“Don’t compare yourself to others. Be like the sun and the moon and shine when it’s your time.”
“Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another.”
“The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.” ―Warren Buffett
[These seven slokas in this order from Bhagawad Gita has been published by Gita press, Gorakpur, in their collection of stotras called Stotra Ratnavali. It is supposed to represent in a nutshell the teachings contained in the 700 slokas of Bhagawad Gita. I understand that this Saptha Sloki Gita is being recited as a daily prayer by the Kashmiri Pundits for hundrerds of years.]
1 (8-13)The God said:He who, meditates on me,As Om, which in Brahman,While leaving this ephemeral body,Will surely attain the most supreme state.Arjuna Uvacha:Sthane Hrisikesa, Thava prakeerthya,Jagath prahrushthya anurajyathe cha,Rakshamsi bheethani diso dravanthi,Sarve namasyanthi cha sidha sangha.
2 (11-36)Arjuna said:In this state, Oh Lord, Singing about you.The world is happy and is rejoicing,To see the evil ones flying away with fear,And all those devoted ones saluting you.[This is told after seeing the Viswa Roopa of the Lord.]Bhagawan Uvacha:Sarvatha pani padam thath,Sarvatho akshi siro mukham,Sarvatha sruthimalloke,Sarvamavithya thishtahi.
3 (13-14)The God said:It has hands and legs everywhere,It has eyes head and mouth everywhere,It has ears everywhere in this world,And it exists as every thing in this world.Kavim purana anusasithara-Manoramaneeyaam samanusmaredhya,Sarvasya dhataram machinthya roopa-Madithya varnam thamasa parasthath.
4 (8-9)Think of Him, as ancient, spread everywhere,Ruler of all, much subtler part of an atom, Protector of all with his form which is beyond thought,With the colour of Sun and transcendental beyond dark thoughts.Oordhwamoolamadha sakham,Aswatham prahooravyayam,Chandamsi yasya parnani,Yastham Veda sa Vedavith.
5 (15-1)With roots above and branches Growing down,This Banyan tree with Vedas as its leaves,Is everlasting and immortal, And whosoever knows it, really knows the Vedas.Sarvasya chaham, hrudhi sannivishto,Matha smrithir jnana mapohanam cha,Vedaischa sarvaii, rahameva Vedhyo,Vedanthakruth veda vidheva chaham.
6 (15-15)I live in everybody’s heart,And from me one gets,Memory, wisdom and forgetfulness,And for all the Vedas, I am the one that is to be known,For I created them and I am the one who knows them.Manmana bhava Mad bhaktho,Madhyajee maam Namakuru,Mamevaishyasi sathyam they,Prathijane priyo asi may.
7 (18-65)Concentrate your mind on me,Always show devotion to me,Sacrifice for me, salute me,And I swear to you because you are dear to me,That definitely you will reach me.
SHREE MADBHAGAVAD GEETA :- Chanting Shree madbhagvad geeta gives positive energies and we learn about salvation . Lord krishna gave the real truth for human beings . In my own experince Bhagvad geeta is Ultimate truth which gives real knowledge .
CHAPTER FIRST OF SHREE MADBHAGAVAD GEETA :-Commentaries of the Four Authorized Vaisnava Sampradayas as confirmed in the Garga Samhita Canto 10, Chapter 61, Verses 23, 24, 25, 26 Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Madhvacarya
Madhvacarya's Commentary
Madhvacarya has no commentary so we present Baladeva Vidyabhusana's.
Dhritarastra although blind at birth was born with an inner eye of knowledge; but due to being overly affectionate and attached to his sons he lost the knowledge of righteousness and thus he was worrying that his sons might return half of the kingdom to the Pandavas who were the rightful heirs.
Sanjaya who was righteous by nature could understand the actual internal mood of Dhritarastra; but to appease his anxiety that his sons would never give back half of the kingdom he said this verse beginning drstva tu pandavanikam vyudham...the soldiers of the Pandavas are in military formation. The initiative taken by Duryodhana in approaching his preceptor in archery, the master bowman Drona shows that internally he was feeling fearful at the sight of the Pandavas might. So with the pretence of going to offer respect, he approached Drona to conceal this fear. The word raja meaning king indicates that Duryodhana was very expert in the diplomacy of politics and the use of the word vacanam implies that he would speak terse sentences filled with heavy import concerning the subject of war. Peaceful Divine Chant by Jagjit Singh ( The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra )
CHAPTER SECOND :- Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Nimbaditya
Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary
Having heard Arjuna's justifications from refraining from the battle due to the fear of receiving sin for the slaying of relatives; Dhritarastra was relieved of the fear that his sons might have returned to the Pandavas their fair share of the kingdom and desired to know what happened next. Sanjaya spoke that Arjunas eyes were brimming with tears, when ones eyes are full of tears ones clear vision is obstructed and thus refers to Arjunas unable to see the situation in the correct perspective. By addressing Lord Krishna with the vocative Madhusudana indicates that just as He destroyed the demon Madhu in times of yore, by descending in the royal dynasty as a ksatriya He would destroy all the demoniac and evil elements which are burdening the Earth.
Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Visnuswami
Sridhara Swami's Commentary
What happened next? To answer this the verse states that to him meaning Arjuna whose eyes were filled with tears in bewilderment, to him Arjuna who was grieving the Supreme Lord Krishna spoke these words.
CHAPTER THIRD :-Chapter three establishes the fact by various points of view that the performance of prescribed duties is obligatory for everyone. Here Lord Krishna categorically and comprehensively explains how it is the duty of each and every member of society to carry out their functions and responsibilities in their respective stage of life according to the rules and regulations of the society in which one lives. Further the Lord explains why such duties must be performed, what benefit is gained by performing them, what harm is caused by not performing them. Plus what actions lead to bondage and what actions lead to salvation. All these points relating to duty have been described in great detail. Thus this chapter is entitled: The Eternal Duties of Human Beings.
Peaceful Divine Chant by Jagjit Singh ( The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra )
Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Ramanuja
Ramanuja's Commentary
The ultimate purpose of the Bhagavad-Gita is to show in a clear and lucid manner that one-pointed loving devotion to the Supreme Being who is glorified and proclaimed in the Vedas is the singular and paramount goal to be attained by all human beings specifically and for all living beings in general. Who is proclaimed in the Upanisads as the singular goal to achieve by the aspirants for moksa or liberation from material existence. Who is declared in the Puranas as being destitute of all defiling characteristics such as avidya or nescience. This Supreme Being who is possessing boundless and unlimited magnificent and glorious attributes. Bhakti yoga or loving devotional service is exclusively only in relation to the Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His authorised avatars or incarnations as revealed in Vedic scriptures. In order to achieve full success in bhakti yoga it is essential to achieve atma tattva or realisation of one's eternal soul. The atma or soul is one's eternal nature beyond all material conceptions and is a necessary preliminary step. Atma tattva is ultimately attained by jnana yoga or the cultivation of spiritual knowledge from the Vedic scriptures which is generated by karma yoga or the performance of prescribed Vedic activities without attachment. These prescribed Vedic activities are established on the foundation that the atma is eternal and can never be modified or destroyed as delineated so clearly by Lord Krishna in chapter two.
Brahma has stated that the acquisition of paravidya or the knowledge required to attain the Supreme Being is known as bhakti or loving devotion and that dahara-vidya or that this method of meditation is required to realise the Supreme Being, who resides within the etheric region of the heart. In the Chandogya Upanisad it is given that the realisation of the atma within one's own heart is the first ancillary step by the God aspirant to attaining realisation of the Supreme Being Himself. Then the incorporeal and non-material reality of the atma and its eternal nature beyond the consciousness of waking, sleeping and dreaming is completely transcended. Thus does the phenomenal nature of the atma emerging from within the physical body, radiant in ineffable light shining in its natural and wonderous effulgence. In the Katha Upanisad this subject is also well elucidated as given in the following description: By perceiving paramatma which is the Supreme Soul existing simultaneously within all beings and then by discrimination obtained after realisation of the individual atma. The enlightened one delivers themselves from attraction and repulsion, joy and grief and all other dualities. Communion with the Supreme Soul is communion with the Supreme Being which is the goal to be attained through the discrimination derived directly from atma tattva. This confirms that atma tattva or realisation of the soul is an essential ingerdient and constituent component of the Supreme Being which is attained by bhakti or loving devotion. Another example is: Knowing the magnificent and all- pervading nature of paramatma the Supreme Soul, the enlightened one no longer grieves or laments which reveals the natural potency of the atma to relieve one of all mundane dross due to the influence of the material existence.
The eternal soul known as the atma is not gainable merely by hearing about it. Nor is it obtainable by discoursing about it nor is it attainable by meditating exclusively on it. The atma is attainable solely to those whom the atma alone elects to attain it. Whomsoever the atma selects as an act of sovereign grace alone the atma reveals itself to such a one. Who is such a one? It is none other than that person who has discriminatory wisdom as their charioteer, who has the reins of their mind controlling the steeds of the senses, who has the actual competence to achieve moksa or liberation and attain the coveted goal of loving devotion to the Supreme Lord.
So in conclusion what we have just presented in essence form is the ultimate purpose of the Bhagavad-Gita. From chapter three along with chapters four, five and six the path for the aspirant is given beginning with the very first question in this chapter. The means of cognition and the method of realisation along with the meditation required to achieve it will be delineated and forthcoming.
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