Bhagavad Gita

Context

In the Bhagavad Gita, one finds acceptance of many spiritual paths. The myriad gods and goddesses found within and outside Hinduism are viewed as representatives of the one eternal, unmanifest God, Brahman; worship of any of these gods is considered spiritually appropriate. Also, according to the Gita, such worship is not the only path to spiritual progress. There are many paths, some more effective than others, but all are acceptable to God, as represented in the Gita by Lord Krishna. This acceptance of religious and spiritual diversity helps explain the importance the Gita holds and has held in India for centuries. Hinduism is a mix of many colors; it is a term that covers all of the religions and spiritual paths of an incredibly diverse culture. All of these find acceptance in the Bhagavad Gita.

The Gita discusses philosophy and yoga in ways that encompass the wide range of Hindu spiritual thought and practice, but perhaps most important is its discussion of the path of devotion, or bhakti yoga. In this “Song of God,” Krishna explains how to become one with God, to “dwell in” the Lord, and that selfless devotion to any of the multitudinous deities will lead one to him. This emphasis on devotion to God was not always central to the religion of India.

The Gita has its foundation in the Vedas, the earliest scriptures of Indian religion. Although they are accessible today, the Vedas were for millennia passed on orally only to specially trained students of the upper class. The Vedas are based on the religion of the Aryans, or Indo-Europeans, who came out of Central Asia into India around 1500 BCE, and include the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, and Yajur Veda, with a fourth, the Atharva Veda, added later. In Vedism, the fire sacrifice was (and still is) performed, using exact formulas, chants, and hymns. The purposes of these rites were to control the gods in order to obtain material favor and to adjust the cosmic order to produce good fortune.

But the meaning of sacrifice eventually changed. Still the province of the priestly class, the sacrifice came to be located within as well as without. Now, the person was also the cosmos where, through the asceticism of fasting and concentration, one could build up interior heat, creating a fire sacrifice within the body in order to attain power or gain cosmic vision. Rather than making adjustments to an outer cosmos through the fire sacrifice and its precise formulas, the person became both the sacrifice and the one sacrificed to. These ideas are best articulated in the Upanishads, the latest of the Vedic commentaries, which were composed around 800–500 BCE. Here, the doctrines of reincarnation and karma and the concept of Brahman as the supreme reality, which are seen in the Bhagavad Gita, are clearly articulated for the first time. Of particular relevance to the Gita is the idea of the Atman, which is seen in the Upanishads as “Thou art That,” meaning that the self (Atman) is really Brahman, the Only Being, the One Existent, the One Mind.

While the Vedas and Vedic commentaries, including the Bramanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, were restricted to advanced upper-caste students, indigenous religion persisted, with its varied spiritual and philosophic cultures. Beginning around 500 BCE, wandering teachers, holy men who begged for food, traveled from village to village offering spiritual instruction. Their teachings varied, but many advocated self-denial and self-control. One such teacher was Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, who taught the middle way between extreme asceticism and indulgence. Hinduism rose to the challenge of competition from this new popular religion with varied responses and alternatives and ultimately superseded Buddhism in India. The new Hinduism offered liberation as well as social organization and plural spiritual paths and stages. Devotional Hinduism also became important, according to which the individual relates to the mystical presence of the unknowable god through love for a personal deity. All of these trends are brought together in the Bhagavad Gita.