A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 8 - 1. Swami Krishnananda

-

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, November 7, 2021. 8:00 PM.

Chapter 8 : The Stages of Yoga -1.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





We have almost entirely covered the fundamentals of the Gita teaching. Whatever follows is in the form of an exposition in greater detail of what has already been very pithily and briefly stated in the preceding chapters.


I already mentioned to you that many of the commentators of the Gita believe that the Second Chapter is the seed of the whole of the Gita. Every chapter from the Third onwards till the end is an exposition of one or two of the verses already occurring in the Second Chapter. Especially Madhusudhana Saraswati, in his classic commentary, explicitly states this, and whenever he starts commenting on a particular chapter, he quotes the relevant seed sloka of the Second Chapter, showing thereby that the root of the entire gospel is in the Second Chapter itself, which is Sankhya and Yoga combined; and in our expositions, which have been in sufficient detail, we have covered a wide area of knowledge, perhaps omitting nothing important.


The name of God does not occur until the Fourth Chapter commences. There is a peculiar situation which is wholly artharthi, wholly worldly, in the First Chapter, and the commencement of the direct teaching in the Second, and an implementation of this teaching in a more profound manner in the Third. The emphasis up to the Third Chapter has been the duty of the individual, the work that is incumbent upon every person, but the name of God has not been taken.


The operations of God as incarnations have been touched upon for the first time in the commencement of the Fourth Chapter. Previously we noticed the circumstances under which God takes incarnations, avataras, to which I need not revert now. We can proceed further to know what other things we can gather from the coming chapters. I have taken a lot of time to take you to the conclusion of the Third Chapter, but as we have not much time at our disposal in the course of this Academy session, I have to go more rapidly over the themes that follow; otherwise, it will take another three months to go to the end of the Eighteenth Chapter with this extent of detail.


Apart from the brief statement of the nature of the incarnation of God in the beginning of the Fourth Chapter, this chapter also touches upon certain other themes which are not relevant to the avatara of God or the very concept of God, but to actual Yoga practice and the understanding of the nature of work or action which, pertinently, is the theme of the Third Chapter


To be continued .... 


==========================================================================

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stabilising the Mind in God: The Twelfth Chapter of the Bhagavadgita-2. Swami Krishnananda

-
Image
======================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20/11/2019. (Spoken on June 26, 1983) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ #Srimad Bhagavad Gita : Chpter-12. Slokam-s 8 to 11. ======================================================================= Mayya eva mana adhatsva mayi buddhim nivesaya, nivasshiayasi mayy eva ata urdhvahm na samsayah. - Slo-8. Aatha cittam samadhatum na saknoshi mayi sthiram, abhyasayogena tato mam ichaptum dhananjaya. - Slo-9. Abhyasepy asamarthosi matkarmaparamo bhava, madartham api karmani kurvan siddhim avapsyasi.-Slo-10. Athaitad apy asaktosi kartum madyogam asritah sarvakarmaphalatyagam tatah kuru yatatmavan. - Slo-11. ======================================================================== So the first
Read more

The Teachings of the Bhagavadgita - 8.1. Swami Krishnananda.

-
Image
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, March 21, 2021. 07:57. AM. Chapter 8: Creation and Life After Death -1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bhagavadgita is a moksha-shastra, a scripture on the science of the liberation of the spirit. Thus it follows the course of the return process along the same lines as the evolutionary process of the descent of the soul from the Supreme Being. The first six chapters may be said to be engaged in an exposition of self-discipline from the individual point of view, the integration of the human personality and the preparation of the whole man for the greater task which is yet to come – namely, the at-one-ment of the individual with the set-up of the universe. Some of the interpreters and commentators on the Bhagavadgita hold that the first six chapters have a relevance to the significance of the term 'twam' in the famous Upanishadic p
Read more

Gita : Ch-7. Slo-26.

-
Image
Srimad Bhagavad-Gita : Chapter-7. ( Jnana-vijnana-yogam ) Slokam-26- ( O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows.) vedaham     samatitani    vartamanani    carjuna, bhavishyani    ca    bhutani    mam   tu   veda   na   kascana. Arjuna!   samatitani   =   hey    Arjuna!    equally     past; vartamanani   ca   =   and   the   present; bhavishyani    ca    bhutani    =   and    also    all   future    living   entities; aham    veda   =  I   know; mam   tu   kascana   na    veda   =   but   no   one   knows    Me. Lord Krishna emphasises by the words mam tu veda na kascam which means that no one is able to know Him and because He is the controller of all, anywhere that He is not veiled is only by His express directive for His veiling is not for His devotees but for those who are
Read more