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A simple, modern translation and explanation of the Bhagavad Gita with shloka (verse) meaning

~ Gita Journey is a straightforward, modern, contemporary, basic explanation and commentary of the Bhagawat Gita, with Sanskrit to English word meanings. Each shloka (verse) is explained in detail. An introduction to the Bhagavad Gita along with study resources can also be found here. A summary of each chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is also included. It does not matter whether you are a student, a retiree, a professional, a mom, a dad or a housewife – no prior knowledge is needed.

A simple, modern translation and explanation of the Bhagavad Gita with shloka (verse) meaning

Category Archives: adhibhootam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 8

01 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by skr_2011 in 8.4, adhibhootam, adhidaivatam, adhiyagna, aham, atra, bhaavaha, cha, chapter 8 verse 4, dehabhritaam, dehe, eva, ksharo, purusha, vara

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adhibhootam ksharo bhaavaha purushashchaadhidaivatam |
adhiyagnohamevaatra dehe dehabhritaam vara || 4 ||

 
“Adhibhootam” is perishable existence. “Adhidaiva” is the person. And, I only am “adhiyagnya” in this body, O eminent among the embodied.
 
adhibhootam : “adhibhootam”
ksharo : perishable
bhaavaha : existence
purusha : the person
cha : and
adhidaivatam : “adhidaiva”
adhiyagna : “adhiyagna”
aham : I am
eva : only
atra : this
dehe : body
dehabhritaam : among the embodied
vara : eminent
 
Three out of Arjuna’s seven questions were answered by Shri Krishna in the previous shloka. Here, three more questions are answered : what is adhibhootam, what is adhidaiva and what is adhiyagnya. Again, we shall use the running illustration of the projector and the animated movie to better understand the answers.
 
Let us start with the definition of adhibhootam, which the shloka terms as perishable existence. It refers to everything in the universe that is visible. With regards to our example, it refers to everything in the movie that is visible except Tom. So, for example, if a scene in the movie comprises Tom sitting in a classroom, then everything in the classroom is adhibhoota: his classmates, his teacher, the benches, the windows, the walls and so on.
 
The one common quality that they share is that they are perishable, they have a beginning and an end. When the movie starts, we come to know that the classroom exists. When the movie ends, the classroom is no more.
 
Next, let us look at the definition of adhidaiva. Literally, it is defined as “purusha” or person in the shloka. But what it really means is the creative or intelligent principle that resides within every living and non-living object in universe. It determines the fate of the universe and holds the universe together.
 
From the perspective of our example, adhidaiva is the movie script. The character Tom may not know why he gets into an accident, or wins an unexpected lottery, but the script knows exactly why it happens, and how it fits into the entire movie. The script determines the fate of the movie. It also ensures that what we see is harmonious and logical, not a random disjointed series of images.
 
Now, let’s examine what is meant by adhiyagnya. So far we have defined the light that illuminates Tom (adhyaatma), the light that illuminates everything else (adhibhoota), the creative intelligence of the movie (adhidaiva), the mechanism of projection (karma), and the light itself (brahman). But there is one more aspect that is missing in this scheme.
 
From the minute Tom wakes up in the morning to when he goes to bed at night, he is not idle. He is active in this world. He transacts with his family, his friends, his teachers, even strangers. There is a give-and-take happening throughout the day that compels him to act. Shri Krishna says that this world of activity and relationships is termed as adhiyagnya.
 
Now we come to the key point. Addressing Arjuna fondly as “eminent among the embodied”, Shri Krishna asserts that adhyaatma, adhidaiva, adhibhoota, karma and adhidaiva are nothing but Ishvara. Ishvara and brahman are the same, it is just that one is with form and one is formless. Similarly, everything that we see on the screen is nothing but a modification of the light of the projector. Whatever Tom does or experiences in the movie is just an illusion. When the film strip stops moving, we see the formless white light on the screen.
 
Next, Shri Krishna starts answering the seventh question, which makes up the bulk of this chapter.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 8

29 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by skr_2011 in 8.1, adhibhootam, adhidaivam, adhyaatma, brahma, cha, chapter 8 verse 1, karma, kim, proktam, purushottama, tat, uchyate

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Arjuna uvaacha:
kim tadbrahma kimadhyaatmam kim karma purushottama |
adhibhootam cha kim proktamadhidaivam kimuchyate || 1 ||

 
Arjuna said:
What is that “brahman”? What is “adhyaatma”? What is “karma”? O supreme person. What is termed as “adhibhoota” and “adhidaiva”?

 
kim : what is
tat : that
brahma : “brahman”
adhyaatma : “adhyaatma”
karma : “karma”
purushottama : O supreme person
adhibhootam : “adhibhoota”
cha : and
proktam : what is termed as
adhidaivam : “adhidaivam”
uchyate : what is termed as
 
Shri Krishna ended the previous chapter by referencing some technical terms, and stressed the need for Arjuna to understand these terms completely so that he could realize Ishvara. Here, Arjuna does a favour to all future students of the Gita by asking Shri Krishna to clearly define these terms. In that regard, Arjuna asks the definition of four terms in this shloka: adhyaatma, karma, adhibhoota and adhidaiva.
 
This chapter is perhaps one of the more philosophical and esoteric chapters of the Gita. It deals with the theme of life after death, something that has not been addressed so far in the Gita. Furthermore, The definition of the aforementioned technical terms is provided, but has been interpreted differently by various commentators, so we need to chose the most clear and straightforward explanation. We will also get a sweeping glimpse of the Gita’s view on the origin of the cosmos.
 
To better understand these technical terms, let us set up an illustration. First, let us quickly look at how a movie projector works. A projector consists of a bright light that shines onto a strip of film. This film strip contains a series of images that are shot by a movie camera, or drawn by an animator in case of an animated movie. When the film strip is run through the projector, the images are projected onto the movie screen. The fast speed of the moving images creates the illusion of movement on the screen.
 
Let us further say that there is an animated movie called “Tom” that shows a day in the life of Tom who is a teenager. Tom wakes up, eats breakfast, goes to school, comes back home, plays with his friends and goes to sleep. It is a very simple movie. Like any other animated movie it follows a script written by a scriptwriter, and is in fact a sequence of images drawn by an animator.
 
Now, here’s where we have to stretch our thinking. Imagine that by some inexplicable magic, the light that shines on Tom on the film strip begins to think that it is different than the light that shines on the other part of the film strip. It develops an identity of its own. It even begins to think that it is actually waking up, going to school and so on.
 
The light of the projector has identified itself with Tom. What happens next? We will continue to develop this illustration further in the explanation of the next shloka.

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