Bhagavad Gita Introduction

The following is a translation of Bhagavad Gita discourses by Shri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma delivered in Telugu. One may readily agree that English highly lacks in vocabulary when compared to Indian languages especially when it comes to the subjects of philosophy and spirituality. One can highly benefit from reading this as it aims at bringing to light even the minutest of details in Bhagavad Gita and discuss them in an elaborate and detailed manner.


The Hindus have been identified and associated with Bhagavad Gita not only by Indians but also by the rest of the world. This reflects on the deep and intense association Bhagavad Gita has got with Hindu Culture. Such is the immense power of Bhagavad Gita that it makes the entire world identify Hindus with it. Fortunately, Hindus do not have any religious book. But Hindus do have a “Sanatana Dharma” (Dharma is often translated as "duty," "religion" or "religious duty" and yet its meaning is more profound, defying concise English translation. The word itself comes from the Sanskrit root "dhri," which means "to sustain." Another related meaning is "that which is integral to something." For example, the dharma of sugar is to be sweet and the dharma of fire to be hot. Therefore, a person's dharma consists of duties that sustain him, according to his innate characteristics. Such characteristics are both material and spiritual, generating two corresponding types of dharma. Sanatana-dharma – duties which take into account the person's spiritual (constitutional) identity as atman and are thus the same for everyone). This Sanatana Dharma has a base. वेदो अखिल धर्म मुलम् Vedo Akhila dharma mulam "The Vedas is the basis for all the Dharmas".

The pillars of this Sanatana Dharma are nothing but the Vedas. The Dharma propounded in the Vedas has been elaborately explained in various forms in what we call as Itihaasas (History) and Puranas. Then comes the Dharma Shastras. These Dharma Shastras are called Smritis. Smriti means to recollect. The Smritis recollect the essence of the Vedas. The intellectuals have categorized Itihasaas and Puranas also as Smritis. We come across a number of Smritis written by great sages like Manusmriti, Parasharasmiriti, Yagnavalkasmriti, Gautamasmriti etc. These Smritis are nothing but Dharma sastra grandhams. All that is said in Shrutis (Vedas) are recollected and presented to us by Smritis. So, these Smritis, Itihasaas, Puranas and the Vedas become the foundation pillars to our Sanatana Dharma. Many rishis and sages have explained their wisdom and science in these grandhams in an details and elaborate manner. The primary goal of all these is to propound and ascertain the transcendental truth of the Supreme Being.

In spite of having a number of scriptures, we and the world around us prioritize Bhagavad Gita high and attach special importance to it. So to identify what is so special about Bhagavad Gita, let us first try to understand what is Gita and the Gita tradition.

In Mahabharath itself, a number of Gita have been talked about. For instance Hamsa Gita, Anu Gita etc. In Bhagavatam, Kapila Gita, Uddhava Gita, Rudra Gita have been talked about. Not only in these but we have got Gitas in our Puranas also. For instance Devi Gita, Ganesh Gita, Shiva Gita etc. What we are going to discuss here under "Bhagavad Gita" is Krishna Gita which we call Bhagavad Gita. While analyzing these people have drawn many conclusions without understanding the Gita tradition. What they state is that other Gitas were composed following the Bhagavad Gita. Here arises a need to understand a tradition. The each of the four pillers of Satana Dharma have been composed with different styles or tradition. Vedas have a different tradition, Puranas have a different tradition and Kavyas(poems) have yet another. Our Dharma has reached us in three (3) forms namely Vedas, Puranas and Kavyas. The way in which Vedas convey dharma can be compared to a King’s order. That is, there is no scope for questioning it. We just have to follow what is told. As the king would do anything only for the welfare of the kingdom and the people; they have to follow all his orders. Similarly, Vedas are the orders of the Supreme Being himself, which we have to follow.

येस्व विश्वसितम् वेदाः Yeswa Vishwasitam Vedaha The breath of Narayana itself is Vedas

The same dharma that is taught in Vedas is taught by Puranas in a friendly manner and by Kavyas in a decorative manner. Therefore the same dharma is explained in an authoritative manner by Vedas, in a friendly manner by Puranas and in a decorative manner by Kavyas.

Now let us consider Puranas. The Puranam tradition is granted by Maharishi Veda Vyasa. We are bestowed not only with Puranam tradition but also with Vedas by the grace of Maharishi Veda Vyasa. Although Veda Vyasa has not composed the Vedas, he is the one who categorized them. Likewise, he has also categorized Puranas into 18 maha-puranas and 18 upa-puranas. He has also blessed us with Mahabharata, Bhagavatam and also the Bhramasutras. For all these Puranas the speaker was Suka Maharishi and the audience being Saunaka sage and others. Same is the case with Mahabharath. What we are trying to convey here is that Mahabharath is composed as per the puranic tradition. That is, the tradition in which the puranas have been composed, Mahabharata has also been composed in the same tradition. So Mahabharata should be viewed both as history and Puranam. Therefore we ought to understand the tradition first before drawing conclusions. Especially, people who write commentary on Puranas must understand this tradition. Otherwise, they may result in drawing a lot of dangerous implications. In fact, such instances have been observed in the past and even now. This is very much essential to understand the importance and significance of Bhagavad Gita as we first need to understand the background of Bhagavad Gita right from its roots.
Bhagavad Gita took take its birth in the Mahabharata. Maharishi Veda Vyasa has composed Mahabharath, and he has composed it in Puranic tradition. Mahabharata is the essence of all Dharmashataras, Vedas and puranas. It is said with respect to Mahabharata

क्रुपया मुनिना क्रुतम् Krupaya munina krutam

With the intension of letting a person understand the vedic secrets, Maharishi Vyasa has composed Mahabharata in such a manner, which otherwise would have been impossible to comprehend by the common man. So, as per the puranic tradition Bhagavad Gita forms a part of Puranam. Generally, each Puranam is based on a particular deity. Some Puranas are based on Shiviasam emphasizing on Lord Shiva, some on Vaishnavism emphasizing on Lord Vishunu and some others on Shaktism emphasizing on Lord Sakthi etc. Every Puranam has got a Gita as an integral and important part. The Gita in each of these Puranas are the words of that particular deity on which it is based on. Hence the reason why we have so many Gitas like Krishna Gita, Shiva Gita etc. Here we are discussing about Krishna Gita, which are the words of the Supreme Being in the form of Lord Krishna. Here Gita is the word common in all. So the word "Gita" can be defined as "The words which convey Bhrama Vidya or the knowledge throught which you can become one with God". Be it the words of Ganesha, Shiva, Vishunu or Krishna, it is Gita. The words spoken by Almighty God is called Gita. That is why this is called Bhagavad Gita.
Let there be any number of Gitas but the importance of Bhagavad Gita is matchless. The composite essence of all the Gitas is present in Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita was bestowed upon Arjuna by Lord Krishna, in the incarnation of Sriman Narayana; during the Kurushetra war that was fought during the dawn of Kali yuga and the end of Dwapara yuga. The specialty of Bhagavad Gita is that Sri Krishna has summarized all the existing knowledge until then in it. This made Bhagavad Gita complete, encompassing the essence of all the then prevailing knowledge. Hence it is perceived as the holy book of Bharatha vansh. To emphasize that Bhagavad Gita is not the only Hindu book all this has been discussed.
Bhagavad Gita is considered as a distinguished book in Mahabharath. To illustrate that Mahabharath has been composed in the Puranic tradition let us have a look at its very first shloka

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्।
देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयमुदीरयेत्॥
nārāyanam namaskritya naram caiva narottamam
devīm sarasvatīm caiva tato jayamudīrayet

This is the prayer shloka for all the 18 Puranas. Ignorant of this Puranic tradition some people say that as the Mahabharath starts with जय jaya (in जयमुदीरयेत् jayamudīrayet) and hence it was called Jayaitihaasam and in due course of time it became Mahabharath. But Maharishi Vyasa himself named it Mahabharath. The jaya word is not specific to Mahabharath but is prevalent in all the 18 Puranas. If we reverse जय jaya it becomes यज yaja. Yaja means yagna or to perform yagna. Hence, any thing told related to yagna becomes yaja or jaya. If a Kavya specifies yagna related dharmas and mantras that are prescribed in the Vedas, it can be called as Jaya. Anything through which a person can achieve चतुर्विध पुरुशार्धम् chaturavidha purushardam can be termed as jayam or jaya. A person is born to achieve four goals (चतुर्विध पुरुशार्धम् chaturavidha purushardam ) and that accomplishment is called जयम् Jayam or Jaya. These four goals are धर्म, अर्थ, काम, and मोक्ष (Dharma, Artha , Kaama and Moksha). Dharma as explained before means "duties that sustain us according to our intrinsic nature", Kaama means "desires", Artha means "those that is requried to fulfill one's Kaama (like money, which can be used to fulfil one's desires)", and Moksha means "becoming one with God or God realization". So, those books which define these four goals and the dharmas (duties, ways) to achieve them are called Jaya. Alternately, Jaya is defined in Anka sastram. Our tradition has a sastra called Katapayadi Sankhya Sastram. This associates numbers to alphabets. According to this sastram, Jaya equates to 18. Thus जयमुदीरयेत् which has the word जय (jaya) signifies 18. Hence “Jaya” is used both in the 18 puranas and Mahabharath. It is apt to use Jaya for puranas as there are 18 of them and also with Mahabharath as it has 18 parvas and Bhagavad Gita which forms an integral part of Mahabharath is composed of 18 adhayaas (Chapters). So does Bhagavad Gita have jayam in it? Well it has, and we shall see that soon.

The uniqueness of Bhagavad Gita which starts with Jaya, increases to manifold when we know that it forms an integral part of a larger epic Mahabharath which starts with Jaya too. Now let us look at the scenario in which Bhagavad Gita is told.

It starts with "Dhritarastra Uvacha". This is called Arjuna Vishada Yogam (the sorrow of Arjuna). It is not just some Vishada Yogam, but it is "Arjuna's” Vishada yogam. Though we say it is Arjuna's Vishada Yogam, it can be considered as vishada yogam representing our vishadam as it is nothing but the 'nara's' (jiva or soul) vishada yogam, which is depicted in the character named Arjuna. In general, we tend to be more interested in knowing what Shri Krishna spoke in the Bhagavad Gita than knowing the vishadam of Arjuna. But here we must understand that this very vishadam of Arjuna gave birth to such a great preaching of Lord Krishna. So to understand the preachings of Shri Krishna it is very much required to know the vedana (sorrow) of Arjuna.

Bhagavad Gita is being told in
मध्ये महाभरते Madhye Mahabharathe “In the heart of Mahabharath.”
by
पुरान मुनिन व्यसेन purAna muninA vyasenA “by the ancient MuniVyasa.”

Bhagavad Gita comes in Bhishma parvam. Where Sanjaya is it narrating to Dhritarastra. It is starting with धृतराष्ट्र उवाच “Dhritarastra uvacha”. In Bhishma Parvam 10 days after the starting of the war, Sanjaya is narrating the happenings. Sanjaya is blessed with a divine power to witness the entire war without actually getting involved in the war and thus not getting injured. Witness here implies not just seeing. Sanjaya is bestowed with the power to perceive each and every one’s activity in the battleground both at macro and micro levels. On the 10th day of the battle when Bhishma collapsed due to the onslaught of Arjuna, Sanjaya gives this news to Dhritarastra hearing which Dhritarastra loses consciousness. Eventually on gaining consciousness he grieves on Bhishmas collapse and requests Sanajaya to describe the complete happenings from the start of the battle.
Frankly the number of Bhashyas (Commentaries) on Bhagavad Gita is countless. One can easily put up a big library on this subject alone. We consider the bhashyam done by Shri Adi Shankara as the first comprehensive commentary on Bhagavad Gita. In his commentary Shri Shankar said, “Narayana came to this world to save it, and for its proper functioning he propounded two (2) forms of Dharma.

प्रविर्ति रुप धर्मम् Pravirti Rupa dharmam
निविर्ति रुप धर्मम् Nivirti rupa dharmam

Pravirti Rupa dharmam is characterized to suit householders. On the other hand, nivirti rupa dharmam is characterized to suit those beings who have renounced the world. When the जिवकोटी jivakoti follows the way depicted in these two forms of dharmas, they will attain the highest possible position. When this dharma was slowly deteriorating, the Paramatma took the form of Lord Krishna to revive it. As said in Bhagavad Gita,
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे॥
He not only revived this dharmam by his lilas , but also left a record of his heart for the future progeny. His leelas are documented as Bhagavatam while his teachings as Bhagavad Gita. These are the two most precious boons bestowed upon mankind by Shri Krishna. He has left a legacy of his history in the forms of Bhagavatham and Bhagavad Gita; His biography being carried by Bhagavatam and his teachings by Bhagavad Gita. Thus he carried his deeds and words to us through these two books.
Shri Krishna adorns the position of a guru in two ways. He is a teacher through his practice, as well as a teacher who preaches what to practice. Describing Lord Krishna, sages and rishis said

वचकप्रणवोयसय vachakpranavoyesya His is the one described by in Om.
क्रिडावस्तखिलन्जगत् Krida vastakhilanjaga this whole creation is his toy.
स्रुतिर् आज्ञा Sruthir agyan the Vedas are his orders.
वपुहु ज्ञानम् Vapuhu jnanam jnanam is his body.
तम् वन्दे देवकि सुतम् tam vande devaki sutam we bow to that son of devaki
Bhagavad Gita is spoken by such a great soul. Describing Bhagavad Gita, some said it is Jnana pradhan grandham, some said it is Bakthi pradharn grandham and some said it is Karma pradhan grandham. But Shri Krishna says, “let it be any thing as long as there is yogam in it.” युज्यथे अनेनितिहि योगः Yujyathe anenithi yogaha means anything that unites with the supreme god is called yogam. We should not look at Shri Krishna as a person who propounded any one yogam. Instead, we should look upon him as the सर्व योग समन्वय कर्त sarva yoga samanvaya karta “a unifier of all Yogas” .Some people have also stated that Bhagavad Gita is a scientific book. Some have written a lot about electricity concepts basing on Bhagavad Gita, while some others have written it as book related to atomic science. So, it all goes with how one perceives Bhagavad Gita.

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