Introduction continued
An interesting note that clearly speaks the importance of Gita to Mankind has come from the greatest Scientist, which is reproduced here.
An interesting incident took place in 1948-49. A young researcher by name Dr B.M. Gupta met Dr Einstein, the accepted father of Modern science in Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies in the States. The German scientist hailed him in Sanskrit instead of English. The Indian scientist pleaded his inability to reply in Sanskrit. Dr Einstein was amazed at the poor response of the young Indian scientist and said,
“You hail from India which is the original home of Hindu philosophy, yet you have not cared to learn that language. See my library, which treasures classics from Sanskrit, namely the Gita and other treatises on Hindu Philosophy. I have made the Gita as the main source of my inspiration and guidance for the purpose of scientific investigations and formulation of my theories.”
Not only Einstein, but Thoreau the great thinker also derived his inspiration from the Gita and Upanishads. He himself categorically states thus: “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and the cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavat Gita, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial and I doubt if that philosophy is not to be referred to a previous state of existence, so remote is its sublimity from our conceptions.”
Also while talking about the pyramids of Egypt Thoreau says, “How much more admirable the Bhagavat Gita than all the ruins of the East”.
From time immemorial, the Gita injected enthusiasm to the humanity as a whole.
Mahatma Gandhi, Bala Gangadara Thilak, Maharishi Aurobindo, Mother of Aurobindo Ashram, the great poet Subramanya Bharathi of Tamilnadu , Bhankim Chandra Chatterji, the great poet Rabindranath Tagore were all derived their inspiration from Gita.
These are only a few. Hundreds of thousands of persons worldwide get their answers from Gita for their day-to-day problems. We may quote Mahatma Gandhi as to how he got his comfort from the verses of Gita.
Mahatma Gandhi said: “When doubts haunt me, when disappointments starve me in the face, and I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavat Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of external tragedies and if they have not left any visible or invisible effect on me, I owe it to the teaching of the Bhagavat Gita.”
Before going into essence of each chapter, certain basic facts and explanations are necessary in understanding Bhagavat Gita. Rajaji offered concrete significance of the treasure trove in Gita and dispelled some misconceptions.
Infatuation of Half Knowledge of Science and Gita:
Certain puesado-scientists refuse to believe any thing that are not proved practically and do not want to accept the existence of God and scriptures. These Scientist acquired half knowledge and as a result are unable to understand that which is big or small, which is nearer and which is farther. Those that cannot be grasped by them-they deny the existence of such a thing. They say that all such things, which cannot be grasped, are false. They say that all sastras and scriptures are to fool the common person and written for selfish motives.
However, a true Scientist will not treat these subjects lightly and agree that what they have achieved is only an atom and there are so many secrets unresolved. They agree that there is force beyond every thing and which is responsible for the orderly conduct of nature and moving force behind every thing. They also agree their knowledge is not enough to reach that substance.
Existence of Supreme Being:
That stands beyond reasons-that stands beyond boundary-that stands beyond our vision- and that is beyond the scientific experiments-that is called the Supreme Being. It is sublime and cannot be bound with in our brain. May be the container is beautiful but it cannot hold bigger than another container. So also if any one standing on a plank cannot lift that plank without coming down from it.
A horse pulling the cart and if it is put into the cart, it cannot pull it. Like this, our knowledge and brain are within that Supreme Being and cannot stand-alone. Our intestines can swallow every food items but it cannot swallow the intestine itself. A snake however hungry it may be it cannot swallow the self. . However, man tries –he cannot bring under control the Supreme Being.
Method and Limit of Research:
Science has set a limit for research. Beyond that limit, any research is futile. For example, we dig a well. When we touch the rock, we stop digging. So also any research if it touches the rock in our brain, we stop that research. What we have seen and what we have heard are all like the top layer of hot milk. We have so many secrets under it.
It is such secrets that Vedas, Sastras and Scriptures try to bring out to humanity. What we cannot understand from our 5-senses, Gita and other Scriptures provide the answer to our search. To understand this-you require bhakthi, devotion, sincerity, purity of heart and soul, body and environment- not necessarily penance or torturing one self- but centering our mind and body towards the object.
You may ask one common question- what we cannot understand-why then go deep into that-forget it?
You should know that those which cannot be identified practically-does not mean that they do not exist- they do exist but we can not touch and they are beyond reach from ordinary brain-that thing is mingled with every object-living and inert So we cannot leave that thing from our lives. That thing guides us from going astray and corrects our path if we go wrong. We call it as the Supreme Being.
If we approach this keeping ourselves pure and open minded -we can find that those things, which we discard as useless, will become alive. Once you are able to see this brightness in you will be transformed and be able to enjoy the pristine glory of Parmathma.
Understanding our Dharma:
We must shed our inhibition and hat redness and approach this subject with pure heart. We must also know that our ancestors had the same opportunity and same sense and intelligence as we are having today, might have the same doubts, and were cleared before leaving them to us. That is why this dharma is carried forward down the ages and generation after generations.
May be in the course of time some selfish people might have taken advantages by offering certain additions and deletions but the basic things remain uncorrupted. Therefore, you have to approach this subject not as Policemen entering a house just burgled (mindset) but to know the ultimate goal and correction needed to achieve that goal. Bhagavat Gita can help us in various ways in our daily routine-which we can see in the succeeding chapters.
Athma, Parmathma ,Jeevan, Daehi:
There exists one thing-that is we. We include our body, our inner thing called Athma and above all the Paramathma. Atma drives the body and Paramathma drives Athma. Each one is interconnected but has its own distinct qualities. Jeevan cannot be seen by us. However, it is encircled our entire body and propel us. Laugh, anger, fear etc are all qualities belonging to the body but they are all not Atma. It is standing alone just like the sky, which we call it as ether. It has no weight, no measurement and it exists in all things-men, animal, trees, plants etc.
Since Atma resides in our body and is called Kshethra and the atma is called Kshethre and who knows this abode is called Kshethragnan.
If a man dies, animal dies, or the plant withers- it is happening only to the body, which will be buried or cremated but the Atma never, dies and cannot be killed, unaffected by fire, water or air. This Atma enters another body-that is all like we wearing different cloths. Once we understand this, we will not cry for dead.
R.Jagannathan
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