Blog

An Introduction to Bhagawad Gita
The followers of Sanathana Dharma (otherwise called as Hindus) did notfall back on any single prophet or a single book as the basis of theirreligion. Right from the beginning, this religion (thought process) hada pluralistic view. On one hand the religion appeared to depend onrituals, prayers and rites and on the other hand it appeared to dependon a very democratic exchange of philosophic ideas between the teacherand the student as in the Upanishads, which were at the end of theVedas. Not all Upanishads were discussion of philosophy and many ofthem did indeed discuss rituals and prayers to individual God. The sumtotal of the Hindu philosophic thought was individual research aidedunder the direction of the Guru. The thought process slipped down toworship of individual gods and epic stories (Puranas) about the Godswere written down.

The person who compiled and systematized all the religious knowledgecontained in the initial Vedas as well as the stories of IndividualGods was a sage called Veda Vyasa.(Veda means knowledge and Vyasa meansessay writer.) He compiled the information available on different Godsin to 18 epics besides compiling the four Vedas. The mostencyclopedical epic of them all was called the Mahabharata. The maintheme of this epic was the struggle for supremacy in India by thehundred sons of King Drutharashtra (called Kauravas) and the 5 sons ofhis younger brother Pandu called the Pandavas. At the end of struggleis a war between them. On the first day of the war, Arjuna the mostvalorous among the Pandava brothers appeared in the battle field drivenby Lord Krishna who is his cousin, mentor and guide. But once Arjunafaced the prospect of killing his own cousins aided by his teachers,uncle and grandfather, he suddenly felt aghast and decided that, evenstarving to death would be a better option than killing them all. LordKrishna then advises him (possibly the first recorded psychologicalcounseling). Arjuna is not easily convinced. The next 700 stanzas ofconversation between them in the battle field is Bhagawad Gita (Thesong of the Lord). Apart from simple advice to him, that Arjuna shouldfight, Lord Krishna summarizes the entire Hindu thought process onSanathana Dharma in these 700 verses. By the blessing of Veda Vyasa allthese was seen and heard by Sanjaya (collector and reporter) toDrutharashtra and were called the Bhagawad Gita. This was considered asa summary of Hindu religious thought and was revered by all Hindus. Fora long time, this state of thought existed.

Things changed with the writing of a commentary to this great work byAdi Sankara, who proved that this great book provided support to hisinterpretation of Hindu philosophy of Advaita (non dualism). The greatRamanuja who came out with a different philosophy calledVisisthadvaitha (specialized non dualism) again wrote a commentary andclaimed that Gita supported his system of philosophy. It was againfollowed by another interpretation to gather support to the philosophyof Dwaitha (dualism) propounded by sage Madhwa. After this periodBhagawad Gita became the most important religious book of Hindus.Several more commentaries and translations to Indian languagesfollowed. The great commentators were Abhinava Guptha, Nimbarka,Vallabha and Gnaneswar in Marathi etc. The book became so popular inthe Hindu psyche that, Hindus took oath on Bhagawad Gita likeChristians took oath on Bible. In 1785 Charles Wilkins published anEnglish translation of the Bhagavad Gita, which was the first time thata Sanskrit book had been translated directly into a European language.In 1808 passages from the Gita were part of the first directtranslation of Sanskrit into German, appearing in a book through whichFriedrich Schlegel, who became known as the founder of Indian philologyin Germany. Edwin Arnold was the first one to publish a translation into English verse in 1885. Many commentaries and translations followedwith great regularity. Mahatma Gandhi who also wrote a commentary wasso impressed by this great work that he wrote: "I find solace in theBhagavadgita that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. Whendisappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray oflight, I go back to the Bhagavadgita. I find a verse here and a versethere and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelmingtragedies - and my life has been full of external tragedies - and ifthey have left no visible, no indelible scar on me, I owe it all to theteaching of Bhagawad Gita".

The first chapter of Gita details the back ground circumstances,which lead to this teaching. In the second chapter Lord Krishna tellsArjuna that he should fight because It is his duty and that by killinga body he does not kill a soul and the highest form of action is whenaction is done without bothering about the fruits of such action. Inthis connection he also tells him that inaction is a great sin. Laterat the request of Arjuna he explains about the difference between,deeds which take you to heaven but you are reborn later and that deedwhich once for all merges you with the lord. Some of the prominentapproaches explained by him are:

1. Doing action without bothering about fruits of such action.
2. Simple and steadfast devotion, surrendering all results to him.
3. Physical meditation of the highest order by which one becomes him.
4. The path through intelligent search of the God.
5. Simple and pure renunciation.

During this discussion, he also shows him his supreme form, tellshim, in which beings his presence will be felt more, the differencesbetween the three states of Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas, the differencesbetween the four varnas and so on. In short it is concise encyclopediaof all that for which Hinduism stands for.

Thousands of translations, interpretations and commentaries of theBhagawad Gita in English as well as various other languages are alreadyavailable. As mentioned before Edwin Arnold attempted to do atranslation in English verse. Recently a similar effort was made bySanderson Beck. The present translation is done in free English versein as simple language as possible. I have tried to understand what hasbeen written in Gita and wrote what I have understood, after readingvarious translations and commentaries, in a simple verse form. Notbeing a great scholar, I have not attempted for a commentary on what isthe implication of each verse.

I dedicate my translation to the lay English reader interested in Hinduphilosophy with a request to him to treat this translation as anappetizer. I am hoping that my effort would make him read several, morescholarly commentaries on Gita by very great souls and try to clear hisvarious doubts. I am making this request because I have still notunderstood the treasure house of Gita and am doing exactly that.


When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God createdthis universe everything else seems so superfluous. [Albert Einstein]

When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face,and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gitaand find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in themidst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita willderive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day. [Mahatma Gandhi]

In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonalphilosophy of the Bhagavad-gita, in comparison with which our modernworld and its literature seem puny and trivial. [Henry David Thoreau]

The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind byits devotion to God which is manifested by actions. [Dr. AlbertSchweitzer]

The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a livingcreation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a newmeaning for every civilization. [Sri Aurobindo]

The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have beencurrent in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided byPlato in his Timaeus in which it states behold we are not an earthlybut a heavenly plant. This correlation can be discerned by what Krishnaexpresses in chapter 15 of Bhagavad-Gita. [Carl Jung]

The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation ofhuman existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations andduties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and granderpurpose of the universe. [Nehru]

The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation oflife's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion.[Herman Hesse]

I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-gita. It was the first ofbooks; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy,but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence whichin another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the samequestions which exercise us. [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita withfull understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it. [RudolphSteiner]

From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of humanexistence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessenceof all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures. [Adi Sankara]

The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritualevolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear andcomprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; henceits enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity.[Aldous Huxley]

The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science ofdevotion to God Which is the Essence of all spiritual knowledge. TheSupreme Lord Krishna's primary purpose for descending and incarnatingwas to relieve the world of any demoniac and negative, undesirableinfluences that are opposed to spiritual development, yetsimultaneously it is His incomparable intention to be perpetuallywithin reach of all humanity. [Ramanuja]

The Bhagavad-Gita is not seperate from the Vaishnava philosophy andthe Srimad Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrinewhich is transmigation of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter ofBhagavad-Gita one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare.When the second chapter has been read it can be clearly understood thatknowledge and the soul is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studyingthe third chapter it is apparent that acts of righteousness are also ofhigh priority. If we continue and patiently take the time to completethe Bhagavad-Gita and try to ascertain the truth of its closing chapterwe can see that the ultimate conclusion is to relinquish all theconceptualized ideas of religion which we possess and fully surrenderdirectly unto the Supreme Lord. [Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati]
The Mahabharata has all the essential ingredients necessary toevolve and protect humanity and that within it the Bhagavad-Gita is theepitome of the Mahabharata just as ghee is the essence of milk andpollen is the essence of flowers. [Madhvacarya]

Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning and a technicalmeaning. The general meaning is the joining together or union of anytwo or more things. The technical meaning is a state of stability andpeace and the means or practices which lead to that state. The BhagavadGita uses the word with both meanings. Lord Krishna is a real Yogi whocan maintain a peaceful mind in the midst of any crisis. [MataAmritanandamayi Devi]