Preface :-
Before we go into the study of Bhagavad Gita,
we have to fully understand what is Bhagavad Gita. Who wrote it? When was it
written? And who said this to whom and where? What is the significance of this?
Why is it considered so important to the Hindus? …. And many more
questions.
There
are many philosophical ideas that are present in our Hindu religion, which no
other religion has. And ‘Bhagavad Gita’ contains the highest of all
Philosophical teachings. The holy book of Hindus is the “VEDAS”. So
before we try to understand ‘Bhagavad Gita’ we have to understand what is
‘Hinduism’ and what is ‘Vedas’. Let us start with ‘Hinduism’ first.
HINDUISM :-
The
word “HINDUISM” is a misnomer.
The
word Hindu is a geographical definition, which refers to the people living on
the banks of river Sindhu, or people living in the land watered by the river Indus.
According
to the Historians, this word was first used by the Persians, when they first
came to
According
the “Encyclopedia of Religion & Ethics”, the word Hindu is not found in any
Literature or scripture before the coming of the Muslims to India
Pundit
Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book “Discovery of India”, says that the earliest
occurrence of the word ‘Hindu’ can be traced to a Tantrik of 8th Century.
According
to the “New Encyclopedia Britannica” – the word Hinduism was first used by the
British writers in the year 1830 to describe the religion and the beliefs of
the people of India
The right word
for Hinduism is ‘Sanaathana Dharma’ that is 'eternal
religion', or the 'Vedic Dharma' or the “Religion
of the Vedas”.
According
to Swamy Vivekananda, ‘the
Hindus have received their religion through revelations, the Vedas. They hold
that the Vedas are without beginning and without end. It may sound ludicrous to
this audience, how a book can be without beginning or end. But by the Vedas no
books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws
discovered by different people in different times. Just as the law of
gravitation existed before its discovery and would exist if all humanity forgot
it. So is it with the laws that govern the spiritual world.
The
moral, ethical and spiritual relationship between soul and soul and between
individual spirits and the father of all spirits, were there before their
discovery and would remain even if we forget them. The discoverers of these
laws are called Rishis and we honor them as perfected
beings'.
Concept of Sanaathana Dharma :
“From the high
spiritual flights of Vedanta philosophy, of which the latest discoveries of
science seems like echoes, to the lowest ideas of idolatry with its
multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists and the atheism of the
Jains, each and all have place in the Hindu’s religion”.
The holy book of Hindus is the ‘Vedas’, Since, it is the source of all other Hindu scriptures.
The
Hindu Scriptural literature is so vast and comprehensive that there is no
branch of knowledge left uninvestigated by the great seers of this Country – India
The
Hindu was never satisfied unless every question that he faced, be it material,
scientific, religious, physical, metaphysical, philosophical or purely
spiritual, was thoroughly discussed in all its varied aspects, to its
irrefutable conclusion. To these people “SANAATANA DHARMA” meant the “ETERNAL
VALUES OF LIFE”
The
Hindu Scriptural literature with knowledge so vast and comprehensive, can be
divided and sub-divided in to many divisions for easy understanding. Please
refer to the table “Veda = Knowledge” in the next page. The Knowledge
gained by our Rishis were so vast that it practically covered every aspect of
life and the science of everything that is and yet to be discovered in this
Universe. For our understanding we are dividing the sum of all these
knowledge into various segments. On a broader scale the entire knowledge gained
can be divided into two namely, Para Vidya (Intuitive knowledge) and Apara
Vidya (Intellectual knowledge).
For
our study at present we will deal with only Apara Vidya. This is again
divided into Secular and Sacred and for our study we will take only Sacred.
Sacred
Knowledge can be divided into 2 namely, Srutis dealing with eternal principles
and Smritis dealing with practical applications of eternal
principles.
Before
we go into further study we have to understand the time factor of these
collected knowledge. From when and from where, were these knowledge
gathered. It is said the during the initial stages of creation, the
Supreme Lord Para-Brahman or the Virat Purusha revealed the Vedas to demi-God
Brahma Deva the creator. And he in turn revealed it to Swayambhuva Manu who was
the first creation. This year according to the Christian calender is
2014, and this means 2014 years have passed since the crucification of Jesus
Christ. So, what is this year in Hindu Calender?
According
to the Hindu calender it is Kaliyabtham 5115. This means 5115 years have passed
since the dissapperance of Lord Krishna from the Earth.
Kali yuga is supposed to have been started
since the dissappearance of Lord Krishna from this Earth. The duration of
Kali yuga is calculated to be around 4,32,000 years out of which only 5115
years are over. So there is 4,26,885 years more for the Kali Yuga to end and
the total annihilation of this world, before creations starts once again.
Before Kali Yuga was Dwapara Yuga which lasted for 8,64,000 years. Krishna ’s
time was at the end of Dwapara Yuga.
Till the end of Dwapara yuga all the Veda were
available as a collective lot and hence there were no divisions. During
the end of Dwapara Yuga Maharishi Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa catagorised these
Vedas and divided it into 4 divisions namely Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva.
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