All quotes are from the Penguin Classics edition translated
and introduced by Juan Mascaro and published in 1962.
From at the introduction by
translator Juan Mascaro:
On Aryan Languages:
It was found that Sanskrit, Persian, Greek and Latin, and also the
Celtic, Germanic and Slavonic languages come from a primitive unwritten
language called Aryan. From Ireland to
India, and all over Europe and America, Aryan languages are spoken. p. 9
On Sanskrit: There
are, however, two great branches of literature not found in Sanskrit. There is no history and there is no tragedy:
there is no Herodotus and Thucydides; and there is no Aeschylus or Sophocles or
Euripides. pp. 9-10
On the fourth level of consciousness: [ I have long believed that beyond the senses
and the mind, there is a spiritual level
of consciousness – the only place one can know.] We may read in the Upanishads
that beyond our becoming there is our Being, that beyond suffering and sorrow
there is Joy, that beyond the three stages of ordinary consciousness there is a
fourth state of supreme Consciousness;. . .
pp. 17
On the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata: The Bhagavad Gita was included in the
Mahabharata. This vast epic of over one
hundred thousand slokas, or couplets, is the longest poem in the world; about
thirty times as long as Paradise Lost, and about 140 times as long as the
Bhagavad Gita! [My copy, a Penguin Classic – is 121 pages long. 42 of which are introduction.] p. 21
On Reason: And the
first condition for a man to be worthy of God is that his reason should be pure
– 18, 51 and 18. 57. Reason is the
faculty given to man to distinguish true emotion from false emotionalism, faith
from fanaticism, imagination from fancy, a true vision from a visionary
illusion. p. 27
On Three key Themes of the Bhagavad Gita: Many are the themes of the symphony of the
Bhagavad Gita, but the central ones are three: JNASA, BHAKTI, and KARMA; Light,
love, and Life. p. 28
On Karma: The word Karma is connected with the Sanskrit root
Kri which we find in the English
words ‘create’ and ‘creation’. Karma is
work, and work is life. The word Karma
means also ‘sacred work’ and is connected with the sacrifice of the Vedas; the
ritual of religion. p. 31
On Work – Gita and New Testament: Gita 3. 30. And whatever
you do, or eat, or give, or offer in adoration, let it be an offering to me;
and whatever you suffer, suffer it for me.’
This is the same voice of St Paul to the Corinthians; ‘Whether therefore
ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God’ 1 Cor.
10:31. And this work must be unselfish;
“Let the wise man work unselfishly for the good of all the world’ Gita 3. 25.
p. 33
On Work: The praise of work as a means of salvation is later
expressed in the poem and we hear that all men attain perfection when they find
joy in their work, and they find joy in their work when their work is worship
of God, because God is joy. p. 33
On the More You Give – the More You Get: And contrary to the
law of matter where to give more means to have less, in the law of love the
more one gives the more one has. p. 35
From the text: The Bhagavad Gita is
divided into 18 chapters and each chapter is in turn divided into verses. I will reference the quotes by chapter and
verse rather than by page.
The Bhagavad Gita is a record of a conversation (much like a
Platonic Dialogue) as reported by an observer.
Then main speakers are King Arjuna and Krishna, the embodiment of
God. Arjuna is weary of battle and has
almost decided to forsake the fight and his kingdom rather than make war on his
rebellions family. Krishna, explains the
need for the king to fulfill his duty.
On the Misery of War: 2: 4 Arjuna – And we know not whether
their victory or ours be better for us.
The sons of my uncle and king, Dhrita-rashtra, are here before us: after
their death, should we wish to live?
On the Nature of Immortality: 2: 12 Krishna – Because we all
have been for all time: I, and thou, and those kings of men. And we all shall be for all time, we all for
ever and ever. 2:17 Krishna – Interwoven
in his creation, the Spirit is beyond destruction. No one can bring to an end the Spirit which
is everlasting.
On Just War: 2:31 Krishna – Think thou also of thy duty and
do not waver. There is no greater good
for a warrior than to fight in a righteous war.
3:33 Krishna – But to forgo this fight for righteousness is to forgo
thy duty and honor; is to fall into transgression.
On Work: 2:47 Krishna – Set thy heart upon thy work, but
never on its reward. Work not for a
reward; but never cease to do thy work.
On Leading by Example: 3:21 & 26 Krishna – 21 In the
actions of the best men others find their rule of action. The path that a great man follows becomes a
guide to the world. 26 Let not the wise
disturb the mind of the unwise in their selfish work. Let him, working with devotion, show them the
joy of good work.
On Service: 3: 25 Krishna – Even as the unwise work
selfishly in the bondage of selfish works, let the wise man work unselfishly
for the good of all the world.
On Faith with Works: 3:31 Krishna – Those who ever follow my
doctrine and who have faith, and have a good will, find through pure work their
freedom.
On Evil: 3:37 & 40 Krishna – 37 It is greedy desire and
wrath, born of passion, the great evil, the sum of destruction; this is the
enemy of the soul. 40 Desire has found a
place in man’s senses and mind and reason.
Through these it blinds the soul, after having overclouded wisdom.
On the Mind and Reason Being Greater Than the Senses: 3:43 Krishna – They say that the power of the
senses is great. But greater than the
senses is the mind. Greater than the
mind is Buddhi, reason; and greater than reason is He – the Spirit in man and
in all.
On the Cast System: 4:13 Krishna – The four orders of men arose
from me, in justice to their natures and their works. Know that this work was mine, though I am
beyond work, in Eternity.
On “The Truth Shall Make You Free”: 4:16 Krishna – . . . I will teach thee the
truth of pure work, and this truth shall make thee free.
On The Equality of All Men: 5:16 & 18 Krishna – 16 But
those whose unwisdom is made pure by the wisdom of their inner Spirit, their
wisdom is unto them a sun and in its radiance they see the Supreme. 18 With the same evenness of love they
behold a Brahmin who is learned and holy, or a cow, or an elephant, or a dog,
and even the man who eats a dog.
On Nirvana: 5:24
& 25 Krishna – 24 He has inner joy,
he has inner gladness, and he has found inner Light. This Yogi attains the Nirvana of Brahman; he
is one with God and goes unto God. 25
Holy men reach the Nirvana of Brahman: their sins are no more, their doubts are
gone, their soul is in harmony, their joy is in the good of all.
On Reason: 6:21 Krishna – Then the seeker knows the joy of
Eternity: a vision seen by reason far beyond what senses can see. He abides therein and moves not from
Truth.
On “Love God with All Thy Soul”: 6:47 Krishna – And the
greatest of all Yogis is he who with all his soul has faith and he who with all
his soul loves me.
On God Defined: 7:10 Krishna – And I am from everlasting the
seed of eternal life. I am I am the intelligence of the intelligent. I am the beauty of the beautiful.
On Definition of Terms: 8: 3 Krishna – 3 Brahman is the
Supreme, the Eternal. Atman is his
Spirit in man. Karma is the force of
creation, wherefrom all things have their life.
On the Force of Nature: 9:10 Krishna – I watch and in its
work of creating nature brings forth all that moves and moves not: and thus the
revolutions of the world go round.
On the Acceptance of the Worship of All Gods: 9:23 Krishna –
Even those who in faith worship other gods, because of their love they worships
me, although not in the right way.
On Living One’s Life As a Prayer: 9:27 Krishna – Whatever
you do, or eat, or give, or offer in adoration, let it be an offering to me;
and whatever you suffer, suffer it for me.
On the Good and the Beautiful: 10:41 Krishna – Know thou
that whatever is beautiful and good, whatever has glory and power is only a
portion of my own radiance.
On Call God I AM: 10:42 Krishna – . . . Know that with one
single fraction of my Being I pervade and support the Universe, and know that I
AM.
On God Is Time, On Time: 11:32 Krishna – I am all-powerful
Time which destroys all things, and I have come here to slay these men. Even if thou dost not fight, all the warriors
facing thee shall die.
On How to Reach God through Truth: 12:4 Krishna – Who have
all the powers of their soul in harmony, and the same loving mind for all; who
find joy in the good of all beings – they reach in truth my very self.
On Loving Your Enemies as Yourself: 12:18 & 19 Krishna –
18 The man whose love is the same for his enemies or his friends, whose soul is
the same in honor or disgrace, who is beyond heat or cold or pleaser or pain,
who is free from the chains of attachments . . . [19] . . . this man is dear to
me.
On Faith, Love, and the Waters of Everlasting Life: 12:20
Krishna – But even dearer to me are those who have faith and love, and who have
me as their End Supreme: those who hear my words ofTruth, and who come to the
waters of Everlasting Life.
On Nature and the Spirit: 13:20 Krishna – Nature is the
source of all material things; the maker, the means of making, and the thing
made. Spirit is the source of all
consciousness which feels pleasure and feels pain.
On a List of Good Things: 16: 1 – 3 Krishna – 1 Freedom from
fear, purity of heart, constancy in sacred learning and contemplation,
generosity, self-harmony, adoration, study of the scriptures, austerity,
righteousness; 2 Non-Violence, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation,
serenity, aversion to fault-finding, sympathy for all beings peace form greedy
cravings, gentleness ,modesty, steadiness; 3 Energy, forgiveness, fortitude,
purity, a good will, freedom from pride – these are the treasures of the man
who is born for heaven.
On Evil: 16:4 Krishna – Deceitfulness, insolence and
self-conceit, anger and harshness and ignorance – these belong to a man who is
born for hell.
On Scripture: 16:24 Krishna – Let the Scriptures be
therefore thy authority as to what is right and what is not right. Know the words of the Scriptures, and do in
this life the work to be done.
On the Evil of Doing One’s Works for the Eyes of Men: 17:18
Krishna – But false austerity, for the sake of reputation, honor and reverence,
is impure; it belongs to the Rajas and is unstable and uncertain.
On the Cast System: 18:42–54 Krishna – 42 The works of a
Brahmin are peace; self-harmony, austerity and purity; loving-forgiveness and
righteousness; vision and wisdom and faith.
43 These are the works of the Kshatriya: a heroic mind, inner fire,
constancy, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and noble
leadership. 44 Trade, agriculture and
the rearing of cattle is the work of a Vaisya.
And the work of the Sudra is service. 45 They all attain perfection when
they find joy in their work. . .
On Truth through Love: 18:55 Krishna – Buy love he knows me
in truth, who I am and what I am. And
when he knows me in truth he enters into my Being.
On Salvation through Work and Grace: 18:56 In whatever work
he does he can take refuge in me, and he attains then by my grace the imperishable
home of Eternity.
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