The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and the mighty warrior Arjuna in the battle field. It is considered to be the crown jewel of the great epic Mahabharata. Much has been said about the greatness of the Bhagavad Gita and I choose not to go into the details of it here. Instead, I want to address some of the myths, misconceptions and mistakes about the Bhagavad Gita in the minds of some people I come across. It is very surprising and saddening when people make blatantly wrong statements about the Bhagavad Gita, that too very confidently. I wish I could correct them, but I find it awkward to talk on such topics.
1. Bhagavad Gita is not relevant for us at this age.
Some people think that since the Bhagavad Gita was expounded in the middle of the battlefield, it is not for the common man and only for those who fight with bows and arrows. And because it happened at least 5000 years ago (we are not even clear of the exact dates), the Gita is surely not for this 'information age'... duh!!
In my opinion, the Bhagavad Gita is more relevant to the present times and to the people of present age (kali yuga) since Krishna gave the teaching almost towards the end of the previous yuga (dvapara yuga). The setting is in the middle of the battle field where the one of most qualified warriors Arjuna is confronted with many questions (as most of us are) as to why he has to fight a war, what he gets out of it, etc. Arjuna says that he cannot fight the battle and wants to run away from the battlefield. Sri Krishna uses strong words in verses 2:2 and 2:3, and censures him of resorting to cowardice, saying that it is completely unbecoming of a great warrior to run away from something that he is very adept at. Most of us face such situations in our daily life and want to avoid our unpleasant duties. Sri Krishna gives the most profound teachings to Arjuna in 700 verses and hence it is to all of us who are waging this battle of day-to-day lives. We are faced with a lot of challenges and these teachings give a person the fortitude to brave those challenges.
Are the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita not relevant to us then?
2. Bhagavad Gita is only for retired old people.
It is a pity that some people think that Bhagavad Gita is only for those who are retired and old. There is a notion that if someone in his twenties goes to a lecture on Bhagavad Gita, he is abnormal and has plans to take up a life of a monk or a sanyaasi! An elderly person once asked me -- "Indha vayasuleyae edhukku vedantam onakku?" -- Why do you need Vedanta when you are young? I think the common misconception in people's mind is that since the Bhagavad Gita teaches about the Self (the topic of Vedanta), it is to be done only when you are old. The greatest surprise came when someone in the Vedanta class itself asked me why I am listening to the discourse and whether I had any great worries in life! If one understands the subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita, this question will never arise.
Ironically, one single thought lurking in Arjuna's mind (even after listening to the teachings completely from Sri Krishna) is that he still wants to renounce battling the Mahabharata war and take up a life of a sanyasi. He says in verse 2:5 that it is better to live a life in alms by begging, rather than to fight the battle and kill his own teacher Dronacharya and other elders. Again in 5:1, he asks what is the difference between renunciation of action (sanyasa) and performing actions. In the last chapter, the verse 18:1 is a subtle question from Arjuna about the difference between sanyasa (as a life style) and renunciation as an attitude! It is very clear that Arjuna wanted to run away from his duties because it was not pleasant. And Sri Krishna teaches him the value of action (karma) and the right attitude of performing the action (yoga).
The greatest underlying theme of the Bhagavad Gita is that one should not run away from his duties/responsibilities and should perform actions with the right attitude (karma yoga). How can, then, a person who studies the Bhagavad Gita in his twenties even get a thought of renouncing everything to become a sanyasi?
3. Common misinterpretations of the Bhagavad Gita.
Certain verses from the Bhagavad Gita are very commonly misinterpreted.
(i) Verse 2:47 - "karmanyeva adhikaras te maa phaleshu kadachana..." This verse is one of the most often quoted verses from the Bhagavad Gita. In fact, this is the first verse where Krishna talks about karma yoga. Though He says that you have the choice of action alone and not the results of the action, the common misinterpretation is that 'one should perform an action without expecting a result'. This is not right since Krishna Himself expects Arjuna to understand His own teaching. The verse just says that you have the right to perform the action, but the results are not completely in your hands. The result of any action depends on a lot of external factors that are not in the performer's control.
(ii) Verse 11:33 - "...nimitta maatram bhava savyasachin". In this verse, Krishna tells Arjuna that he is merely an instrument in his hands. A common misinterpretation is that everything in this world is pre-determined by God and we, as human beings do not have any say on our future! This is a defeatist attitude and is very dangerous. In the whole of chapter 6, Krishna talks about how one should strive towards success by constant practice of good habits. Is this not an excellent proof for existence of free will in human beings?
(iii) There are so many wall posters I have seen with some verses claiming to be the essence of the Bhagavad Gita. They display statements like, "Whatever happened is for good, whatever is happening is for good, whatever will happen is for good", "What did you bring to this world, to take it back?" etc. To my knowledge, there is not a single verse in the Bhagavad Gita that says these things! Nor do I think these statements are the essence of the Bhagavad Gita.
The reason for the myths, misconceptions and misinterpretations is the ignorance of the subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita. The ignorance can be erased only if one studies the Gita. For that to happen, one has to get the misconceptions out. Do we not see a chicken-and-egg problem here? As with any field, it requires an objective mind to make good progress.
1. Bhagavad Gita is not relevant for us at this age.
Some people think that since the Bhagavad Gita was expounded in the middle of the battlefield, it is not for the common man and only for those who fight with bows and arrows. And because it happened at least 5000 years ago (we are not even clear of the exact dates), the Gita is surely not for this 'information age'... duh!!
In my opinion, the Bhagavad Gita is more relevant to the present times and to the people of present age (kali yuga) since Krishna gave the teaching almost towards the end of the previous yuga (dvapara yuga). The setting is in the middle of the battle field where the one of most qualified warriors Arjuna is confronted with many questions (as most of us are) as to why he has to fight a war, what he gets out of it, etc. Arjuna says that he cannot fight the battle and wants to run away from the battlefield. Sri Krishna uses strong words in verses 2:2 and 2:3, and censures him of resorting to cowardice, saying that it is completely unbecoming of a great warrior to run away from something that he is very adept at. Most of us face such situations in our daily life and want to avoid our unpleasant duties. Sri Krishna gives the most profound teachings to Arjuna in 700 verses and hence it is to all of us who are waging this battle of day-to-day lives. We are faced with a lot of challenges and these teachings give a person the fortitude to brave those challenges.
Are the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita not relevant to us then?
2. Bhagavad Gita is only for retired old people.
It is a pity that some people think that Bhagavad Gita is only for those who are retired and old. There is a notion that if someone in his twenties goes to a lecture on Bhagavad Gita, he is abnormal and has plans to take up a life of a monk or a sanyaasi! An elderly person once asked me -- "Indha vayasuleyae edhukku vedantam onakku?" -- Why do you need Vedanta when you are young? I think the common misconception in people's mind is that since the Bhagavad Gita teaches about the Self (the topic of Vedanta), it is to be done only when you are old. The greatest surprise came when someone in the Vedanta class itself asked me why I am listening to the discourse and whether I had any great worries in life! If one understands the subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita, this question will never arise.
Ironically, one single thought lurking in Arjuna's mind (even after listening to the teachings completely from Sri Krishna) is that he still wants to renounce battling the Mahabharata war and take up a life of a sanyasi. He says in verse 2:5 that it is better to live a life in alms by begging, rather than to fight the battle and kill his own teacher Dronacharya and other elders. Again in 5:1, he asks what is the difference between renunciation of action (sanyasa) and performing actions. In the last chapter, the verse 18:1 is a subtle question from Arjuna about the difference between sanyasa (as a life style) and renunciation as an attitude! It is very clear that Arjuna wanted to run away from his duties because it was not pleasant. And Sri Krishna teaches him the value of action (karma) and the right attitude of performing the action (yoga).
The greatest underlying theme of the Bhagavad Gita is that one should not run away from his duties/responsibilities and should perform actions with the right attitude (karma yoga). How can, then, a person who studies the Bhagavad Gita in his twenties even get a thought of renouncing everything to become a sanyasi?
3. Common misinterpretations of the Bhagavad Gita.
Certain verses from the Bhagavad Gita are very commonly misinterpreted.
(i) Verse 2:47 - "karmanyeva adhikaras te maa phaleshu kadachana..." This verse is one of the most often quoted verses from the Bhagavad Gita. In fact, this is the first verse where Krishna talks about karma yoga. Though He says that you have the choice of action alone and not the results of the action, the common misinterpretation is that 'one should perform an action without expecting a result'. This is not right since Krishna Himself expects Arjuna to understand His own teaching. The verse just says that you have the right to perform the action, but the results are not completely in your hands. The result of any action depends on a lot of external factors that are not in the performer's control.
(ii) Verse 11:33 - "...nimitta maatram bhava savyasachin". In this verse, Krishna tells Arjuna that he is merely an instrument in his hands. A common misinterpretation is that everything in this world is pre-determined by God and we, as human beings do not have any say on our future! This is a defeatist attitude and is very dangerous. In the whole of chapter 6, Krishna talks about how one should strive towards success by constant practice of good habits. Is this not an excellent proof for existence of free will in human beings?
(iii) There are so many wall posters I have seen with some verses claiming to be the essence of the Bhagavad Gita. They display statements like, "Whatever happened is for good, whatever is happening is for good, whatever will happen is for good", "What did you bring to this world, to take it back?" etc. To my knowledge, there is not a single verse in the Bhagavad Gita that says these things! Nor do I think these statements are the essence of the Bhagavad Gita.
The reason for the myths, misconceptions and misinterpretations is the ignorance of the subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita. The ignorance can be erased only if one studies the Gita. For that to happen, one has to get the misconceptions out. Do we not see a chicken-and-egg problem here? As with any field, it requires an objective mind to make good progress.
7 comments:
Nice post..
Whats a good book you recommend for a beginner? (I dont have patience for lectures :-p)
I think Google-books has a lot of them. I prefer a commentary by Adi Sankaracharya.
How's this for example?
http://www.amazon.com/Bhagavad-Gita-Commentary-Sri-Sankaracharya/dp/8185208085
I would be very careful in choosing the text. That book just contains meanings of each verse. It is not enough for self-reading. Sankaracharya's commentary itself is terse and needs a teacher to simplify. I would recommend books by Swami Dayananda. To begin with, you can start with the following (Google for it):
Bhagavad Gita Home Study - (E1) Course-Soft Cover-V1-Ch.1,2,3
It is quite comprehensive.
Verse 2:47 - "karmanyeva adhikaras te maa phaleshu kadachana..." This verse is one of the most often quoted verses from the Bhagavad Gita. In fact, this is the first You mention the verse where Krishna talks about karma yoga. Though He says that you have the choice of action..... ... the common misinterpretation is that 'one should perform an action without expecting a result'. This is not right since Krishna Himself expects Arjuna to understand His own teaching.
That is not a misinterpretation!! Krishna makes fun of Arjuna but teaches Arjuna never says "you shall do it as I expect the result" It is upto Arjuna to wake up and find what is right.
Truly said, Chandru. I am glad you brought this up and related in detail. Unfortunately, these misconceptions are so rampant that it is hard to make others understand the real essence of Bhagavad Gita.
As a matter of fact, a person in his twenties will have every opportunity to steer his life in the right direction. Instead of staggering or flinching when confronted with problems, he will have the courage and determination to weather the storms. What good are these virtues if only learnt at the end of one's life, after having lived all life without any proper understanding of the purpose of it.
Nice post.
You were talking about the interpretation by Adi Sankaracharya who was profounder of Advaita philosophy. But Gita says in 12:5, that the process of impersonal-ism is very difficult and troublesome. Better than this is the Bhakti marg. What do you have to say on that?
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