The Geeta: Her Special Charm - 2. Swami Chinmayananda

03/05/2018
2.

Such a dangerous concept was prevalent not only among the unintelligent and the uninitiated, but even the educated, and the well informed men of action themselves shared in this national misconception of their own life giving culture. Arjuna himself felt the need for renouncing the world and refusing to fulfil his duties towards the community in order to retire into the silent arbours of contemplation and meditation. This is against the very dynamic spirit of the Hindu culture, against the very national security of the country, against all the material welfare of our people. It is at such a time of a crucial cultural crisis in our country, the genius of Shri Veda Vyasa produced the Bhagavad Geeta all through keeping his pen faithful to the fundamental thoughts of the Upanishads, their sane conclusions, their demonstrated theories and their spectacular achievements.

Here in the Bhagavad Geeta, we find a practical hand – book of instruction on how best we can reorganise our ways of thinking, feeling and acting in our everyday life and draw from ourselves a larger gush of productivity to enrich the life outside and around us, and to emblazon the subjective life within us. As we proceed on into our serious study of the Geeta, chapter by chapter, we shall find how she unfolds a way of life by living which we can grow to be socially more productive men and individually more balanced and tranquil, pursuing our life at peace with ourselves.

Without this inward balance and the readiness to act well in the world outside, how can an individual ever successfully face his own problems in life? And when each individual fails to face the challenges outside him, since the community is made up of individuals, the community will not be able to face its own or the nation’s problems.

To be continued ...