An Introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā
By Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Generally, Śrī Gītā is known as an excellent study of the science of religion. The language of Śrī Gītā is simple and sweet; its mood is grave, extensive, and fundamental; its thought is brief, distinct, and impartial; and its logic is sound and natural. The prologue, epilogue, exposition, review, analysis, synthesis, and art of presentation of Śrī Gītā is unprecedented and charming to the extreme. Śrī Gītā is activation for the lazy, courage for the coward, hope for the hopeless, and new life for the dying. Śrī Gītā unifies and sustains all ranks, whether revolutionist, occultist, optimist, renunciationist, liberationist, or full-fledged theist. From the atheist of grossly crude vision to the most elevated saint the essential conceptions of all classes of philosophers are dealt with in clear and forceful logic. The fruitive worker, the learned, and the yoga practitioner (karmī, jñānī, and yogī) and the devotee of the Lord will find herein a comprehensive and illuminating exposition on the substance of their respective philosophies, and thus the book is highly esteemed by all. The essential teachings of the Vedas and Upaniṣads of the Āryans is directly explained, and upon a little closer scrutiny, the gist of various non-Āryan doctrines may also be detected in the text. Within the purport of Śrī Gītā we find that the purification of consciousness through wisdom arises from materially unmotivated performance of scripturally enjoined duties, resulting in self-knowledge absolute existential knowledge, or divine realization. In full maturity, this pure, spotless perception culminates in the quest for loving service in pure cognition, in the divine ecstatic realm.
In the analysis of sambandha-jñāna, or knowledge of divine relationship, Śrī Gītā has revealed that the nature of the most original truth is a transcendental all-conscious personality. In the analysis of prayojana, or the supreme objective, internal inspiration of pure love in pursuit of the Supreme Absolute Reality has been mentioned as the perfectional attainment. And in the analysis of abhidheya, or the method of attaining the desired goal, the first stage has been revealed as offering all one’s actions to the Supreme Lord, followed by the cultivation of internal self-knowledge, which arises according to one’s progressive realization of the Lord. Finally, by giving up all other endeavors, one surrenders exclusively unto the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In other words by taking shelter of pure unalloyed faith, one is situated in one’s perfected divine identity and engages in divine loving service to the Lord, which is the ultimate goal of all devotional practices.
Śrī Gītā has clearly distinguished and delineated the characteristics of the nondevotional paths based on action (karma) and knowledge (jñāna) and their corresponding achievable objectives of sense enjoyment (kāma) and liberation (mokṣa). Therefore, the intelligent can note that by the statement, yo yac-chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ, “One is identified by his particular faith”,1 Śrī Gītā has drawn an objective comparison of different paths and their goals, thus disarming and exposing those who create confusion by supporting the concoction that the many paths and goals are “all one”. In this respect, the following verses (6.46-47) deserve special attention:
tapasvibhyo ’dhiko yogī jñānibhyo ’pi mato ’dhikaḥ
karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī tasmād yogī bhavārjuna2
yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yukta-tamo mataḥ3
Tyāga or renunciation has been completely condemned, and its futility has been emphatically asserted. This proclamation shows the conclusive, intrinsic gift of Śrī Gītā. Karma-yoga, or offering one’s actions to the Supreme Lord without provincial interest, is preferred above karma-tyāga, or renunciation of action and finally, full self-surrender to the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, with every action dedicated by divine inspiration in his loving service is the ultimate and supreme teaching of Śrī Gītā, one will find it to be the king of all scriptures as the bestower of the highest devotion. In its full-fledged nature, this devotion is the most supreme love divine, love for the all-attractive Supreme Personality Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja4 –the grand, vibrant, and resounding clarion call of Śrī Gītā has proclaimed the glories of life’s superexcellent objective. Hidden, more hidden, and the most hidden treasures have been given, from the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord (saṅkīrtana) up to spontaneous devotion (bhāva-sevā) in the life of total dedication to the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness with exclusive surrender. This is the consistent and unanimous conclusion of the pure paramparā, or descending spiritual succession, as corroborated by the genuine followers of the lotus footsteps of Śrī Caitanyacandra, the original Supreme Lord, who descends to deliver the fallen souls of kali-yuga, this iron age of quarrel and strife.
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