The Bhagavadgītā in the Mahābhārata: text and translation

189 Pages·1994·11.65 MB·English

by  Buitenen, Johannes Adrianus Bernardus van

The
Bhagavadglta
in the
Mahabharata
J.
A. B. van Buitenen
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The
Bhagavadgltii
in the
Mahiibhiirata
Text and Translation
The University of Chicago Press. Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press. Ltd .. London
© 1981 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1981
Printed in the United States of America
14131211 111213
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mahiibhiirata. Bhagavadgltii. English & Sanskrit.
The Bhagavadg\ta in the Mahabharata.
Includes bibliographical references.
I. Buitenen. Johannes Adrianus Bernardus van.
II. Title.
BL1130.A4B84 294.5'924 79-13021
ISBN 0-226-84662-8 pbk.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
For Haven O'More, patron and friend
nli sa sakhii yo na dtidiiti sakhye
saciibhuve sacamiiniiya pitvab /
apiismiit preyiin na tad oko asti
pmantam anyam aral',lalTl cid icchet / /
sa fd bhojo yo grhave dadiity
annakiimiiya carate krsaya /
aram asmai bhavati y~mahiitii
ut~pari~u kmute sakhiiyam / /
1{gvedasalTlhitii 10.117.4; 3.

Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Introduction 1
Summary 31
Text and Translation 38
Notes 160
Index 173
vii

Foreword
There are many approaches to the BhagavadgItii in the Mahiibhiirata.
Most translators. commentators. and students treat the Bhagavadgltii as
an entity or scripture isolated from its context. that very Mahiibhiirata.
the Fifth Veda. But the Mahiibhiirata does not permit this attempted
removal and interpretation. this tearing away from its great sacred
body. for it refuses to render up and make clear its innermost
treasures: as a brain does not function independent of the human or
animal body in which it grew and has its roots. so with the
BhagavadgItii rooted in its body. the Mahiibhiirata.
Greater than any mountain. the Mahiibhiirata sits supreme. its top
veiled in clouds. with powerful winds and bitter cold. Truly. it is said.
the Mahiibhiirata gives birth. and also gives death. For it contains an
account of the life and acts of the Supreme Ruler Himself. Creator and
Destroyer of the universe. who binds human beings and all
manifestations "on a chain. of which one end is life. the other death."
What is not found within the Mahiibhiirata is not found anywhere. A
great intellectual and spiritual mountain. it unveils itself only to the
most passionate. intense. sincere. full of truth to themselves and others.
athletic. death-defying. life-embracing. plunging-into-possibility
climbers. Civilizations rise up and decay; the great mountain penetrates
into the whole/holy possibility of Universal Manifestation-even.
paradoxically. resting Simultaneously in the Unmanifest Itself.
Accordingly. as the ~gveda says.
all beings and manifestations are a fourth of Him. /
three-fourths lies in the non-phenomenal His Unmanifestness.
For the first time in English. or in any language outside of the
Sanskrit. so far as we know. van Buitenen gives a translation of the
Bhagavadgltii in the Mahiibhiirata based on the critical text. This means.
ix