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Inane Interpolations In Bhagvad-Gita

Though it is a matter of consensus that Bhagvad-Gita in the present length of seven hundred slokas has many an interpolation to it such as chaturvarnyam mayashrustam, but no meaningful attempt has ever been made to delve into the nature and extent, not to speak of the effect of these on the Hindu society at large. The methodical codification of interpolations carried out here puts the true character of the Gita in proper perspective. Identified here are hundred and ten slokas of deviant nature and or of partisan character, the source of so much misunderstanding about this book extraordinary, in certain sections of the Hindu fold. In the long run, exposing and expunging these mischievous insertions is bound to bring in new readers from these quarters to this over two millennia old classic besides altering the misconceptions of the existing adherents. The moot point that has missed the attention of all, all along, is that if the Sudras were to be so lowly in the Lord’s creation, how come then the Gita’s architect Krishna, His avatar, and Vyāsa, its chronicler, happen to be from the same lowly Hindu caste fold. Moreover, is it not absurd to suggest that either or both of them had deprecated the station of their own varna (caste) on their own in their very own Gita? This ‘overdue’ work, may lead the ‘denied’ Hindu castes as well as the favored folks for an objective approach to the in vogue Bhagvad-Gita which could dispel the misgivings of the former and the delusions of the latter, thereby bridging the Hindu emotional gulf with its abridged book that restores its original form. Whether or not one concurs with its propositions, this original work could be of interest to the students of logic and reasoning as well.

BS_Murthy · History

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19 Chs

Purushottama Prāpti Yoga (Ch15)

This unique chapter of 20 verses deals with the indwelling spirit and the Supreme Spirit, and the perishable man and the imperishable Purusha (Supreme Spirit). It can be seen that v9, v12, v13, v14, and v15 are clear digressions after the fascinating proposition in,

Ch15, V8

Wind as carries scent of flowers

While leaving them as is where,

In like fashion Spirit from frames

Moves its awareness to rebirths.

śharīraṁ yad avāpnoti yach chāpy utkrāmatīśhvaraḥ

gṛihītvaitāni sanyāti vāyur gandhān ivāśhayāt

Now, here follows this obvious interpolation.

śhrotraṁ chakṣhuḥ sparśhanaṁ cha rasanaṁ ghrāṇam eva cha

adhiṣhṭhāya manaśh chāyaṁ viṣhayān upasevate

Using the sense perceptions of the ears, eyes, skin, tongue, and nose, which are grouped around the mind, the embodied soul savors the objects of the senses.

Hence, sans v9, in continuity to v8, the narrative runs thus,

Ch15, V10

Know not fools in lifetime theirs

Nature of Spirit thus lies in them

But ever on move from frame to frame.

utkrāmantaṁ sthitaṁ vāpi bhuñjānaṁ vā guṇānvitam

vimūḍhā nānupaśhyanti paśhyanti jñāna-chakṣhuṣhaḥ

Ch15, V11

This by striving wise realize

Fail though naive in spite of it.

yatanto yoginaśh chainaṁ paśhyanty ātmany avasthitam

yatanto 'py akṛitātmāno nainaṁ paśhyanty achetasaḥ

that is broken yet again by the digressions in V12 thru V15 thus:

V12

yad āditya-gataṁ tejo jagad bhāsayate 'khilam

yach chandramasi yach chāgnau tat tejo viddhi māmakam

Know that I am like the brilliance of the sun that illuminates the entire solar system. The radiance of the moon and the brightness of the fire also come from Me.

V13

gām āviśhya cha bhūtāni dhārayāmy aham ojasā

puṣhṇāmi chauṣhadhīḥ sarvāḥ somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ

Permeating the earth, I nourish all living beings with My energy. Becoming the moon, I nourish all plants with the juice of life.

V14

ahaṁ vaiśhvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṁ deham āśhritaḥ

prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ pachāmy annaṁ chatur-vidham

It is I who take the form of the fire of digestion in the stomachs of all living beings, and combine with the incoming and outgoing breaths, to digest and assimilate the four kinds of foods.

V15

sarvasya chāhaṁ hṛidi sanniviṣhṭo

mattaḥ smṛitir jñānam apohanaṁ cha

vedaiśh cha sarvair aham eva vedyo

vedānta-kṛid veda-vid eva chāham

I am seated in the hearts of all living beings, and from Me come memory, knowledge, as well as forgetfulness. I alone am to be known by all the Vedas, am the author of the Vedānt, and the knower of the meaning of the Vedas.

As can be seen, after the above digressive spell, v16 'n v17 put the discourse back on its logical course thus:

Ch15, V16

Perish all beings though in time

Perishes not the Spirit in them

dvāv imau puruṣhau loke kṣharaśh chākṣhara eva cha

kṣharaḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭa-stho 'kṣhara uchyate

Ch15, V17

Self Mine Highest that sustains

Is but different from that One

uttamaḥ puruṣhas tv anyaḥ paramātmety udāhṛitaḥ

yo loka-trayam āviśhya bibharty avyaya īśhvaraḥ

Hence, the verses without chapter prefix are but interpolations

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