Povijesna pozadina Bhagavad-gīte
Setting the Scene
Premda se obično izdaje i čita kao samostalno djelo, Bhagavad-gītā izvorno je dio Mahābhārate, sanskritskog epa koji opisuje povijest starodrevnog svijeta. Mahābhārata opisuje događaje koji su se odigrali pred sam početak doba Kali. Na početku toga doba, prije pet tisuća godina, Gospodin Kṛṣṇa objasnio je Bhagavad-gītu Svom prijatelju i bhakti Arjuni.
Although widely published and read by itself, Bhagavad-gītā originally appears as an episode in the Mahābhārata, the epic Sanskrit history of the ancient world. The Mahābhārata tells of events leading up to the present Age of Kali. It was at the beginning of this age, some fifty centuries ago, that Lord Kṛṣṇa spoke Bhagavad-gītā to His friend and devotee Arjuna.
Njihov razgovor – jedan od najvećih filozofskih i religijskih dijaloga poznatih čovjeku – odigrao se uoči početka bitke, velikog bratoubilačkog rata između stotinu sinova Dhṛtarāṣṭre i njihovih rođaka Pāṇḍava, sinova Pāṇḍua.
Their discourse – one of the greatest philosophical and religious dialogues known to man – took place just before the onset of war, a great fratricidal conflict between the hundred sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and on the opposing side their cousins the Pāṇḍavas, or sons of Pāṇḍu.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra i Pāṇḍu bili su braća rođena u dinastiji Kurua, koja potječe od kralja Bharate, bivšeg vladara Zemlje, po kojem je Mahābhārata dobila ime. Stariji brat, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, bio je slijep od rođenja i zato je na prijestolje, koje bi mu inače pripalo, bio ustoličen mlađi brat, Pāṇḍu.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Pāṇḍu were brothers born in the Kuru dynasty, descending from King Bharata, a former ruler of the earth, from whom the name Mahābhārata derives. Because Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the elder brother, was born blind, the throne that otherwise would have been his was passed down to the younger brother, Pāṇḍu.
Nakon smrti Pāṇḍua, koji je umro mlad, njegovi sinovi – Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula i Sahadeva – bili su povjereni Dhṛtarāṣṭri, koji je na taj način, na izvjesno vrijeme, postao kralj. Tako su i Dhṛtarāṣṭrini i Pāṇḍuovi sinovi odrasli u istoj kraljevskoj palači. I jedne je i druge vojnoj vještini podučavao iskusni Droṇa, a svojim savjetom upućivao poštovani „djed" obitelji, Bhīṣma.
When Pāṇḍu died at an early age, his five children – Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva – came under the care of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who in effect became, for the time being, the king. Thus the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and those of Pāṇḍu grew up in the same royal household. Both were trained in the military arts by the expert Droṇa and counseled by the revered “grandfather” of the clan, Bhīṣma.
Unatoč tome, Dhṛtarāṣṭrini sinovi, a napose najstariji sin Duryodhana, mrzili su Pāṇḍave i zavidjeli im, a slijepi je i slabi Dhṛtarāṣṭra želio da njegovi sinovi, a ne Pāṇḍave, naslijede kraljevstvo.
Yet the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, especially the eldest, Duryodhana, hated and envied the Pāṇḍavas. And the blind and weak-minded Dhṛtarāṣṭra wanted his own sons, not those of Pāṇḍu, to inherit the kingdom.
Tako je Duryodhana, uz Dhṛtarāṣṭrin pristanak, skovao zavjeru protiv Pāṇḍuovih mladih sinova, koji su samo zahvaljujući brižnoj zaštiti svoga strica Vidure i svoga rođaka Gospodina Kṛṣṇe bili spašeni od njegovih brojnih pokušaja umorstva.
Thus Duryodhana, with Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s consent, plotted to kill the young sons of Pāṇḍu, and it was only by the careful protection of their uncle Vidura and their cousin Lord Kṛṣṇa that the Pāṇḍavas escaped the many attempts against their lives.
Gospodin Kṛṣṇa nije bio običan čovjek, već sam Vrhovni Bog, koji je sišao na Zemlju i igrao ulogu kraljevića u jednoj od dinastija toga vremena. U toj ulozi bio je i nećak Pāṇḍuove žene Kuntī, odnosno Pṛthe, majke Pāṇḍava. Tako je Kṛṣṇa i kao rođak i kao vječni branitelj religije, bio naklonjen Pāṇḍuovim vrlim sinovima, štiteći ih.
Now, Lord Kṛṣṇa was not an ordinary man but the Supreme Godhead Himself, who had descended to earth and was playing the role of a prince in a contemporary dynasty. In this role He was also the nephew of Pāṇḍu’s wife Kuntī, or Pṛthā, the mother of the Pāṇḍavas. So both as a relative and as the eternal upholder of religion, Kṛṣṇa favored the righteous sons of Pāṇḍu and protected them.
Međutim, lukavi je Duryodhana konačno izazvao Pāṇḍave na kockarski dvoboj. Tijekom tog sudbonosnog dvoboja, Duryodhana i njegova braća dobili su Draupadī, čestitu i odanu ženu Pāṇḍava, i uvredljivo je pokušali razgolititi pred svim okupljenim kraljevićima i kraljevima. Kṛṣṇa ju je Svojom božanskom intervencijom spasio, ali Pāṇḍave su zbog namještene kocke izgubili svoje kraljevstvo i bili prisiljeni živjeti u progonstvu trinaest godina.
Ultimately, however, the clever Duryodhana challenged the Pāṇḍavas to a gambling match. In the course of that fateful tournament, Duryodhana and his brothers took possession of Draupadī, the chaste and devoted wife of the Pāṇḍavas, and insultingly tried to strip her naked before the entire assembly of princes and kings. Kṛṣṇa’s divine intervention saved her, but the gambling, which was rigged, cheated the Pāṇḍavas of their kingdom and forced them into thirteen years of exile.
Po povratku iz progonstva, s pravom su zatražili od Duryodhane da im vrati njihovo kraljevstvo, ali Duryodhana je to bezobzirno odbio. Vezani dužnošću koja im je kao kraljevićima nalagala da vladaju, petorica su Pāṇḍava sveli svoj zahtjev na samo pet sela. No Duryodhana je oholo odgovorio da im ne bi dao čak ni toliko zemlje da u nju mogu zabosti iglu.
Upon returning from exile, the Pāṇḍavas rightfully requested their kingdom from Duryodhana, who bluntly refused to yield it. Duty-bound as princes to serve in public administration, the five Pāṇḍavas reduced their request to a mere five villages. But Duryodhana arrogantly replied that he wouldn’t spare them enough land into which to drive a pin.
Sve vrijeme, Pāṇḍave su bili snošljivi i strpljivi, ali sada je rat postao neizbježan.
Throughout all this, the Pāṇḍavas had been consistently tolerant and forbearing. But now war seemed inevitable.
Dok su kraljevići svijeta prilazili različitim stranama, jedni Dhṛtarāṣṭrinim sinovima, a drugi Pāṇḍavama, sam je Kṛṣṇa preuzeo ulogu glasnika Pāṇḍuovih sinova i otišao u Dhṛtarāṣṭrinu palaču, tražeći mir. Kad su Njegovi prijedlozi bili odbijeni, rat je postao neminovan.
Nonetheless, as the princes of the world divided, some siding with the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, others with the Pāṇḍavas, Kṛṣṇa Himself took the role of messenger for the sons of Pāṇḍu and went to the court of Dhṛtarāṣṭra to plead for peace. When His pleas were refused, war was now certain.
Pāṇḍave, ljudi najvišeg morala, prihvatili su Kṛṣṇu kao Svevišnju Božansku Osobu, ali Dhṛtarāṣṭrini bezbožni sinovi nisu. Unatoč tome, Kṛṣṇa je ponudio da sudjeluje u ratu prema željama zaraćenih strana. Kao Bog, neće se osobno boriti, ali zaraćene strane mogu birati između Njegove vojske ili samoga Kṛṣṇe, kao savjetnika i pomagača. Politički genije Duryodhana oduševljeno je odabrao Kṛṣṇinu vojsku, dok su Pāṇḍave s jednakim oduševljenjem prihvatili samoga Kṛṣṇu.
The Pāṇḍavas, men of the highest moral stature, recognized Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the impious sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra did not. Yet Kṛṣṇa offered to enter the war according to the desire of the antagonists. As God, He would not personally fight; but whoever so desired might avail himself of Kṛṣṇa’s army – and the other side could have Kṛṣṇa Himself, as an advisor and helper. Duryodhana, the political genius, snatched at Kṛṣṇa’s armed forces, while the Pāṇḍavas were equally eager to have Kṛṣṇa Himself.
Tako je Kṛṣṇa postao vozač Arjuninih bojnih kola, preuzevši zadatak da vozi bojna kola glasovitog strijelca. To nas dovodi do trenutka početka Bhagavad-gīte, kada su se dvije vojske suočile, spremne za borbu, a Dhṛtarāṣṭra zabrinuto upitao svoga tajnika Sañjayu: „Što su učinili?"
In this way, Kṛṣṇa became the charioteer of Arjuna, taking it upon Himself to drive the fabled bowman’s chariot. This brings us to the point at which Bhagavad-gītā begins, with the two armies arrayed, ready for combat, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra anxiously inquiring of his secretary Sañjaya, “What did they do?”
Scena je postavljena; potreban je samo kratki osvrt na ovaj prijevod i tumačenja.
The scene is set, with only the need for a brief note regarding this translation and commentary.
Većina prevoditelja Bhagavad-gīte u svom prijevodu na engleski zanemaruje Kṛṣṇu kao osobu da bi stvorili prostor za vlastita shvaćanja i filozofije. Povijest Mahābhārate biva prihvaćena kao neobična mitologija, a Kṛṣṇa postaje poetsko sredstvo za predstavljanje ideja nekog anonimnog genija ili u najboljem slučaju, manje važna povijesna osoba.
The general pattern translators have followed in rendering Bhagavad-gītā into English has been to brush aside the person Kṛṣṇa to make room for their own concepts and philosophies. The history of the Mahābhārata is taken as quaint mythology, and Kṛṣṇa becomes a poetic device for presenting the ideas of some anonymous genius, or at best He becomes a minor historical personage.
Međutim, prema izjavama same Gīte, Kṛṣṇa je, kao osoba, i cilj i tema Bhagavad-gīte.
But the person Kṛṣṇa is both the goal and the substance of Bhagavad-gītā, so far as the Gītā speaks of itself.
Ovaj prijevod i prateća tumačenja stoga ne odvraćaju, već usmjeravaju pozornost čitatelja prema Kṛṣṇi. Po tome je Bhagavad-gītā kakva jest jedinstvena. Bhagavad-gītā tako postaje potpuno skladna i razumljiva. Budući da je Kṛṣṇa govornik Bhagavad-gīte i njezin krajnji cilj, ovo je jedini prijevod koji predstavlja ovaj veliki spis u njegovom pravom svjetlu.
This translation, then, and the commentary that accompanies it propose to direct the reader to Kṛṣṇa rather than away from Him. The Bhagavad-gītā thus becomes wholly consistent and comprehensible. Since Kṛṣṇa is the speaker of the Gītā, and its ultimate goal as well, the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is presents this great scripture in its true terms.
— Izdavači
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