Why is it that India, having such vast resources of land and intelligence, still sinks into poverty and lack of education? I must do something to help it! -
Imagine saying that out loud?
Imagine saying that out loud?
Sinha assumes that a people come to be and act in a way that is in accordance to the brightest thinkers of its time and radius of influence. And of those India has had a few. For example in Kapila (author/compiler of the Samkhya philosophy), Patanjali (compiler of the Yoga Sutras) and Vyasa (the writer of the Gita).
The brightest people define the thinking mechanism and the people follow. The most influential book in India is, the Gita. But what if the Gita was not what we thought it was?
In his search for truth, the author does an extraordinary work at weaving the thoughts of these influential thinkers (and others like Buddha, and Mahavira).
He notes how because of their particular circumstances, they were truly free-thinkers, how their philosophies were conceived without any restriction by religious inclinations and in their more pure and rational form while pursuing the biggest quest of all.
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| Kapila, the mind behind Samkhya |
We hear how in the system of Kapila (Samkhya) God played no part. And in the system of Patanjali, well, perhaps you heard all the controversy around the sutras that include isvara (God), well, the book refutes it:
"It should be noted that the concept of God entered into Indian literature at the time of the revival of Bahmanism around 800 A.D. In our present study it has been shown that from the earliest time to the time of Patanjali, there is no mention of isvara as god in any Indian Literature. How then could Ptanjali talk of isvara, when the concept was unknown?" [my bold]
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| Patanjali, compiler of the Yoga Sutras |
The Gita, you see, was brought forth (following the book recollection) by a sage called Vyasa, who thought that it was all nice and good with Samkhya and its encouragement that we should seek right knowledge, and it was all nice and good with Patanjali who added a healthy body and mind to the mix, but he believed that there was still something missing.
What was missing was that in every day life sometimes we come across situations that are very difficult to resolve. The type where we are doomed if we do and doomed if we don't. What then?
He then set a stage in a Kingdom of North India where two cousins who had been brought up as brothers came into conflict with each other. Due to jealousy, one of the cousins was deprived of its land (for him and his people) after being promised such a thing if we went on exile for 11 years. Which he did. He then came back. And no land. So there was no way out, battle had to ensue.
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| What Krishna told Arjuna before the battle has been manipulated by lobbyist interests since the year 800 |
But it is a VERY different Gita when the verses we read relate only to Samkhya and The Yoga Sutras. For starters it only has 86 verses which can be found within only the first three chapters.
It becomes very clear what verses are real Gita and which ones are not. Because those that do not relate at all to Samkhya or Patanjali's (like "Chapter VII... talks about God, faith, Maya (illusion), Brahman and spirituality...") are, well, 'added'.
He provides an impressive list of verses that have been "interpolated", meaning adding verses that are not so far off as to not seem authentic, yet with the intent to control the thinking and lead it towards a particular point of view, example:
"Chapter IV is entitled ...Yoga of Knowledge Action, and Renunciation. The title suggests that one can expect to find some philosophical deliberations, but there is not a single verse which ... containing any rational or philosophical thought. The whole chapter is concerned with the idea of incarnation, maya (illusion)... fourfold caste system, yajna (sacrifices), sin, faith..."
How did the caste system or the idea of sacrifices (related to Vedic ceremonies) come into play through Samkhya and Patanjali? There is no mention of either in them.
What Went Wrong
India has a caste system, four of them. I met a woman in my last trip to Mysore that belonged to the lowest of them. She did not know how old she was, she never looked me in the eye or accepted my thanks. She came, cleaned the floor and went back to her two sons and the depth of her poverty.
Brahmans in their quest for domination and maintaining their cast superiority added verses to the Gita to introduce Vedantic notes. According to the book this happened around the year 800 and on.
The only religious connotation in any of the major yoga philosophies, according to the book, was added then by a power struggle from the caste that rules India, the first, that of the Brahmins. It was done to maintain the lower castes in their own status quo, without letting them raise. You just continue doing what you do and leave all fruits to God, never question, lower your head, keep going.
This is how the author describes the national thought pattern of India today (book was first published in 1986):
- Work without caring for the results
- Act, but do not look for the fruits of action
- Desires cause sorrow therefore do not have them
- You only get what fate dictates
- Material wealth is inferior, spiritual life is superior
- You should strive to achieve unity with God for a happy life, to go to heaven and not be reincarnated
- Man is predestined and cannot do anything unless it is willed by God
- Sorrow, pain and misery can be removed only by God, not by human effort
The book provides a deep exploration at the issue of letting go of desires, and points out how desires are not bad, and actually striving for happiness IS part of the Samkhya philosophy and the Yoga Sutras, and even the Gita, when seen in the right light and read without modifications. Action for the betterment of society must happen. But for the betterment, not just for action without having any say. In this light action does include looking towards a result, not being totally hopeless and reduced to whatever some external preconceived destiny dictates.
Consider the last line of the Gita As It Was
"... Arjuna!, Mighty-armed, destroy this enemy which, like passion, is difficult to conquer"
Which the author concludes means:
"...Krishna advises Arjuna to fight the war and conquer the enemy who, like passion, is obscuring his knowledge and deceiving his wisdom" [my bold]
Just like the newest (post year 800) version of the Gita seems to do!
This is not shocking at all. Anyone one who truly does research on the Bible will find that it was changed and altered to fit the political needs of those who put it together and possibly even those who wrote it. Doesn't surprise me that the Gita went through some stuff too.
ReplyDeleteThat is why it is important to live in the present moment and reconnect with the spirit within to live our truth. Though the traditions of the past and the words of other wise people give us little markers and guide posts, we ultimately have to see if it resonates within.
Well, it was shocking to me... had no idea
ReplyDeletethanks fro the heads-up! my $15 copy is on its way.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, Claudia. Now I wonder how and and to what extent this traditional, non-Samkhya reading of the Gita influences the basic philosophy of Ashtanga practice, as taught by Guruji and Sharath; not to be disrespectful or anything, but they are, after all, Brahmins. Which makes me wonder if they may have interpreted the Gita and the practice in a certain way, perhaps without even being fully conscious of it.
ReplyDeleteExactly what i've been thinking Noble, re the ideas of surrender and devotion.
ReplyDeleteI agree Claudia, it's like interweaving the little baby Jesus into Richard Dawkins' The selfish gene ......kinda..... sort of ....Ok, not at all really but you know what I mean right?
Musings on Meditation, cool, enjoy
ReplyDeleteNobel, Grimmly:
I HAVE indeed been pondering, especially as I grabbed Yoga Mala again and when it came to the part of Bramacharia and how sex can be carried out in a Brahman way by a householder (by having sex only when the proper nostril is open, within the first 14 (or 16?) days after the period) etc... these do sound like very controling rules (which would help a society perhaps do birth control). No mention of this that I know of in the Yoga Sutras or Samkhya...
As I understand both Guruji and Krishnamacharya followed a tradition that included devotion, even Ramaswami I think talks about his being different from that of the big K, so yes, they are all Brahmins so they are bound to be influenced.
I suppose this book was not around at their time.
Scholarly research is only coming to light, well, for me, like, today!
Grimmly: Re the "you know what I mean" guess I do James will be responding on what we talked about on that point
Grimmly, do you mean how maybe the New Testament sort of "evolved" into how the later writers decided it should evolve (so they could remain in power) just like even the Pali Cannon evolved depending on who was doing the interpreting, who wanted to stay in power, etc. And even in Judaism, the writers of the Old Testament (probably during the time of Solomon) fashioned the history "just so" so that there guy was the one to rule everything.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I see the New testament evolving in quite that way, in the political sense, Nicaea perhaps but even then....
ReplyDeleteConstantine embracing Christianity at 'just the right time' possibly, and thus binding the eastern empire more closely together to confront the western, that might have some parallels with Simha suggesting the brahmin class embraced the puranas and Krishna cult in response to Islam and for similar reason, but that's a bit of a stretch.
I think I was responding to the first comment that seemed to suggest that what Sinha argues was done to the Gita was not such a big deal, akin to the odd minor reinterpretation of the Bible (unless Shanna you were thinking of Luther). I see it as more drastic as that, the gita, classical samkhya, all rationality being completely rewritten as a devotional, spiritual text. And of course, of course Krishnamacharya and Jois recommending the Gita as a yogic text, as they should from their perspective and background but perhaps they should be directing us to the Samkhya kalinka instead, which do you think Patanjali would have recommended?
I know you are not asking me , but following the chronology as explained in this research, the Gita came after so Patanjali would have had to recommend Samkhya.
ReplyDeleteShould I make a t-shirt that says "What Would Patanjali Do?"
Exactly : )
ReplyDeleteVery timely post for me Claudia, thank you. I've been getting into a pretty involved exploration of Patanjali with some of the folks I practice with, and am finding more and more that nearly all of the commentary on the sutras of Patanjali suffer from the same issues you mention with the Gita. Even Vyasa's reading seems flawed, though that gets complicated by how much of Vyasa's commentary gets lost in translation. I see such a wide gap in interpretation between virtually everything written about the sutras in print and that which I have learned directly from self-realised practitioners of yoga, whether they be Indian yogis, Chinese, or any of the several shades of Buddhist that I have encountered.
ReplyDeleteThat gap seems even wider when it comes to the Gita, which despite it's valuable perspective on yoga (for me the way it clearly explicates that renunciation is not the giving up of action but the giving up any attachment to the fruits of one's action is priceless) - however the Gita seems to get very inconsistent at times, overly externalizing the devotional practices and missing the heart of the science and practice of yoga.
Isvara is one of the main terms that causes this gap for me, especially when it gets translated as God - which now in our times has so much baggage attached to it. My understanding is Isvara or Iswara comes from the word swara, which is maybe best translated as the energetic undercurrent of life, or maybe best translated as the tao, that which cannot be expressed in words. (Svara has a swirling connotation to it, also the root of swastika and is used in describing the harmonic/vibrational theory of music). Isvara is the personal manisfestion of the current, maybe best translated as inner-guru or the god with-in.
For those with lot's of time to read these days I'll share a few links that have come my way recently that get into the cultural biases that effect our understanding of yoga or anything else we may study, though they are particular to yoga:
http://www.rainbowbody.net/HeartMind/Yogasutra.htm
http://www.vridhamma.org/Yoga-as-seen-in-the-light-of-Vipassana
http://www.traditionalyogastudies.com/2011/07/a-reappraisal-of-patanjalis-yoga-sutras-by-tandon/
Tom, can you believe James and I were JUST talking about relating the conept of isvarah to the Tao? and then I read your message... coincidences!
ReplyDeleteNow I am reading another book that Grimmly recommended a couple of months ago and which I had not been able to get to due to sickness (PRincenton 1950s) and it is interesting how this author thinks the Ishvara WAS there, but it has been widely misinterpreted...
It is a deep rabbit hole we are going down into, SO HAPPY YOU SENT THE LINKS. Thank you! Will be reading...
Nice, I love those coincidences! I will be curious to hear what you think of the links...they are not without their own cultural bias but I do think they add a lot of perspective. Enjoy!!
ReplyDeleteI have never been to India, but have studied the Gita a bit. And I came to a point I could see that parts of the Gita were added, but this seems to be a valid tradition in India we can see this in the Ramayana one of the longest poems in the world,and I'm sure that the purpose was to uphold the ruleing class and I believe it's true with most scripture of the world.I was surprised to find that Indians didn't spend much time reading their own teachings but when I thought about it further I believe it's because of the rigid cast system, one tends to study books in order to move whether ahead or to the past or up or down but if you are stuck with no where to go then reading books loses it's attraction.But we can see the power of the Gita in American history where it moved the New England Transcendentalist's for social action which in turn inspired Gandi to use it and that further inspired Martin Luther King in his non violent movement.Jesus said to thy own self be true! maybe we need to see words as levers and springboards more than as bricks and concrete.
ReplyDeleteFrank, I suppose that makes sense, if there is no prospect of change then why bother reading?
ReplyDeleteTom, thank you for the links, been reading and it has been an illuminating experience, wrote a post on it
ReplyDeletehttp://earthyogi.blogspot.com/2011/12/uh-oh-there-may-not-be-god.html
:-)
heyy...i am an 18 year old Indian....like i read a few of ur blogs and u r really doing a nobel thing Claudia!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've never read Shri Bhagvad Gita(i do intend to) but i dn't think so it could be tempered bcoz there's not even a single day or time when any of the wisest Indian or anyone raised quetions on it!!!
and if it wud've been tempered(or even if its news wud've emerged ) it wud've created a great hype in media and public...neways i personally feel whether it is changed or not it provides you the best means of self realisation and we shud keep believing as if its the one and only Shri Bhagvad Gita:):)
Cheers!!!!
or even it could be possible that these wise people Patanjali and all must've thought that what they think could be a better thing for people's understanding and could've been benefitted if written that way(not making much changes):):):):)
ReplyDeleteP.S. i'm thinking too much these days!!!lol
Cheers!!!!
I agree with you cheerscheers, the Gita is a fantastic tool for self realization. I suppose questioning and investigating does raise things like this once in a while, and in the end who knows? He is a scholar that worked on this project for most of his life, but then again, at the end of the day, I find that it is the practice that works for us and the text that works for us, or whatever helps us get to self realization that counts, adultered or not... many are the paths one is the goal :-)
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Mysuru,
ReplyDeleteInteresting Topic,
looking at India today, is looking at The Grand Canyon. How one sees layer and layers of sediments upon sediments all the way to the bottom and still going down. Only a cross section of India would be that much harder. It would be like logically grasping the concept of Brahman. But nevertheless a cross section worth doing to uncover all the gems and precious metals that one the oldest living civilizations on earth has in it to offer for people all over the including us the inhabitants of this magical country called 'The Tapo Bhoomi'.
This is not just a case just with the Gita, You must know that when Mahabharath was composed by vyasa. Which was initially called 'Jaya' had 25,000 verses to what eventually and gradually became the well known Mahabharatha of today with over a 100,000 verses. Not just that, even Ramayana, another great epic orignally written by Valmiki, has as many as 300 versions today. from India till Bali.
Here's an interesting blog about mythology decoded for you http://devdutt.com/articles/mahabharata/from-jaya-to-mahabharata.html
If one searches for the origins of Yoga, Even Patanjali's Yoga sutra could be shocker. For the influence of Jainism's percepts of Ahimsa and other 4 yamas seem unmistakably similar. What about the similarities one finds in Samkhya and Buddhism. Tantra and Buddhism. Tantra and Vaidika(Vedic) dharma. It all gets tangled.
The National thought pattern and caste system is an interesting subject in itself. The reality is far from the Ideals that the great minds and their philosophies. only realized by seekers.
Here elders often quote this saying which goes "One shouldn't go in search finding the root of either a Rishi(seer) or that of a River" This also influences the national thought pattern a great deal. Whether its good or bad is left for an Individual to figure. thein comes the use of the mind. A Brahmin is smart and quick to grasp all the subtleties of it, uses it to either influence the rest of the varnas(casts) for social good or most of the times for his own benefit. but the truth makes no distinction, any true seeker knows its truth.