The Original Bhagavad Gita (Complete with 745 Verse- Including al the Rare Verses)

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About the Book

The Original Bhagavad Gita contains the rare verses and the total number of verses in it is 745, which is in conformity with the Gitamana verse of the Bhishma parva of the Mahabharata. A millennium ago Abhinavagupta included some rare verses in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. The Kashmiri version of the Bhagavad Gita brought out by Schraeder in the early last century contained rare verses. The book, published by the Gondal pith, based on an ancient manuscript from Varanasi, contained many rare verses. Another ancient manuscript from the royal collections of Gondal, brought out by Dr. E. Vedavyas in the nineteen eighties contained many rare verses. But these manuscripts had some superfluous verses too. Some superfluous verses might have been possibly added for further explanations by some later day writers. Though the existence of the rare verses of the Bhagavad Gita is well documented it is only the present book, based on three decades of research, gives the original version of the Bhagavad Gita with all the 745 verses and have identified and excluded the superfluous verses. The rpesent book exactly conforms to the Gitamana verse and is as was originally composed by Maharshi Vedavyasa. However the commonly available version does retain the sanctity as the verses in it are genuine, though that does not have the rare verses.

About the Author Sunil Kumar Bhattacharjya completed his postgraduate studies in 1962 and after a short stint as a lecturer in a Degree college he joined the Training school in the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (presently called the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre or BARC) in 1963, after which he joined that organisation as scientist. Later on he moved to industry. He published 12 papers in National and International — Scientific and Technical journals, presented 20 papers in Scientific and Technical conferences. He has 8 patents to his credit and these are being used in industry. After retirement he has been actively pursuing research in Ancient Indian History and Indian Philosophy, He had also published and presented papers in these areas. The present book "The Original Bhagavad Gita" is the result of three decades of his research. He hails from Jorhat in Assam and he had spent his professional life mostly in Mumbai and Pune.

FOREWORD Sunil Kumar Bhattacharjya is one of those remarkable Indian scientists who not only keep personally close to their heritage but also become religion scholars after their retirement from their worldly profession. As he writes in his Foreword, he spent several decades in researching and writing of this volume. His ambition had been to restore a number of lost verses to the Bhagavadgita and to publish the Original Gita in 745 verses, instead of the customary 700. The lengthy introduction goes into the literary history of the Mahabharata and the vicissitudes of the Bhagavadgita, the various redactions and the scholarly discussions concerning the length of the original Gita. In the process he also reviews the opinion of a number of recognized scholars who have dealt with this issue. He also answers questions like: "How could the Bhagvad Gita discourse be given in the battlefield?" by explaining the rules of ancient Indian warfare — apparently a much fairer and more chivalrous affair than our modern all-devastating wars.

The main body of the book gives the Sanskrit text in Devanagari and a transliteration that does without diacritics as well as a very readable English translation. The author/editor has clearly marked the verses that are not contained in the commonly available editions: an invitation to scholars to study these in particular. Occasionally the author has inserted some commentaries of his own, helping the uninitiated to understand difficult portions of the text. An alphabetized verse-index concluded the handsome volume.

This is a genuine enrichment to the large literature on the Bhagavadgita and it will certainly arouse the interest of both scholars and general readers.

Preface

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most sacred books of the Sanatana dharma or the Vedic (Vaidik) dharma or the Arya dharma, which is presently called the Hindu dharma (or Hinduism). The Bhagavad Gita appears in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. It has been translated to almost all the languages of the world. It was translated into the Farsi language by Sheikh Abul Fazal during the reign of the Emperor Akbar. His grandson Dara shukuh also translated it under the name Ab-i-Zindagi or "The Water of Life". The first English translation of the Bhagavad Gita was done by Sir Charles Wilkins in 1785 CE and was published by the British East India Company. Friedrich von Schlegel translated some passages of the Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit to German in his "On the Language and Wisdom of the Indians" in 1808 CE. His brother Wilhelm von Schlegel published the first European edition of the Bhagavad Gita with the original Sanskrit verses in Devanagari script with Latin translation in 1823 CE. Edwin Arnold published it in English verses in 1885 CE. More than a thousand translations and commentaries have appeared since then. Therefore a question arises that if so many translations and commentaries already exist what then is the need for another book on Bhagavad Gita. There is an express reason for presenting this book. It is because until now one had access only to the commonly available and accepted version of the Bhagavad Gita with 700 verses and the Original Bhagavad Gita with 745 verses in eighteen chapters conforming to the Gitamana verse of the Mahabharata was not available, though several attempts had been made in the past to present the missing verses. There is a Gitamana (literally the measure of the Gita) verse is as follows:

"Shat-shataani savimsaani shlokaanaam praaha Keshavah, Arjunah sapta-panchaashat sapta shashtim ca Sanjayah, Dhritaraashtrah slokam ekam Gitaayaah maanam ucyate" This verse says "Keshava (Lord Krishna) spoke 620 verses, Arjuna spoke 97 verses, Sanjaya spoke 67 verses and Dhritarashtra spoke one (1) verse. This is the measure of Gita." Therefore the total number of verses in the Original Bhagavad Gita is 745. In the commonly available version or the vulgate version of the Bhagavad Gita only 574 verses have been spoken by Lord Krishna, which means that (620 — 574) = 46 verses of Lord Krishna have not been given in the vulgate version. This is discussed in detail in the book and all the missing verses have been included..

Abhinava Gupta in the tenth century BCE gave sixteen additional verses in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita out of which nine verses have been added to the verses spoken by lord Krishna. Several attempts have been made subsequently but without success. Sankaracharya Bhagavatpada (Adi Sankaracharya) is considered to be the first true commentator of the Bhagavad Gita and his commentary is on the Bhagavad Gita with 700 verses. After considerable research _ spanning over three decades the present writer has been able to lay before the public the complete version of the Original Bhagavad Gita with 745 verses conforming to the Gitamana verse along with their translation and commentary. There are clear-cut evidences within the commonly available version of the Bhagavad Gita itself that some verses are missing. These are discussed in the book in detail along with the plausible explanation as to why these verses were left out in the past.

Then there have been claims by some moder scholars that the Original Bhagavad Gita must have lesser than even 700 verses as they wonder how it could have been possible to deliver a discourse of the length of the order of 700 verses in the middle of the battle field. This notion arose because of the unawareness of the rules of the Mahabaharata war. This aspect has been discussed in detail in the light of the rules of Manu, the earliest law-giver, and the rules framed with mutual consent for the Mahabharata war, just before the war began. It is shown that Arjuna laid down his arms and that made him invulnerable to any attack according to the laws framed before the war. One has also to remember that at that time Arjuna wanted to inspect the armies before the war was about to begin and only after the discouse was over that Arjuna saw Yudhisthira proceeding towards Bhishma and Drona for seeking their permission to start the war. Moreover the Lord found Ayxjuna suitable for receiving the divine knowledge as he (Arjuna) had overcome all his personal desires when he said that he did not desire even the Lordship of the three worlds.

The Mahabharata is a non-sectarian text and so was the original Bhagavad Gita and this aspect has been highlighted. Several esoteric verses in the Bhagavad Gita have been explained lucidly. These discussions are usually skipped by most of the commentators. As already stated, many of the modern readers would wonder if it was possible to deliver a spiritual discourse, of the length of the Bhagavad Gita, in the middle of the battle-field. This aspect has been discussed in detail in the light of the rules, framed with mutual consent, for the Mahabharata war, just before the war began. This will remove any misapprehensions in the mind of the modern readers.

Bhagavad Gita is considered to be the essence of the Upanishads as told in the following verse: "Sarvopanishado gaavo dogdhaa Gopaalanandana, Partho vatsah sudhirbhokta dugdha Gitamritammahat." This means that all the Upanishads are cows, which have been milked by Gopalanandana (Lord Krishna), the calf is Arjuna and the scholars drink that milk, which is the great Bhagavad Gita. It is also said that as the Bhagavad Gita came from the mouth of Lord Krishna Himself there is no need of any other scriptures. The relevant verse is: "Gitaa sugitaa kartavyaa kimanyaih sashtra vistaraih, yaasvayam Padmanaabhashya mukhapadmaad vinihshritaa."

This book is on the Original Bhagavad Gita with the 745 verses and their verse-by-verse translation: The commonly available version of the Bhagavad Gita with the 700 verses is thus a part of the Original Bhagavad Gita with 745 verses. However there are some minor changes in the words and phrases in some of the verses without much significant change of meaning. The original Bhagavad Gita is a late Vedic text with late Vedic Sanskrit. It could have been possible that some minor grammatical changes occurred in places in the course of these more than five thousand years, without altering the meaning of the verses in general except in a case or two. The Original Bhagavad Gita in no way diminishes the importance of the commonly available version of the Bhagavad Gita with 700 verses. At the same time the Original Bhagavad Gita will also serve the requirement _ of the devout readers as the verses of the commonly available version are also present in the Original Bhagavad Gita. The author admires the scholars, particularly those who, in the past attempted to bring out the Original Bhagavad Gita but ended up by presenting either more or less than the 745 verses in 18 chapters. It is shown during the discussions as to how the Original Bhagavad Gita differs to some extent from the versions presented by them.

The Sanskrit verses have been given chapterwise and the English transliteration and translation follow the Sanskrit verses. Detailed explanations have been given wherever the need has been felt. Most of the commentators leave the Chapter 8 unexplained. Some writers on the Bhagavad Gita including Mahatma Gandhi (M.K.Gandhi) found the chapter 8 baffling. Mahadev Desai quotes Mahatma Gandhi in the book "The Gospel of Self-less Action or The Gita according to Gandhi" to say that Mahatma Gandhi did not understand the meaning of the verses 24 and 25 of the Chapter 8 of the Bhagavad Gita and that he thought these verses not to be consistent with the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. That is why some of the difficult verses of this chapter have ben discussed in greater detail in this book. The words such as "Krishna"and "Sankhya" have been written in this book in the way these words are commonly pronounced though the purists or prudists may write these words as "Krsna" and "Samkhya" as some other scholars have done elsewhere but that does not have any bearing on the message of the Bhagavad Gita. In this the advice of Adi Sankaracharya, in the beginning of his Mohamudgaram (also called Bhaja Govindam), have been kept in mind, to emphasize more on the spiritual message than on the absolute grammatical correctness. The readers may please note that as there are different editions of the Mahabharata available, such as the BORI Critical edition, Gita Press- Gorakhpur edition and the Bombay edition, sometimes they may not find the given Mahabharata references exactly tallying with those in the version they have with them.

INTRODUCTION

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most important scriptures of the Sanatana dharma or Hinduism. It is said that if one reads the Bhagavad Gita then there is no need to read any other scripture. The Bhagavad Gita appears in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. Vedavyasa, who compiled all the Vedas, Puranas and the Upapuranas, realised that so far he catered to the needs of the initiated ones called Dvijas or twice born, who had the privilege to study the Vedic iterature but he had not done anything for the under-privileged class, we. the Shudra and the Stree (women) or the laity, who are not initiated into the Vedic studies. He could realise this all the more as his mother was from the Kaivarta (boatman) community. To remedy this he composed the Jaya Samhita, which eventually became the Bharata Samhita and then the Mahabharata. Later on he went on to simplify the vedic messages further and thus composed the Bhagvata Purana to this end (BP 1.4.25,29). Jaya means victory and the Jaya Samhita was composed to commemorate the victory of the righteousness over the unrighteousness in the war of Kurukshetra. In that he incorporated all the essential subject-matters in a comprehensible and graspable manner such that the laity could read it and get the message of the Vedas.

Though originally composed for the laity it is also extremely useful to the learned people. In the Mahabharata it is mentioned that one should mead the Puranas and the Itihaasa (which include the Mahabharata abself) before reading the Vedas, otherwise the Vedas become afraid This means that the reading of the Puranas and the Mahabharata and the Ramayana first will make the Vedas more eamprehensible. This also points to the antiquity of the Puranas. What is applicable to the Puranas is also applicable to the Mahabharata. The puranas and the itihasas including Mahabharata have been called fe Panchama Veda or the fifth Veda in the Chandogya Upanishad, Bebonging to the Sama Veda (CU 7.1.2). The Bhagavad Gita, which is mm the Mahabharata, is considered to be the essence of all the Vedic scriptures. Though the commonly available version of the Bhagavad Gita appears to be a Vaishnavite text, it is to be borne in mind that the Mahabharata is a non-sectarian epic and the original Bhagavad Gita belonging to the Mahabharata is also a non-sectarian scripture. Therefore this aspect of the Bhagavad Gita needs to be discussed in the context of the Mahabharata, to which it belongs. The Original Bhagavad Gita is a non-sectarian text. The Mahabharata, to which the Bhagvad Gita belongs, is also a non- sectarian epic and it speaks of the impersonal God as well as the different personal manifestations of God just as the Vedas and the Puranas do. According to the episode of Upamanyu in the Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata, Upamanya recited the Shiva Sahashranama (the thousand names of Lord Shiva) before Lord Krishna and the latter repeated it himself, praying to Lord Shiva for a son like Lord Shiva. This penance could have been for about a few months. This same episode says that Brahmaa came from the right side, Vishnu came from the left side and Shiva emerged from the middle of the Brahman. This is in line with the Vedic dictum "Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma" i.e. everything is Brahman (CU 3.14.1). According to Kurma Purana, Lord Krishna was initiated to Pasupata or Agamic tenets by Upamanyu (KuP 25.46-48). Further in the Vanaparva of the Mahabharata Lord Krishna advised Arjuna to pray to Lord Shiva for divine weapons and Arjuna’s prayer includes the verse "Namah Shivaya Vishnurupaya Vishanve Shivarupine", which means I bow to Lord Shiva, who is in the form of Lord Vishnu and Lord Vishnu, who is in the form of Lord Shiva (MBH 6. 39-76). In the pujas (worshipping rituals) the brahmins chant "Om Namah Shivaya Vishnurupaya Vishnave Shivarupine, Anadi Jagadeeshaya Namo Hari Haratmane", where Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva are regarded as the same in two forms. In Vishnu Sahashranama in the Mahabharata the twenty seventh name of Vishnu is Shiva. Skandopanishad, which is one of the hundred and eight upanishads, says "Shivasya Hridayam Vishnu, Vishnoscha hridayam Shivah, Yatha Shivamayo Vishnurevam Vishnumayo Shivah", which shows no distinction between Vishnu and Shiva. Again in the Drona Parva, Lord Krishna advised Arjuna to pray to Lord Shiva so that he could carry out the nearly impossible promise to kill Jayadratha on the very next day. We also find similar instances of worship of Lord Shiva in the Shanti Parvan and the Sauptika Parva as well as in the Harivamsa, which is considered a part of the Mahabharata. Lord Shiva of the Mahabharata and the Puranas is the same as Lord Rudra of the Veda. In the original Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says that he is Rudra, he is Shiva (OBG 9.30-31, 10.23, 11.23). Again just before the start of the Kurukshetra war Lord Krishna advised Arjuna to pray to Goddess Durga for victory. This is the same deity, who appears in the Kena Upanishad. Praying to her is recommended in the Dhanurveda as well. In the Vedas also we have the Devi Sukta and the Sri Sukta in adoration of the female form. All these prayers to the different deities were done despite the presence of Lord Krishna, who himself is an avatara (incamation) of Lord Vishnu. This clearly shows that the Mahabharata is a non-sectarian pantheistic epic as are the Vedic literature. All the deities are the manifestations of the same Brahman and are just playing the different roles.

Being a part of the Mahabharata the Bhagavad Gita cannot be anything different. The commonly available version of the Bhagavad Gita also hints at this, although obliquely, when it says that Brahman abides in the beings undivided yet it seems divided. This is what should be known as susiaining (as Vishnu) destroying or devouring (as Shiva) and generating (as Brahma) all beings. (OBG 13.17). In the original Bhagavad Gita there are verses which say this even more clearly. It is worthwhile discussing why the Bhagavad Gita, despite originally being a non-sectarian text, had become a Vaishnavite text in the commonly available version.

To find the reason for this we get the clue from the Bhagavata Purana, which Vedavyasa composed after coripleting the Jaya Samhita. In the beginning of that Purana, Vedavyasa was shown as a very sad person as his Jaya Samhita did not become as lucid as he wanted it to he such that it could be understood by the uninitiated, ie. he Shudras and the women. One reason for this was the pantheistic character of the Mahabharata and the other.reason was the presence of the many K-ta slokas (i.e. Complex and difficult verses, as kuta literally means the peak or the best). Anecdote says that Vedavyasa had to include the kuta slokas to retard the speed of his scribe Lord Ganesha, who was bound by an agreement to write only after understanding every verse before he wrote. Anecdotes apart, these kuta slokas baffle even te scholars. For example Vedavyasa had described the time of the occurrence of many events in terms of the position of the Grahas in the any of the twenty seven different Nakshatras and that was astronomical in nature. In Mahabharata there is indication that Abhijit, the twenty eigth Nakshatra, was also included among the Nakshatras but it moved away to become the pole star (due to the precession of the earth). These twenty seven Nakshatras are all distributed along the ecliptic though they are not exactly equally spaced. However from the Mahabharata times they were considered to be equally spaced so that each Nakshatra has the longitudinal span of thirteen degrees and twenty minutes. This was done primarily for the astrological purpose.

In fact twenty seven Nakshatras were divided into twelve rashis (Zodiacal signs) such that each rashi covered 30 degrees of the ecliptic and contained two and a quarter of Nakshatras. Side by side he described the Grahas making aspect to or affecting (i.e. looking at) the different Nakshatras. That was not purely astronomical and there was astrology too in that as some of the Grahas can fully aspect more than one Nakshatra at any time. Moreover all the Grahas can have partial aspects also on other Nakshatras. The fact that Vedavyasa believed in Astrology is seen when Vedavyasa talks about the ill omens occurring due to the position of the particular Grahas in different Nakshatras. It is also natural that Vedavyasa believed in astrology as his father and also his guru was Parashara, who was a great astrologer himself.

Seeing a saddened Vedavyasa the sage Narada advised him to compose the Bhagavata Purana. Accordingly Vedavyasa composed the Bhagavata Purana, where it is shown that "Krishnastu Bhagavan Svayam" i.e. Lord Krishna is the Supreme God (BP 1:3:28) and prayer to him is the easiest way to achieve liberation. Bhagavata purana says that the Lord gives the Jnana or knowledge or awareness to his ardent devotees before liberation. This knowledge is the awareness, that everything is Brahman and that there is no separateness. The Aitareya Upanishad of the Rig Veda says that Prajnanam Brahma or the Brahman is Prajna or realised state of Jnana or the Divine Awareness (AU 5.3). In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna speaks of the different ways, both in personal and impersonal forms, that the devotee can pray to him through practice including renunciation of the fruits of action.

**Contents and Sample Pages**