Gita is a life code and spiritual beacon for humanity, says President Droupadi Murmu
By: Amar Krishna Paul
The Gita Jayanti is one of the most auspicious occasions in our 5000-year old Vedic civilisation. This year, the Gita Jayanti falls on December 3, 2022. On this particular day, Lord Krishna imparted the essence of Vedic knowledge to warrior Arjuna at the battlefield of Kurukshetra and enlightened him about the ultimate goal of human life.
The advent of the Gita brings a moral and cultural resurgence among the people. It becomes even more relevant today as we are living in challenging times. The prime objective of celebrating this festival is to enlighten common masses by immortal heritage of the Bhagavad Gita – celestial songs.
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In the prelude of the divine songs of Lord Krishna it is stated, if one properly follows the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, he or she can be freed from all miseries and material pangs of life.
That is, the Bhagavad Gita literally means the song of the Supreme Lord. It is the most widely known Vedic literature out of hundreds of other Vedic scriptures in the world. This Vedic wisdom holds the key to ending all of life’s misgivings and the secret to a life of happiness, satisfaction, fulfilment and the much-awaited journey of self-discovery.
This human form of life is meant for searching out the spirit, the Absolute Truth. The Yoga system is used to search out the spiritual principles within this material world. That process for searching is recommended in the Bhagavad-Gita by Krishna Himself. When Arjuna said, “The system you are recommending, the Hatha-Yoga system, is not possible for me.” Krishna assured him that he was the greatest of all Yogis. He pacified him by saying not to bother about being unable to practice Hatha-Yoga. He told him, “Of all different types of Yogis – Hatha-Yogis, Jnana-Yogis, Dhyana-Yogis, Bhakti-Yogis, Karma-Yogis – you are the best Yogi.”
Lord Krishna says, “Of all Yogis, the one who is constantly thinking of me within himself, meditating upon me within the heart, is the first-class Yogi. So, try to be a perfect Yogi and attain perfection in Yoga.”
If we want perfection in Yoga, we need not be satisfied only by practicing norms-rules. We have to soar. That is, the perfection of Yoga is reached when we are in trance (samadhi), always thinking of Lord Krishna within our hearts, without being disturbed.
Accordingly, President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the International Gita Seminar in Kurukshetra, Haryana on November 29, 2022. She said that Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is a global book in true sense. It has been translated into many languages. This is the most popular book of India. The number of commentaries that have been written on the Gita would hardly have been written on any other book. Just as Yoga is India’s gift to the entire world community, the Gita is the spiritual gift of India to the entire humanity. The Gita is a life code and spiritual beacon for humanity. She urged the organisers of the International Gita Mahotsav to make continuous efforts for promotion and dissemination of the message of the Gita. She emphasised that putting the teachings of Gita into practice is more important.
Importantly, PM Narendra Modi on February 26, 2019 had unveiled the world’s largest Bhagavad Gita at Delhi ISKCON Temple. A giant Bhagavad Gita, running into 670 pages and weighing about 800 kgs, was unveiled at the ISKCON temple, East of Kailash, Delhi. Dubbed as the ‘Astounding Bhagavad Gita’, the giant scripture measures 2.8×2 metres and has been stated as the “largest principle sacred text ever to be printed.” “With an artistic touch of 18 exquisite paintings and an innovative elegant layout, the book has been printed in Milan, Italy, on YUPO synthetic paper so as to make it untearable and waterproof,” an ISKCON release noted.
Modi termed the Bhagavad Gita as the “largest manual for human beings” and claimed that the holy book has solutions to all problems one faces in life. Notably, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is a worldwide confederation of more than 400 temples and runs 100 vegetarian restaurants and a wide variety of community-serving projects.
Modi also appreciated the efforts of ISKCON founder Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupadaji, in raising global awareness about this epic. The ISKCON founder presented the “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” in a scholarly yet simple language. This is the best-selling version of the Gita in the world. He emphasised distributing this matchless gift to everyone.
In fact, we are all atomic souls. Our eternal father is Lord Krishna. Our constitutional position is to serve the Supreme Lord Krishna unconditionally. We cannot be happy without serving the Lord. Our bodies become healthy when we eat balanced and Krishna-tarian diets.
Similarly, we become happy by serving the Lord and His devotees. There is no other alternative method to bring peace and harmony in the family, society, country and the world.
But one should not merely read the Gita like newspapers. It should be read by heart and soul. One should clearly try to pronounce all the verses of the Gita. Later on, the reader can easily utter the tough verses by the causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead – Krishna, who is also known as the Most Merciful Lord towards His devotees. In fact, if you study the Gita seriously then Lord Krishna will be happy.
Authoritative sources say, until and unless you accept Lord Krishna as the cause of all causes and the fountainhead of everything, you cannot understand the insight of the Gita, go to the depth of the basic tenets and philosophy of the Supreme Science of God. That is, you can learn the teachings of the Gita when you accept Lord Krishna as the ‘root cause’ of all causes and the fountainhead of everything.
The Gita is, indeed, the purest science and a set of codes of conduct for ensuring the maximum humanity from a practical parlance. There are as many as 700 verses in the Gita. These verses have beautifully been accommodated in 18 chapters. There are mainly five topics, being broadly discussed in the Gita. They are as follows: God (the super soul), living entities (soul), nature (three modes of nature), eternal time and action. The first four topics are eternal and the last one is temporary or very short-lived.
Where gross science ends, philosophy begins. Again, where philosophy ends ‘Bhagavat science’ begins. It follows from above that we can make our human form of life a grand success by studying the Gita seriously by accepting Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, let’s minimise our wrong notions about Lord Krishna and develop a good family armed with mental peace, tranquility and swell congenial air by putting Krishna at the centre of the family. That is, let’s eat Krishna-tarian foods and build Krishna-tarian families throughout the world.
To sum it up, the Gita is a world heritage which has been enlightening generations across the world since time immemorial. It teaches us harmony and brotherhood. It is not only a ‘spiritual guidebook’ but also a ‘practical manual of daily life’. The reason is not far to seek. It is a practical guide for several dimensions of life. Glad to say, its teachings reverberate globally.
In a word, the Gita can always be our guide when we face a dilemma in life. It inspires the practical idealists to better serve the nation and the world community as a whole. (The author can be reached at amarkrishnaghy@gmail.com)
