In this class (Class 19 on Sunday, May 5 at 9:30am), we discuss verses 2.40 to 2.44 of the Bhagavad Gita and Chapter 9 of Sri Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita, entitled “Samkhya, Yoga & Vedanta” (pp. 81-93).
Study Questions:
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?