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Essence of "The Gita"
And the Lord Krishna explained the Truths of Right and Wrong to his
beloved desciple, Arjuna, as he stood confused on the battle-field
of Kurukshetra, opposite his own cousins and elders. He flung down
his bow and arrow in extreme anguish...Then Krishna chastised him,
and told him about Truth and Dharma....
- Why is your mind engaged in fruitless and useless thoughts? Whom do you
fear in vain? Who can kill you? Atma (The Soul) neither takes birth, nor dies.
- What happened in the past, was well and good. What is happening in the
present, is still good. What would happen in the future, must be good. Do
not lament the past. Do not bother about the future, and the present too will
go on in its own way.
- What have you lost that you are crying for? What precious things did you
bring with you that you have lost? What have you given life to by yourself?
You did not bear anything when you came in this world. What you have taken
was from this place, whatever you have given, you have given back to this
world. Whatever you have received, is from Me, whatever you have offered ,
has also come to Me. You come to this world with empty hands, and you depart
with empty hands. The things you believe to be of your own, was someone else's
property yesterday, and the day after tomorrow it will be some other's property.
You think you are the proud owner and you rejoice. Alas! these surpassing
beliefs and enjoyments are the cause of sorrows and sufferings in life.
- Change is the eternal law of the world. Try to understand the word `Death'.
In fact, that is the real life. Within a moment you can be the owner of millions,
and at the next moment you can be a pauper. Clear out all the evil thoughts
in your mind, of the high and the low, the big and the small, and the concept
of mine and yours. Each step should be taken by judging what is real and would
last forever, and what is unreal and will decay. And only then will you realise
that you are for others and others for you.
- Try to understand the difference between the Body and the Soul. You are
not the owner of your body. You, i.e. your Soul (Atma) lives in a house which
is made of fire, water, air, clay and space. When the house collapses, all
these five elements go back to their original form, but the Soul remains as
it was before and as it would be. So where is your individuality? You must
take My refuge, and that is the best solution because there is no difference
between you and Me. He who knows this is totally free from fear, sorrows,
anxities and all the other sentiments of life.
- Whatever you do, do it remembering Me, and offer it to Me. And only in
this way, you will enjoy the real happiness of life.The freedom of life within
life will then lead you along the right path to the Almighty, or the Eternal
Power.
This is a very simplistic rendering of the essence of the Bhagwat Gita
as I have tried to grasp it and explain it from a totally non-scholarly viewpoint.
Please send your comments and opinions to the following mail address: alaka
at sanyal dot org. Any sort of correspondence is welcome.
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(c) Alaka Sanyal 1997