Bhagavad Gita, Gloss of Sridhara Swami

623 Pages·2008·153.342 MB·English

by  Swami Vireshwarananda

Suidmi VheSuiwtdfumda

Publisher’s Note to the Revised
Second Edition
W e are glad to place the revised edition of Swami
Vireswarananda’s English translation of Srimad Bhagavad
Gita with the gloss (Tika) of Sridhra Swami. The previous
edition, with its simple and lucid language, was quite
well-received by scholars as well as general readers. That
edition, however, had only the translation of the gloss. The
present edition contains the original Sanskrit Tika in
devanagari script too, fulfilling a long-felt need of all
serious students of the Gita.
In addition, this edition also provides the references
(verse number, chapter and the name of the source book) to
the quotations cited in the Tika, along with their translations.
All references to the Gita verses appearing in the Tika are
also suitably cited. In order to facilitate search, an index to
the Gita verses and the words appear in the Gita verses in
Sanskrit has been added at the end.
Bhagavad Gita, has a timeless relevance. Hope the
readers will continue to drink deep at this spring of nectar
presented through these pages.
Swami Ramakrishnananda Jayanthi
30.07.2008
iii
PREFACE
Th e Bhagavad-Gita is a most, if not the most, popular
Hindu Scripture. It is regarded as one of the three scriptures,
the other two being the Upanishads and the Brahma-Sutras.
All the great Acharyas or founders of new sects among the
Hindus have written commentaries on these three. Among
them the Gita has the largest number of expositions, for a
good many of the followers of the different sects have written
glosses on the main commentarise of their great Acharyas. It
can be stated without nay hesitation that there is no other
Hindu Scripture which has been so frequently commented
upon.
Sridhara Swami, whose commentary we are giving here
in English, was born at Balodi in Gujarat, about six centuries
ago, and chronologically he comes immediately after
Vopadeva, the great grammarian. He was a disciple of
Paramananda Puri and his chosen Deity was Nrisimha (the
fourth of the ten Incarnations in Hindu mythology). Besides
this scholium on the Gita, Sridhara has written commentar­
ies on the Bhagavata and the Vishnupurana, known as,
Bhavarthadipika and Atmaprakasa respectively. Sridhara’s
present commentary on the Gita is called Subodhini. It is, as
the name implies, very lucid, and at the same time brief.
Though Sridhara belongs to the Advaita School of Sankara,
and at the beginning of the commentary says, ‘ ‘After scruti­
nising accrding to my light the views of the Commentator
(Sankara) and likewise the words of his expounders, yet his
leaning towards devotion as opposed to knowledge is so very
iv
marked that the orthodox section at first refused to accept
his commentary as authoritative. For a decision, the
commentary was placed before the Lord Visweswara
(according to some, before the Lord Bindumadhava) in
Banaras, and tradition says that the Lord appeared in a
dream and gave the verdict thus;
aftSR: II
—“I know the true teaching of the Scriptures, and so
does Suka. Vyasa may or may not know. But Sridhara knows
everything through the grace of the Lord Nrisimha.” After
that the orthodox section withdrew their objections.
Sridhara’s commentary on the Gita though well known
in Sanskrit, is not available in English. We have therefore
translated it to make it accessible to the English-knowing
public. We have followed the text of the Ananda Ashrama
edition, except in a few places, where the text of other
Key to Transliteration and Pronunciation
Sounds like Sounds like
3T a-o in son 3 th-th in ant-hill
3TT a-a in master ■§ d-d in den
f i-i in if "3 dh-dh in godhood
"I i-ee in feel n-n in under
3 u-u in full TT t-French t
3> u-oo in boot th-th in thumb
W r-somewhat between 3 d-th in then
r and ri
U dh-theh in breathe here
e-ay in May
A n-n in not
ai-y in my
p-p in pen
o-o in oh
ph-ph in loop-hole
au-ow in now
^ b-b in bag
SI k-k in keen bh-bh in abhor
(cl kh-ckh in blockhead IT m-m in mother
n g-g (hard) in go
y-y in yard
gh-gh in log-hut
T r-r in run
n-ng in singer
oT 1-1 in luck
c-ch in chain
^ v-v in avert
T5 ch-chh in catch him
7T s-sh in reich (German)
^3T j-j in judge ^ s-sh in show
fT jh-dgeh in hedgehog
TT s-in sun
*T ii-n (somewhat) as in h-in hot
French
m-m in sum
3 t-t in ten
: h-h in half
vi
List of Abbreviations
*•3- :
Ag. Pu. : Agni Purana
3TN.^. :
Apa. Su. : Apastamba Sutras
^TT. 3. :
Isa. Up. : Isavasya Upanisad
: ^ 3
Rg Ve. : Rg Veda
3. :
Kath. Up. : Katha Upanisad
^i. ^frT. 3R. :
Kr. Yaj. Tai. Ar. : Krsna Yajurvediya
Taittiriya Ar any aka
fi. crf%. WT. : sTT?UT^
Kr. Yaj. Tai. Br. : Krsna Yajurvediya
Taittiriya Brahmana
^Nt. 3. :
Kau. Up. : Kausitaki Upanisad
■#T. «f. :
Gau. Dh. Su. : Gautama Dharma Sutras
W. 3. :
Ch. Up. : Chandogya Upanisad
*TT. 3. : dMIdltPiNd,
Jab. Up. : Jabala Upanisad
vii
viii
t. 3.
Tai. Up. Taittiriya Upanisad
t. ft fftftq ft?3T
Tai. Saiii. Taittiriya Saihhita
qq. q. 3. qRqqfftrqfttqfqq^
Nar. Pa. Up. Narada Parivrajaka Upanisad
fftrh.
Niru. Nirukta
'f. 3. 3. ^ftftqwRftftqfftr^
Nr. Ut. Up. Nrsimha Uttaratapanlya
Upanisad
ft ft
Nr. Pur. Nrsimha Purana
ft.
Nai. Si. Naiskarmya Siddhi
qq. ftq.
Pat. Yoga. Patanjali Yoga Sutras
f?. f^qR'jqfttqfqqq;
Br. Up. Brhadaranyaka Upanisad
«p>. qT. RT.
Br. Va. Sa. Brhadaranyaka Vartika Sara
^ ft w ftn
Br. Su. Brahma Sutras
qiqqqq; ftqqqRRRfq
Bhagavata Srimad Bhagavata
q^ftftrr
Manu Sam. Manu Saihhita
ix
R?T. 3. : R^RKTWRfto;
Maha. Up. : Mahanarayana Upanisad
W. #*T. : R^mKdR^, toR^
Maha. Bhlsma. : Mahabharata, Bhismaparva
R^T. *ft. ^fleT. to^ : RFWKd*{, 'flc1=bu<J cft'+l
Maha. BhI. Nila. Tlka: Mahabharata, Bhismaparva,
Nllakantha Tlka
^T. • r^irktr;,
Maha. Santi. : Mahabharata, Santiparva
:
Mu. Up. : Mundaka Upanisad
RW. : dl^dddd^fd:
Yajna. : Yajnavalkya Smrti
^T. :
Vasi. : Vasistha Smrti
sft
ft- 3- :
Vis. Pu. : Sri Visnu Pur ana
?ItT. WT. : wist
Sat. Br. : Satapatha Brahmana
3. : tototrfto,
Sve. Up. : Svetasvatara Upanisad
c r . . , . c . Mlc ...
U. <t. y. : <HqdSHtrlil6:,
Sar. Dar. Sang.
Car.Dar. : Sarva Darsana Sangraha,
Carvaka Darsana
Contents
Publisher's Note to the Revised Second Edition iii
Preface iv
Key to Transliteration and Pronunciation vi
List of Abbreviations vii
The Bhagavad Gita: Its Synthetic Character xiii
CHAPTER
1. THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 1
2. THE WAY OF DISCRIMINATION 26
3. THE WAY OF ACTION 81
4. THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 118
5. RENUNCIATION OF ACTION 155
6. THF, WAY OF CONTEMPLATION 180
7. THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION 214
8. THE WAY TO THE SUPREME SPIRIT 237
9. THE WAY OF ROYAL KNOWLEDGE AND
ROYAL SECRET 262
10. MEDITATION ON THE DIVINE GLORIES 289
11. THE VISION OF THE UNIVERSAL FORM 316
12. THE WAY OF DEVOTION 354
13. DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN NATURE AND SOUL 367
x i