Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Srikrishna and Bhagavad-Gita
Srikrishna and Bhagavad-Gita
Everything new is not necessarily good, and not all the old should be thrown out. One must always distinguish between good and bad. Now the world is becoming drawn together one great communications network. We are no longer simply citizens of a city or of a particular country, but we are living in a worldly civilization. Scientific and technological developments are bringing all the societies nearer. So societies have chances to share each other.
The so-called modern civilization as a whole is on a fundamentally wrong track, running toward a head-on collision with the limits of what our world can tolerate. We have many problems to face. There is something basically wrong and to correct that the human civilization have to distinguish between good and bad as soon as possible and have a right track. And, here is a solution that the principles delivered by Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita has capacity to guide the society in the right path. Bhagavad-Gita, as a whole the Vedic-Hindu philosophy, gives the right direction for human civilization. No other book even remotely approaches its influence on human life. Srimad Bhagavad-Gita (or simply Gita) represents a clear, simple, psychological as well as practical blueprint for the spiritual regeneration of man. It is the document for the knowledge and the way we should live. It sets forth the charter of human duties and rights.
Telling about Bhagavad-Gita, set in the heart of the Mahabharata, first of all we have to know the background. The occasion for Gita is significant. On the battlefield, when both the parties (the Pandavs and the Kauravs) had drawn their Armour ready for battle, Arjun (one of the Pandavs) refuses to battle. Instead of doing his proper duty, Arjun sobs and trots out arguments in favor of 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) and the glory of 'Sanyas' (renunciation). That is, he is not convinced of the rightness of his duty. Sentimental self-pity overpowered Arjun and he sought refuge in falling a victim to inactivity. He could not face the reality of evil and encounter it in the face. It is in such a context; Lord Srikrishna delivered the sermon on the battlefield. Here Arjun is nominal representative and the Gita is delivered for all human beings through Arjun. Srikrishna, the Bhagavan, imparts wisdom to drive away the gloom and the temporary moral confusion set in Arjun's mind.
The Pandavs were in favor of truth and the Kauravs were the representatives of evil. So Srikrishna, the Bhagavan, supported the Pandavs. It gives a moral that 'God is always with truth'. Due to the attributes of Pandavs towards the truth led the Bhagavan in favor of Arjun. Each one of us is an Arjun and we need wisdom of the Bhagavad-Gita to set us on the right path and fight evil. The central message of the Gita is the Lord's insistence on us all to fight evil, not to run away from it nor seek to compromise with it. One should count no cost as too much to oppose evil. We must oppose evil with all our power against all who support it at all costs.
Life is a battlefield. There is no freedom in inactivity. The common Dharma of all is to do the duty and fight evil, not to become a victim of inactivity. The most important thing we have to keep in our mind is that the command of the Bhagavad-Gita is not only to do the duty and fight evil but with devotion to the Lord. Devotion and duty are the watchwords of Bhagavad-Gita. The Gita approach to human life is functional and practical and not only theoretical.
Just like the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, (that is Lord Srikrishna), the ninth incarnation of Vishnu, (that is Lord Buddha, whose followers are famous as Buddhist all over in the world), also gave us wisdom to set us on the right path and fight evil. Another incarnation of Vishnu, Lord Sriram also taught us the same moral. Hence we come to a conclusion that the Lord, in any type get-up, delivers us wisdom to battle against the gloom in our mind, against evil and in favor of the truth. They all have love to humanity in common.
Everything new is not necessarily good, and not all the old should be thrown out. One must always distinguish between good and bad. Now the world is becoming drawn together one great communications network. We are no longer simply citizens of a city or of a particular country, but we are living in a worldly civilization. Scientific and technological developments are bringing all the societies nearer. So societies have chances to share each other.
The so-called modern civilization as a whole is on a fundamentally wrong track, running toward a head-on collision with the limits of what our world can tolerate. We have many problems to face. There is something basically wrong and to correct that the human civilization have to distinguish between good and bad as soon as possible and have a right track. And, here is a solution that the principles delivered by Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita has capacity to guide the society in the right path. Bhagavad-Gita, as a whole the Vedic-Hindu philosophy, gives the right direction for human civilization. No other book even remotely approaches its influence on human life. Srimad Bhagavad-Gita (or simply Gita) represents a clear, simple, psychological as well as practical blueprint for the spiritual regeneration of man. It is the document for the knowledge and the way we should live. It sets forth the charter of human duties and rights.
Telling about Bhagavad-Gita, set in the heart of the Mahabharata, first of all we have to know the background. The occasion for Gita is significant. On the battlefield, when both the parties (the Pandavs and the Kauravs) had drawn their Armour ready for battle, Arjun (one of the Pandavs) refuses to battle. Instead of doing his proper duty, Arjun sobs and trots out arguments in favor of 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) and the glory of 'Sanyas' (renunciation). That is, he is not convinced of the rightness of his duty. Sentimental self-pity overpowered Arjun and he sought refuge in falling a victim to inactivity. He could not face the reality of evil and encounter it in the face. It is in such a context; Lord Srikrishna delivered the sermon on the battlefield. Here Arjun is nominal representative and the Gita is delivered for all human beings through Arjun. Srikrishna, the Bhagavan, imparts wisdom to drive away the gloom and the temporary moral confusion set in Arjun's mind.
The Pandavs were in favor of truth and the Kauravs were the representatives of evil. So Srikrishna, the Bhagavan, supported the Pandavs. It gives a moral that 'God is always with truth'. Due to the attributes of Pandavs towards the truth led the Bhagavan in favor of Arjun. Each one of us is an Arjun and we need wisdom of the Bhagavad-Gita to set us on the right path and fight evil. The central message of the Gita is the Lord's insistence on us all to fight evil, not to run away from it nor seek to compromise with it. One should count no cost as too much to oppose evil. We must oppose evil with all our power against all who support it at all costs.
Life is a battlefield. There is no freedom in inactivity. The common Dharma of all is to do the duty and fight evil, not to become a victim of inactivity. The most important thing we have to keep in our mind is that the command of the Bhagavad-Gita is not only to do the duty and fight evil but with devotion to the Lord. Devotion and duty are the watchwords of Bhagavad-Gita. The Gita approach to human life is functional and practical and not only theoretical.
Just like the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, (that is Lord Srikrishna), the ninth incarnation of Vishnu, (that is Lord Buddha, whose followers are famous as Buddhist all over in the world), also gave us wisdom to set us on the right path and fight evil. Another incarnation of Vishnu, Lord Sriram also taught us the same moral. Hence we come to a conclusion that the Lord, in any type get-up, delivers us wisdom to battle against the gloom in our mind, against evil and in favor of the truth. They all have love to humanity in common.
