In this article I would like to mention about the gitas mentioned in different puranas.
1. Agastya gita – Agastya gita comes in the Varaha purana. Varaha purana is the conversation between Varaha murti (the avatar of Lord Mahavishnu) and Dharani (earth). To one of the questions by Dharani, Varahamurti as answer quotes the Agastya gita, which was originally said by Sage Agastya. This gita tells about the concept of moksha, the attainment of paramatma by the jivatma through devotion, renunciation and by the grace of God.
2. Avadhuda gita – Avadhuta means ever-free. Avadhuta gita means the song of the ever-free. Avadhuta gita is the experience of the Avadhuta Dattatreya. It is based on the non-dualistic philosophy. Avadhuta gita is an independent treatise on Advaita vedanta. It is also said as Vedanta sara.
3. Brahma gita – Brahma gita comes in the Brahma Purana. This gita praises Lord Shiva. After the death of Sati, Daksha goes to Lord Shiva and praises his glories and the Lord blesses him. These slokas are said as Brahma gita.
4. Devi gita – Devi gita comes in the Devi baghavata purana. It is one among the eighteen puranas, where Devi is said as Brahman. Devi gita tells about the supreme power of the divine mother. She is both compassionate and at the same time very ferocious too. Devi gita is the conversation between devi Parvati and her father Himavan, and she tells her father that she is the ultimate reality, Brahman. She explains about the evolution, existence and dissolution.
5. Ganesha gita – Ganesha gita is from the Ganesha purana. It has two sections. The first is the upasana kanda, a section on devotion to Lord Ganesha. The second section is the krida kanda, which tells about the divine leelas of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha gita comes in the krida kanda. It is the discourse of Lord Gajanana, an incarnation of Ganesha, to king Varenya. The discourse is based on liberation.
6. Guru gita – Guru gita comes in the skanda purana. It has 352 verses. It is a famous gita in Vedanta philosophy. It is a conversation between Lord Shiva and devi Parvati, where devi Parvati asks about the importance of guru, and the answer by Lord Shiva is the Guru gita.
7. Hanuman gita – Hanuman gita is the discourse of Lord Ram and devi Sita after their arrival back to Ayodhya, after defeating Ravana. Lord Ram and devi Sita reveal their identity to Hanuman. Lord Ram says that he is the all pervading, imperishable Brahman and devi Sita is the yoga maya existing in Brahman.
8. Ishwara gita – Ishwara gita comes in the uttara vibhaga of the kurma purana. It is the teaching of Lord Vishnu to Sage Narada. Ishwara gita explains Ishwara, the creator as omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient.
9. Rama gita – Rama gita comes in the uttara kanda of Adhyatma Ramayana, authored by Veda Vyasa. Rama gita is a dialogue between Lord Rama and his younger brother Lakshmana. To one of the questions by devi Parvati, her consort Lord Shiva as answer retells the Rama gita. The presenter of Rama gita is Lord Shiva.
There is another Rama gita in Jnana vasishta, Tattwa sarayana. It is the dialogue between Hanuman and Sri Ram on jnana, bhakti yoga and vairagya. It emphasizes the importance of knowledge and practice of good karmas. It is based on monistic philosophy.
10. Ramana gita – Ramana gita is not a traditional gita as taken from any puranas. Ramana gita is the teachings of Shri Ramana maharshi who lived in the 20th century in a place called Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. One of his disciples, Shri Ganapathi muni, recorded the answers given by Shri Ramana maharshi to nearly 43 questions posted by his devotees on Self enquiry and he brought it out as Ramana gita.
11. Ribhu gita – Ribhu gita comes in the Shiva rahasya purana. It is an upapurana based on Lord Shiva and saivite worship. It has about 2000 versus. It is a dialogue between Sage Ribhu and his disciple Sage Nidagha.
12. Shiva gita – Shiva gita is taken from the padma purana. When Ravana took away devi Sita, Lord Rama in grief wandered in the forest. Sage Agastya consoled Sri Ram and advised him to worship Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before Lord Ram and taught him this gita. The guru of Shiva gita is Lord Shiva and the disciple is Lord Ram. Lord Shiva says in Shiva gita that the entire creation is the manifestation of the primordial being, himself.
13. Siddha gita – Siddha gita is from Yoga Vasishta. Some siddhas assembled near the palace of king Janaka and they were singing the praise of Brahman and Atma. Sage Vasistha quotes this gita to Sri Ram.
14. Surya gita – Surya gita is found in the Tattwa sarayana. It is the teaching of the eternal teacher Dakshinamurthi to Lord Brahma about Brahman and its manifestations.
15. Suta gita – Suta gita is from the skanda purana. It comprises of the teaching about Brahman and maya tattwa.
16. Vallabha gita – Vallabha gita is also said as shodasha granthas, a collection of sixteen stotras of Shri Vallabhacharya. Shri Vallabhacharya was one of the five main acharyas who propagated the Vaishnava Bhakti tradition of Hinduism and he is the founder of the pushti sect in Hinduism. It is based on the philosophy of shuddha advaitam (non-dualism), which means that Brahman alone is real. They do not accept the concept of maya. Pushti sect believes that the Universe is not an illusion, but the natural emanation from God. Jiva is a part of God (Krishna) and is identical with him. Their main deity is Lord Krishna and attaining him is liberation. As answers to his devotes questions, Shri Vallabhacharya wrote 16 granthas to help them in the path of devotion. These granthas were later known as Vallabha gita.
17. Vasishta gita – Vasishta gita is also knows as Yoga Vasishta. It is an important work in Vedanta philosophy. It is the advice given by Sage Vasishta to Lord Ram, when Sri Ram was in the dejected state of mind. It comes in the uttara bhaga of Valmiki Ramayana. It is also known as jnana Vasishta. It is a profound work in Vedanta with 32,000 versus. The discourse of Sage Vasishta is based on the Reality, non-duality, manifestation and liberation.
18. Vibheeshana gita – Vibeeshana gita comes in the yuddha kanda of Ramayana. It is a discourse between Lord Ram and Vibeeshana. Vibeeshana asked Sri Ram that how he was able to win over the mighty Ravana; Sri Ram said that dharma, faith and good values will win in the end. Sri Ram’s answer is said as Vibeeshana gita.
19. Vidya gita – Vidya gita comes in the Tripura Rahasya. It is in the form of a story as said by Lord Dattatreya to Lord Parasuram. Lord Dattatreya says that vidya, the highest wisdom is devi herself and she removes the fog of delusion and confers liberation through intelligence.
20. Yama gita – Yama gita was originally recited by Agni dev to Sage Vasishta. It appears in Vishnu Puran, Agni Puran and Narashimha Puran. It explains the nature of Self, the concept of Brahman and the ways to attain liberation.
21. Vyasa gita – Vyasa gita comes in the Brahma Puran. Brahma Puran was said by Lord Brahma to the Sages on mount Meru. The Sages requested Lord Brahma to tell about the yoga that will help them to be free of miseries and later help them to unite with Paramatma; as answer Sage Vyasa recited the Vyasa gita, which explains the philosophy of non-dualism and samkya philosophy.
These are the different gitas in Hinduism. In total there are more than 60 gitas in Hinduism other than the famous Baghavad gita. Hope the three articles (Different gitas in Hinduism Part 1, Part2, Part 3) may help the readers to trace the source and read the gitas to improve their knowledge on Brahman.
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