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I had hoped that someone would have by now pointed out the obvious errors in
this article, but no one seems to have commented on it so far.
>
> The Essence of Bhagavad Gita: Part I - The Theme >
> Bhagavad Gita synthesizes Hindu Philosophical themes into a
> single thesis comprising eighteen chapters. Gita was compiled by Sage
> Vyaasa who was blessed by the Lord to complete this monumental task for
> the benefit of humanity. Gita is a comprehensive summary of the profound
> philosophical and spiritual ideas expressed in the Upanishads. The main
> theme of Gita is to help the human race to understand the Divinity and
> reestablish True Human Nature. The Bhagavad Gita stresses the importance
> of work obligations and the necessity for their fulfillment. The most
> important message of Gita is the assertion that actions are inevitable
> and excuses are unforgivable.
This is entirely wrong. No doubt the Gita recognizes the importance of work
obligations, but Krishna urges Arjuna to give up the thought "I am the doer"
and do his duty _without any thought to the fulfillment of the actions_.
To such a person, all action is not only forgivable, but the spiritual seeker
becomes sinless!
This is elaborated in the verses (4.19) and (5.10):
"One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of
desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages to be a worker for whom the
reactions of work have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge."
(translation by BBT, used with permission)
(5.10):
"One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto
the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is
untouched by water." (translation by BBT, used with permission)
It should also be noted that for one who has attained enlightenment (the goal
of the Gita), there is no obligation to work!
This is elaborated in Gita (3.17):
"But for one who takes pleasure in the self, whose human life is one of
self-realization, and who is satisfied in the self only, fully satiated--for
him there is no duty." (translation by BBT, used with permission)
Please note that "for the Self-realized man, there is no duty!"
In my humble opinion, the important message in the Gita is that one should
give up all attachment and strive toward Self-realization. Thus the Gita is
a means of releasing one from the bondage of karma, leading to spiritual
freedom.
[..]
> Bhagavad Gita uses a subtle dialog between the intellect and
> consciousness to educate the value and purpose of human life. The
> essence of Gita is to emphasize the importance of preparing our mind and
> soul to accept all obligations without hesitation and without expecting
> rewards. The subtle message of Gita is to point out that the world is an
> infinite dimensional matrix with a row of actors and a column of actions
> and every actor interacts with every action and vice-versa.
The Gita is no doubt very subtle, but I think you're introducing stuff that's
not in the Gita. Nowhere does Krishna say that every actor interacts with
every action.
> Gita describes the relationships between sensory perception, ego,
> human intelligence and divine intelligence. According to Gita, the
> sensory perceptions are the barriers for gaining the divine intelligence.
> Ego is the byproduct of sensory perception. Ego distracts human
> intelligence to lose its discriminating power. Consequently the intellect
> misidentifies SELF by body, mind and intellect.
This is too confusing. The intellect does no such thing.
According to the advaita Vedanta, the SELF identifies itself (or misidentifies
as you call it) with something that is not the SELF. For example, it is in the
human tendency to say things like "I am fair" or "I am fat" thus superimposing
the color of the skin or the weight of the body on the SELF, and this
phenomenon is known as avidya (ignorance). When avidya is removed, one attains
Self-realization.
[..]
> Sthitaprajna perceives the world without conflicts and sorrows
> and accepts the world as it is! For such persons the world is always
> perfect and they always recognize that should be prepared to change their
> attitude according to the needs of the world. Mahatma Gandhi once said,
> "The only change that the world needs, is you!" For a sthitaprajna like
> Gandhi, the "attitude" of the perceiver is more important than the
> perceived object. The attitude determines the outcome, those with
> positive mental attitudes succeed and those with negative mental
> attitudes become miserable and fail. Successful lawyers, doctors,
> political leaders and corporate executives know this secret mantra for
> success. Gita implicitly advises that we should develop positive mental
> attitude and keep our eyes, ears and mind completely open by negating all
> preconceived notions.
Please do not misconstrue the message of the Gita to be a formula for success
in the world of karma. Rather, the Gita asks man not to be perturbed by success
or failure! The Gita cannot make one a successful lawyer, doctor, political
leader or corporate executive. Rather, it can make one understand that the real
SELF is _not_ a lawyer, doctor, political leader or corporate executive!
> Every verse in Gita contains a compelling message and certain
> message is often repeated to highlight a theme or to display its
> significance. Divinity is beyond time and humanity is ever bounded by
> time! As a human, I have the privilege to make mistakes and let me use
> my limited intelligence to choose a selective group of few verses for the
> discussion. I will try my level best to keep the discussion of the
> verses to the bare minimum. Readers can get more extensive commentaries
> from references at the end.
I didn't notice any references at the end, but IMHO, the commentary on the
Gita by Shankara, translated by Krishna Warrier presents the perspective of
advaitins on the Gita.
[..]
> P.S. Please give me a couple of weeks to present part II. Till
> then, I am looking forward to your comments and further insights.
> --
>
I'm waiting for the next part, but please correct the mistakes in this part.
Regards,
Kartik
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