Gita VII...Krishna, the teacher

Krishna plays an important part in the story of Mahabharata where he is presented as the friend of Arjuna. He preaches the virtues of austerity, charity, uprightness, non-violence and truthfulness. The book is called Bhagavad-Gita because Krishna is known as the Bhagavan (GOD). Gita was taught by Krishna when during the fight between the Kauravas and Pandavas, both the armies had got ready for war and Arjuna had become depressed.

In the Gita, Krishna is identified with Supreme Lord, the unity that lies behind the manifold universe, the changeless truth behind all appearances, transcendent over all and immanent in all. Krishna is called Paramatman which implies transcendence; the essential life of all.

The representation of an individual identical with the universe self is a very familiar concept in Hinduism. In the Upanishads, the fully awakened soul merges with the Absolute One. In the Gita, Krishna says, “delivered from passion, fear and anger, absorbed in me, taking refuge in me, many purified by the austerity of wisdom have attained to my state of being.”

The ego holds something other than, to which it should abandon itself. In this abandonment, one can find true liberation of the soul. A liberated soul uses its body as a vehicle for manifestation of the eternal. The divinity claimed by Krishna is the common reward of all those who seek spirituality. Krishna is everywhere and in each one of us, as ready to speak to us now as ever was anyone else. He is not a bygone personality but the indwelling spirit, an object for our spiritual awakening.

God is never born in the ordinary sense. Processes of birth and reincarnation which imply limitations do not apply to him. When the lord is said to manifest himself at a particular time, particular occasion, it means that it takes place with reference to finite being. God is born for the protection of the good, the destruction of the evil and the upholding the righteousness.

Krishna is an incarnation or descent of the Divine into the human form. Krishna is human embodiment of Vishnu. The assumption of the human nature by the Divine Reality, like the creation of the world, does not take away from or add to the integrity of the Divine.

Gita VI...Trinity----Creator, Preserver and Destroyer

The divine pattern and potential matter, both of which derived are from GOD; who is the beginning, the middle and the end, are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

God with creative ideas is Brahma, and who pours out his love and patience is Vishnu. When the conceptual becomes cosmic, God is represented by Shiva. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are fundamentally one though conceived in a threefold manner.

Vishnu is the internal controller who pervades the whole universe. He gathers to himself in an ever increasing measure, the position and dignity of external supreme. Krsna, the teacher of GITA, becomes identified with Vishnu, the ancient lord of the sun, and Narayana, an ancient God of cosmic character and the goal.

The real is the supracosmic, eternal, space less Brahman who supports this cosmic manifestation in space and time. He is the universal spirit, paramatman, who ensouls the cosmic forms and movements. He fills our being, illumines our understanding and sets in motion its hidden springs.

Though God controls it, he too has the element of negativity or Maya. He puts forth his active nature and controls the souls who work out their destinies along lines determined by their own natures. God is impersonal Absolute as well as the immanent will; He is uncaused cause, the unmoved mover. The boundless universe in an endless space and time rests in Him and not Him in it.

Gita V...All pervading Supreme God

For the supreme, it can be said, “thou art the woman; the man; the youth; the maiden. Thou face all directions." He is not visible; He can only be known with the heart; the mind. Those who know him this way become immortal. He is the Universal God who Himself is the Universe which He includes within His own self. He is the light within us. He is the Supreme Being whose shadow is life and death.

The Supreme is Immutable and the Unthinkable. He is the source of all that is, He is himself immovable. The Eternal Reality not only supports His existence but also is the active power is the world. God is both transcendent, dwelling in light, inaccessible, yet "more intimate to the soul than the soul itself. The Supreme is at once the transcendental, the cosmic and the individual reality. In its transcendental aspect, it is pure self, unaffected by any action or experience, detached, unconcerned. In its dynamic aspect, it not only supports but governs the whole cosmic actions and this very Self which is one, all in all, above all; is present in all individuals.

If the universe consists of thinking individuals, who can be influenced but not controlled, for God is not a dictator, conflict is inevitable. The world consists of free spirits meaning that evil is possible and probable. One cannot seek truth, beauty and goodness if there is no evil, error or ugliness.

Without negativism, there can never be positivism. For the Gita, the world is scene of an active struggle between good and evil. As God is completely good, His love is boundless, He is concerned about the suffering of the world. God is omnipotent as there are no external limits to his power. The social nature of the world is not imposed on God, but is willed by Him. The law of Karma does not limit the omnipotence of God. The reign of law is the mind and will of God and cannot be regarded as a limitation of His power.

The emphasis of the Gita is on the Supreme as a God who is close to us at a personal level. He resides in everyone's heart, God stirs our heart, grants our prayers; He is the source and sustainer of values. We can seek Him on a personal level only by our faith, worship and prayers.

He is responsible for creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe. He has both higher and lower values. The living represents the higher and material medium, the lower. God is responsible for the ideal plan and the concrete medium through which the ideal becomes actual, the conceptual, the cosmic. God is at the same time, wisdom, love and perfection.