The Gt and Buddhism According to Gambhrnanda (1984, p.

15), 'That the Gt is pre-Buddhist follows from the fact that it does not refer to Buddhism. Some scholars believe that the mention of the word nirva indicates that the Gt, is post-Buddhist. But the word nirva in the Gt occurs compounded with brahma as brahma-

nirvameaning identified with or absorbed in Brahman, or with param as in nirvaparam, which means culminating in Liberation. The Buddhist Nirvana, on the
other hand, is used in the sense of being blown out or extinguished. Let's look at this issue more closely. The term nirva occurs 5 times in the Bhagavad Gt (Ranade, 1982, p. 108: verses 2.72; 5.24, 5.25, and 5.26; 6.15), as follows: e brhm sthiti prtha nain prpya vimuhyati sthitvsym antaklepi brahmanirvam cchati. 2.72

This is the eternal state, O Prtha (Arjuna). Attaining this, one is no more deluded. Abiding in it even at the time of death, one passes to the Bliss of Brahman (Brahmanirva).

yontasukhontarrmas tathntarjyotir eva ya sa yog brahmanirva brahmabhtodhigacchati labhante brahmanirvam aya kakalma chinnadvaidh yattmna sarvabhtahite rat kmakrodhaviyuktn yatn yatacetasm abhito brahmanirva vartate vidittmanm 5.24-26

He who is happy within, whose joy is withinthat is he who enjoys within himself the delight of the souland whose light is within, that yogin becomes Brahman and reaches the bliss of Brahman. The seers whose sins are destroyed, whose doubts (dualities) are dispelled and who rejoice in the welfare of all beings, attain to the bliss of Brahman. To those austere souls (yatis) who are free from desire and anger, who have subdued their minds, and know the Self, near to them lies the bliss of the Brahman.

yujann eva sadtmna yog niyatamnasa

nti nirvaparam matsasthm adhigacchati 6.15 Thus always disciplining himself, with his mind restrained, the Yogin attains to peace, the supreme peace (nirva), that abides in Me. Thus it is clear from these verses that the word nirva in the

Gt is used either in the sense of communion (as in 2.72) or in the sense bliss or peace (as in 5.2426 and 6.15) [see also, 6.28: brahmasasparam atyanta sukham anute: experiences the ultimate bliss of union with Brahman, the Absolute]. However, Hill (1973, p. 72) clarifies that "the word nirva, familiar in Buddhist literature, occurs several time in the Epic (Mahbhrata), both on the sense of 'calm bliss' and in that of 'extinction.' Ranade (1982, pp. 108-109) sums up the issue thus, "So when the Bhagavadgita makes bliss the supreme ideal at which all human effort is to aim, it differs fundamentally from the conception of Nirvana in Buddhism which speaks of annihilation of desire or annihilation of being itself." And finally, the fundamental platform of Buddhism, says Ranade, is: 'sarvam duhkham duhkham, kshanikam kshanikam; all things are full of suffering, all things are momentary. The Bhagavadgita does not uphold pessimism in any way in that sense. Even when the Bhagavadgita speaks of janmamtyujarvydhidukhadonudaranam (13.8) a perception of the evil of birth, death, old age, sickness and pain; also it speaks of the end of this grief on a pessimistic optimistic level: dukhnta ca nigacchhati (18.36)comes to the end of suffering. But if the

Bhagavadgita stands for anything in particular, it stands for optimism, particularly spiritual optimism (p.
109).