Is the Bhagavad Gita relevant today ?

Kongbrailatpam Rajeshwar Sharma *

Janmaashtami / Krishna Janma celebrated at ISKCON Temple, Imphal in August 2013 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

A few years ago when my son had just finished his ISC (Indian School Certificate Examination), I, along with my son and my wife, went to Pondichery and particularly to Chennai for his admission at SRM Institute Science and Technology. During our two-day stay at Pondichery, we went to Aurobindro Ashram.

As we walked along the coast, I saw the vast sea of the Bay of Bengal that stretches to the horizon where the blue sky touches the sea. At that moment, I thought how magnificent nature was and how small I was when I compared myself to the sea and the sky. I also wondered who created the vast sea and the infinite sky.

I experienced at that time what William Wordsworth felt when he revisited the Banks of the Wye where he wrote these lines in one of his romantic poems: “And I have felt/A presence that disturbs me with the joy/Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime/Of something far more deeply interfused,/Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns”(Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey).

I experience the same feeling when I read the Bhagavad Gita. During the past nineteen or twenty months, the people of Manipur have been going through hell. In such a turbulent time, one cannot help but seek shelter in the spiritual world of scriptures.

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the scriptures of the world. It is the Hindu scripture where many a scientist, philosopher, poet, politician and Hollywood stars find profound wisdom in the teachings of Krishna.

Among them, Tulsi Gabbard, a Lieutenant Colonel of the US army who had served in the Iraq War, took the oath of office with the Bhagavad Gita as a representative from Hawaii when she was elected to the United States Congress in 2013. She said, “His (Krishna’s) teachings of Bhakti and Karma Yoga are the foundation and driving force and purpose of my life.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American poet, wrote, “I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad Gita.”

The Bhagavad Gita consists of about 700 verses which are divided into eighteen chapters. It is one of the Upanishads. According to some scholars, the Bhagavad Gita is believed to have been interpolated into the Mahabharata the longest epic poem that consists of 2,20,000 verses. It is found in the sixth chapter called Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata.

In the poem Gita Dhyanam, the Bhagavad Gita is metaphorically described as an Upanishad: “If all Upanishads can be considered as cows;/ Then the Bhagavad Gita can be considered as milk.” In the eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, several topics that range from Atman (soul) to one’s duties and responsibilities are discussed in the form of dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna. Like an inquisitive student, Arjuna asks Krishna hundreds of questions which are related to several aspects of life.

Among the topics which are discussed in the Bhagavad Gita, Karma Yoga is one of the most important themes, for no one can live without action. Nor can anyone avoid any kind of action-physical or mental action. Literally, Karma Yoga means union with God through selfless action or Nishkama Karma.

The word Karma comes from the root word Kar which means ‘to act or to do’, and the word Yoga is similar to the English word ‘Yoke’ which means ‘to join or to unite’. According to the Bhagavad Gita, even thinking is a Karmic action. One may not be doing anything physically but at the same time one is always mentally active. One’s mind is never at rest. It is always in flux.

As no one can ever avoid action in life, one is always bound to do action or Karma in life. In other words, he or she cannot run away from his or her duties. In performing one’s duty, one should always keep in mind that one’s action should be a service to God as well as humanity.

But in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna : “You only have the right to act./At the same time, you do not have the right to the fruits of actions./You should not act out of motivation for the fruits of actions,/And you should never be inactive at any time.”

It means that one should do every action as one’s duty as well as an offer to God without concerning about its results-failure or success. Only then will he or she find peace of mind and solace. This is the essence of the Bhagavad Gita or Krishna’s teachings in the Bhagavad Gita.

In the middle of the battle-field of Kurukshetra, Krishna explains, among other things, what Karma Yoga is to Arjuna who has become depressed and refused to fight after seeing his grandfather Bhishma, his teacher Drona and many relatives on his enemies’ side. According to Krishna, Karma Yoga is nothing but performing one’s duty or an action as a service to God without worrying about the results or fruits of one’s actions.

Only then can one attain salvation or self-realization. In Chapter III Verse 8-9, Krishna says to Arjuna, “Perform your prescribed duties (Svadharma) as a sacrifice to God, and this way you will not be attached to the results of your actions, and you will remain free from any bondage.”

It means that Arjuna, as a warrior or soldier, should fight against his enemies as his righteous duty. Similarly it is one’s Svadharma or righteous duty to stand up and fight to protect one’s family, society, State, etc.

In one of his poems called “Brahma”, Ralph Waldo Emerson expresses the indestructible and the eternal nature of the soul, which is another important recurring theme of the Bhagavad Gita. In the poem “Brahma”, Emerson writes, “If the red slayer think he slays,/Or if the slain think he is slain,/They know not well the subtle ways/I keep, and pass, and turn again.”

Similarly in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, “One who thinks that Atman (Soul) is a slayer, and one who thinks/Atman is slain: both are ignorant because/Atman neither slays nor can be slain.” (2:19).

In his novel “The old man and the sea” too, Ernest Hemingway writes, “A man can be destroyed but not his spirit” In the same way, thousands might be killed and hundreds of villages might be destroyed, the spirit to protect Manipur will never die.