HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 >"

Word

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2

Sanskrit

In General

Samkhya Yoga, the Yoga of Knowledge

When Arjuna got depressed on seeing the faces of his Guru, Grandfather, and other close friends & relatives, Sri Krishnan intervened and told him to behave, as the battlefield is never the right place for showing soft sentiments, but to do the duty as a fighter. Arjuna turned his face to his friend Krishna and asks what is good for his ‘sreyas’, his well being. Sri Krishna’s first response to Arjun is a declaration, not to worry about thing which doesn’t warrant due attention. All the born should die; destruction of the things is already programmed in the birth and killing an enemy is only an incidental cause. To remove the remorse in Arjuna’s mind Krishna describes the ideal nature of a ‘Sthithaprajna’, a God realized person. The Sthithaprajna keeps his mind always fixed in the Atman, the ultimate reality behind the self. ‘Sthithaprajna’, the ideal person not just controls his senses but convert all his action into a way of doing service to lord. The chapter is of intellectual interest and attention and gives an introduction to the full view of discourses said in Gita.

The name Sankhya Yoga for this chapter does not represent exposition of Samkhya system of Kapila or Yoga system of Patanjali. However the Gita doesn’t neglect these systems of thought. On the 39th sloka we can find the theistic version of Samkhya Philosophy. To Samkhya philosophy, liberation from bondage is achieved when the buddhi, the intellect discriminates between Purusha and Prakriti. This view of Samkhya is upheld throughout in Gita; But unlike Sankhya which is dualistic, Gita profess a monistic view of Reality. By Yoga, Gita stress more of the renunciation of desire, developing intellectual capability and doing Karma and not a practice of Astanga Yoga.

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