Gita entails that essential phenomenon without which it is impossible to attain the Supreme Spirit and to become a saint. Unless one is free from sinful acts of worldly satisfaction and gratification, Nirvana is impossible. And to stay abdicated from such acts, tremendous self-energy is required to become an abstinent. Self-control in every matter of desires, cravings, or attachment to beings and things is sure to take one to heights of a saint. Entwined with immense mysticism, deep philosophy and unfathomable religious significance the Bhagavad Gita since ages have reconciled facets and schools of Hindu philosophy, including those of Brahmanical (orthodox Vedic) origin and even the parallel ascetic and Yogic traditions.
Bhagavad Gita has been referred to in umpteen books written by thinkers and leaders of modern times, like Bal Gangadhar Tilak`s Gita Rahasya, Aurobindo Ghosh`s Essays on Gita and Mahatma Gandhi`s Ana sakti Yoga. Gita exerts a tremendous appeal on the mass, irrespective of class, because it deals with practical problems of life and contains lessons that one can follow to resolve one`s day-to-day conflicts.
