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All about Interpolations

It was long suspected there could be interpolations in the Gita as it was being received down the ages through oral tradition One way to scent the nature of these, if not zero in on every one of them, is to subject the text to the twin tests of sequential conformity and structural economy Sequential conforression and structural economy but represents the absence of repetitiveness If the body Bhagavad-Gita of 700slokaswere to be scanned for possible fault lines on the above lines, the result would be but positive

It avad-Gita is the quintessence of the Brahmasutras and the Upanishads, themselves the offshoots of the Vedic spiritual roots Those esoteric portions that relate to spiritual knowledge apart, the Vedas contain ritualistic nuances of religious ceremonies It is the latter that has been the source of the temporal pohich the priestly class of Brahious mind And these very people happened to be the principal protagonists of the Gita

It is pertinent to note that while postulatingnishkaama karma, the theory of disinterested action, Krishna is critical of the ritualistic aspects of and expectations fro philosophy of the Gita is all about action, pure and simple, to tend one on the path of duty without attache to be allowed to percolate doouldn’t it have hurt the Brahels on earth as the Narayana Upanishad proclaims, where it hurts most? Herein lies the provocation for them to dilute the philosophy, and the opportunity was theirs, being the repositories of the very e Won’t the priestly perks associated with the rituals of death do, to cite an example?

If upon its death, as Krishna avers, the soul were to transrate into another body, what for are the elaborate rituals for the dead! It is against this background that we ht appreciate those interpolations that tend to advocate the ritualism on one hand, and the Brahman preeminence on the other However, the non-application of mind on part of the Hindus who vouchsafe for these aspects of the Gita is indeed saddening

Nevertheless, such interpolative slokas that are at variance with the avowed purpose of the Gita would show thely about turn from s42- s45 and s53 of ch2, s9-s16 of ch3 formulate the procedural aspects of the rituals and the divine backing they enjoy These, and such other aberrations highlighted in the prefaces of the chapters in this ere clearly the handiwork of the priestly interests to obfuscate the impact of the anti-ritualistic thrust of the Gita