Introduction to Bhagvad Gita - Part 2

 

Bhagavad Gita Introduction - Part 2

The Bhagavad Gita is deeply embedded in the history and spiritual heritage of India. It appears in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata and presents a profound philosophy—one that demonstrates that religion is, in essence, philosophy in action.

At its most fundamental level, philosophy is the contemplation of the essential questions of life: What is Truth? Who am I? Why am I here? What is my relationship with myself, with others, and with the world around me?

The relationship between philosophy and Truth is an important one. Philosophical inquiry may lead us to different questions, interpretations, and understandings, but Truth itself does not change. No matter how science advances or how philosophy evolves, ice remains cold and fire remains hot. Philosophy does not change Truth; rather, it helps us inquire into, understand, and recognize Truth.

What changes is life and our experience of it.

With time, our circumstances change. People come and go. Our environment changes. The experiences we encounter change. The inputs received by our minds change, and consequently, the way we interpret and respond to those experiences also changes. Yet, beneath all these changes, Truth remains constant.

A simple example can help illustrate this.

A baby is born. At a gross level, we may think of a newborn as a blank disk—without going into the deeper aspects of karmic philosophy or the inherent tendencies and characteristics with which each child is born.

As the baby grows into a toddler, the child begins to learn simple concepts such as colors, shapes, sounds, and names. The child's understanding continues to expand as new experiences and information are introduced.

What changes is the child's knowledge, experience, interpretation, and response. But the fundamental Truth does not change.

A simple example may help here:

A baby is born.  We can say that the newborn is like a blank disk at a gross level (we are not going into Karmic Philosophy or the characteristic traits the baby is born with).  The baby reaching toddler level is capable of learning simple things like color and shapes. 

The mother teaches the following to the baby.  Because, that's what the mother learned from her mother!!   

From the mother's perspective, she is passing all basic knowledge to the best of her ability.  The child will now learn Blue is Red and Square ⬜ is a Circle ⚪.  All along the color and shape is what it is!!

The child grows up and goes to school and refers ☆ as a ▲and that's when the teacher comes into play to make the correction.  The teacher teaches in a way and with evidence that the child will realize the truth and learn the right way.

Is it the mother's fault for teaching the wrong thing?  NO, because that's what she learned and understood to be the truth.  How far do we go back to find out where the problem started?  Or, realizing the current problem at present, just work on fixing it?

Similarly, over time the Truth and principles are lost.  Life become hard and that's when great Masters and Saints come to reinterpret and awaken us to reset Life.

Bhagvad Gita is one text like that.  It was told at a time when the society had fallen, many people had adapted evil.  Righteousness had fallen.  Truth and Life was reinterpreted in the context of the current time and the level of degradation in the society.

References

Table of Contents - Chapter 1

Table of Contents - Chapter 2