The Beautiful Bhagavad Gita

I love the Bhagavad Gita. If I had to pick ONE spiritual text, that to me, is the best, I'd have to say the Bhagavad Gita. I used to be very much into Hinduism, and the Gita, I still am to a lesser degree. I used to be a Gaudiya Vaisnava Brahmachary, a Hindu Monk, and we studied the Gita and Bhagavatam every day. I find for me, this is the best version www.asitis.com... I find the translation to be clear, and the message very logical.

reply to post by Solasis


i think that u mean the epic of gilgamesh
that actually talks about nuclear warefare and great battles in the sky
crazy indians lol

reply to post by P-M-H


well that is a very racially biased and almost one-liner response...

please show some respect to our Indian brothers

I believe it is quite possible that the meaning behind the epic could have been taken out of context and mainly by right handed linear thinking peoples.

reply to post by Dragonfly79


wow.. thats alot of interesting inferences you made there.

None of which made a shred of sense. Im not "bullying" anyone, and i really dont see how you can sxay that just about me, but not about others.

And why exactly have you rehashed this situation? So YOU could describe whats wrong with me?

Here's a splendid passage from the thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita (as translated by Sri Aurobindo):

He who sees that all action is verily done by Prakriti, and that the Self is the inactive witness, he sees.

So i got that book now....

Ill probably read when i got the time.

Got about 4 or 5 books that im currently reading. 3 for school and 2 my own personal spiritual study..

After i finish 'the collapse of the dollar and how to profit from it', - my toilet reading, ill begin the bhagavad gita. Its pretty long so itll take a month atleast to finish it

Here's an interesting passage from the eighth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita (as translated by Rishi Sri Aurobindo):

The highest heavens of the cosmic plan are subject to a return to rebirth, but, O Kaunteya, there is no rebirth imposed on the soul that comes to Me (the Purushottama).

The Purushottama is the highest of the Purushas.

reply to post by dontreally


If you got the version by Yogananda or anyone else, please note that there is the Bhagavad-Gita and then there is the commentary on the Bhagavad Gita which is much longer than the Gita itself. If you are accustomed to reading spiritual books, I´d skip all the commentary and just read the actual book verses themselves and only go to the commentary for additional info. Much of the commentary by Yogananda (I think that is the book version you have) is good but its still only his interpretation of the material and not the material itself. Just an idea.

reply to post by Skyfloating


Yeah its the 2 book set.. I think the first part is the translation and the 2nd part commentary.

Im accustomed to reading spiritual texts with commentaries (i own atleast 4 or 5 different commentaries to the Torah. and thousands have been written) and each provide an interesting perspective.

I'll approach the bhagavad gita with the same understanding..

reply to post by Skyfloating


I read this book many many years ago. It opened a Pandora's Box and left me with many questions. Much of it conflicted with the Western ideas and the dogmatic teachings of christianity and it was unsettling to me at that time. One of many things that stood out to me was the philosophy that "the soul changes bodies the way the body changes clothes" or something to that effect. Reincarnation is not a concept that is approved in the christian religion although diligent reading in scripture and speculative interpretations can possibly allude to this as well. It is an intriguing thought though we really cannot know any of this with absolute certainty.

reply to post by Alethea


The bible undoubtedly refers to reincarnation as all orthodox Jews know.

its specifically in the narrative which discusses levirate marriage. The brother that dies is meant to be replaced by the living brother. The basic idea behind this is that the brother is a replica of his dead brother. By marrying his widow he reincarnates his dead brother back into the world; and also gives him the same name.

If the brother refuses to do so, a series of actions are performed. The widow brings the brother to the elders of the town and again asks him before them. If he again declines she spits in his face and removes her sandal. The sumbolism; the spit symbolizes the seed which the brother refused to give in order to reincarnate his dead brother back into the world. The face refers to the soul (panim - face in hebrew, is related to Pnimi - inner. Thus the face 'reveals' whats inside; the mind/soul) therefore his soul will be held responsible for this injustice (remember Cains rebuttal to G-d "am i my brothers keeper"..do i have to worry about another as if he is myself?)...The removal of the sandal symbolizes the body he didnt provide for his brother.

Very very clear symbolisms throughout that narrative towards reincarnation. Most people think this isnt a belief of Judaism but it is. Concomitant with this belief is also the doctrine of the ressurection of the dead at the end of the 7 years of the worlds duration.

reply to post by Alethea


Didn't Jesus tell his desciples that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah?

The Gita's contains some quality guidance, however I like the idea that the war of the Mahabaratta is a somewhat altered version of a nuclear war that ended the third age. What you could be reading is a god or demon convincing his followers that a the war is justified, when in reality his cohorts are doing exactly the same to the other side for the sake of destruction. It may have been the reason Oppenheimer detonated the first nuclear explosion (of modern times, as he alledgedly said) in the place he did. Oppenheimer also quoted the Gita. It might be where where Lemuria went.

The winners write the history books and they'll always claim to be the good guys, and if evil did win the final war of the third age it would give them the opportunity to start the fourth age (this one) in control. Sumeria anyone? It's possible that Genesis of the Bible describes the start of the re-writing of history and the start of the world wide conspiracy of control through money.

The Gita does contain concepts that I find immoral, such as the caste system and an indifference to evil. I'm the same with the Dhammapada.

reply to post by Robert Reynolds

I don't think you're right about any of that, but I wholheartedly applaud your willingness to use your own name and be up front and above board taking responsibility for being yourself, which on a board like this carries with it a certain degree of bravery. Kudos to you for that, from me, if not for the ideas you just put forth, which I think of as being disempowering and not helpful to our cause for the coming of the new age, which is all about turning the tables on the money changers and the "keepers of the flame", who no longer have the power, since real power isn't temporal or economic power.

reply to post by NewAgeMan
Thanks for the compliments, but I'm really not that brave as it's not my real name. The name comes from Marvel comics 'The Sentry' in relation to my signature.

I'm not sure how my comments are disempowering in any way and you could argue there is a message in the Gita that is disempowering - suggesting you're a tool of God and anything you do isn't down to your choice. I'm also not sure why you're so sure that the point of the coming change (if there is one [I believe there is]) is to 'turn the tables'. Is your problem with the system or with your position within the system? Bad people exist at every level within society, immorality is not the reserve of bankers.

I read the Gita a couple of different times, fairly early in my spiritual life...this time around, anyway. I didn't love it. I found the notion that a man's "position" or caste, if you will, in life, being fixed and his actions both necessary and somehow irrelevant (I'm referring to the battlefield scene with Krishna and Arjuna, justification for war, etc.) seriously flawed.
Before anyone accuses me of being an ethnocentric Hindu hater, I feel that all "holy texts" from ancient times to be seriously flawed as well, including the Bible and Koran.
Yeah, there may be gems in all these books, but they all espouse a worldview that I believe we have grown out of (mostly). They all, in one way or another, represent authoritarian "spiritual" justifications for the status quo.

I read modern works by enlightened teachers with much more direct comprehension, and find the general lack of dogma liberating and resonant.

Originally posted by joechip
I read the Gita a couple of different times, fairly early in my spiritual life...this time around, anyway. I didn't love it. I found the notion that a man's "position" or caste, if you will, in life, being fixed and his actions both necessary and somehow irrelevant (I'm referring to the battlefield scene with Krishna and Arjuna, justification for war, etc.) seriously flawed.

Two important points:

1. The fixed-caste idea is not part of the Gita but an interpretation in other books.

2. The Battlefield scene shows that peace (not war) is the highest good, but that its better to fight back than to be cowardly/humiliated. Fighting back is better than fear, but peace is even better than fighting back.

Of Course if you say these teachings have been misused and abused throughout History, you are right. Its human nature to take certain teachings and distort them for various agendas.

I read modern works by enlightened teachers with much more direct comprehension, and find the general lack of dogma liberating and resonant.

Yes. But many of these teachers have studied all the "big books" before finding their own understanding.

2. The Battlefield scene shows that peace (not war) is the highest good, but that its better to fight back than to be cowardly/humiliated. Fighting back is better than fear, but peace is even better than fighting back.

reply to post by Skyfloating



Like I said earlier, I have read this book, more than once, and I respectfully disagree with your interpretation of the scene in question. Krishna's admonishment to both uphold one's earthly duties (including war) and express in earthly life one's position (caste) while identifying with "atman" or universal soul, and therefore remain 'above the fray', in a sense, is the teaching I'm referring to, not anything to do with fear or cowardice. Actually, I don't see Arjuna as fearful in his reluctance to go to war.
There is something quite disturbing, in my view, with this interpretation of "dharma" and its lack of free will, and I maintain that it represents an authoritarian control mechanism.

Originally posted by joechip

while identifying with "atman" or universal soul, and therefore remain 'above the fray', in a sense, is the teaching I'm referring to, not anything to do with fear or cowardice. Actually,

Being identified with atman during battle is a way of saying "Your soul never dies, so have no fear in battle". I understand your interpretation (and how it might be seen that way), just adding mine for the sake of another view.

reply to post by Skyfloating

but that its better to fight back than to be cowardly/humiliated. Fighting back is better than fear, but peace is even better than fighting back.

I think you contradicted yourself here.

I think what you meant to say was that peace is preferable, but if someone is going to strip you of your G-d given rights, than your obligated morally to fight back? Thats a perfectly reasonable view. Also rooted in Judaism and Talmud.

Peace is great but peace at the expense of justice is an even greater evil.