Essentials of Hinduism - Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1

Essentials of Hinduism

Bhagavad Gita

Chapter 1 - Arjuna Grief

As asked by Arjuna, Krishna places the Chariot in the midst of the two Armies. Arjuna recognized in his enemy lines all the kith and kin, near and dear family members, brothers and cousins, teachers and grandsires, and almost all his acquaintances and friends. This sight, perhaps, brought to his Mind, for the first time, the full realization of the tragedies of a full scale war and he got into a state of mental grief. He desired victory. He urgently wanted the Kingdom. He anxiously expected to win pleasures for himself and his relations. But the challenging look of the mighty Kaurava forces and the great eminent warriors standing ready to fight, shattered his hopes, blasted his ambition, and undermined his self-confidence and he slowly developed the well known “Arjuna-disease,” the cure for which is the theme of the Gita.

Commentary on the above 2 partial Stanzas:

Stanza 31:

The second line is the last Stanza of Gita and ends with Mama. The first line is the first Stanza of Gita and starts with Dharma. When we put these two words together, we get Mama Dharma. In other words, the entire 701 Stanzas of the Gita are summarized as Mama Dharma. Our Life’s Dharma is stated in these 701 Stanzas of the Gita.

CHAPTER 2 - YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE:

In this Chapter, entitled “Sankhya Yoga” we get an exhaustive summary of the entire Gita. Arjuna surrenders to the Krishna influence. We have a sketch of the Yoga of Action, Bhakti Yoga and the Path of Renunciation (Sanyasa Yoga).

Stanza 11:

The Lord said to Arjuna: You have grieved for those that should not be grieved for; the wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. Bhishma and Drona are great men and Divine shines through them. To consider that Soul of Bhishma would be wounded or the Life of Drona will be ended is a delusory concept and Krishna wants Arjuna to re-evaluate the situation through his Spiritual Understanding.

Stanza 13:

Just as in this Body the embodied (Soul) passes into childhood, youth and old age, so also does the Soul pass into another Body; the firm man does not grieve at it. Krishna is trying to explain to Arjuna that wise men do not worry when they leave one Body for the purpose of taking another one. A Soul leaves its previous structure and according to the Vasanas (Mental Impressions) that it had gathered during its embodiment, it takes on a new structure to express itself completely and seek its perfect fulfillment.

Stanza 16:

The Body changes at every moment; the Mind evolves and the intellect grows; the Body, Mind and Intellect are all Unreal. The Atma inside is unborn, undying and changeless is the Real. The Real exists at all times.

Stanza 20:

The Body has six changes common to all: birth, existence, growth, decay, disease and death. However, the Atma has no birth or death; things that have a beginning alone can have an end. When the Body dies, the Atma does not die.

Stanza 33:

Dharma – every living creature has taken up its form and has come into the World for one great purpose, which is to exhaust its existing Mental Impressions (Vasanas). The bundle of Vasanas with which an individual has arrived into a particular incarnation is called his Swadharma. By not exhausting the old Vasanas, one will be living under a high Vasana- pressure when the existing tendencies are crowded out by the influx of new tendencies.

Stanza 41:

In Karma Yoga, which the Lord is now explaining, even the highest achievement of Self- Realization is possible because, the man works with one resolute determination, with a single- pointed Mind. If an individual acts consistently with a single-pointed Mind towards success, achievement must certainly result.

Stanza 47:

A real Karma Yogin is one who understands that his concern is with action alone and he has no concern with the results. The Lord’s advice is a call to Man not to waste his present moment, but to bring all the best in him and vitally live every present moment, the promise being, that the future shall take care of itself.

Stanza 55 -

He is considered a Man-of –Wisdom who has completely cast away All Desires from his mind. However, a Perfect Man is not only the one who has no Desires, but also as one who has positively come to enjoy the Bliss of the Self.

Stanza 57:

Detachment from the World outside must equally be accompanied by a growing balance in ourselves to face all challenges in Life. A perfect man of Wisdom neither feels any aversion to the sorrows nor rejoices in the joys of Life; he neither compliments anything in the World, nor comdemns anything. To him everything is wonderful.

Stanzas 62 and 63:

When a Man thinks of objects, attachment for them arises; from attachment, desire is born; when he cannot obtain the desired objects, anger arises....

From anger comes delusion (misunderstanding); from delusion loss of memory; from loss of memory the destruction of discrimination; from destruction of discrimination, he perishes.

Stanza 67:

The senses are to be controlled if Man is to live a better and more purposeful Life, designed and planned for enduring success. The mind follows the wandering senses same as the wind carries away a boat on the waters.

This is the end of Sankhya Yoga or the YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE.

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.