About Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is purely a spiritual document that encompassed everything relating to human beings and life on mother earth. In nutshell… it was following teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita Hinduism… human gods like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and prophet Mohammed finally gained enlightenment in their lifetime. Belief or no belief… no human being on mother earth could gain enlightenment in present life in absence of wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is the foremost of all spiritual texts available on mother earth… the one and only one of its kind in the spiritual world.
Amongst large paraphernalia of sacred holy spiritual texts available in Hinduism… teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita sufficed for humanity to reach stage of enlightenment… stage of self realization… God realization in present life! As ordained by God Almighty… stage of enlightenment by human beings was not that easily reached. Human beings required maximum cosmic sojourn of 1.1 million manifestations for reaching stage of enlightenment… self realization… God realization that entailed an earthly travel of 12.4 million years… not a small journey indeed! Travelers of religious path… followers of rituals who thought otherwise were ignorant in matters spiritual. Such human beings never reached stage of enlightenment in their present lifetime.
One single sacred scripture… Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism… that was available for mere $.60 (Rs. 30/=) directly from Gita press, Gorakhpur, India had no parallel in mankind. This highly subsidized publication available to mankind at large is difficult to decipher as spiritual terminology demands reading in between the lines. The gist of Bhagavad Gita could never be understood literally. One must learn to read in between the lines, only then inner meaning of various sacred scriptural terms unveiled before one. I receive many queries from people world over that they had read Bhagavad Gita several times yet, inner meaning of spiritual terms evaded their understanding.
Spiritual text of Bhagavad Gita was not meant for travellers of religious path… followers of rituals! Those who were not truthful in life to the core… must ever deliberate on Bhagavad Gita ever! No matter how best they tried… sacred teachings of Bhagavad Gita always eluded them. Gems of wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita can only be understood by remaining truthful… always and ever. Not a single lapse on path of absolute truthfulness is permitted. Following path of absolute truthfulness is practising celibacy at its level best. 12 years practice of absolute celibacy finally led human beings in gaining enlightenment… self realization… God realization forever!
For an ordinary mortal… a commoner… one from masses… wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita played pivotal role in gaining absolute success in life. Following teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita… any human being world over could reach any bracket of life… even a laborer becoming a king! This is not merely a saying or a rhetoric statement but truthfully following teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita human beings finally gained everlasting success and happiness forever. The wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita was not meant for spiritual travellers alone. The teachings of Bhagavad Gita belonged to masses who desired absolute success in life.
Traveling spiritual path as dictated by Bhagavad Gita initially seemed very difficult but for human beings who possessed a fixed goal in life… assimilating teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita was not that difficult. Even Bhagavad Gita states that forming a goal early in life is very important. In absence of goal… life was like a rudderless boat going round and round in the ocean. One needs to concentrate all energies behind a particular goal. It is through practice of absolute celibacy human beings finally succeeded in transmuting sexual energy towards their only goal of life. Practice of absolute celibacy… indulging in nishkama karma was a necessity of spiritual path.
Bhagavad Gita consists of 700 shlokas verses in total. These 700 shlokas verses of Bhagavad Gita formed epitome of spirituality… also termed bible of Hinduism by many. We as human beings had not much say in matters spiritual. Why? As per Bhagavad Gita… we are primarily a spirit… a soul atman… cosmic consciousness that manifested human form… to work out its karma… remove dross impurities within! Moment karma within human beings negated to zero… one finally reached stage of enlightenment… becoming an enlightened one … a bodhi… a Jina… a Mahavira forever. In Hinduism a soul is termed atman.
To understand precepts of spirituality… indulging in sacred spiritual texts of Hinduism was mandated by God Almighty. In the Western world… apart from Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed none reached stage of enlightenment ever. Comparatively in India… hundreds if not thousands reached stage of enlightenment in their lifetime! India is the permanent domain of spirituality on mother earth. In absence of heart, human body carried no meaning. Similarly in absence of India world cultures carried no meaning. Stated in simpler words the world could not survive rigors of day-to-day life in absence of spiritual India… home to Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism… foremost of all sacred scriptures existing world over.
The teachings of Bhagavad Gita can be utilized by two distinct sects of people… spiritual and entrepreneurs! Those with a spiritual inclination can use teachings of Bhagavad Gita to reach end stage of cosmic life… 8.4 millionth manifestation… when human beings gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation moksha. Entrepreneurs… those seeking absolute success in life can greatly benefit from teachings of Bhagavad Gita. By transmuting sexual energy… these so-called entrepreneurs can reach any stage of life… manifesting destiny forever!
Inner truths of life that lay hidden from mankind can only be reached through Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! For reaching our soul atman, the spirit within… pearls of wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita were necessitated. No spiritual journey can be completed in absence of wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita. The teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita had universal appeal. Any human being world over… belonging to any religion, faith or belief can ceremoniously follow teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita. For reading Bhagavad Gita… one need not convert to Hinduism ever. Even while following ones religion… one could know all about Bhagavad Gita.
For understanding gist of Bhagavad Gita… the most important ingredient on path of pure spirituality was path of absolute truthfulness. Unless we were truthful in life… unless we indulged in niceties every second of life… we would not be successful in traveling spiritual path. It is only by remaining truthful… one could hear the sweet small inner voice of their soul atman that seemed to come from within our heart. The voice of our soul atman… the spirit within always prompted us on the right path. Guided by the voice of my soul atman every second of life… I finally realized God in 1993 at 37 years of age! This is my last manifestation on mother earth.
The doctrine of Bhagavad Gita was given to mankind by Lord Krishna in the battle of Mahabharata between Pandava and Kaurava Kings. Bhagavad Gita is all about Dharma… re-establishment of Dharma (righteousness) against all evil forces of adharma (lawlessness)! When Lord Krishna realized that war with Kaurava Kings could not be won remaining truthful all the time… he gave sermon of Bhagavad Gita to Pandava King Arjuna to win the battle as it was a fight between good and evil. No matter what the reason… Lord Krishna admonished Arjuna not to behave like a coward and fight like a king who had interest of his countrymen before self.
It was absolute faith of Pandava King Arjuna in the teachings of Lord Krishna that he finally won battle of Mahabharata above 3600 years before now. The messages of dharma, messages of love and godly forces are apparent and absolutely clear in teachings of Bhagavad Gita. The sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is not merely a spiritual precept. It truly contained everything that a worldly human being needed to know in one’s entire lifetime. For a commoner… one from masses Bhagavad Gita contained everything related to gaining absolute success in life but for a seeker of spirituality… Bhagavad Gita meant reaching stage of enlightenment in ones lifetime.
Bhagavad Gita Summary: List of related Adhyay (Chapters)
- Gita Chapter 1
The entire gist of Bhagavad Gita can be stated to be an allegory to explain fundamental, inherent explicit hidden truths of life! The fight between Pandavas and Kauravas demonstrates the ever going fight between positive and dark forces of nature.
- Gita Chapter 2
For a Brahma jnani, kaivalya jnani… essence of life always laid in indulgence in good karma, positive karma all the time! No matter what the earthly indulgence of a kaivalya jnani, Brahma jnani… one finally reached kingdom of God at the end of journey.
- Gita Chapter 3
Bhagavad Gita chapter 3 verse 1 proves beyond doubt absolute faith Arjuna expressed in capability of Lord Krishna. Although Arjuna knew clearly well that path of jnana yoga was superior to path of karma yoga still, he expressed his doubts to hear what Lord Krishna had to say in the matter.
- Gita Chapter 4
After vital teachings of jnana yoga became available to Manu… he further passed it to his son King Ikshvaku, first scion of solar dynasty. King Ikshvaku was the first who initiated godly knowledge to entire mankind. Maryada Purushottam Rama, a scion of solar dynasty… came much later.
- Gita Chapter 5
Confused over various aspects of karma, Arjuna asks Lord Krishna thus: you advise practice of karma sanyasa (renunciation from act of karma) and you also advise path of indulgence in karma yoga. According to you O Lord Krishna, both paths of karma led to God Almighty.
- Gita Chapter 6
A true sanyasi (renunciate) always indulged in requisite karma necessitated to reach God! Lord Krishna repeatedly tells Arjuna that there was never a shortcut path to God Almighty.
- Gita Chapter 10
Through Gita chapter 10 Verse 2 Lord Krishna also confirms that unless God Almighty created present cosmos… nothing would exist in cosmos. This also proved beyond doubt existence of God Almighty in cosmic system.
- Gita Chapter 11
In this verse 11.1 of Bhagavad Gita, value of absolute faith in our spiritual guide is explicitly made clear. Most travellers of spirituality always carried many doubts in their subconscious.
- Gita Chapter 12
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 12 verse 1, the definition of God, entity of God was made explicitly clear. God Almighty always was indestructible (could neither be created nor destroyed), was an apostle of truth and only truth and was termed Brahman in Hinduism.
- Gita Chapter 13
How can Lord Krishna say, God Almighty was the only truth of life! As proved by Adi Shankaracharya in his famous doctrine of Maya (veil of illusion)… other than God Almighty nothing exists in cosmos.
- Gita Chapter 14
Maharishi Ramana was one of the saints of present era who reached God in his lifetime! Path of jnana yoga, path of contemplation, path of self introspection was a vital aspect of spiritual life. Unless human beings realized what path of jnana yoga was all about… one could never reach God in one’s lifetime!
Important Teachings of Bhagavad Gita
Amongst most important teachings of Bhagavad Gita laid the fact that we are primarily cosmic consciousness… termed soul atman that manifested human form to work out its karma… remove dross impurities within. As no soul atman could purify self of its own… it always needs a body… a medium to cleanse self of dross impurities within.
The second important teaching of Bhagavad Gita whirled around the world of souls’ atmans. No sooner big bang occurred… all pure souls atmans got mired in impurities. To cleanse self of dross impurities within started cosmic life cycle of every soul atman. In its lifetime… every soul atman manifests a total of 8.4 million manifestations… that entailed an earthly sojourn of 96.4 million years. In 8.4 millionth manifestation… every soul atman finally reached cosmic end of life.
Karma played the governing role in purification of souls’ atmans. In absence of karma life carried no meaning in cosmic system. The evolution of life in cosmic system was facilitated by karma. Unless life forms including human beings indulged in karma… life would never move ahead in cosmos. Just by remaining inert human beings achieved nothing in life. We had to indulge in karma… no matter what! Karma was primarily inbuilt into every form of life.
As per Bhagavad Gita human form carried immense importance. It is only in human form every soul atman finally reached logical end of life. Human form is the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle. Human form is the highest stage of evolution in cosmic life cycle. In the human form highest stage of evolution is reaching stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) forever. Even though 70 to 80 years of human life carried no meaning in vast expanse of cosmic life still, it was only in human form every soul atman finally liberated self from cycle of birth and death forever.
Death as per Bhagavad Gita was only transient… ephemeral that facilitated movement of life from one phase of life to another. Unless death occurred in cosmic system… life simply could not evolve any further. Only after death of present body… our soul atman, the spirit within manifested another life form. In absence of death in cosmic system… the whole system would become stagnant… unworkable.
Can a human being successfully translate Bhagavad Gita… a sacred holy text as abstract as it could ever be! As many human beings… as many different interpretations of Bhagavad Gita could there be. In the circumstances… to expect a correct Bhagavad Gita translation was totally out of question. No scriptural text belonging to any religion of world could ever be translated. All the attempted translations of scriptural texts never conveyed the intended abstract meaning.
Bhakti in Hinduism was the path for reaching God in earlier times. But, in the present scientific age… path of jnana yoga (path of absolute wisdom) was necessitated for reaching God in present life. Not one but many sages and saints of different era gained enlightenment in their lifetime via path of bhakti yoga. Bhakti Hinduism demands absolute submission to God Almighty which in present times is almost impossible to achieve.
Jnana yoga of Hinduism is the path to gaining enlightenment in present life. The path of jnana yoga can only be traveled by following teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita. Path of jnana yoga is following path of jnana (wisdom) that necessitated contemplation on wisdom contained in scriptures of different religions of world.
Role of Krishna in Bhagavad Gita was that of creator. The doctrine of Bhagavad Gita was given to mankind by Lord Krishna in the battle of Mahabharata between Pandava and Kaurava Kings. The sermon of Bhagavad Gita was given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna to uphold values of dharma (righteousness) against evil forces of adharma (lawlessness). As per Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna was an avatar of his era (God manifest in human form).
Bhagavad Gita forms part of Hindu epic Mahabharata. The sermon of Bhagavad Gita was given to mankind by Lord Krishna in the historic battle of Mahabharata that was rightly termed as battle of dharma (righteousness).
Likewise bhakti yoga and jnana yoga… karma yoga also was the path to reaching God in present life. But God could not be realized through path of karma yoga alone. One had to ultimately travel path of jnana yoga to reach God. By karma yoga we meant path of nishkama karma yoga following which one offered fruits of all karma performed to God Almighty all the time. Unless we became a Nishkama Karma Yogi… we could not gain enlightenment (kaivalya jnana).
On the topic of moksha salvation… Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is absolutely clear. Human beings could reach stage of moksha salvation only by following teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita. Even man gods like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed finally gained enlightenment and then moksha salvation in their lifetime by following precepts contained in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism.
Marriage was a very sacrosanct institution and Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism fully supports it. However for traveling spiritual path it was practice of Brahmacharya Vrata (bachelorhood) that was advocated by Bhagavad Gita. While remaining in Grihastha ashram (family life) it was extremely difficult to follow spiritual principles of life. Even Swami Vivekananda, an ardent follower of spirituality remained a bachelor throughout his life.
Practice of celibacy is integral part of spiritual life… something no spiritual traveler could do without. As per Bhagavad Gita unless one practiced celibacy in totality… one could never reach stage of enlightenment ever. However, meaning of celibacy… definition of celibacy was wrongly understood by most human beings world over.
Can a religious preacher or so-called spiritual master effectively conduct Bhagavad Gita classes or impart Bhagavad Gita lessons; one who had not yet reached God… gained enlightenment in life! It was just impossible for anyone to effectively organize Bhagavad Gita classes or Bhagavad Gita lessons as teachings of Bhagavad Gita could never be understood literally.
Almost unlimited books on Bhagavad Gita are available in the market… both in print and e-form. Some are commentaries… others summaries but most books on Bhagavad Gita available in market had literal translation of scriptural text that did not get us anything in life. Such books on Gita carried no meaning in spiritual world.
The original Bhagavad Gita… the original doctrine of Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit that was given to mankind by Lord Krishna is available with Gita press, Gorakhpur, India. The original gist of Bhagavad Gita is in Sanskrit. For a knower of English one need not indulge in Sanskrit. The original Bhagavad Gita with English transliteration is available with Gita press, Gorakhpur, India.
For those who had little idea about Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism… the writer of Bhagavad Gita differs from author of Bhagavad Gita. Why? The composer and writer of Bhagavad Gita is Veda Vyasa… one who scripted Bhagavad Gita. During times of Lord Krishna… one who gave doctrine of Bhagavad Gita to mankind Lipi (the written word) was not in existence.
World over many religious people indulged in discourses on Bhagavad Gita. Those who did not understand even ABCD of spirituality… how could such people deliver discourses on Bhagavad Gita cheating gullible people world over. What after all such people gained in life… what were they trying to accomplish? As detailed in Bhagavad Gita… path of spirituality could never be traveled via path of religion… path of rituals!
God Almighty termed Brahman in Hinduism is integral part of Bhagavad Gita. In absence of Brahman… Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism carried no meaning. As per Bhagavad Gita if human beings existed… so did souls atmans, the spirit within! Existence of souls’ atmans in cosmic life cycle invariably proved existence of God Almighty (Brahman) in cosmic system
Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads (independent treatises) of Hinduism are integrally connected. Practically all Upanishads deal with mystical… philosophical concepts detailed in Bhagavad Gita. After advent of Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna… different sages and saints of different era contemplated on precepts of spirituality detailed in Bhagavad Gita resulting in compilation of Upanishads! Every Upanishad rotated around a particular spiritual topic detailing everything relating to that subject.
Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is also termed Vedanta… end of Vedas! Why? When the voluminous Vedas… the four primary Vedas (Hinduism revelations)… Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda remained incomprehensible to masses for very long periods of time… came Lord Krishna… an avatar of his era (God manifest in human form).
The concept of origin of present cosmos through big bang exists in explicit detail in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism. The sacred Bhagavad Gita exists since more than 3600 years when sermon of Gita was delivered to mankind by Lord Krishna in the battle of Mahabharata. Scientists’ world over finally concluding origination of present cosmos from big bang is not new to Hinduism.
As per Bhagavad Gita women held special status on mother earth, in the cosmic system! Unless mother earth obliged… unless women obliged… there would be no progeny on mother earth… life would become meaningless… decay and die! In absence of mother earth… no soul atman could ever manifest life. It is for this primary reason… a goddess is more respected than God. Still, the power of God Almighty (termed Brahman in Hinduism) was supreme.
As per Bhagavad Gita… mind of the whole cosmos was one. It only had two compartments… mind plus and mind minus. All positive thoughts in cosmos flowed from reservoir of mind plus… negative thoughts from reservoir of mind minus. Human beings only had a brain that worked as a receiving and transmitting station. Based on our balance of karma of the moment… we invoked both positive and negative thoughts.
Sufferings as per Bhagavad Gita resulted from indulgence in bad karma. Prompted by a bloated ego most human beings one time or other indulged in activities not conforming to our intellect. We may not desire bad of someone yet, at times… we definitely did! This indulgence results in our suffering immediately or at a later date. To avoid suffering in future… our indulgence in good karma, positive karma all the time was necessitated.
As per Bhagavad Gita… yoga and meditation meant the same. The Hinduism word for meditation is yoga which is derived from root word “yog” which in Hindi means to synthesize… to yoke… to join (spiritually). The effort of our soul atman, the spirit within to yoke with greater atman, God Almighty himself is termed yoga (meditation in English). Ever since every soul atman separated from God Almighty… it tries rejoining the same at the earliest.
The original commentary of Adi Shankaracharya on Bhagavad Gita is available in Sanskrit from Gita press, Gorakhpur, India. Anything written by Adi Shankaracharya is invaluable. Adi Shankaracharyas contribution to society in a limited life span of 32 years is overwhelming. At the young age of 15… He completed his commentary on Bhagavad Gita.
As a spiritual traveler if I were to buy Bhagavad Gita… I would go for the original copy of Bhagavad Gita… the original dictate given to mankind by Lord Krishna in the battle of Mahabharata. The original gist of Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit along with Hindi or English transliteration is available with Gita press, Gorakhpur, India at a very nominal cost… that did not cover even the basic cost of production. Most of these highly subsidized publications are priced between US $1 and US $2.
Questions on Bhagavad Gita… queries on Bhagavad Gita can only be solved in company of an enlightened one… one who is a bodhi, a Jina… which simply means knower of all. None other than an enlightened one could solve our problems relating to Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism. The teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita were sublime, abstract… beyond catch of normal intellect. Spiritual messages to be understood in totality required contemplation all the time.
If Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism were to be defined in a single word… it would simply be “Truth”. It is right to say that gist of Bhagavad Gita could only be understood by one who was totally truthful in life. Whoever in this world read Bhagavad Gita many times but could not understand the underlying meaning, that simply indicated… we were not totally truthful in life, as truthful as necessitated for understanding jnana wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – Aug 25, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Study Circle: a meeting point for people from all walks of life interested in knowing anything relating to spirituality, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and on a broad platform… life!
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