BHAGAVAD-GITAIntroduction, Chapters 1-3 Monday, July 22, 13 HISTORY Monday, July 22, 13 What is the Bhagavad-Gita? Eternal message of spiritual wisdom from Ancient India Often called the “song of God” Gita - “song” Bhagavad - “God” Battle of Kuruksetra, 3137 BC Monday, July 22, 13 Bhagavad-Gita? It is to be found in the Mahabharata written by the Vedavyasa. Composed of 700 Sanskrit verses contained within 18 chapters Divided into three sections of six chapters each Karma Yoga (yoga of action) Bhakti Yoga (yoga of devotion) Jnana Yoga (yoga of knowledge) Monday, July 22, 13 Srimad Bhagavad-Gita? Srimad a title of great respect reveals the essence of all spiritual knowledge What can I gain from studying it? accurate, fundamental knowing about God ultimate truth, creation, birth/death, results of action, eternal soul, liberation and its purpose, and goal of human existence Monday, July 22, 13 INTRODUCTION Monday, July 22, 13 Bhagavad-Gita religious classic a tradition which has emerged from the religious life of mankind Monday, July 22, 13 Bhagavad-Gita integrates into a comprehensive thesis the following (1) vedic cult of sacrifice (2) Upanisadic teaching of Absolute Brahman (3) Bhagavata theism (4) Samkhya dualism (5) Yoga meditation Monday, July 22, 13 Bhagavad-Gita BOTH (1) metaphysics brahmavidya or the science of reality (2) ethics Yoga-sastra or the art of union with reality Monday, July 22, 13 Metaphysics Takes up Upanisadic conception of Brahman as absolute reality and develops its theistic side by giving us a God who exceeds the infinite and the mere finite Monday, July 22, 13 Metaphysics The Supreme is at once the transcendental, the cosmic, and the individual reality. Transcendental: as the pure Self unaffected by any action or experience, detached, unconcerned Cosmic/Dynamic: supports and governs whole cosmic action Individual reality: one in all and above all but is also present in the individual Monday, July 22, 13 Metaphysics Emphasis of Supreme as the personal God who creates the perceptible world by His nature; responsible for creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe Monday, July 22, 13 Metaphysics Interested in the process of redeeming the world (God as savior of man) Krsna = Visnu aspect of the Supreme; incarnation (avatarna) or descent of the Divine into the human frame Incarnation = free fulfilment of that same movement by which the Divine plenitude freely fulfils itself and inclines toward to finite Sees the world as the scene of an active struggle between good and evil in which God is deeply interested Monday, July 22, 13 Ethics Gita as comprehensive Yoga-sastra (treatise on yoga) large, flexible, many-sided includes various phases of the self’s development and ascent into the Divine different yogas = special applications of the inner discipline which leads to the liberation of the self (union with God) a new understanding of the unity and meaning of mankind Monday, July 22, 13 Ethics 3 yogas: Karma Yoga (the yoga of action) Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of devotion) Jnana Yoga (the yoga of knowledge) Knowledge, devotion, and work are complementary both when we seek the goal and after we attain it “We may climb the mountain from different paths but the view from the summit is identical for all.” Monday, July 22, 13 CHAPTER 1 Monday, July 22, 13 Chapter 1 Divided into two parts The Question The Distress of Arjuna Monday, July 22, 13 The Question An introduction to the main story Set on the plains of Kurus, with war in the midst of all, where Samjaya tells the blind king, Dhrtarastra what happened in the battle. Duryodhana dentifies each battalion and its respective leaders, to prove their might and strength. Monday, July 22, 13 The Question Arjuna + Lord Krsna as his charioteer Arjuna commanded, just before the brink of war, that his chariot positioned in front of his men. “So that I may observe these men standing, eager for battle, with whom I have to contend in this strife of war.” Monday, July 22, 13 The Question “There saw Arjuna standing fathers and grandfathers, teachers, uncles, brothers; sons and grandsons as also companions” Arjuna felt compassion and sadness. Monday, July 22, 13 The Distress of Arjuna Talks about the sadness Arjuna felt when he saw the people fighting along with him. He says that he feels weakened when he sees his own people ready to fight. Does not long for victory, “nor kingdom nor pleasures”. Monday, July 22, 13 The Distress of Arjuna They would not be truly happy if they slay the people of Dhrtarastra “Indeed, how can we be happy, O M!dhave (Krsna), if we kill our own people?” “Why should we not have the wisdom to turn away from this sin, [...] the wrong in the destruction of family?” Monday, July 22, 13 The Distress of Arjuna Arjuna states that “In the ruin of a family, its ancient laws are destroyed: and when laws perish, the whole family yields to lawlessness. And when lawlessness prevails, ... the women of the family become corrupted, and when women are corrupted, confusion of castes arises.” Hell is the place where there is no law (“the men of the families whose laws are destroyed needs must live in hell”) Monday, July 22, 13 The Distress of Arjuna It would be better for Arjuna to be slain in battle by the people of Dhrtarastra themselves, having no resistance at all. The depression and sorrow comes from the fear of lawlessness and disorder. Unreasonable: this inaction leads to further lawlessness and disorder (not following one’s dharma) Monday, July 22, 13 CHAPTER 2 Monday, July 22, 13 Chapter 2 Entitled “Samkhya Theory and Yoga Practice” Monday, July 22, 13 Krsna’s rebuke and exhortation to be brave He doesn’t wish to fight because of sentimentality and sorrow for having to face his own blood brothers in battle, a sorrow that numbs his very senses. This highlights the importance of familial ties with blood relatives Monday, July 22, 13 Krsna’s rebuke and exhortation to be brave 2 problems: Killing his family and relatives (some of whom are teachers) Overwhelmed senses that he experiences because of sorrow, which numb them Monday, July 22, 13 Distinction between Arjuna is grieving for which one should not grieve for for “the wise do not grieve for the dead nor the living.” Krsna refers to himself (and most likely, the Self) that he never was and never ceases to be. reminiscent of reincarnaton? Monday, July 22, 13 Distinction between Samkhya Philosophy: That which is not there is no coming to be, precisely because it is not and will never be. Self (Atman) as unborn, eternal, primeval, permanent. When body is slain, the true self is not slain Therefore, one cannot ever slay this immortal self and knowing this and knowing this, one should not grieve for one cannot truly slay this self. Monday, July 22, 13 We should not grieve over what is perishable. Reality of death That every being must sooner or later fade Reincarnation: when one is born, death is certain, and when one dies, birth is also certain. Therefore, one should not grieve because one is certain about this reality. Moreover, in every perishing body, there is the indestructible self that cannot be slain. Monday, July 22, 13 Appeal to a sense of duty Krsna reasons that Arjuna must fulfill his dharma (duty) as a warrior. No greater good for a warrior than to fight in a war. to follow one’s dharma > personal conflicts Following one’s dharma will lead to moksha Monday, July 22, 13 Appeal to a sense of duty Dharma above everything for when following it, good things will follow Treating pleasure and pain (and others as well) being the same Completing one’s dharma, one will not incur sin Monday, July 22, 13 Insight of Yoga The importance of resolute understanding because it allows one to follow one clear path One should follow the insights of the yoga for in this path, no effort is wasted and no obstacle lasts Monday, July 22, 13 No wisdom for worldly- minded The undiscerning, the ones who only believe in the or carried away by the Vedas, whose nature = desire, devoted to enjoyment and power ARE NOT well- established IN THE SELF But one must TRANSCEND these, be free from dualities, fixed in purity, not obessed with acquisition but to be possessed of the self One must UNDERSTAND beyond all the worldly sensibles and not be attached to them Monday, July 22, 13 Work without concern for results Action itself is important, yet its fruits should never be the motive Be fixed in yoga to abandon attachment yoga - evenness of the mind, whatever the outcome; skill in action Discipline of intelligence > Mere action Monday, July 22, 13 Work without concern for results Yoking intelligence with divine = casts both good and evil True intelligence: being unshaken in spirit, attaining true insight Monday, July 22, 13 The characteristics of the perfect sage To be like the sage, who is stable in intelligence for the spirit is content in itself free from desires and attachment, untroubled by turbulent emotions intelligence set in wisdom, indifferent senses are under control, firm in Yoga, and intent in him Monday, July 22, 13 The characteristics of the perfect sage Attachment > Desire > Anger > Bewilderment > Loss of Memory > Destruction of Intelligence Freedom from attachment > Purity of spirit > No sorrow Intelligence is establised in the spirit, in having peace of self (happiness?) Divine state = Bliss of God Monday, July 22, 13 CHAPTER 3 Monday, July 22, 13 Chapter 3 “Karma-Yoga or the Method of Work” Arjuna asks Krsna, “Why then dost thou urge me to do this savage deed?” If understanding is better than acting/working, why even work? How can I attain the highest good? Monday, July 22, 13 Life is work. Two-fold way of life: Path of knowledge (for men of contemplation) Path of works (for men of action) “Not by abstention from work does a man attain freedom from action; nor by mere renunciation does he attain to his perfection.” Our nature to work Monday, July 22, 13 Importance of sacrifice “Do thy work as a sacrifice, becoming free from all attachment.” To be able to continue one’s work without being attached to its fruits All things are related to work Work > Sacrifice> Rain > Food > One’s Well-being Monday, July 22, 13 Importance of sacrifice “Know the origin of karma [of the nature of sacrifice] to be in Brahman, and the Brahman springs from the Imperishable. Therefore the Brahman, which comprehends all, ever centers round the sacrifice.” Monday, July 22, 13 Be satisfied in the Self A “man whose delight is in the Self alone” does not think work needs to be done. Does not concern himself as well with the fruits of his labor. Monday, July 22, 13 Set an example to others Krsna as an ultimate example No work in the three worlds that needs to be done, and yet he is engaged in work. “If I should cease to work, there worlds would fall into ruin (disorder and chaos), and I should be the creator of destroyed life and destroy these people.” “The enlightened man doing all works in a spirit of yoga should set others to act (as well).” Monday, July 22, 13 The Self is no doer When one is “bewildered by the self-sense,” and not the true Self, one would think, “I am the doer.” To remember that the modes of nature (gunas) are what makes us work. To follow Krsna is to be free from attachment. Monday, July 22, 13 Nature and duty Beings follow their onw nature. Sense-attachments and aversions follow what beings sense Better to follow one’s own laws half-baked, than to do someone else’s perfectly. Monday, July 22, 13 The enemy is desire and anger Arjuna asks: Why does man commit sin even if it is against one’s own will? craving and wrath: born out of raja guna (mode of passion) wisdom covered by desire desire deludes the embodied soul sense => mind => intelligence => Self (atman) The enemy is in the form of desire. Monday, July 22, 13 Sources The Bhagavad-Gita: Questions and Answers. Web. Jul. 18, 2013. URL: http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Articles/faq.html The Bhagavad-Gita in Pictures. Web. July 22, 2013. URL: http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/the-bhagavad-gita-in-pictures/ Lecture Notes, Textbook in Class Monday, July 22, 13