Saturday, April 4, 2015

The Bhagavad Gita (गीता)

 M. R. Dwarakanath

Introduction: The religio-philosophy of sanätana dharma (Eternal laws of right conduct) or Hinduism is founded on the prasthänatrayé, the three source books of Hindu thought. These are the Upanishads, The brahmasütras and the bhagavadgétä. The Upanishads are çruti texts; these are regarded as being eternal and of non-human origin. çruti means heard; they are believed to be ever present in space as vibrations which can be received by humans when their minds are pure and suitably tuned to receive the same like a radio. The ancient Seers, having received or visualized this knowledge in the form of mantras, are the recorders of the knowledge and not their authors. One may note these vibrations are not sound vibrations as they exist in free space even in the absence of air which is a prerequisite for sound propagation. The other teaches the essence of the çruti texts in simpler terms. The itihäsas (epics) and puräëas (legends of the past) form yet another set of works that further elucidate the same subject matter in much greater length with stories and parables to make it even more accessible to the lay person. The bhagavadgétä is at once concise and accessible to any enquiring person but it lends itself to different interpretations. The gétä has been çréçaìkaräcärya, commented on çrérämänujäcärya by and çrémadväcärya and many others in the near past. These commentaries reflect their philosophical positions in matters of the nature of the Brahman, the world and the soul. The gétä has also attracted the attention of world leaders like Gandhi, two texts are considered småti as they are of human origin and are the results of cogitations of the mind. Thus they are said to be remembered texts. Sage vedavyäsa or tilak, radhäkåñëan, rajagopäläcäri as well as occidental thinkers like Thoreau, Oppenheimer and others.  bädaräyaëa is the author of the brahmasütras or the vedäntasütras, which are an annotation on the çruti texts, as well as the bhagavadgétä. The vedäntasütras constitute very terse pronouncements intended to elucidate the çruti texts and remove all ambiguity across the corpus of these texts.  The bhagavadgétä is a popular metrical text in 700 (or 701) verses in the form of a dialog between çrékåñëa and arjuna on the battlefield of the Mahabharata war. The text is entirely in the anuñöubh or triñöubh meters. The gétä The setting for the instruction of the gétä on the battlefield, just as the hostilities are about to begin, seems odd at first glance. One expects such teaching to be carried out in the tranquility of a gurukula in the Himalayas or a secluded forest away from daily hubbub. However, it is intentionally set on the battlefield as battle is a metaphor not just for the conflicts of war but for our everyday conflicts in our own minds that rage perpetually. The gétä is Psychology 101 and a self help manual! The following metaphorical verse captures the place of gétä in our sacred literatureIf)

The Upanishads are cows, the milcher is çrékåñëa.  arjuna is the calf, the consumer (enjoyer) is the wise person (arjuna), the milk is the great nectar called gétä.


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