Gita in the Light of Ancient History and Mythology.

   Normally, we the people who read the scriptures like the Veda, Upanishads, Brahmasutras and the like think that these are written by somebody at some time in the past. But, when we read in the published sources, the fact that the Gitopadesha was imparted by Bhagavan, the supreme Lord, nirakara parabrahmn (vibhuti yoga in Ch.X) the question arises who said these to whom and when? So also, the Brahmasutras given by Sage Badarayana who is none else but Sri Hari Narayana, or for that matter, the "Veda that is said to be 'apourusheya' (written by no one!)"  Sri Krishna says, no one knows Me and My powers of manifestation, problem arises as to who spoke when?
   We normally forget the fact that the faculties, antahkarana (inner instruments), like the mind, buddhi, ahankara are the basic powerful forces at work in our intellectual, spiritual, pursuits. The mind (manas) is said to be akasha, brahmn- kham brahmaa, manan brahmaa. This mind is both inside and outside of us! This manas, mind is the primary aspect of humans (man) that runs the life. so, also, the buddhi or the Intellect runs our life! So all these scripture we possess today are the spoken words of the Lord (in Akash, mind) who is seated within us as the 'antaryamin'. Thus, all knowledge manifests in us only as the 'jnyan' emanating from the Atman, the soul. The sages and the seers experienced in their transcendental meditative mode (turiyaateeta prajnya)!  We, too, rather anybody can reach this level of Sage, Seers, and experience the doctrines of creation, sustenance, dissolution and merger in brahmn.
   The Bhagavad-Gita does not come under the epic, mythology, or ancient History of India like the Mahabharata, and even Ramayana does not, in this sense! There are several passages that clearly state, "This visible phenomenal objective world and the universe are created by my 'yogamaya', magical powers; I am the magician, mayavin! There is no limit to my manifestations! No one, not even the learned sages or the gods, can ever know Me. I am the 'knower' (jnyata) and the 'known' (jnyeya). Jnyan only exists!" In fact, the concept here is: "The perceiver and the perceived are one"!

   What all said remains abstract thoughts, the will of the Lord and what we read here as mythology or ancient history of India are all later perceptions of great thinkers, Seers, and those visualized the inner secrets of creation! The Bhagavad-Gits is a good example where "Bhagavan speaks"!

  As the mythological account goes, the Bhagavad-Gita comes as an interjection in the Bhishma parva of the great epic Mahabharata due to the condition laid down by Lord Ganapati who was taking the dictation of the epic Mahabharata from Vyasa Deva. The condition was that Vyasa should go on dictating the text while Ganapati, the scribe, goes on writing. However, the omniscient Lord Ganapati was faster and Vyasa got stuck at some stage for want of suitable matter for dictation and thought about Arjuna’s reluctance to fight was surging! He had to speak something and he blurted out the Gita which he remembered, quickly without waste of time, lest the scribe should leave! So Vyasa, Sri Krishna Dvaipayana narrated the Gitopadesha that was first imparted to Vivasvan, Surya deva, at the beginning of creation!

  Thus, here comes this short ‘adhyatma bodha’ in the form of “Sri Krishna’s advice to Arjuna”. Later on we will find that this is not even a dialogue or a conversation between two persons, but a monologue that appears like a dialogue between the embedded ‘Soul’ (jivatman) lamenting for its sad state, in confused mind (personified here as Arjuna, born as result of the Indra mantra uttered by Kunti), and the latter seeks guidance from the supreme Lord, Poorna-prajnya, (pure consciousness), personified here as Shree Krishna paramatman (seated within as the Self!).

   In fact, this entire episode is totally unconnected with the main text of the Mahabharata war and the battle field ‘Kurukshetra’ is a field, ‘kshetra’, known to only the ‘kshetrajnya’. Finally, the ‘kshetra’ and ‘kshetrajnya’ (jnyata and jnyeya) become one- Shree Krishna as the Field as well as the Knower of the Field. Whether it is Shree Krishna, Vyasa, or Ganapati, the ‘knower’ and the ‘known’, the preceptor and the perceived, are one. Jnyan, chit, consciousness, or the “sat” is the ultimate reality; all else is its manifest forms. Hence, the Lord proclaims, “I only exist and nothing exists besides Me!”

  It may surprise the sadhaka if it is stated that “there is neither a vyasa who is dictating the Gita, nor is there a Ganapati taking down the dictation!” It is, at best, a dialogue between ‘paramatman’, the pure Consciousness (chit) and the blemished soul, a vibrant mind (chittavrutti), full of attachment, ego, anger, etc. The distressed mind Arjuna is seeking guidance from ‘purna-prajnya’, Shree Krishna. All the characters depicted here (in the epic Mahabharata) are just characters with blemished souls, may be, that seek emancipation form their embodied states. In fact these characters are not like us, the human beings on earth, since the earth is yet to be born at the time when the Lord is imparting the gitopadesha to Vivasvan (Ch. IV. verse 1). Vivasvan is Surya deva stated to be 4.56 billion years old. There are lots of secret codes, symbolism, metaphors, similes, and words that hold many secrets in the Gita.

इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्श्याम्यनसूयवे। ज्नानं विज्नानसहितं यज्ज्नात्वा मोक्श्यसे शुभात्॥ (९. १)

 The Lord says, “Arjuna, I shall reveal the utmost secrets to you”. If this knowledge revealed by the Lord is the most secret of the ‘vidyas’ how can the mortals understand it? Moreover, what is that most ‘secret vidya’? He, the Lord, reveals that this knowledge is the supreme, ‘brahma vidya’, and a ‘yoga shastra that redeems the embedded jiva’! Hence, here are the secrets of creation, sustenance, and dissolution revealed to vivasvan, the Sun God, 4.56 billion years ago, even before the earth and all its living beings appeared! Hence it must be construed that the supreme Lord, Parabrahmn was contemplating upon creation in his meditative trance, yoganidra, about creation. Since Lord Krishna transcends time, rather, He being omnipotent and ‘kaal’ (Time) by Himself, nothing prevents Him from this. The secrets are known to Him only, He is imparting this to Vivasvan, who in turn imparted it to the first manu and then it came to King Ikshvaku a descendant of Vivasvan (suryavamshi). This has been repeated time and again as and when it was lost due to dissolution, adharma, floods and devastations, and other reasons. This is the secret yoga of creation; it is the lila; srushti, sthiti, laya, vilaya, anugraha, and mukti patha, the path of renunciation and emancipation of the embedded souls.

  The fundamental principle (mahat tattva) is “‘I am”’ (so’ ham); the term I refers to the Lord. The term ‘am’ is His manifest forms, the principle of ‘sat’, existence. The one Supreme Soul paramatman is reflected in the myriads of individual souls as the one sun or moon is reflected in myriads of glass pieces!

 The Soul Atman is ‘cit-shakti’. It is ‘Energy’ particle, a photon- the eternal, unborn, immutable brahmn. As it is Energy, it goes without saying, cannot be created or destroyed and, it is the support of all that exists, well may we say, as paramatman? Paramatman is “the Supreme Soul, supreme energy”. The soul is thus a charged particle of an ‘ion’ of this ocean of consciousness, ‘chit-shakti; it is a particle of radiant energy, a particle of star dust; stellar dust, full of knowledge, intellect, creative power. This ‘Consciousness’- an individualized unit as ‘Jivatman’, has come within the limitations, ‘niyati’, of time, space, and causality, as in contrast to the ‘supreme soul’ – the unlimited, vast, immutable, unchanging, and eternal ‘paramatman’. Shiva, the unlimited, is thus reducing Himself to jiva, a limited entity. This is ‘kanchuki’, limitation.