The Bhagavad-Gita for the Modern Reader

History, Interpretations and Philosophy

M. V. Nadkarni

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429535086
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Induismo

What is the Bhagavad-Gita? Is it just a religious text? When was it composed? How relevant is it to the modern world?

This book answers these foundational questions and more. It critically examines the Bhagavad-Gita in terms of its liberal, humanist and inclusive appeal, bringing out its significance for both present times and novel applications. The author elaborates the philosophy underlying the text as well as its ethical and spiritual implications. He also responds to criticisms that have been levelled against the text by Ambedkar, D. D. Kosambi and, more recently, Amartya Sen.

With additional material including chapter summaries of the Bhagavad-Gita, the second edition of the volume proposes new ways of utilising the text in diverse fields, such as business and management and scientific research. Eclectic and accessible, this work will be of interest to scholars of philosophy, religion, history, business and management studies, as well as the general reader.

1
Significance of the Gita, its date and authorship

As a sacred text

The Shrimad-Bhagavad-Gita, or the Gita in its well-known short form, is the most popular sacred text of the Hindus. The prefix, Shrimat(d), is normally used for some of the later sacred texts in Hinduism, signifying utmost respect given to them, Shrimad-Ramayanam, Shrimad-Bhagavatam being a few other examples. What constitutes a sacred book? First and foremost, a sacred book is an authoritative source of guidance and inspiration both in leading day-to-day life consistent with ethical values and in pursuing peace of mind and spiritual realisation. In describing itself both as brahma-vidya and yoga-shastra (in the colophons), the Gita tells what constitutes a sacred book. Brahma-vidya means the knowledge of the Ultimate Truth or reality; in imparting such a knowledge, it presents a discussion of metaphysics and theology. But this knowledge is not a question of mere book learning. One’s life should reflect the basic urge for spiritual realisation. That is, to acquire brahma-vidya, or spiritual knowledge, one should also behave in a certain way consistent with or aimed at this goal. That is where striving for it becomes relevant. Yoga-shastra is the science of spiritual striving (yoga) or sadhana (striving). Yoga here does not just mean adopting certain postures of the body, but has the much wider connotation of leading a life of spiritual orientation and rigorous discipline – morally and mentally. A sacred book serves thus as a guide to both brahma-vidya and yoga-shastra.

Second, a sacred book resonates across space and time, not being specific or limited to a particular given context alone, but having a universal significance or relevance. Though the immediate context of the Gita is to remove Arjuna’s despondency, the purpose of Krishna or the Gita is not just to give a pep talk to him. When Arjuna asks Krishna what is best (shreya) for him, Krishna’s reply is about not only what is best for Arjuna particularly but also what is best generally or universally for all (Dayananda 1989: 20). Arjuna is a symbol of a human being in struggle. Krishna’s Gita is meant for all. This is very clear from verses 68 to 70 in the last chapter of the Gita, viz. Chapter 18, where Krishna makes his intention for its wider dissemination quite evident, though of course among those who are faithful and devoted. Krishna says that one who teaches or expounds on the Gita with devotion among his devotees is dearest to him and will ultimately become one with him. Verse 71 of the same chapter promises that even if one merely listens to this teaching, he or she will have auspicious destiny. The text is clearly not limited to Arjuna, who is only a pretext for the profound teaching.

Third, a sacred book is also one which is faithfully accepted by a large number of people at least of a group or creed. Though many leaders of Hinduism including Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo emphasise that sacred books are not substitutes for reasoning, reasoning alone may not suffice when humans try to probe what is beyond merely mundane and go in the pursuit of spiritual solace and contentment. Even in helping to lead a life of virtue, a sacred book should harmonise reason and faith; reasoning in it should be convincing while faith inspires and prods. Both Gandhi and Aurobindo emphasise further that a scripture should enable one to elevate himself or herself above ordinary existence and experience the truth that the scripture expounds. Recitation and verbal understanding of the text, though necessary, are not enough.

Hinduism does not have one single exclusive sacred text, and the greatest, most ancient and original sacred texts of Hinduism are the Vedas. They are followed by the Upanishads, most of which are appended at the end of the Vedas themselves. The scriptures of Hinduism are more like a common pool multilingual library, where you pick and choose a certain book which you find particularly useful and inspiring, without insisting that all other books be destroyed or condemned, nor requiring that all the books must be read equally thoroughly to qualify for access to the library. What is more, it is not a sacrilege to add to this library. It does not diminish the significance of the books accessed earlier in any way. First came the Vedas and Upanishads, and then the classic epics – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Vedantasutras (also known as the Brahmasutras), the Yogasutras, Narada-Bhaktisutras, the Shastras and Smritis, the Puranas including the eminent Bhagavata Purana, and the Kural in Tamil by Thiruvalluvar. All these emerged in the ancient, or the classical, period well before the end of the first millennium CE. This was not the end. Except for the Kural, all the literature mentioned earlier is in Sanskrit. There was no bar in having more scriptures, now in the vernacular. In the medieval era were added the Jnaneshwari (an explanation of the Gita in Marathi in verses by Jnaneshwar), the Vachanas (sayings) of Shivasharanas in Kannada, Ramacharitamanasa of Goswami Tulasidas in Hindi, and the lyrical poetry of the numerous bhakti sants in regional languages. One’s lifetime is not enough to go through and understand all this literature. I may say in a lighter vein that Hindus invented rebirth so that they can take up reading in the next life what they craved to finish but could not in the present life!

Not many Hindus, however, opt for a rebirth, if they can help it. Devout Hindus prefer to have self-realisation or enlightenment in this very birth! Spiritual enlightenment is open to everyone in Hinduism, irrespective of gender, class and caste. Hindus needed a scripture which would guide them to engage with the life they face in an ethically correct way, taking the pleasures and frustrations in their stride with equanimity and, at the same time, realise the Divine. Of course, they had a wide choice of the texts. But the four Vedas and over a dozen Upanishads constituted a very vast literature, offering a formidable challenge for ordinary humans to learn them in the first instance, let alone following them after attaining some understanding of them. The Bhagavad-Gita provided a solution. As Yogananda and other celebrities have declared, the Gita provided the essence of all the ‘ponderous’ four Vedas, the 108 Upanishads, and the six systems of Hindu philosophy, constituting – ‘a universal message for the solace and emancipation of all mankind’ (Yogananda 2002, Vol. 1: 169), in lucid and relatively easy-to-understand Sanskrit, and in a compact form of only 700 verses in eighteen chapters. One could easily read a single chapter a day or even a few verses a day and feel blessed. Quite a few Hindus have learnt the whole of the Gita by heart. The Gita-Dhyanam (Meditating on the Gita), which is ritually recited before the Gita, picturesquely states that all the Upanishads are like cows, and Shri Krishna – the son of a cowherd – milked them for the benefit of people having a pure mind, with Arjuna being the calf, and the nectar of the Gita is the milk (verse 4). This verse explains why the Gita came to be accepted as the most popular sacred book of Hindus. It acknowledges that the Gita is intended to be the essence of the Upanishads conveyed for the benefit of people, Arjuna providing an excuse, and the Mahabharata war a dramatic context to take off. What is more, the milkman is no less than God Himself, though in human incarnation as Krishna! The God of the Gita is not just the abstract Brahman, but more a personal God who loves and likes to be loved. This is in great contrast with the abstract and impersonal God of the Upanishads. To make it endearing, the Gita is in the form a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, with the latter asking searching questions again and again, and the former responding patiently in detail with deep affection. Krishna tells Arjuna emphatically: ‘Definitely dear you are to me’ (Ishtoasi mey dridham, XVIII.64, i.e. Chapter 18 and verse 64); and again, ‘I promise, beloved you are to me!’ (Pratijaney priyoasi mey, XVIII.65). It is as if Lord Krishna invites the devout listeners and readers of the Gita to place themselves in the position of Arjuna and enjoy the Lord’s unbounded love and protection. Arjuna is only an exemplar of a devotee, who is also a friend treated with love. The Gita does not see a devotee as a servant or slave, nor it needs a devotee consider himself or herself that way. A devotee can question God and engage in a dialogue with him as an intimate friend. Krishna assures that a devotee or a seeker can obtain peace with the knowledge that He, the Divine, is a friend (suhrida) of all beings (V.29). He affirms in verse after verse (XII.14–20) that he loves his devotees. The Gita emphasises not only devotee’s love of God, but also God’s abundant love for devotees. When a devotee loves God heartily with abandon, that is enough to earn Divine love. Krishna also makes it clear that whatever little a devotee offers to him as a token of genuine love, he accepts it without reservation – be it a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even a little water! (IX.23–24). It made religion easy and accessible to all. No other sacred text before it had achieved this revolution in religion. Bal Gangadhar Tilak points out, in his preface to his famous work, Gita-Rahasya, a traditional compliment to the Gita, which says: ‘It is quite enough if one thoroughly studies the Gita. What is the use of dabbling in other Shastras?’ (1936: li).¹ It is no surprise, therefore, that the popularity of the Gita as a sacred text grew spontaneously without anyone imposing it. For quite a few people, the Gita as a book became an icon by itself, to be revered and worshipped, without having to understand its contents. However, many of these people end up trying to study and absorb the contents as well and benefit by its guidance.

The Gita’s popularity also owes to its dramatic context of conflict. The dialogue took place right in the battlefield, with Lord Krishna urging a confused Arjuna to fight. The Gita is certainly not a text on the ethics of war. It does not discuss whether wars are justified or when they are. But if one is confronted with a war which is inevitable, it teaches how to face it with equipoise. Even this is not its only purpose. As Gandhi explained, the war which Arjuna faces is only a metaphor for situations of conflict between forces of good and evil inherent in the human condition. The Gita teaches that we have to face the conflicts and cannot run away from them in a cowardly manner (Gandhi 1980: 12–14). Not only is the war in the Gita an allegory, but even the fact of Lord Krishna being the charioteer (sarathi) of Arjuna is also of great allegorical significance. Before the war, Duryodhana and Arjuna were given a choice by Krishna between the whole of Krishna’s army on the one side and the unarmed non-fighting Krishna on the other. Arjuna chose Krishna, while Duryodhana chose his army. What is more, Arjuna wanted Krishna as his charioteer. In the struggle for life, one need not be alone. One has to invoke Krishna or the Divine Spirit as sarathi to be with us to guide, inspire and empower. The significance of the Gita’s inspiring and empowering teaching becomes apparent when we note why many people commit suicides when they give up facing problems. The Gita can give courage and cure demoralisation. One needs to face the struggle of life with wisdom and equanimity. The Gita teaches that it is also the duty of each individual to help all persons and the society in general to cope with this struggle. This is conveyed in the Gita’s teaching on loka-hita and loka-sangraha, which will be discussed subsequently in more detail.

When a flood of religious literature followed the Vedas and the Upanishads, the Shastras which appeared subsequently made a distinction between two types of literature – the Shruti and Smriti. The former included the foundational texts like the Vedas and Upanishads, consisting of prayers, ethical axioms and principles, and philosophical probes. The latter are secondary texts, covering the great epics, Shastras including Smritis, and the Puranas. They derive their authority from the former by explaining and illustrating what is contained in the former and indicating guidelines for conducting day-to-day lives. Sometimes there was a risk that the Smriti texts could deviate from the former, developing their own theories and rules which are not in conformity with the Shruti texts. In such cases, the Shastras themselves ruled that what is stated in the Shruti prevails over whatever is said in the Smritis. It is clear that only the Shruti texts are regarded as authoritative and sacred, and the Smriti texts as secondary or supplementary. Where would the Gita fit in?

The Gita is a part of the Mahabharata, appearing in the Bhishma Parvan (as Chapters 23–40 according to the ‘Critical Edition’ of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), Pune, and Chapters 25–42 according to the more popular Gita Press Gorakhpur edition). The Bhishma Parvan is the sixth out of eighteen Parvans of the great epic, which itself has 117 chapters (122 chapters according to the Gorakhpur edition), which include the Gita’s eighteen chapters. But the Mahabharata is regarded as a Smriti text, secondary and not foundational. Therefore, the tradition does not accord the status of Shruti to the Gita on par with the Vedas and Upanishads (Radhakrishnan 1923, Vol. 1: 519). How then could the Gita be considered as a sacred text, if being regarded as a foundational authority is a hallmark of a sacred text? First of all, the Mahabharata is not just another Smriti text, but even regarded as the fifth Veda (Panchama Veda) by some. But the importance of the Gita transcends beyond being a part of the Mahabharata and can be regarded as a stand-alone text too. The Gita is taken as not only conveying the essence of the Vedas and Upanishads, but also giving its followers much more even within its small size. It is both a brahma-vidya (the science of Brahman, the ultimate reality) and also a yoga-shastra (the science and practical art of realising that reality), as stated in the colophons. For this reason, the Gi...