Srimad Bhagavad Geeta : Swami Udit Chaithanya.

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Wednesday, December 08, 2021. 6:00.AM.
Srimad Bhagavad Geeta : 

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 Bhagavad Geeta is considered to be a Hindu religious text, given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, in the battle field of Kurukshetra. But this has been totally misunderstood because Geeta never talks about any religion or any God, or any kind of rituals and customs, which one should follow strictly.

Geeta is one of the best texts of human psychology where Krishna, the world spiritual Master (JagadGuru) teaches the real purpose of human mind. Today, we have many religions, but unfortunately no one ever talks about the human mind, from where it came, how it came and where it will go, how you should get away from your worries, tensions, fear, and sorrows which you always encounter in life.

Geeta gives a clear picture about human mind and its source. When all the religious texts talk about God, Geeta proves that God is not something to be believed, rather, God is the root or source from where the mind appears and disappear.

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Unless we understand our own mind scientifically, we can’t understand God too. Every mind is a temple of divinity and can become a house of evil too.

A mind that discovers the deep inner silence alone can meet and experience God in this life. Such a mind never turns towards violence. Geeta never propagates violence. The word ‘Yudha’ or war is totally misinterpreted by many, who never discover Geeta in themselves.

‘Yudha’ means transformation of evilness to divinity. There, one has to uncompromisingly fight with his own weaknesses in the mind. If anyone propagates violence, he is blindly following religion (only) ritualistically.

A silent mind never creates violence and a violent mind can never experience God in this life. Geeta helps us to climb slowly and steadily on the ‘Sarvajna Peetam’ where an ordinary mind transforms into an infinite, divine mind where all the worries, sorrow, fear get transformed into strength, courage and bliss.

Geeta is a real mother who helps us to show our real path of life. Geeta, with her infinite wisdom and compassion, helped many ordinary people to become really great, adorable souls.

Among them are, Mahathma Gandhiji, Sri Arabindo, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Swami Chinmayanandaji and so on; there is no end to this list.

Even today, her compassion flows like Holy Ganges. We are blessed to study, understand and transform our confused mind into a real powerful, joyful mind.

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“Srimad Bhagavad Gita – an epitome of Spiritual Psychology”

‘Maha Bharatham’ authored by Sri Veda Vyasa, is undoubtedly the greatest text,  ever written on Human Psychology.

It says, “Vyasochhishtam Jagat Sarvam”.

The great sage Veda Vyasa, the greatest seer of all times, in his infinite wisdom, could see and foresee all minds of the past, present and future too.

All that ever happened in the past and could ever happen in the future too, he could visualize Five thousand years back!

It is quite unfortunate that we Indians failed to understand such a great visionary. No wonder, our society is gripped by the clutches of superstitions and malpractices.

Sri Vyasa proclaims that Bharat is not a mere land of any religions, but the land of different religions and cultures blended in harmony. Your life situations and environment depend solely on your mind setup and its culture. It says, ‘What is Within, is, what is Without’.

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Our culture was not inspired by one individual alone. It owes its origin to the wealth of knowledge of so many great souls, men and women alike, authentic with their own, true, personal experiences in their lives.

The holy Vedas and Upanishads are known in the form of sounds and words (Mantras). It is only through the understanding of the Upanishads, that you truly understand the soul of India. The Upanishads are more than a hundred in number and  written in Sanskrit.

The essence of all these Upanidhads is capsuled by Maharshi Veda Vyasa in the form of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which is the heart and soul of his greatest epic Mahabharata. Mahabharatha, with its one lakh slokas in 18 Parvas, is undoubtedly the greatest literary work in the world.

Long, long back, the’ Kuru Vansh’ King Santanu was living a lonely life after his beloved wife Ganga devi left him taking their son Devavrata along with her. At a time when the king is tormented by lust, Satyavati devi , the daughter of a fisherman appears before him.

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Imagine, this was stated 5000 years ago, when there were no laboratories to conduct experiments on human psychology and no universities to award academic credentials for the exemplary studies.

What a great mind was this Sage!

Each one, in the endless list of characters in the great epic Mahabharatha symbolizes a particular ‘mind culture’.

Life always offers mixing and interacting with various kinds of characters and cultures. We get close to ‘like minded’ people very easily.

On the contrary, we get into clashes with people who have opposite or very different mindsets and tend to stay away from them. Understand, both these create pain and uneasiness in our minds and truly helplessly, we bear them and get adjusted with them.

It is an art, to express yourselves without hurting others. It needs skill to save your mind from bondage and wreckage while dealing with others’ positive and negative characters. Only a great mind can attain this ability. Sri Vyasa  guides us to achieve this most important potentiality as he concludes Mahabharath.

Unfortunately, the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Epics are considered ,or rather demoted to be merely the religious texts of the Hindus.  This led to the separation of other religions from these precious treasure houses of Knowledge, beyond time and space.

We must understand that our ancient Scriptures do not proclaim the glory of one specific God, His kingdom or His commandments.

They offer nothing less than the complete science of Spiritual Psychology. They talk about living minds, our own minds.

The mystery of mind and its power are still unknown to modern Science.  Various behaviours, cultures and differences add to its mystery.

Where has it come from?

How each individual mind gets different and unique character and culture? What happens to the thoughts after death?

How much freedom and influence do we have on our mind?

Our great Scriptures give scientific answers to all these questions.

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Modern society is unaware of this power and hence can not make use of this strength. Inevitably, Man hurts others and spreads turmoil due to the severity of his emotions. Santanu’s stature is very high in a world, where even small children are victimised for satisfying one’s lustful desires.

Though Satyavati was all alone when he met her, and he could have easily used her for satiating his desire, the King did not degenerate to such a barbaric culture. Instead, very respectfully, the King expresses his love towards her saying that, only with consent from her parents and herself, and approval of his son he shall accept her. Hearing this, Satyavati devi bows down to the King, with folded hands, in utmost reverence.

This reveals, how great our culture was, 5000 years back!

Later, we can see that the invasion of the Mughal emperors had drawn a different social picture in our country. An attactive female was an easy prey for their lust and this endangered the honour of women  in the society.

The respect we get from society depends solely on our behaviour in the society.

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Our culture was not inspired by one individual alone. It owes its origin to the wealth of knowledge of so many great souls, men and women alike, authentic with their own, true, personal experiences in their lives.

The holy Vedas and Upanishads are known in the form of sounds and words (Mantras). It is only through the understanding of the Upanishads, that you truly understand the soul of India. The Upanishads are more than a hundred in number and  written in Sanskrit.

The essence of all these Upanidhads is capsuled by Maharshi Veda Vyasa in the form of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which is the heart and soul of his greatest epic Mahabharata. Mahabharatha, with its one lakh slokas in 18 Parvas, is undoubtedly the greatest literary work in the world.

Long, long back, the’ Kuru Vansh’ King Santanu was living a lonely life after his beloved wife Ganga devi left him taking their son Devavrata along with her. At a time when the king is tormented by lust, Satyavati devi , the daughter of a fisherman appears before him.

She too falls in love with the king. But the king decides not to commit to the relationship without the consent of his son.

This wise decision, inspired by a culture in which love and regard for the son is given more importance than lust, inspires modern society to THINK.

Today, man tempted by uncontrollable lust and desire, very easily breaks off all relationships, totally disregarding all other minds obligated to him. This causes a great deal of unrest, which is very common in our society today.

Emotions need not be forcibly suppressed, rather, they can be managed wisely in a manner that does not cause any difficulty for ourselves and for others. How beautifully this is illustrated by Sri Vyasa in this story!

Today society has a false belief that Man is a slave of his emotions. No, if he can control his emotions, he can make intelligent use of them. This capability is inherent in his mind.

Veda Vyasa helps us recognize this truth vividly,  through this story.

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Let us come back to the story. When  Devavrata returned, Santanu conveyed his intentions to his son through his ministers. For the sake of his father and for his kingdom, Devavrata himself went to Satyavati devi and proposed for his father.

He promises that only the son born to Satyavati devi shall be made the king and that he himself will remain unmarried. Having made such a supreme sacrifice, he is thereafter addressed as “Bheeshma” and revered by all.

By the turn of fate, the sons born to Satyavati devi and King Shantanu died before they could produce an heir.

At Bheeshma’s request, Sage Vyasa comes to the rescue. Heirs are born to the princesses. Dhritharashtra, who is blind and Pandu rule the kingdom in harmony. But their children exhibit character traits that are totally different from each other.

On one hand we see Duryodhana and his siblings who are greedy for power. They refuse to give their rightful share of the kingdom to the Pandavas. On the other hand we see Pandavas, who are forced to live without even a roof over their heads!

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Modern society is unaware of this power and hence can not make use of this strength. Inevitably, Man hurts others and spreads turmoil due to the severity of his emotions. Santanu’s stature is very high in a world, where even small children are victimised for satisfying one’s lustful desires.

Though Satyavati was all alone when he met her, and he could have easily used her for satiating his desire, the King did not degenerate to such a barbaric culture. Instead, very respectfully, the King expresses his love towards her saying that, only with consent from her parents and herself, and approval of his son he shall accept her. Hearing this, Satyavati devi bows down to the King, with folded hands, in utmost reverence.

This reveals, how great our culture was, 5000 years back!

Later, we can see that the invasion of the Mughal emperors had drawn a different social picture in our country. An attactive female was an easy prey for their lust and this endangered the honour of women  in the society.

The respect we get from society depends solely on our behaviour in the society.

We Indians believed in the proverb, “As you sow, shall you reap”.

It is said in Ramayana that “Than Than Nirantharam Cheyyunna Karmangal Than Than Anubhavicheedanam”, which means, one has to bear the fruit of all his/her karmas. This reflected our culture and way of life.

Yet, today in the name of politics and religion, men do not hesitate to kill and loot for safeguarding their own selfish interests. Can our ancestors forgive them?

Our scriptures proclaim, “Matru Devo Bhava-Yatra Naaryasthu Poojyanthe Thatra Thushyanthi Devathaha.” – Prosperity and peace prevail in a land where women are treated with dignity and Womanhood is worshipped.

It is the duty of every Indian to reclaim his rich and glorious cultural tradition. Our ancestors had a vision for the entire world- “Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu”.  This can be realized only if we Indians come forward to make an effort to spread such a culture in society all over the world.

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Srimad Bhagavad Gita,  the Divine Song is sung in 700 shlokas, against the backdrop of Kurukshetra.

Before we start with the first sloka of the first chapter, let us keep in mind, the fundamental truth in this world. That is, every mind is unique and independent, yet all minds function in the same way. The psychology of human mind is the same all over the world from time immemorial.

We feel pain when rejected, angry when insulted, happy when appreciated and motivated when inspired. We have attachments and possessiveness towards people and objects. We feel withdrawn with failure and proud with success.

We have fear of the unknown and over confidence in knowledge too.  We have no time for and hence find excuses to stay away, from things that we dislike.

We race for things that we cherish to have and once they are ours, we lose charm in them. We retain memories of past and regret over mistakes. We are anxious about our future. We seldom forget an insult and take revenge as best as possible.

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Let us come back to the story. When  Devavrata returned, Santanu conveyed his intentions to his son through his ministers. For the sake of his father and for his kingdom, Devavrata himself went to Satyavati devi and proposed for his father.

He promises that only the son born to Satyavati devi shall be made the king and that he himself will remain unmarried. Having made such a supreme sacrifice, he is thereafter addressed as “Bheeshma” and revered by all.

By the turn of fate, the sons born to Satyavati devi and King Shantanu died before they could produce an heir.

At Bheeshma’s request, Sage Vyasa comes to the rescue. Heirs are born to the princesses. Dhritharashtra, who is blind and Pandu rule the kingdom in harmony. But their children exhibit character traits that are totally different from each other.

On one hand we see Duryodhana and his siblings who are greedy for power. They refuse to give their rightful share of the kingdom to the Pandavas. On the other hand we see Pandavas, who are forced to live without even a roof over their heads!

The disastrous war, Mahabharata ensues where we see the two forces finally facing each other on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Out of the four political methodologies prescribed by the scriptures, Sama, Dhana, Bheda, and Danda, the fourth one i.e., Danda is the last resort. This is typical of people who perform impulsive actions under the influence of their emotional mind rather than their rational mind.

The inevitable consequence of war is total destruction. Overwhelmed by the onslaught of emotions, blinded by rage, Man commits acts of violence. A world free of hunger, violence and fear can only be realized with the cumulative efforts of each and every one of us – a world envisioned by the ancient Rishis of India, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.”

In the Mahabharata epic, Duryodhana refuses to agree for any sort of compromise with the Pandavas.  His refusal to give up his greed alone results in the tragic war. This indeed is an invaluable lesson for all of us.

Moreover, Dhritharashtra had miscalculated that Pandavas would never take up weapons against the great grandsire Bheeshma or their Guru Dronacharya. When Bheeshma succumbs to the arrows of Arjuna, Dhritharashtra is shattered. This is the setting for the holy Gita.

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Srimad Bhagavad Gita,  the Divine Song is sung in 700 shlokas, against the backdrop of Kurukshetra.

Before we start with the first sloka of the first chapter, let us keep in mind, the fundamental truth in this world. That is, every mind is unique and independent, yet all minds function in the same way. The psychology of human mind is the same all over the world from time immemorial.

We feel pain when rejected, angry when insulted, happy when appreciated and motivated when inspired. We have attachments and possessiveness towards people and objects. We feel withdrawn with failure and proud with success.

We have fear of the unknown and over confidence in knowledge too.  We have no time for and hence find excuses to stay away, from things that we dislike.

We race for things that we cherish to have and once they are ours, we lose charm in them. We retain memories of past and regret over mistakes. We are anxious about our future. We seldom forget an insult and take revenge as best as possible.

All over the world, an ordinary human mind functions in this way, controlled and driven away by emotions. Obviously, human life becomes a misery because of all these emotional storms that leads man to dilemmas in his every day life. An animal does not have to face such mental conflicts as they do not have any power of discrimination and hence choices.

But humans, with their ‘Vishesha Budhi’ has to discriminate between the right choices and wrong ones and choose the best decision – almost every day in our modern world and society. This makes our minds a ‘war-field’ where the rights and the wrongs compete and fight among themselves. Who, or the thought that, wins in the race makes the decision.

The series of these decisions constitute our life! Wrong or negative thoughts destroy our life and right or positive thoughts construct our life. Thus, the same mind turns out to be our enemy or friend as we use it to be.

So, isn’t it important to take care of this faculty called mind?

Yes, being the foremost mind management text of all times, Geeta shows us the way.

 

End.

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