What is Bhagavad Gita?
What is the purpose of Bhagavad Gita?
Chaitanya Maha Prabhu was once travelling through a town where in a temple many erudite brahmin Sanskrit scholars were reciting the verses from the Gita. Chaitanya Maha Prabhu noticed that one of them, an old brahmin was sitting alone in a corner and trying to read but had tears rolling down his cheeks. He could not pronounce the verses properly. Some of the brahmins listening to him were giggling and laughing at him. So Chaitanya Maha Prabhu approached him and told him not to worry about others and to continue reciting.
The old brahmin said that he was not even aware others were laughing at him. He was emotional because whenever he saw the beautiful image of Krishna on the cover of Gita he could not stop the flow of tears.
Maha Prabhu said, "you're the one who has really understood the purpose of the Bhagavad Gita. You need not study the verses".
The purpose of the Bhagavad Gita is to develop pure love for Krishna.
Some want to read and study the Gita so that they can get material gain or spiritual gain, while some study so they can see Krishna.
But we must study the Gita so that we act in a way Krishna is instructing us and become so absorbed in Him that we become empty within and that we may have His grace and He may act through us. Just like the flute which Krishna plays, is empty within. So also when we act in Krishna Consciousness we become empty of lust, anger, greed, envy, etc; then Krishna can play divine music through us.
Thus, we shall cease to exist when we are absorbed in Him, we shall transcend our mind. Our heart shall melt and our hair will stand on end and tears shall roll down our cheeks in ecstasy when we remember His form. This is the purpose of studying the Gita, to develop love for speaker of the Gita, Lord Shri Krishna.
And this love will develop as we absorb ourselves in Him, offer our lives as a sacrifice, every action we do in our life should become an act of sacrifice unto Him. to please Him (Ch 9.27). When we act in this way Krishna will speak to us.
He is seated within our heart and He enlightens us from within our heart Ch 10.10 & 10.11.
Knowledge from the Gita is relevant to the extent that it opens the true source of knowledge which is within our hearts.
Just like Krishna spoke to Arjuna, when we perform all our actions as a sacrifice unto Him with love, He will speak to us from within our heart. He will be our personal charioteer (Ch 18.61)
In the Kathopanishad it is stated, "This body is the chariot and this soul. The Intelligence is its charioteer. The mind is its reins. The Senses are the horses pulling the chariot. The objects of taste, touch, etc. are its path. One whose intelligence is divinely guided, whose mind is restrained, whose senses are controlled, such a soul reaches the Supreme destination, Paramam Padam, the lotus feet of the Lord.
Most of us can't hear God who is within our heart. First we have to learn to surrender unto Him, then we shall be able to Him by His Mercy (Ch 18.62 -Tam Eva sharanm gachcha)
Krishna is giving knowledge from within our hearts and the knowledge we receive from Gita or from any other source is merely meant to awaken or to make us aware of the voice of Krishna from within our heart (Ch 15.15 - Sarvasya chaaham)
Suppose there is phone rings in your home and when you pick up the phone you can't hear the voice of the caller because the dog is barking, TV is on at full volume. Radio is on in the kitchen and your children are screaming at each other, hence you can't hear. And when you tell them to 'shut up' and house becomes quiet then you can hear the voice at the other end of the phone.
Similarly, Krishna is speaking to all of us from within our heart, but we can't hear Him because there is lot of noise going on in our head. Noise of children within the mind. The voices of lust, anger, greed, envy, illusion, madness, voices of desire, aspirations, hopes, ambitions, fear, depression, resentment, etc.
When we chant the Mahamantra loudly in Kirtana, softly in japa and silently in dhyana, the voices in our head slowly become quiet and when we hear or read the message of the Bhagavad Gita through disciplic succession, we must hear and listen carefully to the voice of Krishna within our heart, because even as we hear or read the Bhagavad Gita what Krishna spoke to Arjuna, we will hear the voice of Krishna within our heart, what we need to do in our life. And when we act as Krishna is guiding us, we will feel an unspeakable wave of love for Him.
We will realize how much He loves & cares for us and how little we are aware of it until now
Hence we have to approach the Gita in the right spirit. It is about developing love & devotion to Krishna. It is not just about what Krishna spoke to Arjuna 5000 years ago but it is about silencing the mind and hearing what Krishna is saying to us today, now, in our lives.
Silencing the mind is a process and it is hard work. But hard work silences the mind.
Hare Krishna!
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