In this class (Class 18 on Sunday, April 14th at 9:30 am), we discuss Chapter 8, entitled "Samkhya and Yoga" (pp. 68-80), of Sri Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita.

Here's the 3-page handout for today's class:
[ Ссылка ]

The assignment for our next class (Class 19 on Sunday, May 5th at 9:30 am) is to read Chapter 9 of Sri Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita, entitled “Sankhya, Yoga and Vedanta," as well as verses 2.39-53 and 5.1-6 of the Bhagavad Gita.

Study questions for the next class (Class 19):

1. According to Sri Aurobindo, how does the Gītā conceive the concept of māyā?
2. On p. 85, Sri Aurobindo writes: “But for the Yoga of the Gita, as for the Vedantic Yoga of works, action is not only a preparation but itself the means of liberation…” What does Sri Aurobindo mean by this? And how does the Gītā’s understanding of the “Vedantic Yoga of works” differ from Śaṅkara’s classical Advaitic understanding of Karma Yoga?
3. What does the Gītā mean by the “Vedavāda” (p. 86), and how does it differ from what Sri Aurobindo refers to as the “Brahmavāda” (p. 86)? Why does the Gītā criticize “Vedavāda”?
4. What is the “central idea” of the “Vedavāda,” which the Gītā accepts, transfigures, and uplifts (p. 90)?
5. According to Sri Aurobindo, how does the Gītā correct for the onesidedness of the “orthodox Vedānta” dominant during the Gītā’s time (p. 91)? What was the “orthodox” Vedāntic understanding of the relation between Brahman and īśvara (the personal God) at the time? How does the Gītā’s understanding of the relation between Brahman and the personal God differ from that of “orthodox” Vedānta?
6. Do you have any questions about the reading? Did you have difficulty understanding anything? Do you have any doubts or confusions?

Please submit your responses to the study questions here:
[ Ссылка ]

Main textbook: Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on the Gita:
[ Ссылка ]

Supplementary texts:
* Sri Aurobindo, Bhagavad Gita and its Message, edited by Anilbaran Roy ([ Ссылка ])
* Swami Tapasyananda’s Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā: The Scripture of Mankind ([ Ссылка ])
* Swami Chidbavananda’s The Bhagavad Gita ([ Ссылка ])
* Śaṅkara's commentary on the Gita ([ Ссылка ])
* Rāmānuja’s commentary on the Gita ([ Ссылка ])

Gita app based on Sri Aurobindo’s commentary:
Android: [ Ссылка ]
iPhone: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть