The Bhagavad Gita (The Song of God), often referred to as the Gita, is a Sanskrit scripture that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It presents a synthesis of Hindu ideas about dharma, theistic bhakti, and the yogic ideas of moksha. It is the best known and the most famous of the Hindu scriptures. Some scholars give it the status of an Upanishad. No one knows when it was composed and by whom, even though sage Vyasa is given the credit. Some scholars date it as early as the fifth century B.C.E., others as late as the first century C.E. But there is general scholarly consensus that in its original form it was an independent poem, which was later inserted into its present context, Book Six of the Mahabharata.
The Gita takes place on the battle field of Kurukshetra (near Delhi), at the beginning of the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas cousins. Pandava brother Arjuna has his charioteer, Krishna (who turns out to be God incarnate) drive him into the open space between the two armies, where he surveys the combatants. Overwhelmed with dread and pity at the imminent death of so many brave warriors- brothers, cousins, and kinsmen- Arjuna drops his weapons and refuses to fight. This is the cue for Krishna to begin his teaching about life and deathlessness, duty, non-attachment, the self, love, spiritual practice and the inconceivable depth of reality (Mitchell).
The Gita has total of 700 verses in 18 chapters.
Chapter-1
Lesson No-1: Question the authority if the advice is contrary to your conscience
Krishna (divine incarnate in the form of a human being) insists that Arjuna’s duty is to fight, irrespective of his evaluation of the consequences. Arjuna questions Krishna whether it is right to be concerned only with one’s duty and be indifferent to the consequences of one’s action- in Arjuna’s case the slaughter of his friends and cousins.
Arjuna – “As I see my kinsmen gathered here, eager to fight, my legs weaken, my mouth dries, my body trembles, my hair stands on end, my skin burns, the bow Gandiva drops from my hand, and I am beside myself, my mind reels. I see evil omens, Krishna; no good come from killing my own kinsmen in battle. I have no desire for victory.
Though they want to kill me, I have no desire to kill them… What joy would we have killing Dhritarastra’s (father of the Kaurvas) men?
Having spoken thus to Krishna, Arjuna said: “I will not fight”, and fell silent”.
Chapter-2
Lesson No -2: Wise men do not grieve for the dead or for the living
“The Blessed Lord said:
Although you men well, Arjuna,
your sorrow is sheer delusion.
Wise men do not grieve
for the dead or for the living.
. . . Death is certain for the born;
for the dead, rebirth is certain,
Since both cannot be avoided,
You have no reason for your sorrow.”
Chapter-3
Lesson No-3: Do your duty- the yoga of action
“The Blessed Lord said:
In this world there are two main paths:
The yoga of understanding,
for contemplative men; and for men
who are active, the yoga of action.
…The superior man is he
whose mind can control his senses,
with no attachment to results,
he engages in the yoga of action”.
Lesson No-4: Questionable advice?
Krishna-
‘‘It is better do your own duty
badly, than to perfectly do
another’s; you are safe from harm
when you do what you should be doing”.
In my humble opinion, this is one of the worst lessons of the Gita. India had a caste system long before the Gita was composed. But Gita gave a justification for the so called upper- castes Indians to discriminate against the lower castes people in all spheres of their lives. Lower caste people were not even allowed to read the scriptures, be a priest or enter the places of worships. The persistence of the caste system even in the 21st century is a disgrace to all sensible Indians. For that the teachings of Gita is partly responsible.
Lesson No- 5: Wisdom is better than ritual
“Better than any ritual
is the worship achieved through wisdom,
wisdom is the final goal
of every action, Arjuna.
Find a wise teacher, honor him,
ask him your questions, serve him;
someone who has seen the truth
will guide you on the path to wisdom.”
Chapter-5
Lesson No -6- Treat everybody as equal
“Wise men regard all beings
as equal: a learned priest,
a cow, an elephant, a rat,
or a filthy, rat –eating outcaste”.
Chapter-6
Lesson-7-Perform your duty with no concern for result
“The Blessed Lord said:
he who performs his duty
with no concern for results
is the true man of yoga-not
he who refrains from action.”
In my opinion this is a questionable advice. It is very hard to work on something and not care for the outcome of the work. If everybody has the attitude that result does not matter than there will be no progress in the society. If you are a student and going to school every day and you are satisfied with passing in third division, you are not going to succeed in life. If you want to succeed in life, you have to aspire for higher goals and work hard to succeed.
Lesson No- 8: Moderation in everything
“For the man who is moderate in food
and pleasure, moderate in action,
moderate in sleep and waking,
yoga destroys all sorrow.”
In the sixth century BC.E. , Buddha taught similar doctrine.
Chapter-9
Lesson No -9: All Gods are one. God loves everybody equally
“Arjuna, all those who worship
other gods, with deep faith,
are really worshipping me,
even if they don’t know it.
. . . Any offering- a leaf,
a flower or fruit, a cup
of water- I will accept it
if given with loving heart.
. . . I am the same to all beings;
I favor none and reject none.”
Chapter-11
Lesson-10- Benevolence to all beings will lead to salvation or moksha
“He who acts for my sake,
loving me, free of attachment,
with benevolence toward all beings,
will come to me in the end.”
Chapter-12
Lesson No -11- Treat all beings with kindness and compassion
“He who has let goes of hatred,
who treats all beings with kindness
and compassion, who is always serene,
unmoved by pain and pleasure,
free of “I” and “mine”,
self- controlled,firm and patient,
his whole mind focused on me-
that manis the one I love the best.”
Chapter-16
Lesson No-12: Divine traits and demonic traits
“The Blessed Lord said:
fearless, purity of heart,
persistence in the yoga of knowledge,
generosity, self-control,
nonviolence,gentleness,candor,
integrity,disengagement,
joy in the study of scriptures,
compassion for all beings,modesty,
patience, a tranquil mind,
dignity, kindness, courage,
a benevolent, loving heart-
these are the qualities of men
born with divine traits, Arjuna.
Hypocrisy, insolence, anger,
cruelty, ignorance, conceit-
these, Arjuna, are the qualities
of men with demonic traits.
The divine traits lead to freedom;
the demonic, to suffering and bondage.”
Chapter- 17
Lesson No -13: Different kinds of charity
Charity given to the worthy,
without any expectations,
for the sake of the act itself-
this kind of charity is sattvic.
Rajasic charity is given
halfheartedly, with the thought
of securing some favor in return
or to gain some spiritual merit.
Charity is called tamasic
when given to the underserving,
at the wrong time and wrong place,
grudgingly, without respect.”
Conclusion
The Gita is not an integral part of the Mahabharata. It is essentially an Upanishad. The Upanishads (800-500 BCE) are commonly referred to as Vedanta, later parts of the Vedas.The Gita is concerned with the struggle for self-mastery. Arjuna represents everyman. It places human destiny entirely in human hands. It is one of the best philosophical scriptures in the world. Every student should be familiar with its teachings.
P.S – All the quotes are from Stephen Mitchell.
Sources:
1- Stephen Mitchell (translator). Bhagavad Gita, Anew Translation: New York: Three River Press, 2000.