Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit/Hindi भगवद् गीता, in transliteration: Bhagavad Gītā), is a religious text within the Mahābhārata, located in the Bhishma-Parva chapters 23–40. A core text of Hinduism and Indian philosophy, often referred to simply as "the Gita", it is a summation of many aspects of the Vedic, Yogic, Vedantic and Tantric philosophies. The Bhagavad Gita, meaning "Song of the Lord", refers to itself as an 'Upanishad' and is sometimes called Gītopanişad. During the message of the Gita, Krishna proclaims that he is an Avatar, or a Bhagavat, a manifestation of the all-embracing God. To help Arjuna believe this, he reveals to him his divine form which is described as timeless and leaves Arjuna shaking with awe and fear.
[edit] Quotes
- You grieve for those who should not be grieved for;
yet you speak wise words.
Neither for the dead nor those not dead do the wise grieve.
Never was there a time when I did not exist
nor you nor these lords of men.
Neither will there be a time when we shall not exist;
we all exist from now on.
As the soul experiences in this body
childhood, youth, and old age,
so also it acquires another body;
the sage in this is not deluded.
- Of the Vrishnis, I am Vasudeva; of the sons of Pandu, Arjuna; of the sages, moreover, I am Vyasa; of poets, the poet Ushana.
- Krishna, Chapter X, verse 37; Winthrop Sargeant translation
- Thou seest Me as Time who kills, Time who brings all to doom,
The Slayer Time, Ancient of Days, come hither to consume;
Excepting thee, of all these hosts of hostile chiefs arrayed,
There shines not one shall leave alive the battlefield! Dismayed
No longer be! Arise! obtain renown! destroy thy foes!
Fight for the kingdom waiting thee when thou hast vanquished those.
By Me they fall—not thee! the stroke of death is dealt them now,
Even as they stand thus gallantly; My instrument art thou!
Strike, strong-armed Prince! at Drona! at Bhishma strike! deal death
To Karna, Jyadratha; stay all this warlike breath!
’Tis I who bid them perish! Thou wilt but slay the slain.
Fight! they must fall, and thou must live, victor upon this plain!- Krishna, in Chapter XI, Lines 201-212, Sir Edwin Arnold translation
- “Far better to live your own path imperfectly than to live another’s perfectly.”
[edit] Quotes about the Bhagavad Gita
- Strength founded on the Truth and the dharmic use of force are thus the Gita's answer to pacifism and non-violence. Rooted in the ancient Indian genius, this third way can only be practised by those who have risen above egoism, above asuric ambition or greed. The Gita certainly does not advocate war; what it advocates is the active and selfless defence of dharma. If sincerely followed, its teaching could have altered the course of human history. It can yet alter the course of Indian history.
- "Greatest Gospel of Spiritual Works" in New Indian Express (10 December 2000). These have sometimes mistakenly been quoted as the words of Sri Aurobindo, because they appear after a quotation by him in the essay.
- We knew the world would not be the same. Few people laughed, few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.
- Robert Oppenheimer, in an interview about the Trinity nuclear explosion, first broadcast as part of the television documentary The Decision to Drop the Bomb (1965), produced by Fred Freed, NBC White Paper; Oppenheimer is quoting from the 1944 Vivekananda - Isherwood translation of the Gita. The line is spoken to Arjuna by Krishna, who is revered in Hindu traditions as one of the major incarnations of Vishnu; some assert that the passage would be better translated "I am become Time, the destroyer of worlds."
- In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagvat-Geeta, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial; and I doubt if that philosophy is not to be referred to a previous state of existence, so remote is its sublimity from our conceptions. I lay down the book and go to my well for water, and lo! there I meet the servant of the Bramin, priest of Brahma and Vishnu and Indra, who still sits in his temple on the Ganges reading the Vedas, or dwells at the root of a tree with his crust and water jug. I meet his servant come to draw water for his master, and our buckets as it were grate together in the same well. The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges.
- Henry David Thoreau, in Walden (1854), Ch. XVI : The Pond in Winter
[edit] External links
Commentaries
- Six commentaries - Adi Sankara, Ramanuja, Sridhara Swami, Madhusudana Sarasvati, Visvanatha Chakravarti and Baladeva Vidyabhusana (Roman transliteration of Sanskrit)
- Bhagavad Gita introduction lecture by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
- Commentary on the Gita by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
- Bhagavad Gita with Commentaries by Vladimir Antonov
- Spiritual Quotes from Bhagavad Gita
English translations and commentaries
- Sowmya's Gitaaonline Bhagavad Gita verses in Real Audio, various discourses on Gita chapters, Summaries of different chapters and a unique FAQ. Includes Gita Dhyaanam (Invocation)in Real Audio, Downloads of Bhagavad Gita for Busy People and Gita Arati.
- [1] Audio recitations of the Bhagavad-Gita in MP3 spoken in 15 languages and sung in Sanskrit, plus introductions of the Bhagavad-Gita from the four authorised samparadayas. Also articles on Bhagavad-Gita from the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya disciplic succession.
- Gita Supersite Multilingual Bhagavadgita with translations, classical and contemporary commentaries and much more.
- Bhagavad Gita As It Is by His Divine Grace Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
- Online Bhagavad Gita by His Divine Grace Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
- Srimad Bhagavad-Gita Overview by Jagannath Das [2]
- Introduction
- Swami Chinmayananda translation and commentary
- Sir Edwin Arnold translation
- Kashinath Trimbak Telang translation
- Swami Nirmalananda Giri translation in metered verse for singing.
- Dr. Ramanand Prasad translation
- Sanderson Beck translation
- Swami Tapasyananda translation
- William Quan translation
Audio
- Sowmya's Gitaaonline A sloka a Day, Discourses on Bhagavad Gita, The Essence of Bhagavad Gita, The Gita Way, Sanskrit verses of selected chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, Links to other web sites with Bhagavad Gita Audio.
- Verses in Sanskrit Devnagari, transliteration, word-for-word translations, verse translations and accompanying chants in Realaudio
- Recitation of verses in Sanskrit (downloadable mp3s)
Selections
- One little angel
- Devanagri Sanskrit transliterations and Hare Krishna-influenced Sanskrit-to-English translations for all 700 verses
- Gita excerpt from the Mahabharata by Kisari Mohan Ganguly (published between 1883 and 1896), the most comprehensive English translation to date
Eknath Easwaran's poetic translation
Miscellaneous
Gujarati