INTRODUCTION
satynantcintya-akty-eka-pake sarvdhyake bhakta-raktidake | r-govinde viva-sargdi-kande prnande nityam st matir me || ajna-nradhir upaiti yay viea bhakti parpi bhajate paripoam uccai | tattva para sphurati durgamam apy ajasra sdguya-bht svaracit praammi gtm ||
May my mind remain eternally fixed on r Govinda, who is the ultimate perfection of real, infinite, inconceivable powers, and who thus controls everything; who is expert in protecting His devotees; who is also the root of creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe; and who is full of bliss. I offer my respects to the Gt, which was spoken by the Lord endowed with perfect qualities. It is a work by which the ocean of ignorance meets its complete end,1 by which
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Or the ocean of ignorance gets cured.
pure bhakti becomes fully nourished to the highest degree, and by which, the supreme truth, normally difficult to understand, becomes eternally manifest. Svayam Bhagavn Ka, condensed happiness and knowledge, is the Supreme Person endowed with inconceivable power. His feet are the object of meditation by Brahm and others, who create, maintain and destroy the variegated universe in accordance to His order. Through such pastimes as His birth, He gave exceeding joy to His associates, whom He treated equal to Himself, and who appeared with Him. And by His pastimes He liberated many jvas from the tigers mouth of ignorance. Wishing to deliver others in the future, after His own disappearance, He placed Arjuna, whom He considers His own Self, under seeming bewilderment at the commencement of the battle by His inconceivable energy. Then, on the pretext of removing Arjunas ignorance, He spoke to Arjuna His own Gtopaniad, which excellently ascertains the real nature of Himself and His energies. Five subjects are described in the Gt: vara, jva, prakti, kla and karma. Among them, the all-powerful conscious being ( vibhu-savit) is the Lord, vara. The minute conscious being ( au-savit) is the jva. Prakti is that substance which is the shelter of the three guas: sattva, rajas and tamas. Kla is unconscious substance (dravya) devoid of the guas.2 Karma refers to the force of destiny produced from the actions of men. The characteristics of these items are as follows. Among them, the first four vara, jva, prakti and klaare eternal. Jva, prakti, kla and karma are under the control of vara. The fifth item, karma, has no beginning (andi) and is liable to destruction, like prior non-existence ( prg-abhva).3 The only objects which have consciousness as their essential property ( svarpa) are vara and jva. They are aware of other things ( savett) and have recognition of I (self-awareness asmad-artha).4 The ruti says:
vijnam nanda brahma
This means that kla is distinct from prakti. Rmnuja also accepts this in his system. Jva Gosvm also places kla as part of nimitta-my, whose other constituents are karma (action), daiva (fate) and svabhva (impressions). This my has two functions: vidy and avidy. Avidy causes the bewilderment of the jva and vidy assists in jvas release from prakti. This functions along with gua-my or pradhna whose constituents are prakti, mahat-tattva, ahakra, the five elements, eleven senses and five sense objects. Gua-my supplies the material body for the jva. 3 Something which has not yet existed has not existed for infinite time in the past. It has andi non-existence. But this state of non-existence comes to an end if and when the object in question makes its appearance. Thus, non-existence is an example of something that has no beginning but has an end. Karma is similar. 4 Followers of akara argue that Brahman is consciousness itself, with no awareness of self or other things, what to speak of being a doer.
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That Brahman is knowledge and bliss. Bhad rayaka Upaniad 3.9.28
mant boddh kart vijntm purua
That Lord who is knowledge itself is the controller, the knower, the doer. Prana Upaniad 4.9
ya sarva-ja sarva-vit
He knows all things, and knows everything about each thing. Muaka Upaniad 1.1.9 Also the ruti says (concerning self-awareness): so kmayata bahu sym He desired, May I become many. Taittirya Upaniad 2.6
sukham aham asvpsa na kicid avediam
I slept happily and was not aware of anything. 5 This awareness of self in both the Lord and the jva is not the material ahakra which arises from the mahat-tattva. That
This phrase is raised by rdhara Svm in his commentary on SB 11.3.39 to illustrate that the soul experiences during deep sleep while mind, intellect and ahakra are not functioning.
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is a meaningless proposal, since the material ahakra disappears during pralaya. (so kmayata shows that the Lord had an identity before manifestation of ahakra.) Thus, the Lord is proved to be both a doer and experiencer ( kart and bhokt) from the use of the words sarva-ja, sarva-vit, boddh and kart. The equivalence of knowing with experiencing (or enjoying) is recognized by all, as in the following statement. so nute sarvn kmn saha brahma vipacit He enjoys all sense objects along with the knowing Brahman. Taittirya Upaniad 2.1 This statement makes clear the equivalence of the two words knowing and enjoying. Even though the state of being the knower is not actually different from the Lord as savit-svarpa (knowledge itself), just as the sunlight is not different from the sun, the Lord and His capacity to know are distinguished as different by the power of viea.6 This power of viea produces a likeness to difference but does not produce actual difference. This
Viea is the power of objects to distinguish their being from their qualities. The concept is derived from Madhva.
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potency gives rise to effecting differenceto enacting the states of object and attribute, though there is no real difference. Thus, the wise acknowledge meaningful statements such as Being exists, Difference is distinct, and
Time exists at all times.7 The prohibition of perceiving the qualities as inherently different from the Lord is stated:
eva dharmn pthak payas tn evnuvidhvati
One who percieves the qualities of the Lord as different from Him pursues only those qualities (and ends up in sasra). Kaha Upaniad 4.14 Thus in explaining about the qualities of the Lord, it is forbidden to see real difference between those qualities and Himself. Even those unwilling to recognize viea must accept that, in the absence of this likeness of difference ( viea), they cannot even speak, since they are forced to use descriptive words
In talking about existence, difference or time, we can make tautological statements, where difference is naturally implied to give it meaning, thus making distinctions about them, which are accepted as truth, where actually there are no distinctions. The existing object cannot be separated from its existence. Difference cannot be separated from its function of creating difference. Time cannot be separated from existing at all time. Yet everyone can understand the meaning of the statements because of the functioning of viea, which creates difference in oneness.
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bearing an object-attribute relationship. 8 These subjects will be examined in this scripture in the appropriate place. In this work, the exact natures of jva and Paramtm, their powers and the methods of realizing them will be precisely explained. The nature of the jva suitable for the mercy of Paramtm and the nature of Paramtm which makes Him suitable as the object of the jvas worship will be taught. Prakti, time and karma will be shown as instruments of the creator, Paramtm. The three methods of attaining the Lord are karma, jna and bhakti. Karma is regarded as an authorized method because it assists jna and bhakti by purifying the heart, through performance of prescribed actions with renunciation of doership and renunication of the promised fruits of those actions, and thus it brings attainment of the Lord gradually. The duties prescribed by the rutis (in the process of karma-yoga) are devoid of violence. That is the main element in them. In the Moka Dharma (Mahbhrata, nti Parv), in the discussion between father and son, the method of karma, characterized by non-violence, is regarded as secondary because of its indirect nature, whereas the other two methods are direct.
Baladevas commentary on Vednta-stra 3.2.31 covers this point. As we observe qualities everywhere we have to accept them. We also observe objects possessing the qualities. If we accept qualities then they must relate somehow to the object they qualify. They cannot exist without a substratum or a relation to the substratum. That relationship is called viea, an
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inherent power in the object itself, by which it distinguishes itself from the qualities and yet remains united with the qualities
A question may arise: If one performs karma and purifies the heart, then, with the appearance of jna, one will gain liberation. What, then, is the speciality of bhakti? It is said that jna indeed is bhakti, with some specialization. Jna is the search for the Lord by conceiving Him as the form of knowledge itself, different from those persons who see the personal Lord with unblinking vision or side-long glance. It leads to slokya and other types of liberation. Bhakti however directly searches out (in that sense a type of knowledge) the Lord as the shelter of rasa and variegated pastimes. By bhakti, one attains the ultimate goal of bliss from serving the Lord, which includes slokya and other benedictions within it. The fact that bhakti has the status of jna is shown in the ruti:
sac-cid-nandaika-rase bhakti-yoge tihati
The Lord resides in bhakti-yoga, which is His one dear object of affection, composed of eternity, knowledge and bliss. Gopla Tpan Upaniad 2.79 We see that jna is the equivalent of ravaa, bhva and other elements of bhakti. One should recognize that jna takes the forms of hearing and other elements of bhakti, just as one lock of Vius hair represents Viu, who is filled with knowledge and bliss. I will explain this in the commentary. The Gt is divided into three groups of six chapters. In the first six chapters, the jva, an aa of the Lord, is shown tohave a svarpa to be employed in devotion to the Lord, the a, the source of the jva. The first six chapters show that realization of the nature of jva is accomplished by nikma-karma which contains within it jna. In the middle six chapters, this bhakti, the means of attaining the Lord who is the source of the jvas and the supreme object of attainment, along with a revelation of the Lords powers, is explained. In the last six chapters, the true nature of the Lord and the other items which were previously mentioned are described in detail. All three groups of chapters have indications of karma, jna and bhakti, but by predominance of the subjects of these chapters they have been described here. At the end of the Gt there is a statement of bhakti in the form of complete surrender. This is like a short inscription written on the top of a jewel box indicating its contents. One who has faith in this scripture, who is steady in following the path of dharma and has conquered the senses, is qualified for this scripture (adhikr). There are three types of qualified persons. The first, called saniha, performs his prescribed duties (of vara) as a form of worship of
Hari, with desire to see Svarga-loka.9 The second type, called parinihita, follows his prescribed duties to set an example for others and at the same time engages in bhakti to the Lord. These two types
The saniha devotee performs nikma-karma-yoga, followed by jna and aga-yoga, and finally realizes the Lord. Therefore his desire to see Svarga-loka is for curiosity, to see the Lords powers and not to enjoy. Those performing sakma-karma desire to enjoy Svarga.
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also follow the rules of their particular rama. The third type, called nirapeka, whose heart has been purified by austerities, japa, truthfulness and other actions, is absorbed only in worshipping Hari (performing only bhakti, not following vara duties). He does not follow the duties of any rama. There is a factual relationship between the words and the subject of the words (sambandha). The subject of the words ( vcya) is r Ka, who has been described in the work. The words ( vcaka) are the scripture called the Gt. Ka is the subject (viaya) of the Gts knowledge. The final goal (prayojana) of studying Gt is direct vision of Ka, which also extinguishes countless sufferings. These are the four anubandhas, necessary elements noted at the beginning of a literary work. 10 The words brahma and akara refer to the first three items: vara, jva and prakti. The word kara refers to the conditioned jva and his body. The word tm refers to vara, jva, and their bodies, the mind, intelligence, determination, and effort. Prakti refers to the substance consisting of the three guas, impressions (vsan), character, and ones svarpa. The word bhva means existence, intention, nature, object, birth, action and soul. The word yoga refers to karma-yoga, jna-yoga and bhakti-yoga, as well as cessation of mental functions.
Traditional works list these items at the beginning : adhikr (qualified person to study the text), viaya (subject of the text), prayojana (goal of the knowledge) and sambandha (the text should relate to the subject).
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This scripture is the best, being the direct words of Svayam Bhagavn. Padma Pura says:
gt sugt kartavy kim anyai stra-vistarai y svaya padmanbhasya mukha-padmd vinist
The Gt which has emanated from the mouth of the Lord Himself should be sung. What is the need of any other scripture?
The words spoken by Dhtarra and others in the Gt were written by Veda Vysa to create continuity in the work. However, those words also become equivalent to the Lords words, just as all objects falling in a salt mine become salty. This concludes the introduction.