Introduction

• The Bhagavad-Gita = a song of multiplicities, a didactic poem
  • Multiplicity of the divine; the yogas of knowledge, action, and devotion; the gunas of Purity, Power, and Darkness
• Imagines (uniquely to religious scriptures), a relationship in which the soul and God are equals, of friendship
• Addresses the slippery nature of being, change of forms, becoming

Untranslated words

• Guna: our nature, groups of traits
• Dharma: sometimes like duty or law, but more indefinite
• Maya: goes beyond illusion— "mapping presence onto absence, then mistaking that presence for all there is, abs ignoring the actual Presence of the divine."
  • Like seeing black spots on a black and white grid (Hermann grid illusion)
  • BUT, with maya, the creator (ex. God) wants everyone to see through the perception
  • An illusion with the purpose of disillusionment
• Yoga: derived from "to yoke" more than modern meaning, a yoke of discipline, duty, hard work

The poem

Sessions 1-3

• Arjuna is conflicted over going to war with his own family → asks his charioteer Krishna for instruction: is it better for him to kill them, or let them kill him?

  • Krishna: No need to mourn, because no one ever does not exist...
  • "Brushes with matter, Arjuna / Causing cold of heat or pain or pleasure / Come and go, ephemeral. / Suffer to endure them, Arjuna." (15)
  • "What is _un_real cannot come to be. / What is real cannot not be." (15)
  • "The action alone is your mandate, / Never the fruits at any time." (19)
  • "When a person contemplates things, / An attachment to them takes birth. / Attachment gives birth to desire. / From desire, rage is born." (21)
  • Explains the state of Brahman... all atmans are the same, we are all Brahman.
  • Arjuna identifies with both sides of the war → doesn't want to fight; Krishna's task is to teach him how to differentiate between his side and the opposing, how to fight against one, for the sake of dharma.
  • "They say the senses are the height— / But higher than the senses is the mind, / And higher than the mind is the intellect. / What's higher than the intellect is this." (32)
    • "This" referring to the embodied atman, sense of self— not physical body.
  • Overall: structured as a dialogue concerning theology, philosophy, psychology, ethics

  Sessions 4-7

  • Making every action a sacrifice → do not accumulate karma → move toward Brahman
    • "Yoga is the way of acting and renouncing action at the wave tube. The yogi pulls this off by renouncing the fruits of action." (43)
    • Ex. You control the course your arrow will take, but not the death of your enemies.
    • Practicing yoga = moderation, discipline, control of your mind, letting go of desire, intellect > senses → Brahman
  • Multiplicity of caste system (from differences divinely created between people) and egalitarian concept of Brahman: reconciled because the differences are not inherently unequal, humans attached the relative value
  • If you don't achieve Brahman in this life, it's okay— easy to pick up in the next one.

Sessions 8-12

• Krishna reveals his true nature to Arjuna (in words and literally)
• Describes the ideal devotee— practicing principles of yoga

Sessions 13-17

• The body experiences the gunas (born of substance) through sentience → removes atman from physical action, keeps it from being "smeared"
• The purpose of learning about the gunas (Purity, Power, Darkness; all contained by everyone with one usually predominating, all bind the body) is to transcend them → the ultimate good
  • Purity → binds by attaching the body to happiness, knowledge
  • Power → attaches the atman to action
  • Darkness → born if ignorance, binds with distraction, laziness, sleep
  • One who can recognise the gunas with indifference has gone beyond them
• Traits of one with a divine inheritance: "fearlessness, purity of heart, staying yoked through knowledge, charity, self-control, sacrifice, study, austerity, simplicity; ahimsa, truth, renunciation, kindness, creaturely compassion, serenity, modesty; no rage, no lust, no fickleness, no slander; brilliance, patience, courage, cleanliness, no treachery, no vainglory" (114)

Session 18

• Relinquishment = giving up fruits of action; three classifications based on gunas (like many other concepts)
• "It isn't proper to renounce / The work demanded if you. / It's said that such deluded / Relinquishment is Dark." (127)
• Even an initially "ambrosial" sense of happiness will turn into Darkness—better to stay under the yoke of yoga
• The secret of all secrets = "I love you," from Krishna to Arjuna
• Overall, reminded Arjuna who he is, why he needs to fught