Eka-shloki Gita

A couple of days back, Manas and I were exchanging mails about Gita and how they've been interpreted by various great personalities in their own light of beliefs. Gita, as I know, is a scripture valid for all yuga-s, giving the Vedic and/or Vedantic essence as per one's own level of spiritual maturity. Due to this, one's understanding changes and evolves as time passes by and the hidden meaning reveals itself. If you look at it, its like the mega-complex Vedic and Vedantic scriptures have been short-circuited into Gita, while the latter itself is left complex enough to have innumerous levels, each layer being visible to one at a particular level. The beauty of Gita is that there's nothing like wrong understanding, since every stage has its own granularity of correctness!

So, I'm going to express in few words of what I understand by Gita and this is best done by the last shloka, also known as Eka-shloki Gita, meaning Gita in a single verse!

यत्र योगेश्वरो कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः। तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्धुवा नीतिर्मतर्मम्॥18.78**

yatra yogeshwarah krishNo, yatra partho dhanurdharah
tatra shreervijayo bhootirdhruvaa neetirmatir mama ||18.78||

What this would mean, literally, is: wherever there is an archer like Arjuna and wherever there is the Lord of Yoga, Krishna, there will be prosperity, victory and happiness; such is my conviction.

The meaning to be seen en passant: wherever one makes oneself a devotee like Arjuna, there will be Krishna to guide and take one across all boundaries and liberate.

The entire Gita is actually a dialogue between the soul as Krishna and the mind as Arjuna! The finally understood meaning is thus: when the mind surrenders unto the soul, renouncing everything, the way Arjuna did unto Krishna, the soul merges into brahman and what is known as liberation results.


om shantih shantih shantih
krishNArpaNamastu

2 comments:

wooster said...

havnt sifted thru the archives, but one of the most interesting posts i've come across.

Advaitavedanti said...

Thanks for hopping in, Wooster and of course for the comment. Let me also be fair and say that its one of the most flaterring comments. :) Do drop by again.