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= Bhagavad_Gita =
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Introduction
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The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu
scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part
of the epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various
strands of Indian religious thought, including the Vedic concept of
'dharma' (duty, rightful action); samkhya-based 'yoga' and 'jnana'
(knowledge); and 'bhakti' (devotion). Among the Hindu traditions, the
text holds a unique pan-Hindu influence as the most prominent sacred
text and is a central text in Vedanta and the Vaishnava Hindu
tradition.
While traditionally attributed to the sage Veda Vyasa, the Gita is
historiographically regarded as a composite work by multiple authors.
Incorporating teachings from the Upanishads and the samkhya yoga
philosophy, the Gita is set in a narrative framework of dialogue
between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer guide Krishna, an
avatar of Vishnu, at the onset of the Kurukshetra War.
Though the Gita praises the benefits of yoga in releasing man's inner
essence from the bounds of desire and the wheel of rebirth, the text
propagates the Brahmanic idea of living according to one's duty or
'dharma', in contrast to the ascetic ideal of seeking liberation by
avoiding all 'karma'. Facing the perils of war, Arjuna hesitates to
perform his duty ('dharma') as a warrior. Krishna persuades him to
commence in battle, arguing that while following one's dharma, one
should not consider oneself to be the agent of action, but attribute
all of one's actions to God ('bhakti').
The Gita posits the existence of an individual self ('mind/ego') and
the higher Godself (Krishna, Atman/Brahman) in every being; the
Krishna-Arjuna dialogue has been interpreted as a metaphor for an
everlasting dialogue between the two. Numerous classical and modern
thinkers have written commentaries on the Gita with differing views on
its essence and the relation between the individual self ('jivatman')
and God (Krishna) or the supreme self (Atman/Brahman). In the Gita's
Chapter XIII, verses 24-25, four pathways to self-realization are
described, which later became known as the four yogas: meditation
(raja yoga), insight and intuition (jnana yoga), righteous action
(karma yoga), and loving devotion (bhakti yoga). This influential
classification gained widespread recognition through Swami
Vivekananda's teachings in the 1890s. The setting of the text in a
battlefield has been interpreted by several modern Indian writers as
an allegory for the struggles and vagaries of human life.
Etymology
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The 'Gita' in the title of the Bhagavad Gita means "song". Religious
leaders and scholars interpret the word 'Bhagavad' in several ways.
Accordingly, the title has been interpreted as "the song of God", "the
word of God" by theistic schools, "the words of the Lord", "the Divine
Song", and "Celestial Song" by others.
The Sanskrit name is often written as Shrimad Bhagavad Gita or Shrimad
Bhagavadgita (श्रीमद् भगवद् गीता or श्रीमद् भगवद्गीता). The prefix
'shrimad' (or 'shrimat') denotes a high degree of respect. The
Bhagavad Gita is not to be confused with the Bhagavata Puran, which is
one of the eighteen major Puranas dealing with the life of the Hindu
God Krishna and various avatars of Vishnu.
The work is also known as the 'Iswara Gita', the 'Ananta Gita', the
'Hari Gita', the 'Vyasa Gita', or the Gita.
Dating
========
The text is generally dated to the second or first century BCE.
According to Jeaneane Fowler, "the dating of the Gita varies
considerably" and depends in part on whether one accepts it to be a
part of the early versions of the 'Mahabharata', or a text that was
inserted into the epic at a later date. The earliest "surviving"
components therefore are believed to be no older than the earliest
"external" references we have to the 'Mahabharata' epic. The
'Mahabharata' - the world's longest poem - is itself a text that was
likely written and compiled over several hundred years, one dated
between "400 BCE or little earlier, and 2nd century CE, though some
claim a few parts can be put as late as 400 CE", states Fowler. The
dating of the Gita is thus dependent on the uncertain dating of the
'Mahabharata'. The actual dates of composition of the Gita remain
unresolved.
According to Arthur Basham, the context of the Bhagavad Gita suggests
that it was composed in an era when the ethics of war were being
questioned and renunciation of monastic life was becoming popular.
Such an era emerged after the rise of Buddhism and Jainism in the 5th
century BCE, and particularly after the semi-legendary life of Ashoka
in the 3rd century BCE. Thus, the first version of the Bhagavad Gita
may have been composed in or after the 3rd century BCE.A manuscript
illustration of the battle of Kurukshetra, fought between the Kauravas
and the Pandavas, recorded in the 'Mahabharata'.
Winthrop Sargeant linguistically categorizes the Bhagavad Gita as
Epic-Puranic Sanskrit, a language that succeeds Vedic Sanskrit and
precedes classical Sanskrit. The text has occasional pre-classical
elements of the Vedic Sanskrit language, such as aorists and the
prohibitive 'mā' instead of the expected 'na' (not) of classical
Sanskrit. This suggests that the text was composed after the Pāṇini
era, but before the long compounds of classical Sanskrit became the
norm. This would date the text as transmitted by the oral tradition to
the later centuries of the 1st-millennium BCE, and the first written
version probably to the 2nd or 3rd century CE.
Authorship
============
In the Indian tradition, the Bhagavad Gita, as well as the epic
'Mahabharata' of which it is a part, is attributed to the sage Vyasa,
also known as Krishna Dvaipayana and as Veda-Vyasa. A Hindu legend
narrates that Vyasa composed it, and Ganesha, who broke one of his
tusks, used this tusk to write down the Mahabharata along with the
Bhagavad Gita.
Scholars consider Vyasa to be a mythical or symbolic author, in part
because Vyasa is also a title or generic name for the compiler of a
text, and Vyasa is also regarded by tradition as the compiler of the
Vedas and the Puranas, texts dated with a time-difference of circa two
millennia.
According to Alexus McLeod, a scholar of Philosophy and Asian Studies,
it is "impossible to link the Bhagavad Gita to a single author", and
it may be the work of many authors. This view is shared by the
Indologist Arthur Basham, who states that there were three or more
authors or compilers of Bhagavad Gita. This is evidenced by the
discontinuous intermixing of philosophical verses with theistic or
passionately theistic verses, according to Basham.
J. A. B. van Buitenen, an Indologist known for his translations and
scholarship on 'Mahabharata', finds that the Gita is so contextually
and philosophically well-knit within the 'Mahabharata' that it was not
an independent text that "somehow wandered into the epic". The Gita,
states van Buitenen, was conceived and developed by the 'Mahabharata'
authors to "bring to a climax and solution the dharmic dilemma of a
war".
Vāsudeva-Krishna roots
========================
According to Dennis Hudson, there is an overlap between Vedic and
Tantric rituals within the teachings found in the Bhagavad Gita.
Dennis Hudson places the 'Pancaratra Agama' in the last three or four
centuries of 1st-millennium BCE, and proposes that both the tantric
and vedic, the Agama and the Gita share the same Vāsudeva-Krishna
roots.
According to Hudson, a story in this Vedic text highlights the meaning
of the name Vāsudeva as the 'shining one (deva) who dwells (Vasu) in
all things and in whom all things dwell', and the meaning of Vishnu to
be the 'pervading actor'. In the Bhagavad Gita, similarly, 'Krishna
identified himself both with Vāsudeva, Vishnu and their meanings'. The
ideas at the centre of Vedic rituals in 'Shatapatha Brahmana' and the
teachings of the Bhagavad Gita revolve around this absolute Person,
the primordial genderless absolute, which is the same as the goal of
Pancaratra Agama and Tantra.
Manuscripts and layout
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The Bhagavad Gita manuscript is found in the sixth book of the
'Mahabharata' manuscripts - the 'Bhisma-parvan'. Therein, in the third
section, the Gita forms chapters 23-40, that is 6.3.23 to 6.3.40. The
Bhagavad Gita is often preserved and studied on its own, as an
independent text with its chapters renumbered from 1 to 18. The
Bhagavad Gita manuscripts exist in numerous Indic scripts. These
include writing systems that are currently in use, as well as early
scripts such as the now dormant Sharada script. Variant manuscripts of
the Gita have been found on the Indian subcontinent. Unlike the
enormous variations in the remaining sections of the surviving
'Mahabharata' manuscripts, the Gita manuscripts show only minor
variations.
According to Gambhirananda, the old manuscripts may have had 745
verses, though he agrees that “700 verses is the generally accepted
historic standard." Gambhirananda's view is supported by a few
versions of chapter 6.43 of the 'Mahabharata'. According to Gita
exegesis scholar Robert Minor, these versions state that the Gita is a
text where "Kesava [Krishna] spoke 574 slokas, Arjuna 84, Sanjaya 41,
and Dhritarashtra 1". An authentic manuscript of the Gita with 745
verses has not been found. Adi Shankara, in his 8th-century
commentary, explicitly states that the Gita has 700 verses, which was
likely a deliberate declaration to prevent further insertions and
changes to the Gita. Since Shankara's time, "700 verses" has been the
standard benchmark for the critical edition of the Bhagavad Gita.
Structure
===========
The Bhagavad Gita is a poem written in the Sanskrit language with 18
chapters in total. The 700 verses are structured into several ancient
Indian poetic meters, with the principal being the 'Anushthubh
chanda.' Each 'shloka' consists of a couplet, thus the entire text
consists of 1,400 lines. Each 'shloka' has two-quarter verses with
exactly eight syllables. Each of these quarters is further arranged
into two metrical feet of four syllables each. The metered verse does
not rhyme. While the 'anushthubh chanda' is the principal meter used,
it does deploy other elements of Sanskrit prosody (which refers to one
of the six Vedangas, or limbs of Vedic statues). At dramatic moments,
it uses the 'tristubh' meter found in the Vedas, where each line of
the couplet has two-quarter verses with exactly eleven syllables.
Characters
============
* Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas
* Krishna, Arjuna's charioteer and guru who was actually an
incarnation of Vishnu
* Sanjaya, counselor of the Kuru king Dhritarashtra (secondary
narrator)
* Dhritarashtra, Kuru king (Sanjaya's audience) and father of the
Kauravas
Narrative
===========
The Gita is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna right before the
start of the climactic Kurukshetra War in the Hindu epic
'Mahabharata'. Two massive armies have gathered to destroy each other.
The Pandava prince Arjuna asks his charioteer Krishna to drive to the
centre of the battlefield so that he can get a good look at both the
armies and all those "so eager for war". He sees that some among his
enemies are his relatives, beloved friends, and revered teachers. He
does not want to fight to kill them and is thus filled with doubt and
despair on the battlefield. He drops his bow, wonders if he should
renounce his duty and just leave the battlefield. He turns to his
charioteer and guide, Krishna, for advice on the rationale for war,
his choices, and the right thing to do. The Bhagavad Gita is the
compilation of Arjuna's questions and moral dilemma and Krishna's
answers and insights that elaborate on a variety of philosophical
concepts.
The compiled dialogue goes far beyond the "rationale for war"; it
touches on many human ethical dilemmas, philosophical issues and
life's choices. According to Flood and Martin, although the Gita is
set in the context of a wartime epic, the narrative is structured to
apply to all situations; it wrestles with questions about "who we are,
how we should live our lives, and how should we act in the world".
According to Huston Smith, it delves into questions about the "purpose
of life, crisis of self-identity, human Self, human temperaments, and
ways for the spiritual quest".
The Gita posits the existence of two selves in an individual, and its
presentation of the Krishna-Arjuna dialogue has been interpreted as a
metaphor for an eternal dialogue between the two.
Synthesis prioritizing dharma and bhakti
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The Bhagavad Gita is a synthesis of Vedic and non-Vedic traditions,
reconciling renunciation with action by arguing that they are
inseparable; while following one's dharma, one should not consider
oneself to be the agent of action, but attribute all one's actions to
God. It is a Brahmanical text that uses Shramanic and Yogic
terminology to propagate the Brahmanic idea of living according to
one's duty or 'dharma', in contrast to the ascetic ideal of liberation
by avoiding all karma. According to Hiltebeitel, the Bhagavad Gita is
the sealing achievement of the consolidation of Hinduism, merging
Bhakti traditions with Mimamsa, Vedanta, and other knowledge based
traditions.A didactic print that uses the Gita scene as a focal point
for general religious instruction. The Gita discusses and synthesizes
sramana- and yoga-based renunciation, dharma-based householder life,
and devotion-based theism, attempting "to forge a harmony" between
these three paths. It does this in a framework addressing the question
of what constitutes the virtuous path that is necessary for spiritual
liberation or release from the cycles of rebirth ('moksha'),
incorporating various religious traditions, including philosophical
ideas from the Upanishads samkhya yoga philosophy, and 'bhakti',
incorporating 'bhakti' into Vedanta. As such, it neutralizes the
tension between the Brahmanical worldorder with its caste-based social
institutions that hold society together, and the search for salvation
by ascetics who have left society.
Rejection of sramanic non-action
==================================
According to Gavin Flood and Charles Martin, the Gita rejects the
shramanic path of non-action, emphasizing instead "the renunciation of
the fruits of action". According to Gavin Flood, the teachings in the
Gita differ from other Indian religions that encouraged extreme
austerity and self-torture of various forms ('karsayanta'). The Gita
disapproves of these, stating that not only is it against tradition
but against Krishna himself, because "Krishna dwells within all
beings, in torturing the body the ascetic would be torturing him",
states Flood. Even a monk should strive for "inner renunciation"
rather than external pretensions. It further states that the dharmic
householder can achieve the same goals as the renouncing monk through
"inner renunciation" or "motiveless action". One must do the right
thing because one has determined that it is right, states Gita,
without craving for its fruits, without worrying about the results,
loss or gain. Desires, selfishness, and the craving for fruits can
distort one from spiritual living.
Vedanta
=========
The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Prasthanatrayi, which also includes
the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras, the foundational texts of the
Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.
Vaishnavism
=============
The Gita is a revered text in the Vaishnava tradition, mostly through
the Vaishnava Vedanta commentaries written on it, though the text
itself is also celebrated in the Puranas, for example, the 'Gita
Mahatmya' of the Varaha Purana. While Upanishads focus more on
knowledge and the identity of the self with Brahman, the Bhagavad Gita
shifts the emphasis towards devotion and the worship of a personal
deity, specifically Krishna. There are alternate versions of the
Bhagavad Gita (such as the one found in Kashmir), but the basic
message behind these texts is not distorted.
Modern prominence
===================
While Hinduism is known for its diversity and the synthesis derived
from it, the Bhagavad Gita holds a unique pan-Hindu influence. Gerald
James Larson - an Indologist and scholar of classical Hindu
philosophy, states that "if there is any one text that comes near to
embodying the totality of what it is to be a Hindu, it would be the
Bhagavad Gita."
Yet, according to Robinson, "it is increasingly recognized by scholars
that the extraordinary prominence of the Bhagavad Gita is a feature of
modernity despite disagreement over the date at which it became
dominant." According to Eric Sharpe, this change started in the 1880s,
and became prominent after 1900. According to Arvind Sharma, the
Bhagavad Gita was always an important scripture but became prominent
in the 1920s.
With its translation and study by Western scholars beginning in the
early 18th century, the Bhagavad Gita gained a growing appreciation
and popularity in the West. Novel interpretations of the Gita, along
with apologetics on it, have been a part of the modern era revisionism
and renewal movements within Hinduism. According to Ronald Neufeldt,
it was the Theosophical Society that dedicated much attention and
energy to the allegorical interpretation of the Gita, along with
religious texts from around the world, after 1885 and given H. P.
Blavatsky, Subba Rao and Anne Besant writings. Their attempt was to
present their "universalist religion." These late 19th-century
theosophical writings called the Gita a "path of true spirituality"
and "teaching nothing more than the basis of every system of
philosophy and scientific endeavour", triumphing over other "Samkhya
paths" of Hinduism that "have degenerated into superstition and
demoralized India by leading people away from practical action".
In April 2025, the Bhagavad Gita manuscript was added to UNESCO’s
Memory of the World Register.
Hindu reform movements
========================
Neo-Hindus and Hindu nationalists have celebrated the Bhagavad Gita as
containing the essence of Hinduism and taking the Gita's emphasis on
duty and action as a clue for their activism for Indian nationalism
and independence. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894) challenged
orientalist literature on Hinduism and offered his interpretations of
the Gita, states Ajit Ray. Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920) interpreted
the 'karma yoga' teachings in Gita as a "doctrine of liberation"
taught by Hinduism, while Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) stated
that the Bhagavad Gita teaches a universalist religion and the
"essence of Hinduism" along with the "essence of all religions",
rather than a private religion.
Vivekananda's (1863-1902) works contained numerous references to the
Gita, such as his lectures on the four yogas - Bhakti, Jnana, Karma,
and Raja. Through the message of the Gita, Vivekananda sought to
energise the people of India to reclaim their dormant but strong
identity. Aurobindo (1872-1950) saw the Bhagavad Gita as a "scripture
of the future religion" and suggested that Hinduism had acquired a
much wider relevance through the Gita.
Neo-Vedanta and yoga
======================
While the Upanishads refer to yoga as yoking or restraining the mind,
the topic of BG chapter 6, the Bhagavad Gita introduces "the famous
three kinds of yoga: 'knowledge' ('jnana'), 'action' ('karma'), and
'love' ('bhakti'). BG XIII verses 23-25 famously mention four kinds of
yoga, or ways of seeing the self, adding meditation to the three
yogas. Yet, the practice of dhyana (meditation), is a part of all
three classical paths in Hinduism. Knowledge or insight, discerning
the true self ('purusha') from matter and material desires
('prakriti'), is the true aim of classical yoga, in which meditation
and insight cannot be separated. Furthermore, the Gita "rejects the
Buddhist and Jain path of non-action, emphasizing instead renunciation
of the fruits of action" and devotion to Krishna.The systematic
presentation of Hindu monotheism as divided into these four paths or
"Yogas" is modern, advocated by Swami Vivekananda from the 1890s in
his books on 'Jnana Yoga','Karma Yoga', 'Bhakti Yoga' and 'Raja Yoga',
emphasizing Raja Yoga as the crowning achievement of yoga.
Vivekananda, who was strongly inspired by the Gita, viewed all
spiritual paths as equal. Yet, Vivekananda also noted that "The
reconciliation of the different paths of Dharma, and work without
desire or attachment -- these are the two special characteristics of
the Gita." Similarly, Cornille states that the Gita asserts that the
path of Bhakti (devotion) is the foremost and the easiest of them all.
According to Huston Smith, a notable neo-Vedantin, referring to BG
XIII verse 23-25, the Gita mentions four ways to see the self, based
on the Samkhya-premise that people are born with different
temperaments and tendencies ('guṇa'). Some individuals are more
reflective and intellectual, some are effective and engaged by their
emotions, some are action-driven, yet others favour experimentation
and exploring what works. According to Smith, BG XIII verse 24-25
lists four different spiritual paths for each personality type
respectively: the path of knowledge ('jnana yoga'), the path of
devotion ('bhakti yoga'), the path of action ('karma yoga'), and the
path of meditation ('raja yoga').
Medieval commentators argued which path had priority. According to
Robinson, modern commentators have interpreted the text as refraining
from insisting on one right 'marga' (path) to spirituality. According
to Upadhyaya, the Gita states that none of these paths to spiritual
realization is "intrinsically superior or inferior", rather they
"converge in one and lead to the same goal".
Chapters and content
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The Bhagavad Gita contains 18 chapters and 700 verses found in the
Bhishma Parva of the epic 'Mahabharata.' Because of differences in
recensions, the verses of the Gita may be numbered in the full text of
the 'Mahabharata' as chapters 6.25-42 or as chapters 6.23-40. The
number of verses in each chapter vary in some manuscripts of the Gita
discovered on the Indian subcontinent. However, variant readings are
relatively few in contrast to the numerous versions of the
'Mahabharata' it is found embedded in.
The original Bhagavad Gita has no chapter titles. Some Sanskrit
editions that separate the Gita from the epic as an independent text,
as well as translators, however, add chapter titles. For example,
Swami Chidbhavananda describes each of the eighteen chapters as a
separate yoga because each chapter, like yoga, "trains the body and
the mind". He labels the first chapter "Arjuna Vishada Yogam" or the
"Yoga of Arjuna's Dejection". Sir Edwin Arnold titled this chapter in
his 1885 translation as "The Distress of Arjuna".
The chapters are:
Chapter Name of Chapter Total Verses
|1 |'Arjuna Vishada Yoga' |46
|2 |'Samkhya Yoga' |72
|3 |'Karma Yoga' |43
|4 |'Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga' |42
|5 |'Karma Sanyasa Yoga' |29
|6 |'Atma Samyama Yoga' |47
|7 |'Jnana Vijnana Yoga' |30
|8 |'Akshara Brahma Yoga' |28
|9 |'Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga' |34
|10 |'Vibhuti Yoga' |42
|11 |'Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga' |55
|12 |'Bhakti Yoga' |20
|13 |'Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga' |35
|14 |'Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga' |27
|15 |'Purushottama Yoga' |20
|16 |'Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga' |24
|17 |'Shraddha Traya Vibhaga Yoga' |28
|18 |'Moksha Sanyasa Yoga' |78
|**Total**
|**700**
Chapter 1: Arjuna Vishada Yoga (46 verses)
============================================
Translators have variously titled the first chapter as 'Arjuna
Vishada-yoga', 'Prathama Adhyaya', 'The Distress of Arjuna', 'The War
Within', or 'Arjuna's Sorrow'. The Bhagavad Gita is opened by setting
the stage of the Kurukshetra battlefield. Two massive armies
representing different loyalties and ideologies face a catastrophic
war. With Arjuna is Krishna, not as a participant in the war, but only
as his charioteer and counsel. Arjuna requests Krishna to move the
chariot between the two armies so he can see those "eager for this
war". He sees family and friends on the enemy side. Arjuna is
distressed and in sorrow. The issue is stated Arvind Sharma, "Is it
morally proper to kill?" This and other moral dilemmas in the first
chapter are set in a context where the Hindu epic and Krishna have
already extolled 'ahimsa' (non-violence) to be the highest and divine
virtue of a human being. The war feels evil to Arjuna and he questions
the morality of war. He wonders if it is noble to renounce and leave
before the violence starts, or should he fight, and why.
Chapter 2: Sankhya Yoga (72 verses)
=====================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Sankhya Yoga', 'The Book of
Doctrines', 'Self-Realization', or 'The Yoga of Knowledge (and
Philosophy)'. The second chapter begins the philosophical discussions
and teachings found in the Gita. The warrior Arjuna whose past had
focused on learning the skills of his profession now faces a war he
has doubts about. Filled with introspection and questions about the
meaning and purpose of life, he asks Krishna about the nature of life,
Self, death, afterlife and whether there is a deeper meaning and
reality. Krishna teaches Arjuna about the eternal nature of the soul
(atman) and the temporary nature of the body, advising him to perform
his warrior duty with detachment and without grief. The chapter
summarizes the Hindu idea of rebirth, samsara, eternal Self in each
person (Self), universal Self-present in everyone, various types of
yoga, divinity within, the nature of knowledge of the Self and other
concepts. The ideas and concepts in the second chapter reflect the
framework of the Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy. This
chapter is an overview of the remaining sixteen chapters of the
Bhagavad Gita. Mahatma Gandhi memorized the last 19 verses of the
second chapter, considering them as his companion in his non-violent
movement for social justice during colonial rule.
Chapter 3: Karma Yoga (43 verses)
===================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Karma yoga', 'Virtue in Work',
'Selfless Service', or 'The Yoga of Action'. After listening to
Krishna's spiritual teachings in Chapter 2, Arjuna gets more
confounded and returns to the predicament he faces. He wonders if
fighting the war is "not so important after all" given Krishna's
overview on the pursuit of spiritual wisdom. Krishna replies that
there is no way to avoid action (karma) since abstention from work is
also an action. Krishna states that Arjuna must understand and perform
his duty (dharma) because everything is connected by the law of cause
and effect. Every man or woman is bound by activity. Those who act
selfishly create the Karmic cause and are thereby bound to the effect
which may be good or bad. Those who act selflessly for the right cause
and strive to do their dharmic duty are doing God's work. Those who
act without craving fruits are free from the Karmic effects because
the results never motivate them. Whatever the result, it does not
affect them. Their happiness comes from within, and the external world
does not bother them. According to Flood and Martin, chapter 3 and
onwards develops "a theological response to Arjuna's dilemma".
Chapter 4: Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga (42 verses)
=================================================
Translators title the fourth chapter as 'Jñāna-Karma-Sanyasa yoga',
'The Religion of Knowledge', 'Wisdom in Action', or 'The Yoga of
Renunciation of Action through Knowledge'. Krishna reveals that he has
taught this yoga to the Vedic sages. Arjuna questions how Krishna
could do this, when those sages lived so long ago, and Krishna was
born more recently. Krishna reminds him that everyone is in the cycle
of rebirths, and while Arjuna does not remember his previous births,
he does. Whenever dharma declines and the purpose of life is forgotten
by Man, says Krishna, he returns to re-establish dharma. Every time he
returns, he teaches about the inner Self in all beings. The later
verses of the chapter return to the discussion of motiveless action
and the need to determine the right action, performing it as one's
dharma (duty) while renouncing the results, rewards, and fruits. The
simultaneous outer action with inner renunciation, states Krishna, is
the secret to the life of freedom. Action leads to knowledge, while
selfless action leads to spiritual awareness, state the last verses of
this chapter. The 4th chapter is the first time where Krishna begins
to reveal his divine nature to Arjuna.
Chapter 5: Karma Sanyasa Yoga (29 verses)
===========================================
Translators title this chapter as 'Karma-Sanyasa yoga', 'Religion by
Renouncing Fruits of Works', 'Renounce and Rejoice', or 'The Yoga of
Renunciation'. The chapter starts by presenting the tension in the
Indian tradition between the life of 'sannyasa' (monks who have
renounced their household and worldly attachments) and the life of
'grihastha' (householder). Arjuna asks Krishna which path is better.
Krishna answers that both are paths to the same goal, but the path of
"selfless action and service" with inner renunciation is better. The
different paths, says Krishna, aim for--and if properly pursued, lead
to--Self-knowledge. This knowledge leads to the universal,
transcendent Godhead, the divine essence in all beings, to Brahman -
to Krishna himself. The final verses of the chapter state that the
self-aware who have reached self-realization live without fear, anger,
or desire. They are free within, always. Chapter 5 shows signs of
interpolations and internal contradictions. For example, states Arthur
Basham, verses 5.23-28 state that a sage's spiritual goal is to
realize the impersonal Brahman, yet the next verse 5.29 states that
the goal is to realize the personal God who is Krishna.
{{Quote box
|quote = Selfless service
It is not those who lack energy
nor those who refrain from action,
but those who work without expecting a reward
who attain the goal of meditation,
Theirs is true renunciation(sanyāsā).
|source = --Bhagavad Gita 6.1 Eknath Easwaran
|bgcolor=#FFE0BB
|align = right
}}
Chapter 6: Atma Samyama Yoga (47 verses)
==========================================
Translators title the sixth chapter as 'Dhyana yoga', 'Religion by
Self-Restraint', 'The Practice of Meditation', or 'The Yoga of
Meditation'. The chapter opens as a continuation of Krishna's
teachings about selfless work and the personality of someone who has
renounced the fruits that are found in chapter 5. Krishna says that
such self-realized people are impartial to friends and enemies, are
beyond good and evil, equally disposed to those who support them or
oppose them because they have reached the summit of consciousness.
Verses 6.10 and after proceed to summarize the principles of Yoga and
meditation in a format similar to but simpler than Patanjali's
'Yogasutra'. It discusses who is a true yogi, and what it takes to
reach the state where one harbours no malice towards anyone. Verse
6.47 emphasizes the significance of the soul's faith and loving
service to Krishna as the highest form of yoga.
Chapter 7: Jnana Vijnana Yoga (30 verses)
===========================================
Translators title this chapter as 'Jnana-Vijnana yoga', 'Religion by
Discernment', 'Wisdom from Realization', or 'The Yoga of Knowledge and
Judgment'. The seventh chapter opens with Krishna continuing his
discourse. He discusses 'jnana' (knowledge) and 'vijnana'
(realization, understanding) using the Prakriti-Purusha (matter-Self)
framework of the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, and the
Maya-Brahman framework of the Vedanta school. The chapter states that
evil is the consequence of ignorance and attachment to the
impermanent, the elusive Maya. Maya is described as difficult to
overcome, but those who rely on Krishna can easily cross beyond Maya
and attain 'moksha'. It states that Self-knowledge and union with
Purusha (Krishna) are the highest goals of any spiritual pursuit.
Chapter 8: Akshara Brahma Yoga (28 verses)
============================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Aksara-Brahma yoga', 'Religion by
Devotion to the One Supreme God', 'The Eternal Godhead', or 'The Yoga
of the Imperishable Brahman'. The chapter opens with Arjuna asking
questions such as what is Brahman and what is the nature of 'karma'.
Krishna states that his own highest nature is the imperishable Brahman
and that he lives in every creature as the 'adhyatman'. Every being
has an impermanent body and an eternal Self, and that "Krishna as
Lord" lives within every creature. The chapter discusses cosmology,
the nature of death and rebirth. This chapter contains eschatology of
the Bhagavad Gita. The importance of the last thought before death,
the differences between material and spiritual worlds, and the light
and dark paths that a Self takes after death are described. Krishna
advises Arjuna about focusing the mind on the Supreme Deity within the
heart through yoga, including pranayama and chanting sacred mantra
"Om" to ensure concentration on Krishna at the time of death.
Chapter 9: Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga (34 verses)
===================================================
Translators title the ninth chapter as 'Raja-Vidya-Raja-Guhya yoga',
'Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery', 'The Royal
Path', or 'The Yoga of Sovereign Science and Sovereign Secret'.
Chapter 9 opens with Krishna continuing his discourse as Arjuna
listens. Krishna states that he is everywhere and in everything in an
unmanifested form, yet he is not in any way limited by them. Eons end,
everything dissolves and then he recreates another eon subjecting them
to the laws of 'Prakriti' (nature). He equates himself to being the
father and the mother of the universe, to being the Om, to the three
Vedas, to the seed, the goal of life, the refuge and abode of all. The
chapter recommends devotional worship of Krishna. According to
theologian Christopher Southgate, verses of this chapter of the Gita
are panentheistic, while German physicist and philosopher Max Bernhard
Weinstein deems the work pandeistic. It may, in fact, be neither of
them, and its contents may have no definition with previously
developed Western terms.
Chapter 10: Vibhuti Yoga (42 verses)
======================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Vibhuti-Vistara-yoga', 'Religion by
the Heavenly Perfections', 'Divine Splendor', or 'The Yoga of Divine
Manifestations'. When Arjuna asks of the opulence (Vibhuti) of
Krishna, he explains how all the entities are his forms. He reveals
his divine being in greater detail as the ultimate cause of all
material and spiritual existence, as one who transcends all opposites
and who is beyond any duality. Nevertheless, at Arjuna's behest,
Krishna states that the following are his major opulence: He is the
'atman' in all beings, Arjuna's innermost Self, the compassionate
Vishnu, Surya, Indra, Shiva-Rudra, Ananta, Yama, as well as the Om,
Vedic sages, time, Gayatri mantra, and the science of Self-knowledge.
Krishna says, "Among the Pandavas, I am Arjuna," implying he is
manifest in all the beings, including Arjuna. He also says that he is
Rama when he says, "Among the wielders of weapons, I am Rama". Arjuna
accepts Krishna as the 'purushottama' (Supreme Being).
Chapter 11: Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga (55 verses)
==================================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Vishvarupa-Darshana yoga', 'The
Manifesting of the One and Manifold', 'The Cosmic Vision', or 'The
Yoga of the Vision of the Cosmic Form'. On Arjuna's request, Krishna
displays his "universal form" ('Viśvarūpa'). Arjuna asks Krishna to
see the Eternal with his own eyes. The Krishna then "gives" him a
"heavenly" eye so that he can recognize the All-Form Vishvarupa of the
Supreme God Vishnu or Krishna. Arjuna sees the divine form, with his
face turned all around as if the light of a thousand suns suddenly
burst forth in the sky. And he sees neither end, middle nor beginning.
And he sees the gods and the host of beings contained within him. He
also sees the Lord of the gods and the universe as the Lord of time,
who devours his creatures in his "maw". And he sees people rushing to
their doom in haste. And the Exalted One says that even the fighters
are all doomed to death. And he, Arjuna, is his instrument to kill
those who are already "killed" by him. Arjuna folds his hands
trembling and worships the Most High.
This is an idea found in the 'Rigveda' and many later Hindu texts,
where it is a symbolism for 'atman' (Self) and 'Brahman' (Absolute
Reality) eternally pervading all beings and all existence. Chapter 11,
states Eknath Eswaran, describes Arjuna entering first into 'savikalpa
samadhi' (a particular form), and then 'nirvikalpa samadhi' (a
universal form) as he gets an understanding of Krishna. A part of the
verse from this chapter was recited by J. Robert Oppenheimer in a 1965
television documentary about the atomic bomb.
Chapter 12: Bhakti Yoga (20 verses)
=====================================
Translators title this chapter as 'Bhakti yoga', 'The Religion of
Faith', 'The Way of Love', or 'The Yoga of Devotion'. In this chapter,
Krishna glorifies the path of love and devotion to God. Krishna
describes the process of devotional service (Bhakti yoga). Translator
Eknath Easwaran contrasts this "way of love" with the "path of
knowledge" stressed by the Upanishads, saying that "when God is loved
in [a] personal aspect, the way is vastly easier". He can be projected
as "a merciful father, a divine mother, a wise friend, a passionate
beloved, or even a mischievous child". The text states that combining
"action with inner renunciation" with the love of Krishna as a
personal God leads to peace. In the last eight verses of this chapter,
Krishna states that he loves those who have compassion for all living
beings, are content with whatever comes their way, and live a detached
life that is impartial and selfless, unaffected by fleeting pleasure
or pain, neither craving for praise nor depressed by criticism.
Chapter 13: Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga (35 verses)
=========================================================
{{multiple image
| direction = vertical
| width = 220
| footer = Bhagavad Gita and related commentary literature
exists in numerous Indian languages.
| image1 = 16th century Bhagavad Gita palm leaf manuscript,
Sanskrit, Malayalam script, Kerala.jpg
| caption1 = Sanskrit, Malayalam script (Kerala)
| image2 = 18th century Bhagavad Gita and bhasya, Sanskrit,
Kannada script, Karnataka.jpg
| caption2 = Sanskrit, Kannada script (Karnataka)
}}
Translators title this chapter as 'Ksetra-Ksetrajna Vibhaga yoga',
'Religion by Separation of Matter and Spirit', 'The Field and the
Knower', or 'The Yoga of Difference between the Field and
Field-Knower'. The chapter opens with Krishna continuing his
discourse. He describes the difference between the transient
perishable physical body ('kshetra') and the immutable eternal Self
('kshetrajna'). The presentation explains the difference between
'ahamkara' (ego) and 'atman' (Self), from there between individual
consciousness and universal consciousness. The knowledge of one's true
self is linked to the realization of the Self. The 13th chapter of the
Gita offers the clearest enunciation of the Samkhya philosophy, states
Basham, by explaining the difference between field (material world)
and the knower (Self), 'prakriti' and 'purusha'. According to Miller,
this is the chapter which "redefines the battlefield as the human
body, the material realm in which one struggles to know oneself" where
human dilemmas are presented as a "symbolic field of interior
warfare".
Chapter 14: Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga (27 verses)
================================================
Translators title the fourteenth chapter as 'Gunatraya-Vibhaga yoga',
'Religion by Separation from the Qualities', 'The Forces of
Evolution', or 'The Yoga of the Division of Three Gunas'. Krishna
continues his discourse from the previous chapter. Krishna explains
the difference between 'purusha' and 'prakriti', by mapping human
experiences to three 'Guṇas' (tendencies, qualities). These are listed
as 'sattva', 'rajas' and 'tamas'. All thoughts, words and actions are
filled with sattva (truthfulness, purity, clarity), rajas (movement,
energy, passion) or tamas (darkness, inertia, stability). These gunas
influence future rebirths, with sattva leading to higher states, rajas
to continued material existence, and tamas to lower forms of life.
Whoever understands everything that exists as the interaction of these
three states of being can gain knowledge, transcend all three gunas
and achieve liberation. When asked by Arjuna how he recognizes the one
who has conquered the three gunas, Krishna replies that it is one who
remains calm and composed when a guna 'arises', who always maintains
equanimity, who is steadfast in joy and sorrow, who remains the same
when he is reviled or admired, who renounces every action (from the
ego), detaches himself from the power of the gunas. Liberation can
also be reached by unwavering devotion to Krishna, which enables one
to transcend the three gunas and become one with Brahman. All
phenomena and individual personalities are thus a combination of all
three 'gunas' in varying and ever-changing proportions. The 'gunas'
affect the ego, but not the Self, according to the text. This chapter
also relies on Samkhya theories.
Chapter 15: Purushottama Yoga (20 verses)
===========================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Purushottama yoga', 'Religion by
Attaining the Supreme Krishna', 'The Supreme Self', or 'The Yoga of
the Supreme Purusha'. The fifteenth chapter expounds on Krishna's
theology in the Vaishnava Bhakti tradition of Hinduism. Krishna
discusses the nature of God wherein Krishna not only transcends the
impermanent body (matter) but also transcends the 'atman' (Self) in
every being. The chapter uses the metaphor of the Ashvattha (banyan)
tree to illustrate the material world's entanglements, emphasizes
detachment as the means to liberation, highlights the importance of
true knowledge, and explains that those who realize this knowledge
transcend the need for Vedic rituals. It follows the image of an
upside-down tree with its roots in the sky, extending to infinity. It
is necessary to cut down its shoots (sense objects), branches and
solid root with the axe of equanimity and detachment and thereby reach
the original person ('adyam purusham'). Later, Krishna says that he is
known as Purushottama in both common speech and the Veda, sustaining
and governing the entire threefold world and that he is greater than
the kshara (perishable), which includes all living beings, and the
akshara (imperishable), which is beyond kshara. Whoever truly
recognizes this has reached the ultimate goal. According to Franklin
Edgerton, the verses in this chapter, in association with select
verses in other chapters, make the metaphysics of the Gita to be
dualistic. However, its overall thesis, according to Edgerton, is more
complex because other verses teach the Upanishadic doctrines and
"through its God, the Gita seems after all to arrive at an ultimate
monism; the essential part, the fundamental element, in everything, is
after all One -- is God."
Chapter 16: Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga (24 verses)
=======================================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Daivasura-Sampad-Vibhaga yoga', 'The
Separateness of the Divine and Undivine', 'Two Paths', or 'The Yoga of
the Division between the Divine and the Demonic'. According to
Easwaran, this is an unusual chapter where Krishna describes two types
of human nature: divine ('daivi sampad'), leading to happiness, and
demonic ('asuri sampad'), leading to suffering. He states that
truthfulness, self-restraint, sincerity, love for others, desire to
serve others, being detached, avoiding anger, avoiding harm to all
living creatures, fairness, compassion and patience are marks of the
divine nature. The opposite of these are demonic, such as cruelty,
conceit, hypocrisy and being inhumane, states Krishna. Some of the
verses in Chapter 16 may be polemics directed against competing Indian
religions, according to Basham. The competing tradition may be the
materialists (Charvaka), states Fowler.
Chapter 17: Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga (28 verses)
====================================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Shraddhatraya-Vibhaga yoga',
'Religion by the Threefold Kinds of Faith', 'The Power of Faith', or
'The Yoga of the Threefold Faith'. Krishna qualifies various aspects
of human life, including faith, thoughts, deeds, and eating habits, in
relation to the three 'gunas' (modes): 'sattva' (goodness), 'rajas'
(passion), and 'tamas' (ignorance). Krishna explains how these modes
influence different aspects of human behaviour and spirituality, and
how one can align with the mode of goodness to advance on their
spiritual journey. The final verse of the Chapter stresses that
genuine faith ('shraddha') is essential for spiritual growth. Actions
without faith are meaningless, both in the material and spiritual
realms, highlighting the significance of faith in one's spiritual
journey.
Chapter 18: Moksha Sanyasa Yoga (78 verses)
=============================================
Translators title the chapter as 'Moksha-Sanyasa yoga', 'Religion by
Deliverance and Renunciation', 'Freedom and Renunciation', or 'The
Yoga of Liberation and Renunciation'. In the final and longest
chapter, the Gita offers a final summary of its teachings in the
previous chapters. It gives a comprehensive overview of Bhagavad
Gita's teachings, highlighting self-realization, duty, and surrender
to Krishna to attain liberation and inner peace. It begins with the
discussion of spiritual pursuits through 'sannyasa' (renunciation,
monastic life) and spiritual pursuits while living in the world as a
householder. It teaches "'karma-phala-tyaga'" (renunciation of the
fruits of actions), emphasizing the renunciation of attachment to the
outcomes of actions and performing duties with selflessness and
devotion.
Dharma
========
Dharma is a prominent paradigm of the 'Mahabharata', and it is
referenced in the Gita as well. The term 'dharma' has several
meanings. Fundamentally, it refers to that which is right or just.
Contextually, it also means the essence of "duty, law, class, social
norms, ritual and cosmos itself" in the text, in the sense "the way
things should be in all these different dimensions". According to
Zaehner, the term 'dharma' means "duty" in the Gita's context; in
verse 2.7, it refers to the "right [and wrong]", and in 14.27 to the
"eternal law of righteousness".
Few verses in the Bhagavad Gita deal with dharma, according to the
Indologist Paul Hacker, but the theme of dharma is broadly important.
In Chapter 1, responding to Arjuna's despondency, Krishna asks him to
follow his 'sva-dharma', "the dharma that belongs to a particular man
(Arjuna) as a member of a particular 'varna', (i.e., the 'kshatriya' -
the warrior varna)". According to Paul Hacker, the term 'dharma' has
additional meanings in the context of Arjuna. It is more broadly, the
"duty" and a "metaphysically congealed act" for Arjuna. According to
the Indologist Jacqueline Hirst, the 'dharma' theme is "of
significance only at the beginning and end of the Gita" and this may
have been a way to perhaps link the Gita to the context of the
'Mahabharata'.
According to Malinar, "Arjuna's crisis and some of the arguments put
forward to call him to action are connected to the debates on war and
peace in the 'Udyoga Parva'." The 'Udyoga Parva' presents many views
about the nature of a warrior, his duty and what calls for heroic
action. While Duryodhana presents it as a matter of status, social
norms, and fate, Vidura states that the heroic warrior never submits,
knows no fear and has the duty to protect people. The 'Bhishma Parva'
sets the stage for two ideologies in conflict and two massive armies
gathered for what each considers as a righteous and necessary war. In
this context, the Gita advises Arjuna to do his holy duty
('sva-dharma') as a warrior: fight and kill.
According to the Indologist Barbara Miller, the text frames heroism
not in terms of physical abilities, but instead in terms of effort and
inner commitment to fulfil a warrior's 'dharma' on the battlefield.
War is depicted as a horror, the impending slaughter a cause for
self-doubt, yet at stake is the spiritual struggle against evil. The
Gita's message emphasizes that personal moral ambivalence must be
addressed, the warrior needs to rise above "personal and social
values" and understand what is at stake and "why he must fight". The
text explores the "paradoxical interconnectedness of disciplined
action and freedom".
The first reference to 'dharma' in the Bhagavad Gita occurs in its
first verse, where Dhritarashtra refers to the Kurukshetra, the
location of the battlefield, as the 'Field of Dharma', "The Field of
Righteousness or Truth". According to Fowler, dharma in this verse may
refer to the 'sanatana dharma', "what Hindus understand as their
religion, for it is a term that encompasses wide aspects of religious
and traditional thought and is more readily used for religion".
Therefore, the "field of dharma" implies the field of righteousness,
where the truth will eventually triumph, states Fowler. According to
Jacqueline Hirst, the "field of dharma" phrase in the Gita epitomizes
that the struggle concerns dharma itself. This dharma has "resonances
at many different levels".
Asceticism, renunciation and ritualism
========================================
The Gita rejects ascetic life, renunciation as well as Brahminical
Vedic ritualism where outward actions or non-actions are considered a
means of personal reward in life, the afterlife or as a means of
liberation. Instead, it recommends the pursuit of an active life where
the individual adopts "inner renunciation", and acts to fulfil what he
determines to be his 'dharma', without craving for or being concerned
about personal rewards, viewing this as an "inner sacrifice to the
personal God for a higher good".
According to Edwin Bryant, the Indologist with publications on
Krishna-related Hindu traditions, the Gita rejects "actionless
behaviour" found in some Indic monastic traditions. It also "relegates
the sacrificial system of the early Vedic literature to a path that
goes nowhere because it is based on desires", states Bryant.
Moksha – liberation
=====================
The Bhagavad Gita accommodates dualistic and theistic aspects of
'moksha'. The Gita, while including impersonal 'Nirguna Brahman' as
the goal, mainly revolves around the relationship between the Self and
a personal God or 'Saguna Brahman'. A synthesis of knowledge,
devotion, and desireless action is offered by Krishna as a spectrum of
choices to Arjuna; the same combination is suggested to the reader as
a way to moksha. Christopher Chapple---a scholar focusing on Indian
religions---in Winthrop Sargeant's translation of the Gita, states
that "In the model presented by the Bhagavad Gita, every aspect of
life is a way of salvation."
Spiritual discipline
======================
The Gita treats three forms of spiritual discipline - jnana, bhakti
and karma - to attain the divine. However, states Fowler, it "does not
raise any of these to a status that excludes the others". The theme
that unites these paths in the Gita is "inner renunciation" where one
is unattached to personal rewards during one's spiritual journey.
Karma yoga – selfless action
==============================
The Gita teaches the path of selfless action in Chapter 3 and others.
It upholds the necessity of action. However, this action should "not
simply follow spiritual injunctions", without any attachment to
personal rewards or because of craving for fruits. The Gita teaches,
according to Fowler, that the action should be undertaken after proper
knowledge has been applied to gain a full perspective on "what the
action should be".
The concept of such detached action is also called 'Nishkama Karma', a
term not used in the Gita but equivalent to other terms such as
'karma-phala-tyaga'. This is where one determines what the right
action ought to be and then acts while being detached to personal
outcomes, to fruits, to success or failure. A karma yogi finds such
work inherently fulfilling and satisfying. To a 'karma yogi', right
work done well is a form of prayer, and 'karma yoga' is the path of
selfless action.
According to Mahatma Gandhi, the object of the Gita is to show the 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, body and Self." Gandhi called the Gita "The Gospel of Selfless
Action". According to Jonardon Ganeri, the premise of "disinterested
action" is one of the important ethical concepts in the Gita.
Bhakti yoga – devotion
========================
While the Upanishads focus more on knowledge and the identity of the
self with Brahman, the Bhagavad Gita shifts the emphasis towards
devotion and the worship of a personal deity, specifically Krishna. In
the Bhagavad Gita, bhakti is characterized as the "loving devotion, a
longing, surrender, trust and adoration" of the divine Krishna as the
'ishta-devata'. While bhakti is mentioned in many chapters, the idea
gathers momentum after verse 6.30, and chapter 12 is where is fully
developed. According to Fowler, the bhakti in the Gita does not imply
renunciation of "action", but the bhakti effort is assisted with
"right knowledge" and dedication to one's 'dharma'. Theologian
Catherine Cornille writes, "The text [of the Gita] offers a survey of
the different possible disciplines for attaining liberation through
knowledge ('Jnana'), action (karma), and loving devotion to God
(bhakti), focusing on the latter as both the easiest and the highest
path to salvation."
According to M. R. Sampatkumaran, a Bhagavad Gita scholar, Gita's
message is that mere knowledge of the scriptures cannot lead to final
release, but "devotion, meditation, and worship are essential." The
Gita likely spawned a "powerful devotional" movement, states Fowler,
because the text and this path were simpler and available to everyone.
Jnana yoga – discernment of the true self
===========================================
Jnana yoga is the path of knowledge, wisdom, and direct realization of
the Brahman. In the Bhagavad Gita, it is also referred to as 'buddhi
yoga' and its goal is the discernment of the true self. The text
states that this is the path that intellectuals tend to prefer. The
chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita is dedicated to the general exposition
of 'jnana yoga'. The Gita praises the path, calling the jnana yogi to
be exceedingly dear to Krishna, but adds that the path is steep and
difficult.
Raja yoga – meditation
========================
Some scholars treat the "yoga of meditation," yoga proper, to be a
distinct fourth path taught in the Gita, referring to it as Raja yoga.
Others consider it a progressive stage or a combination of Karma yoga
and Bhakti yoga. Some, such as Adi Shankara, have considered its
discussion in the 13th chapter of the Gita and elsewhere to be an
integral part of Jnana yoga.
Metaphysics
=============
To build its metaphysical framework, the text relies on the theories
found in the Samkhya and Vedanta schools of Hinduism.
Prakriti and maya
===================
The Gita considers the world to be transient, all bodies and matter as
impermanent. Everything that constitutes 'prakriti' (nature, matter)
is process-driven and has a finite existence. It is born, grows,
matures, decays, and dies. It considers this transient reality as
Maya. Like the Upanishads, the Gita focuses on what it considers real
in this world of change, impermanence, and finitude.
Atman
=======
The Gita, states Fowler, "thoroughly accepts" 'atman' as a
foundational concept. In the Upanishads, this is the Brahmanical idea
that all beings have a "permanent real self", the true essence, the
Self it refers to as 'Atman' (Self). In the Upanishads that preceded
the Gita, such as the 'Brihadaranyaka Upanishad', the salvational goal
is to know and realize this Self, a knowledge that is devoid of the
delusions of the instinctive "I, mine" egoism typically connected with
the body and material life processes that are impermanent and
transient. The Gita accepts 'atman' as the pure, unchanging, ultimate
real essence.
Krishna and Brahman
=====================
The Gita teaches both the personalized God, in the form of Krishna,
and the abstract nirguna Brahman. The text blurs any distinction
between a personalized God and impersonal absolute reality by
amalgamating the two and using the concepts interchangeably in later
chapters, though it projects the 'nirguna' Brahman as higher than
'saguna' or personalized Brahman, where the 'nirguna' Brahman "exists
when everything else does not". This theme has led scholars to call
the Gita panentheistic, theistic as well as monistic.
The Gita adopts the Upanishadic concept of Absolute Reality (Brahman),
a shift from the earlier ritual-driven Vedic religion to one
abstracting and internalizing spiritual experiences. According to
Jeaneane Fowler, the Gita builds on the Upanishadic Brahman theme,
conceptualized to be that which is everywhere, unaffected, constant
Absolute, indescribable and 'nirguna' (abstract, without features).
This Absolute in the Gita is neither a He nor a She, but a "neuter
principle", an "It or That".
Relation between Atman and Krishna
====================================
The Upanishads developed the equation "Atman = Brahman", states Fowler
and this belief is central to the Gita. This equation is, however,
interpreted in several ways by different sub-schools of Vedanta. In
the Gita, the Self of each human being is considered to be identical
to every other human being and all beings, but it "does not support an
identity with the Brahman", according to Fowler. According to Raju,
the Gita supports this identity and spiritual monism, but as a form of
synthesis with a personal God. According to Edgerton, the authors of
the Gita rely on their concept of a personalized God (Krishna) to
ultimately arrive at an ultimate monism, where the devotee realizes
that Krishna is the essential part, the real fundamental element
within everyone and everything. Krishna is simultaneously one and all.
According to Huston Smith, the Gita is teaching that "when one sees
the entire universe as pervaded by the single Universal Spirit
[Krishna], one contemplates, marvels, and falls in love with its
amazing glory. [...] Having experienced that Truth oneself, all doubts
are dispelled. This is how the flower of devotion evolves into the
fruit of knowledge."
Classical Bhashya (commentaries)
==================================
Bhagavad Gita integrates various schools of thought, notably Vedanta,
Samkhya and Yoga, and other theistic ideas, but its composite nature
also leads to varying interpretations of the text and scholars have
written 'bhashya' (commentaries) on it.
Many "classical and modern Hindu" intellectuals have written
commentaries on the Gita. According to Mysore Hiriyanna, the Gita is
"one of the hardest books to interpret, which accounts for the
numerous commentaries on it--each differing from the rest in one
essential point or the other".
The Gita has attracted much scholarly interest in Indian history and
some 227 commentaries have survived in the Sanskrit language alone. It
has also attracted commentaries in regional vernacular languages for
centuries, such as the one by Sant Dnyaneshwar in Marathi (13th
century).
The Bhagavad Gita is referenced in the 'Brahma Sutras' and numerous
scholars wrote commentaries on it, including Shankara, Bhaskara,
Abhinavagupta, Ramanuja, and Madhvacharya. Many of these commentators
state that the Gita is "meant to be a 'moksa-shastra' ('moksasatra'),
and not a 'dharmasastra', an 'arthasastra' or a 'kamasastra'".
Śaṅkara (c. 800 CE)
=====================
The oldest and most influential surviving commentary was published by
Adi Shankara (Śaṅkarācārya). Shankara interprets the Gita in a monist,
nondualistic tradition (Advaita Vedanta). Advaita Vedanta affirms on
the non-dualism of Atman and Brahman. Shankara prefaces his comments
by stating that the Gita is popular among the laity, that the text has
been studied and commented upon by earlier scholars (these texts have
not survived), but that "I have found that to the laity it appears to
teach diverse and quite contradictory doctrines". He calls the Gita
"an epitome of the essentials of the whole Vedic teaching". To
Shankara, the teaching of the Gita is to shift an individual's focus
from the outer, impermanent, fleeting objects of desire and senses to
the inner, permanent, eternal atman-Brahman-Vasudeva that is
identical, in everything and every being.
Abhinavagupta (c. 1000 CE)
============================
Abhinavagupta was a theologian and philosopher of the Kashmir Shaivism
(Shiva) tradition. His commentary, the 'Gitartha-Samgraha', has
survived into the modern era. The Gita text he commented on is a
slightly different recension than the one of Adi Shankara. He
interprets its teachings in the Shaiva Advaita (monism) tradition
quite similar to Adi Shankara, but with the difference that he
considers both Self and matter to be metaphysically real and eternal.
Their respective interpretations of 'jnana yoga' are also somewhat
different, and Abhinavagupta uses Atman, Brahman, Shiva, and Krishna
interchangeably. Abhinavagupta's commentary is notable for its
citations of more ancient scholars, in a style similar to Adi
Shankara. However, the texts he quotes have not survived into the
modern era.
Rāmānuja (c. 1100 CE)
=======================
Ramanuja was a Hindu theologian, philosopher, and an exponent of the
Sri Vaishnavism (Vishnu) tradition in the 11th and early 12th
centuries. Like his Vedanta peers, Ramanuja wrote a 'bhashya'
(commentary) on the Gita - Gita Bhashya. Ramanuja's commentary
disagreed with Adi Shankara's interpretation of the Gita as a text on
nondualism (Self and Brahman are identical), and instead interpreted
it as a form of dualistic and qualified monism (Vishishtadvaita).
Madhva (c. 1250 CE)
=====================
Madhva, a commentator of the Dvaita (modern taxonomy) Tatvavada
(actually quoted by Madhva) Vedanta school, wrote a commentary on the
Bhagavad Gita, which exemplifies the thinking of the Tatvavada school
(Dvaita Vedanta). According to Christopher Chapelle, in Madhva's
school there is "an eternal and complete distinction between the
Supreme, the many Selfs, and matter and its divisions". His commentary
on the Gita is called . Madhva's commentary has attracted secondary
works by pontiffs of the Dvaita Vedanta monasteries such as Padmanabha
Tirtha, Jayatirtha, and Raghavendra Tirtha.
Keśava Kāśmīri (c. 1410 CE)
=============================
Keśava Kāśmīri Bhaṭṭa, a commentator of Dvaitādvaita Vedanta school,
wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita named . The text states that
'Dasasloki'--possibly authored by Nimbarka--teaches the essence of the
Gita; the 'Gita tattva prakashika' interprets the Gita also in a
hybrid monist-dualist manner.
Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava commentaries
===============================
*Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (b. 1486 CE). Commentaries on various parts of
the Gita are in the Gaudiya Vaishnavism Bhakti Vedanta tradition
('achintya bheda abheda)'.;
Others
========
Other classical commentators include:
* Bhāskara () disagreed with Adi Shankara, wrote his commentary on
both Bhagavad Gita and 'Brahma Sutras' in the tradition. According to
Bhaskara, the Gita is essentially Advaita, but not quite exactly,
suggesting that "the 'Atman' (Self) of all beings are like waves in
the ocean that is Brahman". Bhaskara also disagreed with Shankara's
formulation of the 'Maya' doctrine, stating that prakriti, atman and
Brahman are all metaphysically real.
* Yamunacharya, Ramanuja's teacher, summarised the teachings of the
Gita in his 'Gitartha sangraham'.
* Nimbarkacharya (620 CE) Bhagavadgītā-Vākyārtha, A lost commentary on
Bhagavad gītā.
* Dnyaneshwar's (1290 CE) commentary 'Dnyaneshwari' ( 'Jnaneshwari' or
'Bhavarthadipika') is the oldest surviving literary work in the
Marathi language, one of the foundations of the Varkari tradition (the
Bhakti movement, Eknath, Tukaram) in Maharashtra . The commentary
interprets the Gita in the Advaita Vedanta tradition. Dnyaneshwar
belonged to the Nath yogi tradition. His commentary on the Gita is
notable for stating that it is the devotional commitment and love with
inner renunciation that matters, not the name 'Krishna' or 'Shiva',
either can be used interchangeably.
* Vallabha II, a descendant of Vallabha (1479 CE), wrote the
commentary 'Tattvadeepika' in the Suddha-Advaita tradition.
* Madhusudana Saraswati's commentary 'Gudhartha Deepika' is in the
Advaita Vedanta tradition.
* Hanumat's commentary 'Paishacha-bhasya' is in the Advaita Vedanta
tradition.
* Anandagiri's commentary 'Bhashya-vyakhyanam' is in the Advaita
Vedanta tradition.
* Nilkantha's commentary 'Bhava-pradeeps' is in the Advaita Vedanta
tradition.
* Shreedhara's (1400 CE) commentary 'Avi gita' is in the Advaita
Vedanta tradition.
* Dhupakara Shastri's commentary 'Subodhini' is in the Advaita Vedanta
tradition.
* Raghuttama Tirtha's (1548-1596), commentary 'Prameyadīpikā
Bhavabodha' is in the Dvaita Vedanta tradition.
* Raghavendra Tirtha's (1595-1671) commentary 'Artha samgraha' is in
the Dvaita Vedanta tradition.
* Vanamali Mishra's (1650-1720) commentary 'Gitagudharthacandrika' is
quite similar to Madhvacharya's commentary and is in the Dvaita
Vedanta tradition.
Modern-era commentaries
=========================
* Among notable modern commentators of the Bhagavad Gita are Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, Vinoba Bhave, Mahatma Gandhi (who called its
philosophy Anasakti Yoga), Sri Aurobindo, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, B.
N. K. Sharma, Osho, Sri Krishna Prem and Chinmayananda. Chinmayananda
took a syncretistic approach to interpret the text of the Gita.
* Tilak wrote his commentary 'Shrimadh Bhagavad Gita Rahasya' while in
jail during the period 1910-1911 serving a six-year sentence imposed
by the colonial government in India for sedition. While noting that
the Gita teaches possible paths to liberation, his commentary places
most emphasis on Karma yoga.
* No book was more central to Gandhi's life and thought than the
Bhagavad Gita, which he referred to as his "spiritual dictionary".
During his stay in Yeravada jail in 1929, Gandhi wrote a commentary on
the Bhagavad Gita in Gujarati. The Gujarati manuscript was translated
into English by Mahadev Desai, who provided an additional introduction
and commentary. It was published with a foreword by Gandhi in 1946.
* The version by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, entitled
'Bhagavad-Gita as It Is,' is "by far the most widely distributed of
all English Gīta translations" due to the efforts of ISKCON. Its
publisher, the , estimates sales at twenty-three million copies, a
figure which includes the original English edition and secondary
translations into fifty-six other languages. The Prabhupada commentary
interprets the Gita in the Gaudiya Vaishnavism tradition of Chaitanya,
quite similar to Madhvacharya's Dvaita Vēdanta ideology. It presents
Krishna as the Supreme, a means of saving mankind from the anxiety of
material existence through loving devotion. Unlike in Bengal and
nearby regions of India where the 'Bhagavata Purana' is the primary
text for this tradition, the devotees of Prabhupada's ISKCON tradition
have found better reception for their ideas by those curious in the
West through the Gita, according to Richard Davis.
* In 1966, Mahārishi Mahesh Yogi published a partial translation.
* An abridged version with 42 verses and commentary was published by
Ramana Maharishi.
* 'Bhagavad Gita - The song of God', is a commentary by Swami
Mukundananda.
* Paramahansa Yogananda's two-volume commentary on the Bhagavad Gita,
called 'God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita', was released in
1995 and is available in 4 languages and as an English e-book. The
book is significant in that unlike other commentaries of the Bhagavad
Gita, which focus on karma yoga, jnana yoga, and bhakti yoga in
relation to the Gita, Yogananda's work stresses the training of one's
mind, or raja yoga. It is published by Self-Realization
Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India.
* Eknath Easwaran's commentary interprets the Gita for his collection
of problems of daily modern life.
* Other modern writers such as Swami Parthasarathy and Sādhu Vāsvāni
have published their own commentaries.
* Academic commentaries include those by Jeaneane Fowler, Ithamar
Theodor, and Robert Zaehner.
* A collection of Christian commentaries on the Gita has been edited
by Catherine Cornille, comparing and contrasting a wide range of views
on the text by theologians and religious scholars.
* The book 'The Teachings of Bhagavad Gita: Timeless Wisdom for the
Modern Age' by Richa Tilokani offers a woman's perspective on the
teachings of the Bhagavad Gita in a simplified and reader-friendly
spiritual format.
*Swami Dayananda Saraswati published a four-volume Bhagavad Gītā, Home
Study Course in 1998 based on transcripts from his teaching and
commentary of the Bhagavad Gītā in the classroom. This was later
published in 2011 in a new edition and nine-volume format.
*Galyna Kogut and Rahul Singh published 'An Atheist Gets the Gita', a
21st-century interpretation of the 5,000-year-old text.
*A compact edition by Satyanarayana Dasa arranges the Sanskrit words
so that their corresponding meanings form complete sentences. This
method, known as 'anvaya' in Sanskrit, follows the traditional way of
presenting the meaning. Additionally, the book includes extensive
footnotes that clarify difficult concepts.
*Anandmurti Gurumaa published a commentary on Bhagavad Gita in both
English and Hindi Languages.
*Sri Sri Ravi Shankar published a commentary on Bhagvad Gita.
Persian translations
======================
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in the Mughal Empire,
multiple Persian translations of the Gita were completed.
English translations
======================
|English translations
Title Translator Year
'The Bhãgvãt-Gēētā; or, Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon, in Eighteen
Lectures with Notes' Charles Wilkins 1785
'Bhagavad-Gita' August Wilhelm Schlegel 1823
'The Bhagavadgita' J.C. Thomson 1856
'La Bhagavad-Gita' Eugene Burnouf 1861
'The Bhagavad Gita' Kashninath T. Telang 1882
'The Song Celestial' Sir Edwin Arnold 1885
'The Bhagavad Gita' William Quan Judge 1890
'The Bhagavad-Gita with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracarya' A.
Mahadeva Sastry 1897
|'Young Men's Gita' |Jagindranath Mukharji |1900
'Bhagavadgita: The Lord's Song' L.D. Barnett 1905
'Bhagavad Gita' Anne Besant and Bhagavan Das 1905
'Die Bhagavadgita' Richard Garbe 1905
|'Srimad Bhagavad-Gita' |Swami Swarupananda |1909
'Der Gesang des Heiligen' Paul Deussen 1911
'Srimad Bhagavad-Gita' Swami Paramananda 1913
'La Bhagavad-Gîtâ' Emile Sénart
[
https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Livre:La_Bhagavadgita,_trad._de_Senart,_1922.djvu
1922]
|'The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi' |Mohandas K. Gandhi |1926
|'The Bhagavad Gita' |W. Douglas P. Hill |1928
'The Bhagavad-Gita' Arthur W. Ryder
[
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106016334002;view=1up;seq=7
1929]
'The Song of the Lord, Bhagavad-Gita' E.J. Thomas 1931
|'The Geeta' |Shri Purohit Swami |1935
'The Yoga of the Bhagavat Gita' Sri Krishna Prem 1938
|'The Message of the Gita (or Essays on the Gita)' |Sri Aurobindo,
edited by Anilbaran Roy |1938
|'Bhagavadgita' |Swami Sivananda |1942
|'Bhagavad Gita' |Swami Nikhilananda |1943
'The Bhagavad Gita' Franklin Edgerton 1944
'Bhagavad Gita - The Song of God' Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher
Isherwood [
https://books.google.com/books?id=JfRjAAAAMAAJ 1944]
'The Bhagavad Gita' Swami Nikhilananda 1944
'The Bhagavadgita' S. Radhakrishnan 1948
'The Bhagavadgita' Shakuntala Rao Sastri 1959
'The Bhagavad Gita' Juan Mascaró 1962
|'Bhagavad Gita' |C. Rajagopalachari |1963
'The Bhagavadgita' Swami Chidbhavananda 1965
|'The Bhagavad Gita' |Maharishi Mahesh Yogi |1967
'The Bhagavadgita: Translated with Introduction and Critical Essays'
Eliot Deutsch 1968
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 1968
'The Bhagavad Gita' R.C. Zaehner 1969
'The Bhagavad Gita: A New Verse Translation' Ann Stanford 1970
|'The Holy Gita, Translation & Commentary' |Swami Chinmayananda
|1972
|'Srimad Bhagavad Gita' |Swami Vireswarananda |1974
|'Bhagavad Gita: A Verse Translation' |Geoffrey Parrinder |1974
|'The Bhagavad Gita' |Kees. W. Bolle |1979
'The Bhagavad Gita' Winthrop Sargeant (Editor: Christopher K Chapple)
[
https://books.google.com/books?id=COuy5CDAqt4C 1979]
'The Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata' J.A.B. van Buitenen
[
https://books.google.com/books?id=4S5OCgAAQBAJ 1981]
|'The Bhagavad-Gita' |Winthrop Sargeant |1984
|'Srimad Bhagavad Gita Bhasya of Sri Samkaracharya' |A.G. Krishna
Warrier |1984
'The Bhagavadgita' Eknath Easwaran 1985
|'Srimad Bhagavad Gita' |Swami Tapasyananda |1985
|'Bhagavad Gita' |Srinivasa Murthy |1985
'The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War' Barbara Stoler
Miller [
https://books.google.com/books?id=l_dvDwAAQBAJ 1986]
|'Bhagavad-Gita' |Raghavan Iyer |1986
'The Bhagavad-Gita' Ramananda Prasad 1988
|'Bhagavad-Gita for You & Me' |M.S. Patwardhan |1990
|'Bhagavad Gita' |Antonio T. De Nicholas |1991
|'Bhagavad Gita' |Sachindra K. Majumdar |1991
|'Bhagavad Gita' |O.P. Ghai |1992
|'Ramanuja Gita Bhashya' |Swami Adidevananda |1992
|'Gita Bhashya' |Jagannatha Prakasha |1993
|'Bhagavad Gita: Translation & Commentary' |Richard Gotshalk
|1993
|'The Bhagavad Gita' |P. Lal |1994
'The Bhagavad-Gita' W.J. Johnson
[
https://books.google.com/books?id=U3MRAQAAIAAJ 1994]
|'God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita' |Paramahansa Yogananda
|1995
|'Bhagavad Gita (The Song of God)' |Ramananda Prasad |1996
|'Bhagavad Gita' |Vrinda Nabar and Shanta Tumkur |1997
|'The Living Gita: The Complete Bhagavat Gita: A Commentary for
Modern Readers' |Swami Satchidananda |1997
|'Bhagavad-Gita' |Satyananda Saraswati |1997
|'Bhagavad-Gita with the Commentary of Sankaracarya' |Swami
Gambhirananda |1998
|'Bhagavad Gita, With Commentary of Sankara' |Alladi M. Sastry |1998
|'Transcreation of the Bhagavad Gita' |Ashok K. Malhotra |1998
|'You Know Me: The Gita' |Irina Gajjar |1999
|'The Bhagavad Gita, Your Charioteer in the Battlefield of Life'
|R.K. Piparaiya |1999
|'The Bhagavad Gita, an Original Translation' |V. Jayaram |2000
|'Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners' |Jack Hawley |2001
|'Bhagavad Gita' |Rosetta Williams |2001
|'The Bhagavad Gita of Order' |Anand Aadhar Prabhu |2001
|'Bhagavad Gita: The Song Divine' |Carl E. Woodham |2001
|'The Bhagavat Gita (as part of the Wisdom Bible)' |Sanderson Beck
|2001
|'Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation' |Stephen Mitchell |2002
|'Bhagavad Gita As a Living Experience' |Wilfried Huchzermeyer and
Jutta Zimmermann |2002
|'Bhagvad Gita' |Alan Jacobs |2002
|'Bhagavad Gita: Translation and Commentary' |Veeraswamy Krishnaraj
|2002
|'The Bhagavad Gita' |Richard Prime |2003
|'The Sacred Song: A New Translation of the Bhagavad Gita for the
Third Millennium' |McComas Taylor and Richard Stanley |2004
|'Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā' |Swami Dayananda Saraswati |2007
|'The Bhagavad Gita' |Laurie L. Patton |2008
'The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation' George Thompson
[
https://books.google.com/books?id=K_knYDLJMfsC 2008]
|'The New Bhagavad-Gita: Timeless Wisdom in the Language of Our
Times' |Koti Sreekrishna, Hari Ravikumar |2011
'The Bhagavad Gita, A New Translation' Georg Feuerstein 2011
'The Bhagavad Gita: A Text and Commentary for Students' Jeaneane D.
Fowler [
https://books.google.com/books?id=dHX5XwAACAAJ 2012]
'The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation' Gavin Flood, Charles Martin
[
https://books.google.com/books?id=PDYEAwAAQBAJ 2012]
|'Bhagavad Gītā: Sāra-samanvitā. Translation and Summary'
|Satyanarayana Dasa |2015
|'Bhagavad Gita: Rhythm of Krishna (Gita in Rhymes)' |Sushrut Badhe
|2015
|'Bhagavad Gita (Complete edition): The Global Dharma for the Third
Millennium' |Parama Karuna Devi
|[
https://books.google.com/books?id=hA2jDAEACAAJ 2016]
'Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita' Keya Maitra 2018
|'The Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 to 13 - English' Ravi Shankar 2018
|'The Bhagavad Gita' |Bibek Debroy |2019
'The Teachings of Bhagavad Gita: Timeless Wisdom for the Modern Age'
Richa Tilokani 2023
|'The Poetic Saga of Mahabharata' |Shiva Ramnath Pillutla |2022
'Bhagavad Gita - The Song of God, Study Edition with Verse Markings'
Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
[
https://books.google.com/books?id=JfRjAAAAMAAJ 2023]
The first English translation of the Bhagavad Gita was published by
Charles Wilkins in 1785. The Wilkins translation had an introduction
to the Gita by Warren Hastings. Soon the work was translated into
other European languages such as French (1787), German, and Russian.
In 1849, the Weleyan Mission Press, Bangalore published 'The
Bhagavat-Geeta, Or, Dialogues of Krishna and Arjoon in Eighteen
Lectures', with Sanskrit, Canarese and English in parallel columns,
edited by Rev. John Garrett, with the effort being supported by Sir
Mark Cubbon.
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = 1785 Bhagavad Gita translation English.jpg
| width1 = 100
| alt1 =
| caption1 =
| image2 = 1787 Bhagavad Gita re-translation French.jpg
| width2 = 94
| alt2 =
| caption2 =
| image3 = Bhagvat - Geeta, Wesleyan Mission Press, Bangalore,
1849.jpg
| width3 = 133
| alt3 =
| caption3 =
| footer = Cover pages of early Gita translations. Left: Charles
Wilkins (); Center: Parraud re-translation of Wilkins (); Right:
Wesleyan Mission Press ().
}}
In 1981, Larson stated that "a complete listing of Gita translations
and a related secondary bibliography would be nearly endless".
According to Larson, there is "a massive translational tradition in
English, pioneered by the British, solidly grounded philologically by
the French and Germans, provided with its indigenous roots by a rich
heritage of modern Indian comment and reflection, extended into
various disciplinary areas by Americans, and having generated in our
time a broadly based cross-cultural awareness of the importance of the
Bhagavad Gita both as an expression of a specifically Indian
spirituality and as one of the great religious "classics" of all
time."
According to Sargeant, the Gita is "said to have been translated at
least 200 times, in both poetic and prose forms". Richard Davis cites
a count by Callewaert & Hemraj in 1982 of 1,891 translations of
the Bhagavad Gita in 75 languages, including 273 in English. These
translations vary, and are in part an interpretative reconstruction of
the original Sanskrit text that differ in their "friendliness to the
reader", and in the amount of "violence to the original Gita text".
The translations and interpretations of the Gita have been so diverse
that these have been used to support contradictory political and
philosophical values. For example, Galvin Flood and Charles Martin
note that interpretations of the Gita have been used to support
"pacifism to aggressive nationalism" in politics, from "monism to
theism" in philosophy. According to William Johnson, the synthesis of
ideas in the Gita is such that it can bear almost any shade of
interpretation. A translation "can never fully reproduce an original
and no translation is transparent", states Richard Davis, but in the
case of the Gita the linguistic and cultural distance for many
translators is large and steep which adds to the challenge and affects
the translation. For some native translators, their personal beliefs,
motivations, and subjectivity affect their understanding, their choice
of words and interpretation. Some translations by Indians, with or
without Western co-translators, have "orientalist", "apologetic",
"Neo-Vedantic" or "guru phenomenon" biases.
According to the exegesis scholar Robert Minor, the Gita is "probably
the most translated of any Asian text", but many modern versions
heavily reflect the views of the organization or person who does the
translating and distribution. In Minor's view, the Harvard scholar
Franklin Edgerton's English translation and Richard Garbe's German
translation are closer to the text than many others. According to
Larson, the Edgerton translation is remarkably faithful, but it is
"harsh, stilted, and syntactically awkward" with an "orientalist" bias
and lacks "appreciation of the text's contemporary religious
significance".
The Gita in other European languages
======================================
In 1808, passages from the Gita were part of the first direct
translation of Sanskrit into German, appearing in a book through which
Friedrich Schlegel became known as the founder of Indian philology in
Germany. The most significant French translation of the Gita,
according to J. A. B. van Buitenen, was published by Émile Senart in
1922. More recently, a new French translation was produced by the
Indologist Alain Porte in 2004. Swami Rambhadracharya released the
first Braille version of the scripture, with the original Sanskrit
text and a Hindi commentary, on 30 November 2007.
Paramahansa Yogananda's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita called 'God
Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita' has been translated into
Spanish, German, Thai and Hindi so far. The book is significant in
that, unlike other commentaries of the Bhagavad Gita, which focus on
karma yoga, jnana yoga, and bhakti yoga in relation to the Gita,
Yogananda's work stresses the training of one's mind, or raja yoga.
Indian languages
==================
The Gita Press has published the Gita in multiple Indian languages. R.
Raghava Iyengar translated the Gita into Tamil in the sandam metre
poetic form. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust associated with ISKCON has
re-translated and published A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's 1972
English translation of the Gita in 56 non-Indian
languages.{{refn|group=note|Teachings of International Society for
Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious
organisation which spread rapidly in North America in the 1970s and
1980s, are based on a translation of the Gita called 'Bhagavad-Gītā As
It Is' by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. These teachings are
also illustrated in the dioramas of Bhagavad-gita Museum in Los
Angeles, California.}} Vinoba Bhave has written the Geeta in Marathi
as Geetai (or "Mother Geeta") in a similar shloka form. Uthaya Sankar
SB retold the complete text in Bahasa Malaysia prose as 'Bhagavad
Gita: Dialog Arjuna dan Krishna di Kurukshetra' (2021).
Adaptations in popular culture
================================
Philip Glass retold the story of Gandhi's early development as an
activist in South Africa through the text of the Gita in the opera
'Satyagraha' (1979). The entire libretto of the opera consists of
sayings from the Gita sung in the original Sanskrit.
In Douglas Cuomo's 'Arjuna's Dilemma', the philosophical dilemma faced
by Arjuna is dramatised in operatic form with a blend of Indian and
Western music styles.
The 1993 Sanskrit film, 'Bhagavad Gita', directed by G. V. Iyer won
the 1993 National Film Award for Best Film.
The 1995 novel by Steven Pressfield, and its adaptation as the 2000
golf movie 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' by Robert Redford has
parallels to the Bhagavad Gita, according to Steven J. Rosen. Steven
Pressfield acknowledges that the Gita was his inspiration, the golfer
character in his novel is Arjuna, and the caddie is Krishna, states
Rosen. The movie, however, uses the plot but glosses over the
teachings unlike in the novel.
Neo-Hindu interpretation of ''svadharma''
===========================================
Arjuna is advised by Krishna to do his 'sva-dharma', the "dharma
[duty] of a particular varna." Since Arjuna belongs to the warrior
('kshatriya') varna (social class), Krishna is telling Arjuna to act
as a warrior. Neo-Hindus, preceded by medieval commentators like
Dnyaneshwar, have preferred to translate 'svadharma' not as
class-related duty, or 'dharma' as religion, but interpret it as
"everyone must follow his [own] 'sva-dharma'."
According to Dnyaneshwar (1275-1296), the Gita ultimately shows that
caste differences are not important. For Dnyaneshwar, people err when
they see themselves as distinct from each other and Krishna, and these
distinctions vanish as soon as they accept, understand and enter with
love unto Krishna.
According to Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894), to render
'svadharma' in English one must ask 'What is the sva-dharma for the
non-Hindus', as the Lord did not ordain 'dharma' only for Indians
[Hindus] and "make all the others dharma-less." According to Hacker,
this is an attempt to "universalize Hinduism."
According to Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), 'sva-dharma' in the Gita
does not mean "caste duty", rather it means the duty that comes with
one's life situation (mother, father, husband, wife) or profession
(soldier, judge, teacher, doctor). For Vivekananda, the Gita was an
egalitarian scripture that rejected caste and other hierarchies
because of its verses such as 13.27--28, which states "He who sees the
Supreme Lord dwelling equally in all beings, the Imperishable in
things that perish, he sees verily. For seeing the Lord as the same
everywhere present, he does not destroy the Self by the Self, and thus
he goes to the highest goal."
Aurobindo (1872-1950) modernises the concept of 'dharma' by
internalising it, away from the social order and its duties towards
one's capacities, which leads to radical individualism, "finding the
fulfilment of the purpose of existence in the individual alone." He
deduced from the Gita the doctrine that "the functions of a man ought
to be determined by his natural turn, gift, and capacities", that the
individual should "develop freely" and thereby would be best able to
serve society.
Gandhi's (1869-1948) view differed from Aurobindo's view. He
recognised in the concept of 'sva-dharma' his idea of 'svadeshi'
(sometimes spelt 'swadeshi'), the idea that "man owes his service
above all to those who are nearest to him by birth and situation." To
him, 'svadeshi' was "'sva-dharma' applied to one's immediate
environment."
According to Jacqueline Hirst, the universalist neo-Hindu
interpretations of 'dharma' in the Gita are modernist readings, though
any study of pre-modern distant foreign cultures is inherently subject
to suspicions about "control of knowledge" and bias on the various
sides. Hindus have their own understanding of 'dharma' that goes much
beyond the Gita or any particular Hindu text. Further, states Hirst,
the Gita should be seen as a "unitary text" in its entirety rather
than a particular verse analyzed separately or out of context. Krishna
is presented as a teacher who "drives Arjuna and the reader beyond
initial preconceptions". The Gita is a cohesively knit pedagogic text,
not a list of norms.
Criticism of svadharma and caste-system
=========================================
The Gita has also been cited and criticized as a Hindu text that
supports 'varna-dharma' (personal duty) and the caste system. B. R.
Ambedkar, born in a Dalit family and served as the first Law Minister
in the First Nehru Ministry, criticized the text for its stance on
caste and for "defending certain dogmas of religion on philosophical
grounds". According to Jimmy Klausen, Ambedkar in his essay 'Krishna
and his Gita' stated that the Gita was a "tool" of Brahmanical
Hinduism and for others such as Mahatma Gandhi and Lokmanya Tilak. To
Ambedkar, states Klausen, it is a text of "mostly barbaric, religious
particularisms" offering "a defence of the 'Kshatriya' duty to make
war and kill, the assertion that 'varna' derives from birth rather
than worth or aptitude, and the injunction to perform 'karma'" neither
perfunctorily nor egotistically.
In his 'Myth and Reality', D.D. Kosambi argued that "practically
anything can be read into the Gita by a determined person, without
denying the validity of a class system." Kosambi argued that the Gita
was a scripture that supported the superiority of the higher varnas
while seeing all other varnas as "defiled by their very birth, though
they may in after-life be freed by their faith in the god who degrades
them so casually in this one." He quotes the Gita which states that
Krishna says "The four-caste (class) division has been created by Me."
Similarly, V. R. Narla also argues that the Gita states that God
created the caste (varna) system. Narla also critiques the Gita for
stating that those who are not kshatriyas or Brahmins are "born from
sinful wombs".
Allegory of war
=================
Unlike any other religious scripture, the Bhagavad Gita broadcasts its
message in the centre of a battlefield. Several modern Indian writers
have interpreted the battlefield setting as an allegory for "the war
within". Eknath Easwaran writes that the 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".
Swami Nikhilananda, takes Arjuna as an allegory of Ātman, Krishna as
an allegory of Brahman, Arjuna's chariot as the body, and
Dhritarashtra as the ignorant mind. Nikhilananda's allegorical
interpretation is shared by Huston Smith. Swami Vivekananda interprets
the first discourse in the Gita as well as the "Kurukshetra war"
allegorically. Vivekananda states that "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".
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, in his commentary on the Gita, interprets
the battle as an allegory in which the battlefield is the soul and
Arjuna embodies man's higher impulses struggling against evil.
In Aurobindo's view, Krishna was a historical figure, but his
significance in the Gita is as a "symbol of the divine dealings with
humanity", while Arjuna typifies a "struggling human soul". However,
Aurobindo rejected the interpretation that the Gita, and the
'Mahabharata' by extension, is only "an allegory of the inner life"
and therefore that it has nothing to do with our outward human life
and actions.
Promotion of just war and duty
================================
Scholars such as Steven Rosen, Laurie L. Patton and Stephen Mitchell
have seen in the Gita a religious defence of the warrior class
(Kshatriya Varna) duty ('svadharma'), which is to wage war with
courage. They do not see only an allegorical teaching but also a real
defence of just war.
Indian independence leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar
Tilak saw the Gita as a text which defended war when necessary and
used it to promote armed rebellion against colonial rule. Lajpat Rai
wrote an article on the "Message of the Bhagavad Gita". He saw the
main message as the bravery and courage of Arjuna to fight as a
warrior. Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw the Gita as defending killing when
necessary for the betterment of society, such as, for example, the
killing of Afzal Khan.
Pacifism and the Gita
=======================
Because by the end of the Gita, Krishna convinces Arjuna that it is
his right and duty to fight, the Gita has been argued by some as
pro-war, while others argue it is neither pro- nor anti-war.
Noted author Christopher Isherwood suffered the death of his father in
WWI and saw no serious effort by the Allies to avoid plunging head-on
into the next war. In his novels, 'The Berlin Stories', he describes
life in Germany as the Nazis rose to power. In the late 1930s, with
advice from and influence of Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard he became
a practising pacifist and Conscientiousness Objector, working with the
Quakers, doing alternative service to help settle Jewish refugees
fleeing the war. In 1944, Isherwood worked with Swami Prabhavananda of
the Vedanta Society of Southern California to translate the Bhagavad
Gita into English. In the Appendix, there is an essay written by
Isherwood titled, 'The Gita and War'. He argues that in certain
circumstances, it would be quite alright to refuse to fight. In
Arjuna's particular circumstances, since it is a righteous war, and he
is a warrior by birth and trade, he must fight.
...every action, under certain circumstances and for certain people,
maybe a stepping-stone to spiritual growth--if it is done in the
spirit of non-attachment. There is no question, here, of doing evil
that good may come. The Gita does not countenance such opportunism.
Arjuna is to do the best he knows, in order to pass beyond that best
to better.
Ethics, war and violence
==========================
Soon after Krishna's peace mission fails, Krishna in the Gita
persuades Arjuna to wage war where the enemy includes some of his own
relatives and friends. In light of the 'Ahimsa' (non-violence)
teachings in Hindu scriptures, the Gita has been criticized as
violating the 'Ahimsa' value, or alternatively, as supporting
political violence. The justification of political violence when
peaceful protests and all else fails, states Varma, has been a fairly
common feature of modern Indian political thought along with the
mighty antithesis of Gandhian thought on non-violence. During the
independence movement in India, Indians (especially the Hindus)
considered the active burning and drowning of British goods. While
technically illegal under colonial legislation, these acts were viewed
as a moral and just war for the sake of liberty and righteous values
of the type that the Gita discusses. According to Nicholas Owen, the
influential Hindu nationalist (and the father of Hindutva) Veer
Savarkar often turned to Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita,
arguing that the text justified violence against those who would harm
Mother India.
Narla Venkateswara Rao, in his book-length critique of the text titled
'The Truth About the Gita,' criticizes the ethical teachings of the
Gita. He argues that the ethics of the Gita are so ambiguous, that one
can use it to justify any ethical position and primarily supports a
warrior ethos. In his 'Myth and Reality', the Indian historian Damodar
Dharmananda Kosambi argued that the Gita was written as a religious
text that could provide support for the actions of the upper castes,
including the warrior caste. These sorts of exhortations to battle
would not have been uncommon in ancient India as it was the job of
Indian bards. Kosambi writes that in the Gita, "the high god
repeatedly emphasizes the great virtue of non-killing ('ahimsa'), yet
the entire discourse is an incentive to war." He also cites the Gita,
which states: "If slain, you gain heaven; if victorious, the earth; so
up, son of Kunti, and concentrate on fighting." Kosambi argues that
the injunctions and excuses for killing found in the Gita are
unethical.
The Indian jurist and politician B. R. Ambedkar interpreted the Gita
as an unethical defence of violence based on the eternity of the soul
('atman'). Ambedkar wrote, "To say that killing is no killing because
what is killed is the body and not the soul is unheard of defence of
murder...If Krishna were to appear as a lawyer acting for a client who
is being tried for murder and pleaded the defence set out by him in
the Bhagavad Gita there is not the slightest doubt that he would be
sent to the lunatic asylum." Ethicist Jeremy Engels notes that in
contrast to Ambedkar's view, other readers, including Ralph Waldo
Emerson and Walt Whitman, as well as "most pandits and yogis",
understand the Gita's message not as a literal call to war, but as an
allegory for the inner battle between good and evil in the human soul.
In his introduction to his translation of the Gita, Purushottama Lal
argues that while Arjuna appears as a pacifist, concerned with
'ahimsa', Krishna "is the militarist" who convinces him to kill.
According to Lal, Krishna makes use of a "startling" argument to
convince Arjuna to kill, which Lal outlines as "the Ātman is eternal;
only the body dies; so, go ahead and kill - you will kill only the
body, the atman will remain unaffected [2:19-21]." Lal states that
"there could hardly be a better example of forked-tongue
speciousness." Lal further argues that: "the truth of the matter
surely is that no rational refutation is possible of the essential
humanist position that killing is wrong...many of the answers given by
Krishna appear to be evasive and occasionally sophistic. When logic
fails, Krishna apparently resorts to divine magic." According to Lal,
in the Gita, Krishna "stuns Arjuna with a glorious 'revelation' of
psychedelic intensity." This "confidence trick" is problematic for
Lal, who sees Arjuna's plight as a "painful and honest problem that
Krishna should have faced on its own terms, painfully and honestly,
and did not".
Mahatma Gandhi credited his commitment to 'ahimsa' to the Gita. For
Gandhi, the Gita is teaching that people should fight for justice and
righteous values and that they should never meekly suffer injustice to
avoid a war. According to the Indologist Ananya Vajpeyi, the Gita does
not elaborate on the means or stages of war, nor on 'ahimsa', except
for stating that "'ahimsa' is virtuous and characterizes an awakened,
steadfast, ethical man." For Gandhi, states Vajpeyi, 'ahimsa' is the
"relationship between self and other" as he and his fellow Indians
battled against colonial rule. Gandhian ahimsa is in fact "the essence
of the entire Gita", according to Vajpeyi. The teachings of the Gita
on 'ahimsa' are ambiguous, states Arvind Sharma, and this is best
exemplified by the fact that Nathuram Godse stated the Gita as his
inspiration to do his 'dharma' after he assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.
Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and author of books on Zen Buddhism,
concurs with Gandhi and states that the Gita is not teaching violence
nor propounding a "make war" ideology. Instead, it is teaching peace
and discussing one's duty to examine what is right and then act with
pure intentions, when one faces difficult and repugnant choices.
Psychotherapeutic interpretation
======================================================================
Prominent Indian psychiatrists referenced the Gita as a source for
developing a culturally sensitive psychotherapeutic model. Krishna,
has been compared to a cognitive therapist, in relation to Arjuna, who
suffers from both physical and psychological symptoms of mental
disturbance. Physically, Arjuna's mouth dries up, his limbs tremble,
and his hairs stand on their ends. Psychologically, he faces anxiety,
confusion, and negative self-evaluation. Krishna corrects Arjuna's
cognitive state by introducing a new framework of action, which is
removed from anticipation of the outcome. The concepts of 'jnana',
'karma', and 'bhakti' can be taken as three steps for cognitive
restructuring.
See also
======================================================================
* Ashtavakra Gita
* Avadhuta Gita
* Devi Gita
* Ganesha Gita
* Guru Gita
* Uddhava Gita
* Vyadha Gita
Notes
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Further reading
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* word-by word translation
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External links
======================================================================
*
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* [
https://librivox.org/bhagavad-gita-by-sir-edwin-arnold/ Audiobook
of an English translation] by Sir Edwin Arnold at LibriVox
*
[
https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/wilkins-the-bhagvat-geeta-or-dialogues-of-kreeshna-and-arjoon
Bhagvat Geeta - Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon by Charles Wilkins]
* [
https://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/ Bhagavad Gita translations
and commentaries online provided by IIT Kanpur at Gita Supersite]
* [
http://www.iep.utm.edu/bha-gita/ Bhagavad Gita] article in the
'Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'
License
=========
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License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita
