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The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagava d Gita is a d ia log ue b etwe en Lord Krishna and Arjuna . It is na rra ted

in the bhiishhma parva o f the Ma ha Bharata and wa s subseq uently rec orded by

Vyasa for the b enefit o f hum anity. It c omprises 701 verses in 18 cha p ters. TheMa habhara ta has given us ma ny grea t va lues, but the two most signific ant ones

are the Bhagavad Gita a nd Vishnu Sahasranama . Ironica lly, both o f them are

presented in the b a ttlefield, the Bhaga vad Gita b eing p resented just be fore the

onset of the war of Kurukshetra and the Vishnu Sahasranama , afte r the w ar. The

Gita stands as a guid ing ma nua l for the da ily c ond uc t o f life, sp iritua l upliftment

and Self-rea liza tion.

We a ll have Kurukshet ras within us. The ba ttle o f Ma habhara ta is rag ing within

us! Our igno ranc e (avidyaa ) is King Dhritarashtra! The individua l soul is Arjuna !

The In-Dwe ller dw elling in our hea rt is Lord Krishna , the c ha rioteer! The body is our

c ha riot! The senses (indriyaa s) are the horses. Our ego, p ride, greed , hyp oc risy,lust, jea lousy, likes & d islikes, etc . are our dire e nemies! The sec ret o f the

tremend ous appea l of the Bhaga vad G ita is in the fac t that it dea ls with a

prac tic a l p rob lem of everyday life, name ly, how c an a p erson d o his duty in this

soc iety w ith righte ousness. The soc iety is itself so filled with flaws tha t eac h o f us

wond ers whether wha t we d o is right o r wrong . The Gita helps us to solve th is

ridd le a nd tea c hes us the right wa y to lead life.

Gita fo rmulates the the ory of the three pa ths (ma rgas), name ly, Know led ge

(GYaana ), Devotion (b hakti) and ac tion (karma ) and c omb ines the three

philosop hies wo nderfully, thus tea c hing us tha t a c tion; devo tion a nd knowledgeshould work in perfec t ha rmo ny! By ab iding b y one 's duties of life (o r

svad harma), one c an a ttain the Ab solute (or moksha) a nd the Gita tea c hes

ea c h of us, wha t is our dha rma and how to a dhere to it. Tha t is the reason w hy

our sc riptures p resc ribe Bhagava d Gita as one of the five sc riptures tha t should

be prac tic ed on a daily ba sis:

Bhagavad Gita is a lso ha iled as b rahma vidya (Know led ge o f the Ab solute),

which is the highest know led ge tha t a sp iritua l asp irant seeks. Bhagava d Gita is

a lso ha iled as yog a shaastra sinc e it d ea ls with the p rac tic e o f the highe st idea ls

in all wa lks of life .

(Actua lly eac h of the c hap ters of the Gita is nam ed as a yoga - bhakti yoga ,karma yoga , GYaa na yog a).

The Gita tea c hes us to lea d life w ithout a ttac hment, like a lotus-lea f, which

rem a ins in wa ter, but d oe s not wet its surfac e. The o ne w ho p lac es a ll ac tions in

the Eternal, abandoning a ttachme nt, is una ffec ted by sin. Atta c hme nt arises

due to desires and is due to the lower qua lities of the mind. Non-atta chme nt is

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born out o f Sa ttva , which is a d ivine a ttribute. Prac tic e o f non-atta c hment is

rigo rous and the o nly a ttac hment one should a sp ire to have is tow ards God or

Atman.

A true a sp irant is expec ted to possess the qua lific a tions of v iveka (d isc rimina tion

be twee n good & b ad ), vairagya (dispa ssion), sama (co ntrol of mind), da ma(c ontrol of senses), uprat i (not influenc ed by world ly a ttrac tions). Srima d

Bhagavad Gita teac hes us the theory and va lues of these q ua lific a tions and as

a yoga shaa stra , tea c hes us the wa y to p rac tic e them in our pa th towa rds God -

Rea liza tion. The Bha gava d Gita b rings the grea test w isdom to human life. Som e

peo p le fee l tha t Gita should no t be ta ught to c hild ren a nd if youngsters rea d it

the n they will be c ome sannya asis. This is no t so. The Gita ha s no t a sked us to

renounc e a ll ac tivities and bec om e a sannyaa si. Even Arjuna , who d irec tly

heard it from the Lord himself never bec ame a sannyaasi. The p urpose o f the

Gita is to teac h the truths of the ve daas to us in such a w ay that w e c an

prac tic e it.

The G ita a ims to te ac h us lessons so tha t we c an eleva te o ur day to d ay life a nd

ac tivities. When we a re b orn as humans, our a im should not be just to e arn a

living and exist in this world. Then w e will be no d ifferent from anima ls. This is a

tota l wa ste of human life. Using the human life fo r pursuits suc h a s ea ting ,

slee p ing and c hasing sense ob jec ts is like bring ing a ta lented pa inter suc h as

Pic asso o r Rem brand t to pa int the wa lls of a house!! We should und erstand tha t

the human life is a g ift to us. It is the o nly life form from w hich w e c an rea c h Go d.

The Gita te ac hes us the va lue o f Huma n life a nd it d irec ts us to the ultima te g oa l

of God rea liza tion. It tea c hes us how we must p erform a c tions in suc h a wa y as

to ma ke them nob le.

When we you go to a ma rket and buy som e fruits, it might be d irty, c ove red with

dust a nd mud . It may be lying out in the o pen. But we ta ke the same fruits and

wa sh them a nd then offer them in a temp le o r plac e them in an altar. When the

priest g ives it to us a fter offering to the Lord , the same fruits a re a c c ep ted by us

as Prashad . So wha t w as just a n o rd inary fruit bec om es sac red just b y offering it

to G od . Simila rly a ll our ac tions will bec om e no b le w hen w e o ffer it to God .

Wheneve r we do a nything, if we fee l that w e a re o ffering it to God then our

ac tions will not be selfish in nature. Even if we a re p erforming the simp lest of jobs,we should d o it with full c onc entration and happ iness. We a ll know tha t we are

here to ea rn a living. We d o no t have an o ption to just lea ve the job and do

nothing. When w e know tha t the w ork is inevitab le, why should w e c om p la in

and do the w ork? When we have such a ne ga tive a ttitude then the wo rk will

not g ive a ny hap p iness while p erforming it. If we e xpec t that w hen we d o the

wo rk, som eb od y is go ing to p ra ise us and a fter that no bod y says anything , then

it causes disap po intment and ha tred . We b ec ome unhap py a fter do ing the

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wo rk also. So whe n we perform a ny ac tion, in expe c ta tion of a result, then there

is only agony while p erforming the a c tion, be c ause w e a re a lwa ys wo rried

about the result. La ter when we do no t ge t the expec ted result, onc e more

there is agony a nd d issa tisfac tion. We should henc e understand tha t ha pp iness

should b e in performa nc e o f the a c tion itself.

When a mo ther takes c are o f her child , she d oe s not c onsider it as wo rk. When

we do som ething, which is a hob by, eve n thoug h it might involve lot o f efforts,

we d o no t c onsider it as wo rk and we enjoy doing it. Simila rly, we should enjoy

ea c h and every ac tion that we d o a nd p erform it as an o ffering to God . When

we perform a c tions without a ny self-interest then it bec ome yog a and wha t wa s

work, bec ome s worship. This is one of the m ost important messages of the

Bhaga vad Gita.

We need to a pproa c h life with the right a ttitude. The w orld will appea r to us only

as we see it. The sa int Ramd as wrote Rama yana and he used to rea d it to hisstud ents, as he w rote it. Unknow n to anyone, Hanuman a lso used to sit among

the students and listen to him. One day the sa int was desc rib ing tha t Hanuma n

ap proac hed the Ashoka va na and saw the white flow ers there". Hanuman

appea red sud denly and sa id , "I d id no t see any white flow ers, I saw red flow ers"

and he a sked the sa int to c orrec t it. The sa int Ramd as insisted tha t he had

written rightly and they to ok the d isagreeme nt to Shri Raama so tha t he c ould

say who was right. "Shrii Rama sa id tha t the flow ers were indee d white, b ut since

Hanuma ns eyes we re red w ith ang er they ap pea red red to him." The w orld too

appea rs to us as we see it. If we think that there is d istrust a nd ha tred in othe rs

then tha t is wha t we w ill see . If we show love and c om passion fo r a ll beings and

see friend liness everywhere, we w ill be ha ppy. We need to c ultivate thec apa c ity to see God in a ll be ings and then our attitude to every one will be

goo d and our ac tions will be selfless.

Onc e a ma n went to a Zen m aster. He told him "Tea c h me the Zen p hilosop hy".

The m aster did no t say anything. Instea d he o ffered him te a . He g ave him a c up

and sta rted pouring tea . Even a fter the cup go t filled the m aster kep t pouring it

and the tea wa s sp illing a ll over the p lac e. The ma n sa id , "Ma ster, the c up is full,

How c om e you are trying to pour tea inside it?" The ma ster sa id , "Just like the

c up, your mind is full of unwanted thoug hts. First em pty that a nd c om e a nd then

I sha ll teac h you p hilosop hy".

Simila rly, our mind is filled with unwanted tho ughts. There a re a ll kind s of desires

for various ob jec ts, hatred , ang er, jea lousy, g reed etc . If you rep ea t the wo rd

g ita gita then it sound s like tag i tag i. Tyaa ga means g iving up . The Gita te ac hes

us to g ive up a ll our low er qua lities like d esire, anger, hatred , jea lousy etc . When

a farmer wa nts to p low his field, he ne ed s to first remove a ll the we ed s and put

good soil in the field. Only then the seeds c an b e p lanted . Simila rly we need to

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take out the w ee ds of a ll the b ad qua lities. We are the b est judges of wha t our

neg a tive qua lities a re. It is not possib le to say tha t we c an g et rid of a ll the bad

qua lities ove rnight. We should m ake up o ur mind tha t we wa nt to d o this

we ed ing p roc ess and try and remo ve these q ua lities one by one.

All of you might ha ve hea rd the story of Ga jend ra . The elep hant Ga jend ra w asthirsty and wa nted to d rink wa ter from a river. It knew tha t the c roc od ile w as in

the river, but it thoug ht tha t it wa s strong er and henc e would no t be p ulled by

the c roc od ile. Even a s it sta rted d rinking the water, the c roc od ile c aught ho ld of

it a nd wo uld not let it go and the e lep hant tried to use its might a nd pull itself

awa y. After som e time, when the pa in wa s unbea rab le, it turned to the Lord

and sc rea me d fo r help a nd the Lord a lso saved it.

We a re a ll like the elep hant a nd we a re so filled by o ur arrog ance a nd eg o tha t

we think, everything is und er our c ontrol in this world. The desire fo r a ll ob jec ts in

this world is like the th irst of the elep hant a nd we go to wa rds a ll the world lyob jec ts, thinking tha t this c roc od ile w ill not be a b le to c a tc h hold of us. But when

we sta rt ge tting a tta c hed to o ur possessions, they pu ll us mo re a nd mo re a nd

c ause us imm ea surab le p a in. We a re p a ined bec ause w e w ant to possess a ll

the things that we c anno t have. We a re in pain bec ause we a re a fraid tha t

som eb od y might ta ke it awa y from us. We a re in pa in whe n they a re finally

taken a way from us. So this c roc od ile o f at tac hment to o ur possessions, tha t ha s

kep t us in its ho ld , c auses us so m uc h p a in befo re a nd during the time w e

possess an ob jec t and even a fter it is taken away. To g et rid of this c roc od ile, we

need to turn ourselves to G od and see k His d ivine help.

The Lord says:

sarva dharmaa n parityajya ma am ekam sharanaM vrajaa

aham tvaa sarva papeb hyo mokshayishyaami maa shuchaH

Aband oning d ep end enc e on all dha rma s -right & w rong - take refuge in Me

a lone ; I will libe rate you from a ll sins; do no t g rieve . In th is Sloka the Lord says tha t

we should surrender a ll our ac tions as well as ourselves to him c om p letely and

he will take c a re of us. So whe n we have tota l fa ith in the Lord, then w e will have

no fea rs, worries or do ubts in our ac tions and we c an have mental peac e.

The last sloka of the 18th c hap ter is a lso c a lled eka shlokii giita a - i.e Bhagavad

Gita in one verse and it says:

ya tra yog eshvaraH krishhNo ya tra pa artho dhanurdha raH

tatra shriir vijayo b huuthir, dhruvaa niithir mathir mama

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Wherever is Krishna , the Lord of Yog a & whereve r is Arjuna , the sup rem e a rc her

(the true & d ete rmined asp irant), there a re p rosperity, victory, g lory and

righteo usness. This Sloka is sa id by sanjaya to dhrita rashtra and is an a nswer to

Dhrita rahstra a question a bout the war. Sanjaya says indirec tly tha t the re is no

doub t that the p anda vas will win the wa r.

The G ita c an be c om pared to a kalpa ta ru or a w ish fulfilling tree . Wha teve r we

see k to learn, we c an ge t it from the Gita. Eac h person w ho reads the G ita c an

und erstand it from a d ifferent leve l. It c a n g ive lessons to a beg inner as well as a

pund it. Based on the sta te o f feelings, eac h p erson c an und erstand the G ita

dep end ing o n the stage tha t they have reac hed in the sp iritual pa th. There is

plenty of wa ter in an oc ea n, but what you c an bring a wa y from it dep end s on

the size o f the vessel tha t you ta ke. Simila rly the messages will be vast but wha t

we get from it de pend s on our c apac ity to ab sorb. The b asic me ssage of the

Gita is the same a nd its purpo se is to transform humanity to d ivinity. We should

therefore no t take suc h a b oo k lightly. We should a pproa c h it with devo tion a ndc om mitment a nd not o nly try to learn the teac hings, but mo re importantly strive

to p rac tice it. Only then w e c an a tta in fulfillme nt in our lives.