Glory of Shreemad Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita literally means “The Song of God". The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Lord Shree Krishna and Arjun on the battlefield at Kurukshetra, where the Pandavas were fighting the righteous war with their cousins, the Kauravas.

Shreemad Bhagavad Gita is not just a book but it is a song sung by Shree Krishna Himself!! That is the Divine Glory of this holy scripture.

Bhagavad Gita is a journey...

From Grief to Glory
Arjun's grief made him weak enough to drop his duties of defending the right. Grief led him to confusion. Bhagavad Gita transformed this emotion into the spiritual Glory in Arjun's life.

From Confusion to Clarity
Arjun's confusion coaxed him into a thicker illusion, believing he was bound by the physical relationship toward kins from the opposite side, which resulted in excuses not to put up a fight. Bhagavad Gita uprooted his confusion and gave him clarity of thought and perspective, thus enlightening his path toward conquering not only the external war but also the internal battle.

From Illusion to Enlightenment
Arjun's fallacy regarding self identity dragged him into entanglement of physical relationships, leading to worries regarding the results of the war. Bhagavad Gita removed his illusion and established the enlightenment by revealing his true self in the spiritual realm.

From Worries to Victory
Arjun's worries created dejection and withdrawal symptoms amidst the battlefield. Bhagavad Gita removed Arjun's negative sentiments and bestowed unto him with the much needed victory.

From Self-identification to Surrender
The root cause of Arjun miseries was his mistaken self-identity; when he finally surrendered to Krishna, he could take the charge and deliver himself.

From Trembling to Triumph
It is the power of Bhagavad Gita, the song of God, sung by Shree Krishna HIMSELF, that Arjun's trembling state (in the form of physical, mental, inter-personal relationships, false righteousness, fruitive karma, etc.) transformed into the Triumph.

From Choice to Charge
Bhagavad Gita is a journey from Arjun's choosing Krishna (rather than Shree Krishna's whole Army) and taking the charge according to HIS WILL (in the battle field).

Key points of Bhagavad Gita:

1. Shree Krishna tried His best to avoid the war.

Despite being the King of Dwaraka, He himself went to the Kauravas as a "Peace Messenger"!!
When Kauravas refused to part with even half of land, Shree Krishna put the minimal offer and asked only for five villages---one each for Pandavas.
He also revealed His virat Roop in the court of Dhritarashtra.
BUT...
...blinded by the ignorance and pride, no one could understand His humility when God Himself came as a Peace messenger!!
No one could agree to HIS simplest proposal.
No one could see HIS Divine Form due to the lack of Divine vision.

2. After the unjust exile of the Pandavas, the laksha-grih scandal, cheating in gambling, Daupadi's vastraharan, and many other injustices and sufferings, War was the only way left out to curb arrogant, ignorant and irresponsible Kauravas' evil empire.

3. The roots of Bhagavad Gita lies in the choice Arjun made. When in Dwaraka, Shree Krishna offered him two options:
He Himself or His mighty army. "Narayan or Narayani Sena"! Arjun chose Shree Krishna and that day the roots of Bhagavad GIta were sown. Because once one chooses Lord Krishna and leaves all other supports, Shree Krishna takes the complete responsibility of that person.

4. Shree Krishna had never told Arjun to fight for his own rights or victory. Being a Kshatriya, Arjun was also responsible to ensure social security, development and righteousness. Arjun, by refusing to fight the war, was indirectly permitting injustice to sprawl and corrude the social structure.

5. Only three persons had listened to the Bhagavad Gita directly from the Lotus-Mouth of Shree Krishna; Arjun, Sanjay and Hanuman who was sitting on Arjun' chariot.

6. Bhagavad Gita is a great Psycho-Spiritual scripture where Shree Krishna had played a great role of the First Supreme Psychologist who had not only treated Arjun physically or mentally or emotionally but He provided the spiritual knowledge, solution-oriented techniques and wisdom for every one's psyche.

7. God reveals His forms according to the time and society. The same Lord who revealed Himself as a Maryada Purushottam in Dvapar Yug, revealed Himself as a Purna Purushottam in Treta Yug. The same Lord instructed and inspired Arjun to fight for the wellness and righteousness. When saintly qualities such as humility, goodness, compassion, etc. are over-powered by the evil beings, it is better not to continue with such nature, because it weakens the social and moral character. And sometimes it is considered as a weakness. Shree Krishna warned Arjun about this.

8. The song sung by Shree Krishna before more than 5000 years has key solutions for our all problems and is perfectly applicable to even present era.

9. Shreemad Bhagavad Gita is an Art of Man-making and a Science of Spiritual being.

Lessons form the episode of Bhagavad Gita:

1. Choose God always.

2. Do not be afraid by the confusions, worries and grief on the path of Spirituality. It is a process of purification toward elevation. If your intentions are pure and efforts are sincere, God will reveal the Supreme solutions to you.

3. Put God in the driver's seat of your life because anything under His control will never be out of control.

4. God will never misinterpret your deenata or humility as your weakness. He appreciates your tiniest sentiments.

5. In confusion, do not wander here and there, seek God for the solutions.
6. Once you are truly surrender to God, the Almighty God happily excepts to even drive your chariot.

7. Your actions should not be motivated by ignorance and selfishness.

Desire is responsible for shrouding our power of discrimination - a meaningful allegorical story

Lord Shree Krishna is extending his loving hand but we neglect Him in the process of sipping honey.......

We are not able to think of God and hold onto Him who is the best support during our times of trouble. This is how we are leading our life in samsara, lost in the pleasures of the world!!! Read this allegorical story which teaches us this eye opener lesson.

A man used to take his evening walk by the side of a forest. 

One evening, he decided to walk in the forest instead. When he had walked a couple of miles, the sun began setting and the light started fading. He turned around to walk out of the forest, but to his dismay he found that animals had gathered on the other side. These ferocious animals started chasing him and to escape from them, he ran deeper into the forest. While running, he found a witch standing in front of him with open arms to embrace him. To escape her, he turned direction and ran perpendicular to the animals and the witch. 

By then, it had become dark. Unable to see much, he ran over a ditch that was covered by vine hanging from a tree. He fell headlong, but his feet became entangled in the vine. As a result, he began hanging upside down above the ditch. 

After a few moments he came to his senses and saw a snake sitting at the bottom of the ditch, waiting to bite him if he fell down. In the meantime, two mice appeared—one white and one black—and started nibbling at the branch from which the vine was hanging. To confound his problems, some wasps gathered and began stinging him on his face. In this precarious situation, it was found that the man was smiling. 

Philosophers gathered to ponder how he could smile in such a dire strait. They looked upwards and found a beehive, from which honey was dripping onto his tongue. He was licking the honey and thinking how pleasurable it was; he had forgotten the animals, the witch, the snake, the mice, and the wasps.

The person in the story may seem insane to us. However, this tale depicts the condition of all humans under the influence of desire. 

The forest in which the man was walking represents the material world in which we live, where there is danger at every step. The animals that chased him represent diseases that begin to appear in life, and continue harassing us until death. The witch represented old age that is waiting to embrace us with the passage of time. The snake at the bottom of the pit is like the inevitable death that awaits us all. The white and black mice that were nibbling on the branch represent day and night, which are steadily reducing our life and bringing us closer to death. The wasps that were stinging the face are like the innumerable desires that arise in the mind and agitate it, causing us pain and distress. Honey represents the sensual enjoyment we experience in the world, which clouds the discrimination of our intellect. 

Hence, forgetting our precarious position, we remain absorbed in enjoying the temporary delights of the senses. Shree Krishna states that it is this type of lustful desire that is responsible for shrouding our power of discrimination.

-An excerpt from Bhagavad Gita (3.38)

The Song of God

Commentary by Swami Mukundananda