Srimad Bhagavad Gita : Q&A part I

[Guest guest]

His Holiness Sri Puttige Swamiji delivered discourses

on Srimad Bhagavad Gita in

Bay Area for seven consecutive evenings as Gita

Saptaha. I would like to post

the summary of the same in a question and answer form

in seven parts with blessings from Sri Swamiji.

 

I might have comitted mistakes in trying to convert

the discourse into this

form due to my limited knowledge and ignorance. I

request the knowledgable to correct my mistakes.

 

Best Regards,

VRP

 

--

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

Harihi OM

 

E mahImandaladoliha guru |

shrI madAchAryara mathAnuga |

rA mahA vaishnavara vishnu

pAdAbja madhukarara ||

stOmakAnamipe avaravara |

nAmagala nempElve bahuvidha |

yAma yAmangalali bodhisalemage

sanmathiya ||

[Harikathamrutasara -

Sandhi 32 - Padya 53]

 

--

Q. What is the position of Bhagavad Gita amongst all

scriptures ?

 

A. Amongst all the scriptures, Mahabharatha is the

greatest. Within that

Vishnu Sahasranama and Bhagavad Gita are the Crown

Jewels. Bhagavad Gita

is the message of Lord Sri Krishna and Lord

Vedavyasa (who is also an

incarnation of the supreme himself) to the mankind.

It is like Diamond; in

which ever direction it is seen it gives new light.

It can be viewed as

philosophy, psychology, economics, political

science, etc.

 

--

Q. Bhagavad Gita consists of 18 chapters. Any

significance of #18 ?

 

A. In some scriptures numbers are used to convey

tattvas since words fail to

communicate tattvas in an unambigious manner.

(Sometimes words can be

interpreted to mean more than one thing.) Number 18

symbolises NARAYANA

himself. So the depth of Bhagavad Gita is indicated

by it consisting of

18 chapters.

 

Also it is of interest to note that

1. There are 18 Parvas in MahaBharatha

2. Kurukshetra war lasted for 18 days

3. There are 18 Puruanas (and 18 upa-puranas)

 

--

Q. Can you give examples of other numbers and tattvas

represented by them ?

 

A. Lakshmi Devi is represented by number 17.

Soul(Jeeva) is represented by number 16.

 

Jeeva is covered by 15 fences like, Pancha

Jnanendriya, PanchaKarmendriyas

etc. Jeeva has to come out of this 15 fences and

reach Lakshmi Devi and

then Lord Narayana.

 

--

Q. Bhagavad Gita was preached by Lord Sri Krishna to

Arjuna. How is it useful to us?

 

A. Arjuna was only a Nimitta Karana; Name sake only.

In reality it is intended

for the entire mankind. It is said :

 

sarvopaniShado gaavo dogdhaa gopaala nandanaH |

paarthovatsaH sudhiirbhoktaadugdha.m mahat.h ||

 

In this verse, the Upanishads are called a cow, Sri

Krishna is the milkman,

Arjuna is the calf which induces the cow to yield

milk and the Gita is the

milk. Just as the milk is not for the calf alone,

so also the Gita which

contains the quintessence of all the Upanishadic

thoughts is not for Arjuna

alone but for the whole of mankind.

 

Fingers take the position of Jnana Mudra during

milking. So Bhagavad Gita

is also called Jnana-Ksheera. Milk is considered a

pari-poorna Aahara for

the physical body. Similarly Bhagavad Gita is

considered a pari-poorna

Aahara for the spiritual body.

 

--

Q. Arjuna was a reputed to be a great warrior even

before the war. What happened

to him all of a sudden that he wants to withdraw

from fighting this war ?

 

A. Arjuna being very proud of his strength and full of

ego asked krishna to

position his chariot between the two armies so that

he could have a view of

his adversaries. After thus positioning the

chariot, Krishna says

" You see all KURU people here " . A great

knowledgable person like Arjuna

started thinking how he can kill his own teachers,

elders and kinsmen. He was

caught in the ATTACHMENT/MOHA that he has with his

people. Hence he puts

forth arguments in favour of withdrawing from the

battle field.

 

--

 

Arjuna's argument against fighting the war :

 

He feels it is not dharma to kill his elders,

teachers and innocent people

in the process of killing the wicked.

 

He feels the war would lead to many social ills.

Each and every house has

sent its able-bodied men into this war. Most of

them would be killed and

hence the male population would diminish. The

social structure would crumble.

As such there will be a lapse of dharma.

 

Thus he narrates to Sri Krishna evils of the war

from both personal and

social angle.

 

--

 

Sri Krishna's Reply :

 

Lord Krishna just laughs after hearing Arjuna. In

whole of Bhagavad Gita

Sri Krishna has not given any direct replies to the

questions regarding

social evils arising out of war that arjuna put

forth in his argument.

But in the end Arjuna is satisfied completely.

 

Sri Krishna attacks the ROOT cause of the problem

Arjuna is having.

Sri Krishna knows that it is Arjuna's attachment to

his kith and kin that

is speaking and not his real concern about the

evils of the war. Also Sri

Krishna thinks, why did not the same question arise

in several battles that

Arjuna fought earlier ? If the disease has to be

cured, the casue should

be treated and not the symptoms. (Eg. The yellow

fever cant be cured by

applying cosmetics to the skin.)

 

--

 

Q. Why is that we should not worry about the fruits of

the action ?

 

A. karmaNyevaadhikaaraste maa faleShu kadaacana |

II-47

 

God alone is the giver of the reward, only the

perfomance of actions is

within our reach. The befitting fruits of the

action will be automatically

given by the Lord and as such there is no need to

worry about the fruits.

Fruits of any karma is like shadow, which will

follow automatically if you

do not chase it. On the other hand, if you chase

the shadow, meaning

concentrate on the phala instead of the karma, you

will never be able to

catch it.

 

Eg: If a student wastes all his time worrying if

he will get through the

exam or not instead of concentrating on his

studies, he will not be able

to get through.

 

Hence it is better if we just concentrate on doing

our karma and befitting

fruits will be given by the Lord. (without us

worrying for it)

 

--

Q. We see some good & kind people inspite of their

hard work will be struggling

to make the ends meet. On the other hand we see

some un-worthy people having

committed bad acts enjonying the comforts of

worldly life. Why isnt the law

of karma applicable in these cases.

 

A. Fruits of karma is not limited to just one life

time. Good karma done in the

previous lives would have enabled a better life in

this life time. Following

analogies will help to understand this concept

better.

 

Farmer on account of his hard work previous year

would have harvested a

bounty and need not worry for this years food.

Similarly people who worked

hard and studied during their childhood have comeup

in life and those who

neglected their studies are facing tough time now.

 

People who were rich in their previous life and did

not use their money for a

good cause will become beggers in their next life.

 

--

 

Conclusion :

Do your duty properly. Lord Krishna will reward you

with appropriate fruits.

There is not need to worry.

 

--

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

--- Raghavendra Prasanna Vasudeva <v_r_p wrote:

> ......

.......

> Q. Bhagavad Gita consists of 18 chapters. Any

> significance of #18 ?

>

 

Just few words here. Shri Bannanje Govinda Acharya has given a lecture

on this topic namely " Hadhinentara nantu " , and it is available in the

form of audio cassette set consisting of 5 cassettes. It is worth

listening to that once.

 

Shri Hari Priyatham

B.Gopalakrishna

 

 

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