The Bhagavad Gita

by George Thompson

  But the name Viu is explicitly applied to Ka only three times in the Bhagavad Gītā: once at 10.21, where Ka says that among the divine sons of Aditi he is Viu, and twice in Chapter 11, where Arjuna addresses Ka directly as Viu (11.24 and 11.30). Elsewhere in the Bhagavad Gītā, Ka is occasionally referred to by epithets that are also used to refer to Viu in other parts of the Mahābhārata (as well as in other texts), but it is a striking fact—which needs to be explained—that in the Bhagavad Gītā, Ka refers to himself as Viu only once (at 10.21), and that Arjuna refers to Ka as Viu only twice, and in both instances in that strangely anomalous and possibly later Chapter 11, where Ka reveals himself as he really is to Arjuna. In fact, Chapter 11 appears to be an insertion, a short Arjuna Gītā within the Bhagavad Gītā. All this suggests that the identification of Ka as an avatar of Viu was not yet settled doctrine at the time of the Bhagavad Gītā. Such an identification seems to have been an innovation initiated by the Bhagavad Gītā itself.

  The notion of an infinite cosmological god, Brahman, that dwells within each individual soul, or ātman, at its core and that is ultimately equivalent with all things is firmly rooted in and fundamental to the Bhagavad Gītā. Insofar as each of us is an ātman, we are all ultimately identical with this infinite Brahman as well. But in the Bhagavad Gītā this infinite Brahman is always referred to as a neuter noun, brahman, and therefore distinct from a masculine god, Brahmā. The masculine name of this infinite god appears twice, both times in Chapter 11 (11.15 and 11.37). At 11.15 Arjuna sees Brahmā sitting on his lotus seat surrounded by all the gods, but he sees them all as dwelling within Ka’s body! And at 11.37 Arjuna tells Ka:

  And why shouldn’t they pay homage to you, great soul—a creator more worthy than Brahmā himself? You are the infinite lord of the gods and the world’s resting place. You are the imperishable, both what exists and what does not exist, and beyond them both.

  Finally, there is no direct mention of Śiva in the Bhagavad Gītā, but an allusion to Śiva seems to occur at 10.23, where Ka says, “Among the terrifying deities I am the gentle one [that is, Śiva].” This is just two stanzas after the stanza where Ka identifies himself as Viu, as well as the entire pantheon of gods who are all present at Ka’s great theophany.

  One of the ambitions of the author of the Bhagavad Gītā was clearly to establish Ka as the supreme deity. Nowhere is such an ambition clearer than in the very important Chapter 11. But the basic means that he used to accomplish his goal was to emphatically identify Ka, not with any one of these three supreme gods, not even with Viu, but instead with the neutral, impassive, infinite Brahman. Eventually, the Bhagavad Gītā came to be identified as a Vaiava text, that is, a text embraced by those traditions that worship Viu. But in its origins, the Bhagavad Gītā appears to have been far more focused on Ka himself.

  For anyone who wishes to come to an understanding of and a feeling for classical India, and for India today as well, the Bhagavad Gītā is a crucial source. Many of the most fundamental ideas that animate Indian cultural life can be found vividly displayed within this dialogue that we are permitted to listen in on, in spite of the thunderous din of conch shells being blown on all sides. Ka’s appeal to Arjuna to embrace his duty as a warrior, to commit himself to action while renouncing any and all consequences, and to convert all of his actions into a sacrifice offered to Ka himself has fascinated countless devotees of Ka ever since.

  A Note on Chapter 11

  Chapter 11, the great epiphany—theophany, really—where Ka compassionately condescends to reveal his true nature to Arjuna, has a significant metrical shift that has led some scholars to think that it might be an autonomous portion of the Bhagavad Gītā. Although the Bhagavad Gītā occasionally slides into the longer triubh stanza (which consists of four lines of eleven syllables) instead of the Bhagavad Gītā’s standard śloka stanza (which consists of four lines of eight syllables), this metrical shift is most conspicuous and most dramatic in Chapter 11, long stretches of which are composed in this longer stanza.

  The astonishing, ineffable things that Arjuna sees when Ka gives him a “divine eye,” so that he can see Ka as he really is (recall Sajaya’s divine eye, so that Sajaya can also see and hear all that is taking place on that remote battlefield), are described by Arjuna rather than by Ka himself. In other words, Chapter 11 is composed from Arjuna’s perspective, not from Ka’s. As such, it is in effect an Arjuna Gītā rather than a Bhagavad Gītā, that is, a short soliloquy by Arjuna embedded within a much larger discourse from Ka, the Bhagavad Gītā as a whole.

  This view of Chapter 11 as an interpolation has been argued by a number of scholars, but I think that a much stronger case can be made, and perhaps this introduction is a good place to make it. In the immediately preceding chapter, Chapter 10, Ka recites his powers, or manifestations (Sanskrit vibhūtis). Except for seven early stanzas (10.12–18) where Arjuna asks Ka to talk about these powers, the entire chapter of forty-two stanzas belongs to Ka alone. To a great extent, what Ka says in Chapter 10 consists of a series of statements of the type “Among X, I am Y.” For example:

  21. Among the divine sons of Aditi I am Viu. Among the celestial lights I am the radiant sun. I am lightning among the gods of the storm. And I am the moon among the stars.

  22. Among the Vedas I am the Sāmaveda, the book of songs. Among the gods I am Indra, their king. Among the senses I am the mind, and among the sentient I am consciousness.

  These sets of “I am…” assertions fill up the vast majority of this chapter, and they are what I call, after the Sanskrit term ātmastuti, assertions of self-praise. In such assertions, which are well attested throughout Sanskrit literature going back to the Rigveda, the poet or bard impersonates the god and in that role praises, as it were, “himself,” often with a quite blatant boastfulness that would seem like crude arrogance in a mere mortal. This kind of impersonation of a divinity is well known in literatures around the world, and in an earlier article I have tried to identify this widespread folk genre, to define its characteristics, and to give it a name.* It is in fact a prominent feature of the Bhagavad Gītā. When at 10.32 Ka says, “Arjuna, I am the beginning and the end of all created worlds, and I am their middle as well,” this is not very different from the profoundly bold assertion attributed to Jesus at Revelation 1.8: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the almighty.”

  It is striking therefore that Ka’s “self-praise,” his ātmastuti, in Chapter 10 is immediately followed in the very next chapter by this astonishing vision of Ka as the monstrous (Sanskrit ghora) god of time. Here, in contrast with the elaborate sequence of “I am” assertions, Arjuna utters an equally elaborate sequence of “I see you” assertions (stanzas 11.15–31). Arjuna’s song in praise of Ka arouses this most famous of responses from Ka, as we have already seen, at 11.32:

  I am time, the agent of the world’s destruction, now grown old and set in motion to destroy the worlds. Even without you, all of these warriors arrayed in opposing battle-formation will cease to exist!

  Ka then urges Arjuna to look around at the massive armies that he, Arjuna, and his brothers have assembled to fight the equally massive armies that his cousins have assembled against them. And Ka tells Arjuna with absolute, unsentimental certainty that he, Ka, has slain them already, long, long ago (stanza 11.33).

  In fact Chapter 11 does not appear to fit well within its immediate context. Chapter 12 opens with Arjuna asking Ka to comment further on those who “have the best knowledge of yoga.” As John Brockington has pointed out,* this passage seems to pick up immediately from Chapter 10. Brockington cites 10.10, where Ka offers to receive those who devote themselves to him with love and the yoga of insight. A few lines later (at 10.18), Arjuna asks for more insight into Ka’s yoga and his divine powers. As we have seen, in the rest of Chapter 10 Ka reveals his divine powers to Arjuna, but he does not get around to a fuller explanation of yoga—that is, not until Chapter 1
2, where the discussion turns again to yoga as a means of attaining to Ka himself. It is as if Arjuna’s vision of Ka as the terrible god of time in Chapter 11 had not occurred at all!

  Ultimately, it may be impossible to decide with certainty whether Chapter 11 is an original part of the Bhagavad Gītā or a later insertion. The text contains so many apparent layers and internal contradictions that it is difficult to make a confident judgment about such matters. Nevertheless, the Bhagavad Gītā, no matter how it came to have the form that it now has, continues to be an enormously important document within the context of world literature. No one can any longer claim to be well-read and literate who has not read and responded thoughtfully to the very challenging questions that the Bhagavad Gītā asks of us about ourselves.

  ONE

  Dhtarāra spoke:

  1. On the field of Dharma, on the field of the Kurus, they have assembled and are eager to fight, my men on one side and the sons of Pāu on the other. What did they do, Sajaya?

  Sajaya spoke:

  2. Your son Duryodhana saw the army of the Pāavas drawn up for battle, and then he, the king, approached his teacher, Droa, and spoke these words:

  3. “My teacher, look at this magnificent army of Pāu’s sons and their men all drawn up and led by your wise student, Dhadyumna, the son of Drupada!

  4. There they are, warriors, great archers, all of them equal in battle to Bhīma and Arjuna, Yuyudhāna and Virāa, and Drupada as well, the great chariot warrior!

  5. And Dhaketu and Cekitāna and the king of Kāśī, a heroic man! And also Purujit and Kuntibhoja, and that bull among men, the king of the Śibis!

  6. Also there is that broad-striding Yudhamanyu, and Uttamaujas, also a hero, and Subhadra’s son, and Draupadī’s sons—all of them great chariot warriors!

  7. And now notice, O best of the twice-born Brahmins, these others, the most distinguished among us, the leaders of my army: I tell you their names so that you will remember them!1

  8. You yourself, my lord Droa, and Bhīma and Kara, and Kpa, the winner of many battles! And Ashvatthama and Vikara, and Somadatta’s son as well!

  9. And many other warriors willing to give up their lives for my sake, with their many weapons, all of them war-seasoned!

  10. The strength of this army of ours is unmatched, led as it is by Bhīma, whereas that army of theirs, led as it is by Bhīma, can easily be matched!2

  11. And so in all of your strategic movements, stationed wherever you are ordered to be, may all of you, all of you, protect Bhīma!”

  12. It delighted Duryodhana when the aged grandfather of the Kurus, Bhīma, roared out a lion’s roar and blew his conch shell, full of fire.

  13. Then conch shells and drums, and cymbals, and tabors and trumpets, all at once resounded. The sound was thunderous!

  14. And standing there on their great chariot yoked to white stallions, Ka Mādhava and Arjuna, the son of Pāu, also blew their celestial conch shells.

  15. Ka blew the horn that had belonged to Pañcajanya, Arjuna blew his Gift-of-God conch shell, and fierce wolf-bellied Bhīma blew the great Paura horn.

  16. Yudhihira the king, the son of Kuntī, in turn blew the horn of endless victory, while Nakula and Sahadeva blew the sweet-toned and the jewel-toned conch shells.

  17. The king of Kāśī, a master archer, and Śikandhin the great chariot rider, and Dhadyumna, and Virāa and Sātyaki the unconquered,

  18. and Drupada and the sons of Draupadī and the mighty-armed son of Subhadrā—all at once, my king, they all blew their conch shells, over and over again and in all directions!

  19. That sound pierced the hearts of Dhtarāra’s men, and the thunder of it made heaven and earth shake!

  20. Then Arjuna, his war banner displaying the sign of the monkey, looked upon Dhtarāra’s men, just as the clashing of the weapons was to begin. And then the son of Pāu raised his bow.

  21. And, my king, he spoke these words to Ka: “O unshakable one, stop my chariot here in the middle, between these two armies,

  22. where I can see these men fixed in their positions and eager to fight, these men who are ready to fight against me in the strain of war.

  23. I see them gathered here, these men who are set to fight, hungry to please in battle Dhtarāra’s reckless son.”

  24. O Bhārata, Ka heard the words that Arjuna spoke, and he stopped that excellent chariot between the two armies.

  25. Standing before Bhīma and Droa and all of the great kings, Ka spoke: “Arjuna, here they are, the assembled Kurus. Look at them!”

  26. Arjuna looked upon them there where they stood, fathers and grandfathers, teachers, uncles and brothers, sons and grandsons, and companions,

  27. fathers-in-law and dear friends, in both of the armies. Seeing them all standing there, his kinsmen,

  28. Arjuna was overwhelmed by deep compassion, and in despair he said, “Ka, yes, I see my kinsmen gathered here and ready to fight.

  29. My arms and legs have grown heavy. My mouth is dry. My body is trembling, and the hair on my head stands on end.

  30. My Gāīva bow drops from my hand, and my skin—it burns. I cannot stand still, and my mind swirls like a storm.

  31. Ka, I see unfavorable signs here, and I can see nothing good in killing my own family in battle!

  32. I have no desire for victory, Ka, nor for a kingdom, nor for the joys of life. What is a kingdom to us, Ka, and what are pleasures, or life itself?

  33. It is for our kinsmen that we have desired a kingdom, pleasures, and the joys of life, these men assembled here in battle, men who are prepared to give up their lives and their fortunes.

  34. Our teachers, our fathers and sons, and our grandfathers as well. Uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, all of them our kinsmen!

  35. I do not want to kill them, even if they kill me, Ka, not for kingship over all of the three worlds, much less for the earth itself!

  36. What joy would there be for us, Ka, if we kill Dhtarāra and his men? Evil will follow us if we kill them, even as they draw their bows against us.

  37. Thus it is not right for us to kill Dhtarāra’s men. They are our own kin! How can we win happiness, Ka, if we kill our own kin?

  38. Even if they themselves don’t see it, blinded as they are by the greed that has destroyed their reason, it is wrong to destroy one’s family and to betray one’s friends.

  39. How could we not have the wisdom to turn away from this evil thing, since we can see that to destroy the whole family is a terrible crime?

  40. If our family is destroyed, then the timeless traditional laws of the family will die too. If traditional law dies, then chaos will overwhelm the entire family.3

  41. If the family is overwhelmed by chaos, then the women of the family will be corrupted, and when the women are corrupted, Ka, all social order will collapse.

  42. This collapse drags the family and those who destroy it down into hell, and their ancestors fall with them, since the offerings of rice and water will no longer be given.

  43. The crimes of those who destroy the family cause the social order to collapse. They undermine the unchanging laws of caste duty and family duty.

  44. Ka, we have been taught that a place in hell is saved for men who undermine family duty. This is our tradition.

  45. No! We are intent on committing a great evil here, driven as we are, by greed for a kingdom and for pleasures, to kill our own kinsmen!

  46. If Dhtarāra’s men with all their weapons were to kill me here as I am, unarmed and unresisting, that would bring me greater peace.”

  47. Saying these things in the midst of a war, Arjuna sank down into his chariot seat. He dropped his bow and arrows. His mind was tormented by grief.

  TWO

  Sajaya spoke:

  1. Arjuna sat there overwhelmed by compassion, his eyes blurred and filled with tears. And then Ka spoke these words to him:

  The Blessed One spoke:

  2. Where does this weakness in you come from, Arjuna,
at this time of crisis? It is not fitting in a nobleman. It does not gain you heaven. It does not bring you any honor.

  3. Don’t give in to this impotence! It doesn’t belong in you. Give up this petty weakness, this faintness of heart. You are a world conqueror, Arjuna. Stand up!

  Arjuna spoke:

  4. But how can I engage Bhīma and Droa in battle, Ka? How can I fight them with my arrows, these two men who both deserve my devotion instead?

  5. No, instead of killing my gurus, these men of great authority, it would be better for me to eat the food of a beggar here in this world. If I were to kill my gurus here, even though they seek their own ends against me, it would be like eating food smeared with blood.

  6. And we do not know which is the heavier burden: whether we should win the fight, or whether they should win. Dhtarāra’s men stand there, drawn up before us. If we were to kill them, we ourselves would no longer wish to live!

  7. This grief that I feel seems like a sickness that strikes at my very being. I ask you, because my understanding of duty is confused. What would be better? Explain this to me clearly. I am your student. Your are my refuge. Teach me!

  8. Even if I could attain unrivaled wealth on this earth and a prosperous kingdom and lordship over the gods, I still would not be able to see what might dispel this sorrow that burns my senses.

  Sajaya spoke:

  9. So Arjuna, the conqueror, spoke. “I will not fight!” he said to Ka, and having spoken thus, he became silent.

  10. O lord of the Bhāratas, Ka then responded, it seemed with a smile, as Arjuna sat there despondently between the two armies. These were his words.

  The Blessed One spoke:

  11. You grieve for those who are beyond grieving, and you talk like one with wisdom, but the truly learned grieve neither for those who have lost their lives nor for those who still have them.

  12. But in fact there never was a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor any of these other lords. And there never will be a time when we do not exist.