The Bhagavad Gita

Having completed the review of the Yoga Sutras has moved me to look at another great scripture that can help enlighten our lives. The Bhagavad Gita is a great yogic scripture to become familiar with and study. It is larger work than the Yoga Sutras. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia Wikipedia.

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit भगवद् गीता, Bhagavad Gītā, "Song of God") is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism,[1][2] and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world.[3] The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Mahabharata, comprising 700 verses. The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Krishna, who is regarded by the Hindus as the supreme manifestation of the Lord Himself,[3] and is referred to within as Bhagavan—the divine one.[4] The Bhagavad Gita is commonly referred to as The Gita for short.

The content of the Gita is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra war. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince and elaborates on different Yogic[5] and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi describes it as a lighthouse of eternal wisdom that has the ability to inspire any man or woman to supreme accomplishment and enlightenment. [6] During the discourse, Krishna reveals his identity as the Supreme Being Himself (Svayam bhagavan), blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring vision of his divine universal form.

See Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures

Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures

(From Archive December 1, 2008)

Scriptures can be defined as a sacred writings or books. There are many kinds of scriptures from different religious paths like Christian, Hebrew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. There are also scriptures from the yogic path like the Bhagavad Gita, The Ramayana, The Yoga Sutras, Shiva Sutras, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, etc. Reading scriptures that appeal to us are a great way to deal with our present day stresses and myriads of demands we have everyday. This is also a tool that is part of a yoga practice. Test it for yourself and see if can make a difference.

The following quote sums it up nicely: "The teachings of the scriptures add another, deeper dimension to your awareness of the value of life. They have the capacity to point you toward the light hidden in your own being. They can expand your understanding of the world you live in" - Swami Chidvilasananda

See related posts:

All of the Yoga Sutra posts

Pramana - Right Knowledge YS I - 6

This post is a continuation of yesterday's post in which I stated "In YS I-6 Pramana Viparyaya Vikalpa Nidra Smrtayah Patanjali lists the five types of vrittis (mental modifications) as right knowledge, misconception, verbal delusion, sleep and memory."

Today I will address Pramana which is translated as Right Knowledge. Pramana is a Sankrit word used in the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali. Pramana forms one part of a tripuţi (trio) concerning Pramā (the correct knowledge of any object arrived at by thorough reasoning, Sanskrit), namely:
1. Pramāta, the subject, the knower
2. Pramāņa, the means of obtaining the knowledge
3. Prameya, the object, the knowable

Knowledge can be defined as information we know through study, experience, education, perception, reasoning etc.

In Swami Satchidananda's commentary of this sutra, he states "Pantanjali calls valid knowledge is what you understand by seeing something yourself-direct perception. If you see something face-to-face you don't have any doubt. That is one way to get valid knowledge." Then he states another way is through inference (i.e. how humans draw conclusions) as if one saw smoke, one knows there cannot be smoke without fire. Or if " you see a cow giving milk, you infer the cows gives milk." A third way Satchidananda refers to is "a reliable authority or person who has really understood something tells you." And here he refers to holy scriptures. Here explains that "The words of prophets given through holy scriptures are finalized. They can't be modified."

So in regard to your thoughts of knowing the right or valid knowledge, we have to become more focused on the kinds or thoughts we have on a daily basis. Are we living our lives through right or valid knowledge? Especially with all the bombardment of other people's thoughts of their knowledge through media, associations, what we learn in school, in the work place, how are we affected? Dharana which is concentration and Dhyana which is meditation are great tools to see where we are at. See what methods works for you. Eventually, by being fully present we will have to leave all the thoughts and knowledge behind at some point if we are to have peace.

Scriptures

Scriptures can be defined as a sacred writings or books. There are many kinds of scriptures from different religious paths like Christian, Hebrew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. There are also scriptures from the yogic path like the Bhagavad Gita, The Ramayana, The Yoga Sutras, Shiva Sutras, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, etc.

Reading scriptures that appeal to us are a great way to deal with our present day stresses and myriads of demands we have everyday. This is also a tool that is part of a yoga practice. Test it for yourself and see if can make a difference. The following quote sums it up nicely:

"The teachings of the scriptures add another, deeper dimension to your awareness of the value of life. They have the capacity to point you toward the light hidden in your own being. They can expand your understanding of the world you live in" - Swami Chidvilasananda