Overview of the gItA - Krishna's five arguments and five teachings

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

Prof. K. has masterfully argued for 5 injunctions. If we are to

accept the Law of Parsimony, we need only 2! These are the first 2 mantras

of Isavasya Upanishad.

 

ishaavaasyam idam sarvam.....

 

kurvanneveha karmaaNi.....

 

 

These are the 'dvividhaa nishhThaa' Krishna has elaborated on. The

nishhTha[devotion, discipline] has to be commensurate with the 'adhikaara'

[stage of readiness] of the aspirant. Hence the step-ladder of yoga, bhakti,

&c. have been brought in.

 

Prof. Ranade, in his book "The Bhagavadgita as a Philosophy of

Self-Realisation"[bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 3rd ed. 1982] has forcefully

marshalled the evidence (from Gita, Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, and Yoga

sutras,) that the Summum Bonum according to the Gita is the Sublime Vision

of God.

 

Far from Krishna not having an obligation to enlighten everybody, He Himself

says He will assume the Teacher's role as often as being called upon to!

 

It is in that very spirit of Katha Upanishad:

 

uttishhThata jaagrata praapya varaan nibodhata

[Arise, awake, seek the wisdom of the sages.]

 

that Gita's relevance is eternal.

 

 

Regards,

 

s.

 

 

 

>"V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk

>advaitin

>advaitin

> Overview of the gItA - Krishna's five arguments and

>five teachings

>Tue, 7 Mar 2000 02:31:49 -0800 (PST)

But then we should remember that

>Krishna has no obligation to oblige poor

>Krishnamurthys like this writer, who is only

>catching at straws and picking pebbles on the

>shore of the Ocean that is the gItA!

 

____

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[Guest guest]

At the point of entry into Verse No.11 of the 2nd

chapter, which is where Krishna's discourse

starts, it may be worthwhile to keep an overview

of the gItA before us. I have attempted one

below.

Krishna is confronted with the problem of

bringing Arjuna back on the track. The problem is

not just to make Arjuna fight. It is to bring him

back to his normal senses where he would not be

clouded by false compassion and pity. The Lord

has to make him see what his own dharma is at

this deciding moment of his life. The Lord first

attempts to put some common sense into Arjuna but

the latter is adamant. And that is where (Slooka

11) He starts his sermon. At the end of the 18th

chapter Arjuna says that he has got over his

delusion now and now he will carry out His words!

The various arguments that Krishna advances (in

the 17 chapters) to dispel the confusion of

Arjuna can be classified as follows:

1. The most fundamental one is the philosophical

argument: Nothing is permanent in this ephemeral

world. The only permanent thing is the Self that

is untouched and uncontaminated by anything that

happens to the non-Self.

2. The sva-dharma argument - based on the duties

one's varNa and Asrama. Though this is mentioned

very early in the 2nd chapter itself, Krishna

makes a real issue of it only in the 18th chapter

where he links it up with his 3rd argument.

3. The argument of Detached Action, as a

karma-yogi. This is the topic of elaboration all

through several chapters - from the middle of the

2nd to the end of the 6th.

4. The argument of Faith. There is not a leaf

that moves in this world without the sanction of

the Lord of the world and so let no man think

that he is the doer. This argument runs through

several chapters - from the 7th to the 15th -

supported by all the metaphysical realities that

Krishna chooses to bring in. Among these

technicalities, there is one that sprouts forth,

even as early as the third chapter; and that is

his fifth argument.

5. The prakRti argument. It is really the prakRti

that is the doer of everything. The relationship

between this argument and the earlier one that

the Lord is the Prime Mover of everything is

sorted out elaborately in the 13th, 15th and 18th

chapters.

These five major arguments are unified and

crystallised in the 18th chapter and brought to a

consummation in the carama Sloka (verse no.66) of

that chapter.

But hold! Is that all that the gItA contains?

What is it that makes it relevant even now? What

exactly does Krishna expect us to learn from his

long sermon to Arjuna? In what sense does it

transcend the context of the mahA-bhArata and

remain of great value to us today? What are

Krishna's teachings to us, as contained in the

gItA? Yes, these teachings (to be distinguished

from the arguments listed above) also can be

classified and capsuled under five heads as

follows:

A. nishkAma-sva-dharma-AcaraNaM . Doing one's

duty without any attachment to either the rewards

thereof or to the act itself in terms of

doership.

B. advaita-bhAvanA-sahita bhakti. Dedication and

Devotion to the Supreme with an awareness of the

ultimate non-duality of the Supreme.

C. sama-dRshTi through brahma-bhAvanA. An

equanimous view of the universe gained by a

constant awareness of the omnipresence and

immanence of brahman.

D. indriya-nigrahaM and yoga-sAdhanA. The senses

to be put in their place and deliberate efforts

to be consistently made to transcend the senses

as well as to rid oneself of all attachment.

E. SaraNAgati. The principle of surrender to the

divine of everything that one calls one's own and

living up to that surrender.

 

That these are the only five injunctions of the

Lord to mankind and that these cover everything

else said in the gItA, is confirmed by the Lord

Himself summarising the entire gItA in a nutshell

at the end of the eleventh chapter, after He

gives Arjuna a vision of His cosmic form. The

last verse (55th) of the eleventh chapter says:

Do your actions for My sake; Have Me as your

ultimate refuge; Be My devotee; Be rid of all

attachment; Have no hate towards anything or any

one. Then you shall reach Me. Adi Sankara refers

to this verse as the summum bonum of the entire

teaching in the gItA scripture.

 

It will be a most educative exercise, as we go

through the gItA, to attempt to pigeon-hole each

verse of the gItA into one of the five arguments

or the five teachings above. Very often the same

verse may fall into more than one of these ten

pigeon-holes. But then we should remember that

Krishna has no obligation to oblige poor

Krishnamurthys like this writer, who is only

catching at straws and picking pebbles on the

shore of the Ocean that is the gItA!

 

In His elaboration of Messages A to E and in

the doling out of the arguments 1 to 5, There are

exactly three occasions, however, when Krishna

caps His teaching as 'secret of secrets'

(guhya-tamaM). Once in the ninth (Verse 9 - 1),

once in the fifteenth (Verse 15 - 20), and once

in the eighteenth (18 - 64). These three

'secrets' contain deep philosophical and

metaphysical truths which serve as foundational

truths and they are needed to complete the theory

enunciated collectively by his five arguments to

Arjuna and five teachings to humanity.

 

praNAms to all advaitins.

profvk

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

The simplified URL of my website on Science and Spirituality is

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can also access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice from the same address.

 

 

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