Who is the real author of Bhagavat Gita? – By: BK. T.D Joseph
Article by: BK. T. D. Joseph, Bangalore, India tdjaum(AT)gmail.com – If you have questions or remarks about this article, please contact the author.
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Suppose you heard a great joke attributed to somebody. Prima facie, you know that this particular joke was cracked originally in some joyous occasion, but never in a funeral house! Because jokes are designed to make people laugh, not to make them mourn as happens in a funeral house. Similarly, if you really know the essence of Bhagavat Gita, you will immediately come to know whether it was delivered, as conventionally believed, in a physical battle-ground, or in some other time by somebody other than Krishna.
The Essence of Gita
MOVE FROM THE EPHEMERAL TO THE ETERNAL is the thread that runs throughoutThe Gita, as detailed below:
• “Be firmly attached to the Supreme Soul alone,” (2:48, 72; 8:7; 12:6, 7; 10:15; 14:4; 18:62) abandoning all attachment to the results and the temporary security, such as body, objects and relatives. (2:71; 9:33; 18:66)
• Treat “alike” all pairs of opposites such as “heat and cold,” “friend and foe,” “honor and dishonor” which comprehend the entire possibility of experiences in life—physical, mental and intellectual respectively.—Gita 2:14, 38, 45; 12:17-19; 14:24, 25; 18:54.
And this is called Sanatana Dharma or ETERNAL DUTY.—12:20; 14:27
A message of this sort makes no sense in a literal war-field as the listener is ordered to treat “friend and foe alike,” hence would not have been delivered as a prelude to a great war between two conflicted armies. Besides, participants of the so-called war were also not literal. For example, names of the key persons, such as 100 sons of Drutarashtra start with Du which means evil—Duryodhana (one who uses money for evil purposes), Dussasana (one who breathes out evil commands) … etc. No parents would name their children this way from birth before their character unfolds. The weapons purportedly used in Mahabharata War are also prophetic in nature, which would exist only in our period. So is the case with the number of soldiers killed in the war, which is so great a number that can also happen only in our time. [The place where the war was supposed to have taken place, Kurukshetra, is a small village in India which could not have accommodated even a fraction of that army.] Thus, the prophetic nature of Mahabharata (of which Gita is claimed to be a part) picturises a future global situation, climax of the Iron Age, which is actually the time we are now living in, where weapons of mass destruction are a reality and the evils such as “lust, anger and greed” are the actual rulers of the present world system of things.
Who authored Gita?
In its chapter 3, verse 3 says: “O sinless one, at the onset of creation, a two-fold path of spiritual discipline was given by ME to this world: the path of Self-knowledge (Gyan Yoga) for the contemplative, and the path of unselfish work (Karma Yoga) for the active.” Then verse 24 says it is He who sustains the three worlds. Thus these verses clearly identify the author of Gita as the same as the Author of the universe, who is also called “Supreme Ruler of the Universe” and “the Father, the Well-Wisher and the Friend of all beings,” from which SHIVA, the most appropriate personal name of God derives. (Gita 5:29; 9:17; 10:1). [This may remind one of JEHOVA, which also has those two phonetic parts, ‘SHI’ & ‘VA’, meaning Redeemer] He is also called “the origin and the dissolution,” (Gita 9:18) which are the basis of the symbol of Siva Lingam (Lin, Sanskrit, equivalent of laya which means dissolution; gam, from agamaman, which means arrival / comimg). Thus Siva Lingam is a pointer, which stands for that entity which destroys [the heaven-turned hell, now existing on earth] and re-creates [the hell into heaven on earth] that happens at the end of every Kalpa (cycle of 5000 years).—Compare Gita 9:7; 8:17; 4:1-8)
Now who is the actual recipient of the message?
If major elements are all symbolic, then the recipient also should be symbolic. Though various forms of addressing are used, one particular addressing, “O sinless one,” used in Gita 3:3 suggests that Gita message will be actually conveyed, in detail and in absolute clarity, to a group of people whose hallmark will be purity, who will appear on the world scene toward the end of the Iron Age. God Himself identifies them as those “who are rejoiced to hear ME,” those “who know ME as the Supreme Lord of the universe, and are undeluded and free from ALL SINS,” “who are worshipping ME with loving ecstasy [or intoxication],” ‘whose minds remain absorbed in ME and whose lives surrendered unto ME and who always enlighten each other by talking about ME and remain ever content and delighted.’ (Gita 10:1, 3, 8, 9). In other words, God is the ultimate Doer of Good, and so are his children who “do good to all beings,” taking delight in doing so.” (Gita 5:25; 12:4) Those who associate with Brahmakumaris can testify that this description perfectly fits with them.
Why is it called “eternal duty”?
The above-mentioned subject matter (sermon) of Gita is called “eternal duty,” because it is reinforced at the end of each Kalpa (cycle of 5000 years). This is in fulfillment of God’s own promise that He would reincarnate at the end of each Kalpa when there is a sharp decline of righteousness and religiousness on a global scale, which we are experiencing now. (Gita 4:7; 11:18) This means God, the Supreme Father of all souls, has already arrived in our time, has been repeating the Gita, and reestablished Adi Sanatan Devi- Devata Dharm (the Original Eternal Deity Religion), which gets continued in Satyug (Golden Age) and Tretayug (Silver Age) in the next Kalpa / Time Cycle.
Those who associate with Brahma Kumaris experience first-hand the exposition of the essence of Gita through their daily morning class called Murli. By their adherence to this, they naturally become pure, the white-clad Pandavas in a spiritual sense, who fight against vices [the real enemy of man, according to Gita 3:34, 37; 16:21] of Maya as to remain “firmly attached to Supreme Father,” thus to enter into the Golden Age that is already on the horizon!
The Mahabharat story is being played now in this Iron Age (Kaliyug). Let us listen to the divine versions of God delivered at this time, and imbibe them so that we can take part in ushering in the Golden age (Satyug) where all the people would be healthy, wealthy and wise.
Exploring the Depth of Living 
Understanding Gita was never so easy……Thanks alot
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