The best commentary on Bhagavad Geeta is Sri Krishna Himself

The best commentary on Bhagavad Geeta is Sri Krishna Himself

Among this multiplicity of commentaries, is there not the possibility of a student getting stranded as in a forest? As they run into hundreds, which of them is to be accepted and which, rejected? This is a question that may well baffle a novice. The sunrise has a beauty and charm of its own and it can be extolled variously by various branches of science. Astronomy, astrology, medical science, natural science, mathematics, meteorology, biology and several other sciences are capable of viewing this phenomenon, each from its own angle of vision. The sun is the one source of inspiration to all these viewpoints. As the same rising sun provides scope for being variously viewed, so does the Bhagavad Gita allow itself to be commented on, in varieties of ways. It gives inspiration to innumerable cults and creeds; and at the same time it is supremely above them all. A point may now be stated which goes to proclaim the glory of the Gita in an effective manner. There is a commentary which may be claimed to have been the fore-runner of the Gita itself. We may go a step further in our pronouncement and make bold to say that the life of Krishna is the grand source out of which the Gita has emerged. The life that Sri Krishna lived is the most sublime embodiment of Vedantic principles. The greatest contribution that an Incarnation of God makes to the world is His life and career. He is necessarily a man with a message. His deeds and exploits, even more than His utterances deliver that message in unmistakable terms. Through the force of His character He exerts an abiding influence on those who come in contact with Him. His demeanour under varying circumstances teaches humanity more eloquently than His declamation, if any. But Sri Krishna did speak on quite a few occasions. The best among His discourses is of course the Gita on the battle-field. But the contents of this talk were constantly demonstrated in His career. He preached nothing but what He put into practice all through His life. Therefore the greatest ‘commentary’ on the Gita is the life of its author.

The first and foremost of His mandates to Arjuna was—Ksudram hrdaya daurbalyam tyaktyottistha paramtapa—‘‘Rise, O hero, casting off your petty faint-heartedness.” More significant than this mandate was Madhusudana’s remaining firm as a rock under many a catastrophic circumstance. His action proved itself more effective than his words. Feebleness found no more quarter in his mind than darkness finds in the sun. He exhorted Arjuna to heroic action, and he was himself an embodiment of superhuman achievements. Parthasarathi that He was, He put it to His disciple to pour forth love in abundance to all. And for His part He was Love incarnate. “A champion of righteousness makes no distinction between friend and foe” was the statement made by Sri Krishna. He proved himself an embodiment of that teaching. He behaved in the manner in which fire does. It burns them who ill contact it and serves them who handle it properly. A righteous man’s concern is to uphold virtue and to wipe out its opposite. This was the very act that was found exemplified in Govinda’s earthly career. “Nature is the embodiment of activity; Atman, the Substratum behind it, is unaffected by action”. This is one of the cardinal teachings of Sri Krishna. This principle stood supremely illustrated in the Teacher himself. All the other characters in the epic of the Mahabharata rolled into one did not do a quarter of the work that Sri Krishna did. While the physical aspect of his was engaged in such intense activity, the Pure Consciousness of the Great Self in Him was ever established in Its Sublimity. Unlike an ordinary mortal he never wept or shed tears. There was nothing in the world to cause him any disappointment. No event did ever spring a surprise on him. Care and anxiety could no more find quarter in him than mist in the solar blaze. He was ever established in the beaming bliss of Self Perfection. Limited as the human intellect is, it cannot fully comprehend the core of Sri Krishna’s Personality. But to the extent to which one understands Krishna, one understands the Gita as well. The best commentary on the Gita, therefore, is Sri Krishna Himself. As time and disposition permit, a student may read any number of commentaries. But their merit can be rightly measured only with the yardstick of the spiritual glory of Sri Krishna.

Source: Srimad Bhagavad Geeta-Commentary by Swami Chidbhavananda