job is to kill people. At the same time,
the path of action provides a way to
transform socially sanctioned duty into
religious practice. The path of devotion
entails surrendering all one’s actions to
God and performing one’s role as an
instrument of divine will.
The Bhagavad Gita shows no clear
preference for any of these paths, which
implies that different writers reworked
the text over time. Professor Arthur
Llewellyn Basham has speculated that
the “original” Bhagavad Gita ended with
verse 2.38, after a section establishing
the morality of fighting in a just war,
thus giving Arjuna his rationale to fight.
It is believed that this “original” text was
then reworked by a philosopher of
the upanishadic type, who conceived
of the Ultimate Reality as the imper-
sonal Brahman and of liberation in
terms of mystical realization. The
final sections were most likely added
by a passionate devotee (bhakta) of
Vishnu, particularly in his form as
Krishna. According to Basham, this
last author not only inserted verses in
some of the earlier books but also
added some completely new ones.
One of these, Arjuna’s vision of
Krishna’s cosmic form in the Gita’s
eleventh chapter, is considered
among the most brilliant religious
texts ever written. Although some
scholars might take issue with
specific points, Professor Basham’s
theory seems the most convincing
explanation for a highly varied text.
In the roughly two thousand years
since the Bhagavad Gita was com-
piled, different commentators have
interpreted its message according to
their own proclivities. The ninth-
century philosopher Shankaracharya
saw it as sanctioning the path of wis-
dom, while the eleventh-century
philosopher Ramanuja was con-
vinced that it stressed devotion. The
most recent pivotal interpreter,
Mohandas Gandhi, understood the
text as commanding action. He saw in
Arjuna’s struggle a blueprint for his
own time and work, urging him to
labor for Indian independence but to
do so without attachment or hope for
personal gain. The text has become
even more important as a “scripture”
during the past two centuries, largely
because of pressure from Christian
missionaries. One sign of this is that
in modern Indian courtrooms, the
Gita is the text upon which Hindus
take the oath of truthfulness when
being called to take the stand. For an
accessible translation of the text
itself, see Barbara Stoller Miller
(trans.), The Bhagavad-Gita, 1991; for
Dr. Basham’s analysis of the text, see
Arthur Llewellyn Basham, The Origins
and Development of Classical
Hinduism, 1991.Bhagavan
(“Blessed One”) Name denoting both
respect and reverence. In different con-
texts this name can be used as an epi-
thet of either the god Krishna (as in the
Bhagavad Gita) or the god Shiva. In
modern usage, at least in northern
India, it is also the word that comes clos-
est to expressing the notion of abstract
divinity, much like the word “God” in
English. It is often used to denote God
by Hindus who are religious but who do
not worshipparticular deities.Bhagavata
(“devotees of the Blessed One”) General
name for the earliest devotees (bhakta)
of Vishnu, particularly the devotees of
Krishna-Gopala, a deified cowherd hero
who later became identified with
Vishnu. Until the development of
sectarian Vaishnavism in around
the eleventh century C.E., the word
bhagavatawas a blanket term for all
Vaishnavasexcept the Pancharatrikas,
who were followers of the secret ritual
tradition known as Pancharatra.Bhagavata Purana
Sectarian religious text that is by far the
most important text for the worshipofBhagavan