Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Chapters 17-18 and Conclusion

Chapter 17:

“Arjuna asked: My Lord! Those who do acts of sacrifice, not according to the scriptures but

nevertheless with implicit faith, what is their condition? Is it one of Purity, of Passion or of

Ignorance?

Lord Shri Krishna replied: Man has an inherent faith in one or another of the Qualities –

Purity, Passion and Ignorance. Now listen.

The faith of every man conforms to his nature. By nature he is full of faith. He is in fact

what his faith makes him.

The Pure worship the true God; the Passionate, the powers of wealth and magic; the

Ignorant, the spirits of the dead and of the lower orders of nature."(p.45)

As an oxygen breather and plant eater, yes, I'm a devotee of cyanobacteria.

Second, we appear to have a rather large translation problem in the English.  Either that, or Krishna is reinterpreting the "implicit faith" of Arjuna's question.  Because it seems to me that Arjuna's "nevertheless" implies that the intentions are right, even if they haven't gotten the details of what kind of flowers to offer right.  But Krishna's interpretation seems to be that such a thing is impossible: if a person is pure, they will observe the letter as well as the spirit of the religion, otherwise not:

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Chapters 15-16

Chapter 15: We start with a similitude:

“Lord Shri Krishna continued: This phenomenal creation, which is both ephemeral and
eternal, is like a tree, but having its seed above in the Highest and its ramifications on this
earth below. The scriptures are its leaves, and he who understands this, knows.
Its branches shoot upwards and downwards, deriving their nourishment from the
Qualities; its buds are the objects of sense; and its roots, which follow the Law causing
man’s regeneration and degeneration, pierce downwards into the soil.
In this world its true form is not known, neither its origin nor its end, and its strength is
not understood., until the tree with its roots striking deep into the earth is hewn down by
the sharp axe of non-attachment.
Beyond lies the Path, from which, when found, there is no return. This is the Primal God
from whence this ancient creation has sprung.

The wise attain Eternity when, freed from pride and delusion, they have conquered their
love for the things of sense; when, renouncing desire and fixing their gaze on the Self, they
have ceased to be tossed to and fro by the opposing sensations, like pleasure and pain.
Neither sun, moon, nor fire shines there. Those who go thither never come back. For,
O Arjuna, that is my Celestial Home! "(p.41)

In terms of writing, I think this is a really good passage.  Take a familiar yet complex object, assign mystical meanings to the parts, and strike a good balance of language between rich description and stark action.  In terms of meaning anything to the real world, I'm still waiting on Krishna to offer any concrete evidence.

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Chapters 13-14

Chapter 13:

“Arjuna asked: My Lord! Who is God and what is Nature; what is Matter and what is the

Self; what is that they call Wisdom, and what is it that is worth knowing? I wish to have

this explained."(p.36)

Me, too.

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Chapters 11-12

Chapter 11: The Cosmic Vision

“Arjuna said: My Lord! Thy words concerning the Supreme Secret of Self, given for my
blessing, have dispelled the illusions which surrounded me.
O Lord, whose eyes are like the lotus petal! Thou hast described in detail the origin and
the dissolution of being, and Thine own Eternal Majesty.
I believe all as Thou hast declared it. I long now to have a vision of thy Divine Form,
O Thou Most High!
If Thou thinkest that it can be made possible for me to see it, show me, O Lord of Lords,
Thine own Eternal Self."(p.30)

Krishna is willing, and reveals himself to Arjuna:

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Chapters 9-10

At the opening of chapter 9,

“Lord Shri Krishna said: I will now reveal to thee, since thou doubtest not, that profound
mysticism, which when followed by experience, shall liberate thee from sin." (p.24)

We then spend all but a few lines of chapter 9 re-stating things Krishna has already said previously:

• Krishna is the progenitor and sustainer and mystical permeating aether of everything in the universe, with more ringing metaphorical "I am" statements
• Those who do not attain fully to Krishna's profound mysticism will get proportionate rewards, although they will still be part of the cycle of death and rebirth
• Krishna accepts all worship and sacrifice, and even if people think they are worshiping other powers they will get they proportionate rewards.
• Concentrate fully on Krishna and you can escape the cycle of death and rebirth. 

As far as I can tell, these lines are the extent of the profound mysticism:

"Whatever thou doest, whatever thou dost eat, whatever thou dost sacrifice and give,
whatever austerities thou practisest, do all as an offering to Me.
So shall thy action be attended by no result, either good or bad; but through the spirit of
renunciation thou shalt come to Me and be free." (p.25)

 and

"Fix thy mind on Me, devote thyself to Me, sacrifice for Me, surrender to Me, make Me the
object of thy aspirations, and thou shalt assuredly become one with Me, Who am thine
own Self.”(p.26)  

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Chapters 7-8

Chapter 7:

 “Lord Shri Krishna said: Listen, O Arjuna! And I will tell thee how thou shalt know Me in
my Full perfection, practising meditation with thy mind devoted to Me, and having Me
for thy refuge." (p.20)

First, though, Krishna extols himself:

"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and personality; this is the eightfold division of
My Manifested Nature." (p.20)

I don't enjoy numerology for itself, but I do enjoy noting how different cultures construct different aesthetic views of the positive integers.  China lauds 5 and 60; Europe lauds 3,7, and sometimes 9 while avoiding 6 and 13; Japan avoids 4 because a kanji for death/die can be pronounced the same way as kanji for 4; the Indian subcontinent lauds 8.  This is not a complete list, of course, and is not a result of directed study, only omnivorous reading.  If you have an addition or correction, leave a comment!    

Reading the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapters 5-6

“Arjuna said: My Lord! At one moment Thou praisest renunciation of action; at another,
right action. Tell me truly, I pray, which of these is the more conducive to my highest
welfare?
Lord Shri Krishna replied: Renunciation of action and the path of right action both lead to
the highest; of the two, right action is the better...

 He who is spiritual, who is pure, who has overcome his senses and his personal self, who
has realised his highest Self as the Self of all, such a one, even though he acts, is not bound
by his acts.
Though the saint sees, hears, touches, smells, eats, moves, sleeps and breathes, yet he
knows the Truth, and he knows that it is not he who acts.
Though he talks, though he gives and receives, though he opens his eyes and shuts them,
he still knows that his senses are merely disporting themselves among the objects of
perception.
He who dedicates his actions to the Spirit, without any personal attachment to them, he is
no more tainted by sin than the water lily is wetted by water."(p.15)

Oh really.

Reading the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapters 3-4

Chapter 3: Karma-Yoga - the Path of Action

We start with Arjuna asking the question that was bothering me from chapter 2:

“My Lord! If Wisdom is above action, why dost Thou advise me to
engage in this terrible fight?
Thy language perplexes me and confuses my reason. Therefore please tell me the only
way by which I may, without doubt, secure my spiritual welfare.

Lord Shri Krishna replied: In this world, as I have said, there is a twofold path, O Sinless
One! There is the Path of Wisdom for those who meditate, and the Path of Action for those
who work.
No man can attain freedom from activity by refraining from action; nor can he reach
perfection by merely refusing to act.
He cannot even for a moment remain really inactive, for the Qualities of Nature will
compel him to act whether he will or no.
He who remains motionless, refusing to act, but all the while brooding over sensuous
object, that deluded soul is simply a hypocrite.
But, O Arjuna! All honour to him whose mind controls his senses, for he is thereby
beginning to practise Karma-Yoga, the Path of Right Action, keeping himself always
unattached.
Do thy duty as prescribed, for action for duty’s sake is superior to inaction. Even the
maintenance of the body would be impossible if man remained inactive." (p.9)

Action or inaction of themselves are useless, but doing what you're told to is the superior path?  That is certainly very convenient for the powers of the status quo.

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2

Because I felt that a well-rounded person should be acquainted at least in passing with the various epics of the world. 

I will be reading a translation by Shri Purohit Swami, downloadable here for free if you want to read along.

From the preface: "The Bhagavad Gita, the greatest devotional book of Hinduism, has long been recognized as one of the world’s spiritual classics and a guide to all on the path of Truth."

The backstory: rival cousins, the 5 Pandavas and the 100 Kauravas, are going to war over who will rule the kingdom.  Our main character is one of the Pandavas, Arjuna, along with Krishna as his charioteer.  The two armies assemble at Kurukshetra and face each other, prepared for battle.  We begin as the rivals survey each other.

Conches are blown.  Like weapons, the conches are named: Krishna has Panchajanya, Arjuna has Devadatta, and other renowned warriors have renowned conches.  The noise shakes heaven and earth and the hearts of the Kauravas.

Arjuna asks Krishna to bring the chariot in between the forces, that he (Arjuna) may gaze upon the people of both sides.  Arjuna gazes upon the people assembled: teachers, fathers and grandfathers and fathers-in-law and  uncles and sons and grandsons and other relatives, and is stricken with sorrow.  He asks why everyone must fight, avows that he has no interest in kingship, and would rather die than see these people killed.  Further,

"The destruction of our kindred means the destruction of the traditions of our ancient
lineage, and when these are lost, irreligion will overrun our homes.
When irreligion spreads, the women of the house begin to stray; when they lose their
purity, adulteration of the stock follows.
Promiscuity ruins both the family and those who defile it; while the souls of our ancestors
droop, through lack of the funeral cakes and ablutions.
By the destruction of our lineage and the pollution of blood, ancient class traditions and
family purity alike perish."

                                                         p.3

Yup.  Because women's only value is breeding stock, they're not really people, while men can be as promiscuous as they like without consequences.  Also, racial purity!  How nice to see how far back terrible, dehumanizing ideas run, I suppose? 

I was seriously considering quitting right here, but the Bhagavad Gita isn't very long (55 pages of pdf, less of text), and I can blog about it and spread the misery to anyone else who might be interested in what a classic piece of literature actually says.  So I'll continue for now.  We'll see if I can make it all the way through.