continued from previous post
Different Dimensions for Understanding Gita
▀ ▄ ▀ Treatment of Sankhya and Yoga in Gita
It is important to note that, In the Gita, the Sankhya and Yoga are evidently two convergent (rather than parallel) parts of the same Vedantic truth. We can also say that these two are the concurrent ways of approaching the realisation of Truth. These two ways can be classified into two broad categories :
Philosophical, intellectual and analytic – in other words, purely academic
Intuitional, devotional, practical, ethical, synthetic – in other words, reaching knowledge through experience
We have to understand that in essence Gita recognizes no real difference in the teachings of these two systems. Gita beautifully and seamlessly blends these two apparently different systems. In this respect, the approach of Gita tread on a new ground.
▀ ▄ ▀ Teaching of Gita transcend religion
Similarly, we will not discuss the theories which regard Gita as the fruit of some particular religious system or tradition. We need to stress here that the teaching of Gita is universal irrespective of its origin. It is NOT restricted to any particular religion or nation. It is relevant for the people of all faiths and religions the world over.
▀ ▄ ▀ Emphasis on core truth rather than philosophical system
We have to understand that what is most vital, profound and eternally durable in Gita is NOT the philosophical system on which it is based or its arrangement of truth. What is important is the core material on which the philosophical system is composed. Also what is important is the principal ideas contained in Gita. This is the eternally valuable and valid idea of the Gita. The arrangement of truth is woven into the complex harmony through a suggestive and penetrating manner based on these principal ideas.
▀ ▄ ▀ Gita is for experiencing its Truth rather than high funda philosophy
The principal ideas presented in Gita are not merely the luminous, high funda ideas. Nor are they just the striking speculations of a philosophic intellect. They are not just accessible to the few ‘elite’ class of philosophers, pundits, intellectuals and spiritualists. They are rather enduring truths of spiritual experience and verifiable facts of our highest psychological possibilities. We can not afford to neglect these aspects if we are making a serious attempt to have a deep understanding of the mystery of life.
▀ ▄ ▀ Gita not limited to any single philosophy
It should be noted that irrespective of the system of presentation in Gita, it is NOT framed or intended to support any exclusive single school of philosophical thought. It does not predominantly put forward the claims of any one form of Yoga to the exclusion of others. Many commentators have strived to put forward only one particular school of philosophical thought from Gita. It is wrong.
▀ ▄ ▀ Gita is not ‘binary’ but a vast fabric of ideas
The Gita with its
Language
Structure of thought
And Combination and balancing of Ideas –
does not belong to –
the temper of a sectarian teacher
spirit of a rigorous analytical dialectics (in other words, digitized binary thinking in the modern terminology of computers) which cuts off one angle of the truth to the exclusion of all the other angles of truth.
We find in Gita a wide, undulating and encircling movement of ideas. These ideas are manifestations of a vast synthetic mind and a rich synthetic experience. Gita is more of a melodious Divine Song of Eternal Truth rather than a drab and boring philosophic discussion.
Gita contains synthesis of varied ideas of Indian philosophy. Gita is enriched rather than restricted by these various branches of philosophies in their creation of the more intensive and exclusive movements of knowledge and religious realisation. The various Indian branches of philosophies pursue with a single focus, an absolute concentration on only one idea, one path taken to its extreme logical conclusion. On the other hand, Gita does not chop off truth in pieces, rather it reconciles and unifies the various exclusive branches of the truth.
.......... to continue
Comments