The Bhagavad-gītā

A Critical Introduction

Ithamar Theodor

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000193442
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Hinduism

This volume is a systematic and comprehensive introduction to one of the most read texts in South Asia, the Bhagavad-g?t?. The Bhagavad-g?t? is at its core a religious text, a philosophical treatise and a literary work, which has occupied an authoritative position within Hinduism for the past millennium.

This book brings together themes central to the study of the G?t?, as it is popularly known – such as the Bhagavad-g?t? 's structure, the history of its exegesis, its acceptance by different traditions within Hinduism and its national and global relevance. It highlights the richness of the G?t?'s interpretations, examines its great interpretive flexibility and at the same time offers a conceptual structure based on a traditional commentarial tradition.

With contributions from major scholars across the world, this book will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of religious studies, especially Hinduism, Indian philosophy, Asian philosophy, Indian history, literature and South Asian studies.

1
THE BHAGAVAD-GĪTĀ AND ITS CONTENTS

Ithamar Theodor

The Bhagavad-gītā is a literary and theological treatise and a foremost world classic; it has occupied both an authoritative position and a popular position in Hinduism for the past 1000 years or so. Due to its major influence, it is sometimes called the Hindu Bible or even the Indian Bible; moreover, innumerable people worldwide are able to quote it – whether in their mother language or in the original Sanskrit – as an expression of their faith or worldview. The treatise itself appears as part of the Mahābhārata,¹ the great Indian epic, and comprises a dialogue conducted between two of its heroes – the warrior Arjuna and his cousin, charioteer and friend Kṛṣṇa. Although the dialogue is rather short and does not exceed 700 verses, it is engaged with subject matters of the highest theological and philosophical order; thus, it concerns everyone who faces human existence, namely each and every human being. The epical circumstances are rather dramatic; due to a long family strife, all the world’s armies gather at the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, some supporting one family branch, the Pāṇḍavas, or the sons of Pāṇḍu, and the others supporting the Kauravas, or the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Arjuna foresees the massacre about to take place and is reluctant to direct his weapons toward his family members, friends and teachers; he desires to relinquish the war altogether and avoid fighting in these terrible circumstances. Out of his deep distress, Arjuna turns to his friend Kṛṣṇa and asks for directions that may rescue him from this severe crisis. Answering Arjuna, Kṛṣṇa speaks the Bhagavad-gītā, that might be translated somewhat roughly as the ‘Song of God’, or perhaps more precisely as the ‘Supreme Person’s Sacred Poetical Treatise’. It is likely that the Bhagavad-gītā was composed around the 4th–2nd century BCE and thus belongs roughly to the same period as that of the great Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. From a religious point of view, the Bhagavad-gītā is a Vaiṣṇava text, because it considers Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa to be the supreme lord, whereas from the philosophical point of view, the Bhagavad-gītā comprises one of the triple foundations of the Vedānta tradition,² along with the Brahmasūtras and the Upaniṣads. From the cultural and social point of view, the Bhagavad-gītā represents orthodox and mainstream Hinduism, in that it accepts the authority of the Veda and accepts the socio-religious order of four social groups called Varṇāśrama, which is at the heart of dharma.

Dharma as comprising and defining human society

The word dharma is central to Indian thought and may be translated as religion, duty, morality, justice, law and order. Dharma is not only external to the human being, but rather, it is perceived as comprising the essence or nature of everything. It aspires to place everything – not only the human being but the whole of phenomena – in its proper place. Thus, for example, the dharma of the teacher is to teach, and the dharma of the sun is to shine. Dharma aspires to establish human society on a solid moral foundation, and in this way, it defines the human being through two parameters: the personal and professional statuses. The personal status is defined through one’s relation to family life, and it is composed by dividing human life into four stages. Accordingly, one spends one’s childhood and youth as a celibate student, a brahmacārī, practicing austerity and discipline while living devoid of possessions under the direction of the guru. Along with the character building that one undergoes, one studies the spiritual traditions and develops awareness of the highest truth, named Brahman. Having concluded his training period, one enters the stage of married life, called gṛhastha, and fulfils the four aims of life: one follows dharma and contributes to the maintenance of the social order; one accumulates wealth; one satisfies one’s desires; and one eventually turns one’s attention toward mokṣa, the ideal of liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Once one’s children have grown up, one gradually returns to the more renounced mode of life practiced during youth and enters into the vānaprastha stage along with one’s spouse. Gradually, the couple becomes detached from family, social, economic and political matters and turns their attention toward more-spiritual subject matters. At the last stage of one’s life, one becomes a sannyāsī and renounces the world altogether, both internally and externally. In this stage, one meets death, and being enlightened and detached, one is able to get freed from the vicious cycle of rebirth.

The second parameter defining the human being is the professional one; here dharma defines four occupational groups that cover the entire range of occupations supporting a proper human society. The first group is that of the brāhmaṇas, who, according to the ancient Vedic metaphor, comprise the head of the social body. This is the intellectual class, comprised of teachers, priests, philosophers and intellectuals, and they are characterized by qualities such as tranquillity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religious piety. They guide and advise human society, and they do this from a distant position, without assuming political or governmental authority. The second group is that of the kṣatriyas, who, according to the Vedic metaphor, comprise the arms of the social body. This is the ruling class comprising kings, nobles, generals and administrators, and they are characterized by heroism, ardor, determination, expertise, fighting spirit, generosity and leadership. The third group is that of the vaiṣyas, or the agriculture and mercantile class; they comprise the hips of the social body and support society through establishing a firm economic foundation that is based on agriculture and trade. The fourth group, the śūdras, comprise the legs or feet of the social body, and this is the working and serving class, which includes artisans. The system itself is considered to be of a divine origin and, moreover, not be artificially enforced on human society but rather to spring from natural categories and human nature. Kṛṣṇa says that ‘the four social classes were created by me according to the divisions of the guṇas³ and modes of work’.⁴ Dharma is upheld through adhering to one’s duties, and the Bhagavad-gītā supports this principle, by advising or requesting each and every one to adhere to their duty. On this, it says, ‘Better to be deficient in following one’s own dharmic duty than to perform another’s duty well; even death while performing one’s own duty is better, for following another’s duty invites danger’.⁵ Apparently, this idea of the four varṇas, or classes, is philosophical rather than empirical.⁶

Mokṣa – the call for relinquishing the world of birth and death altogether

The ideal moral world that is aimed at by dharma is doomed to confront human reality, which is naturally less ideal, because human existence, which is full of weaknesses and faults, is somewhat different from the ideal dharmic world, which is somewhat utopian. This gap occupies a major part of the Mahābhārata, where, on the one hand, a description of people who were able to adhere to dharma despite various obstacles is given and, on the other hand, various human weaknesses that prevent one from adherence to duty are delineated. This more pessimistic view of the world leads to the understanding that human existence is ultimately doomed to suffering and that the only real solution to this problem is the relinquishment of the world altogether. This call, characterizing the Upaniṣadic literature and the Vedāntin tradition, calls on the human being to undergo a process of self-correction or self-realization and altogether relinquish the vicious cycle of birth and death called saṁsāra. Accordingly, this world, which is temporary and transient, is never to be considered one’s highest goal, as it is of lesser value than the principle or person from whom the world has emanated. Accordingly, the Bhagavad-gītā states,

Having come to me, these great souls do not again undergo rebirth into that transient abode of misery, as they have attained the highest perfection. All the worlds, up to Brahmā’s world, are subject to repeated births, but having once reached me, there is no further rebirth.⁷

This well exemplifies the Upaniṣadic idea according to which one should relinquish this world in favor of a higher, imperishable perfect and eternal state, which is the state of liberation, or mokṣa.

The tension between Dharma and Mokṣa and its reconciliation

Whereas dharma aspires for the moral upliftment of the world and the establishment of a proper and prosperous human society, the Upaniṣadic ideal is entirely different and even contradictory, in that it calls for a total relinquishment of this world, along with the helpless transmigration from one body to another that characterizes it. Moreover, the Upaniṣadic tradition calls one to transcend dharma, to go beyond morality and the quest for social order, in favor of a state of introspection and a constant thrust toward self-realization and liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The Bhagavad-gītā states that ‘for one who is delighted in the self alone and is thus self-satisfied and self-content indeed, for him – no dharmic duty exists’.⁸ It seems that the Upaniṣadic tradition is not that concerned with morality and social order; rather, it is concerned mainly with the relinquishment of this world and with self-realization. The idea that one who is established in the path of liberation is free from dharmic and moral obligations is rather extreme and no doubt exemplifies the deep gap between these two systems of thought.

The Dharma and Upaniṣadic traditions are opposed to each other on yet another cardinal question: the question of action versus knowledge. The dharma tradition carries a notable performative flavor, which may have its origins traced back to the ancient Vedic Mīmāṁsā school, whereas the Upaniṣadic tradition is different in that it emphasizes knowledge over action. Dharma aspires to organize the world through action: the brāhmaṇa teaches and sacrifices; the kṣatriya rules and protects; the vaiṣya farms and trades; and the śūdra works manually. The Upaniṣadic tradition aspires to reach the understanding or knowing of the essence of all things, which is ultimately spiritual. Moreover, it encourages the renunciation of action and of worldly involvement in favor of the attainment of real knowledge and enlightenment. Arjuna asks for clear direction on which path is to be followed: the path of action and adheren...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• List of contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Pronunciation guide
• 1 The Bhagavad-gītā and its contents
• 2 The structure of the Bhagavad-gītā
• 3 Bhagavad-gītā: its philosophy and interpretation
• 4 Śaṅkara’s deconstruction of the Bhagavad-gītā grounded in his preunderstanding
• 5 The soteriology of devotion, divine grace, and teaching: Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīvaiṣṇavas
• 6 Karma in the Bhagavad-gītā: Caitanya Vaiṣṇava views
• 7 The greatness of the Gītā, as icon and mantra
• 8 The Bhagavad-gītā and Indian nationalist movement: Tilak, Gandhi, and Aurobindo
• 9 The Gītā of the gurus: the Bhagavad-gītā since Indian independence
• 10 Arjuna and Acyuta: the import of epithets in the Bhagavad-gītā
• Index