This Ancient Science...

The Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku. (BG 4.1)

PURPORT
Herein we find the history of the Bhagavad-gita traced from a remote time when it was delivered to the royal order of all planets, beginning from the sun planet. The kings of all planets are especially meant for the protection of the inhabitants, and therefore the royal order should understand the science of Bhagavad-gita in order to be able to rule the citizens and protect them from material bondage to lust. Human life is meant for cultivation of spiritual knowledge, in eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the executive heads of all states and all planets are obliged to impart this lesson to the citizens by education, culture and devotion. In other words, the executive heads of all states are intended to spread the science of Krsna consciousness so that the people may take advantage of this great science and pursue a successful path, utilizing the opportunity of the human form of life.

In this millennium, the sun-god is known as Vivasvan, the king of the sun, which is the origin of all planets within the solar system. In the Brahma-samhita  (5.52) it is stated:

yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam
raja samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah
yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

"Let me worship," Lord Brahma said, "the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is the original person and under whose order the sun, which is the king of all planets, is assuming immense power and heat. The sun represents the eye of the Lord and traverses its orbit in obedience to His order."

The sun is the king of the planets, and the sun-god (at present of the name Vivasvan) rules the sun planet, which is controlling all other planets by supplying heat and light. He is rotating under the order of Krsna, and Lord Krsna originally made Vivasvan His first disciple to understand the science of Bhagavad-gita. The Gita is not, therefore, a speculative treatise for the insignificant mundane scholar but is a standard book of knowledge coming down from time immemorial.

In the Mahabharata (Santi-parva 348.51-52) we can trace out the history of the Gita as follows:

treta-yugadau ca tato
vivasvan manave dadau
manus ca loka-bhrty-artham
sutayeksvakave dadau
iksvakuna ca kathito
vyapya lokan avasthitah

"In the beginning of the millennium known as Treta-yuga this science of the relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvan to Manu. Manu, being the father of mankind, gave it to his son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty, in which Lord Ramacandra appeared. Therefore, Bhagavad-gita existed in human society from the time of Maharaja Iksvaku."

At the present moment we have just passed through five thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years. Before this there was Dvapara-yuga (800,000 years), and before that there was Treta-yuga (1,200,000 years). Thus, some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu spoke the Bhagavad-gita to his disciple and son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this planet earth. The age of the current Manu is calculated to last some 305,300,000 years, of which 120,400,000 have passed. Accepting that before the birth of Manu the Gita was spoken by the Lord to His disciple the sun-god Vivasvan, a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human society it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is the rough estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri Krsna. It was spoken to the sun-god Vivasvan because he is also a ksatriya and is the father of all ksatriyas who are descendants of the sun-god, or the surya-vamsa ksatriyas. Because Bhagavad-gita is as good as the Vedas, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this knowledge is apauruseya, superhuman. Since the Vedic instructions are accepted as they are, without human interpretation, the Gita must therefore be accepted without mundane interpretation. The mundane wranglers may speculate on the Gita in their own ways, but that is not Bhagavad-gita as it is. Therefore, Bhagavad-gita has to be accepted as it is, from the disciplic succession, and it is described herein that the Lord spoke to the sun-god, the sun-god spoke to his son Manu and Manu spoke to his son Iksvaku.

The Key that Unlocks the Mystery

Of all the books of knowledge originating in India, none is more popular or widely read or commented on than the Bhagavad-gita. Suffice to say that as many commentaries there are,  as many opinions on its meaning exists.

The Gita is known as Gitopanisad because is summarizes the entire range of the Vedic knowledge and presents the conclusion of the Vedas throughout its body.

In many places Krsna describes the qualification necessary to  understand the the subject matter of the Gita. For example, in chapter 4 verse 3 He says that Arjuna is fit to understand the Gita because Arjuna is His friend and devotee. Srila Prabhupada writes that to understand the Gita one has to have a similar disposition as Arjuna.

Srila Prabhupada writes: "The nondevotee's approach to the teachings of the Gita is something like that of a bee licking on a bottle of honey. One cannot have a taste of honey unless one opens the bottle. Similarly, the mysticism of the Bhagavad-gita can be understood only by devotees, and no one else can taste it..." (BG 2.12 purport)

A very practical example is that a person reveals the most intimate details of himself and his personality to those who have the most intimate relationship with them. Persons who are averse to them, envious, friends in an official capacity and so on are limited in how much they can understand about a person. However, that persons's very close friends or family members have the opportunity to understand the most about that person. Everyone who knows the president of prime minister of a country knows them in an official capacity and address them as such, but their family members and close friends may call them by their first name and know their bad habits and deep secrets.

It is the same with understand the Gita. Those to endeavour to develop a close relationship with Krsna will find the meaning of Bhagavad-gita being revealed on every page, but those who prefer to hold on to their own opinions and seek to use the text to achieve their own means will find the essential meaning the Gtia securely locked away from their efforts.

Setting the Scene of the Bhagavad Gita

Although widely published and read by itself, Bhagavad-gita originally appears as an episode in the Mahabharata, the epic Sanskrit history of the ancient world. The Mahabharata tells of events leading up to the present Age of Kali. It was at the beginning of this age, some fifty centuries ago, that Lord Krsna spoke Bhagavad-gita to His friend and devotee Arjuna.

Their discourse -- one of the greatest philosophical and religious dialogues known to man -- took place just before the onset of war, a great fratricidal conflict between the hundred sons of Dhrtarastra and on the opposing side their cousins the Pandavas, or sons of Pandu. 

Dhrtarastra and Pandu were brothers born in the Kuru dynasty, descending from King Bharata, a former ruler of the earth, from whom the name Mahabharata derives. Because Dhrtarastra, the elder brother, was born blind, the throne that otherwise would have been his was passed down to the younger brother, Pandu.

When Pandu died at an early age, his five children -- Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva -- came under the care of Dhrtarastra, who in effect became, for the time being, the king. Thus the sons of Dhrtarastra and those of Pandu grew up in the same royal household. Both were trained in the military arts by the expert Drona and counseled by the revered "grandfather" of the clan, Bhisma. 

Yet the sons of Dhrtarastra, especially the eldest, Duryodhana, hated and envied the Pandavas. And the blind and weak-minded Dhrtarastra wanted his own sons, not those of Pandu, to inherit the kingdom.

Thus Duryodhana, with Dhrtarastra's consent, plotted to kill the young sons of Pandu, and it was only by the careful protection of their uncle Vidura and their cousin Lord Krsna that the Pandavas escaped the many attempts against their lives.

Now, Lord Krsna was not an ordinary man but the Supreme Godhead Himself, who had descended to earth and was playing the role of a prince in a contemporary dynasty. In this role He was also the nephew of Pandu's wife Kunti, or Prtha, the mother of the Pandavas. So both as a relative and as the eternal upholder of religion, Krsna favored the righteous sons of Pandu and protected them.

The Game of Dice

Ultimately, however, the clever Duryodhana challenged the Pandavas to a gambling match. In the course of that fateful tournament, Duryodhana and his brothers took possession of Draupadi, the chaste and devoted wife of the Pandavas, and insultingly tried to strip her naked before the entire assembly of princes and kings. Krsna's divine intervention saved her, but the gambling, which was rigged, cheated the Pandavas of their kingdom and forced them into thirteen years of exile.

Upon returning from exile, the Pandavas rightfully requested their kingdom from Duryodhana, who bluntly refused to yield it. Dutybound as princes to serve in public administration, the five Pandavas reduced their request to a mere five villages. But Duryodhana arrogantly replied that he wouldn't spare them enough land into which to drive a pin.

Throughout all this, the Pandavas had been consistently tolerant and forbearing. But now war seemed inevitable.

Nonetheless, as the princes of the world divided, some siding with the sons of Dhrtarastra, others with the Pandavas, Krsna Himself took the role of messenger for the sons of Pandu and went to the court of Dhrtarastra to plead for peace. When His pleas were refused, war was now certain.

The Pandavas, men of the highest moral stature, recognized Krsna to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the impious sons of Dhrtarastra did not. Yet Krsna offered to enter the war according to the desire of the antagonists. As God, He would not personally fight; but whoever so desired might avail himself of Krsna's army -- and the other side could have Krsna Himself, as an advisor and helper. Duryodhana, the political genius, snatched at Krsna's armed forces, while the Pandavas were equally eager to have Krsna Himself.

Dhrtarastra inquires from Sanjaya

In this way, Krsna became the charioteer of Arjuna, taking it upon Himself to drive the fabled bowman's chariot. This brings us to the point at which Bhagavad-gita begins, with the two armies arrayed, ready for combat, and Dhrtarastra anxiously inquiring of his secretary Sanjaya, "What did they do?"

The scene is set, with only the need for a brief note regarding this translation and commentary.

The general pattern translators have followed in rendering Bhagavad-gita into English has been to brush aside the person Krsna to make room for their own concepts and philosophies. The history of the Mahabharata is taken as quaint mythology, and Krsna becomes a poetic device for presenting the ideas of some anonymous genius, or at best He becomes a minor historical personage. 

But the person Krsna is both the goal and the substance of Bhagavad-gita, so far as the Gita speaks of itself.

This translation, then, and the commentary that accompanies it propose to direct the reader to Krsna rather than away from Him. The Bhagavad-gita thus becomes wholly consistent and comprehensible. Since Krsna is the speaker of the Gita, and its ultimate goal as well, the Bhagavad-gita As It Is thus presents this great scripture in its true terms.

Copyright - Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

Bhagavad Gita Awareness Year - 2013

The Bhagavad Gita has long since been a book of great inspiration and enlightenment for many persons, across many countries and cultures of the world. Over the years the popularity of the book has lead many individuals, religious leaders and scholars to translate and also comment on its text. 

However, despite the abundance of translations and commentaries on the Gita we see that practically all of them present a view that goes against the essence of the Gita itself.

Srila Prabhupada writes in the preface to his publication of Bhagavad Gita - Bhagavad Gita As It Is - "... I have tried to present Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad-gita were introduced to fulfill someone's personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gita As It Is, is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. Our business is to present the will of Krsna, not that of any mundane speculator like the politician, philosopher or scientist, for they have very little knowledge of Krsna, despite all their other knowledge." (BG Preface)

The message of Bhagavad Gita is very clear and unveils a consistent philosophical train of thought and a very precise conclusion, a conclusion which resonates throughout the entire book. The secret of understanding the subject matter of the Gita is given by the speaker Himself, Lord Sri Krsna: "That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science." (BG 4.3)

This year has been carded as "Bhagavad Gita Awareness Year" and to promote such awareness of this great work we will be making a sincere attempt to address many philosophical questions that may arise upon reading the book as well as demonstrate the relevance of this timeless knowledge in understanding many of the situations that may arise in our modern situation.

Bhagavad Gita As It Is can set you on a great adventure in your life. You'll see things in a completely new light and you can experience a profound paradigm shift in your life. If you would like to receive a copy of the book, have any questions you would like addressed or want to arrange a class or discourse please feel free to contact us.