The Bhagavad Gita is not a holy book that belongs to any one individual,
caste, group, school, sect, nation or time.
It is rather a scripture for the entire world and for all times.
It is for all, for every nation, every race,
and for every man and woman,
whatever their spiritual level and capacity.
Irrespective of this, however, just hearsay or someone’s influence
should not be the basis for a decision that has a direct bearing
upon one’s existence.
Lord Krishn says in the last chapter of the Bhagavad Gita
that even just hearing
its mysterious knowledge is indeed salutary.
But after a seeker has learnt it from an accomplished teacher,
he also needs to practice and incorporate it
into his own conduct and experience.
This necessitates that we approach the Gita after freeing ourselves
from all prejudices and preconceived notions.
And then we will indeed find it as a pillar of light.
To regard the Bhagavad Gita as just a sacred book is not enough.
A book is at best a sign-post that guides readers to knowledge.
It is said that one who has known
the truth of the Gita is a knower of the Ved-which literally means
knowledge of God.
In the Upanishad Brihadaranyak, Yagnvalkya calls the Ved
“the breath of the Eternal.”
But all the knowledge and all the wisdom that the Gita embodies,
must always be remembered, comes to consciousness
only within the worshipper’s heart.
Its universality makes the Gita unique
among the eminent sacred works of the entire world.
The uniqueness of the Bhagavad Gita is that it rises above
temporal questions and reveals the dynamic way
by which man may achieve perfection of the Self and final absolution.
There is not a single verse in the entire composition
that is concerned with sustenance of physical life.
On the contrary, each verse of the Gita demands of its disciples
that they equip themselves and get ready
for the inner war-the discipline of
worship and meditation.
It is concerned exclusively with demonstrating the way
by which the Soul may attain to the immortal state
after which there are no shackles of birth and death.
Irrespective of whether there were actual historical personages
such as Arjun and Krishn,
and of whether there was an actual war called the Mahabharat,
the Gita is by no means a portrayal of physical warfare.
Standing on the brink of that historical war,
it was not his army but Arjun who was unnerved.
The army was fully in readiness to fight.
Doesn’t it imply, then, that by preaching to Arjun,
Lord Krishn had only conferred on his beloved friend and disciple
the ability to be worthy of his army?
In fact, the entire means
for spiritual accomplishment cannot be put down in black and white.
Even after one has gone through the Bhagavad Gita several times,
there is yet the necessity of actually traversing the path of God-realization that the Lord has charted.
This is the necessity – which “Yatharth Geeta”,
(ShreemadBhagavad Gita in it’s true perspective)
(Science of Dharm for mankind)
is
all about.
~ Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans ~
