CHAPTER
5
GITA
PRASTHANAM
Among the three prasthanams--Upanishad prasthanam,
Sutra prasthanam and the Gita prasthanam -- albeit its
chronological third place, the Gita prasthanam enjoys the greatest
importance. It is venerated by almost all sections of the Hindus as
one of the most sacred religious works and a large number of
commentaries have been written on it by the adherents of different
schools of thought, each interpreting the contents of the Gita
in its own way. However all the interpretations almost uniformly
exhorted the greatness of the work.
It is remarkable that many celebrities - Eastern as well as Western
- have written commentaries on it. Mahatma Gandhi has called the Gita
" the universal mother whose door is wide open to any one
who knocks ". William von Humboldt calls it " the most
beautiful, perhaps the only true philosophical song existing in any
known tongue ".
The Gita is the essence of all the Upanishads. The puranas
personify Krishna as the milk drawer, the Upanishads as the milch
cattle and the Gita as the milch. Continuing the simile, the
puranas liken Arjuna to the tender calf and the milk consumer to
Supreme Intellect.
सर्वोपनिषदो
गाव:
दोग्धा
गोपालनन्दन:|
पार्थो
वत्स:
सुधीर्भोक्ता
दुग्धं गीतामृतं महत् ||
Though the Gita was part of the Mahabharata, it has
a uniquely independent status . Our tradition went to the extent of
saying that Vedavyasa wrote the Mahabharata to unfold the
philosophy of the Gita to jnana - seekers just as a medicine is covered with sugar to enable one to swallow it. The
Gita begins with the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna.,
and teaches practical wisdom. It paves the way for transformation
from humanity to divinity. The Gita can be treated as a very
treasure house of solutions for the problems of humanity, both
physical as well as non physical. Moreover, it is not sectarian and
does not belong to any particular outfit. Though the Bhagavadgita
preaches many philosophical concepts, its central idea is believed to
be the concept of advaita and the following sloka supports this view.
पार्थाय
प्रतिबोधितां भगवता नारायणेन
स्वयं
व्यासेन
ग्रथितां पुराणमुनिना मध्ये
महाभारतम् |
अद्वैतामृतवर्षिणीमभयदामष्टादशाध्यायिनी
मम्ब!
त्वामनुसन्दधामि
भगवद्गीते भवद्वेषिणीम्
[Taught
by the blessed Narayana Himself to Arjuna, compiled by Vyasa, the
ancien seer, and part and parcel of the
Mahabharata, Oh Mother, Oh Mahabharata, the eighteen- chapter verse
, the bestower of non-dualistic wisdom , the destroyer of the
turbulent cycle of births and deaths, I bow to thee ]
To a crestfallen Arjuna, confounded at the prospect of decimating
his near and dear ones if war brock out , Krishna comes to his rescue
. And in a highly exalted posture, he imparts the supreme
knowledge, i.e., the knowledge of self. The elements of the Gita
are well-known : Arjuna's disenchantment anticipating the battle
and its terrible fallout, knowledge of Yoga , nature of self less
action, the greatness of devotion, the characteristics of yogis the
glory of the Supreme Being, the characteristics of true disciples
and God-realized souls, Jnana and Vijnana as means of self-realizaon
and the nature of complete surrender.
Sankara's Bhashya is probably the earliest commentary
extant, although there are sporadic claims of the existence of other
commentaries. From the philosophical point of view, the Gita
represents a unique synthesis of Karma,
Bhakti and Jnana. It tries to build up a philosophy of Karma based
on Jnana which is also supported by Bhakti in a rational manner.
Here Sankara declares that liberation can be obtained through right
knowledge combined with the performance of right duties. He also
maintains that all duties are good if only they are performed in a
sort of absolute detachment. This idea approaches Advaita and
simultaneously blasts dualism. Advaita literally means non-dualism.
The identity of Jiva with Brahman is the supreme knowledge. When this
knowledge dawns, ignorance automatically quits. This is the true
sense of Advaita.
According to Sankara, liberation is not merely the absence of all
misery that arises from the illusory sense of distinction between the
self and God . It is conceived to be a state of bliss [the supreme
ananda], because Brahman is bliss and liberation is identity with
Brahman. Sankara, while interpreting the Gita, argues that though
the liberated soul, being perfect, has no ends to achieve, can
still work without any fear of future bondage. Work causes bondage
only if it is performed with attachment. But one, who has obtained
perfect knowledge and perfect satisfaction , is free from
attachment. He can work without any hope of gain and is not ,
therefore, bothered by success or failure. Sankara attaches great
importance to Nishkamakarma. For one, who has not yet
obtained perfect knowledge, such work is necessary for
self-purification, because it is not through inactivity but through
the performance of selfless action that one can gradually free
oneself from the yoke of the ego and its petty interests. Even for
one who has obtained perfect knowledge or liberation, selfless
activity is necessary for the good of those who are still in bondage.
The liberated man is the ideal of society and his life should be
worthy of emulation by the people at large. Inactivity or activity
that would mislead them should, therefore, be avoided. Social service
is not, therefore, thought by Sankara to be incompatible with the
perfect life but, rather, desirable. In his own life Sankara follows
this ideal. This ideal is also advocated by modern philosophers like
Swami Vivekananda and Lokamanya Bala Gangadhar Tilak.
COMMENTARIES IN SANSKRIT :
1.Sankaracharya's commentary on the Gita.
2. Anandagiri's commentary on the commentary of Sankaracharya.
His commentary is known as Gitabhashyavivechanam
3.Upanishadbrahmendrayogi's commentary on the Gita. His
commentary is known as Arthaprakasika.
4.Bellamkonda Ramarayakavi's commentary named
Bagavadgitabhashyarkaprakasika.
These great commentaries are highly scholarly and influenced the
later writers to a great extent Besides the above Sanskrit
commentaries composed by Telugu authors, there are some written in
Telugu proper.
Sri Krishnarjuniyam ----- Mikkili Mallikarjunakavi
Bhagavadgitasastram ----- Gopinathuni Venkatakavi
Bhagavadgitasaramu ----- Madhavayya
Andhra Bhagavadgita -----
Somayya Bhagavadgitamanjari ----- Kavuri Pattabhiramasarma
Sri Bhagavadgita ---- Bacchu Papayyasresthti.
Sri Hanumatbhagavadgita ---- K Hanumantharayasarma
Srimadbhagavadgita ---- Adipudi Somanatharao
Andhra Bhagavadgita ---- G Veeraswamy
Gitasaptasati ---- Challa Lakshmi Narayana Sastry
Gitageyamu ---- Aluri Rajeswarakavi
Gitardhasaramu ---- Nedunuri Gangadharam
Andhra Bhagavadgita ---- Pisupati Narayana Sastry
Andhra Bhagavadgita ---- Koranti Kuppuswamayya
Gitamritam ---- Vasireddy Durga Visweswara Prasad
Andhra Bhagavadgita ---- Patibanda Suryanarayanamatyudu
Gitabodhini ---- Ravulapati Bhaktaramadasu
Gitamakarandamu ---- Swamy Vidyaprakasanandagiri
Sankarabhashyatatvabodhini---- Bulusu Appanna Sastry
Telugu Gita ---- Charla Ganapathi Sastry
Prachina Bhagavadgita ---- Anubhavananda
Bhagavadgita ---- Nori Srinadhavenkata Somayaji
Gitakaumudi ---- Vidya
Sankara Bharati
Besides the part played by the traditional Mutts in propagating the
philosophy of Bhagavatgita among the masses, there are various
Ashramas which produced voluminous literature on the Gita :
The Sukabrahmasrama of Kalahasti; Vyasasrama of Erpedu and the
Chinmaya Mission and Ramakrishna Missions.
The essence of the Gita has percolated even into folklore
enabling even the illiterates to be acquainted with its fundamentals.
Periodic literary assemblies are held to search for the knowledge of
Bhagavadgita among participants attending from far and near.
These sessions have proved highly popular and, at the same time, it
is gratifying to note that, even among modern youth, there are a
surprisingly large number of individuals who are well-versed with the
Gita.
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