A Holy Scripture in which God Himself speaks!

1972 Edition of Bhagavad Gita As It Is

The Timeless, Supreme, Divine Instructions

There are many religions in the world and all of them offer some path to Godhead, that supreme divinity. However, the ancient Hindu scripture namely the Bhagavad Gita, is largely written in the first person singular in the Sanskrit language. That person being not a saint or disciple as might be the case with the Holy Bible or a prophet as might be with the Holy Quran, relating the words of the Lord in a transcendental way but the Supreme being Himself. Religious people may consider the authority of saints and prophets in the scriptures to be the word of God and it is also confirmed through revelation in most of the major religions of the world, that God imparts His transcendental wisdom to His bona fide messengers. 

If it is that God Himself speaks to one of his disciples and the narration is recorded by His pure servant in the first person then logically that literature can be considered to be the highest authority of all because it is spoken directly by God Himself. In a particular edition of this Hindu scripture namely "Bhagavad Gita As It Is", this philosophy is very clearly and strongly emphasized by the author that the verses are spoken by God Himself to His friend and disciple and are therefore the super-most authoritative texts by which one's life should be guided.

This edition of this holy Hindu scriptural text mention herein, is written and translated into English by spiritual master and author, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder and spiritual master of the religious organization,The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) founded in 1966 in New York City, USA. As its name denotes it is a Global confederation with a large, devout and growing following even to this day.

First of all, the Bhagavad Gita is part of the wider and main source of ancient Hindu scriptures called "Vedas". Bhagavad Gita As It Is, proclaims that God's highest or ultimate name is "Kṛṣṇa" in Sanskrit or in Roman, "Krishna" . Krishna in English means "All attractive and all encompassing". "Sri" denotes respect to a holy person in ancient Vedic civilization.

Bhagavad Gita As it Is, was spoken by Lord Sri Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead just over 5000 years ago directly to his friend and student Arjuna and from Arjuna, through the chain of (pure devotees) - 'disciplic succession' over the years. This is according to the scripture itself and Swami Prabhupada who himself exemplified what it was to be a pure devotee of Lord Krishna. 

This means that only the unalloyed devotees of God Himself passed this transcendental knowledge from teachers to students just as the Lord did to Arjuna and they received this transcendental knowledge in the same way as Arjuna did before passing it on. Ideally, this method of transmission is transcendental in nature and leaves no room for personal interpretation of God's own words so that these words are the exact English import of the Sanskrit equivalent of the Supreme Lord's own words. Sanskrit is a complex language with its own alphabet and syntax therefore the word 'import' is used to convey that the translator had a strong understanding of and command of both the English and Sanskrit languages.

What being a pure servant of God means

Of course only a pure devotee of God who is in full Krishna consciousness will understand, have faith in and believe the import as it is. This means that in order to understand it fully we must also be devotees of Lord Krishna ourselves. That the Lord's words and activities can only be understood by his pure devotees and no one else, is the salient point here. 

It is fully logical since a pure devotee can only be made 'pure' by God himself through revelation in the heart of His devotee via the transparent medium of another pure devotee - the spiritual master or teacher. This is what is meat by 'disciplic succession'. 

This confirms that the word of God, His name, His activities and God Himself are non-different or absolute in nature. For it is only by Krishna's grace working through His pure devotees that one achieves the standard of pure devotional service to God or in other words, becomes a pure devotee of Lord Krishna.