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Preface

Forord

Originally I wrote Bhagavad-gītā As It Is in the form in which it is presented now. When this book was first published, the original manuscript was, unfortunately, cut short to less than 400 pages, without illustrations and without explanations for most of the original verses of the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā. In all of my other books – Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, etc. – the system is that I give the original verse, its English transliteration, word-for-word Sanskrit-English equivalents, translations and purports. This makes the book very authentic and scholarly and makes the meaning self-evident. I was not very happy, therefore, when I had to minimize my original manuscript. But later on, when the demand for Bhagavad-gītā As It Is considerably increased, I was requested by many scholars and devotees to present the book in its original form. Thus the present attempt is to offer the original manuscript of this great book of knowledge with full paramparā explanation in order to establish the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement more soundly and progressively.

Oprindeligt skrev jeg Bhagavad-gītā som den er i den form, der foreligger her. Under den første udgivelse blev det originale manuskript desværre skåret ned til under 400 sider uden illustrationer og uden forklaringer til de fleste af Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītās oprindelige vers. I alle mine andre bøger – Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrī Iśopaniṣad osv. – er systemet, at jeg først giver selve verset og derefter den engelske translitteration, ord-for-ord oversættelse fra sanskrit til engelsk, oversættelse og forklaring. Det gør bogen meget autoritativ og akademisk, og betydningen bliver selvindlysende. Det pinte mig derfor, da jeg måtte beskære mit originale manuskript. Men da efterspørgslen på Bhagavad-gītā som den er senere voksede betragteligt, opfordrede mange akademikere og hengivne mig til at trykke bogen i dens oprindelige form. Den udgave, der foreligger her, er således et forsøg på at udgive originalmanuskriptet til denne store kundskabsbog med fuldstændige paramparā-forklaringer for at give Kṛṣṇabevidstheds-bevægelsen et mere solidt og progressivt fundament.

Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is genuine, historically authorized, natural and transcendental due to its being based on Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. It is gradually becoming the most popular movement in the entire world, especially amongst the younger generation. It is becoming more and more interesting to the older generation also. Older gentlemen are becoming interested, so much so that the fathers and grandfathers of my disciples are encouraging us by becoming life members of our great society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In Los Angeles many fathers and mothers used to come to see me to express their feelings of gratitude for my leading the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement throughout the entire world. Some of them said that it is greatly fortunate for the Americans that I have started the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in America. But actually the original father of this movement is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, since it was started a very long time ago but is coming down to human society by disciplic succession. If I have any credit in this connection, it does not belong to me personally, but it is due to my eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakācārya 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja Prabhupāda.

Vores Kṛṣṇabevidstheds-bevægelse er ægte og historisk autoriseret såvel som naturlig og transcendental, for den bygger på Bhagavad-gītā som den er. Den er gradvist ved at blive den mest populære bevægelse i hele verden, især blandt den yngre generation. Den vækker også mere og mere interesse blandt den ældre generation. Ældre mennesker viser interesse i så høj grad, at mine disciples forældre og bedsteforældre opmuntrer os ved at blive livsmedlemmer af vores selskab, Det Internationale Samfund for Kṛṣṇa-bevidsthed. I Los Angeles kom mange fædre og mødre og udtrykte deres taknemmelighed over, at jeg leder Kṛṣṇabevidstheds-bevægelsen over hele verden. Nogle af dem fortalte mig, at det er amerikanernes store held, at jeg har startet Kṛṣṇabevidstheds- bevægelsen i USA. Men i virkeligheden er den egentlige fader til denne bevægelse Herren Kṛṣṇa Selv, siden den blev startet for meget længe siden og er nedsteget til menneskeheden gennem discipelrækken. Hvis jeg har nogen ære i denne forbindelse, tilkommer den ikke mig personligt, men bør gå til min evige åndelige mester, Hans Guddommelige Nåde Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakācārya 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja Prabhupāda.

If personally I have any credit in this matter, it is only that I have tried to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad-gītā were introduced to fulfill someone’s personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Our business is to present the will of Kṛṣṇa, not that of any mundane speculator like the politician, philosopher or scientist, for they have very little knowledge of Kṛṣṇa, despite all their other knowledge. When Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, etc., we, unlike the so-called scholars, do not say that Kṛṣṇa and His inner spirit are different. Kṛṣṇa is absolute, and there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa’s name, Kṛṣṇa’s form, Kṛṣṇa’s qualities, Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, etc. This absolute position of Kṛṣṇa is difficult to understand for any person who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa in the system of paramparā (disciplic succession). Generally the so-called scholars, politicians, philosophers and svāmīs, without perfect knowledge of Kṛṣṇa, try to banish or kill Kṛṣṇa when writing commentary on Bhagavad-gītā. Such unauthorized commentary upon Bhagavad-gītā is known as māyāvāda-bhāṣya, and Lord Caitanya has warned us about these unauthorized men. Lord Caitanya clearly says that anyone who tries to understand Bhagavad-gītā from the Māyāvādī point of view will commit a great blunder. The result of such a blunder will be that the misguided student of Bhagavad-gītā will certainly be bewildered on the path of spiritual guidance and will not be able to go back to home, back to Godhead.

Hvis jeg overhovedet har nogen fortjeneste i dette forehavende, er det kun, at jeg uden forvanskninger har forsøgt at præsentere Bhagavad-gītā som den er. Før min udgave af Bhagavad-gītā som den er blev langt de fleste engelske versioner udgivet for at opfylde en eller andens personlige ambitioner. Men formålet med vores forsøg på at forklare Bhagavad-gītā som den er er at præsentere Guddommens Højeste Personlighed, Kṛṣṇas, mission. Vores mål er at videregive det, som Kṛṣṇa gerne vil have, og ikke det, som verdslige spekulanter som politikere, filosoffer eller videnskabsmænd mener, for de har meget lidt forstand på Kṛṣṇa på trods af den viden, de ellers måtte have. Når Kṛṣṇa siger, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto, mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (Bg. 18.65), hævder vi ikke ligesom de såkaldte kloge, at Kṛṣṇa og Hans indre ånd er forskellige fra hinanden. Kṛṣṇa er absolut, så der er ingen forskel på Kṛṣṇas navn, Kṛṣṇas form, Kṛṣṇas egenskaber, Kṛṣṇas lege osv. Denne absolutte natur hos Kṛṣṇa er svær at forstå for dem, der ikke er Kṛṣṇas hengivne inden for paramparā-systemet (discipelrækken). Normalt forsøger de videnskabsmænd, politikere, filosoffer og svāmīer, der ikke har fuldkomment kendskab til Kṛṣṇa, at tilsidesætte Kṛṣṇa eller slå Ham ihjel, når de skriver kommentarer til Bhagavad-gītā. Sådanne uautoriserede Bhagavad-gītā-kommentarer kaldes māyāvāda-bhāṣya. Herren Caitanya har advaret os mod den slags uautoriserede personer. Herren Caitanya gør det klart, at alle, der prøver at forstå Bhagavad-gītā ud fra et māyāvādī-synspunkt, begår en stor fadæse. Resultatet, som en sådan vildledt læser af Bhagavad-gītā høster, vil være at fare vild på den åndelige vejlednings vej og helt sikkert ikke komme hjem, tilbage til Guddommen.

Our only purpose is to present this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is in order to guide the conditioned student to the same purpose for which Kṛṣṇa descends to this planet once in a day of Brahmā, or every 8,600,000,000 years. This purpose is stated in Bhagavad-gītā, and we have to accept it as it is; otherwise there is no point in trying to understand the Bhagavad-gītā and its speaker, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa first spoke Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god some hundreds of millions of years ago. We have to accept this fact and thus understand the historical significance of Bhagavad-gītā, without misinterpretation, on the authority of Kṛṣṇa. To interpret Bhagavad-gītā without any reference to the will of Kṛṣṇa is the greatest offense. In order to save oneself from this offense, one has to understand the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He was directly understood by Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s first disciple. Such understanding of Bhagavad-gītā is really profitable and authorized for the welfare of human society in fulfilling the mission of life.

Vores eneste formål med at præsentere Bhagavad-gītā som den er er at lede den betingede elev til formålet, for hvilket Kṛṣṇa nedstiger til denne planet én gang i Brahmās dag eller for hver 8.600.000.000 år. Dette formål bliver forklaret i Bhagavad-gītā, og vi er nødt til at acceptere det, som det er, ellers er der ingen grund til at forsøge at forstå Bhagavad-gītā og dens taler, Herren Kṛṣṇa. Herren Kṛṣṇa talte først Bhagavad-gītā til solguden for nogle hundrede millioner år siden. Den kendsgerning bliver vi nødt til at acceptere, og således kan vi på baggrund af Kṛṣṇas autoritet forstå Bhagavad-gītās historiske betydning uden forvanskning. At fortolke Bhagavad-gītā uden henvisning til Kṛṣṇas ønske er den største forseelse. Hvis man vil reddes fra denne forseelse, bliver man nødt til at forstå Herren som Guddommens Højeste Personlighed, sådan som Han direkte blev forstået af Arjuna, Herren Kṛṣṇas første discipel. En sådan forståelse af Bhagavad-gītā er autoriseret og kan virkelig gavne menneskesamfundet i dets bestræbelse på at erkende livets mission.

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is essential in human society, for it offers the highest perfection of life. How this is so is explained fully in the Bhagavad-gītā. Unfortunately, mundane wranglers have taken advantage of Bhagavad-gītā to push forward their demonic propensities and mislead people regarding right understanding of the simple principles of life. Everyone should know how God, or Kṛṣṇa, is great, and everyone should know the factual position of the living entities. Everyone should know that a living entity is eternally a servant and that unless one serves Kṛṣṇa one has to serve illusion in different varieties of the three modes of material nature and thus wander perpetually within the cycle of birth and death; even the so-called liberated Māyāvādī speculator has to undergo this process. This knowledge constitutes a great science, and each and every living being has to hear it for his own interest.

Kṛṣṇabevidstheds-bevægelsen er essentiel, da den stiller livets højeste fuldkommenhed til rådighed for menneskeheden. Hvordan dette er tilfældet, bliver forklaret til fulde i Bhagavad-gītā. Materialistiske kværulanter har desværre udnyttet Bhagavad-gītā til at fremme deres egne dæmoniske tendenser og lede folk på vildspor væk fra den rette forståelse af livets enkle og indlysende principper. Alle må forstå, hvordan Gud eller Kṛṣṇa er stor, og alle skal have kendskab til de levende væseners virkelige position. Alle bør vide, at et levende væsen for evigt er en tjener, og at medmindre man tjener Kṛṣṇa, tvinges man til at tjene den materielle verdens illusion i alle dens forskellige afskygninger i den materielle naturs tre kvaliteter og således bestandigt vandre i kredsløbet af fødsel og død. Selv de såkaldte befriede māyāvādī-spekulanter kan ikke undslippe denne proces. Denne kundskab udgør en stor videnskab, og det er for de levende væseners egen skyld, at de alle skal stifte bekendtskab med den.

People in general, especially in this Age of Kali, are enamored by the external energy of Kṛṣṇa, and they wrongly think that by advancement of material comforts every man will be happy. They have no knowledge that the material or external nature is very strong, for everyone is strongly bound by the stringent laws of material nature. A living entity is happily the part and parcel of the Lord, and thus his natural function is to render immediate service to the Lord. By the spell of illusion one tries to be happy by serving his personal sense gratification in different forms which will never make him happy. Instead of satisfying his own personal material senses, he has to satisfy the senses of the Lord. That is the highest perfection of life. The Lord wants this, and He demands it. One has to understand this central point of Bhagavad-gītā. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching the whole world this central point, and because we are not polluting the theme of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gītā must take help from the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement for practical understanding of Bhagavad-gītā under the direct guidance of the Lord. We hope, therefore, that people will derive the greatest benefit by studying Bhagavad-gītā As It Is as we have presented it here, and if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we shall consider our attempt a success.

Folk i almindelighed, især i denne Kalis tidsalder, lader sig besnære af Kṛṣṇas ydre energi, og de tror fejlagtigt, at mennesket kan blive lykkeligt gennem udvikling af materielle bekvemmeligheder. De har ingen viden om, at den materielle eller ydre natur er meget stærk, for alle er de slavebundet af den materielle naturs strenge love. Et levende væsen er lykkeligt som en uadskillelig del af Herren, og derfor er det dets naturlige funktion at tjene Herren direkte. Men forblændet af illusion forsøger man i stedet at blive lykkelig ved at tjene sin personlige sansetilfredsstillelse på forskellige måder, der aldrig vil gøre én lykkelig. I stedet for at tilfredsstille sine egne materielle sanser bør man derfor tilfredsstille Herrens sanser. Det er livets højeste fuldkommenhed. Herren ønsker dette, og Han forlanger det. Man må forstå dette centrale punkt i Bhagavad- gītā. Vores Kṛṣṇabevidstheds-bevægelse lærer hele verden dette centrale punkt, og fordi vi ikke forvansker temaet i Bhagavad-gītā som den er, må alle, der for alvor er interesseret i at få fuldt udbytte af at læse Bhagavad- gītā, hente hjælp hos Kṛṣṇabevidstheds-bevægelsen for i praksis at kunne forstå Bhagavad-gītā under Herrens direkte vejledning. Vi håber derfor, at folk vil få den største gavn af at læse Bhagavad-gītā som den er, sådan som vi har fremlagt den her, og hvis blot ét eneste menneske bliver Herrens rene hengivne, vil vi anse vores bestræbelse for vellykket.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
12 May 1971
Sydney, Australia

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Den 12. maj 1971
Sydney, Australien