Bhagavad Gita A Critical Study by J Edamaruku by IAP ebooks

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Bhagavad Gita A critical study

P a g e | 4 Bhagavad Gita A Critical Study Author: Joseph Edamaruku Published by Rationalist International Helsinki, Finland Year of publication: 2015 Original Malayalam edition: 1982 Translation from Malayalam: N.Kunju General Editor: Sanal Edamaruku Copy right ÂŠ Rationalist International Except brief quotations for book reviews or critical appraisals, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including downloading, photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

www.rationalists.net ISBN: 978-952-68315-0-3 4

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Bhagavad Gita A critical study Joseph Edamaruku

Translated from Malayalam

N.Kunju General Editor

Sanal Edamaruku

Rationalist International 5

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JOSEPH EDAMARUKU Joseph Edamaruku, born on 7 September 1934 in the southern Indian state Kerala, was an eminent Rationalist, scholar and author of 237 books and more than two thousand articles in Malayalam language. He was an editor in Malayala Manorama during 1957 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1970. Since 1977 he lived in Delhi and represented Kerala Sabdam group of newspapers. Joseph Edamaruku edited daily newspapers and mass circulated magazines, published Rationalist journals, addressed numerous meetings and influenced the way of thinking of a whole generation in Kerala, and several millions in India. An indefatigable campaigner against obscurantism, superstitions and blind belief, Edamaruku represents a colourful era of Indian Rationalism. He was the president of Indian Rationalist Association from 1995 to 2005. Hailing from a traditional Syrian Christian family that contributed bishops and priests to the church, close experience with the church and Bible education made him a Rationalist while still in his teens. He became an activist, married Soley (1934-2014) from a Hindu family and challenged caste marriages. He was instrumental in building up the strong rationalist movement in Kerala. He spent two spells in prison, in 1970 and in 1975 during the National Emergency. In 1979 Edamaruku received the International Atheist Award from American Atheists. His autobiography, The Times that Raised the Tempest won award from the Kerala Literary Academy as the best autobiography in Malayalam. Important books: Cultural History of Kerala (1977), Christ and Krishna never lived (1981), Quran - a Critical Study (1982), Bhagavad Gita - a Critical Study (1982), Rationalist State (1983) and Upanishads - a critical Study (2004) and a series of 36 books on world religions (1984-1987). Sanal and Geetha are the two children of Joseph Edamaruku.

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Joseph Edamaruku 7

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Preface Reading and discussing Bhagavad Gita have of late become an important part of Hindu congregations. Books extolling the greatness of Gita are published periodically. Those who adore Gita claim that it is a work that has answers to all the questions of life and prescribes remedies for all problems of humanity. Several scholars have written various and varying interpretations of the book. Yet the common man in India hardly reads it, the reason being the original text is in Sanskrit. Since the language is not known to ordinary people, the scholars interpret, or rather misinterpret, its verses to serve their vested interests. Therefore, I felt the need of an unbiased book explaining the real message of Gita and the social background in which it was written. It will not be out of place if I explain the circumstances in which I became familiar with the Gita. My first book “Kristhu oru manushyan” (Christ a man, an earlier form of my later book Jesus Christ – A myth) in Malayalam was published in 1953. This led to my excommunication from the church. Reading the news in local papers, Swami Agamananda of the Ramakrishna Mission at Kalady (Kerala) invited me to his ashram. I went and saw him; he graciously allowed me to stay in the Ashram. During those days, we had long discuss ions with Agamananda who allowed me to use his large library. This helped me to acquaint myself with the writings of Swami Vivekananda and other scholars on

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Hinduism. Swami Agamananda especially advised me to read Bhagavad Gita carefully. I have been reading the Bible and other Christian religious texts from childhood. So reading Hindu scriptures was a new experience for me. From then on, I began studying Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads etc. and treatises on them. I saw that the Hindu scriptures showed life in more depth and expanse than the Bible. When I was in jail as a political detainee twice, I devoted my time reading these books and thinking on their contents. Except for understanding the life and times of ancient India, I found nothing useful for modern man in these books. I decided to prepare a critique of Gita and the Upanishads, but the exigencies of a journalistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s job prevented me from undertaking the work then. Many may not know that the reason for Bhagavad Gitaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popularity and fame today, is the encouragement it got from the British. After the industrial revolution in the 18th century Europe, several new ideas and ideologies emerged. In the 1789 French revolution, the king was killed and a republic established. The revolutionary waves reached the British shores. The authorities there feared that the new ideas would infect the colonies, so the then Governor General in India, Warren Hastings, devised a way to divert Indiansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; attention to religion and culture. It was with this intention he established the Asiatic Society in Bengal. Indology found an important place in the curriculum in Fort William College in Calcutta. 9

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When the British Indian authorities extolled the greatness of Hindu religious scriptures and encouraged their propagation, many Indians were happy; but they did not know the underlying intentions. What the they wanted was to dissuade Indians from the revolutionary upsurge by impressing on the natives that the ideology of ancient India was far superior to the West’s Enlightenment. To some extent, British scholars succeeded in diverting Indian intellectuals’ attention from the European resurgence towards revival of Hindu culture and traditions. But it resulted in the growth of Hindu communalism. To counter the Hindu cultural nationalism, the British rulers in India encouraged Muslim communalist separatism. All this paved the way for the division of the country on communal lines as the British quit India. Hindu communalism promoted by the British got inspiration from Bhagavad Gita. Gita teaches that one may indulge in any means – murder, cheating and falsehood – to attain one’s political goals. It advocates a theocratic state based on the caste system. The philosophy of Gita could lead India to Hindu theocracy. This book is an earnest attempt to critically study and evaluate Bhagavad Gita and to throw light on its real dangers. New Delhi

Joseph Edamaruku

30 – 11 – 1981

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Contents Joseph Edamaruku Preface

Bhagavad Gita – Status and importance

Mahabharata – A fiction

Vaishnavism and Mahabharata

Gita’s author and his times

Contradictions in Gita

23 29

Gita and the four Varnas

On mixing of castes

Gita and the oppression of women

Brahmanism through back door

10 Bhagavad Gita and science

12 A philosophy of exploitation

79 86

13 A bugle call against Rationalists

Select Bibliography Translator’s note

11 The theory of soul and afterlife

14 India’s era of darkness

100

111 115 11

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The numbers given in brackets after each verse of Bhagavad Gita quoted in this book refers to the number of the chapter and number of the verse. 12

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1 Bhagavad Gita: Status and importance There are some 840 million Hindus in the world. Most of them are in India. They are divided into thousands of high and low castes. A few years ago, the caste divide was acute. The situation in the rural areas has not changed much. People have their own understanding of their status and sense of separateness on the basis of their caste â&#x20AC;&#x153;purityâ&#x20AC;? or otherwise. Some of those belonging to the high castes think it is a sin to touch or even see the low-castes. Those lowest in the caste hierarchy are forbidden from walking along public roads or drawing water from the village well. The lowcastes are to keep their distance from the high castes lest they pollute the superiors. Those who violate the social order are severely punished. Though untouchability is an offence in the statute, the evil is still prevalent in several parts of India. The low-castes are untouchable to the upper castes. Though they do not believe in the Hindu scriptures and culture, yet all are considered to belong to Hindu religion and the government recognizes them as such. Apart from the caste divisions, there are Hindus professing different faiths. Shaivas, Vaishnavas, Advaidists, Dvaidists, Arya Samajists and Brahmo Samajists are some 13

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of the sub-religions within the Hindu fold. And they have their own beliefs and rituals; they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t interact with one another and intermarry or partake in common festivals and feasts. They have separate deities and places of worship, yet all of them are grouped as Hindus and the effort is on to unite them under one community. If this effort is to be successful, they should have a single scripture as the Muslims and Christians have the Quran and the Bible respectively. Bhagavad Gita is projected as the one book acceptable to all Hindu castes and sects and there is a conscious effort to reform Hinduism centred on the Gita. People who have never heard a single verse of the book have begun praising its greatness. Religious heads and media constantly pay obeisance to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;divine songâ&#x20AC;?. This is the reason for its popularity and unquestioned acceptance. One of the greatest authorities on Hindu scriptures, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, had described Gita as the most popular scripture among Hindus and praised its author as a person of deep cultural richness. He describes Gita as all-inclusive though its writer could not reject the undesirable contents of rituals that continue to exist even now. Some of those engaged in the freedom struggle against the British had elevated Gita as a guide to their actions. The Bengal revolutionary writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadyay used Gita to promote patriotism and give inspiration to freedom fighters against the British. He stressed on the 14

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need for people to do their duty as advised by Gita and wage war against colonialism. The prominent leader of Hindu renaissance, Swami Vivekananda, too saw Gita as the fountainhead of strength. According to him, there was only one sin and that was cowardice. And Gita helped to remove mental weakness and give courage to fight the enemy successfully. The Gita, that inspired religious heads and leaders of the independence movement alike, became famous abroad too. The Hare Krishna cult and the Rajneesh Ashram have tried to publicize and propagate Gita in foreign countries. However, Gita was noted by Western scholars even before its introduction by Indians. In 1785, Charles Wilkins, under the instruction of Governor General Warren Hastings was the first to translate Gita into English. Later translations of the book appeared in different European languages. The following are some of the other important English translations:

Translator

Year of publication

A.G. Schlegal

1846

J.C. Thompson

1855

J. Devis

1882

K.T. Telang

1875

M.M. Chatterjee

1887 15

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E. Arnold

1885

M.N. Dutt

1895

L.D. Barnett

1905

E.J. Thomas

1931

C.C. Isherwood & Prabhavananda 1947 W.D.P. Hill

1928

F. Edgerton

1944

Gita has been translated into several languages such as German, French, Italian, Greek etc. Also several studies on Gita stressing the importance of the book as a philosophical and religious guide have appeared at different levels. For centuries, the Hindus have accepted Gita as one of the three important religious texts along with Upanishads and Brahma Sutra. The religious leaders interpreted the contents to their own convenience and advantage; therefore the expositions differ and are often contradictory. The oldest available exposition of the Gita is that of Adi Shankara (788 – 820 CE) who established the Advaita cult. According to Shankara’s theory, truth or Brahma was one, and not two. However, Ramanuja (1017 – 1137 CE rejected this theory. He argued that the world with different realities was as true as Brahma. It is strange that both Shankara and Ramanuja made use of Gita as the basis for their 16

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mutually contradicting theories. The fact is Gita is flexible to different interpretations. Even Western philosophers approach Gita from different angles. When some praise Gita as an invaluable book of philosophy, others (especially those connected with Christian missionary work) try to dismiss it as deceptive. We have seen that some of those engaged in the freedom struggle used Gita as a source of inspiration for patriotism and nationalism. However, after independence, Gita is mostly used to weaken the progressive forces. For Shankara, it helped to establish Advaita Vedanta. But, for Chaitanya and Jnaneswara and others, it was the source of the Bhakti movement. Bankim Chandra and Bal Gangadhar Tilak used Gita to give encouragement for freedom struggle. British used Gita to propagate imperialism. And the Hindutva forces have used it to instigate communal enmity against Muslims. People may wonder how one book could be subjected to contradictory interpretations. A study of its history and philosophical formulations could solve this riddle. Mahabharata and the Gita The book known as Bhagavad Gita is not a complete story; it is only a part of the epic work, Mahabharata. Mahabharata is divided into various sections, chapters and sub-chapters. The Sixth section of Mahabharata is titled Bheeshma Parva. It is divided into sub-sections and the third sub-section is the Gita Parva. The Gita Parva consists 17

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of chapters 13 to 42. And only 18 chapters from 25 to 42 comprise the proper Gita. Gita is divided into three sections containing 6 chapters each. These are Karma kanda, Upasana kanda, Jnana kanda. The names of the chapters are as under:

Karma kanda

Number of verses

1 Arjuna vishada yoga

2 Samkhya yoga

3 Karma yoga

4 Jnana karma Sanyasa yoga

5 Sanyasa yoga

6 Dhyana yoga

Upasana kanda 7

Vijnana yoga

Tharaka brahmayoga

Rajaguhya yoga

10 Vibhuti yoga

11 Visvaroopa darshana yoga

12 Bhakti yoga

20 18

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Jnana kanda 13

Prakriti Purushaviveka yoga

Gunathraya vibhaga yoga

Purushothama yoga

Daivasura Sambad vibhaga yoga

Shraddhatraya vibhaga yoga

Moksha sanyasa yoga

It shows Gita comprises of 700 verses divided into 280 in Karma kanda, 209 in Upasana kanda and 211 in Jnana kanda. The context of Gita Mahabharata is a classic about the story of a war supposed to have been fought between Kauravas and Pandavas caused by a dispute on the inheritance of the kingdom of Hastinapura. The plot goes thus: Drutarashtra and Pandu were brothers. Bheeshma looked after them. Drutarashtra, who was born blind, had 100 sons from his wife Gandhari. They were called Kauravas. Pandu had two wives named Kunti and Madri and together they had five sons namely Yudhishtira, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. They were called Pandavas. When Pandavas and Kauravas had a Chess tournament, the Pandavas were defeated and as decided earlier they had to spend 12 years in the forest and 19

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another year in hiding. After this period, when they returned to Hastinapura and claimed half the kingdom, the Kauravas flatly refused. Sri Krishna, the friend of Pandavas, tried to mediate, but his pleadings on behalf of Pandavas failed. At last, war was the only way out and the two sides with their army confronted at Kurukshetra. Kauravas were defeated and killed in the war. And Yudhishtira was crowned the king of Hastinapura. When the war was on, Krishna was the charioteer of the Pandu prince Arjuna. Gita is the advice given by Krishna to Arjuna when the latter became reluctant to fight his cousins and teachers. In the beginning, Bheeshma was appointed the commander of the Kaurava army. Under his command, the Kauravas fought for ten days with Pandavas. On the tenth day, Bheeshma was seriously wounded and lay in a bed of arrows on the battlefield. This news was conveyed to the blind Drutarashtra by Sanjaya. Then Drutarashtra wanted Sanjaya to narrate the proceedings of the war from the very beginning. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the Holy Plain of Kurukshetra have gathered, eager for battle, mine and Pandu's sons; what did they do, O Sanjaya?â&#x20AC;? (1:1) Sanjaya described the happenings on the warfront from the very beginning. The two armies were lined up on the battlefield. Then Arjuna wanted to view his enemies on the opposite side and asked his charioteer Krishna to stop his 20

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chariot in the middle of the line-up. Krishna accordingly drove the chariot and stopped in front of Bheeshma, Drona and the Kaurava princes. When Arjuna saw he was to fight his own uncles, Gurus, cousins and other close relatives, he became sad and disheartened. He was overcome with great compassion and spoke thus in sorrow: "Seeing these kinsmen, O Krishna, present here with intent to fight, my limbs grow faint, and my mouth goes dry, my body has tremor and hair stand on end; “My Gandiva (bow) slips from my hand, and my skin burns all over; I am not able to stand firm and my mind is indeed reeling. “And I see omens that are adverse, O Kesava (Krishna); nor do I see any good in slaying kinsmen in battle. There are here teachers, fathers, sons and also grandfathers, mother’s brothers, fathers-in-law and other relatives – These I do not wish to kill even if I am slain, O Madhusudana (Krishna) for the sake of all the three worlds, let alone of the earth….” (1:28-30) Saying so, Arjuna threw down his bow and arrows. It is then Krishna began his advice recorded from the 11th verse of Chapter 2. When Arjuna was not satisfied with Krishna’s arguments, Krishna changed into his Viswaroopa (celestial 21

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form) to prove his divinity and overwhelm Arjuna to compel him to take up arms. However Hindu believers value Krishna’s verbal advice (Gitopadesha) than his mesmerizing Arjuna that clinched the issue of fighting his kith and kin. If one examines Gita critically, it is mere old wine in new bottle – the time-barred religious tenets persuasively spoken by Krishna who is supposed to be God’s incarnation. Also Gita contains contradictory statements. How did the ideas of other religious texts get into Gita? It is necessary to examine the times and background of Gita’s origin to get a satisfactory answer to the question.

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2 Mahabharata â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A fiction As mentioned earlier, the circumstances under which Krishna gave Arjuna the Gitopadesha was on the eve of the Mahabharata war fought at Kurukshetra. Kurukshetra is located north of Delhi in Haryana. When was the war fought? Scholars differ in their opinion about the year as under: BCE P.R. Mangat

3201

C.V. Vaidya

3102

P.C. Sengupta

2500

A. Cunningham

1424

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

1400

Swami Vivekananda

1400

A.D. Pusalkar

1400

Balgangadhar Tilak

1400

Aravinda Maharshi

1191

K.L. Daphtari

1197 23

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Purgiter

950

Roy Chowdhary

900

Every one of these scholars cites reasons for the dates given by them. All of them gave the dates with the presumption that Mahabharata was a factual happening. But there are also scholars who believe that it is a fiction of epic magnitude. Could it be a powerful novel like that of Premchand or Bankim Chandra? Or could it be a fictionalized version of a historic event written with imagination and much fantasizing? One should examine the history of India up to 500 CE to get answers to such questions. Four Yugas Those who want to show off their pride in the nation often try to take historical events very much way back in time. An example is the Indian concept of Yugas. The belief is, there are four Yugas, namely Krita, Tretha, Dwapara and Kali. The present Kali yuga began in 3102 BCE (some 5084 years ago). It is calculated that Krita yuga had 17,28,000 years, Trita yuga 12,90,000 years, Dwaparayuga 8,64,000 years and Kaliyuga has 4,32,000 years. Kali yuga is supposed to have begun the day Krishna died. Kali yuga began 5084 years ago after Dwapara yuga ended. It is said Rama lived at the end of Tretha yuga. This means, as per legends, that Rama lived some 8, 69, 084 years ago. 24

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It is clear that those who calculated time like this had no sense of history. The claim that Valmiki Ramayana was written 8,69,000 years ago and Sanskrit as a language prospered those days, is laughable. Human civilization began only some 10,000 years ago. And man discovered the art of writing many centuries later. Evidence of the first Indian civilization has been found from the excavations of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa now located in Pakistan. The Aryas who created the mythologies of Rama and Krishna came to India later about 2500 BCE. The famous historian K.M. Panikkar asserts that the Harappa civilization ended by 1500 BCE and the Aryas entered Indo-Gangetic basin. It took many years for them to settle along the banks of Yamuna during which period the Vedas were formulated. The war of Mahabharata finds no mention in the Vedas. So it is unwise and irrational to say that the war took place in 3200 BCE. Vedas We get the information on the early Aryan settlers from the Hindu religious scriptures - Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads and the Suktas. Max MĂźller estimated that the Rigveda was composed between 1500 and 1200 BCE. The other books came later between 800 and 600 BCE. And none of them refers to the story of Mahabharata. During Rigveda period, the Aryans were divided into 11 clans (gotras). During those days they were in constant war with the natives. Also there were instances of inter-clan 25

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fights. The war on the banks of the River Parushni in which a king of Bharat clan, Sudasa, defeated the united forces of 10 kings, is an important event mentioned in Rigveda. K.M. Panikkar says that though Rigveda is the basic scripture of the Hindus, the gods presently worshipped have no place in it. The Gods adored in the Veda are Indra, Varuna, Agni, Mitra and Marut. The growth of Rational thought Around 800 BCE, after the era of the Vedas, India found the growth of Rationalist philosophy as a challenge to the authority of Brahmans and the Vedic religion. Great philosophers like Cārvāka, Buddha, Mahavira appeared one by one on the scene. They lived between 8th and 4th centuries BCE. Lokāyata ideology, Buddhism and Jainism prospered then. And there is no evidence of the Mahabharata war taking place those days. All these show there is no historical evidence for the Mahabharata war. Basing on the historical background and other evidences, Dr.C.C.Sircar, a prominent researcher of the Indian Archaeological Department, asserted that Mahabharata was not based on reality but was a work of fiction. He gave the following reasons to substantiate his statement. 1 There is no mention of Mahabharata in the Vedas. 2. No one knew when the Mahabharata war took place.

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3. There is no mention of Mahabharata in any literature created before 4th century BCE. 4. Kurukshetra where the Mahabharata war said to have taken place finds no mention in the Vedas. Because of these reasons, Dr. Sircar thinks that a story of a war between some small clans must have been blown up into epic proportions to become Mahabharata. Famous archaeologist H.D.Sankhalia too agreed with Sircar’s opinion. Sankhaliya is of the opinion that the “scholars” who date Mahabharata War in 3100 BCE, 1400 BCE and 900 BCE are all wrong. Most of them were armchair historians. There were neither big states nor highly civilized societies in the Indo-Gangetic plains then. Therefore an organized war of Mahabharata’s magnitude could not have taken place during these periods. Iron was unknown to the people of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa civilization. If Mahabharata war was fought between 3000 BCE and 4000 BCE, it would have to be admitted that iron weapons were not used in the battles. But it is mentioned that weapons of iron were used in Mahabharata war. Also archaeological excavation in Kurukshetra yielded no remains relating to the war. The origin of Mahabharata If the war of Mahabharata is not an historical incident, how did the story as it is depicted come to be accepted? No one 27

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will argue that the characters of the novels of noted writers like Tagore, Bankim Chandra, Yashpal etc. actually lived. Stories need not necessarily have a historical background, though need to be realistic. Expert opinion is that the Vaishnava sect consciously wrote for the propagation of their faith and Mahabharata got popularity and fame as one such work. Its artistic excellence too helped its widespread popularity. What Gandhi said about Mahabharata and Gita too is relevant here. He said that when he first read Gita, then itself he felt it was not a historical work. What is described there was not a physical war, but the internal conflict in man. It is to make clear the mental conflict in the minds of men, the story of war of the bodies is depicted. It would be safe to assume that a Vaishnava scholar of the first century BC wrote Mahabharata for the revival of Vaishnavism. It has no relation with history; and this could become evident if the history of the Vaishnava faith is examined.

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3 Vaishnavism and Mahabharata The beginnings of Buddhism and Jainism are in the sixth century BCE. There is no mention of a god named Krishna in books before it. Though there are brief mentions of Vishnu in those books, these were not of much importance. But by first century BCE, Vishnu and Krishna gained prominence in North India as deities being worshipped. By 4th century CE, the Vaishnava cult became popular as Bhagavad religion. It was as the scripture of the Vaishnava cult, Mahabharata and as its part Bhagavad Gita came on the scene. Believers generally think that Krishna is a god worshipped from Krita yuga. It is also said that Krishna lived around 5000 BCE. But there is evidence that Krishna began to be worshipped only in the 4th century BCE. The great Sanskrit scholar Panini who lived in those days writes in his work â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ashtadhyayiâ&#x20AC;? that Vasudeva and Arjuna were worshipped as equally powerful gods. Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya (324 - 300 BCE) in his writings, says that Saurasena, a tribe of Mathura, worshipped Krishna. But he was not a deity in 29

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other parts of North India. That means Krishna was only a God of a particular tribe in Mathura then. How come a deity of such insignificance turn into a powerful god through the centuries? How did the stories prevalent today about Krishna evolve? By the second century BCE, Vasudeva Krishna began to be worshipped as a god in areas around Mathura. It helped Brahmans to encourage Vaishnavism as a religion against Buddhism. They stole several stories of the life of Buddha to give colour to the Krishna image. Among the tribal gods Vasudeva, Sangharshana and Arjuna, Vasudeva (Krishna) became the most powerful. The Brahmans had a conscious role in the growth of the popularity of Krishna by adding new stories to the Krishna legend. Brahmans wanted to demolish Buddhism, the Rationalist movement which stood against their vested interests such as priesthood and performance of rituals. By second century CE, Vaishnavism spread to South India. The scripture of Mahabharata including Bhagavad Gita must have been written during this time. As it is, no Krishna idol older than first century BCE has been ever found. It is generally believed that the comprehensive classic of Mahabharata was written by Vyasa. But Vyasa had written only its first part called “Jaya”. It had some 8800 verses. Poet Vaishambaya rewrote Vyasa’s work spreading it into 24000 verses and named it Bharata. A poet Suta expanded

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Bharata into a book of nearly 100,000 verses and named it Mahabharata. So, Mahabharata has undergone two rewritings. Also it is doubtful if Vyasa was one person; some believe the name denotes successive acharyas. It is normal for maharishis of the same name appear at different times in the Puranas. Mahabharata is not as ancient as it is considered to be; there are mentions of Buddhism in the book. Also the language of Mahabharata is not the old Sanskrit of the Vedas. Gita in Mahabharata Though Gita is included in Mahabharata, it was not originally a part of the classic, but a later addition. The proof is that it is not possible to have such a long discourse on the battlefield when the two armies are lined up to fight. Nevertheless, both Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita were written by the Vaishnavaites to propagate their religion and they were eminently successful in their objective.

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4 Gita’s author and his times If Bhagavad-Gita was not part of Mahabharata, then who wrote it? Why was it included in Mahabharata? When was it written? Gita was written under a social structure that existed some 2000 years ago. After the fall of the Maurya Empire, the ruler who came to power in Magadha was Pushyamitra who was a bitter enemy of Buddhism and Rationalism. He enquired how Asoka attained such great fame and found that the 84,000 pillars inscribed with Buddhist tenets installed by the emperor was the reason for his influence and popularity. Pushyamitra ordered the destruction of the Stupas. This was followed by a pogrom against Buddhist monks in Magadha. They were massacred in thousands and their Shrines were destroyed. Along with the Buddhists, other nonconformists like Lokāyatas, the Rationalists of those times, were all hunted down. Several other kings in North India too followed Pushyamitra’s example in erasing the traces of Buddhism in their respective states. One ruler, Jaleluka, found the excuse to destroy shrines because the bugle call from there disturbed his sleep. The massacre of Buddhists by King Kinnara of Kashmir is recorded by the noted writer Kalhana. The king alleged that a Buddhist 32

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monk molested a woman and this became an excuse to destroy thousands of shrines and donate the villages under them to the Brahmans. It was a time of sadistic oppression of Buddhists and other Rationalists by Kshatriya kings instigated by Brahman priests who were deprived of their authority and position as the representatives of god on earth because of the influx of Rational thoughts of Buddhists and other Rationalist philosophers. And Gita was a testament written to re-establish Brahmanism among the masses and to stop the renaissance of new ideas and philosophies. The author of Gita, no doubt, knew the psychology of the masses of the time. The thoughts of Rationalist Samkhya had still great influence among the people. So, important tenets of Samkhya were included in the Gita. For example, the second chapter of Gita is titled Samkhya Yoga. The ideals of Buddha like the elimination of desire, control of the mind etc. are there in the Samkhya Yoga. As a result, Gita contains contradictory formulations and ambiguous ideas that could be interpreted in any way one liked. Gita says that Vishnu took the incarnation of Krishna to re-establish Dharma when Dharma was on the decline. “Whenever righteousness declines, O descendant of Bharata, and wickedness flourishes, then I reincarnate Myself.” (4:7) “For the protection of the good and the destruction of the wicked, and for establishing righteousness, I take birth in every age.” (4:8) 33

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As this was uttered by Krishna (god) himself, it got recognition among common people. And because it had parts of different ideologies, people from various faiths were attracted to Gita. There is no unanimity among scholars as to who actually wrote the book. Some like Balgangadhar Tilak say that Gita too was written by the author of Mahabharata. Others like Dr. S.Radhakrishnan say that Gita contains several parts written by different writers at different times. Anyhow, there have been additions to the original work which is evident from the contradictory ideas contained in the text. Like the authorship of Gita, its time of writing too is disputed. Some orthodox scholars, in their eagerness to prove Gita’s antiquity, say it was of divine origin. Even Jawaharlal Nehru thought that Gita was written before Buddha’s time. This is contradicted by the noted scholar D.D. Kosambi who asserts that without the knowledge of Buddhist ideals one could not have written verses 55 to 72 of chapter two and verse 25 of the fifth chapter of Gita. The deterioration of Buddhism in North India gave an opportunity for the resurrection of Brahmana religion and Gita is the testament of the new Brahmanism. The author of Gita was trying to spread Brahmanism by making the two Kshatriyas, Krishna and Arjuna, the central characters of Gita. Therefore, according to the noted Rationalist writer Prem Nath Bazaz, Gita’s author must have been a Brahman acharya. 34

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The Aryans who defeated Dasyus and conquered North India established their faith based on Chaturvarna and performance of rituals. Their primitive religion was not acceptable to the original people (Dravidians) and they took up cudgels to defend their faith. Cārvāka, Buddha and Vardhamana Mahavira were the prominent opponents of the neo-Brahmanism. By 800 BCE, the opposition against Brahmanism got strengthened. By 3rd century BCE, the Vedic religion was so weakened that the caste system completely broke down. The frustrated Brahmans wanted to re-establish their supremacy. The fall of the Maurya empire facilitated the revival of the Vedic order. The Brahmans tried to build the new Brahmanic order by lifting several ideas from Buddhism. Their new faith was known as Bhagavata and later as Vaishnavism. Bhagavad Gita became the base of Vaishnavism. The Brahmans consciously made Kshatriyas the main characters of Gita with ulterior motives. Those who led the opposition to the old Vedic religion – Buddha, Asoka, Kanishka – all belonged to royalty. So, the Brahmans used Kshatriya characters to oppose them. Gita is written in the style of the old Upanishads. An intellectual having doubts asks the one with better knowledge and the latter clears his doubts. It is Arjuna who asks questions and god Krishna who answers. The religion today known as Hinduism is the by-product of the synthesis of several faiths, often contradictory. Atheists and idol worshippers are there among Hindus. And 35

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Gita too is a testament of several contradictory ideas and ideals. According to Dr.Radhakrishnan, inclusiveness was the characteristic of modern Brahmanism. Those who accept the authority of Brahmans could be Hindus. But if anyone opposed Brahman supremacy would be destroyed. Thus Brahmans could eliminate Buddhism and LokÄ yata in India.

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5 Contradictions in Gita Those who read Bhagavad Gita with a critical eye could be wonderstruck by the contradictions in the text. The verses in the beginning contain ideas diametrically opposite to the ones in the middle; and in the end there could be ideas entirely different from both. Therefore no one could write a satisfactory exposition of the Gita. The author of Gita had to encounter Rationalism that was going from strength to strength in India then. His aim was to encourage the growth of mysticism of Vedanta and blind piety in a personal god. He could not examine the thoughts of ancient India and rectify the shortcomings therein to formulate a new philosophy. Instead he touched on those thoughts and concocted a mixture of parts from them. For example, in chapter two, he mentions Samkhya ideology and Vedanta. He explains the profit and loss that Arjuna could have by playing politics. And this thought is repeated in several places. G.S. Khair, an eminent scholar who has analysed Bhagavad Gita subject-wise, says that Gita has discussed 32 subjects out of which some subjects have been discussed three or four times. Some eight subjects have been discussed six or seven times. 37

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While repeating some subjects, several are wilfully avoided in Gita. Though Krishna replies to all questions by Arjuna, some of the replies are not solutions to his problems but an exercise to avoid the subject. Noted historian D.D.Kosambi wrote that there were 700 verses in Gita and it takes more than three hours to recite them. If that much time is taken in the battlefield for a discourse, the war would have been lost. Krishna who claimed to be god was only synthesizing the then existing philosophies to formulate his advice. What is more, his advice was full of contradictions. When Krishna extolled selflessness and nonviolence, Arjuna asked him, why then he was advising to kill. Krishna evaded the question and showed his Visvaroopa to mesmerize Arjuna into silence. While at one place Gita says one should not desire for the fruits of one’s work, at another place it takes a contradictory position. “You have the right to action alone and never to its fruit; nor there be attachment to action.” (2:47) In the same chapter, another verse says: “Slain, you will attain heaven; victorious, you will enjoy the earth. Therefore, stand up, O son of Kunti resolve to fight.” (2:37) The same god, who asks to do one’s duty without expecting anything in return, later advises to wage war to win the kingdom or if dead, a place in heaven. In another 38

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part too the call to fight for winning the war and enjoying the wealth of the kingdom is repeated. “Stand up, therefore, and win renoun; Conquer your foes and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. By Me they have already been killed; be you merely the instrument, O Savyasacin (Arjuna).” (11:33) Later, the same Krishna who asked to fight for fame and wealth puts forward contradictory reasons to fight. “Surrendering all actions to Me, with your thoughts on the Self, and giving up desire and possessions, fight, free from mental fever.” (3:30) All acharyas advise to control the mind and Krishna too does the same. “Of him who has subdued his self and is tranquil, his higher self (mind) becomes poised in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, as also in honor and dishonor.” (6:7) How is one to control the mind? Another verse says: “The self is a friend to him who has subdued his self by himself; but for him who has not mastered his self, (this) very self becomes hostile like a foe.” (6:6) Here Krishna says one could win over the mind by the mind by practice and detachment. “Without doubt, O mighty-armed (Arjuna), the mind is fickle and hard to curb. Yet O son of Kunti, by 39

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constant practice and dispassion, it is held in check.” (6:35) But in another verse, he says the opposite. “All actions are wrought by qualities of nature in all cases. One whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks, "I am the doer." (3:27) This means that we are not responsible for what we do; someone else is making us do so. Then how could we control the mind? What is the meaning of Krishna saying elsewhere that man should control lust and anger to control the mind? Krishna’s arguments obviously do not convince Arjuna who refuses to take up his bow and arrows to fight. Then Krishna shows his Vishvaroopa (celestial form) and says: “Time am I, mature to destroy the world, set out to annihilate the creatures. Of all the warriors ranged here for fight, none will survive except you.” (11:32) Krishna makes it clear that men cannot decide on their fate; all things would happen according to the will of god. Then there is no logic in the courts punishing a criminal. Also there is no use for men trying to better their future. For, things can happen only as decided by god. Men are merely puppets in the hands of god and even their desires are controlled by god. So if god is the operator of the machine of our mind and makes us do everything, then we do not have any 40

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responsibility for our deeds. One could do whatever one wishes. The way to Moksha All those who believe in afterlife desire for salvation (Moksha). The faith is that the virtuous would go to heaven and the sinners would be pushed to hell. Krishna shows the path to heaven: “This is the triple gate to hell, which spells doom for the Self passion, anger as also greed; therefore, one should discard these three.” (16:21) “A person, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), who is freed from these three gates of darkness, practices what is good for him and then reaches the highest goal.” (16:22) Jnana, Karma and Yoga are different; they are at various occasions described as path to salvation. At the same time, Gita denounces the work for Moksha and condemns such beliefs. “Those dull-witted men, O Partha, who take delight in Vedic utterances, say that there is nothing else and utter this flowery speech. (2:42) “As for those who cling to enjoyment and power, with their wits carried away by that (flowery speech), their single-pointed mind does not remain fixed in contemplation.” (2:44)

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Gita asks to work for Moksha at one place and elsewhere says those who work for Moksha are ignorant. – Such glaring contradictions can be seen only in Gita. The Vedas have explained different modes of thoughts and rituals. But Krishna says it is not advisable to get into confusion dwelling on them; one should control one’s mind to reach Yoga. In other verses too he extols the greatness of Yoga. “When your mind, bewildered by hearing, will become unshakable and steady in contemplation, then you will attain to Yoga. (2:53) But in the next verse, Krishna says: “And among all the Yogins too, he who, full of faith, worships Me, with his inner self absorbed in Me, is deemed by Me to be the best Yogin.” (6:47) Here more importance is given to Bhakti than Yoga and this is exactly opposite to the advice in the previous verse. First, one is advised to be a Yogi and then asked to be a Bhakta. The following is just opposite to the verse that says those who do their duty are above those who are Yogis. “Some see through meditation the Self in themselves by the self (mind); others by the Yoga of knowledge, and still others by the Yoga of action.” (13:24)

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By this, it is clear that one can attain salvation by realizing Atman through Karma. So, the statement that Yogis are above Karmis become meaningless. Also Krishna advices that the wise should not oppose Karma. “Let him not unsettle the minds of the ignorant who cling to action. Rather the wise man, performing Yoga, should encourage all actions.” (3:26) One should remember that it is after clarifying Karmis are ignorant that Krishna says that scholars too should do their Karma. Here Karma means performing Yaga, Homa, Tapas, pilgrimage, idol worship and other rituals. On another occasion, when Krishna stressed on the greatness of Jnana, Arjuna asked: “O scorcher of foes, if wisdom is deemed by you superior to action, then why do you, O Kesava, urge me to do this horrible deed?” (3:1) And his next question also deserves pondering about: “With perplexing words you as it were confuse my understanding. Tell me positively the one way by which I may find the supreme good.” (3:2) But then Krishna avoided the questions. “In this world a two-fold dedication was declared by Me before, O sinless one, through the Yoga of knowledge for the Samkhyas and through the Yoga of action for the yogins.” (3:3) 43

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How do believers account for all these contradictions? All advocates of Gita who tried to reconcile these contradictions have failed. Dr. Radhakrishnan says that during the time Gita was written, there were different opinions on Dharma such as in Vedas, Upanishads, Buddhism etc. The author of Gita tried to interlink all these different thoughts to form his philosophy. Therefore, the contradictions in Gita are the result of trying to synthesize the mutually opposite ideas. One could find one part or other in the Gita acceptable to all â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from idol-worshippers to those who practiced Vedanta. From all this, it is clear that Gita is a compilation by a Brahman or a group of Brahmans who were not sincere to any ideology or philosophy. And the author/authors gave it a faĂ§ade of divine advice by Krishna.

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6 Gita and the four Varnas There are no two opinions on the caste system being the cause of the degeneration of India. Nowhere in the world exists such a social division. The cruel inhuman system began with the coming of Aryans. Dr. S.Radhakrishnan says the division of Hindus into four varnas is first mentioned in Purusha Sukta. The Aryans who came to India were having social and blood relationships different from the natives. The early Aryans were of one caste; everyone was priest, soldier, merchant and farmer. There was no priestly class with special privileges then. But complexities of life compelled Aryans to adapt the caste system. When priest assumed the monopoly of representing gods, their caste got superiority. Those who did manual labour were downgraded as menial, lower castes That was how the Brahmans evolved among the Aryans. Kshatriyas were below Brahmans. Kshatram means administration, authority, etc. Those engaged in ruling the state and waging war became Kshatriyas. In the beginning, all those below the two castes were considered Vaisyas. But later, a large section among them was separated as Shudras, thereby four castes came into existence.

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The system becomes strict In the beginning, caste of a person was not determined by birth. The son of Brahman could become Kshatriya or Vaisya according to the profession he took up, and vice versa. By and by, the sole criterion of caste became birth. As the laws and procedures of rituals became elaborate and complicated, it required expertise and long training. Those who got the training imparted their knowledge to their next generation. Thus the profession of Brahmans became hereditary. The priest was claimed to be the representative of god. Shatapatha Brahmana says there are two types of Devas; the original ones and the priests in human form who have mastered Vedas. Apasthamba Dharma Sutra gives a clear picture of the social system based on Brahman supremacy: The tongue of Shudra who abused a Brahman should be cut off. The Shudra who dared to walk along Brahman should be flogged. If Shudra commits theft, he should be killed and his wealth confiscated. If Shudra had liaison with an upper caste woman, his penis should be cut off and killed. Molten lead should be poured into the ears of Shudra who listened to the recital of Vedas. The tongue of Shudra who recited Vedas should be cut off. Gautam Dharma Sutra too lists some of the laws against Shudras: The Shudra who manhandles or abuses Brahman should be punished with cutting off the body part that was used to torment the Brahman. The Shudra who kills a Brahman should be burnt little by little. On the other hand, 46

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if Shudra is killed by others, they should be punished with one year in prison and fined with twelve cows. These are matters concerning Shudras. Even kings were under Brahman supremacy. Manusmriti says: Early morning, the king should get up and first make salutations to the Brahman. Brahmans who have studied Vedas should be honoured and rewarded with wealth. Even if a Brahman is an idiot, he could dispense justice. But an educated and wise Shudra cannot be appointed for the job. If a Brahman gets a treasure, he could have the ownership of it all. But even if a king gets a treasure, he should donate half of it to the Brahman, only the rest would go to the palace. According to Manusmriti, a king is not allowed to confiscate the wealth of Brahmans for any reason. The wealth of those belonging to other castes will go to the kingdom for want of heir. A Brahman is divine, whether he is a scholar or an idiot. The first duty of Shudra is to serve Brahmans. If a Shudra sincerely serve Brahmans, he could be born in a higher caste in the next life. The Shudra who serves Brahmans would be happy in this life and the next. The victory of Rationalism One could imagine what value was there for human rights in a society that had such inhuman laws. Brahmans could commit any atrocity; others could not do anything to retaliate. Moreover, they imposed on people rituals like Yaga and Homa and kept for themselves the right to perform these rituals. By about 2000 BCE, North India under the 47

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domination of Aryans, came under the system of Chaturvarna. A sizeable majority of Shudras were subjected to all sorts of exploitation and persecution. It was then that Rationalist philosophers such as Cārvāka, Samkhya, Buddha and Vardhamana Mahavira came on the scene. The exposure of Brahmanism and the propaganda against it by these great men made the Aryans panicky. The Rational thought that all human beings are equal spread like wildfire. Even kings were compelled to recognize the change. Thus the great cultural revolt against Brahman supremacy succeeded. Rationalism became the most influential philosophy for 600 years between 800 and 200 BCE. It was the golden era of Indian history. Brahmanism was on the retreat, but Brahmans cherished the hope to strike back and re-establish Chaturvarna at the opportune time. It was not easy for them to defeat the religions of Buddhism and Jainism and the Rationalists known as Lokāyatas. By and by, the decline of the Maurya empire and the invasion of the North Western region by foreigners weakened India. Under the circumstances, the Brahmans began to be active. A Brahman named Pushyamitra became the king after killing the last Maurya emperor. The campaign against Rationalists that began by kings like Pushyamitra in second century BCE ended in the victory of Brahmans. It was during this time Gita was composed with the aim to re-establish Brahman supremacy. Gita gives a religious explanation in support of Chaturvarna. Krishna says: 48

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“The four castes were created by Me according to the division of qualities and actions. (Yet) know Me their author, to be non-agent and changeless.” (4:13) Some orthodox scholars have tried to give interesting interpretation to the above verse. They say that Gita does not propose Chaturvarna as an unchangeable law, but castes are decided according to the quality of work undertaken by each person. This argument is untenable and has been refuted by eminent scholars. Also it has been asserted elsewhere in the Gita that caste is based on birth. “Better is one's own duty, though defective than another's duty well-performed. In doing work as dictated by one's own nature, one does not incur sin.” (18:47) Krishna advised that one should not leave one’s work allotted to one’s caste and seek others’ Karma. “One should not abandon one's innate duty, O son of Kunti, even though it may be faulty; for all actions are clouded by defects, as fire is with smoke.” (18:48) Adi Shankara has given the explanation to ‘Sahaja’ as that which existed on birth. It shows caste is not decided by the choice of work after birth. Krishna advised that one should not try to change one’s trade/profession howsoever bad one felt about it. And he has explained how the professions are allotted to the castes:

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“Of the Brahmans, Ksatriyas and Vaisyas and Sudras O oppressor of the foe, the duties have been distributed according to the qualities born of their own natures.” (18:41) This means the duties of each caste are according to their qualities. It is this separation of professions as high and low that led to the social degeneration of India. In other countries, every job has its importance. The reason for categorizing some jobs as menial was to deprive those who did such jobs equality in society. Shankaracharya’s explanation to the verse proves how Shudras were discriminated against in the caste system. He says Shudra has no rights of Dwijatva (the ritual of Upanayana) and reading of Vedas. The very word Shudra is said to denote impurity and untouchability. According to Krishna, every caste has its inherent characteristic and Karma; “Serenity, self-control, austerity and purity, forbearance and upright nature, wisdom, knowledge and belief in God are the duties of a Brahman, born of his own nature.” (18:42) “Heroism, martial lustre, firmness, dexterity, as also non retreating from battle, generosity and rulership are the duties of a Kshatriya, born of his own nature.” (18:43)

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“Farming, cattle tending and trade are the duties of a Vaisya, horn of his on nature. Work consisting of service is the duty of a Sudra, born of his own nature.” (18:44) “Man attains to perfection by being devoted to his own duty. (Now) listen how one achieves perfection by being intent upon one's duty.” (18:45) “He from whom proceeds the activity of beings, and by whom all this is pervaded - by worshipping him through his action man wins perfection.” (18:46) Krishna says these qualities are inborn in Brahmans, which shows his partiality towards them. Shudra’s work is dismissed in one line of the verse, which is to serve the Brahman, Kshatriya and Vaisya. “Farming, cattle tending and trade are the duties of a Vaisya, horn of his on nature. Work consisting of service is the duty of a Shudra, born of his own nature.” (18:44) Krishna also dwells on the benefits of sticking to the Karma of one’s caste and encourages people to continue with the caste system. According to Krishna, the path to salvation is to stick to one’s caste Karma and not to deviate from the ordained job of each caste. Again and again he stressed that those who perform caste karma would be blessed and one should never try to do another’s job.

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It is on the basis of this principle, Krishna advises Arjuna to wage war, which was his ordained job. As mentioned earlier, Shudra’s job is to serve the other three castes above him. If the Shudra dares to take up a job of the upper caste, he was brutally punished. Such an instance of punishment meted out to a Shudra by another incarnation of god, Sri Rama, is narrated in Ramayana: The only son of a Brahman died. Carrying the dead body of the child, the Brahman went to the gate of the palace of King Sri Rama and cried aloud inconsolably. Rama asked the Maharishis Narada and Vasishta the reason for the untimely death of the child. They said that a Shudra named Shambuka was doing Tapas in the forest and that caused the death of the Brahman child. “Go and kill Shambuka, and the child will regain life,” pronounced the Maharishis. Accordingly, Rama went to the forest and beheaded Shambuka who was under deep meditation. This was how the Brahmans made Kshatriyas punish those who deviated from their caste Dharma. If this rule were to be implemented in recent centuries, many of the low-castes who headed the Bhakti movement would have been killed. In another part of Gita too there are advices about the importance of caste: “Even those who are low-born, women, Vaisyas and Sudras, having taken refuge in Me, O Partha (Arjuna), reach the highest goal.” (9:32)

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;How much more so in the case of holy Brahmans and devout royal sages! Having come to this transient and joyless world, do you worship Me.â&#x20AC;? (9:33) Here Krishna tries to establish those born as women, Vaisyas, Shudras are low class and Brahmans and Kshatriyas are high class people. The god who divides people low and high by birth should be a god of the Brahmans. It is clear that the aim of Gita is to re-establish the social system based on caste.

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7 On mixing of castes No doubt inter-caste marriage is one of the ways to integrate the Indian people divided into many castes and sub-castes. Therefore, great leaders like Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar have encouraged inter-caste marriages. But Bhagavad Gita has taken a definite stand against inter-caste marriages and mixing of castes. The author of Gita insisted not only that people should be working according to their caste Dharma but also should remain within the four walls of their respective caste. This was because if persons of different castes intermarry, there could be doubts as to which caste-Dharma the offspring should adopt. Of course, Namboodiri Brahmans of Kerala are allowed to have liaison with Nair (Shudra) women and their children are considered to be Nairs. But that was only an arrangement of sexual exploitation of lower caste. A Nair youth could not have married a Namboodiri woman; if such a liaison occurred, the woman would be expelled from her home and caste. Arjunaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doubts As mentioned earlier, Gita was written at a time when the caste system had crashed because of the spread of 54

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Rationalism and Brahmans were trying hard to revive it. During the period when Lokāyata, Buddhism and Jainism were widespread in India, there were inter-caste marriages on a large scale. There are many legends such as the marriage of Parashara (a Brahman scholar) and Satyawati (a fisherwoman) in the Puranas. These marriages happened during the days when Gita was not written. . By the time of Gita, the social conditions were changing. Even in the first chapter of Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna about the danger of people abandoning their Kula. “Even if, with minds overpowered by greed, these do not see the evil in the destruction of the family or sin in the betrayal of friends, (1:38) How should we not know how to avoid such a sin, while seeing clearly, O scorcher of foes, the evil in the destruction of the family?” (1:39) What was meant by Kula here? The people of a village or clan were considered to belong to a Kula. Arjuna feared the war would cause the decline of the Kula. “With the destruction of the family its ancient customs perish; with the perishing of customs, irreligion overtakes the whole family. (1:40) When irreligion prevails, O Krishna, the women of the family become wanton; with women corrupted, O (Krishna) there arises the intermingling of castes.” (1:41) 55

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Here Arjuna saw the mixing of castes as a grave danger. But in the story of Mahabharata, Arjuna had never been serious of sticking to the Varna purity. During the Pandava’s stay in the forest, he had married Uloopi, daughter of the Naga king. Chitrangada belonging to a different Kula was Arjuna’s another wife. Then how could Arjuna have said that mixing of castes was wrong? This proves that Bhagavad Gita is a later interpolation in Mahabharata. It must be the Brahman author of Gita who made Arjuna to speak against mixing of castes. Three other verses attributed to Arjuna are relevant to this issue. “And this intermingling drags to hell the family as well as its destroyers. For, their ancestors fall (from heaven), deprived of the rice-balls and water. (1:42) “By the misdeeds of the destroyers of the family causing the mixture of castes, the long-standing family customs and the caste duties are destroyed. (1:43) “As for men, O scorcher of foes, whose family customs are destroyed, their place is fixed in hell, so we have heard.” (1:44) Krishna did not give straight answers to clear Arjuna’s doubts. Instead he resorted to diversionary tactics of giving advice on controlling the mind etc.

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Krishna and mixed marriages Though the author of Gita made Krishna to extol the virtues of caste system, the Krishna of Mahabharata was never seen opposing mixed marriages or inter-caste intercourse. Krishna was said to have 16,008 wives. Out of them, 16000 were the daughters of Narakasura of Pragjotisha. Though the story is hard to believe, it shows that the author of Mahabharata did not consider that marrying from Asura caste was forbidden to Brahmans and Kshatriyas. One of Krishna’s remaining eight wives, Jambawati, was the daughter of a King of a forest tribe. Such a person could not have insisted on keeping the purity of caste. The story of the birth of Vyasa said to be the author of Mahabharata too is relevant here. The Puranas say that Vyasa was born to a fisherwoman named Kali to Parashara, a Brahman Maharishi. It is also mentioned that Vyasa had a son from Khrithachi, a deva woman. What is more, children born out of liaison between persons of different castes are grouped in the Puranas under special caste-names. They are listed as Karanan – father Vaisya and mother Shudra; Ambasthan – father Brahman and mother Vaisya; Ugra – father Kshatriya and mother Shudra; and Magadha – Kshatriya father and Vaisya mother etc. All this means that during Mahabharata and the Puranas, mixed marriages were prevalent. And opposing 57

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8 Gita and oppression of women No one with common sense will dispute the fact that man and woman have equal wisdom and ability. But generally all religions tend to show women as inferior; they have been objects of oppression from centuries. However, this was not always the condition of women. Earlier, it was woman who had the duty of looking after the affairs of the family. Woman, her lovers and children comprised the family. During those days of feminine authority, all the gods used to be women â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bhagavati, Durga, Shakti etc. By and by, there were changes in the society. The discovery of fire made radical changes in human life. It became the necessity of each family to keep the fire alive. When men-folk went out for hunting, the women were required to see the home-fires burning. Naturally women who had to bear and rear children had to remain at home and wait for the men. When farming became a new occupation other than hunting, women began having additional duties of 59

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preserving grains. As the family expanded with the additions of old people and increase in private property, the workload of women increased and they were tied up in domestic duties within the house. This separation of duties created a new social order of male superiority. Even during the time of the Vedas, women enjoyed equality with men. Some of those who composed Rigveda Mantras were women. But after the caste system came into force, the status of women began deteriorating. During the time of Rigveda, monogamy was prevalent. By the time of Adharva veda, the situation changed. Women began facing several social handicaps and hazards in public participation. Of course the rational thinking that came to vogue after the time of Vedas, helped to revive freedom of women. LokÄ yatas, Buddhists and Jains maintained a liberal outlook towards women. So woman regained her lost power and prestige in home and society. Panini, the eminent Sanskrit scholar, has written about women who studied Vedas. Also woman teachers were known as Upadhyayi. Buddha and Jaina literature mention Brahmavadinis, women remaining unmarried and devoted to studies. The Jainas have the story of a princess of Kosambi who was engaged in religious thoughts and philosophy. They are said to have had dialogue with Mahavira on logic. Draupati of Mahabharata was one of the well-educated women. They participated in all activities including political affairs.

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During the days of Chandragupta Maurya (340 BCE – 298 CE) women used to serve the army. Magasthenes has recorded that woman warriors acted as bodyguards of Chandragupta. Armed women rode horses, chariots or elephants while accompanying the king. Women participated in wars and administration. Magasthenes noted that the Pandya state was ruled at that time by women. Later, the position of women was downgraded with the coming into force of the Vaishnava faith. Yet in Mahabharata, the earlier work of Vaishnavas, women enjoyed freedom though at a reduced scale. In the Arthashastra, written during the Maurya Empire, widow marriage was allowed. With the coming of Vaishnavism, women were treated as low caste Shudras. The system of Sati (widow burning) began at that time. Mahabharata presents the picture of women pushed to backwardness. And Gita, added to Mahabharata later, struck the last nail on the coffin of women’s freedom. God Krishna says: “Even those who are low-born, women, Vaisya and Sudras, having taken refuge in Me, O Partha (Arjuna), reach the highest goal.” (9:32) Here women, Vaisyas, Shudras and others of low birth were considered menials, but Krishna was ready to give them Moksha. The high castes such as Brahman and Kshatriya could attain salvation in the normal course. 61

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With Gita legitimizing the low status of women, they were practically pushed to slavery. Manu and other Hindu lawgivers enforced more strict and severe laws on them. Manu ordained that women at no time deserved freedom; she had to be under her father in childhood, husband in youth, son in old age. And Manuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s law was sustained for centuries in India.

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9 Brahmanism through backdoor Bhagawad-Gita is a testament of counter-revolution by Vaishnava Brahmans against rational philosophies like Lokāyata, Buddhism and Jainism. The aim of Gita’s author was to quote out of context existing scriptures and cleverly misinterpret them to usher in Brahmanism. Gita tried to resurrect the traditions of Vedic religion with god, caste system, rituals, Tapas, beliefs in Karma and afterlife. Monotheism vs. Polytheism All chapters of Gita end with a verse that means the book contains the knowledge about the one god who sustains the universe. At the same time, Gita recognizes all the gods worshipped by the Aryans before the advent of Buddhism. “Know that all beings have this as their womb. Of (this) whole universe, I am the origin as also the dissolution.” (7:6) Krishna said everything had its origin from Vishnu. He added:

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“There is none whatsoever higher than I, O Dhananjaya. All this is strung on Me like rows of pearls on a string.” (7:7) Vishnu who claimed that he was the cause of everything tried to extol his greatness in later verses. At last he is prepared to one concession: It was alright to adopt any god, which of course reverts to polytheism. “Whichever aspect a devout person seeks to worship with faith, I make that very faith of each one unshakable.” (7:21) “Imbued with that faith he seeks to propitiate that (deity) and obtains from if the desired objects which are verily decreed by Me alone.” (7:22) “I am the Vedic rite, I am the sacrifice; I am the libation to the forefathers, I am the sacred formula, also, the butter, I am the sacred fire, I am the offering.” (9:16) “I am the father of this universe, the mother, the supporter, the grand-sire, the holy object of knowledge, the syllable Om, as also Saman, and Yajus.” (9:17) “(I am) the goal, protector, Lord and witness, the abode, refuge and friend, the origin, dissolution and support, the resting-place and the eternal seed.” (9:18)

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Here Krishna claimed that he was responsible for creation, upkeep and destruction of the universe and those devoted to him got Moksha. “The knowers of the three Vedas, who drink Soma and are purified of sins, sacrifice to Me and pray for heaven. Reaching the holy world of the Lord of gods (Indra), they enjoy in heaven the celestial pleasures of gods.” (9:20) But then, in the next verse, he takes a ‘U’ turn not wanting to displease those who worship other gods. “As for the devotees of other deities, who worship them with faith, they too worship Me. O son of Kunti (Arjuna), though contrary to the scriptural rule.” (9:23) However, then he says there is a difference between the two types of devotions “For of all the sacrifices, I am the enjoyer and the Lord; but they do not know Me in My true nature and so they fall.” (9:24) “Those who take vows of deities go to the deities. Those who take the worship of the spirits go to the spirits; and those who worship Me alone come to Me.” (9:25) At last Krishna asks Arjuna to leave everything to him. Without offending polytheists, the author of Gita concludes that man cannot do anything without the help and blessing of god. Of course, surrendering to a god, who does not exist, 65

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means surrendering to the Brahman who claims to represent god. So the aim of Gita’s author was to bring Brahmanism through the back door.

Yajnas and other rituals The Vedic Brahman used to perform several rituals such as Ashva medha, Nara medha, Putrakameshti etc. to propitiate gods. All these were very costly ceremonies to conduct. Not only animals and birds were sacrificed to please gods, even human beings were slaughtered in some rituals. The Rationalists of the day strongly opposed these rituals based on cruelty and violence. Prominent among them was Cārvāka who denounced the rituals. According to Dr.Radhakrishnan, Cārvāka said: “There is no heaven, Moksha or Atma. There is no use of classifying people into four Varnas and allocating specific work to them. Agnihotra, three Vedas, Tapas, smearing ash on the body, are all unmanly acts of unwise individuals to make a living. If the animals slaughtered in the Yaga go to heaven, why don’t the men performing Yagas sacrifice their own father?” Cārvākas and Buddhists strongly opposed Yagas and killing of animals. When they were in power, these practices were prohibited. So, it was necessary for the NeoBrahmanism to revive Yagas. The Brahmans used Gita as an authority for this purpose. Gita’s author makes god Krishna say: 66

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“Creating beings together with sacrifice, the Lord of creatures said of old: "By this shall ye multiply; let this be to you the wish-yielding cow." (3:10) "With this nourish ye the deities; let the deities nourish you. Thus nourishing one another you shall reap the highest good.” (3:11) “The deities, nourished by sacrifice, will give you desired enjoyments. He is verily a thief who enjoys their gifts without giving them anything in return.” (3:12) “The virtuous who eat the left-overs of sacrifice are freed from all sins. But the wicked verily eat sin who cook for their own sake.” (3:13) So it is clear that the intention of Gita’s author was to revive the Vedic religion. And he describes the benefits of performing Yajna: “Those who eat the elixir of the remains of sacrifice attain to the eternal Brahman. This world is not for the nonsacrificer, much less the other world, O best of Kurus”. (4:31) It is the same Krishna who in Chapter Two, told Arjuna that one should stay away from Samsara without expecting the fruit of one’s work, now asked to perform the Yajna as depicted in the Vedas without any hesitation: “Renouncing of actions motivated by desire, the wise know to be renunciation; the abandonment of the 67

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fruits of all actions, the learned declare, is relinquishment.” (18:2) “Some thinkers say that action should be abandoned, being tainted. Acts of sacrifice, alms-giving and austerity should not be abandoned, so say others.” (18:3) “Hear then my conclusion regarding relinquishment, O Bharata. For relinquishment, O tiger among men, is declared to be threefold.” (18:4) “Acts of sacrifice, alms-giving and austerity ought to be performed, not renounced; for sacrifice, alms-giving and austerity purify the wise.” (18:5) Again in the following verse, it is advised that one should perform the rituals without any expectation of profit. “But even these actions should be performed, O Partha, without attachment and the (desire for) rewards - this is my firm and best view.” (18:6) Reading all this confusing text, today’s reader of Gita should think seriously of the cruelty and violence involved in the Yajnas of the Vedic times. Believers think that all living beings are god’s creation. Then why should man kill living beings in performing Yajnas? Would god be pleased to see his creations being killed? Would killing innocent animals wash away man’s sins? If one’s finger becomes septic, it can’t be cured by cutting of another’s finger. Then what is the meaning of 68

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performing Yajnas? It is not god but the Brahman priest who works behind the performance of these rituals Gita says that rituals like Tapas too are a way to propitiate god. The Sanyasi performs meditation by starving his body and through other tortuous methods. However, Gita’s author opposes such practices: “Mindlessly torturing all elements forming their bodies, and Me too within their bodies- know them to be of demoniacal resolves.” (17:6) Then what is genuine Tapas? He explains: “The worship of gods, teachers and the wise, cleanliness and straightforwardness, continence and non-injury are called austerity of the body.” (17:14) The intention of Gita’s author is now clear. His aim is to revive Vedic religion by restoring the lost power of the Brahman by placing him between the common people and gods.

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10 Bhagavad Gita and Science Those who extol Bhagavad Gita’s greatness often claim that one could see the seeds of modern scientific theories in the book. If a god who controls the universe were to have given the advice contained in Gita, the contention should be correct. But anyone reading Gita critically could find many things that are contrary to modern science. It is only normal to see in a book written some 1600 years ago, matters that are not in line with modern science. Here are some statements in Gita that are against the findings of today’s scientific knowledge. For the primitive people, rain, thunder and lightning were a mystery. So they imagined a rain god named Varuna. Varuna was one of the most powerful gods of Rigveda. They thought that draught was Varuna’s curse and rain, his blessing. Gita too repeats this misconception. “Creating beings together with sacrifice, the Lord of creatures said of old: "By this shall ye multiply; let this be to you the wish-yielding cow." (3:10) "With this nourish ye the deities; let the deities nourish you. Thus nourishing one another you shall reap the highest good.” (3:11) 70

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Is it not unscientific to think one could fulfill one’s wishes through performing Yajna? If Yajna could solve India’s problems, the country could have been on the forefront of the developed nations. Such superstitions are holding us back from progress and development. Today people know it is foolish to depend on Yajna to cause rain. There have been draughts in different parts of the country. In Bihar some people performed Yajna to get rain. But there was no rain. If Yajna were to cause rain, we could have changed the deserts of Rajasthan into fertile green lands. There were several superstitious explanations regarding the origin of life from ancient times. One is that god created each species of life. Those who observed saw that when food rotted, live creatures crawled out of it, which came to the assumption that food produced life. Scientific studies proved that this observation was wrong. It is because the creatures laid their eggs in the food and the insects crawled out when the eggs hatched. If an ordinary person has such wrong impressions, it could be attributed to his ignorance. But if Krishna who claims to be god who knows all says so, one could only have pity on such a god. Gita says: “Creatures exist by food, food is produced by rain; rain springs from sacrifice, sacrifice arises from action”. (3:14) “Know that ritual action originates from the Veda, and the Veda originates from the imperishable. The 71

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all-pervasive Veda is, therefore, ever established in sacrifice.â&#x20AC;? (3:15) The verse explains the origins of Brahma, Veda, Karma, Yagna, rain, grain and living beings in that order. It is a religious idea propagated by Brahmans. Rationalists had questioned such superstitions. But, for the common people, it was easier to believe in the superstitions than on the facts based on scientific and Rational inquiry. What Gita says can be found in Manusmriti too: Whatever is put in the fire at Yajna reaches the sun. From the sun is generated rain. This is the result of the Yajna. Rain causes the production of food and from food are produced living beings. The same idea is contained in Mahabharata. It has been elaborated in Thaithariopanishad: First there was Paramatma. From Paramatma came air, fire and earth one by one. Then plants appeared on earth and from the vegetation came man. Today everyone knows that these beliefs have no scientific foundation and are the result of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speculation. Unscientific outlook There have been extensive studies of the universe in the past few decades and new knowledge has been obtained from these studies. No one expects that a book written hundreds of years ago to contain that knowledge. But there are people who blindly believe what these books say are 72

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correct. Therefore, there is need to mention Gita’s idea about the universe As about anything else, here too Gita is giving a lesson from the experience of daily life. The day begins with twilight. At noon, it is dazzlingly bright. Later, the brightness diminishes and ends with sunset. So is life, says Gita. Apparently the analogy of life to the day is right. Living beings go through the process of childhood, youth, old age. And old age is said to be the evening of life when life is compared to the day. On comparing human life with a day, the author of Gita came to another conclusion: Days are repeated; at the end of every night another day dawns. Those who existed the previous day sleep at night and wake up in the morning. So, it was assumed that life too repeats itself. And from the changing seasons and the repetition of day and night, a new theory of the universe is formed: “Those men who know that the Day of Brahma, ends after a thousand yugas, and that the Night also ends after a thousand yugas, they are the knowers of Day and Night.” (8:17) “From the Unmanifest all manifestations emerge at the advent of (Brahma's) Day. At the falling of Night they dissolve in that self-same thing called the Unmanifest.” (8:18) “And this multitude of beings also, coming into being again and again, dissolves helplessly, O Partha, at 73

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the coming of the Night; it is born again at the advent of the Day.” (8:19) An idea about the classification of time such as Yuga, Kalpa and Pralaya is necessary to make the matter clear. This is explained in the third Skanda of Maha Bhagavada that the creator of all, Brahma, has birth and death. The period between the birth and death of a Brahma is called Maha kalpa. The end of a Brahma is marked by a Maha pralaya (great deluge). Krita, Threta, Dwapara, Kali are the four Yugas. A combination of the four Yugas is called Chatur yuga. 284 Chatur yugas constitute a Manvantar. Brahma’s one day consists of 14 Manvanthars. At the end of one such day, the first creation of universe would be destroyed. Brahma has a lifespan of 120 years, of which the “Day” is Brahma’s day. As mentioned before, there would be a Pralaya each after the 432 divine days. In the life of a Brahma there would be 43200 Pralayas. And at the end of a Brahma’s life, there would be the Maha pralaya. Though Brahma dies in the Maha pralaya, Vaishnavites believe that Vishnu would continue to exist eternally. Except as a fantasy about time and Yuga, there is no scientific proof for these deductions. One could have made up such stories by changing the characters, Brahma and Vishnu. For example Tariq ul Islam, a classic that describes the life and times of Mohamed who lived in 7th century CE, too has such fantastic narration: Allah created Prophet Mohamed as his last Messenger to be sent to the world! Allah kept Mohamed by his side for 16,70,000 years before he was sent to earth! 74

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Bhagavata and Quran were written more or less in the same period. Man’s concept of time took shape in different forms at different places. There is no scientific basis for these imaginative conclusions. Tariq ul Islam describes qualities such as knowledge, courage, tolerance, truth and determination as shield for man. In Gita too, there are parallel statements. “Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and egoism – these constitute my eight-fold nature.” (7:4) The fantasies about the origin of nature explained in Gita and Tariq ul Islam are fairyland stories. G.S.Khair points out another assumption in Gita: The 7, 8 and 10th verses of Chapter 9 of Gita contain a mixture of the Samkhya, Vedanta and Bhakti ideologies and howsoever the scholars try to reconcile them, their contradictions can be found as clear as daylight. “All beings, O son of Kunti, pass into my prakriti at the end of a cycle and again at the start of the (next) cycle, I send them forth.” (9:7) “Resorting to my own nature I bring forth time and again this entire host of creatures, helpless by the force of nature” (9:8) “With me presiding over her, nature begets the moving and non-moving things; for this reason, O son of Kunti, the world revolves.” (9:10)

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Air Air is a mixture of invisible gases, most of which comprise of Nitrogen and Oxygen. Dry air has 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The remaining one percent consists of rare gases like argon and carbon-dioxide. The air exists in four layers all over the planet Earth – Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere. These are matters proven by science But Krishna says in Gita: “As the mighty air moving everywhere is ever present in space, even so do all beings, know ye abide in Me.” (9:6) It is an all-knowing god who says so. And he does not know that there is no air in the outer space! In Latin, Anima means soul, breath and wind. It points to the idea of air existing at that time. Only in 1643 only scientists discovered that air had weight and it required space to exist. Later, several discoveries were made regarding air. But the author of Gita could not have known of all these developments. That is why he said air existed everywhere. Now we could take out all the air from a bottle and create a vacuum. So, Gita’s contention that air exists everywhere in space is unscientific and contrary to reality. Stars and the Moon Stars are celestial globes that shine because of the emission of their own light. There are millions of stars in the universe and they are burning bright. The nearest star to us is the 76

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sun. Sun is a comparatively small star in the Milky Way. The Sun is 8 minutes 19 seconds light distance away from Earth. And Earth is one of the several planets revolving round the Sun. The Moon is a small satellite going round the earth and it does not emit light of its own. Moonlight is sun’s rays that strike the moon and are reflected to the Earth. Even primary class students today have that much knowledge of astronomy. But Krishna the god, says in Gita: “Of the twelve Adityas I am the Vishnu, of the luminaries I am the shining sun, of the seven Maruts I am Marutam, of the stars I am the moon.” (10:21) Here sun, wind, light etc. are represented by a god each. Gita is repeating the old assumptions about them. Under this wrong assumption, Krishna says that he is the moon among stars! If the god believes that moon is the biggest star as it is seen so with the naked eye, then one can imagine the depth of his knowledge about the universe. Here is another interesting mention about Moon in Gita: “Permeating throughout the planetary systems I maintain all moving and stationary beings by My power; and by becoming the essence of moon I nourish all the plant life. (15:13) What relation is there between the Moon and the medicinal plants? How could the dead satellite Moon influence the growth of plants on Earth? There is no relation between the growth of vegetation and the Moon. In the case 77

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of the Sun it is different. Almost all vegetation exists and grows with the help of sunlight. The author of Gita is only making Krishna repeat some old superstitions. There is a story in Harivamsa on how the Moon got medicinal powers. The legend says that during the reign of Emperor Prithvi, he and some Maharishis milked the Goddess Earth. The Moon then acted as the calf in helping the cow (Earth) to yielding milk, and as a reward Brahma made the Moon the king of medicines. It seems the author of Gita was depending on the legend to explain his assumption on astronomy. There are several such wrong assumptions in Gita. The above examples are enough to prove that Gita contains the knowledge and ignorance of ancient times.

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11 The theory of soul and after-life Bhagavad Gita reiterates the Hindu assumption that man has a soul independent of his body and the body is changed periodically as if it were an old garment. Krishna says: “Never was there a time when I was not, nor these kings; nor shall we all ever cease to exist hereafter.” (2:12) “Even as the Self has in this body childhood, youth and old age, so he has a passage in another body. A wise man is not bewildered thereby.” (2:13) “He who thinks this to be a killer, and he who thinks him to be killed, both of them do not know. This one neither kills nor is he killed.” (2:19) “He who knows him as indestructible, unborn, eternal and immutable- how can such a person, O Partha, kill anyone or have anyone killed?” (2:21)

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“As a person casts off worn out clothes and takes on others new, even so the Self leaves worn out bodies and enters into new ones.” (2:22) “Weapons do not cleave him, nor does fire burn him; water does not wet him, nor does wind parch him.” (2:23) “He cannot be cut or burnt; he cannot be made wet or dry; he is eternal, all-pervading, stable, unmoving and constant.” (2:24) “He is unmanifest, he is inconceivable, he is said to be changeless; therefore, knowing him as such, you should not grieve.” (2:25) “And if you think him constantly born and constantly dying, even then, O mighty-armed (Arjuna), you should not grieve.” (2:26) “This self is never subject to death, in the body of everyone, O Bharata. Therefore, you should not grieve for any creature.” (2:30) Explanations on after-life are made in other parts of Gita too. Shankaracharya, in his work, Vivekachoodamani and Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Samgraha has elaborated the theory: There is an eternal force on which I depend on for my life. . . That soul is not this body, this life and the collective body of organs. Neither is it the combination of all these. It is a witness to all these, but separate, shining bright eternally. 80

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All this points to the belief that the soul was different from the human body and when one died his soul adopted another body. Soul – A part of god? The Hindu belief is that soul gives life to human body and when the soul leaves the body, the man dies. What is the soul? Gita says it is the part of Paramatma, means god. “A part of Myself becomes the eternal Self in the world of beings and draws (itself) the (five) senses with mind as the sixth, abiding in the prakarti.” (15:7) In continuation, it is said that soul controls the five sensory organs and when soul leaves a body, it takes along the sensory powers. “When the Lord (the Self) acquires a body, and also when he abandons it, he departs taking these with him as the wind (carries) fragrance from its source.” (15:8) Also it is the soul that really enjoys the sensory pleasures. “Presiding over the organs of hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell and the mind, this (Self) enjoys the objects of senses.” (15:9) Man’s soul is not only a part of Paramatma, but is led by Paramatma, says Krishna: 81

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“I dwell in the hearts of all; from me spring memory, knowledge and reason. I alone am the object of knowledge of all the Vedas; I am the author of Vedanta and also the knower of Vedas.” (15:15) Through the above explanations, Krishna makes it clear that the responsibility for man’s knowledge and memory is of his Paramatma which is Krishna himself, the god. If this is so, he is responsible for all the troubles and man-made disasters of the world. If Dharma (virtues) declines, it is also his responsibility. Then why should he come in the form of an incarnation to fight Adharma (sin)? When man has no control on his deeds and he has no knowledge and memory of his own other than that of god’s, and Krishna as god owns the responsibility of man’s deeds and misdeeds, why should god mislead man to wrongdoing? Krishna has also said elsewhere that those who take pride of their deeds are ignorant people. “When the Lord (the Self) acquires a body, and also when he abandons it, he departs taking these with him as the wind (carries) fragrance from its source.” (15:8) The suicide of the soul There are Hindu scholars who don’t agree that man is part of Paramatma. Even when Gita describes the ways of salvation, a different proposition is put forward. If one is selfless, virtuous and has the knowledge of god, one could

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attain Moksha. Such persons will be free from rebirth and their souls will merge with Paramatma. In one way, it could be the suicide of the soul, because one loses oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s identity and becomes part of Paramatma. If this were true, it is better to avoid Moksha, for one could live life after life. The Atma myth What is Atma that is mentioned in Gita and other scriptures? Believers in religion say that soul is different from body; that man dies when the soul leaves his body. With death, man loses his senses and the body begins to rot. If the senses are the soul, how do injuries and diseases affect his soul? When man inhales chloroform, he loses his senses. Science teaches us that chloroform acts on parts of the brain, so we lose our senses. If senses are different from the body, how could one lose his senses after smelling chloroform? Another example is that man is suffocated if he is denied air (oxygen) for a long time. If soul is life, what is the need for oxygen? Soul should certainly be able to exist without oxygen. All this shows that life is not different from the body; life is there because of the energy supplied by the chemical action in the body. When breathing stops and the body does not get oxygen to continue the chemical action, it results in suffocation and death. The basis of the function of the mind is the chemical and electrical actions and reactions in the 83

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brain. If the brain does not work, man loses memory and senses; he dies when the functions of the body which is controlled by the brain stop. Since the brain in which memory is stored is destroyed, it will be foolish to think a dead man could remember. The concept of soul was formed when man did not have scientific knowledge of his physiology. And that concept led man to speculate and a whole philosophy based on the fictitious soul was formulated. Belief in after-life Rigveda never mentions about after-life, which is much discussed in Gita. It means the Aryans who entered India had no belief in afterlife. Robert Earnest Hume who translated Upanishads to English says Swetaketu who studied Vedas for twelve years and his teacher Gautama had not seen anything on afterlife in what they studied. But they say that they had heard of such an idea from some Kshatriya warriors. So, it is from the Kshatriyas, the Brahmans got the idea of afterlife. What is the origin of the idea of afterlife which was not there in the time of Vedas and Upanishads? It would be relevant to know if such an idea existed elsewhere in the world. Pythagorus and Orphix (6th century BCE) had propounded an idea somewhat similar to afterlife. Plato (427 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 347 BCE) gave a philosophical base to the idea. Alexander invaded India in 325 BCE after the time of Plato. Later several royal families had ruled for a century in parts of 84

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North West India, which had connections with the Greeks. It could be presumed that the Vaishnavites imbibed this idea from the Greeks. Vaishnavism became a religion later, and some Greeks joined the new religion. Primitive belief Some historians have established that the idea of afterlife formulated by scholars from Plato to the author of Gita, is derived from the beliefs of primitive tribes. These people believed that all objects animate and inanimate had souls. They worshipped such souls in objects so that these would not harm people. They thought such souls could move from one object to another. Several primitive tribes in Asia, Africa and the Pacific islands continue to believe in these supernatural force called souls. Snakes, crocodiles, fishes etc. are worshipped by some tribes because of the belief that souls of ancestors reside in them. Hindus feed crows on the anniversaries of their ancestorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; death on the belief that the birds are in proximity or in communication with the souls of the dead. It shows the mental state of the primitives and some of the so-called modern people are alike.

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12 A philosophy of exploitation Every nation or a political organization has to have a philosophy, which is essential to keep the people united and maintain law and order. Only a Government based on a political philosophy could remain in power for long. During the time of independent clans, everyone within the clan was related by blood. When several clans joined together to form a state/kingdom, it became difficult to keep the people united. The idea that the king was the representative of god was the need of the time. The rulers were bound to propagate that idea. They taught their subjects that devotion to god and king was the greatest virtue. Bhagavad Gita was a book created by the priestly class to break the society based on Rationalism and to build up an exploitative social order. It enunciates several tricks for mental and economic exploitation of man. Against the clan culture In Gita, one can clearly discern the suppression of clan culture by the royal authority. In the beginning of the dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna, the former expresses his reluctance to kill his close relatives Kauravas in the war.

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Here Arjuna was showing his resentment in fighting against the people belonging to his own clan. “Those for whose sake we long for kingdom, enjoyments and pleasur - they stand here in battle, imperiling their life and riches. (1:33) “(There are here) teachers, fathers, sons as also grandfathers, mother' brothers, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives.” (1:34) Arjuna again and again talks of the destruction of Kula or clan. War and hatred were not unknown to the social order, but the belief was it was wrong to fight within the clan. They did not find anything wrong in attacking another clan. The clan culture had remained for centuries in India; it was not destroyed in the empires of Nanda and Maurya. Krishna, who advocated that it was right to fight and kill even one’s brothers for the kingdom, was the deity of the Guptas who believed that all powers were centred on the king. In Mahabharata, even though it was Yudhishtira who ruled, he was advised and helped by Krishna, the god. Theirs was an exemplary relationship of the king and the priest. Several gods of the clans are considered to be incarnations of Vishnu. Fish, tortoise, bear, lion etc. were all representing the incarnations worshipped by different clans. The realization that all the clan gods were 87

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incarnations of Vishnu, paved the way to the collective unity of all clans. At the head of the clan (gotra or gana) collective was the powerful god, Ganapathi. Thus linking all primitive concepts of divinity paved the way for a new Brahman religion during the Gupta Empire. One of the strongest sentiment in Gita is Bhakti (piety) in which there was no place for scepticism or inquiry. A strong empire demanded complete submission on the part of the subjects. In “The Advanced History of India” authored by R.C.Majundar, H.C.Roy Choudhary and K.Datta, it is recorded that during the reign of Guptas, Bhakti movement had its ascendancy; even Buddha and Tirthankara were raised to the status of gods and their statues were installed in several places. Building of temples had become an obsession with the kings. Work without expectation of fruits There is a sentence in the Bible: “Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal.” This is an advice given by the rich of the Roman Empire to the common people through Jesus Christ. This was not applicable to the emperor and the gentry. At another place, the Bible says “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven”. There are several verses in the Bible to mean the rich will not get into 88

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heaven and that is a privilege reserved for the poor. But there is no doubt that these were written by the rich. At the top of the state was the emperor, under him the princes and lords respectively. The lowest in the rung were the agricultural workers and other toilers. They suffered from economic as well as caste discrimination. Gita says never to oppose or protest against this system. The reason given is that one is suffering from the inequalities and oppression as a result of deeds in previous life. And if one expects better conditions in the next life, one has to tolerate all these hazards. Krishna says: “Therefore, being constantly unattached, perform action that needs to be done. Verily working without attachment, man obtains the highest good.” (3:19) Earlier, Krishna had advised that the duty of Shudra is to serve the three castes above him – Brahman, Kshatriya and Vaisya – without desiring for rewards. “Farming, cattle tending and trade are the duties of a Vaisya, born of his own nature. Work consisting of service is the duty of a Shudra, born of his own nature.” (18:44) Also he did not forget to say that one should not leave one’s Karma to take up any other vocation. “One should not abandon one’s innate duty, O son of Kunti, even though it may be faulty; for all actions are clouded by defects, as fire is with smoke.” (18:48) 89

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It means he did know the dangers of a Shudra or one belonging to the lower caste attempting to do work allotted to Brahman or Kshatriya. The rich Generally it is through some kind of exploitation one gets rich. But Gita says it is because of the good deeds done by one in the past life. “Having attained the world of the virtuous and having dwelt there for umpteen years, he who has fallen from Yoga is born in a house of the pure and blessed.” (6:41) That is how some people get rich. So to be jealous of them and work against them by others is a sin. Mercenary army With the fall of the Maurya Empire, India passed through an era of wars and invasions. Especially the North West part of the country had to face several foreign attacks. At the end of this turbulent era, in 320 CE, Chandragupta became the emperor. He and his son Samudragupta conquered many lands and expanded their empire. It required a large army for the conquests. And Gita served as a testament that could motivate the soldiers; it taught that the Kshatriya’s dharma was to fight. It also taught that the body only died, and not the soul. Then why fear death? And as bonus, those who died fighting would go to heaven despite their sins

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committed earlier. On the other hand, if you win, you get wealth, the spoils of war. “Never was there a time when I was not, nor these kings; nor shall we all ever cease to exist hereafter.” (2:12) “Slain, you will attain heaven; victorious, you will enjoy the earth. Therefore, stand up, O son of Kunti resolved to fight.” (2:37) There was a similar promise of the Pope who gave tickets to heaven to soldiers who went to fight the crusades. Their sins were pardoned. Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian Islamic priest-dictator too gave green cards to heaven to soldiers who went to fight Saddam Hussain’s Iraq. The afterlife was a consolation prize for troops who went to fight wars. The Gupta kings took advantage of the idea from Gita. Mental Slavery Slavery and selling of slaves were not a specialty of India alone; it was prevalent in many parts of the world. But it was only in India, the philosophy that slavery was good and to escape slavery was a sin, prevailed. The Indian priestly class not only could keep a section of the people slaves for generations but also make them suffer the slavery without resentment by promising a better life after death. And Gita and other religious texts helped the priests in their efforts.

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13 The bugle call against Rationalists From 8th century to 2nd century BCE, the long 600 years were a period of Rationalism in India. Rationalists known as LokÄ yatas, Ajivikas, Buddhists and Jains controlled the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social conscience. It was a time when different cultures co-existed peacefully. Priests did not have much influence on public life. It was Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s golden era when arts, culture and literature prospered. However, the priestly class who lost their power was always on the look out to regain power. They devised several methods for the purpose. They formulated ideologies different from those of the Vedas. Also they lifted some ideas from Buddhism and Jainism. Taking advantage of their royal patronage, the priests as exploiters, infiltrated into these faiths. They influenced the Buddhists and Jains to make adjustments to include their vested interests in their respective religions. By and by, Buddha and Mahavira were transformed into the position of gods. The monks neglected their duty of educating the common people. They concentrated on discussions and discourses among themselves at a higher 92

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intellectual level. Till then, the Buddhist literature was all in Pali, the common man’s language. But later, books were written in Sanskrit which was not understood by the commoners. It was during this period North India was continuously subjected to foreign invasions. The region was split into several small states. Buddhism and Jainism that was based on Ahimsa could not inspire to fight the invaders from the North. The kings who had to engage in war began to promote the ideals of the clans. Arjuna, Sangharshana, Vasudeva Krishna, Durga etc. were gods who came into prominence in these days. Krishna and Arjuna stood out among them. Their stories inspired the rulers and soldiers alike. The Brahmans found this was the opportune moment to resurrect their shattered Brahmanism. In the new situation, they envisaged two faiths – Vaishnavism and Shaivism – to combat the Rational influences. In the North West, Vaishnavism began spreading fast. Several kings joined the faith and it got royal patronage. The Brahmans used their influence on the rulers and unleashed attacks on their enemies – the Rationalists, Buddhists, Jains and Ajivikas. In Gita, one could hear the bugle call for this attack. Bitter enmity Fight and defeat the enemy even if he is your brother, friend, father or son without mercy or sympathy – that is what Krishna preached in Gita. It was applicable equally to all opponents, ideological or political. Krishna used words such 93

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as evildoers, idiots, cynics, those with no conscience, those who lost their soul, egoists, Asuras and Rakshasas while describing ideological enemies. This explodes the myth of Hinduism being a tolerant religion towards other faiths. Isolate Rationalists! The believers often exhort not to argue with Rationalists lest it might cause doubting their own beliefs. The author of Gita too is of this opinion. “Those deluded by the qualities of nature get attached to their functions. Let not the all-knowing person unsettle the dull-witted ones of imperfect knowledge.” (3:29) The Lokāyatas, the Rationalists of those times, insisted that man got knowledge through his senses and he decided his deeds based on that knowledge. Though Krishna dismissed them as idiots and men with little knowledge, he sternly prohibits his followers from speaking with them. It was because Krishna knew his argument was so weak that it could be easily demolished by the logic of the Lokāyatas. Therefore the advice not to interact with them and go on doing one’s Karma unquestioningly. “The men, whoever follow this teaching of Mine, full of faith and without cavilling, are also released from actions.” (3:31)

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The defiant According to Dr.Radhakrishnan, the Cārvākas advised people to live in joy and comfort. Once the body is burnt, how could one return to life? The benefits of rituals performed for the dead are false assumptions propagated by Brahmans to exploit people and make a living. The above are some of the ideas spread by Rationalists of those days. People under the influence of these ideas opposed the revival of Brahmanism. Gita describes the defiant people thus: “Not in Me do the evil-doing, deluded and vile men take refuge; (for) deprived of wisdom by Maya they adopt demoniacal ways.” (7:15) Those who are not devoted to Krishna are Asuras, idiots and low class people! The cynics The Rationalists exhorted people to doubt, to inquire and find out truth. Religions had a different stand; it demanded blind faith and performance of the Karma as asked by the religious leaders. Gita has this to say about the cynics: “He, who is ignorant, unbelieving and sceptical, perishes. There is neither this world nor the next, nor happiness for the man of doubt.” (4:40) “Therefore, cutting asunder with the sword of wisdom, this doubt in your heart, born of ignorance, resort to Yoga and rise up, O Bharata.” (4 :42) 95

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Duties of Brahmans The Lokāyatas propagated that the rituals and Mantras performed by the priests (Brahmans) were all meant to deceive and exploit the people. If god loved all people equally, there was no need for an agent between god and the people; they could as well pray and pay homage directly to god. Arjuna had this doubt and asked: “Those who, laying aside scriptural rules, sacrifice full of faith - what is their standing, O Krishna? Is it one of purity, passion or darkness?” (17:1) Krishna gives an elaborate answer to Arjuna’s question. He describes how Yajnas are performed and what are to be done at what time etc. Then he dwells on the need to perform the ritual. His last statement is especially noteworthy. “They call that sacrifice of tamas quality which is empty of faith and contrary to scriptural injunction, and which is offered without distributing food, without chanting mantras and giving gifts.” (17:13) Swami Sivananda and Balgangadhar Tilak have said in their interpretation of the Gita that Yajnas, study of Vedas etc. are the monopoly of Brahmans and others have no right to perform them. It shows the aim of Gita is to re-establish the supremacy of Brahmans.

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Attack on atheists The strongest opposition in re-establishing Brahman supremacy came from the Rationalists (atheists). In the 16th chapter of Gita, its author unleashes a severe attack on them: “They assert that the universe is godless, without truth and without (moral) foundation. It is born from the mutual union (of man and woman); what else? It is caused by passion.” (16:8) In Gita, Cārvākas and other Rationalists are mentioned as Asuras, Rakshasas etc. “Holding fast to this view, these lost souls of feeble wit and of fierce deeds, come forth to destroy the world as its, enemies.” (16:9) The author of Gita stoops to the level of uneducated orthodox men when he says that Rationalists are a cruel lot out to destroy the world. Actually he had no substantive argument against the contention of the Rationalists and like old men who don’t want to concede defeat, Krishna says: “Resorting to insatiable passion, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, they act with impure vows holding false views through delusion.” (16:10) Dr. Radhakrishnan points out that the author of Gita was trying to deride Brihaspati’s dictum “Kaman evaika purushartham”. Brihaspati was one of the authors of Rigveda mantras. He was one of the renowned atheists of 97

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the world. Even today the wise agree with what he said centuries ago, that man’s aim in life was to realize his desires (kama). When Krishna said that people should not have desires, he was not speaking about Brahmans and Kshatriyas. They had all the opportunities to get more than what they deserved. Krishna wanted only the common man to shun desires. That is why he called the Rationalists, who advised common people to pursue their desires, Asuras. Opposing the Vedantis who said that the world was full of sorrows and one should do one’s duty without desiring its fruits, the Cārvākas said that it was foolish to abstain from pleasures thinking that there was sorrow too in the world. Naturally, the author of Gita had nothing but hatred towards Cārvākas who so forcefully expressed their views of the common people: “Given to egoism, strength, arrogance, passion and wrath, these malicious persons cavil at Me in their own and other's bodies.” (16:18) “I always throw such evil, hateful, cruel and vile men in the world into demoniacal wombs.” (16 :19) Swami Sivananda interprets “Asureshu Yonishya” as the cursed people (Cārvākas) would be born from the wombs of tigers, lions and other animals in the next life. Even after saying so, Krishna’s rage did not subside. He continues 98

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thus attaining demonical wombs, they become deluded birth after birth and sink into the lowest state, without attaining Me, O son of Kunti.â&#x20AC;? (16:20) Swami Shivananda explains the degradation in consecutive births of those who negate god. They would go from tigers to snakes and insects ending up in trees. Human imagination could not have gone deeper in degradation. Krishna had no answer to the question if any evidence existed for his contention. However, the Rationalists were not scared of such cock and bull stories told by Krishna. So the Brahmans plotted to physically annihilate them. With the help of rulers and feudal lords, they unleashed violence against Rationalists, Buddhists and Jains. And thence began an era of darkness in Indian history.

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14 India’s era of darkness Mahabharata is said to be the story of a war between the righteous and the wrongdoers, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The folklore of some tribes in North India expanded with imagination and fantasy and the addition of Bhagavad Gita later emerged over centuries as Mahabharata. It has no relevance to history; nor had it any relation with Dharma. On the other hand, Gita is a book of instigation to denounce and massacre Cārvākas, Ajivikas, Buddhists, Jains and other Rationalists of the time without any consideration for Dharma or Adharma. The purpose of Mahabharata too is the same. It was the need of Brahmans then to prove that the Pandava minority could win against Kaurava majority. For, Brahmans were the minority then, and the Rationalists the majority. Krishna indulged in several unethical tactics during the war to defeat the Kauravas. On the tenth day of the Mahabharata war, Bheeshma, the commander of the Kaurava army, was struck with arrows and fell on the battlefield. Krishna had advised to place Shikhandi, the eunuch, in front of the Pandava troops knowing well that the righteous Bheeshma would not have

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killed a woman or eunuch. So Bheeshma was felled by Shikhandi’s arrows. Drona was another great warrior on Kaurava’s side. He was the teacher of both Kauravas and Pandavas. When Krishna realized that no one could defeat the gallant commander, he resorted to subterfuge and deception. Someone in the field was asked to shout ‘Ashvathama is killed’. Ashvathama was the son of Drona and hearing the “news”, Drona was shocked and threw away his weapons in sorrow and frustration. Drona was struck down when he was unarmed. In fact, the Aswathama killed was an elephant and Krishna’s intention was to deceive Drona. But he justified the action with his arguments. And Yudhishtira, known as Dharmaputra, was made to shout the sentence. So Drona had no reason to doubt Yudhishtira’s words. There is another story of cheating in the last days of Mahabarata war. The duel was going on between Bhima and Duryodhana with mace as their weapon. Bhima could not defeat Duryodhana howsoever he tried. Then Krishna gave Bhima an advice. Accordingly Bhima struck on the hip of Duryodhana. The rule of the duel with mace was that one should not strike below the waste. Duryodhana, who did not expect the blow, fell down and was killed. Krishna’s elder brother Balram who saw this unethical act was shocked and became angry with Krishna. But Krishna justified the ‘hitting below the belt’ by Bhima. Mahabharata is replete with instances where Krishna, the god, claiming to have born as man to restore Dharma in 101

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the world, doing several acts of Adharma. He did not find anything wrong in seducing the women of Vrindavan. He had several women other than his two wedded wives. He did not find any moral laxity in such unholy liaisons. What would have happened if people were to follow the examples set by god Krishna? History is written mostly in support of the rulers and victors in war. Brahmans knew this fact very well. Krishna who advised to kill close relatives mercilessly is the creation of an evil mind. The author of Gita makes Krishna say: “Stand up, therefore, and win renown; conquer your foes and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. By Me they have already been killed; be you merely the instrument, O Savyasachin (Arjuna).” (11:33) It is explained that god was really waging the war and man was only a puppet in god’s hands. Those who are in power could commit any crime and escape by placing the responsibility on god. In another verse too, this argument is repeated: “He who has no egoistic feeling, whose understanding is not polluted, even if he were to slay these people, he slays not, nor is he bound (by his action).” (18:17) The sanction that enemies should be killed mercilessly was unknown to India in the Rationalist era. Then the importance was for nonviolence, peace and humanism. The cult of killing that the neo-Brahmans adopted has been 102

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mentioned in Upanishads too. Brihadaranyopanishad says: “Atma is neither this nor that. It has no form and should not be made into a form. It can’t be broken, so cannot be destroyed. Since it cannot be related to anything it has no relation with anything. It has no measurement. It can’t fall ill or injured. The person who knows this can’t think that he did wrong or right. What he does or does not do will not affect him.” Chhandopanishad too says: “A bamboo put on the fire burns and become ashes. The wrongs committed by one who performs Agnihotra yaga too are burnt.” In Kaushitaki Upanishad, Indra says: “Understand me. I will help all people who understand me. I have killed many, but no harm came to me. So anyone who is devoted to me can do no wrong. Stealing, infanticide, matricide and patricide are no sins for one who prays to me.” The author of Gita was only reiterating the cruel and ghastly Brahmanical precepts of the Upanishads that suited the Gupta kings and their administrators. And they practiced these precepts with pleasure. United front against Rationalism and Atheism The aim of the Brahmans was to come to power by hook or crook; power justified all deeds and misdeeds. When Buddhism and Jainism were in prominence and people’s way of thinking was influenced by Rationalist philosophy of Cārvāka, Lokāyatas, atheists etc., Brahmans had little opportunity to exploit the common man. So they planned to 103

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undermine free thinking and Rationalist way of life. Mahabharata and Gita were written with the purpose of promoting Vaishnavism as an antidote to Buddhism. It is said that Hinduism has the freedom for adopting any set of beliefs and way of worship. The flexibility of Hinduism to accommodate all sorts of contradictory ideas has been much praised by several historians. But they forget the bitter fight put up by Hindu religious leaders against Buddhists and Cārvākas. Dr. Radhakrishnan says Hindu faith recognized all the primitive gods outside the Aryan fold and gave them a place in Hindu religion. That helped to unify all the beliefs in god under one umbrella. So, beliefs of different faiths coexisted in Hinduism. Nevertheless, the Brahmans’ intention was to unify all beliefs against Rationalists. Once the Rationalist way of thinking was destroyed, it was easy to re-establish the influence of god and religion over people and pave the way for Brahmanical exploitation. So the Brahman’s united against their class enemy, the Rationalists. And the empire of the Guptas patronized them. The Brahmans rewrote/amended the Hindu scriptures to suit their aims and interests. And new ones were added to the existing lot. They were different from one another, often contradictory. Gita says that man dies and is born again. But Puranas give pictures of heaven and hell. In the early Puranas, there are descriptions of seven types of hell. By the time Bhagavata Purana was written, the number of hells increased to 84. The Brahman missionaries went around the country to spread their stories of fantasy. As 104

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they had the help of kings, their new faith could have a strong foothold in many places. Cārvākas burnt Cārvāka, the prominent spokesman of Lokāyatas, lived before Buddha. But he is shown as a character in Mahabharata. The Shanti Parva of Mahabharata has this story: Cārvāka, the Rakshasa, was one of the closest friends of Duryodhana. During Krita yuga, he had performed Tapas to please Brahma at the Dadaryashrama. At last Brahma appeared before him. He was blessed with fulfilment of his wish that he would be protected by all the natural forces in the world. He then went around the world persecuting Brahmans. The Brahmans approached Brahma and begged him to save them from Cārvāka. Brahma promised the Brahmans that Cārvāka would be born in the next life as a close friend of Duryodhana and would be burnt in the fire of Brahman’s anger. That was how Cārvāka became the friend of Duryodhana in the Dwapara Yuga. After winning the Mahabharata war, when Yudhishtira entered Hastinapura to take over the kingdom, thousands of Brahmans came there to bless him. Among them was Cārvāka disguised as a Brahman. He shouted at Yudhistira calling him a cheat and accused him of fratricide. The Brahmans assembled there recognized Cārvāka as a Rakshasa and burned him with their breath of fire. All this points to the denigration of Rationalists by Brahmans and the massacres unleashed on people who 105

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were cynical of Brahmanism. They burnt the Cārvāka followers alive and burnt their books along with. So, we don’t have any authentic books and writings on Indian Rational thought. What we have are the books written by Brahmans to refute and trivialize Rationalism and Cārvāka philosophy. Memories of massacres Samudra Gupta (330-380 CE) was the most powerful king of the Gupta dynasty. He had conquered all lands up to Kanyakummari and planned to invade Sri Lanka. But the king of Lanka diplomatically avoided a clash. Noted historian R.C.Mazumdar dwells on this era of Indian history: After Asoka made Buddhism the major religion in India, Brahmanism was on the decline. But during Samudra Gupta’s time, Brahmanism got back its eminence and influence. The new faith proclaimed that the king was the god in flesh and blood on earth. Samudra Gupta was exalted as an incarnation to revive the old traditions and rituals of Brahmanism. Reduction in wages and workers being driven to the worst form of slavery pleased the small landlords. Another specialty of this period was the construction of several temples. This was done using slaves and inflicting the worst form of torture on them. There are endless stories of tears and sufferings behind what we showpiece as the architectural wonders of ancient India.

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By 5th century AD, the Huns from Mongolia attacked North India and captured huge landmass. Punjab, Malva, Rajasthan etc came under them. King Mihirakula of that region was a ruthless dictator. He looted Buddha monasteries and massacred Rationalists. Social morality reached rock bottom during his regime; superstition ruled supreme. Over the years, the Huns became protectors of Brahmana faith. By and by, the Gupta Empire perished and several native states came up in its place. The Brahmans could easily influence the princes. By 7th century CE, the Buddhists, the Jains and Rationalists in India were almost liquidated. A massacre that happened in Tamil region at that time was a veritable pogrom. At the instigation of a Brahman head priest named Sambandamurthy from Shivakiri, the Pandya king rounded up some 8000 Buddhist monks and hanged them on the banks of River Vaiga. Tamil classic Thevaram mentions the gruesome incident. In the memory of this mammoth massacre of the monks, the Brahmans celebrate â&#x20AC;&#x153;kazhuvettithiruvizhaâ&#x20AC;? (celebration of hanging) in Madurai. Such massacres of Buddhist monks have taken place in several parts of the country. The Buddhist shrines were raided by Brahmans. Many Buddhist and Jaina shrines were converted into Hindu temples. In the Kerala temples such as Kodumgallur, Cherthala etc. where shouting obscenities and sacrificing animals are annual celebrations in the memory of the massacre of 107

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Buddhists and the conversion of the Buddhist Shrines into Bhagavati temples. The practice of welcoming the priests/oracles to the temple by a bevy of girls lined up with thala (a plate with coconut and red flowers in it) in hand is symbolic of the victory over Budhists; originally they used to carry the head of slain monks oozing blood in the thala /plate). The dark ages In the 6th and 7th centuries CE, the neo-Brahmanical religion became all powerful and with that began an era of darkness in India. The working class dubbed as low castes were persecuted; they were not allowed to walk on the public roads nor allowed to go near the high caste gentry for fear of being polluted. Freedom of women too was curtailed. Widow marriage was banned. Sati was promoted, rather compelled to commit by force. Girls were to be married before attaining puberty. Going overseas was considered a sin and a religious ban on foreign travel was enforced. The intention was to prevent people who were under upper caste autocracy not getting enlightened through outside influence. Brothels sprung up around temples and prostitutes called devadasis were attached to the shrines to cater to the priests. Sankaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contribution Adi Shankara (788-820 CE) was a philosopher of this dark era. He was one of those who tried to give a philosophical base to the Neo-Brahmanism during the 108

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Gupta Empire. He wrote an interpretation for Bhagavad Gita. Also he wrote treatises for Upanishads and Vedanta Suthras. Shankara was an able organizer. He established Matts in the four corners of India. These Mutts played a great role in the development of Hindu religion on the Brahmanical lines. Shankara justified the caste system. Bhagavad Gita was the book that influenced Shankara most. He must have got inspiration to justify caste system from the Gita. “Since Shudra had not studied Vedas, he had no right for other education,” said Shankara. “One had to undergo Upanayana before studying Vedas, so Shudra had no right to study Veda. Upanayana is only for the upper castes. Without education, the Shudra is bound to be uncultured.” It is also said that Shudra who heard Veda recital should be punished by filling his ear with molten lead. His tongue should be cut off if he dared to recite the Vedas. The contribution of Gita In the light of Shankara’s treatise and historical perspective, if one were to examine Gita, the picture presented is rather gloomy. The Lokāyatas, Buddhists and Jains were the ones who fought the cruel caste system and rituals like Yaga. The period of the rule of Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka can be considered the golden era of Indian history. Caste divide and priestly authoritarianism did not dominate those days. Following the insertion of Bhagavad Gita in the developing

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epic Mahabharata, the socio-politic climate in India degenerated. Bhagavad Gita justified war and killing. It contains regressive ideas and contradictions. Autocratic and ruthless rulers promoted it. And it became the testament of a dark era of revival of Brahmanism. Bhagavad Gita justified and glorified exploitation and hegemonic ideas. Bhagavad Gita is no book of reason and justice; it provides no progressive ideas. The tall claim that it contains deep thoughts and philosophy is a hoax. â&#x2014;?â&#x2014;?

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Select Bibliography Agarwal. D.P, and Kusumnagar, S; Prehistoric Chronology and Radio Carbon Dating in India (New Delhi, 1974). Ajnat, Prof. Surendra; Old Testment of Indian Atheism (Jullander, 1978). Arnold, Sir Edwin; The Song Celestial (London, 1930). Asthana, Shasti; History and Archaeology of India's Contacts with Other Countries), (New Delhi, 1976). Bham, J. Archie; The Bhagavad Gita (Bombay, 1970). Bahadur Mal; Sri Krishna; His Philosophy and His Spiritual Path (Ambala, 1960). Banerji, N.R; Iron Age in India (New Delhi, 1965). Barnett Lionell, D; Hindu Gods and Heroes (New Delhi, 1979). Bazaz, Premnath; The Role of Bhagavad Gita in Indian History (New Delhi, 1975) Basant Mrs. Annie; The Bhagavad-Gita (Madras, 1907). Chambers Encyclopaedia (London, 1950) Chattopadyaya, Debi Prasad; Indian Atheism, A Marxist Approach (New Delhi, 1980). Chttopadhyaya, Debi Prasad; Indian Philosophy (New Delhi, 1981). Dange, S; India from Primitive Communism to Slavery (Bombay, 1949). Dhar, Niranjan; Vedanta and Bengal Renaissance (Calcutta, 1977) Dutt, Romesh, C; Early Hindu Civilisation: B.C. 2000 to 320 (Calcutta, 1927) Farquhar, J.N; Modern Religious Movements in India (New York, 1915). 111

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Ferm, Vergilious, Ed; Encyclopaedia of Religion (London, 1969). Hopkins, E. Washburn; Epic of India: Its Cheracter and Origin (Calcutta, 1969). Hume, Robert Ernest; The Thirteen Principal Upanishads translated from Sanskrit: with an out line of the Philosophy of the Upanishads (London, 1977). Jagtiani, G.M; The Fire and Flame of Swami Vivekananda (Bombay, 1972) Johnson, Samuel; Oriental Religions and their Relation to Universal Religion (Boston, 1982) Kalota, Narain Singh; India as described by Megasthanese (Delhi, 1978). Khair, G.S; Quest for the Original Gita (Bombay, 1969). Kosambi, D.D; The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India on Historic Out Line (New Delhi, 1977). Kosambi, D.D; Myth and Reality (Bombay, 1962). LillieVarna, Arthur; Buddha and Early Buddhism (London, 1851) Macfie, J.M; The Laws of the Manu (Madras, u.d) Mackenzie, Donald A; Indian Myth and Legend (London, n.d) Majumdar, R.C, Rajchaudhari, H.C & Datta, K; An Advanced History of India (London, 1960) Margarett and Stuleg, James; A Dictionary of Hinduism. Its Mythology, Folklore and Development 1500 B.C.E - 1500 A.D. (u.d) Mc Crindle, J.W; Ancient India as described bh Megasthanses and Arrian (Calcutta, 1926). Mookerji Radha Kumud; Hindu Civilisation Part I & II (Bombay, n.d) 112

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Mueller, Max; History of Ancient Sanscrit Literature (London, 1860). Nehru Jawaharlal; The Discovery of India (Bombay, 1948). Panikkar, K.M; Essential Features of Indian Culture (Bombay, 1964). Pargiter F.E.; The Purana Test of the Dynasties of the Kali Age (London 1922). Pike E. Royston; Encycloopaedia of Religion and Religiouns (London, 1951). Prabhupada, A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami; Bhagavad Gita As it is; Complete Edition (New York 1972) Pusalker, A.D; Studies in the Epics and Puranas (Bombay, 1963). Radhakrishnan Dr. S; Our Heritage (Delhi, 1973). Radhakrishnan Dr. S; The Bhagavad Gita (London, 1948). Rajgapalachari. C; The Mahabharata (Bombay, 1962). Raychandhary, H.C; Political History of Ancient India (Calcutta, 1953). Roy, S.B; Date of Mahabharata Battle (Gurgaon, 1976). Rhys Davids, T.W; Buddhism: Being a Sketch of the Life and Teaching of Gauthama the Buddha (London, n.d.) Sardesai, S.G. & Bost, Dilip; Marxism and The Bhagawad Gita (New Delhi, 1982). Sivananda, Sri Swami; Srimad Bhagavad Gita (Rishikesh. 1949) Thaper Romila; Asoka and the Decline of the Mauriyan Empire (London, 1961) Tilak, Bal Gangadhar; Srimad Bhagavad Gita Rahasyam of Karmayoga Sastra, Translated By B.S. Sukhthankar. (Poona, 1936) Vedavyas; Hinduism in the Space Age (New Delhi, 1975). 113

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Wilkins, W.J; Hindu Mythology Vedic and Puranic, (Varanasi, 1972) Winternitz, M; A History of Indian Literature (Calcutta 1927). World Book Encyclopaedia (Chicago, 1976). Yati, Nitya Chaithanya; The Bhagavad Gita (New Delhi, 1981)

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Translatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note Translation is generally a commissioned work. But this one is entirely voluntary. There are two reasons for it being so. First is my love and respect for the late author and the feeling that I owe him something as a humble memento. Edamaruku treated me as a younger brother, though I was elder to him. He had compressed so much work in his lifespan that no writer could have attempted. The volume of his writings could have easily found a place in the Guinness Book of Records if someone cared to survey the output of all the writers in the world. And the subjects on which he wrote were so varied that he could be called a walking encyclopaedia. A man of such holistic knowledge is hard to find. But this modern day CÄ rvÄ ka was subjected to much ridicule and wilful negligence by the intellectual orthodoxy. They tried to contain him in a tight compartment labelled atheist. But Edamaruku was not worried; for, he was more proud of being an atheist than anything else. The second reason, rather provocation, for my selecting this book for translation was a suggestion by a judge of the Allahabad High Court recently that Bhagavad Gita should be made our National scripture. We have our national anthem, national emblem, national animal, national bird etc. Then why not a national book? The idea is not bad if the book is worthy of it. Of course its antiquity and brevity go to the credit of the Gita to assume the national status. And the dozens of 115

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expositions by eminent scholars from Adi Shankara to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and praise from Gandhi to all the godmen, add votes to Gitaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim. However, all these writings on Gita and praise for the book are conditioned by piety and religious self-interest. A person who prays cannot see that the deity has feet of clay. Only a dispassionate assessment can arrive at the truth.

Joseph Edamaruku and N Kunju

Edamarukuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gita exposition is one with an open mind. It is not biased by piety or prejudiced by ideology. His finding in brief is, Gita is a testament of neo-Brahmanism that came to dominate Indian society after demolishing 116

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Rationalism that held sway for 600 years of the golden era of Cārvāka, Buddhism, Jainism and other Rationalists. This era falls between the Vedic period and the revival of the priestly order with the help of kings. Truth is bitter, especially while it contradicts blind faith and preconceived notions. But no one can find fault with Edamaruku’s reasoning. If there are shortcomings in the English version, the fault is entirely of the translator. Progenies generally do not take up the work begun by their illustrious parents, unless of course there is a huge material asset to inherit. Edamaruku’s son Sanal is an exception to the rule. It is gratifying to note that he is following his father’s footsteps despite the liabilities and risks involved. Publication of Edamaruku’s works in foreign languages could reveal their true value. One hopes Edamaruku would become more alive when exposed to the international arena. Delhi

- N.Kunju

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