Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita. The Blessed Lord's Song. "The Bhagavad-Gita stands in relation to Hinduism as the Sermon on the Mount stands in relation to the Christian teachings. It has been described as the "Essence of the Vedas." An Indian saint has said: "All the Upanishads are the cows, the Lord Himself is the Milker, Arjuna, the calf, and those of purified understanding are the drinkers of the milk, the supreme nectar of the Gita."
"Originally it formed a section of Book Six of the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. It is in the form of a conversation between the warrior Arjuna and his charioteer, who really was the "Blessed Lord," the god Krishna. War had become inevitable between the sons of Pandu (of which Arjuna was one) and their cousin Duryodhana and his brothers, the sons of the blind King Dhritarashtra, or briefly between the Pandavas and the Kurus. Just before the beginning of the battle, Arjuna refused to fight, when he saw he was going to kill his own kinsmen. The god Krishna explained to him that no one could be killed, since men's souls live for ever, and thereon the conversation began, extending to eighteen chapters, covering every phase of ethical and religious questions, concerning the yoga of action, the justification for rituals and sacrifices, the manifestations of god in this physical world, and ending with the important injunction on accepting Krishna as a refuge to whom all people of all classes could come and find peace and salvation. The old blind King, unable to watch the battle was offered sight by a great sage, but declined it, for he had no wish to see the slaughter among his own kinsmen. The great sage then granted Sanjaya the power of perceiving at a distance all that happened on the battlefield. Therefore, principally in the beginning and in the ened, we see the remarks of Sanjaya, concerning the battle, while the questions and answers between Arjuna and the Lord Krishna, as reported by Sanjaya, form the substance of the main body of the work.
"The whole book breathes the Hindu mental and religious atmosphere, although some of the teachings, such as the emphasis on action and doing it without regard to selfish benefit but for devotion to God, and particularly the denial of materialism and emphatic Vedic assertion of the spirit behind all things, offer viewpoints that are either present or are greatly needed in the modern world. Anyway, the contrasts are as important as the similarities, and it is because the work is characteristically the most important product of the Hindu religious spirit that its influence and position in India have been so great. Dr. E. J. Thomas calls it "one of the greatest of the religious phenomena of the world" and "the earliest and still the greatest monument of Hindu religion.""
"The Gita forms part of the great epic of India, the Great Poem (or War) of the Descendants of Bharata (Mahabharata), which has gathered a veritable encyclopedia around the epic story of the rivalry between the Kauravas, led by Duryodhana, and their cousins the Pandavas, led by Yudhishthira. Both houses were descended from Kuru and ultimately from the famous Vedic tribe of the Bharatas which gave India her name Bharat. The struggle culminated in the great war won by the Pandavas and their allies with the help of Krishna. Chiefly due to its numerous and elevated passages on the subjects of wisdom, duty, and liberation from mundane existence, the epic, which probably underwent its last major revision c. fourth century AD in the Gupta period, became sacred to later Hindus as part of the Smriti scriptures.
"When in the course of the growth of the Mahabharata, the bardic historical poem relating to the Kuru-Bharatas was being transformed into an early form of the epic, two principal processes had been in operation, namely, the bardic enlargement of the original ballad-cycle relating to the Kuru-Bharatas, and the Krishnaite redaction of the basrdic material. The Gita must indeed have served as the cornerstore of this Krishnaite superstructure. Though the Gita mainly epitomizes the teachings of Krishna, after it had been included in the epic it always was subjected, like the rest of the epic, to the final process of the Brahmanic revision." *LY1
Dhritarashtra asked:
1. O Sanjaya, assembled together on the sacred plain of Kurukshetra, being desirous to fight, what did my people and the Pandavas do?
Sanjaya replied:
2. The Prince Duryodhana, having seen the Pandava forces arrayed, approached his teacher (Drona) and spoke these words:
3. Behold this mighty host of the sons of Pandava arrayed by the son of Drupada, thy gifted pupil.
4-6. Here are heroes, mighty bowmen, equals in battle to Bhima and Arjuna -- the great warriors, Yuyudhana, Virata, Drupada; valiant Drishtaketu, Chekitana and the King of Kashi; Purujit, Kunti-Bhoja and Shabiya, the greatest of men; the powerful Yudhamanyu and the brave Uttamaujas; the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi; all of them mighty car-warriors.
7. O best of twice-born, hear also of those who are distinguished among themselves, the leaders of my harmy; I relate their names for thy information.
8. Thyself and Bhishma and Karna, and Kripa, the victorious in battle, Aswatthama, Vikarna, Jayadratha, the son of Somadatta.
9. Also there are many heroes skillful in battle armed with many kinds of weapons, determined to lay down their lives for my sake.
10. Yet this army of ours, though commanded by Bhishma, seems insufficient; but their army, commanded by Bhima, seems sufficient.
11. Therefore ye all, being stationed in your proper places in the divisions of the army, support Bhishma alone.
12. The powerful, the eldest of the Kurus (Bhishma), the grandsire, in order to cheer him (Duryodhana), sounded aloud a lion's roar and blew his conch.
13. Then (following Bhishma), conches, kettledrums, tabors, trumpets and cowhorns suddenly sounded. The noise was tremendous.
14. Then Madhava (Krishna) and Pandava (Arjuna) stationed in their great war chariot, yoked to white horses, also blew their divine conchs.
15. Hrishikesha (Khrishna) blew the Panchajanya; and Chananjaya (Arjuna), Devadatta (God-given); and Vrikodara (Bhima), doer of terrible deeds, blew his large conch Paundra.
16. King Yudhishthira, son of Kunti, blew the conch named Anantaviyaya (endless victory). Nakula and Sahadeva their Sughosha and Manipushpaka.
17. The King of Kashi, the great bowman, and the mighty warrior Shikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata and the unconquered hero, Satyaki;
18. (King) Drupada and the sons of Draupadi and the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, each blew respectively his own conch, O Lord of the Earth!
19. That tremendous uproar, filling earth and sky with sound, rent the hearts of Dhritarashtra's party.
20. Then, O Lord of the Earth! the son of Pandu (Arjuna), whose ensign was the monkey, seeing Dhritarashtra's army arrayed and the throwing of weapons about to begin, raised his bow and spoke the following words to Krishna:
Arjuna said:
21-23. O Achyuta (changeless, Khrishna), place my chariot between the two armies desirous of battle, so that I may see with whom I have to fight in this outbreak of war, for I desire to observe those who are assembled here for battle wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra by taking his side.
Sanjaya said:
24-25. O King! Requested thus by Gudakesha (Arjuna), Khrishna, having placed the war chariot between the two armies in front of Bhisma, Drona and all the rulers of the earth, spoke thus: O son of Pritha (Arjuna), behold all the Kuru forces gathered together.
26. The Partha (Arjuna) saw there in both armies arrayed grandfathers, fathers-in-laws, uncles, brothers and cousins, his own sons and their sons and grandsons, comrades, teachers and friends.
27. Then he, the son of Kunti (Arjuna), seeing all his kinsmen stationed in their ranks, spoke thus sorrowfully, overwhelmed with deep compassion:
Arjuna said:
28. O Khrishna, seeing these my kinsmen, gathered here desirous to fight, my limbs fail me, my mouth is parched;
29. My body shivers, my hair stands on end, my Gandiva (bow) slips from my hand, my skin is burning.
30. O Keshava (Khrishna, the slayer of Keshi), I am not able to stand upright, my mind is in a whirl and I see adverse omens.
31. O Khrishna, neither do I see any good in slaying my own people in this strife. I desire neither victory, nor kingdom, nor pleasures.
32-34. Teachers, uncles, sons and grandsons, grandfathers, fathers-in-law, brothers-in-law, besides other kinsmen, for whose sake empire, enjoyment and pleasures are desired, they themselves stand here in battle, forsaking life and death. What avail, then, is kingdom, enjoyment, or even life, O Govinda (Krishna)?
35. These warriors I do not wish to kill, even though I am killed by them, not even for the dominion over the three worlds, how much less for the sake of this earth, O slayer of Madhu.
36. O Jandarana (giver of prosperity and salvation, Krishna), what please could there be for us by killing the sons of Dhritarashtra? Sin alone would take possession of us by slaying these evil-doers.
37. Therefore we ought not to kill these sons of Dhritarashtra who are our relations; for how can we, O Madhava (Krishna), obtain happiness by destroying our own kinsmen?
38. Although these (my enemies), their understanding being overpowered by greed, see no evil from extinction of families and no sin in hostility to friends.
39. But, O Janardana, why should not we turn away from this sin, seeing clearly the evil in destruction of family?
40. From the destruction of a family the immemorial religious rites of that family perish. Spirituality being destroyed, that whole family is overpowered by unrighteousness.
41. O Khrishna, from the predominance of unrighteousness, the women of that family become corrupt; and women being corrupted, there arises intermingling of castes.
42. This intermingling of castes leads the destroyers of the family to hell, as also the family itself; for their ancestors fall, being deprived of the offerings of rice ball and water.
43. By these misdeeds of the slayers of the family, bringing about confusion of caste, the immeorial religious rites of family and caste are destroyed.
44. O Janardana, we have heard that for such men, whose household religious rites have been destroyed, the dwelling in hell is inevitable.
45. Alas! what a great sin we are resolved to incur, being prepared to slay our kinsmen, actuated by greed of kingdom and pleasure.
46. Verily, it would be better for me if the sons of Dhritarashtra, weapons in hand, should slay me in the battle, unresisting and unarmed.
Sanjaya said:
47. Speaking thus in the midst of the battlefield, Arjuna sank down on the seat of his war chariot, casting aside his bow and arrows, his mind overwhelmed with sorrow.
Here ends the First Chapter called "The Grief of Arjuna".
