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Bhagavadgita is one of the most
important scriptures of the mankind. It occupies a unique place
among the followers of Hinduism. The Vedas, the Upanishads and the
Brahmasutra form the foundations of the orthodox Hindusim or the
Sanatana Hindu Dharma.
The Gita is also given a place among these sacred scriputures
honourably, on an equal footing. One can say that the Upanishads,
the Brahmasutra, and the Gita are the very basis of the Hinduism.
There are various sects and sub-sects within the folds of the
Hinduism. There are followers of different doctrines (Sampradayas)
among the Hindus. All the leaders of three different branches of
Hinduism have to justify their special doctrines with references to
the authority of the Upanishads, the Brahmasutra and the Gita, to
show that such doctrines are in consonance with the orthodox Hindu
religion. These bases of Hinduism (the Gita, the Upanishads and
Brahmasutra) are called the triple canon (Prasthanatraya). Rishi
(seer) Ved Vyas is credited with the authorship of the Gita.
However,the Hindus regard it to be of divine origin preached by the
Lord (Bhagawan) Shri Krishna himself.
Ved Vyas is also given the
honour of being the compiler of the Mahabharata. The Geeta occurs in
the Bhishmaparva of the Mahabharata from twenty-third to fortieth
chapter. The Geeta begins with the description of both the opposing
armies in the war of Kurukshetra with the description of their main
heroes. Sanjaya narrates the happenning at the battlefied to the
blind king Dhritarashtra, when he is asked to do so. A great hero
and the greatest warrior of the Pandava side Arjuna sees members of
his family, relatives, and teachers in the battlefield eager to
fight from both the warring sides. This causes immense sadness to
Arjuna. Overwhelmed by the grief he leaves aside his bow and arrows.
The desire for battle dies in his heart and he sits down in the
chariot in the state of despondency. Then his charioteer, Lord
Krishna preaches him, which is the subject matter of the Geeta.
The Gita is mainly a religious
treatise. Though it contains ancient Indian Philosophy, policy and
the code of worldly conduct, yet it is essentially a guide to the
Hindu way of life. For centuries millions of Hindus have found peace
and tranquility in their lives by following the path shown by the
Gita. It sets a religious experience of the ultimate reality. The
all sects and the followers of all the traditions/doctrines among
the Hindus accept the Gita. The Gita can be verily said to be the
foundation of not only of the Hindusim, but of the root of the
religion itself.
The union (yoga) of the self (atma) with the ultimate reality (paramatma)
is the final goal of the followers of the Gita. It brings about a
reconciliation among the apparently conflicting doctrines of the way
of knowledge (Gyan-Yoga) of action (Karma-Yoga) and of devotion (bhakti-yoga).
All these paths lead towards one goal only. The term yoga (means to
unite, to yoke), is used in Gita, in the sense of union of the self
with the supreme being it is not used in the sense as given in the
yoga-sutra of Pantanjali.
DATE AND TEXT OF BHAGAVADGITA
According to the Hindu
traditions and beliefs, the gita is an eternal scripture. It has
always been available to the human being, as a divine gift, for
their redemption. But the modern scholars and researchers, both
oriental as well as western, have done a great deal of work to
ascertain the date of its compilation and its original text. They
have taken help from the internal references available in the
literature of that era. Also with the help of linguistics, they have
studied the language used, grammatical constructions, and word
configurations to ascertain its date. All these evidently point
towards the antiquity of the Gita. Genarality of scholars accept
that it could have been composed and complied sometime around fifth
century B.C. though its text might have undergone many additions and
alterations subsequently. Also it does not seem plausible that seven
hundred verses contained in the Gita could have been preached by
Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the battlefield. Possibly, a few verses
might have been said which were amplified and elaborated into a
large treatise by the narrators over a period of time. Moreover the
historicity of Lord Krishna and his pupil, Arjuna is also not beyond
doubt. The Vedic age and the post-vedic age had extended over a
period of many centuries. During this period, compilation of the
vedas and the upnishads, had taken place. Certain upnishads were
compiled as late as the fourth century A.D.
Lord Krishna is mentioned as
Devaki-putra (Son of Devika) in the upnishads and the references of
Radha, Devaki and Vasudeva also occur and the beginning of the
christian era, the cult of Lord Krishna and vasudeva was well
established. Ancient Buddhist texts also mention about krishna
occasionally. These facts may be taken as evidence about the
historicity of Lord Krishna. Vishnu has been depicted as a god in
the Vedic hymns. In the Puranic texts, Vishnu is also mentioned as
Narayana. Lord Krishna is identified with Vishnu or Narayana. Modern
Indian and western scholars have done a tremendous amount of labour
to get the answers to these puzzles. But there are differences of
opinion among the scholars regarding the date of Gita and about its
original text. The age of the compilation of the Gita may be taken
to be of between fifth and the second century B.C.
The Gita is regarded as a Upnishad's "bhagavadgitastu" The Gita
presents synthesis of all the elements and beliefs of he Hinduism,
be they major or minor, gross or subtle. The Gita refines and
reconciles the conflicts inherent in the various thoughts the vedic
sacrifices, Puranic theism, transcendental or immortal nature of the
brahman in the upnishads, dualism and non-dualism of the
philosophical schools and yoga meditation etc. The Gita provides a
solution for these conflicting ideas which is acceptable to all the
adherants of the Hinduism.
The Gita blends into an organic unity, all the elements of orthodox
Hinduism, Indian Philosophy and Puranic theism. This makes it
difficult to assign the Gita to any specific age,place or tradition.
From the very ancient time commentaries have been written on the
Gita by various teachers and seers. The commentary of Shankaracharya
(A.D.788-320) is the most ancient among those, which are available
to us. The text given in this work is generally followed and taken
as the authoritative.
COMMENTARIES ON THE GITA
Since the Gita forms the very
basis of the Hinduism a very large number of commentaries by many
seers and scholars have been written from the ancient times. Many
leaders of various sects have written commentaries on the Gita to
prove that their specific doctrines were in conformity with the
teachings of the Gita. Many scholars and philosphers of modern age
have also written commentaries on it. Though the commentary of
Shankara is the oldest available to us. Yet he had mentioned about
the commentaries written by scholars before him. But their works are
now lost to us. The following commentators are important.
- Adi Shankaracharya (A.D. 788-820)
- Anandagiri (A.D. thirteenth Century)
- Shridhara (A.D. 1400)
- Madhusudana (Sixteen Century A.D.)
- Ramanuja (Eleventh Century A.D.)
- Madhavacharya (A.D.1199-1276)
- Nimbarka (A.D. 1162)
- Vallabha (A.D. 1479)
- Yamunacharya (date not known)
- Saint Tukarama (in Marathi)
- Saint Gyaneshwara (in Marathi)
Among the modern commentators
notable are, Bal Gangadhara Tilak (Gita-Rahasya), Vinoba Bhave (Gita
in Marathi), Sri Arbindo, Dr. S. Radha-Krishnan etc.
Many western scholars have also done a lot of work on he Gita and
have produced excellent works. Some of them are : Sir Adwin Arnold
(wrote a translation - The song Celestial-in beautiful verses),
Jacob, Barnett, Douglas Hill, Franklin Edgerton etc. The Gita has
been translated and commented on in all the important languages of
the world.
WHAT IS THERE IN THE EARTH YOGA-SHASTRA
The Gita teaches the practical way to realise
the supreme ideal. It does not give only a purely metaphysical world
of thought to the seeker of the truth, it takes him to the real
world of experience. The supreme bliss can only be experienced, it
cannot be reached by idle speculation of wits and mental gymnastics.
The Gita gives us a metaphysics (brahma-vidya) as well as a
practical discipline (yoga shastra) . By emptying our minds of
impure thoughts, desires and wants, by putting our entire energy in
the single minded contemplation of the nature of the ultimate
reality, by constant efforts (abhyas) and being in a state - where
the self (atma) becomes one with the supreme being (paramatma). This
is called "Yoga" (coming from the root "yuj-it means yoking of or
comes into union with the God (parameshwar). After one attains this
state ignorance (Agyana) illusion (avidya) and egoistic state of
mind (ahankara) can no longer exist. The self experiences the pure
truth, pure mind and pure bliss (sat, chit, anand). The Gita Guide
ut to this yoga and bhaktiyoga. This is the essence of the Gita.
Gyanyoga is the way of knowledge, Karmayoga of right efforts, of
total devotion and surrender to the will of God. Thus the Gita shows
the way of salvation to all without any distinction or reservation.
It is for the entire humanity. Distinctions place, caste creed or
sect do not come in its way. The Gita like the mother ganga is for
the benefit of all. The misconception among a few that the Gita is
meant for the saints and the hermits is without any basis. The
Student (brahmachari), the house-holder the recluse all have equal
claim to its nectar. It's a panacea to the mankind.
THE CONTECT OF
THE GIFT
The hundred sons of Dhritarastra and the five
sons of Pandu, fought a fatricidal war in the battlefied of
Kurukshetra.This is the main theme of the mahabharata. The sons of
the blind king Dhritarastra of the Kauravas bore great animosity to
the Pandavas, the sons of Pandu. Kauravas were ruling the kingdom of
Hastinapura and the Pandavas were the rulers of Indraprastha. The
eldest among the Kauravas, Duryodhana, was very jealous of the
splendour of their cousins, pandavas. He, with the help of his uncle
Shakuni, won the kingdom of the Pandavas, decided that the pandavas
shall spend twelve years in the forest and then one year in
disguise. If they were not discovered during this period, they would
get back their kingdom. But when the pandavas returned after
thirteen years, their term of exile, Duryodhana refused to return
their kingdom. All efforts to persuade him failed. Finally, Lord
Krishna went to him as the emissary of the Pandavas. Even his
efforts could not succeed. Then the war became inevitable.
In the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Kauravas fought under the
leadership of Duryodhana and the Pandavas side was led by the the
eldest among the Pandavas, Yudhisthir. While the army of Lord
Krishna's army fought on the side of the Kauravas he himself was on
the side of the Pandavas. He was charioteer of Arjuna as he had
promised that he would not weild any weapon in the war.When all the
preparations of the war were nearing completion, sage vedvyas went
to the blind king and offered him the boon of divine vision, so that
he could watch the war. But Dhritarastra declined the offer saying
that he did not want to see the destruction of his sons with his own
eyes. However, he was eager to know the going on the battlefield.
Then vyas granted the boon of divine vision to Sanjaya, the king of
Charioteer. This enabled Sanjaya to see the war from any where.
Sanjaya sitting near, Dhritarastra told him about the war affairs.
In the meantime the war had commenced. On the twentieth day of the
war, the great warrior Bhishma was felled from his chariot by Arjuna
and had been lying on a bed of arrows. Dhristarastra became vey sad
on hearing this news and asked Sanjaya to narrate the events of the
war from the beginning i.e. from the time when his sons and Pandavas
had gathered in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The Gita starts with
the question of the blind king.
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