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Krishna

The Wisdom of the Bhagavad

Gita

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The Bhagavad Gita  A great summary of the Hindu vision of

reality. Nevertheless, its message is

timeless and universal and transcendsall religion.

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The Bhagavad Gita The English title might be translated as

!ong of the Blessed "ne# or !ong of

the Adorable "ne.# The adorable one is$ord Krishna, %ho is God in human

form, and the song is his teaching to

humanity. &n many %ays the Gita is toHindus %hat the Gos'els are to

(hristians.

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What the Gita is about The teaching of the Gita emerges from

a battlefield conversation bet%een $ord

Krishna and the %arrior)'rince Ar*una.The %ar is bet%een t%o royal families

and is said to have ta+en 'lace about

--- years ago.

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What the Gita is about The long story of ho% this conflict came

about is told in the ahabharata, &ndia/s

vast national e'ic 0t%elve times thelength of the &liad and the "dyssey

combined, it is the longest e'ic 'oem

ever %ritten1. The Bhagavad Gita is thesi2th cha'ter.

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What the Gita is about  Ar*una is getting ready for the battle

%hen he sees the destruction about to

be unleashed and falls into des'air. Hethro%s do%n his %ea'ons and gives u'

 *ust before the im'ortant battle. The

Gita is mainly Krishna/s res'onse to thisevasion of Ar*una/s duty.

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Hindu !cri'tures The scri'tures start %ith the 3edas, the

most ancient te2ts. The 4'anishads

come ne2t. They are mysticalcommentaries on the 3edas, revealing

their hidden meaning# concerning the

true goal of life and ho% to attain it.

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3edanta The 'hiloso'hy based on the

4'anishads is +no%n as 3edanta, and

the Bhagavad Gita has been deemedthe best authority on 3edanta.#

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The $anguage of the Gita The original te2t %as %ritten in !ans+rit,

the ancient language of &ndia and it has

no% been translated into mostlanguages, even 5iddish6

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!ans+rit !ans+rit is regarded as a sacred

language, and its sound is held to have

a 'o%erful transforming effect. The Gitais usually recited as a chant, and

listening to it is considered u'lifting

even if one doesn/t understand the%ords.

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&nter'reting the Gita Numerous commentaries have been

%ritten on the Gita and many of them

em'hasi7e different as'ects of itsmeaning. !cholars debate, as they do

%ith all of the %orld/s scri'tures no%, its

true message and meaning.

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&nter'reting the Gita  A traditional vie% holds that the different

em'hases in the Gita are not

disagreeing %ith each other but ratherloo+ing at different facets of the same

gem. As the 3edas state, truth is ever

the same, though the %ise s'ea+ of it invarious %ays.

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&nter'reting the Gita The great modern sage !ri Aurobindo

advises us not to be overly concerned

%ith ho% the Gita %as understood in the'ast, but that %e should e2tract from it

the living truths that meet our o%n

s'iritual needs, for the Gita/s s'irit islarge, 'rofound, universal, and timeless.

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The Avatar  Krishna is an Avatar. The Avatar, %ho is

God directly descended# into human

form, a''ears on earth 'eriodically)indifferent forms, under different names,

in different 'arts of the %orld)to restore

truth in the %orld and to sho%er graceon the lovers of God.

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The Avatar  &n the 3edic tradition, Krishna is

%orshi''ed as an Avatar of 3ishnu, that

as'ect of the one indivisible God %hich'reserves and 'rotects the creation.

any 'eo'le regard Krishna as a

universal savior com'arable to 0or evenidentical %ith1 such %orld teachers as

(hrist and Buddha.

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Krishna &n the Gita, Krishna is a com'anion and

teacher, as %ell as the god %ho

commands devotion. Krishna is theincarnation of cosmic 'o%er %ho

'eriodically descends to earth to

accom'lish the restoration of order intimes of chaos.

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Historicity  Aurobindo comments that to the

s'iritual as'irant, controversies over

historicity are a %aste of time8 theKrishna %ho matters to us is the eternal

incarnation of the divine that %e +no%

by inner e2'erience, not the historicalteacher and leader.

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Historicity 9or his lovers, $ord Krishna is a living

reality %hose com'anionshi' is

'ossible to e2'erience here and no%,as devotees of all times %ill attest. The

:ivine beloved is al%ays %ith us and

%ithin us, because God is our o%n !elf.

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9ive ;oints to 9acilitate

4nderstanding

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!econd ;oint =. Each of us contains the doubting,

des'airing, 'otentially brave and

illumined human being 0Ar*una1 and themystery of Krishna 0the eternal :ivine

!elf1 hidden behind all the veils of our

'syche and mind.#

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Third ;oint >. We must a''roach a study of a te2t

li+e this in the manner of a medieval

mon+ doing $ectio :ivina. That is, %emost a''roach it not as a te2t to tac+le

and finish, but as a 'oem to meditate

and reflect on. &n other %ords, the Gitais a %isdom document.

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9ourth ;oint ?. :o not let the discussion of the

different Hindu 5ogas lead to a debate

about %hich yoga is better, for that%ould be to miss the 'oint8 Any and all

yoga is to lead to union %ith God.

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9ourth ;oint ?. The full truth is that the Gita

embodies and celebrates a

'ermanently radical fusion of all thetraditional Hindu a''roaches to the

:ivine in a vision of %hat the full human

divine being should and must be.#

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9ourth ;oint ?. ;hiloso'hical analysis, 'ractical

disci'line, meta'hysical +no%ledge,

and devotion are not mutually e2clusivemethods, but as'ects of a

com'rehensive a''roach to the human

dilemma of living in a transient, chaotic%orld.#

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9ourth ;oint ?. These different yogas in the Gita are

fused into a vision that combines and

transcends them all to offer humanbeings the richest and most com'lete

%ay of being and acting in the %orld

%ith divine truth, %isdom, andeffectiveness.#

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9ifth ;oint . &t is im'ortant to read the Gita as if it

%as %ritten for today/s %orld and

today/s 'roblems. Then it %ill becomerelevant and meaningful to the 'erson

%ho is reading it. E2am'le8 Gandhi

based much of his movement on theGita.

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The Battle The Gita describes a battle. And surely

the %orld is in a battle today, a battle

%hose outcome %ill determine the fateof the 'lanet.#

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The Battle &n the Bhagavad Gita, those %ho long

to +no% ho% to fight %isely for the future

%ill find a handboo+ of s'iritual%arriorhood and divine reali7ation that

%ill constantly ins'ire and ennoble them

and infuse them %ith divine truth andsacred 'assion.#

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ystical Activism An activism that is not fed by mystical

%isdom and stamina %ill %ither in the

fire of 'ersistent and 'ersistentlye2hausting disa''ointment and defeat

and tend to create as many ne%

'roblems as those it tries to solve.#

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ystical Activism "nly the highest s'iritual %isdom and

tireless sacred 'assion for all of life

united %ith 'ragmatic, radical action onall 'ossible fronts can no% hel' us

'reserve the 'lanet.#

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(ore essage

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(ore essage =. We are encouraged to reali7e our

o%n union %ith the divine because that

is the main source of our ho'e andstrength. Without this e2'erience of

union %e are *ust believers,# and %e

have only to loo+ around us to see thedamage done by a %orld full of

believers.

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(ore essage >. The Gita teaches the im'ortance of

letting go and letting God.# That is %e

are to give u' our attachment to ouro%n 'lans and success and to our o%n

need to feel im'ortant and to be of

service for less than holy reasons.

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(ore essage >. The goal is not to be doing God/s

%or+,# but to let God %or+ in and

through us. Thomas Keating teachesthat contem'lative service is God in us

serving God in others.#

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(ore essage ?. The lesson of letting go %ill teach us

the final mystery, a final mystery of

divine love that %ill fill your %hole being%ith a 'ermanent sober ecstasy)an

ecstasy that arises from the a%areness

that you and all beings are loved byGod %ith deathless and unconditional

love.#

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:evotion &n the Gita devotion is a disci'line

0bha+tiyoga1 involving the 'erformance

of disci'lined action 0+armayoga1%ithout 'ersonal attachment and %ith

dedication of the fruits to Krishna.

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:evotion This devotion enables one to engage

actively in the %orld and still have

s'iritual freedom. Through devotion theself e2'ands to%ard the infinite and the

infinite is brought to a conceivable

human scale.#

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The Human !elf  The Gita tal+s about three ty'es of

attributes found in humans8 inertia,

energy, and clarity. &n human beings,la7y 'eo'le are 'lagued %ith inertia,

hy'eractive 'eo'le %ith energy, and

intelligent, even)+eeled 'eo'le areblessed %ith clarity.#

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The Human !elf  Krishna uses these three @ualities to

outline a develo'mental model of the

self. !loth should be countered byenergy, and energy)the shado% side of

%hich is a tendency to fly off the handle)

should be monitored by clear)eyedintelligence.#

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The 9our 5ogas The yogas, %hich are four in number,

have 'roven to be so astute in their

analysis of differing s'iritualtem'eraments)(arl ung ada'ted his

four 'sychological ty'es from them)that

they no% belong to the %orld.#

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nana 5oga eflective 'ersons 0*nana yogis1

advance to%ard God by +no%ing him,

but it is im'ortant to reali7e that the +indof +no%ing involved is an intuitive

discernment that is more li+e seeing

than thin+ing.#

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Bha+ti 5oga Affective 'ersons 0bha+ti yogis1, %ho

live more in their hearts than in their

heads, dra% close to God by loving him.

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Karma 5oga Wired %ith energy, active 'eo'le

0+arma yogis1 advance to%ard God by

serving him.#

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a*a 5oga Those %ith an a'titude for meditation

0ra*a yogis1 reali7e God by that route.#

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&ntegral 5oga &ntegral 5oga is a ne% form of yoga that

combines all four together in a model

some%hat li+e cross training inathletics. The idea %ould be to %or+

%ith the different yogas at different

times de'ending on %hich %as mostneeded.

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&ntegral 5oga &ntegral 5oga demonstrates that the

combining of different 'ractices in an

intelligent and sensitive mannercontributes to faster gro%th and

develo'ment in the human being than

any single yoga can 'rovide on its o%n.

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The elativity of 3alues The relativity of values is sometimes

difficult for Westerners to gras'

because %e have been raised on thevalues of universality and

egalitarianism. Theoretically, right and

%rong are not absolute in the Hindusystem.

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The elativity of 3alues ;ractically, right and %rong are decided

according to the categories of social

ran+, +inshi', and stage of life.4nfortunately, %e are familiar %ith this

idea in only its distorted form as the

caste system, %hich %e rightly re*ect.

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The elativity of 3alues But the %isdom behind the caste

system is the recognition that %e all

have different gifts and tem'eramentsand our morals are based on ho% %e

can best live out our 'otential. What

might %or+ for one 'erson could be thee2act o''osite for someone else.