Interesting Titbits from Bhagavad Gita

By London Swaminathan

There are over 45 scholarly commentaries on Bhagavad-Gita, Hindu’s most sacred book. In 700 couplets it gives the gist of Hinduism. It was a favorite book of many leaders including Mahatma Gandhi.

In this English book, I have collected the articles I wrote in the past 11 years. Of late the BJP governments in India introducing the Bhagavad Gita in school syllabus. This gives a good atmosphere for books like mine. Hope you enjoy reading it and enter into deeper study of the holy book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pustaka Digital Media
• Release date: Nov 22, 2022
• ISBN: 6580553509247

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Interesting Titbits from Bhagavad Gita

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London Swaminathan

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Table of Contents

FOREWORD

1.Interesting Words in the Bhagavad Gita

2.Are you Mr or Miss Dirghasutri ?

3.Uttishta/Arise: A Powerful Command

4.RIG VEDA IN BHAGAVAD GITA

5.Gandhiji on Hinduism (Bhagavad Gita)

6.Bhagavad Gita Simile used by Ancient Tamil

7.‘I am Alpha and Omega’ – Krishna and Christ

8.Gateway to Hell and Gateway to Heaven

9.Gita Jayanthi

10.Machines and Mirrors in Bhagavad Gita

11.Forty Five Commentaries on Bhagavad Gita

12.One Minute Bhagavad Gita

14.Bhagavad Gita through a Story

15.Krishna’s List of 26 Divine Qualities!

16.Atom Bomb to Zoo of the Bhagavad Gita: Part 1

17.Atom Bomb to Zoo of the Bhagavad Gita: Part 2

18.INTERESTING WORDS IN BHAGAVAD GITA – TWO DOORS

19.Bhagavad Gita – Chitraratha Mystery Solved !

20.Bhagavad Gita – Chitraratha Mystery Solved -2

21.Lord Krishna’s Generous Donations!

22.LARGEST BHAGAVAD GITA

23.Bhagavad Gita in Tabular Columns

24.Animals in the Bhagavad Gita!

25.Jesus name in Bhagavad Gita! Tamil Fish symbol in Britain!!

26.Krishna’s Restaurant in Dwaraka – Hot Satwic Food Sold!

27.G for Ganga... Gayatri… Gita... Govinda…

28.Einstein’s Hindu Connection!

29.Black Hole in Manu Smrti and Bhagavad Gita

30.SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BHAGAVAD GITA AND PARSI’S ZEND AVESTA

31.Tirukkural and Bhagavad Gita compared by Rev G U Pope and VRR Dikshitar

32.Part 2 of Tirukkural and Gita compared by Rev G U Pope and VRR Dikshitar

33.Chanakya , Valluvar and Bhagavad Gita

FOREWORD

There are over 45 scholarly commentaries on Bhagavad-Gita, Hindu’s most sacred book. In 700 couplets it gives the gist of Hinduism. It was a favourite book of many leaders including Mahatma Gandhi. My interest in it came when Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan announced exams and certificates for those who pass in the Gita examinations. Since I was a Certificate maniac , I sat for all the five examinations covering all the 18 chapters and received 5 certificates. Just before doing a dissertation on it for the sixth certificate, I was called by the BBC World Service to London and my certificate madness disappeared then. But yet I started looking at Gita from different angles – secular, scientific and linguistic angles. As a result I wrote sixty to seventy articles in both Tamil and English. My tamil book is already released. Mine is partly a comparative study with Tamil literature. Rajaji, G U Pope, Swami Omkarananda of Theni and many scholars also did good work in this area.

In this English book, I have collected the articles I wrote in the past 11 years. The dates and the numbers of my articles as appeared in my blogs are given in all the articles. Of late the BJP governments in India introducing the Bhagavad Gita in school syllabus. More over even Muslim students are winning in the Gita competitions and receiving good publicity in newspapers. This gives a good atmosphere for books like mine. Hope you enjoy reading it and enter into deeper study of the holy book.

London swaminathan

November 2022

1.Interesting Words in the Bhagavad Gita

There are many interesting words in Bhagavad Gita. Some people study it devotedly without understanding the meaning. Some people read it with the help of commentaries. Whatever you do it is useful in one way or other. But if you do word study in Bhagavad Gita and do your own research regarding those words you can retain them in memory. It will lead you towards better understanding. For instance, if you look for these words in Marathi or Telugu or Hindi Bhakti literature you will definitely get some good cross references. I have done so with Tamil Bhakti literature just for some words.

1.Jnana Agni =Fire of Knowledge= fire of wisdom 4-19

He whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and selfish puposes, and whose actions have been burn by the Fire of Knowledge, –him the wise call a sage.(4-19)

2.Jnana Chakshu= Eye of Wisdom (15-10)

The deluded do not see Him who departs, stays and enjoys; but those who possess the Eye of Wisdom behold Him (15-10)

3.Jnana Tapasa = Austerity of Wisdom (4-10)

Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the austerity of wisdom, many have attained to My Being. (4-10)

4.Jnana Dipena= Lamp of Wisdom (10-11)

Out of mere compassion for them, I, dwelling within their Self, destroy the darkness born out of ignorance by the luminous Lamp of Wisdom (10-11)

5.Jnana Plavena = Boat of Wisdom (4-36)

Even if thou art the most sinful of all the sinners, yet thou shalt verily cross all sins by the Boat of Wisdom (4-36)

Tamil saint Appar alias Tirunavukkarasu of seventh century AD also used a simile like this:

He is Narayanan; He is Brahma

He is in the four Vedas;

He is the perfect one

Who is like a ship on the great ocean of wisdom – 78, 6th Tirumurai

6.Jnana Yoga= Path of Knowledge (3-3)

In this world there is a twofold path, as I said before, O Sinless one, — the Path of Knowledge of the Sankhyas and the path of action of the Yogis (3-3)

7.Jnana Yajna= Wisdom Sacrifice (4-33, 9-15, 18-70)

Superior is Wisdom –Sacrifice to the sacrifice with objects, O,Parantapa! All actions in their entirety, O,Arjuna, culminate in wisd0m (4-33)

Tamil devotional poets kept this beautiful Sanskrit word Jnana intact wherever they used divine knowledge or wisdom. They did not translate it in to Tamil. Like Dharma, it is an untranslatable word.

Bhuthathalvar, one of the 12 Vaishnavite saints used Lamp of Wisdom in his hymns. Tirumular, one of the 18 Tamil Siddhas (enlightened souls) used Sword of Wisdom. Sambandar ,one of the Four Great Saivite saints, used the word Flame of Wisdom in his Thevaram hymns. Bharati, the greatest of the modern Tamil poets, used the word Sword of Wisdom in his poems. There are hundreds of places where they used this Jnana with other words as similes or metaphors.

2.Are you Mr or Miss Dirghasutri ?

Research article No.1366; Dated 23rd October 2014.

The doer who is unbalanced, vulgar, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, indolent, despondent and procrastinating (Dirghasutri), he is said to be of the nature of dullness (Tamasik) – Bhagavad Gita 18-28

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna uses a beautiful word Dirghasutri. Literally translated it will be ‘Long Rope’. The word has got a bad connotation. One who is procrastinating is called a Dirghasutri. Postponing everything or delaying is the quality of lazy people. Those who don’t plan very well are also forced