Essentials of Hinduism - Bhagavad Gita

Essentials of Hinduism

Bhagavad Gita

INTRODUCTION TO GITA:

Gita, the Divine Teachings of Lord Krishna occurs in the Bheeshma Parva of the Mahabharatha. Gita comprises of eighteen (18) Chapters.

Gita, the Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Krishna to Arjuna, happened just prior to the start of Mahabharata War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Arjuna refused to go to War against his cousin brothers initially. Arjuna got shattered in his Mental Poise and lost his capacity to act with discriminination. Lord Krishna takes in hand the Neurotic Mind (relating to the nerves) of Arjuna for a Hindu treatment with the Vedic Truths. Through the Gita Teachings in the 18 Chapters, Lord Krishna changes the Mind of the initially pessimistic Arjuna (who refuses to fight against the Kauravas) and makes him a confident Arjuna (who agrees to fight the War).

If we try to digest the implications of the Gita’s advice, it will become amply clear how the everyday actions we perform without Ego and Desires will purge the Mind of its deeply rooted Impressions (Vasanas of our past lives) and Purify the Mind. To understand this important concept clearly, we need to analyze carefully step by step, how the mind functions.

Mind is man. As is the Mind, so is an Individual. If the Mind is good, the Individual is good. The Mind has two sides – the Objective Mind called in Sanskrit as Manas, and, the Subjective Mind called in Sanskrit as Buddhi. Manas gets the five Gateways of Knowledge from our five Organs – ears (sound), skin (touch), eyes (form), tongue (taste) and nose (smell) – we experience the World of Objects around us through these Sense Organs. The stimulai from these Sense Organs create impulses and reach the Manas. These impulses filter deep down to the Buddhi and – note this important action – react with the Vasanas of our past lives stored away in the subjective layer. We then express ourselves in the World outside through the five organs of action. All of us live constantly meeting a variety of experiences; and at each incident, we perceive, react with the perceived and come to act in the Outside World.

The Theory of Vedanta emphasizes the reduction of the Vasanas that is the means to volatilize (evaporate) the Mind. When I look into a mirror and do not see my face in it, it is perhaps because, the mirror has a thick layer of dust on it. When I clean the mirror, the mirror does not CREATE a reflection but it UNVEILS the reflection that was already there. In the similar manner, Man is not aware today of his Divine Spiritual Nature because his Subjective Mind or Buddhi is thickly coated with past polluted Vasanas gathered from his past births. The Yoga pointed out in the Gita is the Buddhi Yoga – it brings the Subjective and Objective Mind together into a happy marriage – the Objective Mind well disciplined to act faithfully as per the guidance of the Yoga trained Subjective Mind. The Yogin now becomes skilled in action. MORAL – Through our everyday intelligent actions, an individual can exhaust his past impressions and ultimately redeem his Subjective Mind (Buddhi) and make it more clear and crystalline. Adi Sankara has emphasized that tireless selfless activity performed with egoless ideal would ultimately result in the inner purification. In order to exhaust our Vasanas, nature provides new Body in different environment Life after Life.

The Gita clearly points out that actions are not to be avoided, but, by making use of them intelligently, we must strive selflessly to exhaust our mental dirt. It is a call by the Gita to each one of us to get up and fight the battle of our own Life, according to our own Vasanas (Swadharma), so that we may exhaust them and thus gain Inner Purity.

The eighteen Chapters of Gita consists of one Yoga for each Chapter. The Yoga name is stated at the end of each Chapter known as Sankalpa Vakya (Chapter 1). Also, the eighteen Chapters of Gita fall into three definite Sections, each of six Chapters, and they group themselves into the significances of the Sama Veda’s Mahavakya Mantra – TAT TVAM ASI – That Thou Art. The first six Chapters constitute the philosophical significance of the word “TVAM”; The second six chapters signify the word “TAT”; and, the last six chapters signify the word “ASI”.

Below are some selected Stanzas out of the total 701 Stanzas from the 18 Chapters of the Gita. These Stanzas are a good representation for each of the Chapter Titles. These will only provide an overview of the Gita Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Krishna to Arjuna. For in-depth Gita Knowledge, it is recommended for you to study a Gita Book with all the 701 Stanzas. The Gita Teachings are also meant as the Teachings for us to adopt in our Day-to-Day life in order to pursue our Path towards obtaining Moksha.

This article is a snippet from the Book Essentials of Hinduism, Authored by G.S Nilakantan. Hinduism for All is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.