General Reflections on the Gita

[Nitaidas]

May 27, 2011 12:28:33 GMT -6 madanmohandas said:

I came accross an interesting and thought-provoking passage from the Aswamedha Parva, section 16 of Anugita Parva of the Mahabharata which might suggest that the Gita is in part or whole integral to it.

Janameyajaya said,
When the high souled Kesava and Arjuna after slaying their enemies repaired to the assembly rooms, what conversation, O regenerate one, took place between them?
Vaisampayana said,
The son of Prtha, having recovered his own kingdom, joyously spent his time, without doing anything else, in the company of Krsna, his heart filled with delight, in that palace of celestial beauty. One day, those two listlessly proceeded to a particular part of the palace that looked, O king, like a veritable portion of Heaven. Themselves filled with delight, they were then surrounded by their relatives and attendents. Pandu's son, Arjuna, filled with joy in the company of Krsna, surveyed that delightful mansion, and then addressed his companion, saying, ' O mighty armed one, thy greatness became known to me upon the approach of the battle. O son of Devaki, thy form also, as the lord of the universe, then became known to me! What thy holy self said unto me at that time, O Kesava, through affection, has all been forgotten by me, O chief of men, in consequence of the fickleness of my mind. Repeatedly, however, have I been curious on the subject of those truths. Thou again, O Madhava, wilt repair to Dvaraka soon.'
Vaisampayana continued,
Thus addressed by him, Krsna of mighty energy, that foremost of speakers, embraced Phalguna and replied to him as follows.
Vasudeva said,
I made thee listen to truths that are regarded as mysteries. I imparted to thee truths that are eternal. Verily, I discoursed to thee on religion in its true form and on all the eternal religions. It is extreemly disagreeable to me to learn that thou didst not, from folly, recieve what I imparted. The recollection of all that I told thee on that occasion will not come to me now. Without doubt, O son of Pandu, thou art destitute of faith and thy understanding is not good. It is impossible for me, O Dhananjaya, to repeat in detail all that I said on that occasion.........

( Kisari Mohan Ganguli )

Krsna then proceeds to recount what a certain brahmana had narrated on the theme of Brahaman, Sankhya etc. etc.

This is fascinating, madanmohanji. I had forgotten about the Anugita. I wonder if there is a place for reflection on this passage in the introduction of the Caleb Gita.

[madanmohandas]

I'm not sure Nitai, I had not thought of it. Something also fascinating are 400 odd extra verses in the 10th Skandha that are available in the 5 vol motilal edition derived from Vijayadhvaja's and some from Viraraghava's editions. I read them where they are supposed to fit in and they really do seem to be authentic portions that are simply missing from the editions we are familiar with, they are not found in Sridhara's. A typical example you might find in the 10th Skandha where after the discomfiture of Jarasandha on the first seige of Mathura, Suka says that this occured on seventeen or so occasions, but says nothing about them. Well there is much more detail there of other sieges and the particulars of the antagonist princess and great detail of the single combats of Krsna and others at those times. There is also the full narrative of Krsna and Satyabhama removing the Parijata tree from Indra's garden which is quite different from the account in the Vaisnava Purana and in the Bhagavat Suka seems to brush over it with a derisive remark towards Indra. However if it be deemed that the extra vereses were just lost then Suka actually goes into much more detail. There is even a long account of Satyabhama engaged in single combat with different gods who retire having been worsted by her. Finally an agreement is made that when Krsna finishes his Lila the Parijata tree will be returned to Indra and Sachi. It all makes the whole Krsna Lila of the 10th book more complete; well worth reading for yourself.

[kalki]

Jun 22, 2007 22:25:05 GMT -6 Nitaidas said:

It is first of all clearly a post-Buddhist work and it may be that Buddhism played an important role in the reason it was written.

So when was the Buddha? The traditional answer seems to place him in the 6th century BCE and extending into the 5th century. But, more recent studies have suggested that in actuality he lived in the middle of the 4th century BCE (History of Early Vedanta). The Gita then can be dated to the 3rd century BCE or later. It appears to date from a time when Buddhism was recognized as a real threat to Hinduism and it in many was a Hindu response to Buddhism. We shall look at some of the evidence for that as we proceed.

I read a book titled "Early Buddhism and the Bhagavad Gita." It rocked my world. It points out that the Buddha had much more defined explanations of doctrines such as reincarnation and karma then the Upanisads especially when compared to the Gita. So that places the Upanisadas first, the Buddha second, and the Gita as a retaliation to the Buddha to better define the things that the Upanisadas had not.

Other points that the Gita addressed was the caste system possibly as a retaliation to Buddhas condemnation of the caste system.