Why Study theGita? by Swami Dayananda Saraswati

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Greetings:

 

This beautiful essay by Swami Dayananda Saraswati is an introduction to the Gita

Study Course conducted by Arsha Vidya Gurukulam. The list has got permission to

post Swamiji's commentories and we are all grateful to Arsha Vidya Gurukulam for

sharing the Gita Study materials for the Satsang. This essay will definitely

motivate all of us to pursue the Gita Study with dedication and determination.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

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Why Study the Gita? by Swami Dayananda Saraswati

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Gita-sugita kartavya kim anyaih sastra vistaraih

Praising the Bhagavadgita, this verse says that the Gita has to be studied well,

gita-sugita kartavya; what will you gain by studying other books in detail, kim

anyaih sastra vistaraih? This verse presents the Gita as a book to be studied,

a book containing everything that has to know through the scriptures [Vedas].

It doesn't belittle the efficay or the necessity of studying other scriptual

books; it only points out that the study of the Gita amounts to the study of

other scriptures.

 

The source books of the spiritual wisdom [of India] are the four Vedas,

rig-veda, yajur-veda, sama-veda, and atharva-veda. The vedas are fulfilled in

the last portion called Vedanta or Upanishads. Another famous Sanskrit verse

likens these Upanishads to a cow and the Gita becomes the cow's milk:

sarvapanisadogavah, dogha gopala-mandanah parthovatsah sudhibhokta dughdham

gitamrtam mahat. The Gita, the milk, is miled by Lord Krishna himself, who is

presented as an avatar of the Lord in the Mahabharata and in the Bhagavata. He

is the one who is teaching the Gita to Arjuna. Arjuna serves asthe calf to whom

the milk, the message of the Gita, is given.

 

What Constitutes a Scripture?

 

A scripture is something that has a message with a lasting, universal value.

What is relevant now, may not be relevant later; nor may it have been relevant

before. A scripture's message should be relevant to me as an individual and to

you; it should be relevant to anyone at any time and place. Only when a message

addresses certain problems that are always there for a human deing does it have

lasting relevance. Because the vedas and the Gita have that kind of a message,

they are a scripture.

 

The Gita Contains Two Main topics

The Gita is recognized and highly respected by the scholars and the devoted lay

public in India because of its two main topics: yoga-sastra and brahma-vidya.

Together they form the body of knowledge which is very important for every

individual.

 

Yoga-sastra

The knowledge meant to make a person mature as an individual is called

yoga-sastra. A mature individual is one who is free from conflicts, fear,

agitation, guilt, and hurt.

 

Brahma-vidya

Brahma-vidya is knowledge of the whole, the knowledge that liberates a person.

A pperson who has become mature by yoga has something more to accomplish - total

freedom, generally called moksha. To know Brahman is to know the truth of

oneself as the whole, as complete. The discovery of thsi fact frees you from

all sense of limitation and isolation.

So the first message of the Gita, yoga-sastra, helps you to gain maturity as a

person, as an individual. It helps one to become relatively composed, tanquail,

alert and free - in short, a cheerful person. You are then fit to gain

brahma-visya, knowledge that you are the whole, knowledge that frees you from

the notion of being a small, limited, mortal being. These two topics of the

Gita, which form the very essence of all four Vedas, make the Gita a scripture

with a message that is relevant for everyone.

 

The Context of the Gita

The Gita itself is set in a battlefield, not in the Himalayas, or in a forest.

Arjuna is face-to-face with a problem born of conflict between his familial

affections and the call of duty. On one side, it seems to be necessary for him

to perform his duty, which was to fight the war. Then, there is another equally

powerful pull - his affection for his family and teachers and his own self

respect, which conflict with the concept of duty. Caught betwen the horns of

duty and affection, Arjuna is confused as he stands between the two forces on

the battlefield.

 

The battle has been declared because Duryodhana has usurped the kingdom. The

rightful rulers were the Pandavas, Arjuna and his four brothers, who had been in

exile for thriteen years. When they returned to claim the kingdom back as it

was promised, Dhuryodhana who had enjoyed absolute power didn't want to give up

the kingdom.

 

The Pandavas had tried to avoid a war by asking Krishna to act as a mediator.

Krishna went to Duryodhana to work out a solution as that both parties would be

happy. Duryodhana wouldn't give the kingdom back nor een share the kingdom

with the Pandavas. He would not give a district, acounty, avillage with five

houses, nor a house with five rooms; not even a square inch of land would he

give. He said, "let them either go back into the forest or meet me in the

battlefield." Thus, Krishna's attempt to negotiate had failed and there was no

way of avoiding war. Arjuna and his brothers were supposed to be the rulers;

Duryodhana, their cousin, was occupying the kingdom improperly. Arjuna, who was

considered the greatest archer of the time, was now called upon to fight to

uphold the dharma.

 

Given this situation, the Gita opens. Arjuna is seated in a chariot driven by

Lord Krisna and drawn by white horses. He has been waiting for thsi day to

settle his account with Duryodhana. Duryodhana had wronged him in a number of

incidents throughout hislife, but he could do nothing. Now the day has come.

Arjuna is a flame of fury and he wants to know, "In this battlefiled, who are

the people with whom I should fight?" He asks Krishna to place the chariot

between the two forces.

 

Arjuna's Conflict

 

When Arjuna looked, he found highly respected people like Drona, his own

teacher, Bhishma, his grandfather, and many relatives and acquaintances with

whom he has to fight. He said, "What is the use of fighting all these people?

Without killing them, I'm not going to get the kingdom back. And what is the

use of getting the kingdom back by destroying the people in whose company I

would be happy?" Arjuna saw that in war nobody ia a winner. "I don't care for

the kingdom nor I am interested in royal comforts.. I don't see anything to be

gained by the war. I see a black, dark future; therefore, I'm not interested in

this fight." Arjuna gave up his bow and arrows. Then, Krishna spoke to Arjuna

to enthuse him, urging him to do his duty.

 

Arjuna becomes a Sisya

While caught between the call of duty and his emotions, Arjuna begins to

appreciate a fundamental problem, the problem of a human being. That problem

takes posession of his mind and he wants to find a solution. Finding a teacher

in Lord Krishna, he presents himself to Krishna as a Sisya, disciple. Arjuna

was always a devotee, but not a sisya; he finds himself a sisya on the

battlefield. Lord Krishna accespts Arjuna as a disciple and teaches him in the

succeeding 17 chapers of the Gita.

Throughout the Gita the yoga-sastra is given; telling one the ways and means to

be a mature person free from conflicts, fear, hurt, and guilt. Along with the

yoga message is the brahma-vidya, knowledge ofthe reality of yourself being the

essence of everything, your being the whole. The Gta has all that is to be

learned from the four Vedas, which are a vast lierature. Therefore, the Gita

has to be studied, and if it is understood well, everything is well understood.

 

Source:http://www.arshavidya.org/programs/WhyStudyGita.htm