What do you think about the "As it is" commentary to the Bhagavad Gita?

Question

by Prabhupada.

Also, what is it based on?

Answer 1

I have been interested in Bhagavad Gita As It Is for over thirty years. The translation and purports are unique. The translations seem to be in a style that puts these translations in words for people here today. The purports are not always easy reading. The following of Srila Prabhupada have made the study of this Gita easier by creation of research software with which you can look up any term or phrase throughout the book. The purports may require careful reflection and some of the concepts in the translations themselves may be difficult for modern people to understand. However, many of the translations are very relevant for the people of today both individually and collectively.

Throughout Bhagavad Gita As It Is Srila Prabhupada attempts to push the reader to the highest levels of Bhakti Yoga practice. This would include the Sadhana Bhakti as well as the Prema Bhakti. We need to try and consider Srila Prabhupada's justification for this push to Bhakti Yoga platform for everyone. It may help to consider when and how the Bhagavad Gita As It Is was produced. Althought Srila Prabhupada had tremendous knowledge of the Bhakti Yoga Vaisnava teachings and although pretty fluent in English, still English was not his first language and he was getting up in years. Srila Prabhupada apparently had a lot of help from his followers to produce the Bhagavad Gita As It Is and his other Vaisnava works.

Answer 2

Emagine Lord Krishn telling to Arjun in the Bhagwad Gita itself, that what " I " am going to tell you is the secret of all the secrets. If the secret could be comprehended by any body other than Arjuna, why Krishn will tell that. Is it that the secret is out now? Or are we more capable than Arjuna to understand the Gita?

I have not done the futile exercise of reading Gita so far for this very reason. And I know that no body except a living saint can explain that to me. How on earth we are expecting someone's transliteration to be of help to us?

Yes we can read that and end up just appreciating the work. The task is to get the knowledge through a saint. Just reading books and works is not going to help.

And 'as it is', to me means, as it is to his belief. My task is specific to me and does not depend on any book. Its a practical task, and even my appreciation of the saint who will guide me, will be only personal. The saint will not like if I make a propaganda of him, or tell others to follow him.

Answer 3

Don't remember the commentary. I've read the Gita many times, carry it with me often and keep it on my nightstand. The actual Gita is what I focus on, not his commentary (he is a great man though).

Answer 4

"The BHAGAVAD-GITA As It Is" - is the translation and commentary of the Bhagavad Gita by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). It is known amongst other translations of the Bhagavad Gita for its strong emphasis on the path of bhakti yoga above all others in line with the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The book has been widely distributed, largely through promotion by the modern Hare Krishna movement and is published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust...

For each verse, the book includes the original devanagari script, a Roman transliteration, word-for-word Sanskrit-English meanings, a translation, and an extensive commentary by Srila Prabhupada based on various Gaudiya Vaishnava works including: Ramanuja Bhasya (in Sanskrit); Sarartha-varsini-tika (Sanskrit) by Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura; Gita-bhusana-tika (Sanskrit) by Baladeva Vidyabhushana; and Bhaktivinode Thakur's Bengali commentaries.

Thus the book advocates the path of bhakti toward Krishna, who is seen as identical to Vishnu, in direct opposition to other monistic interpretations. This has led to criticisms from a number of figures who disagree with Prabhupada's literal approach. Sivarama Swami refutes its criticisms in his book Bhaktivedanta Purports: Perfect Explanation of the Bhagavad-Gita, ISBN 1-887089-12-8, Torchlight, 1998.

It is written in the tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and the members of ISKCON consider the book authoritative and literally true (mukhya-vrtti). Like the majority of Hindu organisations ISKCON regards the Bhagavad Gita as the essence of the Vedic knowledge and the Upanishads...

Socially, Bhagavad Gita As It Is suggests a way of life derived from the Manu Smriti and other books of Hindu religious and social law applied for the contemporary Western world wherein ideal human society is described as being divided into four Varnas (brahmana - intellectuals, kshatriya - administrators, vaishya – merchants, shudra - workers). Within his writings Prabhupada supports the view that one becomes a member of one of the Varnas not by birth but by one's personal qualities (guna) and the type of work (karma) one actually performs (BG 4.13). Society is described as best ruled by a benevolent kshatriya sovereign, who is to govern according to rules set by scriptural tradition and preserved by the brahmana priesthood representing a spiritual leadership. The kshatriya sovereign (like courts in many democratic states) may also order capital punishment.

Brahmanas, elders, women, children and cows are said to be awarded special protection, with animals, especially cows, being preserved from slaughter at all costs. Prabhupada encourages readers to adopt a lacto-vegetarian diet and gives agriculture as the ideal economical basis of society. Ultimately Prabhupada gives the conclusion that society should be "Krishna conscious" -- a society based around devotion (bhakti) to Krishna (God)...

Answer 5

hmmm i don't recall the commentary part but i do enjoy the stories and the pretty pictures. Hindu myths are so imaginative, lush and colorful. fun to read (except for page after page of Arjuna azz kissing Krishna. very tedious)

Answer 6

I have copied and pasted the Preface to Bhagavad-gita As It Is, by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness himself. Please read it and judge yourself.

Originally I wrote Bhagavad-gita As It Is in the form in which it is presented now. When this book was first published, the original manuscript was, unfortunately, cut short to less than 400 pages, without illustrations and without explanations for most of the original verses of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita. In all of my other books -- Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Isopanishad, etc. -- the system is that I give the original verse, its English transliteration, word-for-word Sanskrit-English equivalents, translations and purports. This makes the book very authentic and scholarly and makes the meaning self-evident. I was not very happy, therefore, when I had to minimize my original manuscript. But later on, when the demand for Bhagavad-gita As It Is considerably increased, I was requested by many scholars and devotees to present the book in its original form. Thus the present attempt is to offer the original manuscript of this great book of knowledge with full parampara explanation in order to establish the Krishna consciousness movement more soundly and progressively.

Our Krishna consciousness movement is genuine, historically authorized, natural and transcendental due to its being based on Bhagavad-gita As It Is. It is gradually becoming the most popular movement in the entire world, especially amongst the younger generation. It is becoming more and more interesting to the older generation also. Older gentlemen are becoming interested, so much so that the fathers and grandfathers of my disciples are encouraging us by becoming life members of our great society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In Los Angeles many fathers and mothers used to come to see me to express their feelings of gratitude for my leading the Krishna consciousness movement throughout the entire world. Some of them said that it is greatly fortunate for the Americans that I have started the Krishna consciousness movement in America. But actually the original father of this movement is Lord Krishna Himself, since it was started a very long time ago but is coming down to human society by disciplic succession. If I have any credit in this connection, it does not belong to me personally, but it is due to my eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya 108 Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja Prabhupada.

If personally I have any credit in this matter, it is only that I have tried to present Bhagavad-gita as it is, without any adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad-gita were introduced to fulfill someone's personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gita As It Is, is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. Our business is to present the will of Krishna, not that of any mundane speculator like the politician, philosopher or scientist, for they have very little knowledge of Krishna, despite all their other knowledge. When Krishna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65], etc., we, unlike the so-called scholars, do not say that Krishna and His inner spirit are different. Krishna is absolute, and there is no difference between Krishna's name, Krishna's form, Krishna's qualities, Krishna's pastimes, etc. This absolute position of Krishna is difficult to understand for any person who is not a devotee of Krishna in the system of parampara (disciplic succession). Generally the so-called scholars, politicians, philosophers, and svamis, without perfect knowledge of Krishna, try to banish or kill Krishna when writing commentary on Bhagavad-gita. Such unauthorized commentary upon Bhagavad-gita is known as Mayavada-bhashya, and Lord Caitanya has warned us about these unauthorized men. Lord Caitanya clearly says that anyone who tries to understand Bhagavad-gita from the Mayavadi point of view will commit a great blunder. The result of such a blunder will be that the misguided student of Bhagavad-gita will certainly be bewildered on the path of spiritual guidance and will not be able to go back to home, back to Godhead.

Our only purpose is to present this Bhagavad-gita As It Is in order to guide the conditioned student to the same purpose for which Krishna descends to this planet once in a day of Brahma, or every 8,600,000,000 years. This purpose is stated in Bhagavad-gita, and we have to accept it as it is; otherwise there is no point in trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita and its speaker, Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna first spoke Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god some hundreds of millions of years ago. We have to accept this fact and thus understand the historical significance of Bhagavad-gita, without misinterpretation, on the authority of Krishna. To interpret Bhagavad-gita without any reference to the will of Krishna is the greatest offense. In order to save oneself from this offense, one has to understand the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He was directly understood by Arjuna, Lord Krishna's first disciple. Such understanding of Bhagavad-gita is really profitable and authorized for the welfare of human society in fulfilling the mission of life.

The Krishna consciousness movement is essential in human society, for it offers the highest perfection of life. How this is so is explained fully in the Bhagavad-gita. Unfortunately, mundane wranglers have taken advantage of Bhagavad-gita to push forward their demonic propensities and mislead people regarding right understanding of the simple principles of life. Everyone should know how God, or Krishna, is great, and everyone should know the factual position of the living entities. Everyone should know that a living entity is eternally a servant and that unless one serves Krishna one has to serve illusion in different varieties of the three modes of material nature and thus wander perpetually within the cycle of birth and death; even the so-called liberated Mayavadi speculator has to undergo this process. This knowledge constitutes a great science, and each and every living being has to hear it for his own interest.

People in general, especially in this Age of Kali, are enamored by the external energy of Krishna, and they wrongly think that by advancement of material comforts every man will be happy. They have no knowledge that the material or external nature is very strong, for everyone is strongly bound by the stringent laws of material nature. A living entity is happily the part and parcel of the Lord, and thus his natural function is to render immediate service to the Lord. By the spell of illusion one tries to be happy by serving his personal sense gratification in different forms which will never make him happy. Instead of satisfying his own personal material senses, he has to satisfy the senses of the Lord. That is the highest perfection of life. The Lord wants this, and He demands it. One has to understand this central point of Bhagavad-gita. Our Krishna consciousness movement is teaching the whole world this central point, and because we are not polluting the theme of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gita must take help from the Krishna consciousness movement for practical understanding of Bhagavad-gita under the direct guidance of the Lord. We hope, therefore, that people will derive the greatest benefit by studying Bhagavad-gita As It Is as we have presented it here, and if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we shall consider our attempt a success.
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
12 May, 1971
Sydney, Australia
http://vedabase.net/bg/preface/en1

What it is based on?
In the introduction Prabhupada gives the following;

Evam parampara-praptam imam rajarshayo viduh (Bhagavad-gita 4.2). This Bhagavad-gita As It Is is received through this disciplic succession:

1. Krishna
2. Brahma
3. Narada
4. Vyasa
5. Madhva
6. Padmanabha
7. Nrihari
8. Madhava
9. Akshobhya
10. Jaya Tirtha
11. Jnanasindhu
12. Dayanidhi
13. Vidyanidhi
14. Rajendra
15. Jayadharma
16. Purushottama
17. Brahmanya Tirtha
18. Vyasa Tirtha
19. Lakshmipati
20. Madhavendra Puri
21. Isvara Puri, (Nityananda, Advaita)
22. Lord Caitanya
23. Rupa, (Svarupa, Sanatana)
24. Raghunatha, Jiva
25. Krishnadasa
26. Narottama
27. Visvanatha
28. (Baladeva) Jagannatha
29. Bhaktivinoda
30. Gaurakisora
31. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
32. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada
http://vedabase.net/bg/introduction/en1