Comprehensive Guide to
Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ
PART I
Introduction
The words Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ literally mean The Lordâs Song, and today a billion people around the world accept it as such. This elegant, ancient text addresses lifeâs biggest issues: Who am I? What is the universe? How can I be happy? Where does it all come from? Where is it all going? Who are real teachers and how do we recognize them? The GÄ«tÄ, as it is often called, excels in its calm, reasonable, satisfying responses to these perennial questions.
A brief Sanskrit work of seven hundred verses, Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ forms part of the BhÄ«áčŁma-parva, the sixth book of MahÄ-bharata, a vast sacred history. The GÄ«tÄ shines as the spiritual beacon and summit of that far larger work, which for untold centuries has played a central cultural role in South Asia and beyond.
Originally, this comprehensive guide to the GÄ«tÄâs content was intended to be only a short introduction to my literal GÄ«tÄ translation. But like KáčáčŁáčaâs fabled fish incarnation, which appeared in tiny form and then grew to vast proportions, what began as a mere introduction, grew by necessity to become a book in itself. Having read, studied and cherished the GÄ«tÄ for decades at the feet of my teacher ĆrÄ«la PrabhupÄda, I could not help but share the profound conceptual connections that make this Sanskrit text so magical. The GÄ«tÄ is widely recognized as a work of spiritual and philosophical genius, and early on I fell in love with its Sanskrit text. My sincere wish here, through explication and translation, is to bring the general reader deep within that original Sanskrit. I hope you enjoy the journey.1
Historical Context
Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ opens on a battlefield moments before justice and injustice (dharma and a-dharma), personified by PÄáčážava and Kuru warriors, burst into war.2 KáčáčŁáča drives the chariot of Arjuna, His close friend and cousin, who fights for right. But just as the battle is about to begin, Arjuna falls into confusion. Claiming compassion for cruel usurpers with whom he shares family bonds, he refuses to fight for justice. Arjuna recognizes this emotion as weakness [2.7],3 yet it paralyzes him. He cannot act. After trying to defend his retreat with socio-moral arguments and pleas, Arjuna nearly collapses in anxiety, and here ends the GÄ«tÄâs first chapter.
In Chapter Two, KáčáčŁáča begins to revive, teach and enlighten Arjuna, insisting on moral, social and spiritual grounds that Arjuna should indeed fight. Some readers question the spirituality of KáčáčŁáča urging Arjuna to battle. To understand what is going on, we must turn to the GÄ«tÄâs historical setting within the epic MahÄ-bhÄrata.
Imagine you awake one day to shocking news: usurpers have seized your government, suspended the constitution, driven out the legitimate rulers and violently imposed martial law. You pray that the legitimate government, the military and all loyal citizens will oppose the aggressors and restore the rule of law and tradition.
MahÄ-bhÄrata teaches that a similar crisis erupted in India thousands of years ago. KáčáčŁáča, God, came to Earth to help His devoteesâArjuna, his brothers and othersâto restore dharma (justice, Law, legitimate rule) on earth. Thus, in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, KáčáčŁáča urges Arjuna to oppose the Kurus, led by Duryodhana, who unjustly usurped power. KáčáčŁáča states that He expressly comes to earth to restore dharma [4.7â8], and here we see Him in action.
Legitimate rulers expect their generals to defend the law. So KáčáčŁáča expected Arjuna to fight at Kuru-káčŁetra rather than to allow rule by fraud, coercion and usurpation.
The events of this sacred history occur on three levels: earthly, cosmic and spiritual:
1.Earthly: we briefly spoke of this above.
2.Cosmic: the teachings of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, and the encompassing history of MahÄ-bhÄrata, unfold within a personal, multi-layered cosmos of upper, middle and lower worlds. Justice and injustice (dharma and a-dharma) contend in higher worlds as they do on earth. On the Kuru-káčŁetra battlefield, where KáčáčŁáča speaks Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, the Kurus, PÄáčážavas and all other leading warriors fought as empowered incarnations of cosmic heroes and villains (Devas and Asuras). Earth had become a battleground for a cosmic struggle.
3.Spiritual: when KáčáčŁáča, God, descends to this world, He designs His deeds, such as speaking Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, to awaken sleeping souls to their eternal, blissful nature and ecstatic relationship with Him. The entire history that frames the GÄ«tÄ is a planned spiritual drama wherein KáčáčŁáča saves the virtuous, removes the wicked and restores dharma, the sacred Law that sustains the universe [4.8].
The Origins of the GÄ«tÄ
What has scholarship said about the origin of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ? About fifteen hundred years ago, the great mathematician-astronomer Arya-bhata4 concluded from archeo-astronomical data in the MahÄ-bhÄrata that the Kuru-káčŁetra War, the setting of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, took place approximately 5,100 years ago.
Some modern scholars, especially from the West, have resisted such antiquity, speculating that the GÄ«tÄ was composed roughly between the fifth and second centuries BCE.5 Such scholars also often doubt the historicity of most MahÄ-bhÄrata events, whereas other scholars (East and West), and most Hindus, accept both their antiquity and historicity6. Who is right?
Limited empirical evidence does not allow worldly scholarship to definitively affirm or deny such claims, and much less to speak authoritatively about KáčáčŁáčaâs divinity. Just as declaring an algebraic equation right or wrong is to make an algebraic claim, so also declaring a metaphysical statement right or wrong is to make a metaphysical claim. And the ground rules of worldly scholarship do not smile upon metaphysical claims.
The conclusion is that despite the plethora of learned best guesses, worldly scholarship lacks sufficient evidence to prove the date and origin of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ beyond reasonable doubt. Other extraordinary claims, such as KáčáčŁáčaâs assertion that He originally spoke the GÄ«tÄ to a sun deity [4.1], entail no internal contradiction or other logical absurdity, and thus must remain sacred claims, also beyond the power of worldly scholarship to mark right or wrong.
Scholars often wonder whether the GÄ«tÄ formed part of the original MahÄ-bhÄrata or was added later. Again, a lack of historiographic evidence precludes a definitive academic response. In the twentieth century, the worldâs most distinguished Sanskritists attempted to reconstruct the original MahÄ-bhÄrata from dozens of surviving recensions. After a half-century of brilliant assiduous study, they admitted that it is beyond the powers of worldly scholarship to recreate, and thus conclusively identify, an original version of this text. Thus scholarship can hardly determine whether the GÄ«tÄ is part of an original text that no one can clearly reconstruct.
Scholarly controversies often burn hottest precisely where evidence is weakest and leaves the largest space for conf...