II Let's discuss 'The Shrimad Bhagvad Geeta' II

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simplysappie

@simplysappie

Voyager

Posted: 11 years ago

#71

@lead nitrate : hey where have you read about Jayadeba ?? Can you tell me too , please ?? And have you also read Gita Gobinda ???

Edited by simplysappie - 11 years ago

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246851

Hibernated

Posted: 11 years ago

#72

The folks sbout jayadeva are all over in small articles in my mothertongue.

And yes I have read gita govinda😳

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amukta

@amukta

Dazzler

Posted: 11 years ago

#73

Thank you for this great thread ..the discussions by so many learned bhakthas.It is some punyam all of us have done that we are able to even read and discuss the Gita.If God did not will none of us would be discussing the Gita...I just want to be a seeker and learn and translate some of it ..a minuscule..into action.May The Lord bless all who are teaching so patiently all those who are learning and understanding and trying to evolve into better human beings and closer to Paramatma.

Edited by amukta - 11 years ago

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Justitia

@Justitia

Rocker

Posted: 11 years ago

#74

The Vishnu Sahasranamam literally means 1000 names of Vishnu.

But the recitation of the Vishnu Sahasranamam additionally ends with following THREE shlokas from the Gita (in this very same order) -

Yatra Yogeshwarah Krishno yatra Partho dhanurdharah

Tatra Srir vijayo bhutir dhruvaa neetir matir mama (18:78)

Ananyas chintayanto maam ye janah paryupasate

Tesham nityabhiyuktanaam yogakshemam vahamyaham (9:22)

Paritranaaya sadhunaam vinaashaaya cha dushkritaam

Dharma samstha panarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge (4:08)

My question is - What is the main significance of only these three Gita shlokas to form the conclusion for the recitation of the Vishnu Sahasranamam, and that too, in this very same order itself?

Edited by -Shani- - 11 years ago

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Surya Sundarraj Sriram

@Surya_krsnbhakt

Dazzler

Posted: 11 years ago

#75

Originally posted by: -Shani-
The Vishnu Sahasranamam literally means 1000 names of Vishnu.
But the recitation of the Vishnu Sahasranamam additionally ends with following THREE shlokas from the Gita (in this very same order) -
Yatra Yogeshwarah Krishno yatra Partho dhanurdharah
Tatra Srir vijayo bhutir dhruvaa neetir matir mama (18:78)

Ananyas chintayanto maam ye janah paryupasate
Tesham nityabhiyuktanaam yogakshemam vahamyaham (9:22)

Paritranaaya sadhunaam vinaashaaya cha dushkritaam
Dharma samstha panarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge (4:08)
My question is - What is the main significance of only these three Gita shlokas to form the conclusion for the recitation of the Vishnu Sahasranamam, and that too, in this very same order itself?

Maybe it has something to do with the meaning.

The Vishnu Sahasranamam glorifies Vishnu. So after glorifying Vishnu, Sanjaya says, Yatra Yogeshvarah.. etc etc.

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varaali

@varaali

Dazzler

+ 2

Posted: 11 years ago

#76

Arjuna transformation from a Friend to a Shishya and ...finally to a Bhakta

There is a very subtle but beautiful aspect of Arjuna that is revealed in the BG.

Arjuna's transition from being Krishna's comrade to becoming His bhakta.

As a friend

Right at the beginning, Arjuna thinks Krishna as his best friend. No doubt Arjuna

had some inkling of Krishna's inherent divinity, but their relationship was more

of friendship. Arjuna thinks he is on equal footing with Krishna.

And when he asks Krishna to place his chariot b/w the two armies, Arjuna's grief,

confusion and mental upheaval start.

"Krishna... I cannot fight" says Arjuna dejectedly, expecting that Krishna will

sympathize with him, make a U-Turn and drive away.

But so long Arjuna has this "friendship" attitude, Krishna says only two lines to

him, that too, in a 'matter-of-fact manner'

Chapter 2, verses 2 and 3

" Arjuna, from where did you suddenly develop worst kind of mental weakness

(kshudram hridaya darbalyam)? It is not expected of a warrior like you."

But Arjuna does not stop. He goes on and on with his rant.

Krishna does not respond...

...Till there is a change in Arjuna's attitude. Arjuna understands.

On bended knees,he asks Krishna to accept him as his shishya and advise him on what

is right for him.

Chapter 2, verse 7

"O Lord, since I am so confused in mind, I am asking you to accept me as your

shishya and guide me. I am surrendered to you"

As a shishya

Now that Arjuna has asked Krishna to accept him as his shishya, Krishna can no

longer remain silent. He is now the Guru and has to help his shishya.

And Arjuna, because he has become a shishya, cannot go on and on speaking / ranting... and for the first time in 31 slokas, he keeps quiet.

Now that Arjuna is in a more receptive mood, Krishna begins his discourse on the highest truths known to Man.

As a shishya, Arjuna receives knowledge on

Sankhya Yoga, (The knowledge of Soul's reality)
Karma Yoga (Duties)
Gyana Yoga (Knowledge)
Karma- Vairagya Yoga (Performing Duty without attachment)
Abhyasa / Dhyana Yoga (The Right attitude)
Paramahamsa Vigyana Yoga (Yoga of Realizing the Ultimate Truth)
Akshara Parabrahma Yoga (Yoga of Attaiment of Salvation)

And finally, the most secret knowledege

Raja Vidya Guhya Yoga.

However, it is a shishya's right to question his guru. A shishya need not blindly accept

whatever his guru says. He can ask questions and the guru has to give satisfactory

answers.

Here too, Arjuna too questions Krishna and his questions reflect his attitude.

Arjuna is interested, but not wholly convinced. Hence the kind of knowledge he has

received so far are intellectual in nature.

By now, a subtle change has come over Arjuna. He has been listening awestruck to

the immense knowledge flowing from his friend- turned- Guru.

Arjuna is now convinced this Krishna is not an ordinary man. In fact, Krishna may

not be a man at all.

Was he a God? The Greatest of Gods?? Narayana Himself??

In a wonder struck voice, Arjuna asks Krishna to describe his own glories in his

own words.

Thus begins the 10 chapter " Vibhuti Yoga" wherein the Lord himself describes his

own greatness. Wherever anything wonderful, anything splendid is present, it is

only a spark of my own glory, Krishna says.

By the end of the 10 chapter, Arjuna is left in no doubt. The person in front of

him is the Supreme Lord, the Parama Purusha, the NARAYANA.

Divine recognition stirring in his heart, Arjuna requests Krishna to reveal his

Vishwaroop Form.

Edited by varaali - 11 years ago

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varaali

@varaali

Dazzler

+ 2

Posted: 11 years ago

#77

On seeing the Magnificent, Radiant, Vast, All encompassing form of the Lord, Arjuna

in unable to contain himself and begins to sing stuti of the Lord in 43 verses.

Finally, in the 44th verse of the 11th chapter, Arjuna falls prostrate on the

ground and offers shashtang dandavat pranam to the Lord.

"O Lord, prostrating with my full body before you, I humbly beseech you, forgive me

if I have behaved like a friend with you. Like a father forgives his son, like a

lover forgives her lover...like that O Lord, you too be merciful towards me."

The shishya has become a Bhakta.

Now that Arjuna has become a Bhakta, it is not surprising that the first knowledge he receives is on

Bhakti Yoga (Chapter 12)

From now on, Arjuna's questions become lesser in number and more humble in tone. The Lord then reveals to him the mysteries of the

Difference b/w the knower and the knowledge itself (Ch 13)
Difference b/w the three Gunas: Satva, Rajas and Tamas (Ch 14)
Purushottama Yoga (Ch 15)
Difference b/w Divine and Asuric natures (Ch 16)
Different kinds of Bhakti (Ch 17)

And Finally...after 17 adhyayas...

The Way to Moksha (Ch 18)

At the end of the most inspiring discourse ever heard, Arjuna, without a doubt in his ego, with faith and conviction in his mind, with devotion and surrender in his heart promises that he will abide by Krishna's teachings. "Karishye Vachanam Tava"

Never will again Arjuna see Krishna as merely his friend. Never more will their relationship be the same.

Nara, the Human had recognized Narayana, the Divine.

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MagadhSundari

@MagadhSundari

Sparkler

+ 4

Posted: 11 years ago

#78

^^ Thank you so much for those insights on Arjun's journey, Varaali. I've read a number of explanations behind the order of chapters in the Bhagavad Gita, but this is the clearest and most succinct it's ever been. The spirit of surrender that Arjun gradually exhibits by the end of the Gita makes him one of the most endearing Mahabharat characters for me. It reminds me of discussions we've had in the past about Bharat in Ramayan. He goes to Chitrakoot a brother who expects that his brother will give in to his loving request, then when he listens to Ram and Janak he absorbs what they're saying like a shishya, and he leaves as a bhakt who has surrendered to his Lord's will. There's a song lyric from Ramanand Sagar's Shri Krishna that makes for a very beautiful analogy to Bharat and Arjun's journeys: "prem dagar pe chalte chalte bhakti ki paavan nadiya aaye, bhakti ki nadiya behte behte prem ke saagar mein kho jaaye". They start out with a familial/friendly bhaav, love that is narrowly focused like a street. It broadens into a river of reverence for a guru, and then recognizing the guru to be none other than Govind, it eventually becomes an all-encompassing ocean wherein they've learned to see the One in all.

(I find that end state so satisfying and inspiring that sometimes I wonder how to reconcile it with Arjun's reactions to certain incidents that followed, like Drona Vadh, but it doesn't bother me enough to question that that bhakti and samarpan was indeed Arjun's end state... the Bhagavatam's descriptions of Yogmaya bewildering these players so that God's game could continue are enough to explain any of those doubts away).

Edited by lola610 - 11 years ago

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amukta

@amukta

Dazzler

Posted: 11 years ago

#79

I have been reading that the 18 chapters of the Gita has a progressive order by which Krishna lifts Arjuna from one step at the bottom of the Yoga ladder to the higher steps .One of the commentators on Gita divided the 18 chapters into 3 sections of 6 chapters each...in which Karma Yoga leads to Bhakthi Yoga leads to Gyaana Yoga.

Chapter 1 to 6= Karma Yoga ..the means to the final goal

Chapter 7 to 12 = Bhakthi Yoga or Devotion

Chapter 13 to 18 = Gyaana Yoga or Knowledge ..the ultimate goal itself

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Ashwini_D

@Ashwini_D

Navigator

Posted: 11 years ago

#80

@Varaali: Thanks for those posts. 😊 I have one doubt however, hoping that you would kindly clear it. If Arjun had completely surrendered himself to Krishna as a devotee and had agreed to follow Krishna's instructions by the end of the Geeta, why does Krishna need to goad Arjun to fight Bhishma again by leaving the chariot and advancing towards Bhishma once with a whip and once with the sudarshan chakra in hand? Why is Arjun still hesitant in doing what Krishna is instructing him to do?

This question has been plaguing me for quite sometime and then I came across this quote by Amartya Sen in 'The Argumentative Indian.' "Arjun's contraray arguments are not really vanquished, no matter what the message of the Bhagwad Geeta is meant to be" ""These arguments remain thoroughly relevant in the contemporary world." I do not know much how much authority Sen has over the Mahabharata or the Bhagwad Geeta to give credit to his quotes but it has resonated with my doubt above.

Edited by Ashwini_D - 11 years ago

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II Let's discuss 'The Shrimad Bhagvad Geeta' II - Page 8

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