Bhadrapada
According to the lunar calendar, by
which most Hindu religious festivals are
determined, Bhadrapada is the sixth
month of the lunar year, usually falling
within August and September. This is
one of the months associated with the
monsoonrains. The major festivals in
Bhadrapada are Kajari Teej (Teej),
Bahula Chauth, Janmashtami,
Radhashtami, Aja Ekadashi, Hartalika
Teej (Teej), Ganesh Chaturthi,
Rishi Panchami, Parivartini Ekadashi,
Anant Chaturdashi, and in southern
India, Onam.
Bhadrasana
(“decent posture”) In yogapractice this
is one of the sitting postures (asana)
described in commentaries to the Yoga
Sutras. In this position the legs are
crossed with the feet tucked under the
thighs so that the crossed heels form a
cavity around the scrotum. This is called
the “decent posture” because the
cupped hands are placed over the cavity
made by the heels, covering the private
parts. In Hindu iconography this is one
of the common postures in which
images of the deitiesare portrayed.
Bhagabhadra
Monarch in the Sunga dynasty, which
was centered in the Malwaregion in the
western part of the state of Madhya
Pradesh, in the centuries following the
decline of the Maurya dynasty just
before the turn of the common era.
Despite the fragmentation of the
Maurya state, rulers seem to have main-
tained contact with the Greek-speaking
kingdoms to the west, since a pillar
inscription records that Bhagabhadra
received an ambassador named
Heliodorus from the king of Takshasila,
in modern Pakistan.
Bhagavad Gita
One of the best-known Hindu scrip-
tures, which is itself a section in the
Mahabharata, the later of the two great
Hindu epics. The parts of the epic before
the Bhagavad Gita chronicle the growing
strife between the Pandavas and the
Kauravas, the two branches of a royal
family who are the epic’s main charac-
ters. The parts following the Bhagavad
Gita detail the battle that ultimately
destroys the entire family. The Bhagavad
Gita itself is set in that moment of calm
just before the battle begins, and it is
written as a dialogue between the
Pandava prince Arjuna and the
supreme divinity Krishna, here dis-
guised as Arjuna’s charioteer. Arjuna is
the world’s greatest archer and can dec-
imate his enemies with ease. But as he
looks at the faces of the enemy, he real-
izes that the people he is about to fight
and kill are his relatives, teachers, and
friends. Not surprisingly, the prospect
leaves him cold, and it is up to Krishna
to give him divine guidance.
The Gita’s second chapter opens with
Krishna trying to shame Arjuna into
fighting (in essence, saying “everyone
will think you were afraid and make fun
of you”), but when this tactic fails,
Krishna has to give more substantive
advice, which makes up the rest of the
text. Different parts of the Bhagavad
Gita invoke all three of the generally
accepted paths to liberation of the
soul (moksha): the path of wisdom
(jnanamarga), the path of action
(karmamarga), and the path of
devotion (bhaktimarga).
The path of wisdom is rooted in the
teachings of the speculative texts known
as the Upanishads. This path stresses
the realization of one’s essential nature
as the eternal Self (atman). The atman is
identical with the universal reality
known as Brahman; once one has
accepted this, all dualistic ideas and
false knowledge disappear. The path of
action stresses acting without selfish
desire—performing one’s duty as duty,
but without attachment to the ultimate
outcome. This path thus upholds and
reinforces the rigid social structure pro-
pounded in the dharma literature. As a
warrior in that social system, Arjuna’sBhagavad Gita