
Bhagavad Gīta भगवद् गीता, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the ''Bhisma-Parva'' chapters 23–40. A core sacred text of Hindu (Vedic) religion and philosophy, the Bhagavad Gita, often referred to as the Gita, is a summation of the Vedic, Yoga, Vedantic and Tantric philosophies. The Bhagavad Gita, meaning "song of the Lord", refers to itself as a 'Yoga Upanishad' and is sometimes called ''Gītopanişad''. It is considered to be the only known religious text to have been spoken by God or an incarnation/ avatar of God directly. During the message of Gita, Lord Krishna proclaims that he is God Himself. In order to make Arjuna believe this, he shows Arjuna his divine form which is described as timeless and leaves Arjuna shaking with awe and fear. It is not exactly clear when the Bhagavad Gita was written. Astronomical evidence cited in the Mahabharata itself put the date at 3137 BC, ancient Indian historical texts (Puranas) suggest a date of about 1924 BC and western scholars hold widely differing dates that occur after 1000BC. [http://www.sulekha.com/expressions/column.asp?cid=305835] == Bhagavad Gita in General == Starting in the middle of the Mahabharata immediately before the epic's major battle at the field of Kurukshetra, the Bhagavad Gita recounts the exchange between the warrior-prince Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna, a king who is considered an avatar of God, or God Himself. Arjuna hears the conch shells signaling the start of fighting as he and Krishna ride out. As he looks at the opposing armies and sees his relatives, teachers, and friends fighting on either side, he is heartsick at the thought of killing these beloved persons. He turns to Krishna for advice. Krishna counsels Arjuna, beginning with the tenet that since souls are immortal, their deaths on the battlefield are just the shedding of the body, which is not the soul. 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 little self, and that one must identify with the truth of the immortal Self, the soul or Atman, the ultimate divine consciousness. Through dispassion the yogi, or follower of a particular path of yoga, is able to transcend his mortality and attachment for the material world and see the infinite. To demonstrate the infinity of the unknowable Brahman, Krishna temporarily gives Arjuna the cosmic eye and allows him to see Him in all his divine glory. He reveals that He is fundamentally both the ultimate essence of being in the universe and also its material body. Among the great sages and philosophers who have drawn inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita are Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who first sang the "Hare Krishna" mantra, and Mahatma Gandhi, who bestowed spiritual legitimacy to non-violence through the Gita and interpreted the war of the Mahabharata as a metaphor for the conflicts that trouble all people at one time or another. The culminating message of the Gita was the inspiration for his struggle against Britain colonial rule. American physicist and director of the Manhattan Project J. Robert Oppenheimer, upon witnessing the world's trinity site in 1945, is reported to have misquoted "I am become Death, the shatterer of worlds," from the Bhagavad Gita 11.12. [http://www.bartleby.com/73/123.html] The dynamic Swami Vivekananda, the follower of Shri Ramakrishna known for his seminal commentaries on the four yogas, Bhakti, Jnana, Karma and Raja Yoga, also drew from his knowledge of the Gita to expound on them. 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, along with the Four Gospels of Jesus. ==Bhagavad Gita as a Yoga Scripture== The Gita addresses the discord between the senses and the intuition of cosmic unity. 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 it 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 desire. The only way to douse the flame of desire is by stilling the mind through discipline of the senses and the intellect. 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. 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 (pronounced ''gyaan'') Yoga or self-transcending knowledge. Other forms that exist today sprang up long after the Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras and are all essentially forms of Raja Yoga. While each path differs, their fundamental goal is the same: to realize Brahman (the Divine Essence) as being the only truth, that the body is temporal, and that the soul (Atman) is infinite. Yoga's aim (nirvana, moksha) is to escape from the cycle of reincarnation through realization of oneness with the ultimate reality. Here are some quotations from Lord Krishna that make up history's first real yoga text and give comprehensive definitions of the four principle yogas: ===On The Goal Of Yoga=== " When the mind comes to rest, restrained by the practice of yoga, and when beholding the Self, by the self, he is content in the Self." (B.G., Chapter 6, Verse 20) | " He who finds his happiness within, his delight within, and his light within, this yogi attains the bliss of Brahman, becoming Brahman." ===On Raja Yoga=== Raja Yoga is, in general, stilling of the mind and body through meditative techniques, geared at realizing one's true nature. This practice was later described by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. " Establishing a firm seat for himself in a clean place... having directed his mind to a single object, with his thought and the activity of the senses controlled, he should practice yoga for the purpose of self-realization. Holding the body, head and neck erect, motionless and steady, gazing at the tip of his own nose and not looking in any direction, with quieted mind, banishing fear, established in the brahmacharin vow of celibacy, controlling the mind, with thoughts fixed on Me, he should sit, concentrated, devoted to Me. Thus, continually disciplining himself, the yogin whose mind is subdued goes to nirvana, to supreme peace, to union with Me." (B.G., Chapter 6, Verses 11-15) ===On Bhakti Yoga=== Bhakti Yoga is simply service in love and devotion to God (Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita). The teaching of Bhakti thus bears some resemblance to finding salvation in Christ through love. "... 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." (B.G., Chapter 12, Verses 6-8) "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." (B.G. Chapter 14, Verse 26) ===On Karma Yoga=== Karma Yoga is essentially acting, or doing one's duties in life as per his/her dharma or duty, without desire or expectation of reward - 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 type of result effect your action. It is said that the results can be of 3 types, a. as aimed for, b. opposite of what is aimed for and c. 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. Example: If one is playing Tennis and on the tennis court his duty is to play as well as he can. If he is a Karma Yogi, a few loss of points will not hamper his enthusiasm and energy for the rest of the game, but if he is not then he will start getting tense, nervous, conscious, etc and is then bound to make mistakes and lose anyway. This is a simple example of Karma Yoga for a layman. "With the body, with the mind, with the intellect, even merely with the senses, the yogins perform action toward self-purification, having abandoned attachment. He who is disciplined in yoga, having abandoned the fruit of action, attains steady peace..." (B.G. Chapter 5, Verses 11-12) ===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 eternal. Through a steady advancement in realization of the real and the unreal, what is eternal and temporal, one develops into a Jnana Yogin. This is essentially a path to God through knowledge and discrimination, and has been described as being the "shortest, but steepest" path to God: the most difficult one. "When he perceives the various states of being as resting in the One, and from That alone spreading out, then he attains Brahman. / They who know, through the eye of knowledge, the distinction between the field and the knower of the field, as well as the liberation of beings from material nature, go to the Supreme." (B.G. Chapter 15, Verse 31 / Verse 35). == Revelation of the Supreme == A memorable passage of the Gita is in the Eleventh Chapter in which Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna in all his splendid forms, all the plenary permutations of beings, the many gods and planes of existences all subsumed into the one essential Super-consciousness. A stirring excerpt from Sir Edwin Arnold's highly poetic style follows: "Krishna: Thou canst not!—nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest!
Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light!
And, look! This is My glory, unveiled to mortal sight!
Sanjaya:
Then, O King! the God, so saying,
Stood, to Pritha's Son displaying
All the splendour, wonder, dread
Of His vast Almighty-head.
Out of countless eyes beholding,
Out of countless mouths commanding,
Countless mystic forms enfolding
In one Form: supremely standing
Countless radiant glories wearing,
Countless heavenly weapons bearing,
Crowned with garlands of star-clusters,
Robed in garb of woven lustres,
Breathing from His perfect Presence
Breaths of every subtle essence
Of all heavenly odours; shedding
Blinding brilliance; overspreading—
Boundless, beautiful—all spaces
With His all-regarding faces;
So He showed! If there should rise
Suddenly within the skies
Sunburst of a thousand suns
Flooding earth with beams undeemed-of,
Then might be that Holy One's
Majesty and radiance dreamed of!
So did Pandu's Son behold
All this universe enfold
All its huge diversity
Into one vast shape, and be
Visible, and viewed, and blended
In one Body—subtle, splendid,
Nameless—th' All-comprehending
God of Gods, the Never-Ending
Deity!
But, sore amazed,
Thrilled, o'erfilled, dazzled, and dazed,
Arjuna knelt; and bowed his head,
And clasped his palms; and cried, and said:
Arjuna:
Yea! I have seen! I see!
Lord! all is wrapped in Thee!
The gods are in Thy glorious frame! the creatures
Of earth, and heaven, and hell
In Thy Divine form dwell,
And in Thy countenance shine all the features
Of Brahma, sitting lone
Upon His lotus-throne;
Of saints and sages, and the serpent races
Ananta, Vasuki;
Yea! mightiest Lord! I see
Thy thousand thousand arms, and breasts, and faces,
And eyes,—on every side
Perfect, diversified;
And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning,
Nowhere a centre! Shifts—
Wherever soul's gaze lifts—
Thy central Self, all-wielding, and all-winning!"
==Overview==
In many ways seemingly a heterogeneous text, the Gita is a reconciliation of many facets and schools of Hindu philosophy of both Brahman (i.e., orthodox, Vedic) origin and the parallel ascetic, yogic tradition. It comprises primarily Vedic (as in the four Vedas, as opposed to the Upanishads/Vedanta), Upanishadic, Samkhya and Yoga philosophy. It has stood the time, bringing together all four thought systems by taking their largely cohesive, common ideologies and backgrounds into the powerful Sanskrit verse of one text.
It had always been a seminal text for Hindu priests and yogis in India. Although not strictly part of the 'canon' of Vedic writings, almost all Hindu sects draw upon the Gita as authoritative. Recently, textual studies have indicated 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 its religious depth, quintessential Upanishadic and Yogic philosophy and beauty of verse, the Bhagavad Gita is one of the most compelling and important texts to come out of the Hindu tradition. Indeed, it stands tall among the world's greatest religious and spiritual scriptures.
Text Used Above
Winthrop Sargeant (the Yogas) and Sir Edwin Arnold (Revelation) translations
== References ==
* [http://wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE Full text in Sanskrit with Devanagari] (Wikisource)
* [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita_(en) English translation by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang] (Wikisource)
* [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita_(en),_EA English translation by Sir Edwin Arnold] (Wikisource)
== External Links: the text and translations ==
The Bhagavad Gita is quickly becoming one of the most popular religious texts in translation with numerous readings and adaptations of its 700 verses in many languages having come out, especially with its exposure to the world outside of India. 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. Different authors offer a wealth of diverse views which, when taken as a corpus of literature, present a fittingly varicolored idea of the possible interpretations of the religion and philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita.
English translations of high repute not available online include those of Juan Mascaro (praised by Aurobindo Ghosh), Barbara Stoler-Miller, the combined effort of Christopher Isherwood and Swami Prabhavananda, Winthrop Sargeant, and Swami Chidbhavananda.
#[http://www.SaralGita.com Saral Gita - Gujarati translation of Bhagavad Gita alongwith sanskrit verses, also contains mp3 audio of select chapters]
#[http://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/index.htm Gita Supersite!] Multilingual Bhagavadgita with translations, classical and contemporary commentaries and much more.
#[http://www.chinmayauk.org/Resources/Downloads.htm Complete Swami Chinmayananda's Gita translation and commentary] Gita Download with Interactive browsing, extensive search, instant definitions of selected words, etc.,
#[http://www.spiritual-happiness.com/scriptures.html Bhagavad Gita Sung in English!] All 18 Chapters in Streaming Realplayer
#WikiSource:Geeta
#Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON, translation from theistic Vaishnava tradition
#Selections from Eknath Easwaran's poetic translation of the ''Gita'':
#* [http://www.nilgiri.org/Contentfiles/Passages/RiversPassage.cfm?ID=25 The Way of Love]
#* [http://www.nilgiri.org/Contentfiles/Passages/RiversPassage.cfm?ID=5 The Illumined Man]
#* [http://www.nilgiri.org/Contentfiles/Passages/RiversPassage.cfm?ID=63 What Is Real Never Ceases]
#* [http://www.nilgiri.org/Contentfiles/Passages/RiversPassage.cfm?ID=37 Whatever You Do]
#* [http://www.nilgiri.org/Contentfiles/Passages/RiversPassage.cfm?ID=46 Be Aware of Me Always]
# [http://members.aol.com/jajnsn/ Mahatma Gandhi Translation and interspersed commentary]
#[http://www.yogamovement.com/texts/gita.html Sir Edwin Arnold translation (1900): highly poetic style]
# [http://intyoga.freeservers.com/bg_idx.htm Shri Aurobindo Ghosh's translation] and [http://intyoga.freeservers.com/arya-lit.htm#eog Excerpts from Shri Aurobindo's essays on the Gita]
# [http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/intro.html www.bhagavad-gita.org: Verses in Sanskrit Devnagari, transliteration, word-for-word translations, verse translations and accompanying chants in Realaudio)]
#[http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/gita/bg-eg-hp.htm William Quan Judge of the Theosophical Society]
#[http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/gita.htm Dr. Ramanand Prasad, of the American Gita Society]
# [http://www.san.beck.org/Gita.html Sanderson Beck translation]
# [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe08/ Kashinath Trimbak Telang translation]
# http://www.harekrishna.com/~ara/col/books/BG/tsem1.html (Gita and strong monotheism.)
# http://www.gita4free.com/englishmenu.html
# http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/
# [http://www.geocities.com/neovedanta/gita.html Vedantic commentary on the Gita.]
# [http://www.gita-society.com/ International Gita Society]
# [http://sss.vn.ua/bh_g_eng.htm Translation by Swami Tapasyananda (Pocket Edition) Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai]
# [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06025.htm Gita excerpt from the Mahabharata by Kisari Mohan Ganguly (published between 1883 and 1896) - the most comprehensive English translation to date.]
* [http://www.onelittleangel.com/wisdom/quotes/bhagavat_gita.asp Pictures and selected verse]
==External Links: Commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita==
* [http://www.atmajyoti.org/hi_gita_commentary_1.asp Commentary on the Gita] by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
* [http://swami-center.org/en/text/bhagavad_gita.html Bhagavad Gita with Commentaries by Vladimir Antonov]
==External Links: Quotes from the Bhagavad Gita==
* [http://www.atmajyoti.org/gi_bhagavad_gita_maharshi.asp Maharshi Gita] Verses from the Bhagavad Gita arranged by Ramana Maharshi to give its essential meaning.
* http://home.att.net/%7Es-prasad/geeta.htm
Hindu texts
hi:भगवद्गीता
Traditionally, the Mahabharata (and the Ramayana) are considered not Purana, but Itihasa, which is Sanskrit for 'history' (and literally translates to approximately 'and thus it happened'). Although, to be honest, I don't know enough to distinguish between the two. User:Gokul madhavan 19:39, May 14, 2004 (UTC) ---- So, ah... where the khell did the years 1316 and 1424 come from? Eh? Eh? This seems totally bogus and made-up to me. Cite? User:Graft ''Good question - but note it's 1424 BC, not 1424.'' Astronomical measurements can be pinpointed in time with amazing accuracy. (Astronomy is one of the major subjects covered in Mahabharata, so there was plenty of precise astronomical data for historians to go by.) User:Mkweise 23:22 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC) :Fair enough. User:Graft ---- I fail to see what makes these extlinks relevant here: *http://www.siddhayoga.org *http://www.yoga.com/roots/yoga/info/Geeta/geeta.html User:Mkweise 20:40 21 May 2003 (UTC) ----- Okay, so now we have 2nd century BCE as the composition date. Anyone want to cite this? Also the claim that the gita is a syncretic text that brings together strains amongst which is Buddhism does not seem credible, since Buddhism developed after the Gita was written, yes? Some links/resources discussing this? User:Graft 21:30 3 Jun 2003 (UTC) :The gita has jackall to do with Buddhism. Its entire concept of God-Being is at odds with Buddhism, and it clearly draws purely from the Hindu strains of Yoga and Samkhya, notwithstanding all the Upanishadic philosophy that easily predates Buddhadev. Much of what some people term 'Buddhist' thinking was already to be found pre-Buddhism in Vedic philosophy. ::The gita was sort of a hindu answer to buddhism. Karma yoga is much more grounded in "reality" than many of the other yogas, and this was a buddhist criticism of hinduism, that it was two concerned with its multitude of gods. : The composition date has been changed, and a note put in there about its uncertainty. I think it's best if we leave in a few dates (as suggested by whatever evidence) rather than claim to KNOW the correct date - because nobody really does. Personally I think 2nd century BC was a downright absurd date to put in there. And yes, of course Buddhism came much after the Gita was written. It was actually a reaction to the degradation of Hinduism at the time, with the decline of the caste system, the animal sacrifices and the opulence and materialism that had seeped in. But even so, some scholars maintain that Lord Buddha's teachings fall within the folds of Hinduism and that it was Hindu philosophy which was only revealed in a very minimal and stripped down form, to cleanse it of the dirt that had been gathering on it. == doesn't sound right. == This is a great article, informative and everything... but it doesn't sound like an encyclopedia. "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 to come out of the Hindu tradition. Indeed, it stands tall among the world's greatest religious and spiritual scriptures." That sounds good and dramatic, but a bit too dramatic for an encyclopedia. I'm not sure how to appropriatly fix this problem, or if it's a problem at all; but maybe someone could alter it a bit? why :It didn't seem excessive to me. Is any of it controversial? User:24.10.180.127 07:32, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Biases? == The Bhagavad Gita seems to take contradictory positions from time to time, and a Hindu friend suggested that some parts were added/modified in order to satisfy particular rulers (eg., to justify the caste system). I'm sure a definitive answer would be hard to come by, but can anyone comment (preferably in the article itself) on the biases that have been frequently suggested? User:24.10.180.127 07:32, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) : One might respond to this supposed justification of caste by saying that the Gita does not view caste the way we do. Caste is not hereditary, and indeed is not a term known to Hindus of that time. Rather, the word was ''varna'' (shade) and no, it was not based skin color. It emphasized that people of certain mentalities and habits were of one specific varna. For instance, someone with a violent temper, who eats lots of meat and drinks alcohol, who is intemperant, and has no respect for moral laws, would be a low-caste fellow, whereas someone who was God-loving, moral, temperant, and observant of social norms to a reasonable extent, would be a high-caste person. Someone born of (a) Brahman (parent) parents may not necessarily be a Brahmin. One has to live the life of a Brahmin to a brahmin, and likewise live the life of a Kshatriya (royal warrior), Vaishya (merchant, general laity) and shudra (lower-class) to live such lives. It has been frequently argued that there was no Hindu scriptural sanction (from the Vedas) enjoining human intervention and coercion for determining caste. : Furthermore, if one persists in employing the occupational-caste analogy, one can abandon the 'character' model above and argue that there still is no Hindu sanction for enforced caste (such as in abominations like the Dharmashastras). In that sense, any modern society (say, the United States of America) can be broadly divided into different 'varnas' (or castes) that naturally emerge because of the simple fact of economic stratification. Thus, clergy, evangelists, priests and professors/teachers might generally be categorized as Brahmins, preserving and propagating the rites and knowlege of the community at large. Politicians, army men, government workers and intelligence officers might be Kshatriyas, or warriors and court subjects, attending to the welfare of society. White-collar workers, small-business owners and supervisors would be Vaishyas, and people below the poverty line, forced to do menial work (janitors, etc.) are shudras. Thus, the caste system is mere nomenclature, ideal classifications, not a feudal system controlled by a minority and enforced on people. Caste in today's sense, under either of the two foregoing readings, would indeed be quite contrary to the message and content of the Gita. : Secondly, there were not separate rulers who presided over the writing of the Gita. I'm not saying this from a theological perspective. Scholars from the East and West who have conducted scriptural and formal studies of the makeup and writing of the Gita have confirmed that it is quite consistent in style of its written Sanskrit and that it is highly unlikely that any more than one person authored it. What the 'conflicting' influences were, which were brought together, were the Hindu philosophy of Yoga and Samkhya, though the former and latter are respectively viewed much more abstractly in the Gita (as mystic, or rational spiritualism, and the way of knowledge or discriminatory thought). You should read Radhakrishnan's breakdown of the Gita, which is authoratative in any circle (outsider and insider). : Essentially, there are not really any biases, in the sense that the Gita does not really 'take sides' with one prevailing mode of thought to the exclusion of another. In fact, that is why it is a seminal text to philosophical schools that are often wildly opposed to one another. Dualists and nondualists alike refer to the text and draw largely different conclusions about metaphysics and Godhead (or ultimate lack thereof); Gandhi, who was anti-caste system, easily reconciled the teachings of the Gita with his satyagraha philosophy, especially since much of his thought derived from the Gita, in much the same way as I described the caste system as we know it and how it may be viewed in the Gita. I, and most scholars in the field, would have problems with your friend's comments for 1) factually incorrect assumptions, such as that of multiple writers and patrons (there in fact is no evidence that this was a 'patron-presided work) and 2) fallacious ''a priori'' definitions of the caste system and what a bias is. --User:LordSuryaofShropshire 19:47, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC) :: Wow! Thanks for explaining it in such clear detail. If my confusion is a common one, perhaps your discussion could be included in the article (or a pointer included to separate discussion). I'll have to go through the Gita again with that understanding. User:Lunkwill 17:44, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC) == About: The only text spoken by God. == ''"It is the only religious text known to have been spoken by God or an incarnation/avatar of God and not by a messenger or Messiah of God."'' Shouldn't that be "the only Hindu text", since Jesus' words are considered those of God by Christians? And I'm not sure that the distinction between God and Messiah makes sense in a inter-religious context, if it does at all. --User:Goethean 15:38, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC) :I believe Jesus is supposed to be the son of God. User:Spundun 05:04, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) Coincidentally, I dropped by to read about this sublime book, and I too, think a small attribution or qualification is needed here. "It is considered to be the only known religious text to have been spoken by God or an incarnation/ avatar of God directly." Considered by Hindus? Thanks for the clarification. Just finished it yesterday; wonderful book! User:Hawstom 23:14, Jun 19, 2005 (UTC)
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Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gīta भगवद् गीता, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the ''Bhisma-Parva'' chapters 23–40. A core sacred text of Hindu (Vedic) religion and philosophy, the Bhagavad Gita, often referred to as the Gita, is a summation of the Vedic, Yoga, Vedantic and Tantric philosophies. The Bhagavad Gita, meaning "song of the Lord", refers to itself as a 'Yoga Upanishad' and is sometimes called ''Gītopanişad''. It is considered to be the only known religious text to have been spoken by God or an incarnation/ avatar of God directly. During the message of Gita, Lord Krishna proclaims that he is God Himself. In order to make Arjuna believe this, he shows Arjuna his divine form which is described as timeless and leaves Arjuna shaking with awe and fear. It is not exactly clear when the Bhagavad Gita was written. Astronomical evidence cited in the Mahabharata itself put the date at 3137 BC, ancient Indian historical texts (Puranas) suggest a date of about 1924 BC and western scholars hold widely differing dates that occur after 1000BC. [http://www.sulekha.com/expressions/column.asp?cid=305835] == Bhagavad Gita in General == Starting in the middle of the Mahabharata immediately before the epic's major battle at the field of Kurukshetra, the Bhagavad Gita recounts the exchange between the warrior-prince Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna, a king who is considered an avatar of God, or God Himself. Arjuna hears the conch shells signaling the start of fighting as he and Krishna ride out. As he looks at the opposing armies and sees his relatives, teachers, and friends fighting on either side, he is heartsick at the thought of killing these beloved persons. He turns to Krishna for advice. Krishna counsels Arjuna, beginning with the tenet that since souls are immortal, their deaths on the battlefield are just the shedding of the body, which is not the soul. 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 little self, and that one must identify with the truth of the immortal Self, the soul or Atman, the ultimate divine consciousness. Through dispassion the yogi, or follower of a particular path of yoga, is able to transcend his mortality and attachment for the material world and see the infinite. To demonstrate the infinity of the unknowable Brahman, Krishna temporarily gives Arjuna the cosmic eye and allows him to see Him in all his divine glory. He reveals that He is fundamentally both the ultimate essence of being in the universe and also its material body. Among the great sages and philosophers who have drawn inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita are Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who first sang the "Hare Krishna" mantra, and Mahatma Gandhi, who bestowed spiritual legitimacy to non-violence through the Gita and interpreted the war of the Mahabharata as a metaphor for the conflicts that trouble all people at one time or another. The culminating message of the Gita was the inspiration for his struggle against Britain colonial rule. American physicist and director of the Manhattan Project J. Robert Oppenheimer, upon witnessing the world's trinity site in 1945, is reported to have misquoted "I am become Death, the shatterer of worlds," from the Bhagavad Gita 11.12. [http://www.bartleby.com/73/123.html] The dynamic Swami Vivekananda, the follower of Shri Ramakrishna known for his seminal commentaries on the four yogas, Bhakti, Jnana, Karma and Raja Yoga, also drew from his knowledge of the Gita to expound on them. 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, along with the Four Gospels of Jesus. ==Bhagavad Gita as a Yoga Scripture== The Gita addresses the discord between the senses and the intuition of cosmic unity. 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 it 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 desire. The only way to douse the flame of desire is by stilling the mind through discipline of the senses and the intellect. 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. 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 (pronounced ''gyaan'') Yoga or self-transcending knowledge. Other forms that exist today sprang up long after the Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras and are all essentially forms of Raja Yoga. While each path differs, their fundamental goal is the same: to realize Brahman (the Divine Essence) as being the only truth, that the body is temporal, and that the soul (Atman) is infinite. Yoga's aim (nirvana, moksha) is to escape from the cycle of reincarnation through realization of oneness with the ultimate reality. Here are some quotations from Lord Krishna that make up history's first real yoga text and give comprehensive definitions of the four principle yogas: ===On The Goal Of Yoga=== " When the mind comes to rest, restrained by the practice of yoga, and when beholding the Self, by the self, he is content in the Self." (B.G., Chapter 6, Verse 20) | " He who finds his happiness within, his delight within, and his light within, this yogi attains the bliss of Brahman, becoming Brahman." ===On Raja Yoga=== Raja Yoga is, in general, stilling of the mind and body through meditative techniques, geared at realizing one's true nature. This practice was later described by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. " Establishing a firm seat for himself in a clean place... having directed his mind to a single object, with his thought and the activity of the senses controlled, he should practice yoga for the purpose of self-realization. Holding the body, head and neck erect, motionless and steady, gazing at the tip of his own nose and not looking in any direction, with quieted mind, banishing fear, established in the brahmacharin vow of celibacy, controlling the mind, with thoughts fixed on Me, he should sit, concentrated, devoted to Me. Thus, continually disciplining himself, the yogin whose mind is subdued goes to nirvana, to supreme peace, to union with Me." (B.G., Chapter 6, Verses 11-15) ===On Bhakti Yoga=== Bhakti Yoga is simply service in love and devotion to God (Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita). The teaching of Bhakti thus bears some resemblance to finding salvation in Christ through love. "... 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." (B.G., Chapter 12, Verses 6-8) "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." (B.G. Chapter 14, Verse 26) ===On Karma Yoga=== Karma Yoga is essentially acting, or doing one's duties in life as per his/her dharma or duty, without desire or expectation of reward - 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 type of result effect your action. It is said that the results can be of 3 types, a. as aimed for, b. opposite of what is aimed for and c. 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. Example: If one is playing Tennis and on the tennis court his duty is to play as well as he can. If he is a Karma Yogi, a few loss of points will not hamper his enthusiasm and energy for the rest of the game, but if he is not then he will start getting tense, nervous, conscious, etc and is then bound to make mistakes and lose anyway. This is a simple example of Karma Yoga for a layman. "With the body, with the mind, with the intellect, even merely with the senses, the yogins perform action toward self-purification, having abandoned attachment. He who is disciplined in yoga, having abandoned the fruit of action, attains steady peace..." (B.G. Chapter 5, Verses 11-12) ===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 eternal. Through a steady advancement in realization of the real and the unreal, what is eternal and temporal, one develops into a Jnana Yogin. This is essentially a path to God through knowledge and discrimination, and has been described as being the "shortest, but steepest" path to God: the most difficult one. "When he perceives the various states of being as resting in the One, and from That alone spreading out, then he attains Brahman. / They who know, through the eye of knowledge, the distinction between the field and the knower of the field, as well as the liberation of beings from material nature, go to the Supreme." (B.G. Chapter 15, Verse 31 / Verse 35). == Revelation of the Supreme == A memorable passage of the Gita is in the Eleventh Chapter in which Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna in all his splendid forms, all the plenary permutations of beings, the many gods and planes of existences all subsumed into the one essential Super-consciousness. A stirring excerpt from Sir Edwin Arnold's highly poetic style follows:
Bhagavad Gita
Traditionally, the Mahabharata (and the Ramayana) are considered not Purana, but Itihasa, which is Sanskrit for 'history' (and literally translates to approximately 'and thus it happened'). Although, to be honest, I don't know enough to distinguish between the two. User:Gokul madhavan 19:39, May 14, 2004 (UTC) ---- So, ah... where the khell did the years 1316 and 1424 come from? Eh? Eh? This seems totally bogus and made-up to me. Cite? User:Graft ''Good question - but note it's 1424 BC, not 1424.'' Astronomical measurements can be pinpointed in time with amazing accuracy. (Astronomy is one of the major subjects covered in Mahabharata, so there was plenty of precise astronomical data for historians to go by.) User:Mkweise 23:22 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC) :Fair enough. User:Graft ---- I fail to see what makes these extlinks relevant here: *http://www.siddhayoga.org *http://www.yoga.com/roots/yoga/info/Geeta/geeta.html User:Mkweise 20:40 21 May 2003 (UTC) ----- Okay, so now we have 2nd century BCE as the composition date. Anyone want to cite this? Also the claim that the gita is a syncretic text that brings together strains amongst which is Buddhism does not seem credible, since Buddhism developed after the Gita was written, yes? Some links/resources discussing this? User:Graft 21:30 3 Jun 2003 (UTC) :The gita has jackall to do with Buddhism. Its entire concept of God-Being is at odds with Buddhism, and it clearly draws purely from the Hindu strains of Yoga and Samkhya, notwithstanding all the Upanishadic philosophy that easily predates Buddhadev. Much of what some people term 'Buddhist' thinking was already to be found pre-Buddhism in Vedic philosophy. ::The gita was sort of a hindu answer to buddhism. Karma yoga is much more grounded in "reality" than many of the other yogas, and this was a buddhist criticism of hinduism, that it was two concerned with its multitude of gods. : The composition date has been changed, and a note put in there about its uncertainty. I think it's best if we leave in a few dates (as suggested by whatever evidence) rather than claim to KNOW the correct date - because nobody really does. Personally I think 2nd century BC was a downright absurd date to put in there. And yes, of course Buddhism came much after the Gita was written. It was actually a reaction to the degradation of Hinduism at the time, with the decline of the caste system, the animal sacrifices and the opulence and materialism that had seeped in. But even so, some scholars maintain that Lord Buddha's teachings fall within the folds of Hinduism and that it was Hindu philosophy which was only revealed in a very minimal and stripped down form, to cleanse it of the dirt that had been gathering on it. == doesn't sound right. == This is a great article, informative and everything... but it doesn't sound like an encyclopedia. "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 to come out of the Hindu tradition. Indeed, it stands tall among the world's greatest religious and spiritual scriptures." That sounds good and dramatic, but a bit too dramatic for an encyclopedia. I'm not sure how to appropriatly fix this problem, or if it's a problem at all; but maybe someone could alter it a bit? why :It didn't seem excessive to me. Is any of it controversial? User:24.10.180.127 07:32, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Biases? == The Bhagavad Gita seems to take contradictory positions from time to time, and a Hindu friend suggested that some parts were added/modified in order to satisfy particular rulers (eg., to justify the caste system). I'm sure a definitive answer would be hard to come by, but can anyone comment (preferably in the article itself) on the biases that have been frequently suggested? User:24.10.180.127 07:32, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) : One might respond to this supposed justification of caste by saying that the Gita does not view caste the way we do. Caste is not hereditary, and indeed is not a term known to Hindus of that time. Rather, the word was ''varna'' (shade) and no, it was not based skin color. It emphasized that people of certain mentalities and habits were of one specific varna. For instance, someone with a violent temper, who eats lots of meat and drinks alcohol, who is intemperant, and has no respect for moral laws, would be a low-caste fellow, whereas someone who was God-loving, moral, temperant, and observant of social norms to a reasonable extent, would be a high-caste person. Someone born of (a) Brahman (parent) parents may not necessarily be a Brahmin. One has to live the life of a Brahmin to a brahmin, and likewise live the life of a Kshatriya (royal warrior), Vaishya (merchant, general laity) and shudra (lower-class) to live such lives. It has been frequently argued that there was no Hindu scriptural sanction (from the Vedas) enjoining human intervention and coercion for determining caste. : Furthermore, if one persists in employing the occupational-caste analogy, one can abandon the 'character' model above and argue that there still is no Hindu sanction for enforced caste (such as in abominations like the Dharmashastras). In that sense, any modern society (say, the United States of America) can be broadly divided into different 'varnas' (or castes) that naturally emerge because of the simple fact of economic stratification. Thus, clergy, evangelists, priests and professors/teachers might generally be categorized as Brahmins, preserving and propagating the rites and knowlege of the community at large. Politicians, army men, government workers and intelligence officers might be Kshatriyas, or warriors and court subjects, attending to the welfare of society. White-collar workers, small-business owners and supervisors would be Vaishyas, and people below the poverty line, forced to do menial work (janitors, etc.) are shudras. Thus, the caste system is mere nomenclature, ideal classifications, not a feudal system controlled by a minority and enforced on people. Caste in today's sense, under either of the two foregoing readings, would indeed be quite contrary to the message and content of the Gita. : Secondly, there were not separate rulers who presided over the writing of the Gita. I'm not saying this from a theological perspective. Scholars from the East and West who have conducted scriptural and formal studies of the makeup and writing of the Gita have confirmed that it is quite consistent in style of its written Sanskrit and that it is highly unlikely that any more than one person authored it. What the 'conflicting' influences were, which were brought together, were the Hindu philosophy of Yoga and Samkhya, though the former and latter are respectively viewed much more abstractly in the Gita (as mystic, or rational spiritualism, and the way of knowledge or discriminatory thought). You should read Radhakrishnan's breakdown of the Gita, which is authoratative in any circle (outsider and insider). : Essentially, there are not really any biases, in the sense that the Gita does not really 'take sides' with one prevailing mode of thought to the exclusion of another. In fact, that is why it is a seminal text to philosophical schools that are often wildly opposed to one another. Dualists and nondualists alike refer to the text and draw largely different conclusions about metaphysics and Godhead (or ultimate lack thereof); Gandhi, who was anti-caste system, easily reconciled the teachings of the Gita with his satyagraha philosophy, especially since much of his thought derived from the Gita, in much the same way as I described the caste system as we know it and how it may be viewed in the Gita. I, and most scholars in the field, would have problems with your friend's comments for 1) factually incorrect assumptions, such as that of multiple writers and patrons (there in fact is no evidence that this was a 'patron-presided work) and 2) fallacious ''a priori'' definitions of the caste system and what a bias is. --User:LordSuryaofShropshire 19:47, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC) :: Wow! Thanks for explaining it in such clear detail. If my confusion is a common one, perhaps your discussion could be included in the article (or a pointer included to separate discussion). I'll have to go through the Gita again with that understanding. User:Lunkwill 17:44, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC) == About: The only text spoken by God. == ''"It is the only religious text known to have been spoken by God or an incarnation/avatar of God and not by a messenger or Messiah of God."'' Shouldn't that be "the only Hindu text", since Jesus' words are considered those of God by Christians? And I'm not sure that the distinction between God and Messiah makes sense in a inter-religious context, if it does at all. --User:Goethean 15:38, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC) :I believe Jesus is supposed to be the son of God. User:Spundun 05:04, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) Coincidentally, I dropped by to read about this sublime book, and I too, think a small attribution or qualification is needed here. "It is considered to be the only known religious text to have been spoken by God or an incarnation/ avatar of God directly." Considered by Hindus? Thanks for the clarification. Just finished it yesterday; wonderful book! User:Hawstom 23:14, Jun 19, 2005 (UTC)
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