BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:1

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:1

 

sri-bhagavan uvaca

imam vivasvate yogam

proktavan aham avyayam

vivasvan manave praha

manur iksvakave 'bravit

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

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 Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, 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 of all planets.

beginning from the sun planet. The kings of all planets are especially

meant for the protection of the inhabitants, and therefore the royal

order should understand the science of Bhagavad-gita in order to be

able to rule the citizens and protect them from 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 (5.52) 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 millennium known as Treta-yuga 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

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

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.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.