Preface to Spiritual Essence of the Gita

PREFACE

   

      The Bhagavad-Gita comes as an interlude, an interjection of a piece of spiritual advice to Arjuna by Krishna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra in the course of writing the epic Mahabharata at a time when Arjuna drops his bow and arrows reluctant to fight and kill his kith and kin. It is a piece of intuitive knowledge recollected from the ancient sayings of the Bhagavan, now dictated to the Elemental God, Lord Ganapati by Maharshi Shree Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa. The central theme of Mahabharata is ‘Dharma’- equity and justice. The whole story of Mahabharata is woven intricately around the family of the Great Grand Sire Bheeshmacharya- son of Ganga. He was a learned man and had the divine vision. He dedicated his life to protect the children Pandavas and the Kauravas. He is depicted here as a victim of circumstances, fate and destiny. He remained a celibate (Brahmachari) and renounced his kingdom as per the wishes of his mother. The story starts with his birth and ends with his death praying Lord Shree Hari Narayana in Vishnu Sahasranama, called the Bheeshma Stava in Svargaarohana Parva.

       In brief, the story as depicted in the great epic Mahabharata is that Sage Vyasadeva, also called Shree Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa, has three children Pandu, Dhrutarashtra and Vidura. Dhrutarashtra was born blind. Actually, Bheeshmacharya relinquished the throne and Pandu became the King. Pandu belongs to the lineage of the Ruler of the Earth Pruthu and his descendants Emperor Sagara and Bharata of Ikshvaku dynasty who worshiped Sun-God. Pandu and Dhritarashtra shared the Kingdom and started their own separate dynasties. Pandu was by birth an afflicted person with a disease called ‘Pandu’- a skin disease. He married Madri and Kunti. Kunti had the blessings of the great Sages for the services rendered to them as a small girl and later on when married to King Pandu, she gave birth to three sons- Yudhisthira, Bheema and Arjuna’ as the blessings of the Gods and the revered Sages. Pandu’s second wife Madri also gave birth to twins- Nakula and Sahadeva, as the blessings of the celestial Physicians- the Ashvin Twins. Thus, all the five children of King Pandu, known as the Pandavas, were still young when Pandu died. King Pandu and his two wives- Kunti and Madri, had five children. Another son called ‘Karna’ (born with an ear-stud and a strong diamond chest-cover), also, was born to Kunti. She was gifted with a boon, by way of a Mantra, and the Gods would bless her with children whenever she wished. While she was still a small girl serving the revered Saints and Sages who visited the family, Kunti had great reverence to the Sages. One day, she wanted to test the efficacy of the Mantra and uttered it with reverence to Soorya Deva /Sun–God while taking bath in the river. When she got a child in her arms she was afraid and left to float in the river and rushed home. Fortunately a fisherman saw the child and took it home. Later on this character reappears in the Mahabharata. This child, later on came to be known as Karna, was brought up in the company of the Kauravas; but, still supposed to be the eldest of the Pandavas. No body had any reservations about it. In fact none of the Pandavas are the real sons of King Pandu since he incurred a curse as a result of killing a mating pair of deer; and the curse ended his life in the nuptial bed!

      Krishna comes here as the maternal uncle of the Pandavas. Krishna is the cousin of Kunti sister of Yashoda. King Nanda of Dwarka and Yashoda are the foster-parents of Krishna. Vasudeva shifted the child Krishna from the prison in Mathura to Dwarka on the advice of his wife Devaki to replace him with Yogamaya, the female child born to her sister Yashoda, soon after birth due to the fear of Kamsa. Thus, Krishna was fond of all the Pandava brothers since the beginning and he took special care of them.

     When Pandu died under mysterious circumstances, may be as a result of the curse, the young children came under the protection of their uncle Dhrutarashtra. Dhrutarashtra and his blind-folded wife Gandhari had one hundred children of whom Duryodhana was the eldest. Both the Pandavas and the Kauravas grew together and had the tutelage under the Royal Sage Guru Dronacharya. Later on, the Pandavas ruled their own Kingdom and conducted Rajasuya Yaga, a sacrificial ritual. They invited all the Kings and Krishna also attended this grand ceremony and blessed them all well. But the pomp and glory of the Pandavas became the eye-sore, cause of all the trouble. Duryodhana was jealous of the Pandavas and contrived and won all the wealth, including Draupadi, in the gambling game of Dice. Shakuni with his mystic powers entered the Dice and helped Duryodhana to win. This he did in order to avenge the wrong decision of his father giving away his loving sister Gandhari in marriage to the blind king Dhrutarashtra. He decided to destroy the Kaurava Dynasty. This is the divine plan, too!

     Thus, Duryodhana, with the help of Shakuni, his maternal uncle, rigged the game of Dice and cheated the Pandavas of their Kingdom. He asked them to retire to forest for Twelve years and another one year remain in cognito. If found out they were to repeat the same condition. Duryodhana had altogether different plans. He had plans to eliminate them. Even he tried to kill them in the ‘House of Wax’. He thought that he could easily defeat the Pandavas in a wage of war and permanently enjoy the Kingdom all by himself. He challenged the Pandavas to fight and win back their kingdom. As per agreement, the Pandavas retired to the forests for Thirteen years, including the one year in cognito, along with their mother Kunti; and, finally returned to claim their kingdom back as per their agreement.

       Having successfully completed these thirteen years of exile, facing many obstacles and dangers instigated by the Kauravas, approached the Kauravas for their share of the kingdom. Duryodhana, however, flatly refused to part with even as much land as could be covered by the point of a needle. According to the advice of Mother Kunti and with the inspiration of Lord Krishna, her brother, the Pandavas decided upon war. They tried to establish their rightful claim on the kingdom by fighting the Kauravas in the war. In spite of Shree Krishna’s famous ‘anusandhana’, mediation, King Duryodhana denied their legitimate share of kingdom and refused to part with even five villages. Thus, there was no other way but to resolve the conflict by a war, and hence they assembled in the battlefield of Kurukshetra that came to be known as the ‘Great War of Righteousness’ / ‘Dharma Yuddha’.  As per the epic, both Duryodhana and Arjuna were sent to Dwaraka to seek the help of the Yadava hero, Lord Krishna, in the battle. They found Krishna resting on a couch in His palace. Duryodhana went in with his ego and pride occupied a seat at the head of the couch, while Arjuna humbly and respectfully stood near the feet of the Lord. The moment Krishna opened His eyes, He naturally saw Arjuna first, and then Duryodhana sitting near head, later. After the formalities of kushala ubhayopari / enquiry of their welfare and the purpose of their visit, as per the prevailing custom, Krishna offered the first choice to Arjuna (because of his age, and also because of His sighting Arjuna first) the choice of selecting either Him- the unarmed, or His powerful army- the Narayani Sena. Arjuna requested Krishna to be his Charioteer and Duryodhana chose the Army- Narayani Sena, hoping that he would be invincible with it.

     It is interesting here to know that Arjuna, who was a devotee of Sri Krishna, as also his Brother-in-law, expressed his desire to have the Lord with him, rejecting the powerful Narayani Sena, even though Krishna had warned that He would not participate in the war and would simply remain a witness since He was bound by the vow of not participating in battle and not taking up arms. Duryodhana, with great delight (thinking that Arjuna was foolish rejecting the army) expressed his wish to have the powerful army on his side in the battle.

    The entire story of Mahabharata is a maze of events inter-woven in a voluminous book ofover a Hundred Thousand Verses in Eighteen-Cantos:1. Adi, 2. Sabhaa, 3.  Vana, 4. Virata, 5.  Udyoga, 6. Bheeshma, 7. Drona, 8. Karma, 9. Shalya, 10. Sauptika, 11. Stree, 12. Shanti, 13. Anushasana, 14. Ashvamedhika, 15. Aashramavasika, 16. Mausala, 17. Mahaprasthanika, and, 18. Swargarohana.

     It requires a bit of wild imagination and extraordinary literary skill and spiritual strength, historical, and philosophical knowledge, and divine grace, too, to weave a story, or write at length (what Veda Vyasa dictated to Ganapati!) such a voluminous epic keeping track of all the happenings in the royal family of the Grand Sire Gangeya- the nonagenarian celibate Bheeshmacharya, son of Ganga.  If one wants to know more about the details of Shree Krishna, the relevant literature is provided by the same author Veda Vyasa in Shreemad Bhagavatam. There are other works like Raghuvamsa, Krishnavataara, and the Shree Krishna Charitaamruta or Leelaamruta, Harivamsa, etc. that give a detailed account of the incarnation of the Lord. And, the story behind all that is another story! Since the entire Bhagavad-Gita is the philosophy of life, it is necessary to have the background knowledge of the life and work of the Aryans and it takes us to Ancient Indian History, Vedic Culture, and Philosophy. Further, it becomes more complicated when it comes to the literal meaning of the philosophical terms used here, for they convey something much deeper than what it seems to be at the surface. The concept of God, Bhagavan is beautifully explained here in Shreemad Bhagavatam. Unless a person is deeply spiritual (not just religious) it is impossible to get a proper grasp of this subject. The mind and the senses have to be kept closed and it is mere meditation /dhyan, contemplation and Samadhi or transcendent state of Consciousness getting beyond three realms of earth, sky and heavens / ‘Bhurbhuvahsvah’, into the ‘Mahat”, as also, rising from the energy plexus of Mooladhaara, Svaadhishthaana and Manipura, high into the Anahata chakra/ plexus of energy level; rather, when one drops himself from the states of awareness such as jagrata, svapna, sushupti and the transcends deeper and higher, he attains the Turiya and Turiyaateeta / Samadhi state of Consciousness that helps in understanding the Parabhrahman called ‘tat’ / ‘THAT or IT. The entire concept is deeply adhyatmic exercise beyond theoretical knowledge. A micron of dust of practical exercise here is better than a ton of knowledge of the Veda, Upanishads, and the Bhrahma Sutra. It is something beyond this objective world and has nothing to do with the earthly existence at all; nonetheless, it helps to acquire name, fame, wealth and all that, besides it assures liberation at the end of fulfillment.

       The Vedic and the Upanishad doctrines explained in the Bhagavad-Gita require the background knowledge of not only the ancient scriptures, but  a bit of knowledge of modern science, especially that of advanced physics, quantum mechanics, as also, biology especially, cell biology, neuroscience, advanced psychology, genetic engineering and the DNA - RNA studies, as well. It calls for the knowledge of the language of the Veda (Jharbhari) that is much difficult than the one we find in Bhagavad-Gita- the Samskruta (Sanskrit) language. Mere know how of the language will not help to convey the meaning of words unless one knows about all its etymology, phonetics, grammar, nirukta, tarka, etc. Otherwise, it simply becomes a tell-tale and the whole purpose of the scripture is defeated. In fact, there is a separate Text called ‘Nirukta’ that can be referred to in case of doubt.

       Thus, it is very difficult to understand the meaning of what is spoken by the Lord, here.  Every intellectual person, spiritually trained person or sadhaka, tries his hand first on writing a commentary (Bhashya) on the Bhagavad-Gita. It is the ultimate test for spiritual attainment, perfection, and fulfillment of life on this Planet. We find almost 176,000 titles of Bhagavad-Gita in different languages, styles, prose and poetry forms, with elaborate details, and a number of them with limited explanation, and word by word meaning of words.

     A religious study of this scripture is prescribed for every Vaishnavite (followers of Vishnu) as a part of self-study, svadhyaaya. It is the regular practice to read a chapter or two every day in some religious families and most of the people read a few verses now and then. Although it appears that Geetopadesha begins here with the reluctance of Arjuna to fight the battle and his Charioteer Shree Krishna advising him not to run away from the ordained duty as a warrior, Kshatriya (warrior clan) of the chaturvarnashrama Dharma, it was in fact, first told by Shri Hari Narayana to Sun-God Surya Deva, who in turn told it to the first human born, Manu with whose name the Manvantara started.  Manu later told this to Ikshvaku whose dynasty still runs and among them the famous are the King Janaka, King, Dasharatha and Sree Ramachandra., Bharata and later on Bheeshmacharya, Pandu and Dhrutarashtra started their own dynasties.

    Again, Arjuna requested Shree Krishna to repeat the Hitopadesha in the presence of his brothers after the war was over. This is known as the Anu Gita. We see a devotee of Krishna, Uddhava came to see Krishna at the end of the Mahabharata War when Krishna was ready to depart from the earth; and again, Krishna repeated the fundamentals of the Gita to Uddhava as the famous the Uddhava Gita. The famous Sage Ashtavakra who is a Bhrahma Jnyaani puts it in a very simple way: “Where is bondage to one who knows that he, the soul is already free?” The doctrines of Bhagavad-Gita are literally practiced by him in letter and spirit; Ashtavakra has realized what Shree Krishna wants Arjuna to do; it is all about freedom of the soul and this has been relized by him.

    Thus, we find the famous words of Lord Krishna about the secret of Success, Happiness, Liberation, Emancipation, reverberating ever since He first spoke to the Sun-God as Gitopadesha.

Relevance of the Bhagavad-Gita Doctrines Today     

        The Bhagavad-Gita is of immense value in the present-day context of unrest and misery prevalent everywhere. It is especially important in a situation like the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bhagavad-Gita deals with the epic war of Mahabharata, the ‘War of Righteousness’, the Dharma Yuddha. Here, the Lord implores the unwilling warrior Arjuna to take up the arms and fight injustice. But why is this war the question? Although it was treated as a war between the cousins- the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the Kauravas refused to give back the Kingdom after the Pandavas returned from their exile. The underlying philosophy of this war is altogether different! One may ask the same question why is this war in Iraq? Why was that war in Afghanistan? Also, why this war in Africa- Ethiopia bombing on Somalia (to fight Islamic onslaughts?)! And, why such wars are waged? Who is fighting with whom and who are the victors and who are the vanquished? First, of all, who is the enemy? The answers to these questions are not very simple. In fact, the enemy in most of the cases is not well defined at all. If anybody declares a war, both the parties fighting the war become each other’s enemy; hence, both are enemies! Similarly, why the war is declared is not very clear in most of the cases like that of the war in Iraq. America and its allies declared war on Iraq due to the fear that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were there hidden in Iraq and it was a threat to global peace. Since the immediate enemy was not found, it was declared a war against an ‘unknown enemy’! The hunt is going on even to this day to find out this hidden enemy. Is this enemy hiding elsewhere in the Mountains of Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Elsewhere? No body knows that. Anyway, the war is almost over and the dead bodies are still coming back here in California and to other places. There are people dying in the streets of Baghdad. Sill the guns are fired and innocent lives are lost.  

     In the very first Chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna asks Arjuna not to run away from the battlefield like a coward and take up the arms and fight the injustice. In the case of USA the catastrophic strike on the World Trade centre, the tallest building in New York housing thousands of workers was hit by suicide bombers with the Jet Plane crashing into it. Any person who owns the responsibility of safeguarding the security, freedom of the Nation and its people cannot keep quiet under this sort of threat. So there was the decision to fight. But, the question here is, again, that of fighting whom? And, fighting is due to the fear of losing freedom- losing the hard-earned freedom after the Great American War of Independence. ‘Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty’. No price is too small to preserve the national security.

     It is quite natural and important to preserve and protect the freedom. Safeguarding the security of the country as a nation (of multitude of nationals) of immigrants who have come here, with great hope and aspirations to make a home away from home is important.  The United States of America is a small world by itself. No other country can boast of a civil freedom that the USA provides for its citizens due to the untiring efforts of the Presidents since Abraham Lincoln! It has struggled very hard to build a nation of immigrants in to a homogeneous, well-guarded, rich and prosperous nation, that too with equity and social justice. It is, in deed, with great sacrifice of some great Americans that such a freedom is delivered to the people in a vast country. It has managed very diligently its resources and has promoted the welfare of its people.

      One must appreciate that the problems of USA today is not only that of the US Government, but these are the problems of the entire world. USA suffering is not just the US citizens suffering, but it is the English, the Mexican, the German, the Spanish, the Korean and the Vietnamese, the Philippines. The Indians, the Chinese, Israelis, the Arabs and all those who have made their homes here that suffer. In a way, the whole world suffers if the USA suffers, for it is a Nation of immigrants. In fact, what is this country’s wealth today? ‘Dollar is God’ here and it is written on every Dollar Bill. The ‘faith’ here is the ‘faith’ of the people in a strong democracy, hard work and honesty. It is their faith in a strong Federal system of governance that can promote their welfare and protect them.

   So, it is obvious that the USA and its allies went to the war. But what is the cause of the war? It is not still known whether it is a few misguided youth who form the terrorist groups, hide and attack, and cause terror; or, simply it is some nation that holds on to dogmatic religious faith and give shelter, protect the terrorist Organizations; or, still simply, may be it is some selfish rulers who want their own aggrandizement and promotion of self-interests and amass wealth. Thus, whatever the reason, the war is inevitable. It is a war against injustice. It is a war against the unknown enemy say, greed, anger, fear and desire. It is a war against unscrupulous, demoniac and the atrocious. It is the duty of everybody to curb this tendency and restore dharma, righteousness, equity and justice.

      Mythologically and historically, too, it is the same old story when it comes to that of Kamsa- who killed all innocent children born to ward off the one (Krishna) that would kill him from the womb of his sister Devaki. Of course, this is symbolic of the ‘fear-complex’ in the mind of man who is greedy and unrighteous. It is the same story with that of the Demon King Hiranya Kashipu who tormented his own son, a young boy Prahlada, who adored the Lord of the Universe just because the latter had killed his demoniac brother Hiranyaksha. It is the same story with King Ravana of Lanka who kidnapped Sita, wife of Rama just because he was ridiculed and laughed at during the Sita Svayamvar. Ravana fell down unable to lift the hefty Bow at the contest and all those who were there including ‘the bride-would-be’ of the winner; seeing his plight Sita laughed at him. This ridicule ‘hurt of ego’ and the shame became the cause of the war of Ramayana. Finally, Rama killed the invincible Ravana in the battle. Here again, it is all about the functioning of the Mind and Ego depicted and nothing else. The characters depicted show the vagaries of mind.

   Again, it is the same old story with every war fought here since the beginning of the life on earth. Who is right and who is wrong is an eternal question in all these misadventures and only the Bhagavad-Gita will answer it. If both the victor and the vanquished were right in fighting the war, whatever the reason put forth, both are wrong, if it is to gain a small selfish end. Both the parties are right when it is to establish righteousness, put down the atrocities of the wicked, and establish order, truth and justice.

    But, the secret lies elsewhere. It is with the quality, the nature, the behavior of man. Born as a mortal, these questions of right and wrong, good and bad, joy and sorrow, happiness and unhappiness, etc. are all eternal dualities that know no solution unless one imbibes the doctrines of the Bhagavad-Gita. This secret is revealed by Krishna to all of us, in the guise of the name of Arjuna. ‘Duality’ is the quality of the Earth and its inhabitants.  All are endowed with these qualities- good and bad and one or the other takes an upper hand at times and whenever man becomes wicked and a terror, the Lord would descend to earth and assume human form (Avatars) to fight the evil. But, the evil is not outside of man but it is within man himself; that is the problem. Man has to fight with himself; he has to fight with his own Self, his Conscience, with the good and bad consequences of his own decisions! Much worse, he does not know what is right and wrong. What appears right, a momentous decision may turn out to be wrong with disastrous consequences, as well. Nobody is perfect in this respect. Any body is bound to commit mistake. But the secret of success is the larger interest that the decision covers. He has to nip the tendency of submitting to the inkling selfish desires in the bud to prevent catastrophic consequences. So, he must be aware that the Lord stands there as the Witnessing self and silently observes the fight between the Lower Self and the Higher self within Man and outside of Man.

   In all the above circumstances, two important causes of war stand out significant. One is the fear- the fear of ‘losing’- losing life, wealth, freedom, etc. And, the other is desire- the desire to promote one’s own faith, belief, greed, etc. Fear and desire are the keys. Once fear and desire are removed from the hearts of men, everything would be alright. Hence, the war is necessary to fight the evil; it is an inevitable evil. Krishna implores Arjuna to fight for justice. Ultimately, it is only truth, and “only ‘Truth’ prevails” [“Satyam eva Jayate”]. Do these imploring of Krishna apply to the leaders of the terrorist camps who use the innocent men to fight the so-called Non-Believers (of faith), as well as, the non-believers in terrorism as the suitable solution (to fight for their cause)? And do these implorings of Krishna apply to those who want to drive some sanity to those minds who advocate fundamentalism, dogmatism and fanaticism in the name of superiority of their own Religion and God? Do these apply to all those who fight an economic war- of aggression, and want to establish a sound ecological, ethnological, economic, social, and political climate, as well? 

     In a way, the recent war in Iraq in which the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD that were not found!) was the bone of contention and the United States of America and England took active role in it. As a consequence of the war there was a heated argument and uproar in political circles and the consequent public opinion forced the key partners in the War and their Governments to a rethinking and retrace their foot-steps. This forms a strong emotional background to write this small book. The question whether the war declared on an unseen enemy is right? Is the loss of life of young men in this war justified? Why should innocent women and children suffer due to this justified or unjustified War? Moreover, the incessant arrival of the dead bodies from Iraq here in California and the wailings of women and children cursing God for their fate, has also significantly contributed to the firm decision to go ahead and search for a permanent solution to these problems. In fact, these problems must be troubling all the conscientious minds ever since the war broke out.

        A brief summary of the Bhagavad-Gita given here will provide suitable solution to all our problems. It is the “Science of the Eternal”. The Teachings of Krishna” are not only Spiritual and Philosophical but rational and Scientific as well. These sayings of the Lord are the eternal Truth and hold valid for all times. It is to reiterate the Commandments of the Lord that this humble attempt is made here.

   It is in a way, the “Bhagavad-Gita Re-visited” after the Iraq War and it is the First edition of the Twenty-first Century. Who are the victors and who are the vanquished in this War? To answer this question, one has to read this version of “Secret Technique of Emancipation”, i.e., Mukti Yoga Rahasya of the Bhagavad-Gita. The very Fist Chapter gives the answer.

    . Much water has flown down the River Sacramento since the out break of the war and the wailings of both the victor and vanquished have not subsided as yet. When we see the suffering humanity with the incessant unmitigated atrocities, ruthless rulers, unscrupulous selfish leaders and their greed, the hunger and malnutrition, diseases, famines and floods, devastation brought by wars and crimes committed against humanity in the name of God, faith, religion and the wars  waged in order to establish ‘Peace(?) one wonders where are we? It is paradoxical that wars are justified on grounds of establishment of peace in the world. Earlier Wars canged Maps and later Maps changed the world. Now wars disturb peace and peace disturbs war! Some want to usher in economic development after the war, too, by giving grants, aid and creating employment. O, what a solution? There are millions of hungry children and toiling in inclement weather without schooling and millions suffereing aids, cancer, diabetes, mental and physical deformities. War cannot be solution as per any sane and sensible thinking. But war is the only solution if properly understood in the light of the Bhagavad-Gita; it is the war of the Bad vs. Good thoughts, desires, and action within man! Still, one wonders where this world is heading to and no one knows where it finally lands us!

     When the Sun shines with equity and justice on all, fire, rain and wind are kind to us, why this hunger and thirst? What ails our society? What are the solutions? Is there any way out of this rut? It is here that we come to the answer provided by Lord Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita and Grand Sire / Pitamaha Bheeshma in the Stavara Raja Vishnu Sahasranama in Anushasana Parva of Mahabharata. One is incarnation of Maha Vishnu who provides all the answers to our questions and shows us the way to ‘Fulfillment’. The other is the simplest possible way to attain to Moksha or Mukti, liberation.

    There are many versions of the Bhagavad-Gita, probably about 200 000 of them since it was first found out! Some Sages, Saints, and revered teachers have imparted this to their disciples by mere words of mouth while many others have presented this word-by-word meaning, and elaborate explanations and commentaries to the verses. And, some have strained themselves to provide literal meaning to the Verses / Shlokas and there are seven hundreds of them in eighteen Chapters / Cantos. Many Great Acharyas like Badarayana, Goudapada, Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Chaitanya, have presented beautiful versions of this ancient scripture and have written excellent commentaries. Many others including the Western scholars have presented exhaustive dissertations trying to explore the hidden meaning of the Sutras / philosophical formulae of the Upanishad Doctrines in the Bhagavad-Gita. All these efforts are commendable, praiseworthy, and need appreciation. For they show their keen interest in this Divine scripture.

      In fact, the Bhagavad-Gita is the oldest and the most widely-read of the holy Scriptures- both in the East and the West. The most significant aspect of the Bhagavad-Gita is that the reader gets a new revelation every time he goes through the Text; and he gets a different meaning with a deeper insight and greater depth of understanding! But, one has to get into the serious mode of spiritual exercise of transcendental states of existence if one wants to experience the meaning of the statements made in the Bhagavad-Gita. It is simply not possible to ordinary people to know everything about the Bhagavad-Gita in one or two lives! May be one has to take repeated births to experience the meaning of the statements made in the Bhagavad-Gita and realize for oneself the real meaning and purpose of life. Many spiritually attained persons have successfully tried to gain this insight. Some attained persons /Siddhi Purushas / Yogins or monks devoted to spiritual practices and those who deliver lectures on teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita as a part of their mission in life, have done it to some extent. But, there is, so far, none who has realized the full meaning of the last Chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita, since it is not simply possible to attain to it on earth in the physical human form, that too, in the wakeful daily routine way of life. It is certainly possible for a person who has perfected the teachings of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga Sutra.

     Some scholars like Annie Besant, Max Muller, Edwin Arnold, Weber, Schweitzer, Kinnes, Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, and many others have used the Bhagavad-Gita to highlight and convey the social and political aspects, whereas, persons like Swami Shivananda and his disciples like Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Yogananda Swami Bhrahmaananda and his disciples like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and Acharya Rajaneesh, Sree Ramana Maharshi, Jiddu Krishna Murthy, Aurobindo Gosh, and Monks of Shree Ramakrishna Mission, Chinmaya Mission, ISKCON of Sri la Prabhupada, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and many others have devoted to the spiritual and psychological aspects of the Bhagavad-Gita. Most of them rely on the Commentary of Shankaracharya / the Shankara Bhashya of the Bhagavad-Gita that highlights the Advaita Philosophy. Some of the commentaries / Bhashya particularly that of Shree Madhvacharya (of Karnataka), Ramanujacharya (of Tamil Nadu) and AC Bhakti Vedanta and Nimbaraka or Nimbaditya (West Bengal) have followed Dvaita, Shree Vaishnava and Vishishtaadvaita siddhanta /Doctrines; Chaitanya Maha Prabhu, and others have explored Bhagavata Dharma in the Gita in the light of Dwaita or the Bhedaabheda or Vishishtadvaita Philosophy and propagated in the States of West Bengal, Orissa, and Assam in India.

     Ultimately, one finds that. Shankara’s Commentary / Advaita Siddhanta seem to be very apt one that focuses attention on the Bhagavad-Gita Doctrine as presented in the Upanishads. Many others- both the Eastern and the Western thinkers’, have gone in to the depth of the philosophy of life, as they have found it apt to their knowledge and experience in life. But, none of these is ever satisfactory when we go into the central theme of attaining to Moksh, Mukti, or Self-Realization / ‘Atma Jnyaan’ or ‘Bhrahm Jnyaan’- as propounded in the Fourth Chapter and the last Chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita- the ‘Jnyana Yoga and the ‘Mukti Yoga Rahasya’, respectively. This remains an eternal science and an endless quest.

       The study of Bhagavad-Gita is not merely meant for achievements of success and happiness in worldly life, material progress, and a life of profit and pleasure of the flesh, but mukti or liberation from bondage, as well. In fact it is beyond all that. It aims at the one eternal happiness, supreme Bliss that brings in its wake an aversion to worldly life- Renunciation /‘vairagya’, and the seeker will have no more of hankerings for the leftovers, hash and trash, of the world. We find King Janaka who is a ‘Videhamukta’, relieved from bondage of the physical restraints, performs Yajnya / Action for the sake of the Adhi Devatas or Demigods and their elemental counterparts- ‘adhibhutas’. King Jayadeva says that he cannot enjoy pleasures of life, even smell attached to nose forms of sight attached to the eyes, etc. In that sense, he has conquered the Basic Principles / Moola Tatvas- of elements, such as the Agni Tatva, Jala Tatva and the Pruthvi Tatva. It is transcending the ‘bhu, bhvar and svah’ realms / ‘Vyahrutis’. It refreshes one to the core of his soul’s contentment and leaves him or her totally happy and blissful.  It is total emancipation, salvation, or mukti, at that!

      The human body that has three distinct layers- one made of the physical elements, second astral body, and the third divine soul, called the adhi-bhuta, the adhidaivika, and the adhyatmika, respectively. Of these, the first one is of pruthvi and jal tattve (21 + 78=99%). The remaining is space, air and heat (fire). There are people who have understood these principles and have developed their level of Consciousness from lower physical to agni and vayu tattva levels.  Almost all the people are at lower levels of earthly existence, devoting all their time to earning a livelihood, food, rest, and entertainment. Their spiritual quotientis very low. They find sensuous living very attractive and do not think anything outside of it. Many are higly emotional and some are very rational, to the point of excluding the concepts of higher human values, nobility, and do not know about divinity inherent in man. Some people take to study and research in modern science and technology. There are some who think they are rational and give up all customs and traditions and thereby live as an island in the mileu. They do not try to understand the Gitopadesha.

     The sayings of the Bhagavad-Gita can be interpreted appealing to each one according to one’s level of intelligence, level of Consciousness, and the level of spiritual experience, capacity to understand, previous knowledge and experience, etc. The Bhakti Marg or the Path of Devotion to Salvation is attractive to emotional type of people. Karma Yoga is believed to be very simple and easy pathway to salvation for some. Some people are not satisfied with both these ways and strive hard to know the Truth.  Ultimately, only the spiritual aspects of the Bhagavad-Gita are to be experienced within in order to get the benefit of the Lord’s sayings. An attempt is made here to present the spiritually experienced version of the Bhagavad-Gita and this experience can vary from person to person according to his spiritual attainments. It is hoped here that the readers would try to get into trance and experience the doctrines themselves; the ‘mahat tatvas’ / basic principles enunciated in the Bhagavad-Gita are elaborately described here. The ultimate joy and the Bliss lies in total emancipation, ‘freedom of the Soul’... 

SHREE KRISHNA AND ARJUNA

     In a universally appealing spiritual scripture like the Bhagavad-Gita, when we find Krishna depicted as the God-head, supreme power, that is normally understood as GOD by the humans, it may not be to the liking of all sections of society for the simple fact that each sect has its own religious faith and beliefs. Some hold the ‘messenger’ of God as real God, and some adhere to the ‘word’ of God as the real God. There are some who treat Fire as God and many treat the Sun and Moon as God. There are many religious faiths where people worship the elements, plants and animals, too, as God and there is nothing wrong in all these faiths or beliefs. Everybody has got it as a birth right to follow his / her own faith and believe in what one likes. It is the Law or Dharma that no body should disturb the faith of the other. It is like the old saying that, “The centipede was happy and going its way until one day an earthworm asked it, ‘by which leg are you moving’? The centipede got confused and fell down” 

      But, the question remains. Who is this ‘God’? The answer is very simple. Just Go On Discovering IT. IT is THAT / “tat sat’. That truth is ‘what one believes in’. ‘That’ / ‘tat’ the ‘sat’/ the ‘Truth’ is  reality, the GOD. “Om tat sat”. IT, the God, is in the heart of the believers. The Veda says, “He resides in the cavity of the heart”./ “Tadsrushtvaa tadevaanu praavishat” [Rk Veda]. Apart from the fact that Shree Krishna is depicted here as ‘Paramatman’, Bhagavan, i.e., GOD, it is also very important to note that it is said that, ‘Atman’ and the ‘Paramatman’ are one and the same! “Atmaa eva Bhrahmaa”, says the Veda. Arjuna (nara) and Krishna (Narayana) are one and the same, i.e., the latter is pure Consciousness, while the former is the Mind– both of the same individual. Actually, Mind is borne out of Consciousness. Supreme Consciousness is at the root of all creation. It is the cause of the Mind and Prana, the Jeeva. Both Mind and Prana are the manifestations of Consciousness. Of the three constituents- the physical, the mental/psychic, and the spiritual, the first two are matter known as adhibhoota and adhyatmika, respectively. The third one is the adhidaivika or spiritual aspect that exists as the Prana, the Prajnya, and the Atmaa. Everybody knows it, and yet, no body knows about it! It is the vital breath without which we cannot live and yet, we do not know IT.

    These three constituents of the human body function in a very harmonious way in a few rare individuals known as the ‘Yogins.’ In ordinary human beings, the Mind dictates the body organs and the physical body functions according to the whims and fancy of the Mind. Since the Mind is matter, it has acquired lot of pollutants in the forms of desires, resolves, actions and the fruits of action called ‘Karma’. Actually, it is this Karma that is the material cause of creation. ‘But for our desires, we would not be here on earth’. Every ‘Jeevatma’ has come here on its own accord in order to fulfill its desire to experience the quality of existence. The physical body is made of the five elements- the earth, the water, the fire, the air and the ether (space). These elements provide the physical body / ‘bhoutika shareera’/elemental body to experience the qualities of the earth. These qualities are the Rajas, the Tamas and the Satva and these are beautifully explained in the Bhagavad-Gita by Shree Krishna. The individual Jeeva is endowed with a physical body, five Jnyaanendriyas and five Karmendriyas / Sense organs. Each one of these sense organs- the eyes, the ears,  the nose, the tongue with its taste buds, and the skin,  possess extraordinary capacity to get absorbed in the objective world and convey their impressions to the Mind. Thus, the Mind is always engaged in the external world in its enjoyment. The Mind, too, is bestowed with an extraordinary potential to keep itself focused and engaged in the worldly affairs to the extent that it is kept busy away from its source, the Atman! It remains exclusively independent of the Atman to its own detriment as a slave of the world.  Once the Jeeva fully experiences life, if at all it feels satiated, and is fed up with the repeated experience of the Earth and says ‘enough of this’, it craves for liberation / mukti. It wants to enjoy real freedom; it wants to get rid of the physical entanglement and repeated births and deaths of the physical body.  Since the fruits of action / Karma bind the soul to the earth, it is extremely difficult to get rid of the shackles /sansaar bandhana.

       Lord Shree Krishna explains in a very simple way how to get rid of this Karma in a very intelligent way in Karmayoga Rahasya, here- “Yogasu karma koushalah”- To put it in a simple way, it is the “Realization of the Self” / “Atmajnyaan” that release a person from bondage. “Freedom of the Soul is real freedom, indeed!” When the physically imprisoned Soul is released permanently, it becomes one with the supreme Soul, Paramatman.

    Thus, the individual Soul (that got entangled in a mesh of physical elements /body due to desire) and the Supreme Soul (ever free) become one. The Soul is always one; it was one in the beginning and attains sayujya again. The technique or the secret of attaining to this “Bhrahma -vidya”/ Atma Jnyaan is explained in the last Chapter as “Self-Realization” / “Atma- saakshaatkaara” or the “Muktiyoga Rahasya”.  “The Atmaa /Soul is unborn, eternal and always free, unaffected by the Gunas”; it is all an illusion that it get entangled in a mesh of shackles for it is the handiwork of the mischievous Mind that is capable of anything! It is the power of illusion that we are here and that we enjoy the illusory world. Once the Mind screen disappears the illusion of cosmic drama disappears! The whole spiritual exercise is to realize this ‘Truth’. This is the summary of the entire Bhagavad-Gita.

The Absolute and the Relative

      The duo- ‘Paramatman’ and ‘Jeevatman’ who have assumed the name and form of Krishna and Arjuna, respectively, in the Dvaparayuga stand for the Absolute Abstract on the one side, and the relative and the concrete on the other. It is one spiral string of vibrant energy with two ends- one end is open, ever-expaning while the other is a single point; it is explained away as the Lagrangian String in Physics. It is the Akshara (kshara, decline or descent of pure Consciousness- Bhrahman) as stated in the Rk Veda. Krishna is the undiminishing, eternal Paramatman, or Parabhrahman, the Absolute “Being” and He has made it amply clear several times [See Verse 7 in Chapter 7, as also, Verse 11 in Ch.8]. It is made further very clear in the Second Chapter- in ‘Sankhya Yoga’ that the Purusha is Parabhraman / Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. The ‘Sankhya’ School of Philosophy (Bharateeya Darshan Shastra) depicts the knowledge of material science and Yoga, as the philosophical theory and its practical aspects, respectively. Sage Kapila is the proponent of the Sankhya School and he deduces all multifarious complex this Objective World / Prapancha into two- the Purusha and the Prakruti. The Purusha is the ‘parama tatva’, fundamental Principle that governs the universe. IT is beyond all comprehension of the mortals since it does not come within the grasp of the five senses and the Mind of Man. The Upanshads declare, that “It is THAT which cannot be reached by thoughts and words” [Taitteriya Upanishad].

     Shree Krishna is the Adi Purusha, Ananta, Achyuta, Govinda (Who gives Energy to Stars) and He alone exists in the Absolute Reality, HE is ‘Truth’ / ‘sat’ and Pure Consciousness, the Supreme Lord of the Universe. He makes it very clear that, “He alone is the ‘Truth’, and all other things in this world are a ‘myth’, illusion.” He says, “This world is Maya and I am the Mayavin.” Mmeaning, this world is illusory, a magic and I am the creator of that illusion, a magician, at that!

    It is the chitta-vritti /thought force of Shree Hari Narayana that manifests as the objective world. He is the Absolute and all other things are relative to Him. Except for Him nothing exists. He is Ekameva Adviteeyam.

    In this sense of the term, Shree Krishna alone exists and all others- Arjuna, his brothers, the Kauravas, their teacher Dronacharya, Bheeshma, and so on, are mere names and forms that have no real significance. In fact, they do not even exist in the real sense since they are already dead! Shree Krishna reveals in His Virat Svaroopa that they are already consumed, shows them as flesh and bones stinging between his teeth. He chides Arjuna, “Do you think they are all being killed by you, and you are killing them?”

 “The Soul is not amenable to the elements like water, air and fire. Fire cannot burn it and water cannot make it wet; sharp weapons cannot cut it”. “nainam chindanti shastraani, nainam dahati paavakah”

     Further, it is very clear that Shree Hari in Yoganidra on Adishesha in Ksheerasaagar felt inadequacy in his Poornaprajnya for a kshana /second / ‘nemisha or wink of eye; rather, it is what we attribute to Him who is always “Poornam”, ‘Paripoorna’, and the aberration created the waves, tremors, the Shukra Sphota /‘Big Bang’ and the consequent un-fold of this manifest material universe and objective worlds. “He assumed the form of a Bull and created a cow. The cow invited the bull hiding behind a haystack. Together they came out with a calf”, goes a story. Neither there is neither a Bull nor a Cow and the calf. Similarly, “a tiger fell on the deer and killed it”; here again, there neither a tiger nor a deer and these are simply illusory, make-believe stories. As long as there is the mind screen, these pictures go on and on, never-ending; and the moment, the screen is removed, the objective world of make-believe, illusion, disappears! It is a cosmic drama that we all witness due to the power of illusion / ‘avarana shakti of Maya’ /moudhya or avidya.

    A brief history of the Universe is also told and the secret of evolution and its progress- Srusti and Sthiti, are explained with an illustration of the ‘Ashvattha Vruksha’ This Tree is like a huge Banyan Tree, but up-side down with roots spread far and wide into the sky and the fruits with seeds of rebirth down below. It accommodates all the creatures including the Gods and Godesses. The higher or the lower levels of Consciousness and the Karma decide the level at which a particular jeeva lives and functions. It also reveals the secret that a very sharp axe of Knowledge cuts this tree into pieces and the entire thing disappears! Thus, it is Avidya / Ignorance that supports this world of creation and Para Vidya/ Higher Knowledge that dissolves it into thin air.

    Shree Krishna ad Arjuna, depicted in the Bhagavad-Gita as the two important characters are one and the same. Krishna is Consciousness and Arjuna is the human mind (that is confused and perplexed as ‘to fight’ or ‘not to fight’ here, like the character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s Drama). In the beginning, the Mind rested in its pure form with the Consciousness, as an unmanifested energy; as vibration, it gained momentum by forces of desire, resolution and action, and fruits of action / karma phala, the mind moved away from the pure Consciousness and finally as Prana it assumed a physical body (drawing materials out of the surrounding elements) giving rise to the multifarious world of objects. Thus, the entire epic woven out of the ingenious mind of Veda Vyasa depicts the Truth and beauty of Creation and there is the sum and substance of the Vedas- “Vedantasara” in it.  A mere study of these scripture would release us from bondage.

       Thus, now it is very clear that Shree Krishna ‘Paramatma’ descends to earth as an incarnation of Maha Vishnu and assumes the role of the Chariotteer to Arjuna a ‘Jeevatma’, in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. This Kuru Kshetra is the human body- a ground of conflicting ‘Gunas’ qualities of the elements derived from His ‘chitta-vritti’, the vibrations of waves and tremors of thought of inadequacy, want, desire, etc. The very moment this’ desire’ subsides, the chitta-vritti, mental modifications, thought waves are stilled and the illusory curtain, the MIND, on which the cosmic drama is unfolded disappears. This technique of stilling the Mind is explained in the Yoga Sutra and it starts with the words: “Yogaschittivritti nirodhah”. Stilling the Mind is Yoga. Here as Yogacharya Shree Krishna advices Arjuna not to be perturbed about the impending war. “The war is already over and all are dead”, He says.. “The only thing is that, you as a mortal, cannot foresee things, where as, I know everything- the past, present and the future, I have transcended time and space. You, too, can transcend your lower self by mere Yoga sadhana / spiritual exercises and perceive things as they are. Hence, I teach you Yoga.”

    This is how the question of Shree Krishna teaching Yoga to Arjuna in the Battlefield of Kurukshetra comes up.

      The Bhagavad-Gita is, thus, a “Yoga Vidya”Treatise on Yoga and Mind Control or Mind Management Technique / Manoniyantrana Tantra par excellence and the Yoga Teacher here is none else but the Paramatman Sri Hari Narayana, in the assumed name and form and function of Krishna, the Charioteer.

        From the mythological background provided by the epics- Vishnu Purana, Shreemad Bhagavatam, etc. it is learnt that this creation is a continuous process. It has neither a beginning nor an end. The same soul is reappearing in different names and forms due to its accumulation of prarabhda karma (accumulated fruits of desire and action) and sanchita karma / derived fruits of continued desires and actions. It is avidya nescience to think ‘that a person dies and another person is born’. Even the Lord who incarnates on earth as a human being is a reflection a thought wave, a vibration of the supreme Soul and it visits the earth as a jeevatma for a brief period for a designated, well ordained duty. Naranarayana of the Satya Yug have been reappearing now and then under different names and forms; Paramatma appeared in Dwapara Yuga as the two- ‘Nara’ and ‘Narayana’, in the name of Arjuna and Krishna, respectively. The only difference is that Narayana knows all about the past, present and the future while Nara (Arjuna) is covered by Avidya / Maya and has forgotten all about his past lives and does not know what is to come in the next moment. How to overcome this nescience / ‘Avidya’ / Nescience is the problem? This problem is addressed to and an answer is given here in this Text.

    The incarnate supreme Lord Shree Krishna is depicted here as the friend, philosopher, and guide of the Pandavas. For an ordinary mortal, it sounds, at first, ridiculous to preach Yoga and preaches sermons on the battle-front! As one wades through the background literature, it is very clear that Shree Krishna traces the despondence and hesitation to fight arises from his Moudhya / ignorance, and uncontrolled wanderings of his mind at the time he was expected to do his duty regardless of the consequences, that too in the presence of his well-wisher and guide who is none else but Parmatman incarnate! Right as he entered the central place between the two armies, he drops his bow Gandheeva and shows his weakness and talks of futility of this war with his revered teacher Bheeshmacharya, the Commander-in-Chief of the Kourava army, the other elders and friends. He talks in such a very intelligent way all about the pros and cons of war that makes Krishna chide him thus: “Arjuna, when comes this avidya to you?” Then follows the entire treatise on ‘Knowledge of the ‘Self’’ / ‘Atmajnyan’.

   Thus, the most intriguing part of the story is the dilemma Arjuna is facing in the battlefield. In fact any sensible man in his position would talk in the same way as Arjuna. The advocates of war are considered the enemies of peace. War is a heinous crime on society and a curse to mankind. It destroys not only lives and property, but creates poverty and misery. These days are fought on flimsy grounds of personal faith and belief in religion and some are at war on unknown enemies! Here, in this epic war of Mahabharata, Arjuna is right in the sense that it is not even a war between two States or bitter enemies; but it is an internal wrangle amongst family members, a dispute about share of property, sharing of kingdom amongst cousins. “It is not worth a fight of war of total destruction, if it comes to that and an amicable settlement among the pals who shared their life in the same school / Gurukula with their common teacher Acharya Drona will do. But, Duryodhana is not willing! So, let him enjoy the wealth and I am happy and contented with what little God has given me,” says Arjuna. So it is obvious that Arjuna does not want this war for the sake of kingdom. Then, what for is he in the battle field? And, what is the advice given by Krishna to Arjuna?

   As already stated, the Bhagavad-Gita comes as an interlude in Mahabharata to enlighten Arjuna as to the Reality of Existence. Krishna tries to remind Arjuna of his ordained duty as a warrior standing in the midst of the two armies in the Battlefield of Hastinapura. It is an advice to Arjuna to finish his job, once begun and not to run away from the responsibilities entruste to him. The ensuing war is now the only means of resolving a family ‘conflict’. It may seem, at the outset, a conflict between the cousins- Pandavas and the Kouravas, in regard to sharing of the Kingdom that is presently in the hands of the arrogant, spoiled brat Duryodhana, son of the blind King Dhrutarashtra. But the conflict is much deep-seated. It is an inner conflict with in the mind of Arjuna. Arjuna is a hero well known for his archery and has got many ammunitions (arrows) given by Gods. He is Gandheeva and the Invincible. Still, he hesitates to fight the battle and use the arms against his kith and kin. Actually, it is not a question of kith and kin. But, the malady is much deeper- one of righteousness, justice. It is the ordained duty of all jivas to uphold ‘dharma’. Dharma protects all those who abide by it. Dharmo rakshati rakshitah | Transgression of dharma leads to untold misery to mankind and total destruction.

      Bhagavad-Gita addresses the question of ‘conflict’ that arise in this mundane world due to misunderstandings. It aims at resolving the conflicts. The causes of conflicts are many. Conflicts arise in the mind of the person as a result of his likes and dislikes, attachment / moha, raga, jealous/dvesha, anger / krodha,. Had there been no dualities like this, there would be no conflicts. The war was inevitable, indispensable. As we know, despite the efforts of Krishna, Duryodhana refused to part with even five villages. Since it was not possible to mend him, it was decided to end him, and, all the’ bad’ in his name. It is better to resolve a conflict by mutual understanding. But, when there is no proper understanding, good will, love left for the cousins, it leads to ill-will, strife, and war.

    In fact, the conflict is not with Duryodhana, as it appears to be! It is in the mind of Arjuna. It is his indecision, hesitation to use arms, as a result of an inner conflict within the person. When a person is not consciously aware of his Self, rather when a person is not functioning with his body, mind and soul in unison, conflicts arise within. It is conflict between the body and the mind, and a conflict between the mind and the Consciousness. When a person is in conflict with the other, it is personal conflict presumed to be the result of irreconcilable problems; it is obvious that one refers this to a third person, a witness, who is above all these inner conflicts and capable of resolving it. That maha purusha must be a God, Bhagavan only (Krishna). Only God can resolve human problems since it is He who has created the humans with all these inner conflicting system of manas, buddhi, ahankara, traigunya vishaya, etc.. Only God knows how to resolve human problems. Thus, Krishna says,

   “The inner conflicts of man leave him confused.  The mind is fickle and does not know what is right or wrong. It has strong likes and dislikes and it changes abruptly and frequently from point to point without interval of time. Now it says it is right and suddenly feels it is wrong and, changes its position leading to confusion. The thoughts are in conflict with the feelings. The feelings are in conflict with knowledge. Emotions and logic do not agree. The mind does neither accept nor reject on one ground or the other. Under this circumstance, total rejection might solve the problem; but total rejection requires altogether a different set of frame of mind- reasoning, determination that is not forthcoming now.  Even with total rejection, the problem remains! Grief overtakes reasoning and duty consciousness. The firm resolve that would come with a calm and well-disposed mind is not forthcoming now since the mind is in turmoil. ‘Flee‘, or ‘fight’ is the alternative and, Arjuna selects to flee. Fleeing cannot solve the conflict. One cannot solve the problem by fleeing; the conflict remains. One has to face the problem squarely, face to face. No problem can be solved by escaping from it. So, Krishna advises him to fight.

War as a Remedy to Resolve Conflicts

      To remind the readers about the cause of the war again, Krishna was not in favor of the war in the beginning and tried His to resolve the conflict by persuading the Kauravas to part with at least five villages. He even revealed His Real Form in the Sabha where all the Kauravas were present and as well He could have destroyed them then and there. But He allowed the Destiny to Rule its course. It is here, the Principle is made very clear: “God will not interfere in the affairs of man”. But, the Kauravas did not budge; they refused to share the Kingdom. He went to the extent of offering His army and Himself at the disposal of both the parties. He decided to be the charioteer of his disciple, friend, nephew Arjuna, only when Duryodhana selected His army instead Him. Otherwise, He, the Lord, would not participate in this war at all. He had made it very clear to Arjuna that He would not use His arms against anybody.

      Now, coming back to the inner conflicts of man, which the Bhagavad-Gita elaborately deals with, Arjuna was in dilemma due to an inner conflict raging within him. Even behind this internal individual conflict, there is another conflict between man and nature. This third one is the most difficult one since it involves a higher power. This conflict with nature cannot be resolved for ever and there is no alternative but to surrender to the higher force.

    Thus, there are conflicts within conflicts surmounting making it impossible for any human being to resolve the internal conflicts. There are limitations. The bodily limitations, the mental limitations and the intellectual limitations are there as a result of disharmonious function of body, mind and soul; lack of harmonious functioning of body, mind and soul is very common since no body knows about the need for learning about this aspect of life. Generally we lack this understanding since it is a highly specialized subject treated as an exclusive one limited to a highly learned class. Even otherwise it is a difficult subject since it involves the ‘Soul’ / ‘Atma’, about which we know nothing at all. Only a spiritually trained person can stay connected, tuned to the super power like nature when we obey the super power, obey the natural law, respect the cosmic power, we can resolve conflicts and prevent war. Ordinarily, we are engaged in a war with God and we lose.   

     These relationships between the Body, the Mind and the Soul are made very clear in the following.

      “The individual is essentially cosmic because the physiological expressions of the individual and the cosmos are both the expressions of ‘Truth’ / the Veda and the Veda and the other Vedic Literature (numbering about 39) given in Appendix I are, rather, the holistic and the specific values of Natural Law.

   “Atma Chetana has the vitality to maintain the physiology and environment relationship in a proper order, in a healthy way. Atma is Self-referral and all-knowing ‘Unity’ in its pure state, pure Consciousness. It is the most basic element and the physical body is its expression.

    The Laws of Nature express themselves in the structure and function of human physiology (Body), human behavior (Mund and Moods) and human relationships (Environment) with the Soul /Atma (inner content of life) and the cosmic content of life. Being harmoniously united in body, mind and soul is to be connected- the individual consciousness connected with the supreme cosmic Consciousness (God). “Gahanaa karmano gatih” says Krishna [the Bhagavad-Gita Ch. IV, verse 17]

   How does Karma decide life is a secret. “Karmaanusaarena Buddhih”. Our actions are performed by the direction of the Intellect /Buddhi and this Buddhih is controlled by Karma. Karma is controlled by the Lord since He can redeem us from it anytime, by divine grace, if He wills. The dualities faced by Arjuna / Partha, Pruthu’s son- a mortal, a Parthiva (elemental man) born on earth destined to die and discard his body, cannot understand the delicate balance that exists between man and nature. It is extremely difficult for an ordinary man to do a balancing act without the Lord’s Grace. So time and again, Krishna asks Arjuna to understand the delicate relationship between body, mind and soul and teaches him the secret of Yoga, / ‘Yogarahasya’.

      It is because of the original sin that ‘fall of man from grace of God’ has happened. It is due to the neglect of Soul, the fall of Soul from its divine state- the universal, the cosmic status that it has to suffer on earth bearing a elemental physical body subject to deterioration, death and decay. The physical being has to suffer all the misery, trivial problems of life and conflicts, sickness, old age and death. Unless one reconciles with Nature, there will be problems and conflicts. Thus, the cause of the apparent conflict is the unseen conflict within man himself- between the soul and the Super Soul, between the individual consciousness and the supreme Consciousness.

The solution lies in getting connected to, and staying connected with the Lord. Being one with the Supreme ‘Being’ is“Unity Consciousness” / ‘Bhrahm Saayujya’.  Hence, Shree Krishna repeatedly asks Arjuna to “Look at Me, Look to Me for solutions, Surrender to Me”and he proceeds to teach him the Yogopanishad.     Here, Krishna speaks as God. Although in human form, name and function He is constantly aware of His Supreme Self. He is not a human being here, and no human being can solve another human being’s problems. Because both are human beings, there are limitations and solution is not within their means.

   In Chapter XI, we are face to face with the Lord. This Chapter reveals the secrets of resolving conflicts, the inner conflicts of man. There are methods of applying techniques to problems, specific contexts of life and cut the roots of the problems.  Since the mind is the source of all problems, kill the mind, mano nasha, practicing “laya yoga”.  Krishna says, “Be aware of your Self. The highest Reality is ‘Om’- the Imperishable A-kshara, i.e. Collapse ‘A’ the Paramaatman into ‘k’, the kana, atom, or cell, the Jeevaatma. It is ‘Ekaakshara Bhrahman’, Paramatman- the Imperishable Absolute. It is Adhiyajnya from the beginning from the stand point of creation and Adhibhuta from the point of external universe as an objective world and Adhyatma, individual who experiences the Superintending Deity.

      The movement of the cosmic cycle Narayana, the impulse to action His Will and Thought force leading to Sankalpa / resolve “ekoham bahusyami” and the internal urge to creativity / kriyashakti/ creative energy is ‘karma’, and ‘karma vairagya’, at its best. No body can escape action /karma and no one can ignore the secret of existence. This is the gist of Bhagavad-Gita. 

KUNTI AND DRAUPADI      

     These two female characters in Mahabhrata who are associated with the Pandavas, particularly the latter with Arjuna the main character of the Bhagavad-Gita are of some significance here. Kunti, the sister of Vasudeva, the divine father of Lord Krishna, is the mother of Arjuna, whereas Draupadi   symbolizing the five Vedas (including the Mahabharta) is the wife of the Pandavas. Draupadi married Arjuna after he won her in the Svayamvara arranged by King Drupada for finding a suitable husband for his daughter. The entire story of Mahabaharta is based on the concept of ‘ego’. Arjuna won her hand when he successfully shot an arrow into the pupil of the eye of a fish that refleted in a plate of oil. Duryodhana, too, contested the match but failed; his ego was hurt when Draupadi laughed loud when he failed to hit the bull’s eye and he decided to avenge this ridicule. In fact, Draupadi had an eye on Karna, the eldest of the Pandavas; but Karna, too, narrowly missed the target since a thought of his parentage and its consequences occurred in his mind at that very moment.  When Arjuna came home and announced that he won a prize in the context to his mother Kunti, she not knowing what the prize was, simply said, ‘share it with your brothers’. Having great regard and respect for his Mother, he always obeyed her, and thus, agreed to share Draupadi with his brothers. Later, Darupadi remained loyal to him for she had selected him as her husband in the context. Draupadi is quoted for her single minded devotion to Lord Krishna throughout the epic Mahabharata. She is one of the five virgins among the famous Ahalya, Tara, Mandodari, Sita, despite their married status. They are the celestial nypmphs. This is an indication that these are heavenly characters that are depicted in human form on earth for a specific purpose; it is to drive home the fact that purity of mind and soul are more important than the physical form. Consciousness that pervades the universe is the only ‘Truth’ and its vibration creates these characters (Minds) with different qualities. Thus, the ever fleeting mind is the cause of the world of objects and characters.  No physical body and its sexcapades are attributed to these characters here.

     Kunti is the respected mother of Karna, Yudhistira, Bheema and Arjuna. The other two- Nakula and Sahadeva are the sons of Madri, the second wife of King Pandu. Kunti’s sons are born out of the celestial blessings from the utterances of the Mantra and thus, not actually sons of King Pandu. Thus, all these characters are of divine origin. In our avidya, we are prone to attribute our human values of deteriorated nature to all these characters. In fact, the entire epic is a blend of mystic and earthly and celestial characters and needs careful attention. To read too much into these characters in human angle will lead to confusion. This is where Prajnya or awareness comes into attention.                                            

‘Prajnyaa’ / Consciousness      

    The Bhagavad-Gita is all about Consciousness. It is the guiding principle here. The Grand Sire Bheeshmacharya is an embodiment of Consciousness. He is the son of the River Ganga and thus, called ‘Gangeya’. His father Shantanu had a desire to marry the celestial nymph Ganga, flowing as a River, symbolizing the eternal flow of Consciousness. The offsprings of the Ganga, the Consciousness, are eight of which the last is Bheeshma; the earlier seven are: the basic consciousness called Muladhara Prajnya (Sansk.) followed by the Svadhishtana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajnyaa, and the Sahasraara. These are the seven plexus or centres of concealed Consciousness within us. The normal worldly awareness is Consciousness, represented by Bheeshma who remained a celibate, Brahmachari, as per his promise to his mother in order to bequeath the kingdom to his nephew Pandu and Dhrutarashtra, later usurped by Duryodhana. This caused the famous Mahabharata War of Righteousness (dharma yuddha).

The Bhagavad-Gita as Yoga Shastra

     As Yoga Shastra, the Bhagavad-Gita teaches us to be aware of our Self and try to raise the level of our Consciousness. As long as we are working at our Lower Self, living in a state of confusion, ignorance, dualities, and avidya, we are prone to think about good and bad, right and wrong, heaven and hell, and the like. It is the blemish of our soul that comes with our desire, resolve or Sankalp, and action that ultimately bears the fruits, that binds us to the dualities of this earthly life. Shree Krishna, as Lord incarnate, who has assumed the task of guiding Arjuna through the battlefield of Kurukshetra (the world of dualities), is Pure Consciousness. He is aware of the nature of Arjuna’s dilemma and tells him not to bother about the consequences of his action and do his ordained duty and leave the rest to Him. But, Arjuna cannot understand Him; this, despite the fact that He has already revealed His identity as Parmatma to him several times in the past. Actually, all those who had gathered in the Hall of Infamous Game of Dice have seen Him as the Lord of the Universe and have virtually seen how He saved Droupadi from disgrace when Duryodhana ordered his brothers to disrobe her. So, it is open to question whether Arjuna is really conscious of his Self- conscious of his ordained duties as a Kshatriya to fight the war.    

     In the epic war of Mahabharat, Shree Krishna takes to the task of guiding the Pandavas, and He chooses to be the Charioteer to Arjuna. The Charioteer is pure Consciousness, the ‘guiding force’ and the chariot is the physical body. The five horses that drive the chariot represent the Senses and the reins constitute the Mind. The Lord who sits incognito as the confused Arjuna, here, is the simple story of life. As long as the senses are on errand of the misguided mind, the body suffers! Once, the Consciousness sheds its light and the discriminative Intellect takes the reins of the blind-folded horses and the confused Mind, the mind that was reluctant to attend to its ordained duties, comes to its senses. The Charioteer is in full control of the situation.  “Yoginaam Brahmaa bhavati saarathi” is the doctrine here. For a sensible person, a conscientious person / Prajnyaavan, the Lord Himself takes ‘control of the chariot’ of life. Shree Krishna stands for supreme Consciousness / ‘Mahat Prajnyaa’ and Arjuna stands for individual Consciousness Both individual Consciousness and supreme Consciousness are same but for their magnitude. One is a vast ocean and a miniscule particle of it. It is like the ocean and its waves, or the water and its bubbles, for that matter. The miniscule of the drop of water is of the same nature but for its vastness and depth.

    Now, the most important thing to remember in Bhagavad-Gita is to know the Divine plan. The central theme is to reveal the secrets of success and happiness. The tenets of the scriptures are woven into the Text of Bhagavad-Gita and the entire Veda is rewritten here. There are many revelations here. In Kathopanishad, Yama, the God of Death, reveals the secret of death to Nachiketas. He says, ‘that the human form is the most ideal one to attain to higher and higher levels of existence’. Man is born an ‘animal’ and is promoted to higher levels of the ‘human’ and the ‘divine’ with the process of purification of the soul. It is one of constant progressive evolution. One has to realize this divine plan and strive for purification. Purification of the body, mind and soul is the process and means to attain moksha / mukti / liberation. It is emancipation when the human soul is totally purified. Pure soul is pure Consciousness and pure Consciousness is Parabhrahman, the supreme Lord of the Universe. Hence Bhagavad-Gita holds the key to emancipation in its ‘Muktiyoga Rahasya’. Mukti or liberation of the soul from cycle of rebirths comes from Atmajnyan.                                      

     At the outset, it must be made very clear here that the Bhagavad-Gita is an extraordinary intuitional advice to Arjuna that reveals the secret of creation, the origin of the universe and evolution of Man and the very purpose of his existence here. This ‘Eternal Science of the Spirit’ transcends time and space. It is complete Knowledge- the Veda Samhita, ‘Para Vidya’, the ‘Knowledge Supreme’.* 

       No human being on this Planet Earth can ever fully understand and translate these secret words spoken by the Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, near Delhi, India. It is attempting the impossible; it is describing ‘Brahmavidya’- the knowledge of Parabrahman- explaining the Infinite by the finite, the Abstract Absolute in the concrete relative, here. Anyway, it is with, by His divine Grace and Will, and prodding that this effort comes here as a mere contemplation, dhyan (Meditation), a prayer to Lord. And, the effort is worth a trial, in the purification of the mind and heart. Our ego, the in-built mechanism of our system, is the main obstacle in knowing Him. Further, we cannot understand his thoughts, words or action, for all these are beyond our ability to grasp. Further, it requires a child-like simplicity and innocence to know Him; and, all our knowledge, Intellect, understanding, mind and senses, language and expression are of no use here. They are an obstacle in the pursuit of ‘Truth’. When we drop everything, including our sense of existence in human form on earth, and delve into His realm by sheer dhyan, that He will reveal the Truth, as also, His supreme Self, that too, in a transcendental state of supreme Consciousness! In this state of our non-individual consciousness, merged in Him in trance, everything becomes crystal clear. This is the state of ‘fulfillment’ one attains from the study of the Bhagavad-Gita.

    In spiritual aspects like this, the intuitional knowledge, the language, or the word and its meaning, or the expression, by itself, act as an obstacle to experience the divine! Only divine thought prevails; the divine language is also absent. So we pray in silence:

       “Let the Supreme Lord, who is adored by all Gods and Goddesses, bestow on us the humility, innocence, and the ability to surrender our self and understand Him, perceive Him, and hear Him in His divine sweetness.” The Bhagavad-Gita is the Divine Song, the gospel of Truth, the Lord. It is the ‘Science of the Eternal’, ‘the Spirit of the Soul’.      

      “I am the only one who exist and all other existence are illusory; nothing exists besides Me. I am the Eternal (ananta), Unborn (aja), and omnipresent (sarvamtaryami), and ever free  . Know Me as thyself.” “Tvam tat asi” meaning, “Thou art That”- realize this supreme Truth, says Lord Shree Krishna. The Bhagavad-Gita enunciates this supreme Principle.

     The term Krishna means, ‘that Anand /joy and happiness which never diminish’; here, ‘krish’ means reduce and ‘na’ means ‘Anand’ /Bliss that never get reduced. It is supreme Bliss, “mahat Ananda”. It is supreme Consciousness, or ‘Parabhrahman’. Krishna is called ‘Bhagavan’/ ‘Praramatman’ throughout the Bhagavad-Gita. Bhaga stands for the qualities of divine gloy, fame, virtue, beauty, detachment, liberation, etc. He is the Higher Self in the eternal possession of qualities of omniscience. He is love, compassion, and piety. He assures of His divine grace and protection to all like the Sun who shines everywhere and makes no differentiation whatsoever!

  He implores:

 “Sarva dharma parityajya, maameva sharanam vraja”

    Meaning, “Throw away all your wares and come to me, I shall protect you”. Further, He adds:

       paritraanaaya sadunaam vinaashaaya ca dushkrutaam|

       dharmasansthaapanaarthhaya sambhavaami yuge yuge||

Meaning that, ‘He will take repeated birth on earth to protect the pious and the righteous.’ We carry a lot of burden of our own making and find it impossible to move. More often, we do not even realize the fact that, ‘the wares we are carrying are merely the trash that has been with us since many previous lives’ and, surprisingly, ‘it has not been possible for us to drop them’!

    Another problem is that most of us do not even believe in the idea of a rebirth, let alone previous births! In spite of the assurance of the Lord, we worry a lot about this fleeting world of trash and flimsy goings-on, the people around us- of all sorts of minds and moods, etc. For want of faith in Him, the Lord Almighty, we fight among ourselves and foolishly try to defend ourselves, our faith, our belief in the mortal, our strength and prowess, and our skill and technology, our achievements and what not?

      Albert Einstein remarked that, “Having read the Bhagavad-Gita, I find that all other knowledge sounds superfluous”, rather redundant.

     This Gospel of Truth- “The Bhagavad-Gita” is the intuitional sayings heard as sublime soundless soundwaves, ‘anahata dhvani’, literally emanating from Pure Consciousness / the Mahat Prajnyaa, the sweet breath of the Lord! It is the ‘Ancient Wisdom’ of much higher status than the Veda and the Upanishads, or the Bhrahma Sutra; unlike the latter, that is much restricted to a few privileged class- the learned section of Brahmins, the Bhagavad-Gita is more popular, and widely known all over the world. It has been translated into German, Russian, French, English and many other Languages. The Vaishnavites have special regard for the scripture since the Golden Age and attach sanctity as the Lord’s anugraha, Blessings. Many others treat it in high esteem, as the prasthanathrayee, dearest as the Veda, the Upanishads, and the Bhrahma Sootras- the ‘Three-in-one’.

       In fact, the words of the Veda are attributed to the skill of the Creator Chaturmukha Bhrahma. And his son, the learned Sage Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa, an incarnation of Krishna, or Vishnu is believed to be the author of almost all the known ancient scriptures, like the Epics and Puranas. There are eighteen epics / Puranas of which the Mahabharata is the magnum opus.  

     It is a voluminous literature consisting of almost a hundred thousand verses in Twenty-eight Cantos (Volumes) cited in the Appendix. It depicts the times and life and work of people of the by-gone days, Dvapara yug (‘dva’-‘para’ meaning the significant other Age!). Many historians are of the opinion that the epic war was fought for Eighteen days at the plains of Kurukshetra near Delhi and about Four hundred thousand soldiers (Eight Akshohinis) were involved in the battle. But, the Bhagavad-Gita does not discuss the details of technicalities of warfare and, it is altogether a different kind of spiritual scripture that appears as an appendage in the main Text. It has many verses that are juxtaposed, and unconnected! For instance, the Bhagavad-Gita as the Spiritual science is an eternal secret and it is not to be revealed to all and sundry, especially to those who are perverted Non-believers. There are some who even hate the very idea of God and God-head and it is sternly warned here that this scripture should not be revealed to them. But it is essential to educate them and provide them an opportunity to change their attitude in order to make their life fruitful, and this earth a better place to live. The Non-believers are a threat to peace!

     This Bhagavad-Gita as a part of the epic Mahabharata is put in the words of Sanjaya, explaining the incidents on the battlefield to the blind King Dhritarashtra as a running commentary. In fact, Sage Veda Vyasa offered to give sight to the blind Dritarashtra if he wishes to actually see the state of affairs in the battle field; but, the latter refused to see it and would be rest content to hear the on-goings through his able Confidant Sanjaya. So, Sanjaya was given the intuitional eye and extra-sensorial ability to know the minds, thoughts, resolves, words and deeds of the persons in and out of the battlefield. He could see with this divine intuition everything, and thus, narrated at great length what all transpired and happened, word-by-word. Further, it is again surprising that Bhagavad-Gita is an interesting episode that comes as an interlude in the War, carrying with it the Sankya and Yoga aspects of the philosophy, aiming at fulfillment and ‘Self-Realization’ by different methods of yoga- performing one’s duty with sincere self-less action (Karma), devotion to Lord (Bhakti), higher knowledge of existence (Jnyana), and total renunciation (vairagya or nirasakti) for the sake of liberation of the embodiedsoul. It is here that the Lord speaks of redeeming a person from the bondage, cycle of repeated births and deaths, on this earth. He explains how the soul or Jeeva gets embodied and embroiled in physical elements and suffers in an illusory world, running after insatiative objective world of hunger, thirst, profit and pleasure. He reveals the secret of ‘Fulfillment’ that lies in realizing and not simply knowing the Truth, Reality of existence. The Bhagavad-Gita is the ‘Vedanta Sara’- the sum and substance of supreme Knowledge. It is the spoken words of the Lord that

has been told to various disciples- not once or twice, but several times, to different persons at different times! Every time the earth was resurrected from the collapse of dharma and the consequent deluge, Shree Hari Narayana has appeared in one form or the other and has rescued it. Sreemad Bhagavatam is the last of the eighteen epics in which the details of creation and all the interesting episodes since its appearance has been described in minute detail. Here the various reincarnations of the Lord are explained. [See Appendix for details]. One such re-incarnation is that of Sage Narada, who narrated the same ‘Mukti Yoga Rahasya’ as ‘Vedanta Sara’ to Sage Veda Vyasa and, again this was retold to many others like, Suka Muni (son of Sage Veda Vyasa), King Parikshita, Vaivasvanta Manu, and Shree Madhvacharya also has written a commentary on it. Shree Madhvacharya is a Vaishnavite who virtually held Shree Krishna in his hands and carried Him through the streets of Udupi singing and dancing in praise of the Lord Krishna who came to him in the ship from Dwarka in the form of a statue! Shree Madhvacharya lived in Udupi during the Twelfth Century A.D. and promoted ‘Dvaita Siddhanta’ and he insists that Lord is Supreme and none can ever attain to that status of extraordinary Divinity in human form i.e., Brahma Sayujya. This aspect is still debated in the philosophers’ circle. But, practically speaking, all paths lead to Him as He Himself has made it very clear.

      The very fact that the Bhagavad-Gita, or the entire voluminous Mahabharata epic, for that matter, was not at all written by the Sage, but it was dictated to the God of Impediments, Ganadhipati, also called Lord Vighneshwara* who wrote with one of his tusks! Further, it should be remembered that Ganapati is the virtual son of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Parvati made Him with a lump of clay! Hence, it is all mysterious how a great work of this sort ever came into the hands of the Vedic people. It is their spiritual pursuit and yajnic or sacrificial rituals that gave them supreme intuitional or divine knowledge and creative power that we have these scriptures as Shrutis and Smrutis.

       Thus, for all practical purposes, Bhagavad-Gita may be considered a mysterious nature and of extraordinary sanctity- unspoken and unwritten work ever existed!

       The secret of creation, ‘Srishti Rahasya’** was first revealed to the Sun God by the Lord Sri Hari Narayana. It is Shree Hari Narayana as Govinda who gives the energy, light and creative power to the Sun

God created by Him. The Sun-God told this secret to Sumanvanta Manu, the first ever born human; and Manu told this to King Ikshvaku. The King Pandu of Hastinapura is the direct descendent of King Bharata of Ikshvaku dynasty. In another instance, Lord Vishna told this to the Creator-designate Bhrahma whom He nominated to carryout the work of creation and revealed the secret when the latter requested Him.

     There are geomorphologic evidences to prove the changing face of the earth over the Millennia and the Mountains, plains, and Lakes stand where none existed. There were six convulsions and belching of extraordinary magnitude accompanied by terrific explosions, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and incessant torrential down pours that caused total devastation. There are some records of one or two such catastrophic events recorded in the fossil history of recent millennia, too. Anyway, these are depicted as the ‘Pralaya’ at the end of each human history as also, in the history of the earth- just similar to the deluge that washed away the earth as told in Shreemad Bhagavatam. And, every time there was a deluge the supreme Lord came as incarnation restore the earth to its previous pristine glory and furtherance of creation; may it be in the form of a leaf of the Banyan tree, or an animal like the fish (matsya), the Boar (Varaha), or Turtle Koorma), or a half-man and half Lion (Nr’Sima) or Shree Rama, Shree Krishna, or the Buddha.. The pious and the learned - spiritual Sages were thus saved and their spiritual knowledge (the Veda) traditionally passed from

father to son and teacher to his trusted disciple as the Shrutis and Smrutis.

     They are the Basic Principles of life- the ‘Maha Vakyas’. These Commandments were secretly communicated from generation to generations. Krishna says that “He first revealed this to the first Manu, Sumanvanta.  It was soon lost into oblivion over times. Hence, it was told again to the next Manu at the beginning of the next eon, and the next, like that to all the seven Manus so far. The Seventh Manu is Viavasvata Manu- one who is the Great–great-grandfather of all the human beings. Thus our genealogy is easily traced to the earliest Sages of repute. These Manus retold the same secret of ‘Reality of Existence’ and the supreme Truth to their children and their trusted disciples. In Dvapara Yuga, the Lord Himself stands as the Charioteer of Arjuna, his Brother-in-law, a trusted friend and disciple. Arjuna is disheartened at the sight of his kith and kin in the battlefield and decides to quit the battle field. Then, the revelations come by divine grace!

   This version of the Bhagavad-Gita, presented as the “Spiritual Essence of the Gita” that promotes emancipation of the embodied Soul, gives the secret of Liberation, “muktiyoga Rahasya”. It is a scientific version with the adhyatmic slant, more relevant today, rather than the one that touches mundane existence. This is a guide book of Meditation, dhyan yoga, to ‘___________________________________________________________

The epic Mahabharata is written by none other than the Lord of Impediments Vighneshwara, Ganaadhipati or Ganesha/ Ganapati as dictated by Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, an incarnation of Vishnu.

unite (‘yuj’) the physical and the psychological aspects of the embodied jiva with the Soul. The fundamental principal here is the ‘unity’, synchronizing the forur different functions- the physical, mental, nervous and the atman.   So far, the jiva works in a compartmentalized fashion using only the Mind enslaving the body, buddhi and chitta to its advantage due to the overwhelming power of the Ahankar (ego). In a way, ahankar only dictates the jivas’ thoughts and ideas to its advantage. Ahankar is theprime suspect that one has to discover, investigate and put in its propr place. Its proper place, in fact, is the heart, but it is occupying the Mind, sitting on it on a throne as it were! The entire Bhagavad-Gita is about this

ego’, the - egotist mind, that has gone far away from the precincts of Paramatman, the pure Consciousnes (chit/prajnya), Shuddhavidyaa.                       

          Krishna as Consciousness and Arjuna, the confused Mind

    The characters depicted here in the name of Shree Krishna and Arjuna, are Mind as spirit and Mind as Matter, or pure Consciousness and confused bemmished Mind,

respectively. The plot of the enactment of the drama of war, Kurukshetra (ranaranga), is the turbid, agitatd confused Mind. Arjuna needs wise counsel in order to come out of the dilemma- whether to fight or not! It is the duty of the enlightened Purushottama to explain the malady of a blemished soul, the embodied soul- that has acquired desires, attachment, selfish interests, anger, and jealousy. The sermons, advice given by Shree Krishna is only to bring some sense as to the realities, the nature of existence. However, there are no commandments here! He goes to the extent of saying that, “There is none else but ‘Him self”; there is none besides Him. All that one sees is Him only. These names- Bhishma, Drona, Drutarashtra or Duryodhana is of one’s own making, frivolous Mind. They are all dead(!); for whom are you grieving Arjuna? He, the Lord asks.” Further, He adds, “It is not wisdom to grieve for either the living or the dead”! This level of understanding is not forthcoming for a mortal without His Grace.

   Thus, Bhagavad-Gita comes here as wise counsel to us- all those who are confused, ignorant, muddled, engrossed in a sensuous world. This is the spiritual essence of the Gita. It is Atamvidya, ‘Knowledge of the Self’ (Atmajnyan). Before going into the background to the study of the Bhagavad-Gita let’s ponder over these statements from relevant scriptures available to us and try to understand the lay-out plan and the plot in which this episode is presented to us. Also, it is important to know about the po int of reference to time and place here. At the outset we are of the opinion that the Gitopadesha is Atmopanishad revealed by Bhagavan Sri Krishna and Rk Veda has ample references. Narayana Rishi, Vasudeva, Indra, Vishnu are all from Rk Veda. And, the beauty is that Rk Veda is apourusheya, unwritten! It is the words of Bhagavan.

   munir vivaksurbhagavad-gunanam sakhapi te bharatamaha krsnah |

   yasmin nrnam gramya-sukhanuvadi matirgrhita nu harEH kathayam ||

   There is no need to adore the sublime transcendental nature of Bhagavan Sri Krishna again and again in Bhagavad-Gita since enough of it has been done in great detail in the epics Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavatam. At the same time, any adoration of the Lord is insufficient since it emoves all the blemishes of the embodied soul, full of greed, desire and fear! Thus, It is neither to ignore Him, nor to glorify the Lord who needs no praise from mortals, and describe the epic War that the Gitopadesha is presented here. It is to experience the divine inherent in us and make others also get a glimpse of it within their own inner self. The real purpose of the Gitopadesha is to draw the attention of the worldly people who are engaged in an endless search for profit and pleasure and wean them away from their indulgences in sensuous life in this mundane world and direct them towards the divine revelations.*

        treta-yugadau ca tato vivasvan manave dadau

           manus ca lokabhrtyartham sutayEkshvAkavE dadau

           ikshvAakuna ca kathito vyapya lOkamavasthitah  (Mahabharata, Santi-parva, CCCXLVIII).

      The Bhagavad-Gita, Gitopadesha was delivered by the Sun-god Vivasvan to Vaivasvata Manu the father of mankind who gave it to his son King Iksvaku, the ruler of the planet Earth, in the beginning of Tretayuga. Much earlier, this was revealed by the Lord Himself as stated in Ch. 4. Verse 1.

    imam vivasvatE yOgaM prOktavAnahamavyayam |

    vivasvAnamanavE prAha manurikShvAkavE’abravIt ||

      King Ikshvaku belonged to Suryavamsha of Raghu kula (Sun-worshipers of Raghu dynasty). Lord Krishna is stated to be incarnation (avatar) of Vishnu, i.e., Narayana and, has appeared as Sri Ramachandra in Tretayuga as the eldest son of King Dasharatha in Ayodhya; in fact, it is interesting to note that Sage Jatayu was instrumental in getting this boon to the childless couple and later on Sri Rama had to perform the last rites of childless Jatayu. There are many such secrets in all these pouranic narrations of the story of Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Srimad Bhagavatam. It is a maze of stories within stories and it must have taken ages and eons to come to the present age of Kali.

    The Time that has lapsed from the date of appearance of the medium-sized Star- Sun of our Solar Syatem may be atleast 4.56 billion years as per the estimates of scientists in NASA. The Earth and other planets have emerged from the Sun; the Earth has formed out of the ejected solar matter (3 Million years later) from the solar flares and outbursts consisting of Hydrogen and Helium. Thus, the First Manu Vivasvan is the progenitor of all that exist in the three worlds- bhu, bhuva, and svar.

    We are now the first quarter (prathama charana) of the Seventh Manvantara that of Vaivasvata, supposed to be the same Sun! Three Yugas have already elapsed since the beginning of this Vaivasvata Manvantara. The estimate of Time is a very delicate matter and brief note of the same is given at the end in Glossory. It may be inferred from all these details that King Iksvaku may have received the Gitopadesha two million years ago. Further, the story of creation as narrated in Vishnu Purana is:

     evam sarvatma-sambandham nabhyam padmam harerbhut

     tatra brahmabhavad bhUyas catur-vedi catur-mukhah

                                          (Brahma Samhita, chapter 5, verse 22)

    Now, the problem is that of reconciliation of Knowledge concerning the Creation (Srushti) obtained from various sources sucha as- the spiritual, philosophical, mythologic, historical, and the modern scientific and technologic developments. This is necessary in order to get a proper understanding about: Who we are? How we have come here? What for are we here? Where do we come from and where do we go from here and such other matter. These are definitely not for ordinary mortals engaged in the trivial matters of day-to-day existence eking out a living for these things involve a higher level of intellectual and spiritual knowledge gained from Yogabhyasa.

     Most of the commentaries written on the Gita so far fall short of this adhyatma and Atmasakshatkara aspects and spiritual attainment (Brahmaasayujya) theme; they fail to focus attention on the aspect of moksha, ‘Liberation’ or release from the shackles of Sansar and the cycle of rebirths, metempsychosis. In their eagerness to convey their own (mis)understandings or express their version according to their ability they fail to keep track of the most important verses in Chapters  2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, and 18. * They fail to even remember what Krishna says and start telling their own stories! For instance, Krishna clarifies in very simple language about “Who He is?” in as many chapters as possible, as also, “Who we are?” These people make him the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudava as if He, the Lord spent nine months in the womb! And, the Lord says, “These fools (mUDAH) consider me a human and make Me an infant and put in a cradle, create a family for Me (consisting of several wives and children!), worship Me in many ways! He also asks “Why not take the direct course (of Yoga) and reach Me?”

Let’s ponder over these lines from Chapter 10:

      na mE viduH suragaNAH praBavaM na maharShayaH |

      ahamadihiM dEvAnAM maharShiNAM ca sarvaSaH || (2)

      AdityAnAmahaM viShNurjyOtiShAM raviraMShumAn |

      marIchirmarutAmasmi nakShatrANAmahaM shashI || (21)

      vRuShNInAM vAsudEvO’smi pAMDavAnAM dhanaMjayaH |

      munInAmyahaM vyAsaH kavInAmuSanA kaviH ||(36)

      mRutyuH sarvaharashca ahaM udBavashca BaviShyatAm | (34)

      These are only a few examples cited in order to bring out how the Lord makes it very clear as to “Who He Is”. He says, “Not even Gods and the Sages, and Rishis know Him!”

   Further, He says, “Whosoever knows Me as the formless, deathless, eternal and unborn only knows Me right.” Also, He, the Lord, also makes it very clear as to who we, the Jivatmas are, and who, the Paramatman is” in many unmistakable terms. He says, “I only exist in all- as their Life-force (prANa), consciousness (prajnya} and vital airs (life-breath). “As Vaishvanara I digest the four types of food in all.”

       ya EvaM vEtti puruShaM prakRutiM ca guNaiH saha |

       sarvathA vartamAnO’pi na sa BUyO’BijAyatE || (13. 23)

“He who knows the purusha and prakRuiti of the Sankhyas (the sankhyas are those who have realized the truth, the Self) will not be born again, in whatever way he may live.” However, it is reiterated here that the purusha-prakruti duality also has to be overcome. Ultimately it is ekam adviteeyam only.

  aByAsayOgayuktEna cEtasA nAnyagAminA |

  paramaM puruShaM divyaM yAti pArthAnuciMtayan || (8. 7)

  mAmupEtya punarjanma duHkhAlayaM ashAshvatam |

   nApnuvaMti mahAtmAnaH saMsiddhiM paramaM gatAH ||8. 15)

   mAmupEtya tu kouMtEya punarjanma na vidyatE || (8. 16)

This is the secret of liberation as revealed by none else than the Blessed Lord.

   “This supreme science of the Bhagavad-Gita is periodically revealed by Krishna, He having manifested as an avatara purusha, at the beginning of every Manvantara. He, eternally manifests again and again as Manu, along with the trinity- a Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara, Seven Rishis, Devatas, Yakshas, Gandharrvas, Kinnaras, Siddhas and Sadhyas, and other paraphernalia (see Vishnu Purana). A cycle of fourteen Yugas pass in a day’s life of the supreme Creator Brahma and everything disappear (enters into him) with the onset of his night. With the dawn, another cycle starts! This is involution and evolution of the Universe. It is symbolically presented as the blooming of a Lotus with the dawn and closing of the petals at night. The creator is depicted as one seated on the Lotus. This is actually the descent of Consciousness from the feet of Sriman Narayana to Earth and its further ascent oin all the five elements and the jivas made of them. Further information on evolution and dissolution can be found in Srimad Bhagavad-Gita. The chronology of six evolutions with a Caturmukha Brahma every time is given in Glossory. Brahma, the Creator is presented symbolically as a four-faced Deity seated on a lotus (also see Mahabharata, Santi-parva, CCCXLIX).  The Story of Evolution is also given in Appendix for better understanding of the Gita.

Who are these Govinda, Narayana, Vasudeva, Krishna, Vishnu, Rudra,  Shankara, Soma, Surya, Aditya, etc.?

      There is no need to ask this question since the Chapters 9 and 10 make it clear as in verses cited below:

        ahamAtmA guDAkEsha sarvaBUtAshayasthitaH | (10)

        AdityAnAmahaM viShNurjyOtiShAM raviraMShumAn | (11)

        rudrANAMSankarAScAsmi . . .                     | (13)

        vRuShNInAM vAsudevO’smi pAMDavAnAM dhanaMjaya |

         munInAmavyahaM vyAsaH . . .      || (37)

         avAjAnaMti mAM mUDhA mAnuShIM tanumAshritam |

         paraM BAvamajAnaMtO mama BUtamahESvaram || (9.11)

  Here, it may come as a shock to some readers if it is pointed out that there is no Krishna, Arjuna, Vyasa, Shankara or rudra, Soma or Surya Bhagavan since all are Narayana only as per the doctrine of sarvam khaluvidam brahmaa|. Know that Krishna is Arjuna only whom He is addressing as Dhanajaya; and Vyasa Deva is none else but Krishna who dictates this Gitopadesha to Ganapati (in Bhishmaparva, Mahabharata Ch. 23-40). ekO dEva vipra bahudhA vadaMti  | And, that supreme Lord is the “One only and none second to Him”- Ekam adviteeyam | EkO dEva nArAyaNaH | There are references in Rk Veda regarding Narayana, Vasudeva, Krishna. viprA bahudhA vadanti | The nameless one is called a thousandnames!

     Narayana is Devata in the Gayatri mantra. Krishna fought against Indra (Rk Veda 8. 96. 13-15).  Angirasa Krishna mentioned as a Rishi is alo not just a Saint in human form. Angirasa is the essence, sattva, potency of ‘citi’, Agni or Fire. ‘Citi’ is derived from ‘cit’ the derivative of ‘sat’, the innate nature of saguna Brahman. Angirases are sparks of fire and the soul of the humans! Also, it must be remembered that the Veda is apourusheya, not a literature written by anybody. It is the Knowledge of the Self, Atmajnyan. So also, the Bhagavad-Gita, revealed as anahata dhvani (the inner voice, heard as one’s own inner voice of the Sellf, the Atman; and, who ever knows this is an Atmavidu. Since Atma eva brahma, a knower of Brahma, the Atmavidu is also a Brahmavidu (See Decoding the Veda- Rka Veda Samhita by the same author. Ask for a free copy).

     The names, forms, and functions of the characters in Bhagavad-Gita do not convey any meaning since the supreme omnipotent Lord may assume any form He likes. He may appear and disappear whenever and wherever He wants! He is sovereign, omniscient, and omnipresent; nobody can question His authority. One need not attach any impotance to the names of characters of epics since they have come later in the form of mythologic literature for common people. Bhagavad-Gita is the “Science of Transcendental Consciousness” (atindriya-prajnyA Shastra), a spiritual science of practical importance. However, the names of Gods are better explained in the Veda as a single autonomous (svayambhu) power (Shakti) that assumes different forms such as Light, Energy, Force, Life (Prana), Knowledge (Jnyan), etc. EkO dEva viprA vadaMti bahudhA| meaning, the one God called by many names by the learned ones (vipra).

      Hence, these are very significant terms used to denote the eternality of pure Consciousnss and its flow, its pervasive nature, its ascent and descent. Vishnu is that which pervades, ‘vish’ meaning ‘to pervade’. Krishna is that immutable, eternal, pure Consciousness that does not decrease, diminish or perish with time and distance. The term Narayana also stands for Krishna, the eternal flow of Consciousness. All these powers have in course of time acquired the status of deities, gods, forces, or Shakti. There are deities and lesser deities, powers who have been gifted with delegated powers of these higher powers. These are akin to step downof electric power down the line from the generating stations to our towns and homes.

     Gitopadesha has been transmitted from time to time to keep the principle of ‘Dharma’- the Light, the power of sustenance, Energy, and Force alive through the millennia. It is given to Brahma and he in turn passes it ion to his off-springs, brain-children like Atharvan, Narada, legendary figures having no physical traits including the body of flesh and bones. They are ‘div’ (Light) like stars. Light has a significant place in the Veda. Light is Veda, Knowledge. Light is Consciousness and Consciousness is everything. Light is one thing that has bewildered scientists, but not the sages and saints since the latter are light by themselves!

    The term ‘Div’ in Samskrutam is deva or Deavata, i.e., God. It is customary to light a lamp before staring any function since it auspicious. Light, in scientific parlance is hidden energy in matter. Light is thus enery in matter. It is also electricity, vidyut in all matter. This is what the supreme Lord states as his omniscience and how He is present in all matter- moving and non-moving. The Lord only exists as cit, citi, chaitanya in all matter. He is the Light nd He pervades the universe as Vishnu. He exists as the unmanifest (‘Non-existent’) nirakara parabrahman! (‘asat’ or ‘asada’), but, omnipresent ‘sat’ or ‘sada’ of the nasadiya sukta of Rk Veda (Mandala X)! now it is certain that vast amount of energy exists in dark space; there are different kinds of fields composed of waves of varying lengths; these are energy waves of different frequency, wavelength, amplitude, and intensity giving rise to different forms! Thus we are all energy forms in vibrating mode of different frequencies. Hence, there is no doubt that we are all angirases, amrutasya putrah, light particles as our inner core, the karana sharira, the Atman.

   However, ‘Light’ (‘div’/ deva) is one thing that is still baffling scientists. Scientists try to explain ‘light’ in quantum optics, quantum mechanics, quantum theory, etc. Light involes both electricity and magnetism since light is rsdiated as electromagnetic waves from the Sun. however, the scientists do not know anything about magnetism so far. However, there is a beautiful explanation of this Rk Veda. Madhurashtakakm (that binds everything to every other thing) gives some details about magnetsism- the power of attraction. Both electricity and magnetism have eluded the scientists. Light is a subject matter of quantum mechanics since light tarvels as quanta, wavicles, waves and particles. Hence, scientists are trying to build a theory of light with the help of quantum mechanics.

    But, what is ‘quanta’ (that quantifies)? And, what are light quanta? And, what is quail (that qualifies)? This quanta and quail constitute the phenomenal world of objects. Who is the subject then? Who knows?  Here the search for the Subject is “He who is the ‘observer’ and ‘the observed’ are one and the same.” That is the problem. The terms ‘Jnyan’ and ‘ajnyan’ are like the term ‘nowhere’ which contains both ‘now’ and ‘here’. So also the Jivatman is prompted by Paramatman who existed as one only, in its unmanifest form. One only becomes two and many.  Many exist in one in unmanifest state of dynamic silence. Light only becomes matter. Matter is frozen energy.the ‘Self-effulgent One’, the ‘Brahmn is Light’, the light without a shadow. It is svayambhu and has no support (niralamba), ‘upadhi’. This Light only manifests as ‘cit’, Jnyan, Consciousness, and Bhagavan Shree Krishna here. ‘Bha’ is Light. Bhagavan is that power that removes darkness, ignorance, avidya, ‘nescience’. This Light is Bhaskara or Surya and its Radint Energy. The recipient is the Jiva.

     Light is something the shadow of which is the universe! Even the sun gets his light from this source called Brahmn. Aditya is supposed to be the source of all light and there are twelve Adityas. The Sun and vishnua are adityas. The shadow of the Sun is the light we receive here on earth! The moon just reflects the light that falls on it and we call it moonlight. But none of these Adityas, sun, or moon hve their own ability to shine without the support of Narayana, the Aditya, one without the second. Science cannot explain all these since they do not come within the purview of their research. These aspects of ‘cit’, Consciousness, Light, Energy, Forc and Intelligence are in the realm of the supreme parabrahman who radiates on His own without any external support. All else shine in the power, strength and glory of the Lord. Rk Veda, however is mainly concerned with Light. Tribandhu- the Sun, the Vidyut and Agni are described in Rk Veda (Mandala VII Sukta 20-70). Rk Veda declares Agnim as vidyut in sky (ether or akasha). It is ‘agni’ (Fire) in its gross state of matter; and in its subtle state, it is ‘cit’, and ‘citi’. It is the Sun in the svar, the heaven that radiates energy as electromagnetic radiation, the sunrays.

   When it comes to nirguna Brahman manifesting as saguna, the question is does Light give structure and form  to matter? It is interesting to know from Prof. David Bohm of University of London who said, “Matter is ‘frozen light’ (Brain/Mind Bulletin, July 1983). It is reported that “Mass is a phenomen of connecting light rays that move back and forth, freezing into a pattern. Matter is thus ‘condensed light’ moving at average speeds slower than the actual speed of light. Prof. David Bohm has clarified that, “In its generalized sense, light is the means by which the entire universe unfolds into itself. It is energy, information, content, form and structure. It is the potential of everything”.

   Thus, today, physical and biological sciences are much nearer to spiritual science. What was dismissed as simply ‘metaphysical’ is now drawing much attention and, ‘intuitional knowledge’ is given a higher status to knowledge of material science! Now, we do not argue about how things manifest from Brahman, i.e., Absolute ‘dynamic silence’. Here is what Arthur Zajonc states regarding ‘nirguna Brahman’ in a scientific language:”One of the features of electrodynamics was a new understanding of the nothingness, emptiness (Absolute Abstract), vacuum (akin to nirvana?) – no matter, no light, no heat, is now a residual hidden (latent) energy; after one has removed all matterand all light from space, an infinite energy remains”. This has been further refined by recent researches in ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’. Thus, there is a better understanding about what Shree Krishna says in the Gita.

   David Bohm thinks that “there exists an infinite ocean of energy does exist (what is called sudha sindho in Srividya, and the “Ocean of Consciousness” or “prajnya sagar” in the Veda). Further, he says, ”Everybody tends to ignore this aspect just like the fish ignores the water in which it lives” and, may we add, “Man ignores how he is floating in space along with the planet earth- rotating and  revolving!” It is aobvious that scientists focus their attention on matter and ignore the self, the observer, in course of his observation. The Truth is elusive. The observer and the observed become one in such a state of dharana, focused attention also known as samprajnyata Samadhi. This is Maya.  Now, there is no gainsaying the fact that science and spirituality are one and the same, unless one clearly understands the implications of today’s scientific research on our every day life and, its efficacy in understanding the Self, the Atman. ‘Atman is Brahman’.

Knowledge is Brahman, Brahm-Jnyan.

    Prajapati Brahma (caturmukha brahma) received the knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita, the secret of creation, directly from Vishnu. This Vishnu is one of three Vishnus; he is known as GarbodakSaayi Vishnu who is one of three Purusha avatars. They are one of the six groups of incarnations of the Supreme Lord Krishna (Sri Caitanyacharitamrita by Krishna das Kaviraj in Madhya Lila (Ch. 22, verse 38).

    The six types of incarnations of the Supreme Lord Krishna are: Purusa avatar, Lila avatar, Guna avatar, Yuga avatar, Manvantara avatar and Satyavesa avatar. These are the incarnations that are to be carefully understood since there is every danger of mistaking Gods for men and Men for gods. Actually, there is no god or men here since everything is just the intensity, amplitude and wavelength of waves and vibration of electric particles, wavicles of ‘cit’. This aspect of forms created by Agni (citi) needs a special study of particle physics, quantum mechanics, and wave theory without which a person is bound to be lost in wilderness of blind faith and sheer ignorance, at that! 

    Lord Krishna revealed His divine form (Vishva-Roopa) and His Virat Svaroop to Arjuna in order to make it clear as to ‘who He is’. Despite these revelations the people continue to treat the Lord as a human, ‘the son of so and so’, and bring relational existence to Him. He makes it very clear that He is none else but ‘the birthless, deathless, supreme spirit’, and says, “so also is the soul of every Jivatman”. The supreme science of Consciousnes, the Bhagavad-Gita, cannot be understood by ordinary mortals. Moreover, it is lost time and again and resuurrected which had disappeared from this world as is confirmed in Bhagavad-Gita.

    Evam paraMpara-prAptam imam rAjarshayO viduH |

     sa kalenEeha mahata yOgO mastah paraMtapa || (Ch. 4, verse 2)

Meaning, “The supreme science of the Bhagavad-Gita was thus received through the auspices of disciplic succession and the saintly kings received it in this way. But due to the passage of time this knowledge has been almost lost. The one we are having a Text may not be the original Text since it has undergone many changes over time. It appears to be a little dis-jointed and may not convey the actual words and meaning of what the Blessed Lord said. Moreover, it is reiterated here that all the characters depicted in the Bhagavad-Gita are the symbolic names given to bubbles, waves, and tides of ‘thoughtrons’ (thought particles) that rise in the ‘Ocean of Consciousness’ (sudha sindho), the energy that pervades the universe as electromagnetic radiation from the Sun, as well as, the distant stars..Some of the most beautiful explanations have come from Vijnyan Bhikshu, Sant Tukaram and Jnyaneshvar, Swami Yogananda, Swami Shivananda Sarasvati, Sri Aurobindo and these need be carefully studied. One should clearly note that there is nothing that is applicable to the mundane world such as the Kings and wars. The time and place of Gitopadesha are now and here since Sri Krishna the yogaacharya is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipresent. We are all Arjunas seeking enlightenment. The power and strength of the Gita lies in its universal appeal for all ages. At its best, the Gitopadesha is the Veda- Saman (See Vibhutiyoga) and it explains the Yajus- yajnya, daana and tapas. It is a yajnya where we need to sacrifice all our acquired qualities of intellect, Mind and ego, and sensuous nature in order to atain to the pure state of Brahmn. Our physical body is only a tool of little consequence in our spiritual exercise unless it is used for Yoga. It is subject to growth and decay. The body has come from the five elements through the sky as parjanya, pruthivi, and annam and it will go back to these elements after its duty is over. An intelligent person should use this body and mind to acquire the status of Brahmn, pure Consciousness, before it is too old to do any work. Thus, the Gita comes here as a very useful Hand Book of Yoga, par excellence!