The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter XVIII: Reflections within the final chapter with
Kashmir Shaivite Swami Lakshmanjoo and other saints, sages, savants & scholars
An Introduction:
It has been a few years now since I wrote my comments on the Bhagavad Gita. I
consider the Bhagavad Gita as the one best source of wisdom-knowledge available.
It is the distillation, the essence of all the other Sanskrit texts brilliantly
conceived, interwoven and connected by Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa. The Gita is
within the Mahabharata, chapters 25 to 42 of the Bhishma Parvan (the Book of
Bhishma). The Kashmir Shaivite Abhinavagupta has said that the Bhagavad Gita has
the power to enlighten. I agree whole-heartedly. In these new writings I will
focus on the last final summing up Chapter XVIII, which I previously
intentionally left for a later day. Through the lenses of great scholars, sages
and saints - in whose steps I have gratefully followed - I hope to weave various
layers of reflections on this superbly liberating poem, along with my own born
in humility from Grace and Love.
Swami Lakshmanjoo (1907-1991)
“The Bhagavad Gita in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism” as revealed by Kashmir
Shaivite saint and scholar, Swami Lakshmanjoo was in part initially recorded in
Nepal by John & Denise Hughes in 1990. This Kashmiri version of the Bhagavad
Gita, the complete eighteen chapters with commentaries, was published in 2013 by
The Universal Shaiva Fellowship, and is available as a hardback book that
includes a set of 27 DVDs – and a more affordable paperback version to be
released soon. Its publication is the child of the many years of love,
sacrifice, self-less dedicated service required to record and collect Swami
Lakshmanjoo’s teachings, and a rigorous concentrated effort to maintain a high
degree of perfect and correct Sanskrit scholarship.
John & Denise Hughes have generously granted me permission to quote from Swami
Lakshmanjoo’s translation of the Bhagavad Gita, which is based on the commentary
of the Kashmir Shaivite genius and enlightened sage Abhinavagupta (975-1025 AD).
In 1933 at the age of twenty-six Swami Lakshmanjoo published the unique Kashmiri
Sanskrit recension of the Bhagavad Gita, used by Abhinavagupta for his
commentary, which differs from other available recensions. There are fifteen
additional verses in the Kashmiri recension. The recent publication of Swami
Lakshmanjoo’s revealed translation is an event many of us have been eagerly
waiting for. Swami Lakshmanjoo possessed perfect memory and was “extremely
well-read, well-informed in Eastern and Western religious and philosophical
traditions” [John Hughes].
Truthfully I do feel that Kashmir Shaivism for me is the ultimate teaching, the
highest understanding and source of Truth, Wisdom-Knowledge, and traditional
primordial metaphysics. However I have also found value in exploring other
commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita. Thus I will wander in the delight of
reflecting insights from the polymath K.K. Nair/Krishna Chaitanya, Swami Muni
Narayana Prasad, J.A.B. van Buitenen, Boris Marjanovic, Winthrop Sargeant, and
others.
I was not fortunate enough to have studied with Swami Lakshmanjoo, nor did I
ever meet him. I had completed my own commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita in 2006
when I began a serious concentrated study of the Shiva Sutras as translated by
Jaideva Singh and as I read the various other Kashmir Shaivite texts translated
by Jaideva Singh, like so many before me, I began to notice Jaideva Singh’s
repeated declarations of gratitude to Swami Lakshmanjoo. One feels that Jaideva
Singh admits that without Swami Lakshmanjoo to guide him through the encoded
Sanskrit in the Kashmir Shaivite texts, Singh would have been lost. I began to
order Swami Lakshmanjoo’s work, literally everything published by John & Denise
Hughes at the Universal Shaivite Foundation in Los Angeles.
In 2008 I unexpectedly moved to New Zealand and here began to intensely listen
to and watch the DVDs recorded by John Hughes. I immersed myself in the lectures
and affectionately began calling Swami Lakshmanjoo simply Lakshman, which
according to John & Denise is what he called himself. I cannot say when or even
exactly what happened during this ‘immersion’ period, but I know that my
consciousness shifted, was irreversibly altered as I experienced and was touched
by his ‘Grace’ in ways that changed me forever. I cannot sufficiently express my
gratitude to Swami Lakshmanjoo — and to John & Denise Hughes for all the hours
they spent on cold Kashmir floors recording Lakshman’s words. They hold the
treasure storehouse of what may be the last Wisdom-Knowledge remaining in this
Kali Yuga.
Kashmir Shaivism is not easy. There are many Sanskrit terms that at first seem
impossibly arduous, but the task is light compared to being trapped in this
miasma of amnesia and ever-expanding webs of delusion through endless cycles of
time. Swami Lakshmanjoo is the proverbial jewel beyond price, the boat that
carries us across this sea of ignorance and delusion. Over the years I have many
times made plans to travel to India and Kashmir, but destiny always had other
ideas. Perhaps my sweet longing was fulfilled by John & Denise Hughes, who
brought Swami Lakshmanjoo to me. Thank you.
K.K. Nair/Krishna Chaitanya (1918-1994)
K.K. Nair took the pen name Krishna Chaitanya. Whenever I read his books, which
I have gone to great trouble to even locate and expense to purchase, I am struck
by the madly incomprehensible thought that his brilliant insightful works are
out of print! I am completely bewildered by this and often find myself feeling
emotional, sad and even a bit angry that India could have forgotten this
wonderful man, both polymath and poet whose keen sensitive mind was wide and
capable of embracing all knowledge east and west, who during his life was
awarded every possible honour and published forty beautifully written books.
In a collection of his papers, Suguna Ramachandra has written a profile of K.K.
Nair/Krishna Chaitanya and said: “The record of work of Krishna Chaitanya…is in
many respects unique…his major projects have been hailed with a shower of
superlatives by scores of critics; they have been called stupendous, monumental,
phenomenal, colossal, their vast groundwork baffling comprehension.”
The accomplishments of K.K. Nair/Krishna Chaitanya have been compared to Thomas
Aquinas, Teilard de Chardin, Dante, and even Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, the
author of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. Apparently, according to Suguna
Ramachandra, this last comparison to Vyasa upset K.K. Nair/Krishna Chaitanya
“for [as he was] capable of deep reverence where it is due, he regards it a
sacrilege to bracket him with the thinker whom he hero-worships.”
Suguna Ramachandra: “He [K.K. Nair/Krishna Chaitanya] has worked incessantly all
his life for a recovery of certitude, of the faith in the benignity of existence
and man’s possibility of realising meaning in life, which have been shattered by
the accumulation of segmental knowledge, more and more about less and less,
without an integrative wisdom.” And this was years before the twittered mush
vagaries of the Internet!
A review of his 'Gita and Modern Man' in the Hindustani Times, July 5, 1987:
“The magnum opus of his brooding brilliant mind, this book of Krishna Chaitanya,
the fabulous polymath, is the work of a life-time. As he sees it, Vyasa was
attempting an integration of knowledge, from the physics of matter to the psyche
of man. …No recent writer comes anywhere near him.”
In his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, K.K. Nair/Krishna Chaitanya argues for
enlightened acts that contribute to the well being of the world, acts that are
grounded in the knowledge that we are all the One, acts that are not selfishly
motivated. I feel that his ‘The Gita for Modern Man’ is both a profound
excellent understanding of Vyasa’s vast intended Wisdom and a practical guide to
those who have dedicated themselves to making a difference, who are working as
he says for the ‘weal’ of the world. He also wrote a wonderful book on the
Mahabharata, which focuses on the deeply fascinating complexity and symbolism in
the individual characters. I will expand on K.K. Nair/Krishna Chaitanya’s life
and ideas in a separate article.
Swami Muni Narayana Prasad (1938 -)
Although I know little about Swami Muni Narayana Prasad, I began reading him
because he had translated many of the Upanishads. I was struck by his refreshing
ability to directly communicate the meaning of the texts in powerful yet simple
language. It seemed obvious to me that his understanding was so great, profound
and comprehensive that he was able to write the essence of these ancient texts
as concisely as humanly possible and in an accessible down-to-earth modern
English. His translation of the Mundaka Upanishad really influenced my thinking
and I began to buy his other publications, including the Bhagavad Gita.
Swami Muni Narayana Prasad was born in 1938 in Kerala, India. He graduated from
Engineering College Thiruvananthapuram (the capital). From 1960 he lived in
Narayana Gurukulam as a disciple of Nataraja Guru. He has authored over 90 books
including commentaries on the Katha, Kena, Mundaka, Prasna, Taittiriya, Aitareya
and Chandogya Upanishads. The official language of Kerala is Malayalam. He is
obviously a wonderfully gifted writer and I am grateful that he decided to
devote part of his life to the difficult task of translating these sacred
Sanskrit texts into the more limited and certainly less expressive English
language.
J.A.B. van Buitenen (1928-1979)
J.A.B. van Buitenen is the Sanskrit scholar whose brilliant incomplete
translation of the Mahabharata first seduced me, back in the late 1980s, into
the endlessly fascinating epic world of the Bharatas. His translation of the
Bhagavad Gita remains one of my favourites and I often consult him when I am
perplexed. When a particularly subtle meaning eludes me, I ask myself, “What did
J.A.B. van Buitenen say?” and head for his straightforward clean translation,
which praise the heavens, is still in print. Thank you.
Boris Marjanovic
Boris Marjanovic ‘discovered’ the Kashmir Shaivite saint and genius
Abhinavagupta as a graduate student at the University of Iowa and “felt an urge
to absorb and internalize his teachings.” In 2002 Indica Books in Varanasi,
India published Marjanovic’s translation of Abhinavagupta’s commentary on the
Bhagavad Gita. As Marjanovic says in his introduction, “…reading [Abhinavagupta’s]
original texts requires much more than a knowledge of Sanskrit. …their
comprehension is not only dependent on the intellectual understanding of the
philosophical system, but also on the experience which comes as a result of
practice.”
In my own pursuit to understand the Bhagavad Gita, I found Marjanovic’s
translation enormously helpful. It was an expansion of the other translations
and I agree as he points out, only those who are actually practicing meditation
and proceeding experientially into higher states of consciousness will truly
appreciate Abhinavagupta’s teachings. Marjanovic quotes from Swami Lakshmanjoo’s
‘Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme’ in his introduction. Once again we see
evidence that all the scholars who were interested in Kashmir Shaivism sought
out Swami Lakshmanjoo.
Marjanovic explains the basics of Kashmir Shaivism in the introduction and one
of the most intriguing aspects of this school is that Abhinavagupta advises
those who have not yet attained perfection and are engaged in practice “not to
withdraw form the world but to enjoy the objects of the senses while at the same
time continuing the practice of deep meditation.” The Oneness is ubiquitous
all-pervading everywhere and everything, so what is not sacred? It is only our
deluded state of ignorance that makes us feel we must reject the world.
Abstaining from life never works — and in fact remaining in God-Consciousness
while engaging in worldly activities is far more difficult. “As a result of this
experience a yogin perceives all beings as part of the Divine." [BhG V.19]
I’m certain a few more of my favourite sages will join this adventure, and I
could not easily find my way through the Gita’s Sanskrit without Winthrop
Sargeant (1903-1986), who also was an aspiring violinist and professional music
critic. Sargeant’s Bhagavad Gita is essentially a dictionary; in his words, “an
interlinear word-for-word arrangement…the metrical formation of the poem’s
stanzas, and their grammatical structures.” I don’t always agree with Sargeant’s
beautiful translations, but his book is invaluable and my copy is filled with my
colour-pen notes and happily falling apart from love.
So I invite you to join me on another journey into my beloved Bhagavad Gita, the
final Chapter XVIII, always remembering as Swami Lakshmanjoo has so wisely said,
“However much you tried to do it, but it was, in the long run, it was for
realizing the truth of God, so it was Divine.”
We meet in the Heart,
V. Susan Ferguson
"This whole universe has come into existence just to carry you to God
consciousness." - Swami Lakshmanjoo, The Shiva Sutras
Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism, with original video, Revealed
by Swami Lakshmanjoo, Edited by John Hughes, Co-editors Viresh Hughes and Denise
Hughes; Universal Shaiva Fellowship, 2013.
The Gita for Modern Man, by Krishna Chaitanya; Clarion Books, Associated with
Hind Pocket Books, New Delhi, 1986, 1992.
KRISHNA CHAITANYA, A Profile and Selected Papers; Edited by Suguna Ramachandra;
Konark Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, 1991.
Life’s Pilgrimage Through The Gita, by Swami Muni Narayana Prasad; D.K.
Printworld, New Delhi, 2005, 2008.
The Bhagavad Gita in the Mahabharata, A Bilingual Edition, translated by J.A.B.
van Buitenen; The University of Chicago Press, 1981.
The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Winthrop Sargeant; State University of New York
Press, 1994.
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