Gita should be studied with a Guru.

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

Patrick Kenny wrote

 

"for its teaching to come across most

clearly the Gita has to be read as epic

poetry which is to say straight through

with no commentary at all."

 

I disagree with this statement. Gita is a Pramana ( means of

knowledge) which reveals the true nature of our self (Brahma Vidya)

and it also gives us the means to prepare ourselves (Yoga Shastra) so

that we can receive this knowledge. Now if we read Gita by ourselves

there will be a tendency to only take what we are looking for in Gita

and not what Gita is revealing to us. I think this is one of the

reasons for so many books and commentaries on Gita because people

have read Gita by themselves and tried to get confirmation for their

own pet ideas rather than to try and understand what Gita reveals.

 

To understand the teaching of Gita, a Guru who knows the traditional

methodology of teaching, who knows the vision of the Vedas completely

and the one who can handle Gita as a means of knowledge is necessary.

Therefore Vedanta Shastra sholud be read only with a Guru eventhough

one might be a great Scholar in Sanskrit, Nyaya etc and one has the

capability to read the original. Then what to talk of reading

translations which introduce an entropy in the meaning of the text

due to the cultural leanings of the translator and the limitation of

the language into which the original text is translated into.

 

Although Gita is in a verse form and it might have literary merits,

it is not a poem to be read by oneself. It is treated on par with the

Upanishads, which are revealed Scriptures and an independent means of

knowledge. So Gita should be treated as a scripture and a means of

knowledge and one should have the humility to approach a traditional

teacher to know what it really wants to teach us, rather than look

for a confirmation of our preconceived notions in the Gita.

 

with love and prayers,

 

Jaishankar.