Q & A on the Gītā, Part 1

Compiled by Krishan B. Lal

(The compiler has applied a question-and-answer format to the Introduction to Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Most of the answers are taken verbatim from that Introduction.—Editors)

What is Bhagavad-gītā?

Bhagavad-gītā (“The Song of God”), also known as Gītopaniṣad, is the essence of Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upaniṣads in Vedic literature. It was spoken five thousand years ago by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa to the prince Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra (located about 130 miles north of modern New Delhi). The sage Vyāsadeva recorded the conversation, spoken in Sanskrit, and included it in his epic Mahābhārata.

Are all commentaries on Bhagavad-gītā of equal value?

There are many English commentaries on the Bhagavad-gītā, but none of them can be strictly said to be authoritative, because in almost every one of them the commentator has expressed his own opinions without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gītā. To be bona fide, the translator must be a recognized devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa, and his views must be corroborated by evidence from other Vedic scriptures and spiritual masters in the line of disciplic succession.

What is the spirit of Bhagavad-gītā?

The spirit of Bhagavad-gītā is mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā itself. It is just like this: If we want to take a particular medicine, we have to follow the directions on the label. We cannot take the medicine according to our own whim or the directions of a friend. It must be taken according to the directions on the label or the directions given by a physician. Similarly, Bhagavad-gītā should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker Himself. The speaker of Bhagavad-gītā is Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa. He is mentioned on every page of the Gītā as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān.

What is the significance of the word bhagavān?

Sometimes the word bhagavān is applied to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, and certainly in Bhagavad-gītā, bhagavān designates Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as a great personality, but at the same time we should know that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed by all great ācāryas (spiritual masters) like Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka Svāmī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and many other authorities of Vedic knowledge in India.

The Lord Himself also establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gītā, and He is accepted as such in the Brahma-samhitā and all the Purāṅas, especially the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, known as the Bhāgavata Purāṅa (kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam). Therefore we should take Bhagavad-gītā as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself.

To whom was Bhagavad-gītā first spoken?

In the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā (4.1–3) the Lord informs Arjuna that this system of yoga, theBhagavad-gītā, was first spoken to the sun-god, and the sun-god explained it to Manu, and Manu explained it to Ikṣvāku, and in that way, by disciplic succession, one speaker after another, this yoga system has been coming down. But in the course of time it has become lost. Consequently the Lord has to speak it again, this time to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra.

Why did Kṛṣṅa choose Arjuna as the recipient of Bhagavad-gītā?

The Lord tells Arjuna that He is relating this supreme secret to him because Arjuna is His devotee and His friend. Bhagavad-gītā is a treatise of the most confidential spiritual knowledge and is especially meant for the devotee of the Lord. Kṛṣṅa tells Arjuna that because the old succession was broken, He is making him the first receiver of a new paramparā (disciplic succession).

Who is fit to understand Bhagavad-gītā?

There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jñānī, the yogi, and the bhakta, or the impersonalist, the meditator, and the devotee. The Lord taught Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna because Arjuna was a devotee of the Lord, a direct student, and His intimate friend. Therefore a person with qualities similar to Arjuna’s is best qualified to understand the Gītā. That is to say one must be a devotee in a direct relationship with the Lord. Arjuna was in a relationship with the Lord as friend. Of course, there is a gulf of difference between this friendship and the friendship found in the material world. This is transcendental friendship, which cannot be had by everyone.

Bhagavad-gītā should be taken up in a spirit of devotion. We should not think ourselves equal to Kṛṣṅa, nor should we think that Kṛṣṅa is an ordinary person or even a very great person. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So according to the statements of Bhagavad-gītā or the statements of Arjuna, who is trying to understand Bhagavad-gītā, we should at least theoretically accept Śrī Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and with that submissive spirit we can understand Bhagavad-gītā. For the nondevotee it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gītā, because it is a great mystery.

Why is Vedic knowledge received through disciplic succession?

Vedic knowledge is not a question of research, nor is it imparted by defective living entities. Our research work is imperfect because we are researching things with imperfect senses. We have to accept perfect knowledge that comes down, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā, by the paramparā (disciplic succession). We have to receive knowledge from the proper source in disciplic succession beginning with the supreme spiritual master, the Lord Himself, and handed down to a succession of spiritual masters. Arjuna, the student who took lessons from Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa, accepts everything that Kṛṣṅa says without contradicting Him. One is not allowed to accept one portion of Bhagavad-gītā and not another. We must accept Bhagavad-gītā without interpretation, without deletion, and without our own whimsical participation in the matter. The Gītā should be taken as the most perfect presentation of Vedic knowledge. It was imparted unto the heart of Brahmā, the first created living being, and Brahmā in turn disseminated the knowledge to his sons and disciples.

What makes Vedic knowledge infallible and human knowledge imperfect?

Vedic knowledge is received from transcendental sources, and the first words were spoken by the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord are called apauruṣeya, meaning that they are different from words spoken by a person of the mundane world who is infected with four defects. A mundaner

Is sure to commit mistakes Is invariably illusioned Has the tendency to cheat others Is limited by imperfect senses.

With these four imperfections, one cannot deliver perfect information of all-pervading knowledge.

Consequently, the followers of the Vedas accept Vedic knowledge to be complete and infallible. For example, cow dung is the stool of an animal, and according to smṛti, or Vedic injunction, if one touches the stool of an animal he has to take a bath to purify himself. But in the Vedic scriptures cow dung is considered a purifying agent. One might consider this to be contradictory, but it is accepted because it is a Vedic injunction, and indeed by accepting this, one will not commit a mistake; subsequently it has been proved by modern science that cow dung contains antiseptic properties. So Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and mistakes, and Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all Vedic knowledge.

Do we have to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead only as the Supreme Father?

Everyone has a particular relationship with the Lord, and that relationship is evoked by the perfection of devotional service. But in our present status, not only have we forgotten the Supreme Lord, but we have also forgotten our eternal relationship with Him. As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, one also has a direct relationship with the Lord. That is a very elaborate subject matter, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of five ways:

1. In a passive state (awe without service) 2. In an active state (as a servant) 3. As a friend 4. As a parent 5. As a conjugal lover

Krishan B. Lal, an ISKCON Life Member, is retired and lives in Huntington Beach, California.