Introduction to Bhagavad Gita

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Introduction to Bhagavad Gita

• Srinivas Palepu

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History

• Vedas
• Knowledge passed verbally from teacher to
  disciples
• Upanishads
• Sophisticated philosophy emanated from truths
  revealed during meditations

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Ved Vyasa

• A guru of high order around 4000 years ago
• His main contributions
• Documented all Vedas in a book form
• Documented Upanishads
• Wrote Mahabharata
• Wrote Bhagavad Gita (around 700 verses)
• Wrote Srimad Bhagavatam (around 10,000 verses)

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Context of Bhagavad Gita

• Battleground
• War between Pandavas and Kauravas
• Dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna
• Arjunas confusion between war and harmony
• Krishnas sermon to Arjuna about Yoga

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Famous Acharyas

• Sankaracharya
• Ramanujacharya
• Madhavacharya
• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

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Modern publications

• Written by scholarly gurus
• Sanskrit verses are all original from Veda Vyasa
• Each guru has written his own commentary and in
  some cases their own word-to-word translation of
  Sanskrit verses into prose in English

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Some Famous Modern Publications

• Bhagavad-Gita As It Is by A. C. Bhaktivedanta
  Swami Prabhupada (Hardcover - Mar 1, 1997)
• Gita Bhasya by Sri Ramanuja

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What does Gita talk about?

• The Reality
• The Goal
• The Means

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The Text

• Eighteen chapters
• Can be divided into three sections of six
  chapters each

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Summary of Bhagavad Gita

• Five Basic Truths
• Isvara, the Supreme Lord
• Jiva, the living entity
• Prakriti, the material nature
• Kala, the time
• Karma, the activity
• The first four are eternal, Karma is not

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Isvara

• The Supreme Controller and Supreme Consciousnesss
• Called by different names, Krishna, Lord, Brahman
  being some such names
• The Super-Soul
• The greatest of all
• Has control over the universal affairs of
  material nature

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Jiva

• The controlled (we all!)
• The soul
• Is conscious (only of ones own body, whereas
  Isvara is conscious of bodies of all jivas)
• Like supreme controller (have all the qualities
  of the controller) but not the same (quantity is
  too minute)
• Parts and parcels of the Lord
• Our tendency to control everything is there
  because it is there in Isvara. But we should
  remember that Isvara is the Supreme Controller,
  not we
• It is also called Superior Prakriti

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Prakriti

• Material nature or inferior Prakriti
• Is not independent
• Is not conscious
• Is working under the directions of the Supreme
  Lord
• Is always under the control by Isvara
• Three qualities mode of goodness, passion and
  ignorance (good, bad and ugly!)
• Manifestation of prakriti is temporary but is not
  false

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Kala

• The duration of existence of the whole universe
  or the manifestation of material nature

15
Karma

• The activity
• Is not eternal
• Effects are very old indeed
• We are suffering or enjoying the results of our
  activities from time immemorial
• Changing the results of our karma depends on the
  perfection of our knowledge

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Goal

• Sustainable Happiness
• sustainable across lives
• In full awareness
• Cognizant of the truths

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Means

• Prescribed duties of sacrifice, charity and
  penance, according to ones nature, are not to be
  given up they must be performed and their result
  renounced. Then one has no results to enjoy or
  suffer. Duties prescribed according to ones
  nature are never affected by sinful reactions.

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Means

• Equipoise Be a kind friend to all living
  entities, equal in both happiness and distress,
  tolerant, self-controlled, free from false ego
  and envy and be always engaged in devotional
  service with determination

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Means

• Be aware of the three modes of material nature
  (ie, Goodness, Passion and Ignorance) in
  knowledge, action, determination, happiness and
  work.
• The knowledge by which one undivided spiritual
  nature is seen in all living entities action
  without love or hatred clear understanding of
  what is to be done and what is not to be done
  yogic determination that controls activities of
  mind, life and senses happiness which awakens
  one to self-realization are all in the nature of
  goodness.

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Means

• All roads lead to devotion and ultimately
  surrender Gnanis, after attaining supreme
  perfectional stage, Brahman, by being determined
  and free from false notions, become equally
  disposed towards every living being and thus
  attain pure devotional service to Lord
• Surrender unto Lord

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How to get deeper into Bhagavad Gita?

• Like any other subject, read more and more and
  more

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Some Best Practices on how to read Bhagavad Gita

• First 36 days Chapter a day of just the
  translation prose (15-20 minutes per day in the
  morning) from Prabhupadas book
• Read 18th Chapter complete with Purport from
  Prabhupadas book
• Recite a chapter a day from Prabhupadas book
  (Sanskrit verses)
• Read all chapters with purport and analyze deeper
• Attend a study-group in your locality