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Gods and Heroes of the Bhagavad Gita

By Geoffrey A. Barborka

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Gods and Heroes of The Bhagavad-Gita B

Bhagavad-Gita lit. K???a’s song (or divine song). The philosophical discourse between Arjuna and K???a, the latter being represented as the Avatara of Vi??u, but acting as Arjuna’s charioteer. It is cast in the traditional form of question and answer between disciple and teacher in verses of metrical prose termed slokas. The meter is called Anu-stubh and consists of four padas or quarter verses of eight syllables each, or two lines of sixteen syllables each. The dialog is placed in the sixth book of the Mahabharata entitled the Bhishma-parva (the book of Bhi?ma) slokas 830-1532 thereof. “The work is pre-eminently occult or esoteric,” writes H. P. Blavatsky in Theosophical Glossary, p. 56, and also states in The Secret Doctrine that there is a “secret sense contained in the Bhagavad-Gita.” (II, 139)

“The main object of the Bhagavad Gita – which is one of the main sources of Hindu philosophy – is to explain the higher principles that operate in the cosmos, which are omnipresent and permanent and which are common to all the solar systems.” (N.Bh.G. 108) (comp. bhagavat, holy, divine; also a name of K???a; Gita, song.)

Bharata The name of a great number of kings and heroes. The one referred to in the Bhagavad-Gita is of the Puru branch (or Pauravas) of the Chandrava?sa (Lunar Race), the son of Dusyanta and Sakuntala. The ninth king in descent from Bharata was Kuru, and the seventeenth from Kuru was Yudhi??hira and his four brothers, i.e., the Pa??avas. (Bh.G. 11)

Bharata A descendant of Bharata: referable to either the Kauravas or the Pa??avas, but most often applied solely to the latter. Arjuna is often referred to as ‘son of Bharata’ or ‘best of the Bharatas.’ (Bh.G. 11)

Bhima The second son of Kunti by the god of the wind, Vayu. All through the Mahabharata the remarkable achievements of Bhima provide entertaining reading: his feats of valor and strength are unsurpassable, especially those performed with his enormous club. He shared with Arjuna the honors of valorous exploits in the great conflict, in which the Pa??avas were finally victorious. (m. the terrible. Bh.G. 3)

Bhi?ma The son of king Santanu and the river-goddess Ganga. Although the rightful heir to the throne of the Kurus, he relinquished the kingdom so that the children of his father’s second wife, Satyavati might rule instead, but he remained the protector to the throne. Thus he was the ancestor of both the Kauravas and the Pa??avas (referred to in the text as the grandsire of the Kurus). He was persuaded to side with the sons of Dh?tara??ra and was made the commander-in-chief. He was mortally wounded on the tenth day of the conflict, but as he had been granted the boon to terminate his life whenever he wished, Bhi?ma remained alive for 58 days and instructed Yudhi??hira in the duties of a king. (m. the terrible. Bh.G. 2)

Bh?gu One of the most celebrated of the Vedic ??is or Sages, regarded as the ancestor of the Bhargavas (in which race Parasu-Rama was born). He is known as one of the ten Prajapatis (or mind-born sons of Brahma – regarded as the fathers of the human race). He is also regarded as one of the nine great ??is (in the Vi??u-Pura?a). The Laws of Manu were confided to Bh?gu, and Manu called him his son. Some hymns in the ?g-Veda are attributed to the ??i. (Bh.G. 74)

Bhutas The decaying remnants of corpses in the astral world – the real part of man having dropped off these grossest portions of its former vehicle; hence phantoms or ‘shells’, the eidola or shades of the ancients. They are popularly believed to haunt burial places, etc., for these remnants, although in the astral world (and invisible), are still attracted to the localities of their former physical associations. *bhu, to become; lit. ’has-beens’, i.e., entities that formerly lived and have passed on. Bh.G. 68)

Brahma The first aspect of the Hindu Trimurti (or triad), the emanator or ‘creator’ – the other two being Vi??u, the ‘preserver,’ and Siva, the ‘destroyer,’ or rather the ‘regenerator.’ The idea of the Trimurti is not found in the Vedas, nor does the name Brahma occur; the active creator is therein known as Hira?yagarbha, or Prajapati: in later times the term Prajapati was bestowed on Brahma (meaning ‘the Progenitor’). In Manu it is said that the supreme soul, the self-existent lord created the waters and deposited in them a seed, which seed became a golden egg (Hira?yagarbha) in which he himself was born as Brahma, the progenitor of all the worlds. The idea of the Trimurti is of course present in the epic poems: Brahma is represented as springing from the lotus which arose from the navel of Vi??u. From Brahma then rise the mind-born sons (the Prajapatis) who people the world. In the Pura?as (especially in Vi??u-Pura?a), Vi??u becomes more prominent than Brahma: the latter is represented as being in its totality the aspect of Prak?ti (q.v.), both evolved and unevolved (Mulaprak?ti), and also the aspect of Spirit, and the aspect of Time.

Brahma is in fact the vehicle or sheath of Brahman: the spiritual evolving or developing energy-consciousness of a solar system, i.e., the Logos, deriving from Brahman. It should be pointed out that the Sansk?t word Brahman is both masculine and neuter, and therefore has two meanings: in order to distinguish these, in Theosophical literature the masculine is spelled Brahma (the nominative form), whereas the neuter is spelled Brahman (q.v.).

“Brahma, as ‘the germ of unknown Darkness,’ is the material from which all evolves and develops ‘as the web from the spider, as foam from the water,’ etc. … Brahma ‘expands’ and becomes the Universe woven out of his own substance.” (S.D. I, 83). *b?h, to expand, to grow, also meaning to fructify.) (Bh.G. 56 – where it should be spelled Brahman. See Bh.G. 61.)

Brahmacharya Following a life of philosophic and religious training – usually applicable to the first stage in the life of a Brahma?a of ancient times, signifying the state of an unmarried religious student of the Vedas. (comp. Brahman, the Cosmic Spirit – in some cases meaning ‘spiritual wisdom’; charya, conduct). The person following this mode of life is called a Brahmacharin. (Bh.G. 46)

Brahman The impersonal and uncognizable Principle of the Universe, implying both the aspect of essential consciousness and that of substance: thus it represents the spiritual background of the Universe, the Cause of all Causes. “The student must distinguish between Brahma the neuter, and Brahma, the male creator of the Indian Pantheon. The former, Brahma or Brahman, is the impersonal, supreme and uncognizable Principle of the Universe from the essence of which all emanates, and into which all returns, which is incorporeal, immaterial, unborn, eternal, beginningless and endless. It is all-pervading, animating the highest god as well as the smallest mineral atom. Brahma, on the other hand, the male and the alleged Creator, exists periodically in his manifestation only, and then again goes into pralaya, i.e., disappears and is annihilated.” (Theos. Gloss.62)

Brahman is what is called in Theosophy the Unmanifest Logos: through and from It, therefore, arises Brahma (q.v.). (*b?h, to expand, to grow. Bh.G. 58)

Brahma?a (1) (often Anglicized as BRAHMAN or BRAHMIN) The highest of the four castes into which the social classes of Hindusthan were divided in post-Vedic times. Originally a Brahmana was one who had been twice-born (i.e., a dvija, or an initiate), but in decadent times the term came to be used simply as a hereditary prerogative, and hence applied to the members of the priestly caste. (Bh.G. 127)

Brahma?as (2) Commentaries within each of the Vedas.

B?haspati The deity who represents the worshiper of the gods: the suppliant and sacrificer, designated as the Purohita (family priest), because he intercedes with the gods on behalf of mankind, and likewise protects the righteous men from the wicked. He is often called the father of the gods because of his creative powers, and is named the shining one, the golden colored one. Brihaspati is also the regent of the planet Jupiter. The lengthy legend about his wife, Tara, being carried off by Soma, the moon, and the consequent war in heaven (the TarakaMaya) is related in The Secret Doctrine (II, pp. 498-9) and is there interpreted, H. P. Blavatsky. (comp. b?h, as noun, ‘prayer,’ from *b?h, to grow great, to expand; pati lord. Bh.G. 74)

B?hat-Saman The name of the hymns in the Sama-Veda, written in the Brihati meter, i.e., meters of 36 syllables (originally written 8-8-12-8). (comp. B?hat, the B?hati meter; Saman, a sacred verse to be sung. Bh.G. 76)

Buddhi The sixth principle in the Theosophical classification of man’s component parts. As the vehicle for Universal Spirit, Buddhi is inseparably linked with Atman and regarded as its vehicle. It is the channel for the divine inspiration which streams from Atman, as well as the faculty of discrimination, and the knowledge of discrimination between good and evil, hence spiritual consciousness. When awakened in man the Buddhic principle evokes compassionate love for all, instant understanding, and intuition. A man so fully awakened is termed a Buddha.

“… the Spiritual Soul (Buddhi) … conceals a mystery which is never given to any one, with the exception of irrevocably pledged chelas,” (The Key to Theosophy, pp. 119-20). *budh, to awaken, to enlighten. Bh.G.28)