Gita Dhyanam

Sripada Sankaracarya

 

 

In Sankara's Gita Dhyanam (Meditation on Bhagavad-gita) his real nature as Siva the vaisnava devotee of the Lord is more revealed.That Gita Dhyanam follows:

 

1.

                              parthaya pratibodhitam bhagavata narayanena svayam

                            vyasena grathitam purana-munina madhye mahabharatam

                                advaitamrta-varsinam bhagavatim astadasadhyayinim

                              amba tvam anusandadhami bhagavad-gite bhava-dvesinim

 

"O Bhagavad-gita, thou hast been instructed to Arjuna, the son of Prtha by the Lord Himself and afterwards thee were included within the Mahabharata by the ancient sage Vyasa.  Thy eighteen divine chapters are a shower of the immortal nectar of the wisdom of the Absolute.  O mother, destroyer of man's rebirth into the darkness of this mortal world, upon thee I meditate."

 

2.

                                namo 'stu te vyasa visala-buddhe

                                   phullaravindayata-patra-netra

                                yena tvaya bharata-taila-purnah

                                   prajvalito jnana-mayah pradipah

 

"Obeisances to thee, O Vyasa, thou art of mighty intellect, and thine eyes are large as the petals of the full-blown lotus.  It was by thee that the oil-filled lamp of knowledge of the Mahabharata was lit."

 

3.

                                  prapanna-pari jataya

                                     totra-vetraika-panaye

                                  jnana-mudraya krsnaya

                                     gitamrta-duhe namah

 

"I offer obeisances unto Lord Krsna, the refuge of ocean-born Laksmi and all who take refuge at His lotus feet. His one hand holds a staff for driving cows, and the other hand is raised, the thumb touching the tip of the forefinger, indicating divine knowledge.  He is the milker of the immortal nectar of the Bhagavad-gita."

 

4.

                                     sarvopanisado gavo

                                       dogdha 'gopala-nandanah

                                     partho vaisah sudhir bhokta

                                       dugdham gitamrtam mahat

 

"The Upanisads are as a herd of cows, Lord Krsna, son of a cowherd, is their mother, Arjuna is the calf, the supreme nectar of the Gita is the milk, and the wise man of purified intellect is the drinker."

 

5.

                                        vasudeva-sutam devam

                                            kamsa-canura-mardanam

                                        devaki-paramanandam

                                            krsnam vande jagad-gurum

 

"I offer my obeisances to Lord Krsna, the beloved son of Vasudeva, destroyer of the demons Kamsa and Canura, the supreme bliss of Mother Devaki and the spiritual master of the universe."

 

6.

                             bhisma-drona-tata jayadratha-jala gandhara-nilotpala

                                salya-grahavati krpena vahani karnena velakula                  

                               asvatthama-vikarna-ghora-makra duryodhanavartini

                               sottirna khalu pandavai rana-nadi kaivartakah kesavah

 

"Of the terrifying river of the battlefield of Kuruksetra over which the Pandavas victoriously crossed, Bhisma and Drona were it's high banks, Jayadratha was the river's water, the King of Gandhara, the blue water-lily: there were sharks such as salya, Krpa was the current, Karna, the mighty waves, Asvattham and Vikarna, the dreadful alligators, and Duryodhana, the very whirlpool, but Lord Krsna was the ferryman!"

 

7

                          nanakhyanaka-kesaramhari-katha-sad-vasana-vasitam  

                            pararsaya-vacah sarojam amalam gitartha-gandhotkatam

                            loke saj-jana-sat-padair ahar-ahah pepiyamanam muda

                         bhuyad bharata-pankajam kali-mala-pradhvamsi nah sreyase

 

"May the spotless lotus of the words of Vyasa that grows on the eternal waters of the words of Lord Hari, with its filaments of various tales of heroes and which is rightly endowed with the sweet fragrance of the explanations of the Bhagavad-gita, it's nectar beign quaffed with pleasure daily in this world by saintly persons who are compared to so many nectar-seeking bumble-bees and which destroys all the sins of the age of Kali - May this lotus of the Mahabharata bestow on us the highest good."

 

8.

                                         mukam koroti vacalam

                                           pangum langhayate girim

                                         tay-krpa tam aham vande

                                          paramananda-madhavam

 

"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna, the transcendentally blissful husband of the goddess of fortune, whose mercy turns the dumb into eloquent speakers and enables to lame to cross mountains."

 

9

                         yam brahma varunendra-rudra-marutah srunvanti divyaih starvair vedaih

                               sanga-pada-kramopanisadair gayanti yam sama-gah

                           dhyanavasthita-tad gatena manasa pasyanti yam yogino

                              yasyantam na viduh surasura-gana devaya tasmai namah

 

"Let all obeisances be unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, whom Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra, the Maruts and all divine beings praise with the divine hymns of the Vedas and their supplementary parts such as the Upanisads, whom the followers of the Sama Veda glorify with song, whom great mystics see with their minds absorbed in perfect meditation and of whom all the hosts of demigods and demons know not the limitations.  To him the Supreme Lord, let there be all obeisances."

(Bhag.12.13.1)

 

There are many aspects of personalistic philosophy defined in these prayers, but how much could he say his real heart, and at this time how much could the population actually understand. For so many years they had followed the non-vedic atheistic views of Buddha and the devious ritualistic animal 'sacrificers' before that.

Anyway as we will read  the Lord had an overall plan or drama, that all these personalities  were acting out, likened to pawns in a game of trancendental chess.