Buddhism and Bhagawad Gita: The Age of Universal Religions

If you have followed the announcement of Nobel prize for Sciences, there is a curious phenomenon that you may have observed. Many a times, there are joint winners of the prize from opposite  ends of the planet, who happened to work on the same scientific problem. They have either arrived independently at the same solution around the same time or come up with different solutions that were equally effective. We can only wonder how this happens! In much the same way, during the 6th and 5th century of BCE, many enlightened spiritual masters attempted to solve the riddle of human suffering in everyday life. For example, we have Socrates in Greece, Buddha  and Vyāsa in India and Lao Tsu in China, all of whom took on this same problem and arrived at answers that were not very different.

As you may recall, the Hindu civilization had by the 6th century BCE, settled down into many small kingdoms in the Gangetic plains and assimilated the indigenous population into its fold. A process of consolidation of these kingdoms through wars were also going on. The society was getting structured with groups of people assuming different roles like farming, metal working, trading etc. From a religion point of view, the ritual traditions of the Hindu religion and some purāna stories were commonly known but the philosophic  side of the religion remained mostly obscure. If one had an interest in the philosophical aspects, he or she would have to embark on an extensive search to find a suitable teacher or Guru. The reality of the situation was that the Hindu religion was doing very little at that time to help the average person deal with the everyday issues of life. To this scene had arrived Gautama Buddha with his incredible compassion for the sufferings of the common people.

Buddha's  sole quest was  how to avoid the suffering like old age, sickness and death that everyone, both rich or poor, had to undergo. He accepted the prevailing Hindu concept of rebirth and according to him, the soul experienced life in an eternal, recurring cycle returning to life from death through rebirth. Caught into the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth, the soul experiences the same suffering over and over. How does one escape from this? Buddha had found a way and was ready to travel around and spread information on this to everyone on how it could be done. No one had to go searching for Buddha. Instead, he went to them, or at least close enough where they could find him easily.

To enable souls to gain a release from the eternal birth/death cycle, Buddha suggested a method that included four fundamental principles (a.k.a., 'noble truths') and an eight fold path. He called this as the 'middle path'. The 'middle path' was a deviation away from both the purely ritualistic, God-appeasing path as well as the atheistic, 'you only live once' kind of mindless enjoyment. This approach, originally called as 'Baudhayana'  or the 'path of Buddha' later on became the religion of Buddhism and was set apart from Hindu religion.  Though the religion appealed easily to the common people,  it also posed couple of issues. Turning to Buddhism in the way Buddha preached, required a person to become a monk, giving up his societal connections. This was very disruptive to the society's functioning. Secondly, Buddha's insistence on Ahimsa weakened the defensive power of societies, increasing their vulnerability to external aggression. The real need of the time was for a religion that supported one to take on a spiritual path that enabled better life while remaining right in the middle of the society. The Hindu religion came up with a great answer for meeting this need through Bhagawad Gita. (The religion of Buddhism also has evolved since to better address these issues)

Bhagawad Gita, that is found in the middle of the Mahābhāratha epic, was most likely a 5th or 4th century BCE insertion into the original epic that dates back to earlier centuries of BCE. It is thought that Mahābhāratha  was originally composed in 24,000 verses and was later expanded to its current form of 100,000 plus verses. The Vyāsa who was the author of original Mahābhāratha is potentially different from the Vyāsa wo authored Bhagawad Gita. Bhagawad Gita itself appears to have been constructed in three distinct parts that were possibly compiled over different periods of time. The core message of the Bhagawad Gita, as presented in the first part consisting of chapters one thru six,  is that  spiritual transformation is a personal journey that could be undertaken while living right in the middle of the society.  A spiritually enlightened person as well as a non-enlightened person, both may engage in performing the same actions in life but with extremely different levels of internal clarity. And, as Buddha had done, Bhagawad Gita also professed a liberation from the eternal cycle of birth and death for such a person. In contrast to Buddha's middle path, Bhagawad Gita offered a path of synthesis that skillfully combined Spiritual knowledge, Devotion, Meditation, Yoga. It offered an interpretation of the Hindu religion that could be practiced equally well by a hermit in an Himalayan cave as well as a warrior in the middle of a battlefield.

A real life example of this transformative spiritual journey is found in the story of Sage Valmiki. He had an amazing life journey from being a wayside robber in the forests to becoming a renowned spiritual master. Sage Valmiki was also a highly imaginative, creative poet. He managed to metaphorically etch his own spiritual journey within the epic of Ramayana while painting the picture of a perfect human being in Lord Rama. (For more detailed reading on Ramayana and Valmiki, check this blog post http://oupanishadam.blogspot.com/2015/03/ramayana-autobiography-of-rishi.html )

It will be delusional to play down the role of faith and belief in religion. As the  human society expanded,  the chaos and uncertainties only continued to increase. And, in times of uncertainty, what has served the individuals and society well is faith in order brought about by a higher, omniscient and all-powerful being, referred to as 'God'. As the influence of Buddhism declined and popularity of the Purāna stories increased, the Hindu religion strengthened itself with a new found means of temple worship of Purānic Gods. The spiritual masters went along with this trend, again skillfully embedding spiritual principles within the iconography of the God images and temple rituals. More on this major transformation that defined the final shape of Hindu religion as we know it today, in the next blog post.

Meanwhile, grab a copy of the Bhagawad Gita if you haven't yet. It is a book that can help you tremendously! (You can find a quick summary of what Bhagawad Gita offers on this blog post: http://oupanishadam.blogspot.com/2014/02/bhagawad-gita-what-is-in-it-for-you.html)