Gita Jayanti and Gita Dhyanam – Meditation on The Gita
Few days ago, 30th Nov 2017 was the Anniversary of Gita Jayanti – the day on which about 5000 years ago, Lord Krishna spoke Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna in the battle of Kurukshetra. The place where Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita is located at a place called as Jyotisaar Kurukestra, state of Haryana which is about 160 Kms from Delhi and well connected by a Train Station and road. Train journey takes about 2 and haif hours and the place Jyotisar is located at a distance of 8 km from the railway station.
Gita Dhyanam is a prayers or meditation on Lord Krishna, prayers to the Great Rishi Veda Vyasa, the author of Bhagavad Gita which is a part of Mahabharata. These prayer verses are written by a great acharya by name Madhusudana Saraswati before he wrote his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. The name of his commentary is called Gudhartha Dipika, a lamp which illumines the hidden and deeper meanings of the Bhagavad Gita. It is a very famous commentary on the Gita. Thus, before starting the study actual Gita, it has become customary to study these nine verses of Dhyana Sloka written by this Acharya,to invoke auspiciousness, grace of the Lord and removal of obstacles and successfully complete the study of the great scripture Bhagavad Gita. I came across these verses, read them and found them to be profound. In fact, we all must have heard these verses many times during our growing up years. I have decided to collect and post this as an article for the benefit of myself and my readers. I had to bit of research on the actual author of Gita Dhyanam verses and found out that the author is not Sripad ShankaraCharya but, only the verse 5 is ascribed to him. Also, I had to look at various versions of the verses available on the net and which one is easy to read and recite and as close as possible to the original Sanskrit version.
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| Lord Sri Krishna |
1.Om Parthaya prathi boditham bhagawathaa narayanena swayam,
Vyasaena grahitham Purana muninaa madhye Mahabaratham,
Advaithamrutha varshaneem bhagawtheem ashta dasa dhyayineem,
Ambaa thwaam anusandadhami bhagwad geethaa bhava dweshineem.
Om.O Bhagavad Gita, with which Partha was illumined by Lord Narayana Himself, and which was composed within the Mahabharata by the ancient sage, Vyasa, O Divine Mother, the destroyer of rebirth, the showerer of the nectar of Advaita, and consisting of eighteen discourses—upon Thee, O Gita, Oaffectionate Mother, I meditate!
2. Namosthuthe Vyasa vishala budhe
phullaravindata tha pathra nethra
Yena thwayaa Bharatha thaila poorna
prajjvalitho jnanamaya pradheepa.
Salutations to Vyasa, of broad intellect and with eyes like the petals of a full-blown lotus, by whom the lamp of knowledge, filled with the oil of the Mahabharata, has been lighted!
3.Prapanna parijataya
totra vetraika panaye
Jnana mudhraaya Krishnaaya
geethamritha duhe namah.
Salutations to Lord Krishna, the Parijata or the Kalpataru or the bestower of all desires for those who take refuge in Him, the holder of the whip in one hand, the holder of the symbol of divine knowledge and the milker of the divine nectar of the Bhagavad Gita!
4.Sarvaopanishadho gaavo
dogdhaa Gopala Nandanah,
Parthoo vathsa sudheer bhokthaa
dugdam Geetamritham mahath.
All the Upanishads are the cows; the milker is Krishna; the cowherd boy, Partha (Arjuna), is the calf; men of purified intellect are the drinkers; the milk is the great nectar of the Gita.
5.Vasudeva sutham devam
kamsa Chanoora mardhanam,
Devaki paramanandam
Krishnam vande Jagat Gurum.
I salute Sri Krishna, the world-teacher, son of Vasudeva, the destroyer of Kamsa and Chanura, the supreme bliss of Devaki!
6.Bheeshma drona thata jayadradha jalaa , Gandhaara neelothphala,
Shalyaaa grahavathee , kripena vahanee , karnena Velakulaa,
Aswathama Vikarnaa ghora Makaraa Duryodhana varthinee,
Sotheerno kalu Pandavai , rana nadhee kaivarthaka Kesava.
With Kesava as the helmsman, verily was crossed by the Pandavas the battle-river, whose banks were Bhishma and Drona, whose water was Jayadratha, whose blue lotus was the king of Gandhara Sakuni, whose crocodile was Salya, whose current was Kripa, whose billow was Karna, whose terrible alligators were Vikarna and Asvatthama, whose whirlpool was Duryodhana.
7.Parashrayaa vacha sarojamamalam Geethartha gandothkatam,
Nanakhyanaka kesaram harikatha sambodhanaa bodhitham,
Loke sajjana shat padairaharaha pepeyamaanam mudhaa,
Bhooyad Bharatha pankajam kali mala pradhwamsina shreyase.
May this lotus of the Mahabharata, born in the lake of the words of Vyasa, sweet with the fragrance of the meaning of the Gita, with many stories as its stamens, fully opened by the discourses of Hari, the destroyer of the sins of Kali, and drunk joyously by the bees of good men in the world, become day by day the bestower of good to us!
8.Mookam karoti vaachaalam pangum langhayate girim;
Yatkripaa tamaham vande Paramananda madhavam.
I salute that Madhava, the source of supreme bliss, whose Grace makes the dumb eloquent and the cripple cross mountains!
9.Yam brahmaVaruna indrua Rudra maruthsthunvanthi divyai sthavai,
Vedai saang padakrama upanishadair gayanthi yam SAmaga,
Dhyanasthitha thadgadaina manasa pasyanthi yam Yogino,
Yasyaantham na vidhu surasura ganaa devaaya tasmai nama.
Salutations to that God whom Brahma, Indra, Varuna, Rudra and the Maruts praise with divine hymns, of whom the Sama-chanters sing by the Vedas and their Angas (in the Pada and Krama methods), and by the Upanishads; whom the Yogis see with their minds absorbed in Him through meditation, and whose ends, the hosts of Devas and Asuras can never be found – unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisance’s.
Here is the link to download the PDF version of Gita Dhyanam.
Here is the link to download the PDF version of Gita Dhyanam.
