Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gītā (IAST)Translation: "song of God"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता
Transliteration: Bhagavad Gītā
Translation: "song of God (from the verb root bhaj = "to love, revere" + gā = "to sing")"
Definition: "One of the essential scriptures of Hinduism, a portion of the Mahābhārata, in which Kṛṣṇa, on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, instructs Arjuna about the nature of God, the universe, and the Self; on the different forms of Yoga; and on the way to attain God.
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Bhagavad Gita (from Sanskrit Bhagavadgītā, ‘song of the blessed one/exalted lord’), Hindu devotional poem composed and edited between the fifth century B.C. and the second century A.D. It contains eighteen chapters and seven hundred verses, and forms the sixth book (Chapters 23–40) of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In its narrative, the warrior Arjuna, reluctantly waiting to wage war, receives a revelation from the Lord Krishna that emphasizes selfless deeds and Bhakti, or devotion. Strictly classified as Sṃrti or fallible tradition, the Gita is typically treated as Śruti or infallible revelation. Such major thinkers as Shankara, Rāmānuja, and Madhva wrote commentaries on this beloved book. Shankara reads it as teaching that enlightenment comes through right (Advaita Vedānta) knowledge alone even without performance of religious duties. Rāmānuja takes it to hold that enlightenment comes through performance of religious duties, particularly devotion to God for whose sake alone all other duties must be performed if one’s sins are to be washed away. Such devotion leads to (or at its zenith includes) self-knowledge and knowledge of personal Brahman. Madhva sees the Gita as emphasizing divine uniqueness and the necessity of love and attachment to God and not to oneself or the consequences of one’s deeds.
Reference:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Audi, Robert (1999). The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Second Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press
