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truthseeker96
23 November 2009, 09:30 AM
Namaste

my question is, is the Bhagavad Gita literal, like the International Society for Krishna Consciousness says, or metaphorical (the battle between good and evil in the mind) like Gandhi says?

peace, love, and light

jonathan

sambya
23 November 2009, 10:06 AM
it depends from person to person . for many it is real and literal. for others it is symbolic and metaphorical . but even if a person believes in it literally there is absolutely no harm in expanding the horizons of the mind and trying to derive a symbolic meaning out of it . it is the nectar of wisdom--simple and eternal ..follow it and live ur life according to it . one may eat a sugar candy by chewing it or licking it ......hardly matters ....haha !

gitopanishad ki jai........

truthseeker96
23 November 2009, 10:20 AM
thank you for the info!

peace, love, and light

jonathan

yajvan
23 November 2009, 11:03 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté jonathan,

Namaste
my question is, is the Bhagavad Gita literal, like the International Society for Krishna Consciousness says, or metaphorical (the battle between good and evil in the mind) like Gandhi says? peace, love, and light
jonathan


I have come to appreciate that comprehension, appreciation and understanding of the śastra-s come on multiple levels. The wise tell us there are 3 levels of interpretation that occur simultaneously:

ādhibautika आधिभौतिक - the physical level - derived or produced from the elements
ādhidaivika आधिदैविक - the cosmic level pertaining to the devatā
ādhytmika आध्यात्मिक - spiritual , of the Supreme, Self.Just as a yajña is taking place, there is the physical occurrence (ādhibautika) of motion occurring as one goes through the rite of offering, flowers, rice, pradākṣiṇā (circumambulation), etc.
Agni brings this to the devatā (ādhidaivika), and the yajvan ( if tuned-in) experiences the spiritual (ādhytmika) from the resulting oblations and pūjā.

When one reads the Bhāgavad gītā there is the phyical, devatā, and spiritural levels occuring - such is the brilliance of Vyāsa-ji¹.


So in my mind I have no doubt on the Bhāgavad gītā's offer on these 3 levels. The question becomes is the aspirant 'open/awake' to these levels of being (sattā) ?


words

Veda Vyāsa वेद व्यास, the one who compiled the veda-s, or Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana ;
Kṛṣṇa= dark in complexion and Dvaipāyana suggests where Vyāsa was born:
dvi द्वि is 2 ; pāya पायis water dvipa द्विप is drinking twice and dvīpa द्वीप an island , peninsula , sandbank.
Hence born on an island where two rivers join or meet.

truthseeker96
23 November 2009, 11:15 AM
thank you, but could you put it in simpler terms please?

peace, love, and light

jonathan

yajvan
23 November 2009, 11:40 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté jonathan,


thank you, but could you put it in simpler terms please? peace, love, and light
jonathan

I see you are a young adult, I missed that on my post above. First welcome to HDF - its a pleasure to see you are interested and asking noble questions.

Let me re-arrange my thoughts from the last post. My point to be made is this wisdom one finds in the Bhāgavad gītā is offered to many kinds of people on this good earth. It is there to uplift, to guide and to develop the individual.

Each word has its value on different levels. And these different levels ring true for different types of people. That is why the Bhāgavad gītā is so profound a book. It talks to many types of people. So my point is , if a reader only took the words at face value they miss the richness and insight behind the words.
Vyāsa-ji the composer of the book was a great a wise man. He knew he would have to talk to readers on all different levels. So he wrote it as such. For some reading they only see the words that are offered and go no further then that - due to their level/ability of understanding.

Let me give you an example. Being 13 I will assume you have taken some math classes. In your present grade book , lets say you show your work and your book to someone younger, say 8 years of age. The 8 year old will be able to make out numbers, some = signs , + and - , but perhaps will just not understand the significance of the formulas you show him/her. Their comprehension is just not yet there, but it does not make the formula any less valid correct?

Like that the Bhāgavad gītā talks on 3 levels - that of the physical level ( you called out as the war - that is physical, yes?), yet it has a deeper meaning. You hinted at this as the fight between 'good and evil' ... this is on another level. And there is an additional spiritual level that is offered. How does one act during these events ? The event of war , the event of 'good and evil' , the events that happen in our daily lives that go on day-after-day. How does one act to be 'skillful' in actions that we perform? This is the deeper offering that is in the Bhāgavad gītā .

That is why I said Vyāsa-ji ( Vyāsa is the composer and 'ji' is a sign of repect we offer to the wise) is brillant. His Bhāgavad gītā offers wisdom on multiple levels.

Regarding
International Society for Krishna Consciousness as you write; I respect their views. Many here know more about their organization and their views then I do , and will leave any comments about this organization to them.

praṇām

truthseeker96
23 November 2009, 12:00 PM
thank you for explaining!

peace, love, and light

jonathan

sambya
24 November 2009, 03:07 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Regarding as you write; I respect their views. Many here know more about their organization and their views then I do , and will leave any comments about this organization to them.

praṇām


well, iskcon is fine and their philosophy is nice until they try to proselytize others which often involve producing spurious tales about hindu shastra . another negetive aspect would be coining the term 'demigiod' to refer to devas and devis .

but the underlying cause behind all these superficial faults is their inablity to expand their minds and think in broad terms - one which encompasses every field of human activity like -- arts ,religion ,history . the are often extra focussed on their scriptures and rituals . thus they would find it hard to accept any symbolic meaning of gita no matter how beneficial it might be to man kind.............