Bhagavad Geeta: An Exposition of Existence—Knowledge—Bliss

Bhagavad Geeta: An Exposition of Existence—Knowledge—Bliss

Incarnations of God as a group have made their teachings as simple as the air we breathe. Children as well as the uneducated are able to grasp their gospels with ease. Abstract principles and abstruse ideas are brought by these messengers within the ken of the common man. Any commentary on their teachings is superfluous. On the other hand commentators as a class have tried to read their own cults and creeds into the inspired utterances of the Incarnations. Intellectual sinews such as logic and disputations are required by philosophers and creed mongers. But the Messengers of God have given their spiritual food to humanity with natural ease and simplicity. Their message is to the aspiring souls what the mother’s milk is to the hungry babe. The utterances of Sri Rama, Buddha and others require no clarification or elucidation. They directly appeal to the heart and the head.

The Bhagavad Gita is also easy to understand. A faithful translation into a known language is all that is required. A devoted and repeated reading of chapter after chapter will reveal to an ordinary student all the sublime ideas contained in that sacred book. Abstruse statements are just a few, interspersed here and there; and they have no direct bearing on practical issues. They are intended merely to provide the philosophical background. The teachings of the Gita are as simple as the air we take in and at the same time as profound as the cosmos around us. It is appropriate that Samskrit serves as the medium of expression. There is preciseness as well as profundity in this language. There is elegance as well as elasticity. All the same the simplicity of its mode does not preclude philosophical subtleties. Many shades of thought get themselves expressed in a single statement. Because of its elasticity the Gita does not lose its individuality in a multiplicity of thoughts. Without undergoing any change within itself, a mirror faithfully reflects all faces presented before it. Such is also the speciality of this Gospel. It offers inspiration to all cults and creeds, points out the harmony among them, and itself remains supremely above them all.

There is another speciality in the Gita. It clarifies principles and types of personalities who embody certain principles. But this clarification is not done exhaustively at a stretch in any particular setting. Various aspects of a theme are brought to light in varieties of pattern under varying circumstances and from various points of view. As an article of food is best utilized and assimilated when prepared in different forms and combinations, spiritual disquisitions in the Gita are made quite palatable through a variety of presentations. One or two examples will drive home the point. “A Pandita or a wise man is he who mourns neither for the living nor for the dead.” This definition gives us an insight into the characteristic of such a personality. Elsewhere comes another fitting definition supplementing the previous one. ‘‘Same-sighted is the wise man towards creatures high and low.” Here our conception of the Pandita gets a little more widened. In two more places the word Pandita serves to enlarge our idea of him. If we piece these distinctions together we get a complete picture of the Pandita type of personality. Let us examine one more example — yoga.

Perhaps this word occurs most often throughout the discourse. We shall however content ourselves with two or three typical definitions of it. “Yoga is the very dexterity of work,” is a very telling statement. “Even-mindedness is yoga,” is another equally important definition. ‘‘Disentanglement from contact-born misery is known as yoga.” This is yet another statement in explanation of it. Yoga in its entirety is in this manner elucidated stage by stage.

To a superficial reader it may seem that quite a number of pet ideas are repeated in the book to the point of boredom. But a close study of the book is bound to disprove this view. Profound ideas allow themselves to be approached, applied and verified from different angles of vision. We may take the word yoga again for enquiry. In the first six chapters it connotes Karma Yoga in all of its aspects. In the course of the second six chapters it applies to Bhakti with its numerous implications. The trend of the last six chapters is towards the elucidation of Jnana through the use of the same word, yoga. The definition of yoga is capable of kaleidoscopic changes from the standpoints of action, devotion and knowledge. The principle of the ego may also be said to have various shades of meaning. Coloured by different settings it subjects itself to several readings. These multi-readings do not, however, in any manner mutilate the simplicity and directness of the terminology. They only help comprehend the meaning lucidly and in as deep a manner as possible. Now we shall take up the word Atman. In the course of the first six chapters of the book it connotes Existence. In the next six chapters this word applies to Bliss in particular, while in the last six chapters it leans towards Knowledge. When these points are borne in mind the question of repetition of the same ideas does not arise. The Gita suffers neither from extravagance nor from meagreness of statements of fact. All salient points are proportionately and exhaustively dealt with. A clear and exhaustive exposition of Existence – Knowledge – Bliss or Sat- cit -anandam is the theme of this book.

Source: Srimad Bhagavad Geeta-Commentary by Swami Chidbhavananda