The subject matter of Bhagavad Gita

The subject matter of Bhagavad Gita explains the science of God by covering five basic truths:

1. The controller [isvara]

2. The living entities [jivas]

3. Material Nature [prakrti]

4. Time [kala, the duration of existence of the whole universe]

5. Activity, work [karma]

In this world every living entity is controlled. If a living entity says that he is not controlled but that he is free, then he is insane. We are controlled in every aspect of our lives, at least in the conditioned [non-liberated] state.

So in the Bhagavad Gita the subject matter deals with the isvara, the supreme controller and the jivas, the controlled living entities, prakrti (material nature) and time (the duration of existence of the whole universe or manifestation of material nature) and karma (activity).

From Bhagavad Gita we can learn what God is, what the living entities are, what prakrti is, what the cosmic manifestation is and how it is controlled by time and what the activities of the living entities are.

In the Bhagavad Gita it is established that Krishna, the Supreme Godhead, Brahman or supreme controller or Paramatma–you may use whatever name you like–is the greatest of all. We living entities are in quality like the supreme controller. For example Krishna is the supreme controller. He has control over the universal affairs, over material nature as will be explained in later chapters of Bhagavad Gita. Material nature is not independent, she is working under the direction of the Supreme Lord. So we, the jivas, or living entities are accepted as being part and parcel of the supreme controller, isvara, Bhagavan, Lord Krishna, and as such the living entities have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantities. A particle of gold is also gold. A drop of water from the ocean is also salty, similarly we the living entities, being part and parcel of the supreme controller, have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity, because we are minute isvaras, subordinate isvaras. We are trying to control nature, and this tendency to control is in us because it is in Krishna. But although we have the tendency to lord it over the material nature, we should know that we are not the supreme controller. This is explained in Bhagavad Gita.

The world revolves because every living being thinks that he is the lord and creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychic divisions. One is that “I am the creator,” and the other is that “I am the enjoyer.” But actually the Supreme Lord is both the creator and the enjoyer, and the living entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord is neither the creator nor the enjoyer , but a cooperator. He is the created and the enjoyed. For instance a part of the machine cooperates with the whole machine; a part of the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands, feet, eyes, legs and so on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the enjoyers. The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teeth chew and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principle factor that nourishes the body’s organization. Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the tree by pouring water on the root and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach.

Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer and creator and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate to satisfy Him. This cooperation will actually help us, just as food taken by the stomach will help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand think that they should enjoy the food themselves, they will be frustrated. The central figure of cooperation and enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy. The relation is also like that of the master and the servant. If the master is fully satisfied then the servant is satisfied. Similarly the Supreme Lord should be satisfied although the tendency to become the creator and the tendency to enjoy the material world also are there in the living entities because these tendencies are also in the Supreme Lord who has created the manifested cosmic world we see before us.

We shall find, therefore, in the Bhagavad Gita, that the complete whole is comprised of the Supreme Controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time and karma, activities and all of these are explained in the Bhagavad Gita. All of these items taken together completely form the complete whole, and the complete whole is called the Supreme Absolute Truth. The complete whole and the complete Absolute Truth are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. All manifestations are due to His different energies. He is the complete whole.