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Gods and Heroes of the Bhagavad Gita

By Geoffrey A. Barborka

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Gods and Heroes of The Bhagavad-Gita R

Rajas In Hindu philosophy, one of the three gu?as (qualities) running through the web or fabric of Nature: the quality of longing, activity, passion. (See Bh.G. chapters xiv, xviii.) (Bh.G. 28)

Raja??i comp. of rajan, ’king’; ??i ‘sage’: a kingly or royal sage, i.e., kings and princes who follow the path of illumination and initiation. The Raja??is in India were the same as the King-Hierophants of ancient Egypt.

“There were three classes of ??is in India, who were the earliest adepts known; the royal, or Raja??is, kings and princes, who adopted the ascetic life; the Deva??is, divine, or the sons of Dharma or Yoga; and Brahma??is, descendants of those ??is who were the founders of gotras of Brahmans, or caste-races.” (S.D. II, pp. 501-2) (Bh.G. 30)

Rak?asas Popularly regarded as demons (evil elemental beings) residing in the sixth of the material spheres (Rakshasa-loka); in the scriptures, however, they are grouped into three distinct classes: (1) elemental beings not necessarily evil; (2) giants engaged in warfare with the gods; (3) fiends and demons haunting cemeteries, etc., disturbing sacrifices, and afflicting mankind in various ways. In the epic poems ‘Rakshasa’ is rather loosely applied to any pre-Aryan people – such as the inhabitants of Lanka under the leadership of Ravana – ultimately defeated by the Aryans. “The Rak?asas,regarded in Indian popular theology as demons, are called the ‘Preservers’ beyond the Himalayas. This double and contradictory meaning has its origin in a philosophical allegory,” (S.D. II, 165). *raksh,to protect. Bh.G. 65)

Rama Three heroes are known by the name of Rama: Parasu-rama, Rama-chandra, and Bala-rama (see Ka?sa).The second is the one to whom the name is especially applied, for he is the hero of the Ramayana,wherein his exploits are fully recounted. Rama was the eldest son of king Dasaratha of the Suryava?sa (the Solar Dynasty) reigning at Ayodhya; he is represented as the seventh Avatara of Vi??u, incarnating at the end of the Treta-yuga (the second ‘Great Age’) for the especial purpose of delivering mankind and the gods from the iniquities caused by Ravana, the Rak?asa king of Lanka. Rama was known as the mightiest of those who carry arms, inasmuch as he was the only one able to bend the mighty bow of the god Siva. To him who could bend this bow, Janaka (q.v.) offered the hand of his daughter, Sita, in marriage; thus she became the bride of Rama. With the help of Hanuman (q.v.), Rama accomplished the purpose of the gods.

The Ramayana “is the mystic narrative in epic form of the struggle between Rama – the first king of the divine dynasty of the early Aryans – and Ravana, the symbolical personation of the Atlantean (Lanka) race. The former were the incarnations of the Solar Gods; the latter, of the lunar Devas. This was the great battle between Good and Evil, between white and black magic, for the supremacy of the divine forces, or of the lower terrestrial, or cosmic powers. … The Ramayana – every line of which has to be read esoterically – discloses in magnificent symbolism and allegory the tribulations of both man and soul.” (S.D. II, 495-6) (Bh.G. 75)

?k (or ?ch, Rik) A verse, especially a sacred verse recited in praise of a deity – one of the four kinds of Vedic composition. (Bh.G. 66)

??i (??i). An adept, a seer, an inspired person. In Vedic literature the term is employed as referring to the seers through whom the various mantras or hymns of the Veda were revealed. The Satapatha-Brahma?a enumerates seven as: Gotama, Bharadvaja, Visvamitra, Jamadagni Vasi??ha, Kasyapa, and Atri. In later times (in the epic poems and Pura?as) the ??is are regarded as a particular class of beings, distinct from gods and men, the patriarchs or ‘creators’ (see under Mahar?i).The Mahabharata enumerates the seven ??is of the first manvantara as: Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya, Vasi??ha. These are also called the seven great ??is (Sapta??is) especially associated with the Great Bear – being, in fact, seven Planetary Regents. The above-named ??is are also called in most of the texts the seven ??is “of the Third Manvantara; the latter referring both to the Third Round and also to the third Root-Race and its branch-Races in the Fourth Round. These are all the creators of the various beings on this Earth, the Prajapatis, and at the same time they appear as divers reincarnations in the early Manvantaras or races.” (S.D. II, 78) (Bh.G. 80)

Rudras An alternative name for the stormgods or Maruts (q.v.), who are under the leadership of Rudra or Siva. ”These deities are only another aspect,or a development of the Kumaras, who are Rudras in their patronymic, like many others.” (S.D. II, 613) (m. howlers, or roarers. Bh.G. 73)