BOOKS IN KANNADA ON GITA

When it comes to Hinduism, one of the main texts that correspond to this sacred tradition is the Bhagavad Gita, popularly called Gita. Upon translation, it means, ‘the Song of God.’ The Gita is written in the form of a conversation between Pandava prince Arjuna and his mentor and charioteer Krishna, the Persona of the Creator of the universe. Arjuna is concerned by an emotional and spiritual conundrum and dejection about the death and suffering that the war will produce in the war against his family at the beginning of the Dharma Yuddha (virtuous war) between the Pandavas and Kauravas. When he is unsure whether he should abandon the war, he asks Krishna for advice, the responses to which form the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna is advised by Krishna to "accomplish his Kshatriya (warrior) responsibility to maintain Dharma" through Karma "altruistic acts." The Krishna-Arjuna conversations span a wide variety of transcendental subjects, including moral quandaries and metaphysical concerns that extend well beyond the war Arjuna is facing.

The themes dealt with in the Bhagavad Gita

• The nature of the divine

The Gita embraces the Upanishadic notion of Absolute Reality (Brahman), signaling a radical departure from the previous ritualistic traditions of Vedic religion and toward one that abstracts and internalizes religious beliefs. The Gita expands on the Upanishadic Brahman motif, which is defined as that which is omnipresent, unphased, absolute, unfathomable, and Nirguna (abstract, without features). In the Gita, the Absolute is neither a He nor a She, but a "neutral concept," a "It or That." The Gita, like many of the Upanishads, does not confine itself to the Nirguna Brahman. It instructs about both the esoteric and personalized notions of Brahman (God), the latter as Krishna.

• The nature of the self

Scholars believe that the Gita "comprehensively acknowledges" atman as the basis of religious concepts. This is the Brahmanical notion in the Upanishads that all life forms have a "perpetual true self," the real essence. The Self pertains to the Atman (Self). The redemptive aim in the Upanishads that predated the Gita, like the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, is to understand and realize this Self, an awareness bereft of intuition "I, mine, egoistic" delusional thoughts frequently associated with the body, material living mechanisms that are ephemeral and transitory. Atman is accepted by the Gita as the true, everlasting, supreme core essence, the expression of one's being.

• The nature of the world

The world, according to the Gita, is intangible, as are all living things and matter. All that makes up Prakriti (nature, matter) is engaged in practices and has a limited lifespan. It develops, ages, decomposes and eventually dies. This fleeting reality is known as Maya. The Gita, like the Upanishads, concentrates on what it deems to be true in this dynamic world, of the fragility of life, and finiteness. The text draws on Hinduism's Samkhya and Vedanta schools of thought to construct its scriptural blueprint of the world.

• Brahman-Atman

Scholars believe the Upanishads devised the formula "Atman = Brahman," and this perception is pivotal to the Gita. This model, however, is perceived differently by various sub-disciplines of Vedanta. According to the Gita, each human being's self is similar to every other human being and all beings, but it "does not assist a personality with the Brahman."

• Self-discipline, renunciation and ritualism

The Gita opposes an ethical life, relinquishment, and Brahminical Vedic sacramental theology, in which external behavior or non-actions are viewed as a form of private incentives in this life, spiritual life, or deliverance. It instead suggests a productive life in which the self accepts "inner renunciation," acts to satisfy what he defines to be his dharma, without yearning for or worrying about personal gratification, and views this as an "inner dedication to the personal God for a moral purpose."

• Dharma

Dharma is a notable mode of thought in the Mahabharata, and it is also mentioned in the Gita. The phrase dharma has several interpretations. It simply implies "what is right." It also refers to the principles of "responsibility, law, privilege, social conventions, religious rites, and the cosmos itself" in the text, in the manner of "the way things should be in all these multiple dimensions."

• Moksha

In the Vedanta school of thought, deliverance, or moksha, is not something that can be obtained. The primary objective of moksha, Atman (Self), and Consciousness, together with the loss of ego-driven neglect, is something that is always prevalent at the core of the self and must be realized by each person through one's own initiatives. While the Upanishads strongly support a monotheistic view of liberation, the Bhagavad Gita also accepts dichotomous and theistic facets of moksha.

FAQs: 

Q1. Who authored the Bhagavad Gita? 

There are some disparities when it comes to the author of the Bhagavad Gita. Some people believe that it was written by Lord Ganesha himself, who passed down the teachings of the Gita to Veda Vyasa, who then authored the Gita. 

Q2. Who is depicted as the supreme deity in the sacred text, the Gita? 

Krishna is depicted in the Bhagavad Gita both as Brahman, and an 'Avatar of Vishnu' and Arjuna's friend." To summarize, Svayam Bhagavan Krishna is deemed to be Vishnu's Purna-avatara (full manifestation) or, as per some, the unifying Narayana who surpasses even Brahman.