Why Bhagwad Gita? Myth v/s Reality

Over the years of my professional life, no book has impacted me more deeply than the Bhagwad Gita – a conversation between Krishna as the Guru or Mentor, and Arjuna the Mentee. seeking clarity about his purpose in life. This is an attempt to capture some of my key learnings as a series of articles. Trust it will be found useful.

I will start with expressing my gratitude to the person who mentored me in understanding whatever little I could of the Gita and so that I could be guided to find my purpose in life. I hope I will be able to  do justice to whatever I have learnt along the way.

The first part of my article focuses on some of the myths I have come across about this book. Some of the views I have had from people are:

1.      Gita is to be read when one is retired and absolved of all worldly duties not in the prime of your career!

2.      Gita’s message takes away all the passion from what we do. How can one not be passionate about what one does? It amounts to abdicating responsibility

3.      It is a book of a religion

These are views I have picked from people who hesitate to read the book.

Let me explain why I call them myths by visualising the context of the book

1. Who was this knowledge given to? It was given to a young prince at the time of his biggest crisis – having to fight the most difficult battle of his life against those he called his own.

2. When was this knowledge given? It was given at a time when he was facing an emotional crisis and was wanting to run away from the battle field thereby abdicating responsibility

3. What was the knowledge given? A perspective on how one should do one’s duty (i.e. do what is right) – which was to fight the war and get justice in his case. It brought objectivity to his decision making process.

4. What was the outcome? A war happened and Arjuna emerged victorious. He was steered to action as he could define his life’s purpose, remained untainted by the hues of emotions and as a result was a lot more effective.

The above clearly explains that the learnings from the Gita are applicable for all life stages. It is especially helpful when we are facing any crisis in life. We all are like Arjuna and face humongous challenges all the time! That is the time when the learnings from this book helps us define our purpose and guides us as we steer through such difficult situations.

It is not a book for one time reading. It needs to be mulled over and over. Every reading gives new perspectives and answers to the most complex life situations.

Just like complex gadgets come with a “How to Use” Manual, so too this is a “How to Live” Manual for something as complex as a human being and his mind.

Do share your views on the above. I would love to hear from everyone. It helps clarify my learning too!

My next article will cover my learnings on “Gita and the Art of Conversation”. Do watch this space for more.