According to Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna is the ultimate God. So why are there other beliefs in Hinduism?

Question

I am talking about monotheism and polytheism. When we refer to bagavat Gita we can see that bagvan gives answer to this, he is the creator, preserver and destroyer.

Answer 1

It was Supreme Brahman (through Krishna) who said Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. In Anugita Parva of Aswamedha Parva, Arjuna asked Krishna to repeat Bhagavadgita but Krishna said it was not possible to him again and says he was in Yoga (union) with Supreme Brahman at time of Gita recitation.

Vaisampayana said, "The son of Pritha (Arjuna), having recovered his own kingdom, joyously spent his time, without doing anything else, in the company of Krishna, his heart filled with delight, in that palace of celestial beauty. One day, those two listlessly proceeded to a particular part of the palace that looked, O king, like a veritable portion of Heaven. Themselves filled with delight, they were then surrounded by their relatives and attendents. Pandu's son, Arjuna, filled with joy in the company of Krishna, surveyed that delightful mansion, and then addressed his companion, saying, 'O--mighty-armed one, thy greatness became known to me upon the approach of the battle. O son of Devaki, thy form also, as the Lord of the universe, then became known to me! What thy holy self said unto me at that time, O Kesava, through affection, has all been forgotten by me, O chief of men, in consequence of the fickleness of my mind. Repeatedly, however, have I been curious on the subject of those truths. Thou again, O Madhava, wilt repair to Dwaraka soon.'

Vaisampayana continued, 'Thus addressed by him, Krishna of mighty energy, that foremost of speakers, embraced Phalguna and replied unto him as follows.

'Vasudeva said, 'I made thee listen to truths that are regarded as mysteries. I imparted to thee truths that are eternal. Verily, I discoursed to thee on Religion in its true form and on all the eternal regions. It is exceedingly disagreeable to me to learn that thou didst not, from folly, receive what I imparted. The recollection of all that I told thee on that occasion will not come to me now. Without doubt, O son of Pandu, thou art destitute of faith and thy understanding is not good. It is impossible for me, O Dhananjaya, to repeat, in detail, all that I said on that occasion. That Dharma (about which I discoursed to thee then) is more than sufficient for understanding Brahman. I cannot discourse on it again in detail. I discoursed to thee on Supreme Brahman, having concentrated myself in Yoga. I shalt now, however, recite to thee an old history upon the same topic. O foremost of all persons, observant of duty, listen to everything I now say, so that, with an understanding adapted to my teaching, thou mayst succeed in attaining to the highest end. O chastiser of foes, on one occasion, a Brahmana came to us from the regions of Heaven. Of irresistible energy, he came from the regions of the Grandsire. He was duly reverenced by us. Listen. O son of Pritha, without yielding to scruples of any kind, to what he, O chief of Bharata's race, said, in answer to our enquiries, agreeably to heavenly forms.'

As said in Tezz's answer, Vedas are given priority over all other scriptures in Hinduism. There are many statements in Vedas, which describe dieties such as Indra, Brahma, Rudra, Vishnu as Supreme Brahman. Different schools interpret these Vedic statements differently.

Shaivites consider that Supreme Brahman as Sada Shiva (or by other name depending on subsects), Vaishnavites consider that Supreme Brahman as Vishnu (or any higher form of Him depending on Subsects), Advaitins consider Supreme Brahman as Iswara or Saguna Brahman (wrt Maya) and so on.

Answer 2

There are many scriptures in Hinduism which are classified as Shruti, Smriti, Itihasa, Puranas etc...

And among all scriptures Shruti (Veda) has the highest authority and the ultimate Shabda-Pramana.

Bhagvad Gita is a text inside Mahabharata which is itself an Itihasa. So, Bhagvad Gita comes under Itihasa portion.

In the Vedas we find many statements which seem to be contradictory (in the surface) and these give rise to various views.

In the Vedas we find statements like 'Indra is all and everything', 'Rudra is all and everything', 'Vishnu is all and everything' etc.. etc... Some which I also discuss here.

e.g:

Indra is the Truth (Aitreya Upanishad)

Prajapati was only here in the beginning. He wished 'May I exist.' (Shatapatha Brahmana 6.1.3.1)

'Eka Eva Rudro Na Dwitiyaya' Rudra is truly one without second (Yajurveda 1.8.6)

'Tad Visnor yat Paramam Padam' / 'Place of Vishnu is the highest' (RigVeda 1.22.21)

Indra says 'Know me only, no Karmas can touch you' (Kaushitki Brahmana Upanishad)

Aditi is all Gods. (RigVeda 10.89)

And there are many many such statements like this which seem to show that, that particular God is Ultimate.

These gives rise to various views like:

1) Some think that this type of praise by Vedas to many Gods is just an 'Arthavãda' ie. Mere glorification.

2) Some think that this praise is actually to the Antaryami of Gods who remains as self of self of these Gods too.

3) Some think that prayers are true as they are as every god is just form of Ultimate Supreme God.

.... and so on....

So, Bhagvad Gita can't settle these disputed/diverse views because they already come from the higher authority Vedas.

And on being specific to Bhagvad Gita also there are various views like:

1) View that it is Vishnu who is described in Bhagvad Gita:

From Bhagvad Gita we know that it is Krishna who is without birth and death and who is the Lord of all and the Purusha and as Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu these all things actually applies to Vishnu. E.g: Sri Vaishnavism and major Vaishnava Sampradayas.

2) View that it is Krishna who is described in Bhagvad Gita:

In Bhagvad Gita Krishna speaks and it is Krishna who is Ultimate and even Vishnu is incarnation of Krishna. eg. Also in Gita Krishna says 'Vasudeva Sarvam Iti' "ie. Vasudeva is all and everything.' and hence Krishna is everything and even Vishnu is an incarnation of Krishna. Gaudiya Vaishnavas/ ISKCONS have this view.

3) View that it is Param Brahma who is speaking through mouth of Krishna in BhagVad Gita:

Actually it is Param Brahman who is speaking through the mouth of Krishna. For eg. Krishna in Ashwamedha Parva tells this about Bhagvad Gita:

Vasudeva said, ‘I made thee listen to truths that are regarded as mysteries. I imparted to thee truths that are eternal. Verily, I discoursed to thee on Religion in its true form and on all the eternal regions. It is exceedingly disagreeable to me to learn that thou didst not, from folly, receive what I imparted. The recollection of all that I told thee on that occasion will not come to me now. Without doubt, O son of Pandu, thou art destitute of faith and thy understanding is not good. It is impossible for me, O Dhananjaya, to repeat, in detail, all that I said on that occasion. That religion (about which I discoursed to thee then) is more than sufficient for understanding Brahma. I cannot discourse on it again in detail. I discoursed to thee on Supreme Brahma, having concentrated myself in Yoga.

So, it is Brahman who spoke Gita making Krishna as medium. People believe many things as Brahman like Self, Devi, Shiva, Vishnu, Avyakta etc.... So, Bhagvad Gita is describing these things.

4) View that Lord Shiva speaks through mouth of Krishna in Bhagvad Gita:

 It is Lord Shiva who spoke through mouth of Krishna during Bhagvad Gita. It's because Lord Shiva is Brahman and also while showing Mahakala form in Bhagvad Gita, it is stated:

तस्मात्वमुत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्व जित्वा शत्रून्भुङ् क्ष्व राज्यं समृद्धम् |
मयैवैते निहता: पूर्वमेव निमित्तमात्रं भव सव्यसाचिन् || 33|| (Bhagvad Gita 11.33)

Therefore,  stand up and win glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy an opulent kingdom.  Verily, by Me and none other they have been already slain; you be a mere  instrument, O Arjuna!

Now, this is Shiva who is speaking because Arjuna asks the same question to Vyasa in Mahabharata and Vyasa replies it is Shiva:

Arjuna asked: ‘O great Rishi, while I was engaged in slaying the foe in battle with showers of bright shafts, I continually beheld before me, proceeding in advance of my car, a person of blazing hue, as if endued with the effulgence of fire. Whithersoever he proceeded with his uplifted lance, all the hostile warriors were seen to break before him. Broken in reality by him, people regarded the foe to have been broken by me. Following in his wake, I only destroyed those, already destroyed by him. O holy one, tell me who was that foremost of persons, armed with lance, resembling the sun himself in energy, that was thus seen by me? He did not touch the earth with his feet, nor did he hurl his lance even once. In consequence of his energy, thousands of lances issued out of that one lance held by him’.”

“Vyasa said, ‘Thou hast, O Arjuna, seen Sankara, that First cause from which have sprung the Prajapatis, that puissant Being endued with great energy, he that is the embodiment of heaven, earth and sky, the Divine Lord, the protector of the universe, the great Master, the giver of boons, called also Isana. O, seek the protection of that boon, giving Deity, that lord of the universe”.

Also in Ishwara Gita Kurma Purana it is told that the knowledge passed by Ishwara (Shiva) there is same which is passed by Krishna to Arjuna:

नारायणोऽपि भगवान्देवकीतनयो हरिः।
अर्जुनाय स्वयं साक्षाद्दत्तवानिदमुत्तमम् ।। (Kurma Purana II.11)

Lord Narayana Hari, in the form of the son of Devaki himself transferred this knowledge of Yoga to Arjuna.

So, it is Shiva who is described in Bhagvad Gita.

5) View that Krishna spoke anything in Bhagvad Gita just to induce him to fight:

This is also another view. Some think that Bhagvad Gita is spoken only to induce Arjuna to fight thus it has no authority. For eg. Arulnandi Shivacharya in Shiva Jnana Siddhiyar states:

When Partha seated on the car saw the assembled hosts and all of them his kinsmen and he refused to slay them with his sharp arrows and reign as king after their death, the willy words uttered by Vishnu to introduce him to fight, you accept as your higher authority. Why don't you also accept the words of Buddha Avatar of Vishnu, propagated for the conquest of Tripura Asuras ?"

However this doesn't mean that all Shaivites do not consider Bhagvad Gita as authority. There are also some Shaivites like Abhinavgupta who have written commentary on Bhagvad Gita.

.... and so on there can be other views too.

Anyway the point is there are diverse interpretations and diverse scriptures thus giving rise to various beliefs. Regarding this Suta Samhita of Skandha Purana in Yajna Baibhava Khanda states:

अधिकारिविभेदेन नैकस्यैव सदा द्विजा ।
तर्कैरेते हि मार्गास्तु न हन्तव्या मनीषिभि ।।
यथा तोयप्रवाहाणां समुद्र: परमावधि ।
तथैव सर्व मार्गाणां साक्षान्निष्ठा महेश्वरः ।।

The wise say that each of these sastras is intended for a particular class according to the individual qualification, not all for one. These paths are not to be rudely handled by the learned subjecting them to rigorous unrelenting logic. As all streams ultimately empty themselves into the ocean, so all these paths ultimately lead to the Great Lord Himself.

And finally I want to close this answer with one verse from RigVeda:

They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutmān. To what is One, sages give many a title they call it Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan.(RigVeda 1.164.46)

Answer 3

The Vedas mention Lord Shiva as Bhagavan. And, there are no scriptures which has more authority than Vedas . So, there is no way one should stop praying to a Vedic deity who is described as Bhagavan in the Vedas. Similarly for other Vedic deities. Their worship is ordained in the Vedic scriptures so it should also be continued. Bhagavad Gita or any other scriptures for that matter don't have the authority to say otherwise.

प्रमुञ्च धन्वनस्त्वमुभयोरार्त्नियोर्ज्याम् ।

याश्च ते हस्त इषवः पराता भगवो वप ॥

Meaning:

भगवः- Bhagavan Parameswara! धन्वनः- of your bow, उभयोः आर्त्नियोः- (tied) in the two ends, ज्यां- the bowstring,
त्वं- you yourself, प्रमुञ्च- untie. ते- your, हस्ते- in the hand, याः- which, इषवः- arrows (are present), ताः च- them also, परावप- take away (from direct presence).

Explanation:

Bhagavan Parameswara! Please untie yourself the string tied at both ends of your bow. Please also hide from our vision the arrows that you have.

विकिरिद विलोहित नमस्ते अस्तु भगवः ।

यास्ते सहस्रँ हेतयोन्यमस्मन्निवपन्तु ताः ॥

Meaning:

विकिरिद- Destroyer of miseries like sin, disease, poverty etc., विलोहित- Of white complexion, भगवः- Possessor of six glories like wealth etc., ते- to you, नमः अस्तु- may prostration be. ते- Your, याः- which, सहस्रं हेतयः- thousands of weapons, ताः- those, अस्मत् अन्यं- our enemy (sin), निवपन्तु- may destroy.

सहस्राणि सहस्रधा बाहुवोस्तव हेतयः ।

तासामीशानो भगवः पराचीना मुखाकृधि ॥

Meaning:

भगव:- Bhagavan! तव- Your, बाहुवोः- in both hands, सहस्राणि-
thousands of, हेतयः- weapons, सहस्रधा- are in many shapes. ईशानः- All-powerful you, तासां- of those weapons, मुखा- ends, पराचीना-
not facing us, but turned away from us, कृधि- please do.

Mantras are from Sri Rudram Anuvaka 1 & 10.

Also, Bhagavad Gita was composed during the end of Dwapara Yuga. Many beleif systems already existed at that time (from the earlier yugas Krita, Treta). So, there is no way people will abandon their belief systems just because of Bhagavad Gita.

Moreover, Bhagavad Gita is not the only Gita. There are many others. All of them are composed by Vyasa who is the author Bhagavad Gita. And various such Gitas uphold various deities as supreme.

Answer 4

When Krishna references Himself in the Gita, he is referring to the Supreme Brahman.

In The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says (available here, Chapter 25 - http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/chapter25.htm):

The pundit and Mani Mallick became engaged in conversation. Mani was a member of the Brahmo Samaj. The pundit argued vehemently about the good and bad sides of the Samaj. Sri Ramakrishna was seated on the small couch and looked on, smiling. Presently he remarked: "This is the tamasic aspect of sattva, the attitude of a hero. This is necessary. One should not hold one's tongue at the sight of injustice and untruth. Suppose a bad woman wants to drag you from the path of righteousness. You must then assume the heroic attitude and say: 'What? You witch! You dare injure my spiritual life? I shall cut your body in two right now.' "

With a smile Sri Ramakrishna said to the pundit: "Mani Mallick has been following the tenets of the Brahmo Samaj a long time. You can't convert him to your views. Is it an easy thing to destroy old tendencies? Once there lived a very pious Hindu who always worshipped the Divine Mother and chanted Her name. When the Mussalmans conquered the country, they forced him embrace Islam. They said to him: 'You are now a Mussalman. Say "Allah". From now on you must repeat only the name of Allah.' With great difficulty he repeated the word 'Allah', but every now and then blurted out 'Jagadamba'. At that the Mussalmans were about to beat him. Thereupon he said to them: 'I beseech you! Please do not kill me. I have been trying my utmost to repeat the name of Allah, but our Jagadamba has filled me up to the throat. She pushes out your Allah.' (All laugh.)

(To the pundit) "Please don't say anything to Mani Mallick. You must know that there are different tastes. There are also different powers of digestion. God has made different religions and creeds to suit different aspirants. By no means all are fit for the Knowledge of Brahman. Therefore the worship of God with form has been provided.

"The mother brings home a fish for her children. She curries part of the fish, part she fries, and with another part she makes pilau. By no means all can digest the pilau. So she makes fish soup for those who have weak stomachs. Further, some want pickled or fried fish. There are different temperaments. There are differences in the capacity to comprehend."

"He is indeed a real man who has harmonized everything. Most people are one-sided. But I find that all opinions point to the One. All views-the Sakta, the Vaishnava, the Vedānta-have that One for their centre. He who is formless is, again, endowed with form. It is He who appears in different forms: The attributeless Brahman is my Father. God with attributes is my Mother. Whom shall I blame? Whom shall I praise? The two pans of the scales are equally heavy.'

"He who is described in the Vedas is also described in the Tantras and the Puranas. All of them speak about the one Satchidananda. The Nitya and the Lila are the two aspects of the one Reality. It is described in the Vedas as 'Om Satchidananda Brahman', in the Tantras as 'Om Satchidananda Śiva', the ever-pure Śiva, and in the Puranas as 'Om Satchidananda Krishna'. All the scriptures, the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Tantras, speak only of one Satchidananda. It is stated in the Vaishnava scripture that it is Krishna Himself who has become Kāli."

All are referring to Satchidananda.

Answer 5

Hinduism is a Henotheist Monotheist religion and the hymns of the Rigveda, the oldest scripture of Hinduism, mention many deities, but praises them successively as the "one ultimate, supreme God", alternatively as "one supreme Goddess", thereby asserting that the essence of the deities was unitary (ekam), and the deities were nothing but pluralistic manifestations of the same concept of the divine (God).

Further, Geeta is a itihasa from Mahabharat, but Vedas are Shrutis and Vedas describe many Gods as a manifestation of same Brahman. This includes Brahma, Rudra, Indra, Agni, Vayu etc.,

"Ekam Sat Vipra Bahuta Vadanti" - Upanishads

Truth is one but sages call it by various names

Answer 6

Lord Krishna is Para Brahman itself. It was he himself who narrated Gita to Arjuna. Even before the Gia, Krishna had showed his Virat roop in the Hastinapur Sabha. Later after the Anugita, Krishna revealed he is God to Sage Uttanka. Krishna also showed his Vishwaroopa to Sage Uttanka. Later in Swargarohana Parva, Krishna appears as Brahman to Yudhishtira.

Answer 7

While giving discourse to Arjuna, the mind of Sri Krishna was merged in the BRAHMAN and thus he had been speaking as a BRAHMAN itself.

Unless we understand this crucial aspect, every word of Sri Krishna is bound to create confusion, as to his declaration himself as GOD.

He never said that he is the incarnation of Vishnu .

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज।

अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः।।18.66।।

Abandoning all attributes, come to Me as your sole refuge; I shall rescue you from all sins; don't be sorrowful

येऽप्यन्यदेवता भक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयाऽन्विताः।

तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम्।।9.23।।

Even those who, being devoted to other gods and endowed with faith, worship (them), they also, O son of Kunti, worship Me alone (though) following the wrong method.

He was referring to the TRUE method for the benefit of spiritual aspirants. He was indicating that a true spiritual aspirant should follow the method that will give realisation of the BRAHMAN.

---

There is only ONE God.

In Rig Veda, the Almighty God was described in different names like Indra, Agni, Vayu, Vishnu, etc, according to the form, the Almighty's power was perceived.

The allegorical stories of Indra's slaying of Vritra, etc, have deep SPIRITUAL meaning, but understood by later day generations in too literal ways. This resulted in evolving of ritualistic concepts like Yagna, sacrifices, etc, in Yajurvedic era.

This lead to converting allegorical stories of/epithets like Prajapati used in Rig Vedic era into deifying different Gods like Brahma, Indra, Vishnu, into fixed forms and stories like Varaha, attributing to Prajapati Brahma, etc, were woven.

The degradation of SPIRITUAL CONCEPTS of Rig Vedic era to deifying different Gods like Brahma, Indra, Vishnu, into fixed forms and other stories was discussed in the answer given below.

https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/35338/3869

---

If we go through the Bhagavad Gita properly, we can understand that Sri Krishna said he is the Greatest among various groups, such as Vishnu among Adityas, Vajra among weapons, etc.

Why did Sri Krishna say he is VAJRA among weapons?

Why did Sri Krishna say he is Indra among Devatas?

---

What Sri Krishna said was from the point of view of HIGHEST SPIRITUAL thinking. It needs a great amount of understanding to understand the words of Sri Krishna.

Answer 8

Narayana

It is evident that under the name of Lord Shiva and scriptural authority, there has been a significant misinterpretation and distortion of the shāstras. Therefore, I feel compelled to address and refute each and every misguided claim made here.

People with literally zero understanding of the shāstras say "Krishna was in Union with brahman", because Vedas themselves say "ब्रह्मण्यो देवकीपुत्रो" ~ son of devaki is Brahman, which is present in Not only Upanishads like atmabodha and narayana, but There is a supporting Upbrahmana in Padma puran 6.255 as well. The vedas praise Bhagvana Krishna (Narayana) as the one Antaryami residing in all "एको देवः सर्वभूतेषु गूढः सर्वव्यापी सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा" ~ Found in gopal tapniye Upanishad 2.3.18 and Sri Krishna yamal Mahatantram 8.30 & also in Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.11. He is verily the one who gave the Vedas to Brahmā in the very Begining of everything as said "यो वै ब्रह्माणं विदधाति पूर्वं यो विद्यास्तस्मै गोपायति स्म कृष्णः" ~ found in Gopal Tapniye Upanishad 1.6 and svetasvatara Upanishad 6.18. Sri RadhaKrishna are verily praised by the famous mantra of Yajur veda "ऋतं सत्यं परं ब्रह्म पुरुषं कृष्णपिङ्गलम्" ~ where Krishna refers to The dark hued lord Krishna and Pingala Refers to the golden hued Srimati Radhika. The Upbrahmana of this mantra is found across a dozen of shāstras, including parasara samhita 8.14,Vimanarchana Kalpa 99.1,Brahmakaivarta Purana 2/5/18, Shesha Samhita 46/18,Bhargavatantra 16/50, Mahābhārata 12.360.5, Brihad yoga yajnavalkya smriti 9.10 and so on. Rig Veda 1.115.1 talks about the deity who pervades the entire universe and is the eye of all Gods and it is none other than Visnu himself अग्निर्वै मनुष्याणां चक्षुषः प्रदाता विष्णुर्देवानां(yajur veda, Maitrayani SaMhitā 2.1.7)~Fire is the giver of eyes to humans, and Vishnu to the dēvas.

Having established the Mahatamya of Lord Krishna, Let us move forward towards several claims made by Visnu dweshis against the gita. Before that, we must Know the fact that In all the Gita mahatamyas present across several shāstras Like Yoga vasistha, agni puran, garuda puran, Padma puran and extant ones of Varaha and Skanda purans, It is Lord Krishna alone who is Praised as the supreme deity and no one else. Even the dharmasastras (smritis), which precede puranas in authority, hail Visnu alone as deity of Bhagvada Gita, as in :-

~ Vasistha smriti, chapter 7

While the agamas hail the Charam mantra of Bhagvada Gita, as a praise of Visnu :-

~ Sesa samhita, chapter 64

As I had mentioned before, Agni puran gita mahatamya praises Visnu alone. In the last chapter of The same puran, Gita is said to be associated with Lord Vishnu's glory alone :-

सर्वे मत्स्यावताराद्या गीता रामायणन्त्विह । हरिवंशो भारतञ्च नव सर्गाः प्रदर्शिताः ।। ३८३.५२ ।। आगमो वैष्णवो गीतः पूजादीक्षाप्रतिष्ठया । पवित्रारोहणादीनि प्रतिमालक्षणादिकं ।। ३८३.५३ ।।

Similarly, the skanda puran counts the Bhagvada Gita, as a hymn to Narayana :-

गीतवाद्याद्यभावे च मम नामसहस्रकम् । स्तवराजं तथा पुत्र गजेंद्रस्य च मोक्षणम् ॥ अनुस्मृतिश्च गीता च स्तवनं पंचधा मतम् । पंचस्तवं महाभाग मम प्रीतिकरं परम् ॥

If songs and instrumental music are not available Pañcastava (a group of five prayers) is highly delightful unto me, O highly fortunate one. It consists of Viṣṇu SahasraNāma (‘A Thousand Names of Viṣṇu’), Bhīṣma Stavarāja (The Eulogy of Kṛṣṇa by Bhīṣma ), Gajendra Mokṣa (‘The Liberation of the Elephant’), Anusmṛti and Bhagavad Gītā. These five together constitute the Pañcastava (‘Five Prayer-hymns’).

(Skanda puram 2.5.10.36-37)

Covering all the mahatamyas in one post is not at all Easy, hence I will refute the claims made against Krishna paratvam and Gita instead, which Will involve some parts of the mahatamyas.

Obj :- The supreme Brahman described in Vedas, i.e the antharyāmi of Krishna (who is purushottama) is the one who spoke Bhagavadgita. The Anugita parva of Ashwamedha parva:-

Vasudeva said, 'I made thee listen to truths that are regarded as mysteries. I imparted to thee truths that are eternal. Verily, I discoursed to thee on Religion in its true form and on all the eternal regions. It is exceedingly disagreeable to me to learn that thou didst not, from folly, receive what I imparted. The recollection of all that I told thee on that occasion will not come to me now. Without doubt, O son of Pandu, thou art destitute of faith and thy understanding is not good. It is impossible for me, O Dhananjaya, to repeat, in detail, all that I said on that occasion. That Dharma (about which I discoursed to thee then) is more than sufficient for understanding Brahman. I cannot discourse on it again in detail. I discoursed to thee on Supreme Brahman, having concentrated myself in Yoga.

Vedantins intrepret that it's Lord Shiva (the Bhagavan of Vedas) who is the antharātma of Krishna who performed this mystic Leela which remained unrecognised.

Resp : I have already explained the identity of the brahman of the vedas in this as well as several other answers, hence no need to Comment over that here. As far as Siva being antaryami of Krishna goes, there is no Pramana from the vedas regarding the same ; Narayana sukta mentions Krishna (Visnu) to be the one residing in the heart of all, supported by Upbrahmana from vasudeva Upanishad. As far as Yoga yukta and Not being able to recount the gita is concerned Acharaya Shankar On 9.28 says एवं मदर्पणं कुर्वन् मोक्ष्यसे। सोऽयं संन्यासयोगो नाम? संन्यासश्च असौ मत्समर्पणतया कर्मत्वात् योगश्च असौ इति? I.e talking About Sanyas yog and How Being Yoga yukta, helps one Break off all shackles of karma, because that at the end leads us to the realisation, that the all pervading form of Vishnu, who is the antaryami (as per vaishnavism ; As per sri shankar bhagvatpada, it is our TRUE nature) The अकर्ता and the witness self of all. Geeta 6.29 that defines Yogayukta, Is found With slight modifications, in ishopanishad mantra 6, Manusmriti 12.91, Kaivalya upanishad mantra 10, Yogvasistha 6.53.43 and As explained beforehand, This Yogayukta is keeping Our mind in equanimity (समत्वं योग उच्यते says 2.48) and Seeing all in our Self and our self in all (everything is situated in vasudeva). This same yoga of staying in समत्व is the True worship of Visnu समत्वमाराधनमच्युतस्य as stated in Vishnu Puran 1.17.90 and Those yogis, Who Are Yogayukta, actually meditate on their own atma आत्मा ध्येयः सदा भूप! योगयुक्तैस्तथापरम् viz. visnu Puran 2.14.15. Even Bhakta Dhruva, who while meditation on Lord Vishnu, was in the same Yoga yukta state बालस्य योगयुक्तस्य सर्वशः says Visnu Puran 1.12.26. Yoga Vasistha 5.31.40 says अविष्णुः पूजयन्विष्णुं i.e One is not Visnu, gets no benefit of Worshipping Visnu i.e It talks from the POV of Advaita bhava, From the Point of View of मम of Sri krishna in geeta 9.28. Therefore, Yogayukta has nothing to do with being in 'yoga' with some diety, rather it is all about situating ourselves in our true form, Our antaryami, the suddha caitanya rupi visnu or the direct manifestation para Vasudeva, the शिव/विष्णु of geeta Mahatamya.

Now why was the Lord unable to recite the Gita once again? Purvapaksha says that Lord krishna was in 'Yoga' with Lord Siva at that time, hence he forgot the Gyana. This Point has several Fallacies. Firstly, The concept of Lord siva being involved in Geeta Updesha has been ruled out Already. Next, Incase He was Dependent on Lord Siva to Recite the geeta, then How come Was he able to Recite it to Devi lakshmi in Vaikuntha? There, nothing as such is mentioned that he was in Yoga with some other deity and the meanings of 'शिव' and 'माहेश्वर' mentioned there, are two forms of Visnu only, one caitanya rupi and other four armed form. The Five headed ten armed form is a mere analogy to Highlight the importance of various chapters of the gita, just as the padma puran says how all purans are parts of Visnu's vigraha. Moreover, Śrīmad Bhagvata 1.15.30 clearly states that it was the past time of Sri Bhagvana, Wherein Arjun seemingly forgot the Geeta gyana गीतं भगवता ज्ञानं यत् तत् सङ्ग्राममूर्धनि whereas the fact is that arjun Became liberated (This is mentioned in last sloka of Garuda Puran Geeta Mahatmaya as well, that after Geeta Gyana, Arjun Became self realised). The next Verse says सञ्छिन्नद्वैतसंशय i.e Arjun became free from all sort of dualities. Therefore, all this was indeed a leela of Lord krishna. What for? To make us understand that ब्रह्मविद्या is not something which is meant for all and certainly not something that is Digestable for all.

This is the reason why the lord mentioned in the Geeta, that this Knowledge is not to be imparted to all and After all this, if you are Entitled to Learn this Knowledge found in the upanishads, then you're expected to Implement it, but (because of leela) arjun forgot the Geeta gyana, which was unexpected from him, being such a Close devotee of Sri Bhagvana. This is the reason why Bhagvana refused to Impart the same knowledge as it is to him and rather Imparted the same knowledge to him, In a concise way (anu gita). The Knowledge, after whose implantation न तस्येहेश्वरः कश्चित् त्रैलोक्यस्यापि यः प्रभुः even Ishvara (devatas like Siva, brahma, indra) Won't have Any authority over you (anu gita 4.24), The knowledge which is the Essence of all upanishads, that knowledge is not something that can be just randomly imparted anywhere, that too because you forgot it due to your fallacy (गुह्याद् गुह्यतरा विद्या says Guru Gita). Still because Lord Vishnu is bhaktavastal, he Imparted the Same Gyan to arjun, in a different way. Therefore, Even Anu Gita Imparts the same Brahmvidya, which is the Knowledge of nature of Visnu alone.

Obj : It was lord Siva who slayed all the foes of arjuna, which is said in santi parva :

Protected by me in the great battle, thou hast won a great victory. That Being whom, at the time of all thy battles, thou beheldest stalking in thy van, know, O son of Kunti, is no other than Rudra, that god of gods, otherwise called by the name of Kaparddin. He is otherwise known by the name of Kala, and should be known as one that has sprung from my wrath. Those foes whom thou hast slain were all, in the first instance, slain by him. Do thou bend thy head unto that god of gods, that lord of Uma, endued with immeasurable puissance.

Hence, In Bhagvada Gita 11.33, it is actually Lord Siva who is speaking as the eternal kala.

Resp : Looks like the opponents failed to read the Entire Verse from santi parva. Considering that the verse has been translated rightly, it itself says that Krishna protected arjun in the war and Rudra finds his origin in the wrath of Lord Krishna. Moreover, yoga vasistha maharamayana clearly says :-

तत्क्षयेण विभारत्वं भुवो विष्णुः करिष्यति । राघवाऽर्जुनदेहेन वृहद्गाण्डीवधन्वना ॥ ३२ ॥

The God Vishnu will cause Arjuna to slay them all by his great bow of Gandiva, and thereby relieve the earth of her burden of riotous peoples.

~ Yog Vasistha 6.52.32

The brahma puran has an entire chapter, describing the Kala verse of Bhagvada gita, mentioning that It is the eternal glory of Lord Vishnu alone :-

~ Brahma Puran 103.55-67

In the Śrīmadbhāgavata, Bhagvana Recounts his Opulences to Bhaktaraja uddhava, by mentioning how he did the same for arjuna, at the battle of kurukshetra :-

स तदा पुरुषव्याघ्रो युक्त्या मे प्रतिबोधित: । अभ्यभाषत मामेवं यथा त्वं रणमूर्धनि ॥ ८ ॥

At that time I enlightened Arjuna, the tiger among men, with logical arguments, and thus in the front of the battle Arjuna addressed Me with questions in the same way that you are now inquiring. (~ 11.16.8)

The very next verse supplements the Brahmā Purāņa and Yoga vasistha maharamayana, Establishing the Lord as the Supreme Kāla, the Annihilator :-

अहमात्मोद्धवामीषां भूतानां सुहृदीश्वर: । अहं सर्वाणि भूतानि तेषां स्थित्युद्भ‍वाप्यय: ॥ ९ ॥

My dear Uddhava, I am the Supersoul of all living entities, and therefore I am naturally their well-wisher and supreme controller. Being the creator, maintainer and annihilator of all entities, I am not different from them. (~ 11.6.9)

This is Recounted by the vedas, which praise Bhagvana as "īśaḥ sarvasya jagataḥ prabhuḥ prīṇātu viśvabhuk" (Tait.ar.10.71.1), where the term "Viśvabhuk" literally means the consumer of everything. The Maitri Upanishad repeats the Vakyam as “prīṇātu viśvaṃ viśvabhuk viśvo'si vaiśvānaro'si..” and The parameśvara samhita also recounts Vishnu as ‘viśvabhuk! sarvabhūtānāmantarātmannayonija!’. The term ‘Visvabhuka' refers to the Lord as the Consumer of everything. The Vayu Puran 7.66 also praises the Lord as ‘sahasracakṣurvadanaḥ sahasrabhuk' which literally means ‘the consumer of thousands. Him being the Ultimate Annihilator, is one of the reasons why he is Known as ‘Hari' :

tasmātsarvamayo viṣṇurnārāyaṇa itīritaḥ | evaṃ sṛṣṭvā jagatsarvaṃ punaḥ saṃgrasate hariḥ 85 nijalīlāsamudbhūtaṃ tāntavaṃ corṇanābhivat | brahmāṇamiṃdraṃ rudraṃ ca yamaṃ varuṇameva ca 86 nigṛhya harate yasmāttasmāddharirahocyate | asāvekārṇavībhūte māyāvaṭatale pumān 87 jagatsvajaṭhare kṛtvā śete tasminsanātanaḥ āsīdeko hi vai cātra viṣṇurnārāyaṇo'cyutaḥ 88 Hari, having thus created the world again devours it, as a spider does the web produced from its saliva. Since, having curbed Brahmā, Indra, Rudra, Yama and Varuṇa, he subdues them, therefore, he is called Hari. This ancient Supreme Being having put the world in his belly, sleeps in the coating of (his) Māyā, which has become an ocean. (In the beginning) here this Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Acyuta was alone.

~ Padma puran 6.226

Lord Shiva repeats the same for Śrīman Nārāyaṇa in the Mahabharata: -

harasi prāṇino deva tato haririti smṛtaḥ |

~ Harivansha parva 3.88

Hence the Matsya puran also says :-

nigṛhya harase yasmāt tasmāddharirihocyase| sammānayasi bhūtāni vapuṣā yaśasā śriyā || You control Brahmā, Indra, Yama, Rudra, Varuna and other Devas, and then attract them to you; and that is why you are known as Hari. ~ Matsya Puran 248.36

The Mahabharata echoes the above verse as :-

narajjātāni tattvāni nārāṇīti tato viduḥ। tānyeva cāyanaṃ tasya tena nārāyaṇaḥ smṛtaḥ॥ The principles of creation are known as nārā, and those of maintenance are called nārāyaṇa. At the time of annihilation, all these enter into nārāyaṇa, who alone exists as the Supreme Absolute Truth.

> ~ Mahabharata 13.286

The agamas say :-

na yatsamo'nyo loke'smin hayadhikastu kuto bhavet | yadunmeṣājjagajjātaṃ yannimeṣātpralīyate 24 Whom there is no one like in this world, so how can one exceed them? Then the world is born only by the contraction of whose and only by the depositing of the eyelids, there is annihilation.

> ~ Maheśvara Tantra 2.24

Hence , Nārāyaņa who is Mahakala, used Rudra and Arjun as his Agents, to Put an end to the kaurav army.

let us now address the kurma puran claim in brief.

Obj : The ishvara gita says

नारायणोऽपि भगवान्देवकीतनयो हरिः। अर्जुनाय स्वयं साक्षाद्दत्तवानिदमुत्तमम् ।। (Kurma Purana II.11) Lord Narayana Hari, in the form of the son of Devaki himself transferred this knowledge of Yoga to Arjuna.

Resp : So what? Just like ishvara geeta says for Lord Siva, Even The Ganesha Gita 3.1 says चैनमवदं विष्णवे योगमुत्तमम् I.e This knowledge of Yoga was expounded by Lord Ganesha, to Lord Vishnu, in the beginning of the creation and Just like Ishvara geeta, Many Verses of the ganesha Geeta Too match with the Bhagvada geeta. There are a total of 5 Rama Geetas, Where One of them has striking Similarities with Ishvara Geeta. When Ishvara geeta says That This knowledge is was passed on by Lord krishna or when Ganesha geeta says that this knowledge was passed on from Sri Ganesha to Sri Hari, It actually talks About the eternal ब्रह्मविद्या present in the Upanishads, The knowledge of the antaryami Visnu, who is eternal brahman of the upanishads. hence, there is nothing exclusive that Goes to the saiva interpretation here. Moreover, Lord Siva himself denies his supremacy, when Praised by Gautam maharishi using Siva and ishvara gita, as per the brihd brahma samhita (a pañcarātra agama, quoted as back as 12th century). The same kurma purana says for Lord Siva :-

आत्मन्याधाय चात्मानमैश्वरं भावमास्थितः । पीत्वा तदक्षरं ब्रह्म शाश्वतं परमामृतम्।। ३२।।

He (Siva) established his own soul in the soul and consuming the nectar like Brahman, achieved the position of Isvara.

~ Kurma puran 1.10.32

The ishvara Gita says :-

शाश्वतैश्वर्यविभवं धर्माधारं दुरासदम्। महेन्द्रोपेन्द्रनमितं महर्षिगणवन्दितम् ।। १५ ।। योगिनां हृदि तिष्ठन्तं योगमायासमावृतम्। क्षणेन जगतो योनि नारायणमनामयम्॥ १६ ॥ ईश्वरेणैक्यमापन्नमपश्यन् ब्रह्मवादिनः। दृष्ट्वा तदैश्वरं रूपं रूद्रं नारायणात्मकम्। कृतार्थ मेनिरे संतः स्वात्मानं ब्रह्मवादिनः ।। १७।।

The one who possesses the everlasting fortunes, the one who is the support of the dharma, who is difficult to be achieved, adored by Mahendra and Upendra (Vişnu), is inaccessible, adored by the great ascetics, the one who dwells in the hearts of the Yogins and is surrounded by Yogic mayā. He is the one who can create the universe in a moment, is the form of unblemished Nārayaņa, the expounders of Brahman witnessed such a type of Iśvara, with a concentrated mind. The Brahmavādis considered themselves to be quite fortunate by looking at the Nārāyaņa form of Rudra.

~ Kurma puran 2.5

ते भवं भूतभव्येशं पूर्ववत्समवस्थितम्। दृष्ट्वा नारायणं देवं विस्मितं वाक्यमब्रुवन्।॥ ४२॥ भगवन् भूतभव्येश गोवृषाङ्कित्तशासन। दृष्ट्वा ते परमं रूपं निवृत्ताः स्मः सनातन ॥ ४३॥

Finding Siva, the lord of the bhūtas, in the form of Nārāyana, the sages were surprised and spoke. O Eternal Lord, O Lord of the past and future, O Rider of the bull, all of us observing your grand form, have felt successful.

~ Kurma puran 2.5

Hence, Lord Siva was seen in the form of Narayana, while he displayed his universal form, which is why, ishvara Gita too is a glory of Visnu only.

obj : Also, in the Vishwaroopa Darshana of Krishna (11th Chapter of Bhagavadgita) Lord Brahma along with all other jiva-rāśis appear but Shiva doesn't says Adi Shankaracharya (Adi-Jagadguru and the only neutral master of Vedanta). Unfortunately modern painters and artists who design the image of Vishwaroopa include Shiva also lacking knowledge.

Resp : The topic of the talk is the word 'ब्रह्माणमीश', which has been interpreted in different ways, by different Acharayas. Acharaya Shankar bhagvana, Madhusudan saraswati ji etc have Taken it as 'brahma, the Lord, seated on the lotus', While Acharayas like bhagvana Ramanujacharya and Shankaracharya sridhar swami ji have interpreted it as both Brahma and Mahadeva (Sridhar ji says तथा देवानामीशं स्वामिनं ब्रह्माणं च I.e he mentions Brahma dev along with the Lord of the Gods, as visible in the Visvarupa). Purvapaksha resorts to The interpretation of Bhagvana Shankaracharya, But at the same time, They choose to Neglect the rest of the Interpretation of Acharaya, of the Bhagvada geeta i.e they are cherrypicking Acharaya Shankara's Stance. Purvapaksha claims that the entire Bhagvada Geeta, is dedicated to Lord Siva, not Lord Visnu plus the Visvarupa Of Geeta chapter 11 is of Lord Mahadeva. But the fun fact is, Both of these claims have no basis, what so ever, in the Shankar bhasya. While commenting on the 18th verse of the same chapter, Sri Acharaya says त्वमेवाक्षरं परमं ब्रह्म वेदितव्यं मुमुक्षुभिर्वेदान्तश्रवणादिना। त्वमेवास्य विश्वस्य परं प्रकृष्टं निधीयतेऽस्मिन्निति निधानमाश्रयः and who is the referred deity here? Acharaya says हे विष्णो? त्वां कीदृशम् in verse 24th of the very same chapter of The geeta. Further, in his bhasya to the 41st verse, Acharaya talks about How Arjun repents Calling the deity, Who is showing the Universal form, as उक्तं हे कृष्ण हे यादव हे सखेति च अजानता अज्ञानिना मूढेन किम् अजानता इति. Now the point is, Who is the One, whom arjun used to address as His 'सखेती' (friend) or 'यादव'? Obviously it is Lord Krishna (Vishnu). This is further Clarified by Acharaya, when he says तेनैव रूपेण वसुदेवपुत्ररूपेण चतुर्भुजेन? under the verse 46th and आत्मनः मम रूपदर्शनेन (o arjun! You have visualized my universal form) under the verse 47. Hence, the irony is that Lord Siva (Shankaracharya) himself disagrees with the Laughing stock of 'interpretation', made by the Purvapaksha!

Now even if We consider The notion of Lord Siva not being mentioned in the Sloka, then also it doesn't deny the fact that he was indeed Present in the Visvarupa. The term 'Visvarupa' itself signifies The entire existence, everything inside out and That includes all beings, All deities and Even Ishwara himself. Even Lord Visnu is not mentioned in the Visvarupa. Now Purvapaksha may claim that Krishna is Vishnu himself, then what is the need of Showing Vishnu again? The answer is simple. Here Lord Krishna is Shown as the para-Brahman, Who is supposed the Creator of even the Trinity (I've already made a post on this, do check it out to understand the concept of Vyuhas and Trinity Vishnu). This is the reason why at several places in mahabharat, Lord krishna is described as the one who Takes the form of Brahma, Visnu and Siva. Now why are Vishnu and Siva not mentioned? The solution is straightforward. The absence of proof is not the proof of absence and As said before, universal form itself signifies the whole existence summed up, inside out. That's why, Markandeya samasya parva, chapter 188 Mentions Hari addressing himself As Not only Siva and Brahma, But even as Visnu.

The 131st chapter of Udyoga parva, Clearly mentions both Lord Rudra and Lord Brahma, Being present in the body of Lord Krishna, appearing on his Chest and Forehead respectively. The points to be noted here is 1.) Rudra Appearing on his chest is indeed Siva only, the Husband of Devi Uma, since The ekadash rudras, who are Supposed to be devatas, they are have been mentioned beforehand and 2.) This wasn't Visvarupa, but Virat Rup of Sri Bhagvana and if Virat Rup Itself contains Siva, then it is a no Brainer that Even Visvarupa will have him. Moreover,there are other Instances of Visvarupa Darshan of Other forms of Bhagvana, from different Scriptures and All mention Lord Siva in it. This includes Narsimha Visvarupa from Vishnu dharma Puran 3.7 ब्रह्मा प्रजापतिश्चेन्द्रो रुद्रैः पशुपतिः, Padma Puran 6.238 ललाटे ब्रह्मरुद्रौ, Matsya Puran 162.9 खादेव पशुपति स्थावराणि and Harivansh 3.51 as ब्रह्मदेवः पशुपतिललाटस्था. Vaman Puran 29.14 mentions Both Lord Siva and Brahma in the Universal form of Vaman deva as समस्तलोकस्वष्टारं ब्रह्माणं भवमेव च, Meru Tantra 26.52 mentions Lord Siva being situated in the mouth of Lord Varaha as बाह्वोश्चन्द्रसूर्यौ शिवं मुखे and for Lord Rama, Ramayanas like Adi Ramayana, Adbhuta Ramayana, Sri Ramcharitmanas etc Mention his Visvarupa and the presence of Lord mahadeva in it.

Obj : Vedas mention Siva alone as Bhagvana

Resp : Is it so? Then how about all this?

ॐ यो ह वै श्रीरामचन्द्रः स भगवान् यो ब्रह्मा विष्णुर्महेश्वरो यः सर्वदेवात्मा भूर्भुवः सुवस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः ॥ ५ ॥

Om, He who is Shri Rama, He is Bhagvana; He is Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara (Shiva); He is the Self of all gods; to Him, I bow repeatedly.

~ Rāma uttara tāpanīye Upanishad 4.5

ॐ उंॐ यो वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान्यश्च ब्रह्मा तस्मै वै नमो नमः १ । ॐ ग्रंॐ यो वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान्यश्च विष्णुस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः २ । ॐ वींॐ यो वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान्यश्च महेश्वरस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः ३ ।

~ Nrisimha Purva tapniye Upanishad

The Taittiriya Upanishad says :-

तस्माद्वा एतस्मादात्मन आकाशः सम्भूतः । आकाशाद्वायुः । वायोरग्निः । अग्नेरापः । अद्भ्यः पृथिवी । पृथिव्या ओषधयः । ओषधीभ्योन्नम्। अन्नात्पुरुषः । स वा एष पुरुषोऽन्नरसमयः । तस्येदमेव शिरः । अयं दक्षिणः पक्षः । अयमुत्तरः पक्षः । अयमात्मा । इदं पुच्छं प्रतिष्ठा । तदप्येष श्लोको भवति ॥ १ ॥ इति प्रथमोऽनुवाकः ॥

~ Taittiriya Upanishad 2.1

While Narayana tapniye Upanishad repeats this as :-

तस्माद्वा एतस्मादात्मन आकाशः संभूतः । आकाशाद्वायुः । वायोरग्निः । अग्नेरापः । अद्भ्यः पृथिवी । पृथिव्या ओषधयः । ओषधीभ्योऽन्नम् । अन्नात्पुरुषः । नारायणः सर्वपुरुष एवेदं परब्रह्म । नारायणः सर्वभूतान्तर्याम्यात्मा । आत्मेदं सर्वं नारायणः । नारायणः स्वयं ज्योतिः । तस्मात्प्रकाशात्मा ॥नीवारशूकवत्तन्वी पीता भास्वत्यणूपमा । तस्याः शिखाया मध्ये परमात्मा व्यवस्थितः ॥ पाशबद्धः स्मृतो जीवः पाशमुक्तः सनातनः । तुषेण बद्धो व्रीहिः स्यात्तुषाभावेन तण्डुलः ॥ परब्रह्म स्वयं चात्मा साक्षान्नारायणः स्मृतः । नारायणमनादिं च योगनिद्रापरायणम् ॥ जाग्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्तीषु सर्वकालव्यवस्थितम् । नारायणं महात्मानं महाध्यानपरायणम् । सर्ववेदान्तसंलक्ष्यं तद्ब्रह्मेत्यभिधीयते ॥ होवाच भगवान् नारायण एवेदं सर्वं प्रतिष्ठितं य एवं वेद ।

~ Narayana uttar Tapniye Upanishad, chapter 1

Further pramans include :-

समस्तवेदशास्त्रेतिहासपुराणानि समस्तविद्याजालानि ब्रह्मादयः सुराः सर्वे त्वद्रूपज्ञानान्मुक्तिमाहुः । अतस्त्वद्रूपप्रतिपादिकां ब्रह्मविद्यां ब्रूहीति होवाच । तथेति स होवाच वराहरूपी भगवान् (~ Varah Upanishad)

भगवत आदिपुरुषस्य नारायणस्य (Kalisantopanishad)

अथ भगवांस्तमब्रवीत्प्रजापते प्रीतोऽहं किं तवेप्सितं तदाशंसेति । स होवाच भगवन्नव्यक्तादुत्पन्नोऽस्मि व्यक्तं मम कृत्यमिति पुराश्रावि । (Avyakta Upanishad)

अथ श्रीवराहरूपिणं भगवन्तं प्रणम्य सनत्कुमारः पप्रच्छ । भगवन् ऊर्ध्वपुण्ड्रविधिम् । किं द्रव्यं किं स्थानं का रेखा को कर्ता किं फलमिति च (Urdhavapundra Upanishad)

तत्रापश्यन्महामायां परार्द्ध्यवस्त्रीभरणोत्तरीयां पर्यङ्कस्थां पारे चरन्तीमादिदेवं भगवन्तं परमेश्वरन्दृष्ट्वा च ताङ्गद्गदवाक्प्रफुल्लरोमा स्तोतुमुपचक्रमे ॥ (Kamalatmika Upanishad)

श्रीकृष्णभगवान् नारायणः परमात्मा पुरुषोत्तमः त्रिगुणरहितः स्वयम् । कथम्? पुरुष एवेदं सर्वम् ॥ (SriKrsna purushottam siddhanta Upanishad)

रुद्रादीनां वचः शुत्वा प्रोवाच भगवान्स्वयम् । अङ्गसङ्गं करिष्यामि भवद्वाक्यं करोम्यहम् ॥ (Krsnopanishad)

यदि योन्यां प्रमुञ्चामि तं प्रपद्ये भगवन्तं नारायणं देवम् । अशुभक्षयकर्तारं फलमुक्तिप्रदायकम् । यदि योन्यां प्रमुञ्चामि ध्याये ब्रह्म सनातनम् ॥ (Garbhopanishad)

श्रीपरमात्मा नारायणः स भगवानुकारवाच्य उपेन्द्रस्वरूपो हरिनायको भूर्भुवः सुवस्तस्मै वै नमोनमः (Tara sara Upanishad)

तमाह भगवन्नारायणो योऽयमवधूतमार्गस्थो लोके दुर्लभतरो नतु बाहुल्यो यद्येको भवति स एव नित्यपूतः स एव (Turiyatita Upanishad)

इत्याह भगवान् ब्रह्माणं नारायणः (Tulsi Upanishad)

अथ परमतत्त्वरहस्यं जिज्ञासुः परमेष्ठी देवमानेन सहस्रसंवत्सरं तपश्चचार । सहस्रवर्षेऽतीतेऽत्युग्रतीव्रतपसा प्रसन्नं भगवन्तं महाविष्णुं ब्रह्मा परिपृच्छति भगवन् परमतत्त्वरहस्यं मे ब्रूहीति ॥ (Narayana Atharvasirsa upanishad)

And so on.

Some people call themselves advaitins and say that "supreme Brahman" spoke through Krishna, Whereas the fact is, as per shankar advaita, The Nirgun chaitanya is a mere witness and is beyond the Range of sight, smell, touch and so on, so Saying that Supreme brahman spoke via krishna is itself a misinterpretation of Shankar advaita. Moreover, as I have shown above, Shankar bhagvatpada has established the fact that Lord Krishna is sagun sakar parameshwar in his Manifest form and nirgun nirakar/sagun nirakar ishvara chaitanya in his un manifest form (as per advaita Vedanta), so the notion of "Supreme brahman speaking via krishna" is baseless and makes no sense Plus it literally separates nirgun Brahman from sagun sakar ishvara, which Is against shankar siddhanta (not talking about realm of avidya here).

obj : Vyasa maharishi tells arjuna in the kurma puran:

“dṛṣṭavānasi taṃ devaṃ viśvākṣaṃ viśvatomukham | pratyakṣameva sarveśaṃ rudraṃ sarvajaganmayam 60 jñānaṃ tadaiśvaraṃ divyaṃ yathāvad viditaṃ tvayā | svayameva hṛṣīkeśaḥ prītyovāca sanātanaḥ ” (Kurma Purana 1:28:61). “[Vyasa says].: You have directly perceived that (Universal Form of) Lord Rudra who has his eyes everywhere, who has his faces everywhere, who is the very embodiment of the universe. That divine lordly knowledge (of śiva) has been precisely understood by you. That ancient Hrsikesha (Krishna) himself had recounted it to you out of delight”.

Resp : There is no word in sanskrit, anywhere in the given shlokas or Adjacent ones, which talk of विश्वरूप. The Given Shlokas simply recall the shanti parva incident, the same one which I had quoted in this answer initially as Purvapaksha, where are you Bhagvana Told arjuna about Lord Rudra, who slayed arjun's enemies in the war ; There, lord Krishna Gave arjuna the knowledge of Siva and the same thing has been mentioned here ; the context does not even talk of Krishna's visvarupam.

With this, almost all claims put up beneath this question, stand answered. Though there are some more claims, which includes Rudra in vibhuti yoga, I will address them in the future. Though Bhagvada Gita may favour different Philosophical interpretations like Advaita, Visisthadvaita, Dvaita, Shuddhadvaita, dvaitadvaita etc, the Bhagvana and deity of The Gita remains Krishna/Visnu alone and no one else. Any Interpretation that says otherwise, is to be discarded.

Answer 9

The supreme Brahman described in Vedas, i.e the antharyāmi of Krishna (who is purushottama) is the one who spoke Bhagavadgita. The Anugita parva of Ashwamedha parva:-

Vasudeva said, 'I made thee listen to truths that are regarded as mysteries. I imparted to thee truths that are eternal. Verily, I discoursed to thee on Religion in its true form and on all the eternal regions. It is exceedingly disagreeable to me to learn that thou didst not, from folly, receive what I imparted. The recollection of all that I told thee on that occasion will not come to me now. Without doubt, O son of Pandu, thou art destitute of faith and thy understanding is not good. It is impossible for me, O Dhananjaya, to repeat, in detail, all that I said on that occasion. That Dharma (about which I discoursed to thee then) is more than sufficient for understanding Brahman. I cannot discourse on it again in detail. I discoursed to thee on Supreme Brahman, having concentrated myself in Yoga.

Vedantins intrepret that it's Lord Shiva (the Bhagavan of Vedas) who is the antharātma of Krishna who performed this mystic Leela which remained unrecognised.

Proof in Mahabharatam itself

तस्मात्वमुत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्व जित्वा शत्रून्भुङ् क्ष्व राज्यं समृद्धम् | मयैवैते निहता: पूर्वमेव निमित्तमात्रं भव सव्यसाचिन् || 33|| (Bhagvad Gita 11.33)

Therefore, stand up and win glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy an opulent kingdom. Verily, by Me and none other they have been already slain; you be a mere instrument, O Arjuna!

The same question will be asked by Arjuna to Veda Vyasa maharshi later:

Arjuna asked: ‘O great Rishi, while I was engaged in slaying the foe in battle with showers of bright shafts, I continually beheld before me, proceeding in advance of my car, a person of blazing hue, as if endued with the effulgence of fire. Whithersoever he proceeded with his uplifted lance, all the hostile warriors were seen to break before him. Broken in reality by him, people regarded the foe to have been broken by me. Following in his wake, I only destroyed those, already destroyed by him. O holy one, tell me who was that foremost of persons, armed with lance, resembling the sun himself in energy, that was thus seen by me? He did not touch the earth with his feet, nor did he hurl his lance even once. In consequence of his energy, thousands of lances issued out of that one lance held by him’.”

“Vyasa said, ‘Thou hast, O Arjuna, seen Sankara, that First cause from which have sprung the Prajapatis, that puissant Being endued with great energy, he that is the embodiment of heaven, earth and sky, the Divine Lord, the protector of the universe, the great Master, the bestower of grace to all, called also Isana. O, seek the protection of that boon, giving Deity, that Vishweshwara (lord of the universe)”.

Even Shanti parva says:

Protected by me in the great battle, thou hast won a great victory. That Being whom, at the time of all thy battles, thou beheldest stalking in thy van, know, O son of Kunti, is no other than Rudra, that god of gods, otherwise called by the name of Kaparddin. He is otherwise known by the name of Kala, and should be known as one that has sprung from my wrath. Those foes whom thou hast slain were all, in the first instance, slain by him. Do thou bend thy head unto that god of gods, that lord of Uma, endued with immeasurable puissance.

This makes very clear that Bhagavadgita is nothing but the words of Lord Shiva, as an Upa-brahmana for the context Kurma Purana's Ishvara gita stands as an authority:

नारायणोऽपि भगवान्देवकीतनयो हरिः। अर्जुनाय स्वयं साक्षाद्दत्तवानिदमुत्तमम् ।। (Kurma Purana II.11)

Lord Narayana Hari, in the form of the son of Devaki himself transferred this knowledge of Yoga to Arjuna.

Also, in the Vishwaroopa Darshana of Krishna (11th Chapter of Bhagavadgita) Lord Brahma along with all other jiva-rāśis appear but Shiva doesn't says Adi Shankaracharya (Adi-Jagadguru and the only neutral master of Vedanta). Unfortunately modern painters and artists who design the image of Vishwaroopa include Shiva also lacking knowledge.

Proof from Shrutis (Vedas) and Smritis (Purāṇas)

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ ||

Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto me alone. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.

The above is the 66th verse (18th chapter) of Bhagavadgita, but the original version is available in 14th chapter 43rd verse of Shiva gita:

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज | अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः || Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto me alone. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.

The above are the words of Bhagavan Parashiva to Sri Ramachandra, not even a single word has been differed.

Bhagavadgita 15.15 says:-

sarvasya cāhaṃ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtirjñānamapohanañca vedaiśca sarvairahameva vedyo vedāntakṛdvedavideva cāham

And I am seated in the hearts of all, from Me are memory, knowledge, as well as their absence. I am verily that which has to be known in all the Vedas; I am indeed the author of vedanta, and the knower of Vedas.

Whereas Lord Shiva himself says in Kaivalya Upanishad 22nd mantra that:

वेदैरनेकैरहमेव वेद्यो वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम् । न पुण्यपापे मम नास्ति नाशो न जन्म देहेन्द्रियबुद्धिरस्ति ॥ २२॥

It is by the many Vedas that I am to be known. I am the author of the Vedas and I alone know them. To Me there is neither Punya (merit) nor Papa (demerit), neither impermanency nor birth; nor do I have body, senses and mind.

Note:- If there's any Upanishad which is authentic apart from the top 11-12 Upanishads that is Kaivalya Upanishad because of it's Vedantic authority and ancient history

To Summarise:-

1. In Mahabharata, Veda Vyasa maharshi himself says that it's Lord Shiva who's the revealer of Gita to Arjuna.
2. Kurma Purana's Ishvara gita makes it very clear that the knowledge of Gita originated from Lord Shiva himself.
3. Shiva Gita of Padma Purana which has been referred by numerous traditional Vedantins like Sripati Panditaradhya, Narasimha bhararti thirtha etc: establishes the same fact.
4. Kaivalya upanishad which belongs to Yajurveda finally gives a strong expound in just one verse remarking and signifying that Bhagavadgita's owner is none other than the Lord of Uma.

Unfortunately, such analysis is not found in internet due to lack of interest in spirituality among various people.

Krishna is a deity created by Shiva himself

Oh Lord, you are the creator of myself, Brahma, Ananta and all other serpents. You are the supreme lord of universe who's to be worshipped.

The above stuti is done by Krishna himself in Hari Vamsha parva 2.7.34 of Mahabharata.

I think, you might have got absolute clarity regarding Bhagavadgita's realistic interpretation.