Bhagavad gita according to gandhi chapter 1

Bhagavad Gita, the most popular Hindu scripture has been commented upon by Sages, Philosophers, Thinkers, & Leaders of people. The commentary on Gita by Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of modern India, is regarded as among the most important of those of the 20th Century.
In his own words, his interpretation of the Gita is designed for the common man, "one who has little or no literary equipment, who has neither the time nor the desire to read the Gita in the original, yet who stands in need of its support"..
This presentation is based on the book, "Bhagavad Gita: According to Gandhi"which is based on talks given by the Mahatma at his Sabarmath Ashram during February to November 1926. This presentation includes the general introduction & the Chapter 1 of Bhagavad Gita.

1. THE BHAGAVD GITA ACCORDING TO GANDHI T K G NAMBOODHIRI THIRUVALLA, KERALA Presentation adapted from The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi, Orient Paperbacks,2011 T K G Namboodhiri

2. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA “The Bhagavad Gita: According to Gandhi” is based on talks given by the Mahatma at the Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, over a 9 months period from February to November, 1926. Mahatma Gandhi’s commentary of the Bhagavad Gita is recognised as one of the most important interpretations of the Gita. This presentation is based on the revised edition (2011) of the first Orient Paperback Edition published in 1980. T K G Namboodhiri

3. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA In his interpretation of Bhagavad Gita, Gandhiji addresses the issues he felt most directly affected the spiritual lives of common people “who have little or no literary equipment, who has neither the time nor the desire to read the Gita in the original, & yet who stands in need of its support”. According to Gandhiji, “it is a work which persons belonging to all faiths can read. It does not favour any sectarian point of view. It teaches nothing but pure ethics”. T K G Namboodhiri

4. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA ANASAKTIYOGA (THE GOSPEL OF SELFLESS ACTION) Introduction to Bhagavad Gita It has been my endeavour to reduce to practice the teachings of the Gita as I have understood it. The Gita became a spiritual reference book for me. Right from the beginning, I felt that the Gita was not a historical work, but that under the guise of physical warfare, it described the dual that personally went on in the hearts of mankind. Instead of teaching the rules of physical warfare, it tells us how a perfected man is to be known. T K G Namboodhiri,

5. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-2 T K G Namboodhiri Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-2 Krishna of the Gita is perfection & right knowledge personified; but the picture is imaginary. In Hinduism, incarnation is ascribed to one who has performed some extraordinary service to mankind. Krishna enjoys the status of the most perfect incarnation. The belief in incarnation is a testimony of man’s lofty spiritual ambition. Man is not at peace with himself till he has become unto God. This is Self-realization.

6. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-3 Self realization is the subject of Gita. The object of the Gita appears to me to be that of showing the most excellent way to attain self-realization. The matchless remedy for self-realization is renunciation of fruits of action. Renunciation is the centre round which the Gita is woven. Renunciation is the central Sun, round which devotion, knowledge & the rest revolve like planets. T K G Namboodhiri

7. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-4 The human body has been likened to a prison. There must be action where there is body. Not one embodied being is exempted from labour. Every action is tainted. It is possible for man, by treating the body as the temple of God, to attain freedom. The Gita tells us how one can be free from action , from the taint of sin. By desireless action, by renouncing fruits of action, by dedicating all activities to God, i.e. by surrendering oneself to Him, body & soul. T K G Namboodhiri

8. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-5 Desirelessness or renunciation does not come from mere talking about it. It is attainable only by a constant heart-churn. In order that knowledge may not run riot, The Gita insists on devotion accompanying it, & has given it the first place. Have devotion & knowledge will follow. The devotion required by Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness. This devotion is not mere lip worship; it is a wrestling with death. T K G Namboodhiri

9. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-6 The devotion of the Gita has the least to do with the externals. A devotee is jealous of none, fount of mercy, without egotism, selfless, treats alike all dualities, ever forgiving, always contented, of firm resolve, has dedicated mind & soul to God, causes no dread, not afraid of others, free from exultation, sorrow & fear, pure, versed in action, yet unaffected by it, renounces all fruits of action, treats friends & foes alike, loves silence & solitude, and is unaffected by respect or disrespect. All qualities required of a Sage. T K G Namboodhiri

10. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-7 To be a real devotee is to realize oneself. Self-realization is not something apart. Knowledge or devotion cannot buy us salvation, they are themselves the thing we want. The means & the ends are almost the same. The extreme of means is salvation or perfect peace. Knowledge & devotion, to be true, have to stand the test of renunciation of fruits of action. None has attained his goal without action. All actions bind. Gita frees us from the bondage of work by asking us to “do your allotted work but renounce its fruit- be detached & work.” T K G Namboodhiri

11. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-8 This is the unmistakable teaching of the Gita: He who gives up action falls. He who gives up only the reward rises. But renunciation of fruit in no way means indifference to the result. He, who , being knowledgeable about the expected result, is without desire for the result & yet wholly engrossed in the due fulfilment of the task before him, is said to have renounced the fruits of action. Renunciation means absence of hankering after fruit. He who renounces reaps a thousand fold. The renunciation of the Gita is the acid test of faith. He who broods over results is ever distracted, becomes unfaithful to his task, says goodbye to all scruples, & resorts to means fair & foul to attain his end. T K G Namboodhiri

12. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-9 Gita has dispelled the delusion that religion is always opposed to material good. No line of demarcation has been drawn between salvation & worldly pursuits. On the contrary, religion must rule even our worldly pursuits. Gita teaches us that what cannot be followed in day-to-day practice cannot be called religion. All acts that are incapable of being performed without attachment are taboo. Man’s life then becomes simple & peaceful. T K G Namboodhiri

13. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-10 I have felt that in trying to enforce in one’s life the central teaching of the Gita, one is bound to follow Truth & Ahimsa. When there is no desire for fruits, there is no temptation for untruth or himsa (violence). All untruth & violence arise from the desire to attain the cherished end. Clearly, Gita was not written to establish AHIMSA, which was already a primary duty. The Gita, however, had to deliver the message of renunciation of fruit . T K G Namboodhiri

14. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-11 In the Gita, continuous concentration on God (the Supreme Self) is the king of sacrifice, & not sacrifices of animals or materials, as prevalent at that time. The Sannyasa of the Gita will not tolerate complete cessation of all activity. It is all work, yet no work. After 40 years’ unremitting endeavour fully to enforce the teaching of the Gita in my own life, I have in all humility felt that perfect renunciation is impossible without perfect observance of ahimsa in every shape & form. T K G Namboodhiri

15. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Introduction to Bhagavad Gita-12 The Gita is not an aphoristic work; it is a great religious poem. The deeper you delve into it, the richer the meaning you get. It is meant for the people at large. Nor is the Gita a collection of do’s & don'ts. What is lawful for one may be unlawful for another. Desire for fruit is the only universal prohibition. Desirelessness is obligatory. The Gita sings the praise of knowledge, but it is beyond the mere intellect; it is essentially addressed to the heart and capable of being understood by the heart. The Gita is not for those who have no faith, & who is without sacrifice, without devotion, & without desire for this teaching. T K G Namboodhiri

16. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter 1 ARJUNA VISHADA YOGA (ARJUNA’S DESPONDENCY) The epic Mahabharata is not history. It is a work by Sage Vyasa treating religious & ethical questions. The battle described in it is, therefore, a struggle between dharma and adharma. The epic describes the battle ever raging between the countless Kauravas & Pandavas dwelling within us. It is a battle between the innumerable forces of good & evil which become personified in us as virtues & vices. This epic was written to explain man’s duty in this inner strife. T K G Namboodhiri

17. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter 1.2 It is stated in the Gita that everyone, whether a woman, a vaisya or a sudra, can acquire spiritual knowledge if they are devoted to God. To understand any matter, one must have the knowledge which comes from learning. The physical battle described in Mahabharata is only an occasion for describing the battlefield that is the human body. The names mentioned are not of persons but of qualities which they represent. The conflict within the human body between opposing moral tendencies which are imagined as distinct figures. It is the human body that is described as Kurukshetra, as Dharmakshetra (Field of Dharma). This may also mean that for a Kshatriya, a battlefield is always a field of Dharma. T K G Namboodhiri

18. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter 1.3 Duryodhana, representing adharma, had good men like Bhishma & Drona on his side, in the battle. This suggests that evil cannot flourish in this world by itself. It can do so only if it is allied with some good. The evil system the government of that time represented had endured only because of the support it received from good people; it cannot survive if that support is withdrawn.- This is the principle underlying Non-cooperation. T K G Namboodhiri

19. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter 1.4 In Verse 1.22, Arjuna asks Sri Krishna to take his chariot between the two armies so that he can see against whom he must fight. He is not asking whether it is necessary to fight, but with whom he should fight. He had no aversion to fighting as such. After seeing his kinsmen arrayed against him, Arjuna says that he will not fight against them. He is unhappy not at the thought of killing, but at the thought of killing his “kinsmen”. The repeated use of Kinsmen by Arjuna shows into what darkness & ignorance he has sunk. T K G Namboodhiri

20. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter 1.5 In our daily life we avoid doing things out of fear of society. The world will blame a person even for going to court against his relations. Then how could Arjuna bring himself to kill his kinsmen? Arjuna was shaken in his whole being, and asks Shri Krishna for help. Krishna wanted him to cast off his weakness because while seeking the path of good, we do not eschew something which we are required to eschew, dharma would cease to be dharma. Gita is not advocating violence, but upholding dharma. We can understand the teaching of the Gita aright only if we give careful thought to the attendant circumstances. T K G Namboodhiri

21. TEACHINGS OF BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter 1.6 It is important to consider what Arjuna’s question was, & what were the circumstances in which he raised it. After seeing his kinsmen, he lost his nerve. The past history shows that Arjuna was a great warrior, & he had never hesitated to fight, even his relatives, in the past. Then why did he become dejected? Though his enemies are wicked people & are sinners, they are his relations & he cannot bring himself to kill them. If he leaves the field, the Pandava army would simply be annihilated, & the very calamities he feared would have befallen the families of his army men. Therefore Arjuna had no choice but to fight. Hence, Shri Krishna describes Arjuna cowardly & weak, and wanted him to cast off his weakness, & fight. T K G Namboodhiri

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