Commentary on the Bhagavadgita: 1.1 - Swami Krishnananda

 

Swami Chinmayananda:

The wisdom of the Gita has transformed countless lives by showing us how to face challenges with strength and serenity.

What’s YOUR story? How were you before and after the Bhagavad Gita? Comment below and inspire others.

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

Friday 26, September 2025, 20:30.
Commentary on the Bhagavadgita: 
Swami Krishnananda
Discourse 1: The Colophon of the Bhagavadgita-1.

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

1.

Brahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāde. These words occur at the end of each chapter of the Bhagavadgita. Those who do not know Sanskrit might not have even noticed this. Those who know Sanskrit just take it for granted and bypass it as something that needs to be recited at the end of each chapter, whatever the reason may be. But there is no redundant word in the Bhagavadgita. There is nothing that can be bypassed or considered as introductory, just to be glossed over. Even if there is a well-known apostrophe—śrībhagavān-uvāca—that also has a meaning by itself.

What does the Bhagavadgita teach? It teaches three things: brahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāde. It is repeatedly dinned into our ears what the Gita teaches. The commentaries on the Gita say that it teaches karma yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, a synthesis of yoga, the art of living, and what not. But the Gita itself tells us what it teaches by a colophon, which is in three words only: brahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāde. Actually, these three words mean theory, practice, and realisation.

There is theoretical physics, practical physics, and there is the technological implementation of it. Theoretical physics is the advanced conceptualisation of the fundamental structure of physical reality, in whatever form. Then, with this insight gained through a methodological, systematic study of the constituents of matter, matter becomes more amenable and one can handle it more easily. An unknown object is fearsome. The more we know it and the more we become intimate with it, the easier it is for us to handle it for any given purpose.

Brahma-vidya is the science of the Absolute—that system of thinking which is enabled to comprehend within itself at any time the total structure of things. To conceive the Absolute is to at once take into consideration, in our processes of thought, all things connected with the object of thought—not only the inner constituents of the object as such, but also the relations that the object bears to other objects. The reality of a particular thing is not only in itself; it is also in that which determines it, restricts it, influences it, conditions it, defines it, and makes it what it is.

Every individual is an entity by itself. But this 'being an entity by itself' is not so simple a matter as it appears on the surface. As human individuals, we appear to be totally isolated persons, and we stand by ourselves, unrelated to things outside. We can be in our own rooms, unnoticed and unconnected to things. But, we are not unconnected to things. The physical atmosphere, the social atmosphere, the political atmosphere, and the psychological atmosphere determine us. So even if we are alone in our rooms, we do not forget that our individuality is conditioned by the presence of these laws of society, of government, of physical nature, and of the thoughts of people in general. Hence, our individuality is only a chimera, and total individuality by itself is not a possibility.

There is a relation of 'A' to 'B'. If 'A' was not related to 'B', we would not be conscious that 'A' is independent of 'B'. If we say an object is red in colour, it is not an independent perception of the redness of the object. It is, at the same time, a distinction that we draw between the redness and the other colours which are not red. If there was only redness everywhere, we would not be able to perceive the redness of things. There is a distinction in the characteristic of a particular object which is red. That distinction lies in the fact that it is not what is not red. It is red, and it is not what is not red. The not-ness is a negative influence exerted on this object.

*****

Continues

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