A shloka a day keeps all evils away

BAGAVAD-GITA - The Divine Song

I would like to thank Sujatha for inspiring me to write on this. I have been quoting a sloka from the GITA in my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LahariCulturalLearning . Sujatha asked me elaborate on them and I thought that it is a good idea to start discussions and spread GITA to as many as possible. The view points that you will read in the blog are all derived from various sources of great Acharyas, from books read and from upanyasams heard. So, I am only doing the transport job. No explanation is mine as my intellect is too small to even think of commenting on the GITA. So, here starts the drop service.

The Bhagavad-Gita is one of the most important and powerful literatures of Hindu mythology and philosophy. No other work has got so many commentaries by the great Acharyas. Practically, every guru has dealt with its tatva in an elaborate way. Be it Adi Shankara, or Ramanujaacharya or Madhvaacharya- it has been their most favoured topic for discussion and explanation. In recent times, we have had teachers like Shri. Chinmayananda, Shri. Dayananda  Saraswati or Shri.Prabhupada with their commentaries. While some elaborate the GITA from the point of view of an advaitin, some of them give explanation based on vishishtadvaita. Whatever philosophy one understands and follows, it is important to grasp and execute the instructions given in the GITA to attain moksha. Let us remember that the human life we have, is just not to earn money, produce off springs and be successful in materialistic life alone. Neither should we use prayer for only mundane goals. Our goals must be divine and in high esteem. The ultimate aim is to get ourselves free from the bondage of continuous birth and death.

Some people say it is too philosophical and beyond the comprehension of our intellect. This is not so. The Gita is divided into three parts – karma yoga, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti yoga. One can reach the lord through any one of the ways. Though the vedantic aspect may be difficult to comprehend, if one is always in the mode of reading , contemplating and has a deep interest to know this aspect, then the Lord himself opens the door in the form of a guru. There are many other characteristics in the GITA which we can easily tailor it to our day-today lives. For example, we learn about how to perform our duty unconditionally, how to maintain our poise when we have ups and downs in life, how to control the mind, how to develop true devotion to the lord and many other aspects.

So, let us not think that the GITA is only for retired people. This is the general feeling that one can start reading the GITA when they retire and have ample time. Sorry, we are all completely mistaken. When we cannot set the right priority when we are young, how can we set the priority when old. Our mind and attitude would have been tuned to such materialistic pleasures, that forget understanding the Gita, reading itself will be a burden. Moreover, the GITA is apt to read and implement when we are young. It teaches us daily lessons that will enable us to be more balanced and develop a mind that is more empathetic and introspective.

So, let us start reading a sloka everyday and understand its purport.  As much as possible, I will give the purport of the Gita on a weekly basis. One can find the weekly quote in the FB page of LAHARI: https://www.facebook.com/LahariCulturalLearning. The explanation will be in the blog. Please feel free to discuss and comment so that all of us can grow spiritually together. Satsang is the order of the day.

RAM RAM