The Importance of the Bhagavadgita-2. Swami Krishnananda.

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Wednesday 26, June 2024 06:20.
Article
Scriptures
The Importance of the Bhagavadgita-2.
Swami Krishnananda
(Gita Jayanti Message spoken on December 26, 1982.)

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In religious lore and in mystical circles we hear of God giving darshan or vision to yogis, to disciples, to Gurus, to devotees, and to all those who look to Him for succour. In the Puranas we have instances galore of God giving vision to tapasvins, to devotees, and He speaks. How does He speak? In what language? He can give vision to any person in any country, speaking any language, and it does not mean that He will give vision only to people in India. But how does God speak? So this is the difficulty felt by human language or mortal tongue in actually deciphering the way of God in relation to man. This is the reason why commentators on the Gita each have their own viewpoints, interpretations and meanings read into the words of the Bhagavadgita.

It was what is usually called an apocalypse, an enlightenment; a flood of radiance burst forth before the soul of Arjuna. We can imagine anything in this context because nobody was present at that time when the Bhagavadgita was spoken, so our imaginations can extend to any limit and we can visualise in our own minds that perhaps at the very beginning Sri Krishna must have spoken as a friend to a friend in a language prevalent during those times. This is quite acceptable because Sri Krishna spoke throughout his life to various people on different subjects, so there must have been some way of communication which is intelligible to people. Arjuna spoke in a language, and he must have been replied to in a language intelligible to him, perhaps in the same language.

Now, the First Chapter of the Bhagavadgita is mostly concerned with what Arjuna spoke, and he must have spoken as an ordinary man only, not as anyone particular or special, and the immediate retort of Sri Krishna also must have been in a similar language, because when you speak in Hindi I do not give a reply in English. It must be in the same language so that the person may know what I am speaking. But things took a different turn, it appears, as the occasion grew in intensity. Something which is behind language, hidden beneath the outer appearance of mere communication or conversation between two persons, something which is not normal or common, seems to have taken place. And here we can console ourselves only with our imaginations as they are available to our minds and intellects. Further than that we cannot go.

There is a gradual deepening of the intensity which got gathered up gradually as the conversation went further and further into heights of divine necessity, and many of the students, the teachers and the interpreters of the Bhagavadgita hold the common opinion that Sri Krishna, though he might have spoken for some time in common and normal language, broke through the limits of language at a certain point of the conversation. Arjuna was not merely spoken to or addressed by a person, but was possessed by a supernormal existence because the context demanded a type of action which could not be carried out through mere sermonising or speaking through words.

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Continued

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