BHAGAVAD GITA
The “Bhagavad Gita” ("Song of God") is an epic poem consisting of 701 Sanskrit couplets. Part of the “Mahabharata”, it blends theology and political science with a dramatic story of dynastic struggle. According to legend it was written by the sage Vyasa. It probably existed independently of the “Mahabharata” and was added and revised to its present form around the A.D. 2nd century. Today, it is the most widely read Hindu text.
The “Bhagavad Gita” is essentially a devotional poem set among the battles of the “Mahabharata” . It outlines rituals accessible to everyone. This contrasts with the rituals described in old Vedic texts, which involved sacrifices and elaborate rites that were only open to upper castes. Many customs and fetishes have evolved around the “Bhagavad Gita” . Some people wear a miniature copy of it around their neck for luck and to ward off evil.
The “Bhagavad Gita” begins at the battlefield of Kurukshetra, a popular pilgrimage place today. Arjuna is brooding over the upcoming clash because he has friends, relatives and teachers on the other side. Krishna advises him to pour himself into the battle and not worry about the consequences, telling the warrior that is the only way he can find knowledge, freedom and peace.
Much of the text is made of dialogues between Krishna and Arjuna with Krishna encouraging Arjuna to fight and overcome his reluctance not to fight. Krishna tells Arjuna that he must fight because he is a warrior by caste and it is his duty to fight, saying: “For there is more joy in doing one’s duty badly that in doing another’s well. It is a joy to die doing one’s duty, but doing another man’s duty brings dread.”
According to the BBC: “The Bhagavad Gita, or "Song of the Lord" is part of the sixth book of the Mahabharata, the world's longest poem. Composed between 500 B.C. and 100 CE, the Mahabharata is an account of the wars of the house of Bharata. The Bhagavad Gita takes the form of a dialogue between Pandava Prince Arjuna and Lord Krishna, his charioteer. Arjuna is a warrior, about to join his brothers in a war between two branches of a royal family which would involve killing many of his friends and relatives. He wants to withdraw from the battle but Krishna teaches him that he, Arjuna, must do his duty in accordance with his class and he argues that death does not destroy the soul. Krishna points out that knowledge, work and devotion are all paths to salvation and that the central value in life is that of loyalty to God.” [Source: BBC]
Some have labeled the Bhagavad Gita as the Hindu Bible. But that is not the case. It is one of the most popular Hindu texts but is regarded as a smriti text (the remembered tradition), which is considered by some to be of less importance than shruti (the heard text, such as the Vedas). It has, nevertheless, an important place within the Hindu tradition. Mohandas Gandhi called the Gita his “spiritual dictionary” and used its teachings as a guide during India’s struggle for independence.
Vinay Lal, professor of history at UCLA, wrote: “The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most revered of Indian scriptures. Though it is much later than the Vedas, and does not constitute part of the revealed literature of the Hindus, it occupies a distinct and in some respects unrivaled place in Indian philosophical and religious literature. While it is almost conventional to view it is a separate text, it is in fact a part of the Mahabharata, and relays the teachings of Krishna to Arjuna. The occasion for these teachings was furnished by the great war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, who are also related to each other. As the battle is about to begin, Arjuna, one of the five Pandava princes, throws down his bow and arrow, and confesses his inability to kill his own cousins and kinsmen, as well as those revered teachers who had been the common tutors of the Kauravas and Pandavas. Krishna then delivers an oration, urging Arjuna to perform his duty, to be the warrior that he is, and it is these teachings that are encapsulated in the Bhagavad Gita, the Song of the Lord.”[Source: Vinay Lal, professor of history, UCLA. sscnet.ucla.edu]
There are many English translations of the Gita: perhaps the most readable of these is one by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, though the translations of Swami Nikhilananda, S. Radhakrishnan, and Barbara Stoller Miller are both scholarly and literary. Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita is a trifle too ponderous but still unmatched. The complete text of the Bhagavad-Gita was translated by Kashinath Trimbak Telano in 1882, edited and updated by Richard Hooker. This is regarded as the most readable version on the net.
See Separate Article MAHABHARATA factsanddetails.com
Hindu Texts: Clay Sanskrit Library claysanskritlibrary.org ; Sacred-Texts: Hinduism sacred-texts.com ; Sanskrit Documents Collection: Documents in ITX format of Upanishads, Stotras etc. sanskritdocuments.org ; Ramayana and Mahabharata condensed verse translation by Romesh Chunder Dutt libertyfund.org ; Ramayana as a Monomyth from UC Berkeley web.archive.org ; Ramayana at Gutenberg.org gutenberg.org ; Mahabharata holybooks.com/mahabharata-all-volumes ; Mahabharata Reading Suggestions, J. L. Fitzgerald, Das Professor of Sanskrit, Department of Classics, Brown University brown.edu/Departments/Sanskrit_in_Classics ; Mahabharata Gutenberg.org gutenberg.org ; Bhagavad Gita (Arnold translation) wikisource.org/wiki/The_Bhagavad_Gita ; Bhagavad Gita at Sacred Texts sacred-texts.com ; Bhagavad Gita gutenberg.org gutenberg.org
RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
“The Bhagavad Gita” (Penguin Classics) by Anonymous and Laurie L. Patton
Amazon.com ;
“The Bhagavad Gita” (Easwaran's Classics of Indian Spirituality Book 1) Amazon.com ;
“The Mahabharata” by John D. Smith and Anonymous (Penguin Classics) Amazon.com ;
“The Rig Veda” by Anonymous and Wendy Doniger (Penguin Classics) Amazon.com ;
“The Holy Vedas” by Pandit Satyakam Amazon.com ;
“The Rig Veda: Complete” (Illustrated) by Anonymous (Author), Ralph T. H. Griffith (Translator) Amazon.com ;
“The Upanishads” by Anonymous and Juan Mascaro (Penguin Classics) Amazon.com ;
“The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic” by by R. K. Narayan and Pankaj Mishra (Penguin Classics) Amazon.com ;
“The Rāmāya a of Vālmīki: The Complete English Translation (Princeton Library of Asian Translations) Amazon.com ;
“The Illustrated Ramayana: The Timeless Epic of Duty, Love, and Redemption”
by DK and Bibek Debroy Amazon.com
Concepts in the Bhagavad Gita
The central premise of the “Bhagavad Gita” is that all Hindus (or even all people), even Untouchables, who obey the rules of their caste and follow the teachings of god will be reincarnated in successfully higher castes and eventfully end up in heaven. Connected with this is the idea that all actions should be guided by dharma, the external divine law that says people should fulfill their duty and let God decide the consequences of their actions. The “Bhagavad Gita” also address the immortality of the soul in a universals sense and teaches that God can take human form to relay his message.
Unlike Buddhism, which encourages its followers to withdraw from the world, the “Bhagavad Gita” encourages people to involve themselves in the world with a detached ego. Arjura learns that: 1) he is not limited to his physical form; 2) human consciousness flows through the entire universe; and 3) nothing in the world really matters. With these realizations Arjuna is freed of doubt and delusion and can realize his Higher Self and find fulfillment.
The “Bhagavad Gita” talks about three ways of approaching the world: 1) through the mind; 2) through emotions; and 3) through actions. Those are tied with three yogas, or methods of union with the Higher Self: 1) duty, 2) insight and 3) devotion.
There are three main obstacles, or “gunas” , that hinder development: 1) “Sattva”, being too attached to happiness, purity and righteousness; 2) “Rajas” , attachment to passion and activity; and 3) “Tamas”, attachment laziness and ignorance. Chapter V, 12 of the “Bhagavad Gita” reads:
“The disciplined man, having relinquished the fruit of action.
Attains perfect peace.
The undisciplined man, impelled by desire.
Is attached to the fruit of fruit and is bound.”
Teachings of the Bhagvad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita teaches many tenets of Hinduism through the narrative dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna. Considered by some be an allegory a person’s ethical and moral struggles, The Bhagavad Gita discusses the four goals of life or purushartas: 1) artha (worldly wealth and success), 2) kama (pleasure and desire), 3) dharma (righteousness), and 4) moksha (knowledge and liberation from the cycle of birth and death). These ideas are addressed in the dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna. The central lesson of the Bhagavad Gita is the importance of dharma as expressed in Arjuna selfless duty to participate in war he doesn’t want to engage in. [Source: PBS, The Story of India, pbs.org/thestoryofindia]
William Q. Judge, translator of the Bhagavad-Gita, wrote in 1890: “The Bhagavad-Gita tends to impress upon the individual two things: first, selflessness, and second, action; the studying of and living by it will arouse the belief that there is but one Spirit and not several, that we cannot live for ourselves alone, but must come to realize that there is no such thing as separateness, and no possibility of escaping from the collective karma of the race to which one belongs, and then, that we must think and act in accordance with such belief.”
Vinay Lal, professor of history at UCLA, wrote: “The teachings of the Gita have been the subject of much interpretation. The Gita counsels us to retain our equanimity, and says unequivocally that the sthitha-prajna, or the being preserved in wisdom, is moved to neither excessive joy nor excessive sorrow. Krishna is understood as recommending that we must fulfill our duties, but never with an eye to being rewarded for our activities; and that whatever travails the flesh may be heir to, the soul is always immortal. Thus, truly speaking, we do not have it within our power to kill anyone, nor can we be killed by anyone; and if Arjuna should imagine that he has such power, he has failed to understand the nature of the divine. [Source: Vinay Lal, professor of history, UCLA. sscnet.ucla.edu]
“The Gita lays out several paths to emancipation: for those inclined towards activity or service to humankind through works, there is karma yoga, just as those inclined towards devotion can practice bhakti yoga. The intellectually inclined can veer towards jnana yoga, the path of knowledge and intellectual discrimination. The eleventh chapter contains some of the most celebrated verses of the Gita. As these teachings have been delivered by Krishna, who however appears in human form, and that too as as the humble charioteer of Arjuna, the Pandava prince must be brought to the realization that he is in the presence of the Lord himself. Krishna consequently reveals to Arjuna his cosmic form, and Arjuna is dazzled by the vision of the Supreme Deity.
Influence of the Bhagvad Gita
Vinay Lal, professor of history at UCLA, wrote: “ There are hundreds of commentaries on the Gita, and in modern times no great Hindu figure has failed to leave behind an interpretive work on this philosophical poem. The earliest, and still most moving, of the commentaries is the twelfth-century work by Jnaneshvar, a Marathi poet-saint, called the Jnaneshvari. From the purely literary and devotional standpoint, this work is without comparison. In the late nineteenth century, the Gita was put to different use. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, in his magisterial interpretation, the Gita-Rahasya, suggested that the Gita urges us to action. It is the devotionalism of the Hindus that, Tilak was to argue, made them incapable of defending the country against foreign invaders. [Source: Vinay Lal, professor of history, UCLA. sscnet.ucla.edu]
“Krishna's injunction to Arjuna to take up arms and perform his duty as a warrior was taken literally by the armed revolutionaries who now declared the Gita to be their indispensable bedside companion. But Mahatma Gandhi, who was inclined to view the teachings of the Gita as an allegorical representation of the conflict between knowledge and ignorance (rather than good and evil, if I may add that caveat) within each person, insisted upon the centrality of the Gita's teaching that we must perform our duties without expecting the fruits of our labor. Gandhi called the Gita the 'Gospel of Selfless Action'. Among the modern commentaries, the most notable ones, besides those by Tilak and Gandhi, are by Aurobindo, Vinoba Bhave, Vivekananda, and Ramana Maharishi. There are numerous recitations of the Gita as well, and the Gita has drawn the attention of many prominent Western writers, such as T. S. Eliot, Aldous Huxley, and Christopher Isherwood.
Chapters of the Bhagavad Gita
CHAPTER I — The Despondency of Arjuna
CHAPTER II — Devotion through Application to the Speculative Doctrines
CHAPTER III — Devotion through the Right Performance of Action
CHAPTER IV — Devotion through Spiritual Knowledge
CHAPTER V — Devotion by Means of Renunciation of Action
CHAPTER VI — Devotion by Means of Self-Restraint
CHAPTER VII — Devotion by Means of Spiritual Discernment
CHAPTER VIII — Devotion to the Omnipresent Spirit Names as Om
CHAPTER IX — Devotion by Means of the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery
CHAPTER X — Devotion by Means of the Universal Divine Perfections
CHAPTER XI — The Vision of the Divine Form as Including All Forms
CHAPTER XII — Devotion by Means of Faith
CHAPTER XIII — Devotion by Means of the Discrimination of the Kshetra from Kshetrajna
CHAPTER XIV — Devotion by Means of Separation from the Three Qualities
CHAPTER XV — Devotion through Knowledge of the Supreme Spirit
CHAPTER XVI — Devotion through Discriminating between Godlike and Demoniacal Natures
CHAPTER XVII — Devotion as Regards the Three Kinds of Faith
CHAPTER XVIII — Devotion as Regards Renunciation and Final Liberation
Passages From the Bhagavad Gita
A famous dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna — one that has been described by the Library of Congress as "one of the great jewels of world religious literature” — occurs after Krishna changes from the human form into the "universal form" before battle to inspire Arjuna to defeat an enemy which has Krishna said are "already put to death by my arrangement."
“Do the work that you have to do.
For work is better than inaction.
You cannot even keep your body alive
if you are wholly inactive...
If I did always work
Unwearying...
men would follow my ways.
The worlds would perish if I did not
work?
I should bring back chaos.
and all beings would suffer...
Cast all you acts upon me.
With your mind in the highest Soul.
Have done with craving and selfhood.
Throw off your terror, and fight!”
'Bhagavad Gita: Perform Action, Free from Attainment to its Fruits
“Perform Action, Free from Attachment to its Fruits” ('Bhagavad Gita,' III, 8-9, 19-24, 31, 35) reads:
8) Perform thou action that is (religiously) required;
For action is better than inaction.
And even the maintenance of the body for thee
Can not succced without action.
9) Except action for the purpose of worship,
This world is bound by actions;
Action for that purpose, son of Kunti,
Perform thou, free from attachment (to its fruits)
10) Therefore unattached ever
Perform action that must be done;
For performing action without attachment
Man attains the highest.
20) For only thru action, perfection
Attained janaka and others.
Also for the mere control of the world
Having regard, thou shouldst act.
21) Whatsoever the noblest does,
Just that in every case other folk (do);
What he makes his standard,
That the world follows.
22) For Me, son of Pritha, there is nothing to be done
In the three worlds whatsoever,
Nothing unattained to be attained;
And yet I still continue in action.
23) For if I did not continue
At all in action unwearied,
My path (would) follow
Men altogether, son of Pritha.
24) These folk would perish
If I did not perform action,
And I should be an agent of confusion;
I should destroy these creatures. . . .
31) Who this My doctrine constantly
Follow, such men,
Full of faith and not murmuring,
They too are freed from (the effect of) actions
35) Better one's own duty, (tho) imperfect,
Than another's duty well performed;
Better death in (doing) one's own duty;
Another's duty brings danger.
Translation by Franklin Edgerton, Bhagavad Gita, Vol. I, Harvard Oriental Series, VOI. 38 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1944, Eliade Page website]
Krishna's Dilemma
In the famous passage below Krishna comes to the aid of Arjuna as he debates the moral contradiction involved in killing, not merely human beings, but his relatives, in order to achieve a worthy end. In the end Arjuna realizes that in some instances the end justifies the means. Soem questions to think about as you read it: 1) What is the difference between action and inaction? 2) How does action delude the mind? 3) How does Krishna's dilemma fit in with the concept of dharma? 4) Does the way one goes about getting something good allow you to do anything to get it?
The Bhagavadgita reads: “The Blessed Lord said: Just as the unwise act, being attached to their action, even so should the wise act, O Bharata, but without attachment, and only with a view to promoting the solidarity of society. One should not create any conflict in the minds of the ignorant who are attached to action. On the contrary the wise man, himself acting in accordance with the technique of the yoga of action, should induce them willingly to undertake all [prescribed] actions. [Source: Stephan Hay ed., “Sources of Indian Tradition” (Columbia UP, 1988). 281-282, Internet Archive, from CCNY]
“Actions of every kind are actually done by the dispositions of matter and, still, a person whose mind is deluded by the ego thinks: "I am the doer [of those actions]." But he, O Mighty-Armed One, who knows the truth of the distinctness of the soul from the dispositions of matter and from the actions [resulting therefrom], does not become attached [the results of actions], realizing that the dispositions operate upon the dispositions.
“Those who are deluded by the dispositions of matter become attached to the disposition and the actions [resulting from them]. One who knows the whole truth should not make such dullards, who do not know the who truth, falter [by himself renouncing all action]. Renouncing into Me all actions, with your mind fixed on the Self, and becoming free from desire and all sense of 'my-ness, " do you fight, freed from your spiritual fever. What is action? What is inaction?-as to this even the wise sages are confounded. I will expound action to you, knowing which you will be liberated from evil.
One has to realize what is action, similarly, one has to realize what is wrong action; and one has also to realize what is inaction. Inscrutable, indeed, is the way of action. He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, he is discerning among men, expert in the technique of karmayoga, the doer of the entire action [enjoined by his dharmal. He whose undertakings are all devoid of motivating desires and purposes and whose actions are consumed by the fire of knowledge - him the wise call a man of learning. Renouncing all attachment to the fruits of actions, ever content, independent-such a person even if engaged in action does not do anything whatever.
“Action alone is your concern, never at all its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let yourself be attached to inaction. Steadfast in Yoga, engage yourself in actions, Dhananjaya abandoning attachment and becoming evenminded in success and failure. Such evenmindedness is called yoga. Far inferior is mere action to action done according to the technique of karmayoga. O Dhananjaya. Seek refuge in the [right] mental attitude. Wretched are those who are motivated by the fruits of action. One who acts according to the technique of karmayoga casts off, in this world, the consequences of both his good acts and his bad acts. Therefore take to this yoga. Yoga is skill in actions.”
Jnaneshvari
Professor Lal wrote: “The Jnaneshvari is one of the greatest works of Indian devotional literature, and is still spoken of as the supreme work of Marathi literature. Jnaneshvar, after whom the work is named, lived in the thirteenth century, and is not inaccurately described as the founder of Marathi literature and language. The Jnaneshvari describes itself as a commentary (tika) on the Bhagavad Gita, and its eighteen chapters are framed around the like number of chapters of the Gita, but commentators are divided on whether it should be regarded as a work of pure devotional literature or as more expressive of the author’s advaitist sentiments. [Source: Vinay Lal, professor of history, UCLA +++]
“B. P. Bahirat has written that "Jnaneshwar gives prominence to Bhatiyoga or the path of loving devotion in Jnaneshwari" (p. 56), but Dandekar opines that "like that of Shankaracharya and other Acharyas, Dnyanadeo’s philosophy can be truly described as Vedantic philosophy . . . . Dnyanadeo advocates spiritual monism or absolutism and in the advocacy of this he is nearer to Shankara than to any other Acharya" (p. 24). If Jnaneshvar was more than anything else a bhakta, it is somewhat puzzling that the chief work authored by him should have been a commentary on the Gita, since the Gita, notwithstanding the fact that it lays down the yoga of bhakti as one of the true paths to Krishna, has seldom been the cardinal or favorite text of bhaktas or devotees. +++
“On the other hand, in common with the bhakti tradition, Jnaneshvar was alive to the fact that he was bringing sacred knowledge to the less privileged elements of society; and his choice of the Gita as the text by which to break the barrier signifies both his estimate of the importance in which the Gita was held by the orthodox and the relative simplicity of the Gita’s teachings. The essence of the Vedas, writes Jnaneshvar, is to be found in the Mahabharata, and of the latter in the Gita (J, X:29-31; cf. XV:538; XVIII:1640). The unique charm of the Gita, avers Jnaneshvar, is that he "who recites it obtains the same fruit as he who knows its meaning; to the Gita, as a mother, there is no distinction of learned and unlearned" (XVIII:1518). It is enough to be a genuine aspirant, though one may be unlearned: "Thus, O Arjuna, both those who hear the Gita and those who study it obtain the fruit of the highest joy . . . ." (XVIII:1528). The same "benefit" is derived by those who repeat the words and those who comprehend the meaning (XVIII:1662). Finally, towards the conclusion of his exposition of the Gita (XVIII:1678ff), Jnaneshvar offers a grand defense of his enterprise. He allows that Vyasa, to whom the Mahabharata is attributed, had expressed in the anushthubha meter "that which cannot be conveyed by words, so as to bring it within the understanding of women and those of low castes" (XVIII:1678); and yet even Vyasa was not bold enough: "Where even the wisdom of Vyasa and others wavered, I, a humble man, have dared to speak of these things in simple words" (XVIII:1688). A puddle reflects the sky just as the sea does; the reflection will be proportionate to the size of the body of water: similarly it is not out of place if lesser minds than those of Vyasa and others ponder over the Gita (XVIII:1695-6): "there is no reason to consider it wrong for us ordinary men to make a version of the Gita in our language" (XVIII:1699).” +++
Notes:Jnaneshvari is also spelled as Jnaneshwari in the litearture, and similarly Jnaneshvar’s name also appears as Dnyaneshwar and Dnyandeo. All citations are from the Jnaneshvari, except where indicated; citations are in the form of XVIII:1528, meaning Book 18, Verse 1528.
Jnaneshvari and the Bhagavad Gita
“Some of the best know parts of the Jnaneshvari are commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita. Professor Lal wrote: “There are numerous streams that fed into the Jnaneshvari: the ambition of the author to bring a great text of high literature to the people; to develop the Marathi language and make it into an exalted tongue; to render homage to his guru, Shri Nivrittinatha; and to engage in the interpretation of the Gita. The Jnaneshvari is, in the first instance, a commentary on the Gita, and as the Gita itself expounds on the manifold paths of liberation — action, meditation, devotion, renunciation of the fruits of action, and knowledge — so the Jnaneshvari follows suit. But as attempts to discern which of the paths enumerated in the Gita is elevated over the others have been fraught with ambiguity and uncertainty, similarly the Jnaneshvari does not prove malleable to interpretations which would affirm that Jnaneshvar was undoubtedly a bhakta or a jnani. "Thou shouldst know", Jnaneshvar’s Krishna instructs Arjuna, "that there is but one path by which I can be reached; the heart must be filled with devotion" (XI:675). But knowledge receives its due: "In the Gita the main theme is the destruction of ignorance and the fruit of it is the attainment of liberation; knowledge is the means that leads to these two"; and "only he who has found spiritual wisdom is able to reach liberation" (XI:675; XV:30). [Source: Vinay Lal, professor of history, UCLA +++]
“In the Gita the Vedas are born anew, to make good the defect, of which they are now ashamed, of their inaccessibility to all men and women: "the Gita does not consider whether men are of high or low birth but refreshes the whole world with the gift of heavenly bliss" (XVIII:1449, 1454-55). Similarly the Sanskrit Gita is reborn in the womb of the Marathi Gita so that the whole of creation, animate and inanimate, may benefit from these inspired teachings; and, in the company of "Saints devoted to the Supreme":
May the wickedness of sinners cease, may their desire for good deeds increase
and may all beings live in harmony with each other.
May the darkness of sin disappear, may this universe see the rise of
righteousness, and may the desires of all creatures be satisfied. (XVIII:1773-5)
Towards the Gita Jnaneshvar’s attitude was one of reverence; and although the Jnaneshvari represents one of the most significant attempts to bring the Gita to the common person and expand the domain of its influence, there are passages which suggest that Jnaneshvar was not free of doubt regarding the propriety and wisdom of vulgarizing the Gita’s teachings. Perhaps the orthodox view was so deeply encrusted into his being that he could not restrain from pontificating on the uselessness of entrusting the Gita into the hands of the ignorant: As crows cannot recognize the moon, so ordinary people will never be able to understand this work. As the chakora bird feeds on moonbeams, so this writing is meant only for wise men; as the ignorant can make nothing out of it, there is no need to enlarge further on the subject. (VI:29-30)
For Jnaneshvar the Gita remained the most indispensable of all the scriptures, the only one that with unquestionable authority fully expounds the method of attaining liberation (XVIII:1224): "When the eastern sky is illuminated by the rising sun, all other directions are aglow with light; so the Gita, the highest of all, gives support to all other scriptures" (XVIII:1220). The Gita, he often says, is like a mother who suckles her young and lulls them to sleep — here the sleep of final absorption in the spirit (cf. XII:7). It is the metaphor of the mother with her child which suggests how finally the Jnaneshvari is to be judged in relation to the Bhagavad Gita. Almost at the very end of his exposition, Jnaneshvar exclaims that "the Gita is like a trusting mother" from whom he "as a child has wandered away." The devotion of the guru has "brought mother and child together again", he quickly adds; and though the infant, Jnaneshvar, is back at its mother’s breast, at the threshold of the home of the Gita, "the wandering away" has been just as, if not more, momentous (XVIII:1761). The Jnaneshvari — a work sublime in its tone, pure in its feeling, exquisitely rich in its metaphors, similes, and analogies, lofty in its flights, and evocative of a saint so gentle that not a single blade of grass would feel the burden of his tread — invites us to run away, like the errant child, from our mother once in a while.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Internet Indian History Sourcebook sourcebooks.fordham.edu “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “Encyclopedia of the World's Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); “Encyclopedia of the World Cultures: Volume 3 South Asia” edited by David Levinson (G.K. Hall & Company, New York, 1994); “The Creators” by Daniel Boorstin; “A Guide to Angkor: an Introduction to the Temples” by Dawn Rooney (Asia Book) for Information on temples and architecture. National Geographic, the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Times of London, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton's Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated September 2020