Re:GITA..... and in human society it has been extant for two million year

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Bg 4.1 T Transcendental Knowledge

sri-bhagavan uvaca imam vivasvate yogam

proktavan aham avyayam vivasvan manave praha

manur iksvakave 'bravit

 

SYNONYMS

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; imam--this;

vivasvate--unto the sun-god; yogam--the science of one's relationship to the

Supreme; proktavan--instructed; aham--I; avyayam--imperishable;

vivasvan--Vivasvan (the sun-god's name); manave--unto the father of mankind (of

the name Vaivasvata); praha--told; manuh--the father of mankind; iksvakave--unto

King Iksvaku; abravit--said.

 

TRANSLATION

 

The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the

sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind,

and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku.

 

PURPORT

 

Herein we find the history of the Bhagavad-gita traced from a remote time

when it was delivered to the royal order, the kings of all planets. This

science is especially meant for the protection of the inhabitants, and

therefore the royal order should understand it in order to be able to rule the

citizens and protect them from the material bondage to lust. Human life is

meant for cultivation of spiritual knowledge, in eternal relationship with the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the executive heads of all states and all

planets are obliged to impart this lesson to the citizens by education, culture

and devotion. In other words, the executive heads of all states are intended to

spread the science of Krsna consciousness so that the people may take advantage

of this great science and pursue a successful path, utilizing the opportunity of

the human form of life. In this millennium, the sun-god is known as Vivasvan,

the king of the sun, which is the origin of all planets within the solar

system. In the Brahma-samhita it is stated:

 

yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam raja

samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah yasyajnaya bhramati

sambhrta-kala-cakro govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

 

"Let me worship," Lord Brahma said, "the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

Govinda [Krsna], who is the original person and under whose order the sun,

which is the king of all planets, is assuming immense power and heat. The sun

represents the eye of the Lord and traverses its orbit in obedience to His

order." The sun is the king of the planets, and the sun-god (at present of

the name Vivasvan) rules the sun planet, which is controlling all other planets

by supplying heat and light. He is rotating under the order of Krsna, and Lord

Krsna originally made Vivasvan His first disciple to understand the science of

Bhagavad-gita. The Gita is not, therefore, a speculative treatise for the

insignificant mundane scholar but is a standard book of knowledge coming down

from time immemorial. In the Mahabharata (Santi-parva 348.51-52) we can trace

out the history of the Gita as follows:

 

treta-yugadau ca tato vivasvan manave dadau manus ca loka-bhrty-artham

sutayeksvakave dadau iksvakuna ca kathito vyapya lokan avasthitah

 

"In the beginning of the Treta-yuga [millennium] this science of the

relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvan to Manu. Manu, being

the father of mankind, gave it to his son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this

earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty in which Lord Ramacandra

appeared." Therefore, Bhagavad-gita existed in the human society from the time

of Maharaja Iksvaku.At the present moment we have just passed through five

thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years. Before this there

was the Dvapara-yuga (800,000 years), and before that there was Treta-yuga

(1,200,000 years). Thus, some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu spoke the Bhagavad-gita

to his disciple and son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this planet earth. The age

of the current Manu is calculated to last some 305,300,000 years, of which

120,400,000 have passed. Accepting that before the birth of Manu, the Gita was

spoken by the Lord to His disciple, the sun-god Vivasvan, a rough estimate is

that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human society

it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the Lord again to

Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is the rough estimate of the history

of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and according to the version of the

speaker, Lord Sri Krsna. It was spoken to the sun-god Vivasvan because he is

also a ksatriya and is the father of all ksatriyas who are descendants of the

sun-god, or the surya-vamsa ksatriyas. Because Bhagavad-gita is as good as the

Vedas, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this knowledge is

apauruseya, superhuman. Since the Vedic instructions are accepted as they are,

without human interpretation, the Gita must therefore be accepted without

mundane interpretation. The mundane wranglers may speculate on the Gita in

their own ways, but that is not Bhagavad-gita as it is. Therefore,

Bhagavad-gita has to be accepted as it is, from the disciplic succession, and

it is described herein that the Lord spoke to the sun-god, the sun-god spoke to

his son Manu, and Manu spoke to his son Iksvaku.