Śrimad Bhagavad Gīta
Śrimad Bhagavad Gītā – the one of the most popular Hindu Holy Scriptures is now available also on this website.
Bhagavad Gītā has been read, told, commented, believed and discussed throughout ages and centuries, by Holy Sages and in Homes of ordinary lay believers of vast array of Hindu traditions and sects:
Now here is an opportunity for everyone to read, find, quote and share the Ancient text and the priceless wisdom and knowledge it carries.
But worth to note – text is just a combination of words and phrases, even a parrot can learn to repeat some of them:
The most important part is understanding, the realization of the wisdom in the hearts of men. Text of Bhagavad Gītā may serve only as a seed for the highest awareness. Would there something grow great and beautiful or not – depends on its readers – personal efforts of each one of them and the Almighty God.
It is sad to notice, that during the last century Bhagavad Gita has lost much of its credibility and faith, especially among people in the Western countries due to some very biased and sectarian translations which has been seeding ideas of exclusivity of some and hatred to others. To those who have suffered from this may worry less – the text of Bhagavad Gita provided here is just Bhagavad Gita, without artificial additions or “as it is in one particular sect.”
The current Bhagavad Gita translation in English is done by Swāmī Vireśwarānanda, a swami of Ramakrishna order, and has had readers for many, many years and has had several editions in a book format.
Vāsudevasutaṁ devaṁ kaṁsa-cāṇūra-mardanam।
devakī-paramānandaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ vaṁde jagad gurum॥
Salutations to Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vāsudeva, the destroyer of Kamsa and Cāṇūra, the source of joy for Devakī and the great preceptor of mankind.
Lord Nārāyaṇa incarnated as Kṛṣṇa, as the son of Vāsudeva and Devakī, not only to destroy the evil minded ones like Kamsa and Cāṇūra and several others during His incarnation which ended only after the Mahābhārata war, but He showed the humanity the way to immortality through His discourse on the Gītā.
There are few other Gītās found in the Purāṇas such as Rāma Gītā, Uddhava Gītā etc., dealing with the self-knowledge but the Gītā said by Kṛṣṇa alone gets the name Bhāgavad Gītā.
The Bhāgavad Gītā discourse was not an accidental happening impelled by the intention of Kṛṣṇa to dispel the confusion in the mind of Arjuna:
because the confusion itself was the divine will of the Lord. In fact nothing happens by accident in this world, but only by the will of the Lord.
The purpose of creating confusion in the mind of Arjuna by the deliberate stationing of the chariot in front of Bhīṣma and Droṇa , was to give out the Gītā to the world.
But why should the Lord choose the battle field to do so?
It is the mercy of the Lord to uplift the humanity from the ills of saṁsāra by bringing down the teachings of the Upanishads to the level of the common man:
The Upanishads were taught by the Riṣis to those who were already aware of the transitory nature of the world and its pleasures and wished to have the divine wisdom:
Hence the texts of these are in a higher level which only those who have learned the Vedas and the Śāstras could understand.
But Bhagavad Gītā is for all like the milk of the cow:
The Gopāla-nandana, the cowherd boy, who know well how to milk the cow, has milked the cows called Upanishads and gave out the milk to all.
Hence Bhagavad Gītā is the gospel of mankind. It is not only for the recluse but for the man right in the middle of the world, which is the battle field, the Kurukṣettra:
The body is called Kṣetra, a field of activity and hence it is a Kurukṣettra, where the good and evil thoughts are always at war.
The way to attain peace is to enlist the help of the Lord as Arjuna did, so that He becomes the one whom we could see and the one who will lead our chariot, namely the mind and body.
It is a myth to think that the Bhagavad Gītā is for old age:
Help is needed for a man while he is fighting and not when he retires from the battle of life exhausted when both his mind and body become weak.
Therefore the wisdom of Gītā must be imparted while being young, so that the seed is sown, which will grow into a tree that gives fruits later.
Bhagavad Gītā is essential in all walks of life:
Whether one is a student, or an executive or a householder, he will be more efficient in his work if he has mastered the principles of Gītā.
It was said in the battle field to make Arjuna do his duty efficiently. A proper study of Gītā can help a man throughout his life and also after.
Bhagavad Gītā is extolled in Mahābhārata as follows:
gītā sugītā kartavyā kimanyai: śāstrasaṅgrahai:।
yā svayaṃ padmanābhasyamukhapadmāt vini:sṛtā॥
Meaning:
Why do we need other Śāstras when Bhagavad Gītā that sprang from the lotus-faced Lord Padmanābha Himself?
sarvaśāstramayī gītā sarvadevamayo hari:।
sarvatīrthamayī gaṅgā sarvavedamayo manu:॥
Meaning:
Gītā is the epitome of all Śāstras. Lord Hari is the abode of all Devas. Gaṅgā is the essence of all sacred waters and Manu-smṛti is the summary of the Veda.
gītā gaṅgā ca gāyatrī govindeti hṛdi sthite।
catur gagāra samyukte punarjanma na vidyate॥
Meaning:
To one in whose heart these four 'ga’-kāras, namely, Gītā, Gaṅgā, Gāyatrī and Govinda are found - has no rebirth.
bhāratāmṛta sarvasyagītāyā: mathitasya ca।
sāram uddhṛtya kṛṣṇena arjunasya mukhe hutam॥
/--Mahābhārata – Bhīshma Parva/
Meaning:
Kṛṣṇa churned the nectarine ocean of Mahābhārata, (which is known as fifth Veda, pañcamo vedā) and took its essence and fed Arjuna as Bhagavad-Gītā Gītā.
In the Gītā dhyāna śloka of Bhagavad-Gītā we have the same idea expressed differently and more poetically:
sarvopaniṣado gāvo dogdhā gopālanandana:।
pārtho vatsa: sudhīrbhoktā dugdhaṃ gītāmṛtaṃ mahat॥
Meaning:
All the Upanishads, (the essence of the Vedas) are the cows, the one who milked them being the son of a cowherd, Kṛṣṇa, the calf is Pārtha (Arjuna) and the milk, Gītā-Amṛta and the consumers of the milk were the people with right thinking, who seek the wisdom of the scriptures. Arjuna was the calf to induce the cow to give the milk.
CHAPTER 1
THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA
1 2 3 4-6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17-18 19 20-22 23 24-25 26 27 28 29 30 31-34 35 36 37 38-39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47
CHAPTER 2
THE PATH OF DISCRIMINATION
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42-44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62-63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43
CHAPTER 4
THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
CHAPTER 5
RENUNCIATION OF ACTION
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8-9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27-28 29
CHAPTER 6
THE PATH OF CONTEMPLATION
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-12 13-14 15 16 17 18 19 20-23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47
CHAPTER 7
THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
CHAPTER 8
THE WAY TO THE SUPREME SPIRIT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9-10 11 12-13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
CHAPTER 9
THE PATH OF ROYAL KNOWLEDGE AND ROYAL SECRET
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
CHAPTER 10
MEDITATION ON THE DIVINE GLORIES
1 2 3 4-5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12-13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
CHAPTER 11
THE VISION OF THE UNIVERSAL FORM
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26-27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41-42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
CHAPTER 12
THE PATH OF DEVOTION
1 2 3-4 5 6-7 8 9 10 11 12 13-14 15 16 17 18-19 20
CHAPTER 13
DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN NATURE AND SOUL
1 2 3 4 5-6 7-11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
CHAPTER 14
THE SEPARATION OF THE THREE GUNAS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
CHAPTER 15
THE WAY TO THE SUPREME PERSON
1 2 3-4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
CHAPTER 16
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN DIVINE AND DEMONIAC ATTRIBUTES
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
CHAPTER 17
THE SEPARATION OF THE THREE KINDS OF FAITH
1 2 3 4 5-6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
CHAPTER 18
THE WAY OF RENUNCIATION
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36-37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78