What is the truth about the supposed two (or more? original, Sanskrit) versions of the Bhagavad Gita?
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Here is a mention of the 2 versions: http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/hinduism-dir/130276-bhagavad-gita-different-versions.html And here is one as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Shaivism#Classification_of_the_written_tradition "... and also a unique version of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita'..." But hey! It's just Wikipedia. Here is one in Sanskrit (not sure which one): http://www.sanskritweb.net/sansdocs/index.html#GITABIG If there is another one in Sanskrit, where can one find it and what is the story behind the two distinct versions? Edit: Unfortunately neither answerer Aditya Mittal or Prashant Trivedie so far clearly understood my question. I thought it was clear so I have to clarify more. I clearly did not ask about - commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita - other Gitas like the Ashtavakra Gita, etc. I simply asked about the original or supposed to be one or more original Sanskrit texts. http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/abhinavagupta-s-commentary-on-bhagavad-gita-gitartha-samgraha-IDD714/ The Kashmiri recension of the Bhagavad Gita is different at many places from other Gita recensions. http://nityanandainstitute.org/archives_gitartha.php4 The commentary relates to the Kashmiri recension of the Gita, which in places differs from the popular versions. Just basic reading comprehension. Thank you.
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Answer:
It is not totally unreal that multiple "versions" exist. But, as an entire text that is a different version, not. They are more of recensions than versions where particular shlokas differ between recensions. And, this particular trend is not restricted just to shrI bhagavad gItA. shaMkara for example, quotes this particular shloka from mahAbhArata's strI parvA ठदरà¥à¤¶à¤¨à¤¾à¤¤à¥ à¤à¤ªà¤¤à¤¿à¤¤à¤ पà¥à¤¨à¤¶à¥à¤à¤¾à¤¦à¤°à¥à¤¶à¤¨à¤ à¤à¤¤à¤ | नासॠतव न तसà¥à¤¯ तà¥à¤µà¤ वà¥à¤¥à¤¾ à¤à¤¾ परिदà¥à¤µà¤¨à¤¾ || while shrI vedAnta deshika, belonging to the vishiShTAdvaita tradition, quotes it as ठदरà¥à¤¶à¤¨à¤¾à¤¤à¥ à¤à¤¹à¤¾à¤¯à¤¾à¤¤à¤ पà¥à¤¨à¤¶à¥à¤à¤¾à¤¦à¤°à¥à¤¶à¤¨à¤ à¤à¤¤à¤ | नासॠतव न तसà¥à¤¯ तà¥à¤µà¤ ततà¥à¤° à¤à¤¾ परिदà¥à¤µà¤¨à¤¾ || and interestingly enough most extant texts, have a mix of the two. And govindarAjA, in his commentarial work of govindarAjIya on shrImad rAmAyaNa, puts this as a prelude to the section that is commonly recited as "Aditya hRRidaya" We do not observe the presence of this section in the texts that were handed down to us in the tradition. A few manuscripts from elsewhere do seem to include this. But, given the flow of the text in general, and the nature of the entire text taken into consideration, we cannot interpret it without the consideration *if* this portion is considered as part of the text itself
Sriram Murali Velamur at Quora Visit the source
Other answers
There is only one "Bhagavad Gita" which is part of Mahabharata. Lord Krishna gave teachings in form of Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna while he was scared to fight against Kaurava army. This text is divided into 18 chapters and written in Sanskrit language. However there are 100s of commentaries and explanations of teachings of Bhagavad Gita. These commentaries from various authors explain the text of Bhagavad Gita with their own interpretations. Since Bhagavad Gita contain verses which are quite deep in meaning and can be interpreted in different ways, therefore many commentaries exists. I am not saying these commentaries are wrong, they are just different interpretations of same text.
Prashant Trivedi
Gita is in sanskrit text only and then translated/commented/explained in many languages by various noble people. The most authentic version of text known to me is published from Gita-Press which can be found here with meaning in English http://www.gitapress.org/BOOKS/GITA/455/455_Gita_Roman.pdf or in Hindi http://www.gitapress.org/BOOKS/GITA/18/18_Gita.pdf
Abhinav Mishra
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