The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita

The Path to Divinity

By Jnani Christian Karl

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Christian Karl

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is dedicated to all those who seek the truth.

Table of Contents (TOC)

Introduction

Chapter 1 - The Dejection of Arjuna

Chapter 2 - Sankhyayoga, the Yoga of Knowledge

Chapter 3 - Karmayoga, the Yoga of Action

Chapter 4 - Knowledge

Chapter 5 - Renunciation of Actions

Chapter 6 - Meditation

Chapter 7 - Knowledge of the Lord

Chapter 8 - The Lord as Brahman the Imperishable

Chapter 9 - The Supreme Knowledge and Secret

Chapter 10 - The Lord’s Vastness

Chapter 11 - The Lord as all Forms

Chapter 12 - Devotion

Chapter 13 - The Field and the Knower of the Field

Chapter 14 - Distinction of the three Gunas (three Qualities)

Chapter 15 - The Lord as the highest Person

Chapter 16 - Distinction between the divine and demoniac Endowments

Chapter 17 -Distinction between the three types of Faith

Chapter 18 - Renunciation

Endnotes

The Outcome of the War

About the Author Jnani Christian Karl

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Introduction

The Bhagavad Gita is really a fantastic work of literature. Everyone who is interested in spiritual growth will benefit from studying its words. Sage Vedavyasa did a wonderful job explaining the Hindu spiritual and religious concepts in great detail. Although the writings are around 2,500 years old, they still are extremely valuable to the spiritual seeker in this day and age.

As in other ancient texts, one needs to find the spirit behind the words to get the most benefit from this work. That is what I have attempted to do. My comments delve into the deeper meaning of the stanzas that often seem a bit archaic and removed from today’s understanding of the world. I tried to bridge the gap and bring out the spiritual depth of Vedavyasa’s teachings for today’s truth seekers.

The Bhagavad Gita - meaning the Song of the Divine - is contained in a vast Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. This epic mainly deals with a major war between rival factions over the throne of India. The Bhagavad Gita contains the discussions between Arjuna, who is one of the central warriors, and his trusted uncle and spiritual advisor Krishna.

The English translation is in numbered stanzas in italics, followed by my comments and inspired insights.

Please enjoy.

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CHAPTER 1

THE DEJECTION OF ARJUNA

King Dhritarashtra:

1. What did my sons and the Pandavas do, o Sanjaya, when they assembled together on the holy field of Kurukshetra, desirous to do battle?

The blind king Dhritarashtra wants to know about the events on the battlefield where his one hundred sons with their supporters and the five sons of his late brother Pandu with their allies are assembled. His servant Sanjaya is informing him of the events.

Sanjaya:

I will report all events as clearly as possible to you, my King. On one side I can see your son Duryodhana with his assembled troops and on the other side are your nephews with their armies.

2. Seeing the army of the Pandavas drawn up in battle-array, the prince Duryodhana approached the preceptor Dronacharya, and spoke these words to him:

3. O preceptor, observe this grand army of the sons of Pandu, drawn up in battle-array by your talented pupil Dhrishtadyumna, the son of Drupada.

The army of the Pandavas is the army of the sons of Pandu, who was the late brother of king Dhritarashtra. Pandu ruled the kingdom until he abdicated the throne. Dronacharya is the principal martial teacher of the Kurus. He instructed both the Pandavas and the Kauravas in the art of war. Many of the fighters on both sides had learned their skills from the same teachers.

4-6. In it are heroes wielding large bows, the equals of Bhima and Arjuna in battle; namely Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada, the master of a great car, and Dhrishtaketu, Kekitana, and the valiant king of Kashi, Purugit and Kuntibhoga, and that eminent man Saibya; the heroic Yudhamanyu, the valiant Uttamaugas, the son of Subhadra, and the sons of Draupadi - all masters of the great chariots.

Bhima and Arjuna are two of the five sons of Pandu. The other mentioned warriors have come to support them in their efforts to regain their kingdom.

7. And now, o best of Brahmanas (Dronacharya), learn who are most distinguished among us, and are the leaders of my army. I will name them to you in order that you may know them well.

Now Duryodhana is going to list the main warriors that are his allies in this war.

8-9. Yourself, and Bhishma, and Karna, and Kripa the victor of many battles; Asvatthaman, and Vikarna, and also the son of Somadatta, and many other brave men, who have renounced their lives for my sake, who fight with various weapons, and are all dexterous in battle.

Out of all the named warriors, Karna’s story is the most fascinating. Karna is actually a brother of the five Pandavas. He was queen Kunti’s (one of king Pandu’s wives) firstborn, but was given away at birth and raised by a charioteer. He had grown up to become a famous warrior equal in skills only to Arjuna’s.

Queen Kunti, his mother, had revealed to him when war was about to break out, that he was her son and that the Pandavas were his brothers. She begged him not to kill them in battle. However, Duryodhana had been very generous to him in the past, while the Pandus had treated him with disdain because of his apparent birth into a lower class, therefore Karna felt obligated to support his cousin in this war, but he promised his mother that at the end of the war she would have five sons left.

He did fight against all of his brothers and defeated four of them, but let them live. He tried his very best to kill Arjuna, but was overcome by him in battle and killed. Only after Karna’s death did Queen Kunti reveal to her sons that he had been their eldest brother.

10. Thus our army which is protected by Bhishma is unlimited; while this army of theirs which is protected by Bhima is very limited.

Bhishma is the eldest and most experienced of the warriors on Duryodhana’s side. At the beginning of the war, the Kaurava army with its eleven divisions was much larger compared to the Pandavas’ seven divisions.

11. And therefore do ye all, occupying respectively the positions assigned to you, protect Bhishma, our leader.

12. Then his powerful grand-uncle, Bhishma, the oldest of the Kauravas, roaring aloud like a lion, blew his conch, thereby affording delight to Duryodhana.

Duryodhana’s ego needs constant stroking and reassuring. All his relatives, friends and acquaintances know this. Therefore, Bhishma blows his conch in order to help quiet the fears that have slowly crept into Duryodhana’s heart and mind about the possible outcome of his selfish strive to remain the illegal ruler of Bharata.

13. And then all at once, conchs, and kettledrums, and tabors, and trumpets were played upon; and there was a tumultuous din.

The slaughter is about to begin. The fighters create as much noise as possible in order to frighten the enemy and to numb their own fears.

14-19. Then, too, Madhava (Krishna) and the son of Pandu (Arjuna), seated in a grand chariot to which white steeds were yoked, blew their heavenly conchs. Hrishikesha (Krishna) blew the conch named Pankajanya, and Dhananjaya (Arjuna) blew the Devadatta, and Bhima, the doer of fearful deeds, blew the great conch Paundra. King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew the Anantavijaya, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva respectively the Sughosha and Manipushpaka. And the king of Kashi, too, who has an excellent bow, and Sikhandi, the master of a great car, and Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, and the unconquered Satyaki, and Drupada, and the sons of Draupadi, and the son of Subhadra, of mighty arms, blew conchs severally from all sides, o king of the earth! That tumultuous din rent the hearts of all the people of Dhritarashtra's party, causing reverberations throughout heaven and earth.

Here is the answer to the blowing of the conches by Duryodhana’s troops. It is even more deafening than the challenge itself. The weak-hearted are beginning to tremble and question their motives for being in this conflict. (Draupadi is the wife of the five Pandavas).

20-23. Then seeing the people of Dhritarashtra’s party regularly marshaled, the son of Pandu (Arjuna), whose standard is the ape, raised his bow, and o king of the earth (Dhritarashtra), spoke these words to Hrishikesha (Krishna): O undegraded one (Krishna), station my chariot between the two armies, while I observe those who stand here desirous to engage in battle, and with whom, in the labors of this struggle, I must do battle. I will observe those who are assembled here and who are about to engage in battle, wishing to do service in battle to the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.

24- 28 ½. Thus addressed by Gudakesha (Arjuna), o descendant of Bharata (Dhritarashtra), Hrishikesha (Krishna) stationed that excellent chariot between the two armies, in front of Bhishma and Drona and of all the kings of the earth, and, O son of Pritha (Arjuna), look at these assembled Kauravas.

There the son of Pritha (Arjuna) saw in both armies fathers and grandfathers, preceptors, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, companions, fathers-in-law, as well as friends. And seeing all those kinsmen standing there, the son of Kunti (Arjuna) was overcome by excessive pity and spoke thus despondingly.

Arjuna:

28 ½ -30. Seeing these kinsmen, o Krishna, standing here desirous to engage in battle, my limbs droop down; my mouth is quite dried up; a tremor comes on my body; and my hairs stand on end; the Gandiva (name of his bow) slips from my hand; my skin burns intensely. I am unable, too, to stand up; my body is feverish and my mind whirls round, as it were.

All these are symptoms of tremendous anguish. The kind of anguish that arises when one is faced with performing one’s duty in the sight of enormous obstacles. Arjuna knows that he and his brothers have to confront their selfish cousin Duryodhana, but his compassion and feelings of friendship and love for the assembled warriors make him weak in his resolve. It is easy to make the decision to go to war, but every sensible person hesitates when it comes to making the first move that will result in the spilling of blood.

31. O Kesava (Krishna), I see adverse omens; and I do not perceive any good to accrue after killing my kinsmen in the battle.

32. I do not wish for victory, o Krishna, or sovereignty, or pleasures. What is sovereignty to us, o Govinda (Krishna), what enjoyments, and even life?

33-34. Even those, for whose sake we desire sovereignty, enjoyments, and pleasures, are standing here for battle, abandoning life and wealth: preceptors, fathers, sons as well as grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, as also other relatives.

At this point Arjuna’s reservations come out in the form of objections about the sensibility of following through with the chosen course of action. He sees consequences that will follow his and his fellow warriors’ actions and he does not believe he can justify the fallout from this war.

35. These I do not wish to kill, though they seek to kill me, o destroyer of Madhu (Krishna), even for the sake of sovereignty over the three worlds (heaven, earth, and lower regions), how much less then for this earth alone?

36. What joy shall be ours, o Janardana (Krishna), after killing Dhritarashtra’s sons? Killing these felons we shall only incur sin.

Arjuna knows that his opponents have cheated him and his brothers out of their kingdom, but he would rather just walk away from this fight and live the rest of his life in hiding somewhere then to cause harm to his relatives.

37. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill our own kinsmen, the sons of Dhritarashtra. For how, o Madhava (Krishna), shall we be happy after killing our own relatives?

38-39. Although having their consciences corrupted by greed, they do not see the evils flowing from the extinction of a family, and the sin in treachery to friends. Still, o Janardana (Krishna), should not we, who do see the evils flowing from the extinction of a family, learn to refrain from that sin?

Arjuna is faced with the most difficult decision of his life. He has killed people in battle before, but here he faces members of his own family and clan. There are also friends and teachers on the opposing side. His heart is torn apart by the conflict either to fight for his own cause or to protect those he traditionally has had the duty to protect: the relatives, teachers and friends who are assembled against him.

40. On the extinction of a family, the eternal traditions of families are destroyed. In the collapse of traditions, lawlessness overcomes the whole family.

41. In consequence of the predominance of lawlessness, o Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt; and the women becoming corrupt, o son of Vrishni (Krishna), there arises confusion of caste.

42. That confusion necessarily leads the family and the destroyers of the family to hell; the forefathers fall, for they are deprived of the rice offerings and water offered to the dead.

Arjuna believes that Dharma, or law, is the foundation of all human interaction. Once Dharma is destroyed, all human order will disappear and absolute chaos in human affairs will prevail. (The belief was that offerings to the ancestors kept their spirits alive).

43. By these transgressions of the destroyers of families, which lead to the confusion of the orders, the eternal law of castes, and rites of families are subverted.

44. And o Janardana (Krishna), we have heard that all those whose family rites are subverted, must necessarily live in hell.

45. Alas! We are engaged in committing a heinous sin, seeing that we are making efforts for killing our own kinsmen out of greed of the pleasures of sovereignty.

Here Arjuna is beginning to feel pity for himself. He is questioning why he has to be the one to destroy Dharma and thereby cause the end of all human order.

46. If the sons of Dhritarashtra, weapon in hand, should kill me in battle, me weaponless and not defending myself, that would be better for me.

Sanjaya:

47. Having spoken thus, Arjuna cast aside his bow together with the arrows on the battle-field, and sat down in his chariot with a mind agitated by grief.

The battle that’s