Bhagavad Gita: With the Commentary of Adi Shankaracharya by Swami Gambhirananda

699 Pages·2020·14.85 MB·English

by  Swami Gambhirananda

BHAGAVAD
GĪTĀ
With the commentary of
ŚAṄKARĀCĀRYA
Translated by
SWĀMĪ GAMBHĪRĀNANDA
(PUBLICATION HOUSE OF RAMAKRISHNA MATH)
5 DEHI ENTALLY ROAD • KOLKATA 700 014
Published by
The Adhyaksha
Advaita Ashrama
P.O. Mayavati, Dt. Champawat
Uttarakhand - 262524, India
from its Publication Department, Kolkata
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.advaitaashrama.org
© All Rights Reserved
Second Print Edition, April 2018
First Ebook Edition, July 2018
ISBN 978-81-7505-aaa-a (Paperback)
ISBN 978-81-7505-418-9-aaa-a (Ebook)
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
TO THE SECOND EDITION
The present English translation of the Bhagavad Gita along with the
commentary of Śrī Śaṇkarācārya by Swāmī Gambhīrānanda, the 11th
President of the Ramakrishna Order, has been widely accepted as one of the
most authentic translations. We are pleased to present this fully revised and
computerised second edition as per the modern printing standards. Hope
this will be warmly received by the readers as the previous edition.
April 2018 PUBLISHER
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
TO THE FIRST EDITION
The publication of this edition of the Bhagavad gītā by us fulfils a long-felt
need, namely, to make available to the public interested in Advaita Vedānta
a faithful English translation of Śaṇkarācārya’s commentary on this sacred
scripture. It is well known that the Gītā is one of the constituents of the
prasthāna-traya, three source-books, of the Vedānta Darśana. It is called the
smṛti-prasthāna, as it forms a part of the great epic, the Mahābhārata.
The translator, Swāmī Gambhīrānanda, one of the Vice Presidents of the
Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission, needs no introduction to
those who have studied his Eight Upaniṣads (in two volumes, each of
which is also separately published), his Brahma-Sūtra-Bhāṣya of
Śaṅkarācārya, published nearly two decades back, and his Chāndogya
Upaniṣad, published recently—all by the Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati. He
now offers this translation of the bhāṣya of Śaṅkarācārya on this very
important scripture, Bhagavadgītā, which, as the translator remarks in his
valuable Introduction, ‘is ranked among the greatest religious books of the
world’. In this informative and scholarly Introduction, he has discussed in
brief such subjects as the date of the Mahābhārata war, which provided the
occasion for the birth of the Gītā, the historicity of the Gītācārya Kṛṣṇa, the
importance and influence of the Gītā on other countries, the date of
Śaṅkarācārya—well documented and fortified by the views of several
savants, both of the East and the West, and by referring to inscriptions.
The method followed in translating this bhāṣya is the same as in his
translation of the Upaniṣads. With the publication of this book, the present
translator has done the monumental work of rendering into English
Śaṅkarācārya’s bhāṣya on the entire gamut of the prasthāna-traya, with the
only exception of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, the commentary on which
by Śaṅkara was translated by Swāmī Mādhavānanda of revered memory
and first published by us in July 1934.
It may be noted that, while the ślokas are in devanāgarī, only the
English rendering of such expressions as Śrībhagavānuvāca, Arjuna uvāca,
are given in the book. A very useful feature of this edition of the
Bhagavadgītā is the inclusion of a ‘Word Index’ to the entire text, apart
from an Index to the first words of the ślokas, which, we believe, will be
found helpful to both scholars and students alike. It is our earnest hope that
this edition of the Gītā will be warmly welcomed and received by those
interested in Śaṅkarācārya’s commentary on it.
Janmāṣṭamī PUBLISHER
Advaita Ashrama
19 August 1984
CONTENTS
Publisher's Note
Introduction by the Translator
Invocation & Introduction by Śrī Śaṅkarācārya
Chapter 1: The Melancholy of Arjuna
Chapter 2: The Path of Knowledge
Chapter 3: Karma-Yoga
Chapter 4: Knowledge and Renunciation of Actions
Chapter 5: The Way of Renunciation of Actions
Chapter 6: The Yoga of Meditation
Chapter 7: Jñāna and Vijñāna
Chapter 8: Discourse on the Immutable Brahman
Chapter 9: The Sovereign Knowledge and Mystery
Chapter 10: The Divine Glory
Chapter 11: Revelation of the Cosmic Form
Chapter 12: Bhakti-Yoga
Chapter 13: Discrimination between Nature and Soul
Chapter 14: The Classification of the Three Guṇas
Chapter 15: The Supreme Person
Chapter 16: The Divine and the Demoniacal Attributes
Chapter 17: The Three Kinds of Faith
Chapter 18: Monasticism and Liberation
Index to First Words of the Ślokas
Index to Words
KEY TO TRANSLITERATION
AND PRONUNCIATION
Sounds like (cid:0)
a o in son (cid:0)ā a in master (cid:0)i i in if (cid:0)ee in feel (cid:0)u u in full (cid:0)ū
oo in boot (cid:0)ṛ somewhat betweenr and ri (cid:0)e a in evad (cid:0)ai y in my (cid:0)
o o in over (cid:0)k k
(cid:0) kh ckh in blockhead (cid:0)g g (hard) (cid:0)gh gh in log-hut (cid:0)ṅ ng
(cid:0) v ch (not k) (cid:0)ch chh in catch him (cid:0)j j
(cid:0) jh dgeh in hedgehog (cid:0)ñ n (somewhat) (cid:0)ṭ t
(cid:0) ṭh th in ant-hill (cid:0)ḍ d
(cid:0) ḍh dh in godhood (cid:0)ṇ n in under (cid:0)t French t (cid:0)th
th in thumb (cid:0)d d in them (cid:0)dh theh in breathe here (cid:0)n n
(cid:0) p p
(cid:0) ph ph in loop-hole (cid:0)b b
(cid:0) bh bh in abhor (cid:0)m m
(cid:0) y
(cid:0) r r
(cid:0) l l
(cid:0) v v in avert (cid:0)ś sh
(cid:0) ṣ sh in show (cid:0)s s
(cid:0) h h
. ṁ m in hum :ḥ half h in huh!
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Ā.Ā. Ānanda Āshrama Edition
Ā.G. Ānanda Giri
Āp.Dh.Sū.pastamba-Dharma-Sūtras
Aṣṭ. Aṣṭekar Edition
B. S. Brahma-Sūtras
Bh. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
Bo. Sm. Bodhāyana-Smṛti
Bṛ. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
C.P.U. A Concordance to the Principal Upaniṣads and Bhagavad-Gītā
C.W. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
Ch. Chāndogya Upaniṣad
Gau. Sm. Gautama-Smṛti
Gī. Pr. Gītā Press (Gorakhpur) Edition
Īś. Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad
Jā. Jābāla Upaniṣad
Ka. Kaṭha Upaniṣad
Kai. Kaivalya Upaniṣad
Ke. Kena Upaniṣad
M.S. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī
Ma. Nā. Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad
Ma. Sm. Manu-Smṛti
Mbh. Āś. Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika-parva
Mbh. Śā. Mahābhārata Śānti-parva
Mbh. St. Mahābhārata Strī-parva
Mbh. Va. Mahābhārata Vana-parva
Mu. Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad
Nā. Par. Nārada Parivrājaka Upaniṣad
Nā. Sū. Nāsadīya-Sūkta
Nṛ. Pū. Nṛsimha-pūrva-tāpani Upaniṣad
Nṛ. Ut. Nṛsimha-uttara-tāpani Upaniṣad
P. Pañcadasī
P. Y. Sū. Pātañjala-Yoga-Sūtras
Pr. Praśna Upaniṣad
Pu. Sū. Puruṣa-sūkta
Ṛg. Ṛg-veda
Ś. Śaṅkarānanda, Swāmī
Ś.S. Śrīdhara Swāmī
Śa. Br. Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa
Sṛ. Sū. Sṛṣṭi-sūkta
Śv. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad
Tai. Ār. Taittirīya Āraṇyaka
Tai. Br. Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa
Tai. Saṁ. Taittirīya Saṁhitā
V.P. Viṣṇu Purāṇa
V.S.A. V.S. Apte (A Sanskrit-English Dictionary)
Yā. Yājñikī Upaniṣad
INTRODUCTION
The scene of the delivery of the Bhagavadgītā (The Song Divine), also
known briefly as the Gītā, by Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna is laid on the battlefield
of Kurukṣetra where the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas had assembled their
armies for war. Scholars differ as regards the date of this battle, though they
are inclined to think that it was a historical event. According to tradition,
the battle was fought at the end of the Dvāpara-yuga. The next yuga,
namely the Kali-yuga, is believed to have started on 18 February 3102 BC,
when Parīkṣit, grandson of Arjuna, ascended the throne of the Kauravas at
Hastināpura. (1) (The History and Culture of the Indian People, Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan, Vol. 1, p. 308.) Karandikar says that the battle was fought in
1931 BC, while Prof. Sengupta argues that it was fought in 2566 BC. C. V.
Vaidya holds that the war was fought in 3102 BC.
As Dhṛtarāṣṭra was born blind, he could not rule the kingdom. So his
younger brother Pāṇḍu became the Ruler. When Pāṇḍu died his sons were
too young as also were Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and his
younger brothers. Hence Bhīṣma, the oldest member of the family,
managed the affairs of the State. When the young boys came of age
Duryodhana wanted to become the King by ousting Yudhiṣṭhira through
foul means. But public opinion was in favour of Yudhiṣṭhira. So, in order
not to antagonize the officials and the people, Bhīṣma advised Dhṛtarāṣṭra
to divide the kingdom between his sons, referred to as the Kauravas, and
Pāṇḍu’s sons called the Pāṇḍavas. This advice was followed. Accordingly
the former ruled from Hastināpura and the latter from Indraprastha for
thirty-six years. But Duryodhana was jealous of the prosperity of the
Pāṇḍavas, and to ruin them he invited Yudhiṣṭhira to a game of dice, which
resulted in the banishment of the Pāṇḍavas under the condition of living in
the forest for twelve years and one year incognito. After the stipulated
period Yudhiṣṭhira claimed his portion of the kingdom, but Duryodhana
refused, and this led to the battle of Kurukṣetra. Yudhiṣṭhira had four
brothers—Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Arjuna was considered the
mightiest among the contemporary warriors. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, though Himself
formidable warrior and regarded as an Incarnation of God, vowed not to