Bhagawad Gita - Introduction (1)

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"Introductory couplet to Bhagawad Gita" -

(Translation of jagadguru Sri Adishankara's commentary)

 

Narayana is beyond the Unmanifest (Prakriti); the Cosmic Egg is born of the

Unmanifest. Within the Cosmic Egg are these worlds as also the earth with

its

seven isles.

 

Translation of the exposition on the introductory couplet

 

1. Having created the cosmos and seeking to ensure its existence, the

Lord

brought forth in the beginning the Progenitors Marici and the rest. Then he

imparted to them the Vedic Law of Works. Later, bringing forth others like

Sanaka and Sanandana, He imparted to them the Law of Cessation of Works,

marked

by knowledge and detachment. Indeed, the Vedic Law making for the world's

stability is two-fold: (i) embracing works; (ii) embracing cessation. The

Law

of Righteousness is what directly promotes prosperity adn emancipation of

living

beings. It is cultivated in the pursuit of progress by classes of men, set

in

different stations of life. Due to the lapse of long periods of time, the

practitioners of the Law of Righteousness came to be dominated by cravings.

Then lawlessness, arising from the decline of discriminative knowledge,

overcame

righteousness and became dominant. Therefore, with a view to ensuring the

well-

being of the world, the primal and all-pervading Agent, celebrated as

Narayana,

is held to have been born of Vasudeva from Devaki's womb by an aspect of

Himself

as Krsna in order to safeguard the spiritual power in the world or the state

of

Brahmanhood. Once the dominance of spirituality is assured, the survival of

the

Vedic Law of Righteousness is guaranteed; for, on it depends the

multiplicity of

the human classes and life-stations.

 

2. The Lord is in eternal possession of Knowledge, Lordliness, Executive

Power, Strength, Energy and Splendour. He has under His control His all-

pervasive Maya (Illusive Power) or Material Nature, whose essence is the

three

constituents. Thus, though unborn, immutable, Lord of beings, and, in

essence,

eternally pure, conscious and free, He appears, by virtue of His Maya, to be

embodied and born as man, for ensuring the welfare of the world. Though He

has

no private end of His own to promote, in order to further the well-being of

all

living beings, He imparted to Arjuna, submerged in a sea of grief and

delusion,

the two-fold Vedic Law of Righteousness; for, when espoused and practised by

men

rich in excellences, it is bound to flourish. The Vedic Dharma, as it was

imparted by the Lrod, has been set forth by the omniscient and venerable

Vedavyasa in 700 verses, celebrated as the Gita.

 

3. This science of the Gita is the quintessence of all that goes under

the

name of the Vedas, but its sense is difficult to grasp. Many have striven

to

elucidate its words, their imports, and their totality as as reasoned

treatise.

Men in general, however, have got it as a mass of self-contradictory ideas.

Noting this predicament, I shall set forth its contents, briefly explicating

the

text with due discrimination.

 

4. Succinctly, the purpose of the science of the Gita is to set forth the

summum bonum,

which consists in the total cessation of the transmigratory life and its

causes.

This is brought about by the Law of implementation of Self-Knoweldge,

preceded

by the renunciation of all works. Pointing to this sense of the Gita-the

Law of

Life which it inculcates-the Lord Himself has declared: "This Dharma is

indeed

adequate to lead one to the Status of Brahman." (Mahabharatha, Aswamedha

Parva,

16.12). The same context says: "Neither pursuing Dharma nor Adharma,

neither

good nor evil" (Mahabharatha, Aswamedha Parva, 19.7);

'Whoever is quiescent, firmly seated, silent, not thinking any thought"

(Mahabharatha, Aswamedha Parva, 19.1); also, "Knowledge marked by

renunciation"

(Mahabharatha, Aswamedha Parva, 43.25). In the Gita itself, at the end,

Arjuna

is bidden: "Giving up all disciplines, seek refuge in Me alone" (Bhagavad

Gita,

18.66).

 

5. Teh Vedic Law of Works, promoting prosperity in the world, and

enjoined on

the classes and life-stations, promotes the purification of the mind when it

is

observed with a sense of dedication to God and without expectation of

rewards;

though normally i.e. when done with desire for fruits, it leads its

practitioners to the higher stations of heavenly beings and so forth. It

also,

indirectly, subserves the attainment of emancipation (when performed without

desire for fruits), since such work purifies the mind and the purified mind

becomes fit for practising the discipline of knowledge which, in due course,

generates the liberating knowledge itself. Keeping this idea in mine, the

Lord

declares in Bhagavad Gita 5.10 & 5.11:

"The Yogins work without attachment for purifying the mind".

 

6. The science of the Gita, thus elucidating especially the two-fold law

of

the Vedas, is aimed at emancipation; also, it sets forth the ultimate Truth

that

is synonymous with Vasudeva, the content of Supreme Brahman. Hence it is

equipped with a specific goal, relation and content. Since its mastery

yields

all values of life, I am endeavouring to explicat it.