The Essence Of Bhagavad-Gita - The Most Sacred Hindu Philosophy

Hinduism produced many philosophical work and texts, among which Gita is considered the most sacred and philosophical scripture. Not only by Hindus, but Gita is popular across religions all over the world. In this article, I would try to present the true essence of Gita, some of its verses and their meaning.

Historical relevance and the story behind it:

Bhagavad-Gita is a part of Bhishma Parva of Hindu epic Mahabharata written by Krishnadwaipayan Byashdeb. Written in Sanskrit, the meaning of Srimad Bhagavad-Gita is the Song of God. There are some doubts about its date of composition. Some scholars give a broad range of possible dates, as in this analysis by R. C. Zaehner:

As with almost every major religious text in India no firm date can be assigned to the Gītā. It seems certain, however, that it was written later than the 'classical' Upanishads with the possible exception of the Maitrī and that it is post-Buddhistic. One would probably not be going far wrong if one dated it at some time between the fifth and the second centuries B. C.

The story of Mahabharata mainly revolves around the battle of Kurukshetra, where Kauravas and Pandavas fought for the throne of Hastinapur. Before the start of the battle, Arjuna, one of the brothers of Pandava was morose as he was to fight against his own brothers and relatives. He could not accept the fact that he will be responsible for killing all his sect, brothers and relatives. Krishna, who was depicted as an Avatar (incarnation) of God, preaches Arjuna of Lifes philosophy and boosted him up to get readied for the battle. In the entire conversation between Arjuna and Krishna, the philosophical aspects of ones life, his action, renunciation, knowledge has been vividly described. Hindus believe that if anybody reads Bhagavad-Gita he gets freed from all pains, sorrows and grieves.

The Theme:

The main theme of the content of Bhagavad-Gita is the explanation of five basic concepts of Truth.

1. Ishwara (The Supreme Controller)
2. Jiva (Living beings, the soul)
3. Prakriti (Nature, matter)
4. Karma (Action)
5. Kala (Time)

When Arjuna was morose and was not ready to fight the battle, Krishna counsels him on various aspects of Dharma, what one should do and what not. Krishna explained to him what a man his worth of, what his action should be, what knowledge he should have, how time controls all. He said to Arjuna, who you are that you think you will kill your brother. You are just a puppet in the hand of time. He said that time has already written everybodys faith and you are just an executioner. He explained the inner meaning of life and said that our body is just like the cloth we wear everyday, soul is the greatest possession. One can destroy body but not soul.

Content (18 Chapters and some verses):

The entire Gita has been divided into eighteen chapters, each describing one aspect of life. These 18 chapters and their main contents are

Arjunas Sorror:

Arjuna seeing the Kauravas on the opposite side relinquishes his weapon. He became morose knowing the fact that he has to fight and kill his brothers and relatives.

The Path Of Knowledge:

Krishna teaches him that one can kill only the body not soul. Soul is immortal.

Neither the one who thinks it kills nor the one who thinks it is killed do not know the truth. This neither kills nor gets killed

The soul is never born nor does it die at any time. It has neither past nor future. It is unborn, ever existing, permanent and ancient. When the body is slain neither it is killed not it kills.

Just as a man discards worn out clothes and puts on new clothes, the soul discards worn out bodies and wears new ones.

The soul cannot be pierced by weapons, burnt by fire, moistened by water or dried by wind.

The soul is impenetrable, incombustible, unchangeable, certainly ever existing, all-pervading, fixed, immovable, and ever continuing.

Karma-Yoga:

Arjuna questions why would then he act as the most important thing is knowledge. Krishna said that one must act without attaching himself with the action and worldly affairs.

One cannot achieve freedom from action by merely abstaining from actions, nor one can attain samadhi simply by renouncing all actions.

Therefore do your prescribed work, for doing some work is better than doing no work at all. Without work it is not possible to even maintain the physical body.

Works in this world can cause bondage unless done with a sense of sacrifice. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your actions for the sake of sacrifice only, free from attachment.

The Supreme Knowledge:

Krishna tells him that he has lived many lives and over the decades he has incarnated to save the pious and to destroy impious.

Although I am unborn and inexhaustible, and although I am the Lord of all beings, keeping nature under My control, I manifest Myself by My own self induced illusion

Whenever and wherever there is decline of dharma (righteousness) and ascendance of adharma (unrighteousness), at that time I manifest Myself in visible form

For the protection of the righteous and destruction of the wicked, and for the sake of establishing dharma again, I incarnate Myself on earth from time to time.

Renunciation Of Action:

Krishna tells Arjuna that why Karma Yoga is better to adopt.

The ignorant people say that the yoga of knowledge and the yoga of action are different. But the learned ones do not say so. By achieving mastery in either of the two, one can attain the fruit of both.

The qualified karma yogi, who is pure in his heart and conquered his mind and his senses, sees his self in all selves and remains free even though engaged in action

Yoga Of Self-Control:

Krishna teaches Arjuna the right way of doing meditation.

Let a man lift himself by himself. Let him not degrade himself. Certainly self is friend to the self and self is also the enemy of the self.

He who has controlled his self by his self, certainly his self is his best friend, but for him who has not conquered his self his self is his enemy

He who has learned to control his eating and enjoyment, who performs his actions in a balanced manner, who maintains balance between his waking and sleeping periods, his yoga frees him for all his sorrows.

Knowledge And Wisdom:

Krishna preaches what is knowledge and what is wisdom.

The earth (energy in the form of gross matter), water ( energy in the form of lighter matter), fire (energy in the form of lighter matter), ether (the subtle matter), mind (energy in the form of consciousness), buddhi (energy in the form of awareness), and the ego (the individualized consciousness)- these are the eight fold divisions of My Prakriti (Creative Energy).

Attaining The Supreme:

Arjuna is taught, how one can attain the Supreme.

At the time of death, he who, remembering Me, leaves the body, attains My State. There is no doubt about this.

From the unmanifest are manifested all the beings at the beginning of the day and are dissolved again into the unmanifest upon the arrival of the night.

The Secret Knowledge:

Krishna then reveals to Arjuna his for as world destroyer and explained how he controls all.

These beings do not exists in Me. Look at my mystic richness. Although I am the bearer and creator of all the beings , My Self does not exist in any of the cosmic manifestations.

I am kratu (Vedic ritual), I am yagna (sacrificial ceremony), I am svadha (an offering in the sacrificial ceremony), I am medicine, I am the Mantra (the sacred chant), I am adyam (fuel in the Yagna), I am Agni (fire) and I am hutam (the burnt remains of an offering in the yagna).

The Manifestation Of God:

Krishna enumerates names of gods, heroes and explained bibhuti (Sacred Ash).

I am the originator of all. From Me manifest all this. Knowing thus men of wisdom worship Me with concentrated attention.

I am the punishing power of those who are in authority. I am the morality of those who are in search of victory. Among the secrets I am the silence and among the knowledgeable I am the knowledge.

The Universal Vision:

Krishna then gave Arjuna a vision which helped Arjuna to see his Universal omnipotent incarnation. Arjuna exclaimed and requested Krishna to withdraw.

You are imperishable, the highest (knowledge) to be realized. You are the resting ground for this whole universe. You are the protector of the eternal dharma. It is my conviction that you are the most Ancient Being.

O Vishnu, looking at Your expansive form reaching out to the heavens, glowing with innumerable colours, mouth widely open, bright wide eyes, I am certainly terrified in my heart and lost my inner stability and tranquility.

Devotional Service:

Krishna explains Arjuna the meaning of Bhakti-Yoga.

Certainly knowledge is better than practice, but better than knowledge is meditation, superior to which is renunciation of the fruits of actions. Indeed after renunciation there is only peace.

Without any hatred towards all beings, friendly and compassionate, without any sense of possessiveness, without any egoism, equal in pleasure and pain and forgiving.

Nature, The Enjoyer, And Consciousness:

Arjuna learned the meaning of Prakriti, the matter.

The Mahabhutas (the five great elements), the ego, the discriminating intelligence, the invisible (self), the ten senses (ears, skin, tongue, nose, hands, feet, mouth, anus, and the sexual organs) and the five objects of the senses ( sound, taste, touch, smell and the forms).

Desire, repulsion, happiness, sorrow, the aggregate, dynamic awareness, decisiveness, all these are briefly the various aspects of the kshetra (body)

Without pride, without pomposity, absence of cruelty, tolerance, straight forwardness, service to Acharya (the spiritual master), cleanliness, stability (of the mind), self-control.

Disinterested, detached from the son, wife, home and the like, always even minded in both desirable and undesirable conditions.

The Three Modes Of Material Nature:

Krishna preaches the three Gunas, or qualities of Sankhya philosophy.

Sattva (purity), Rajas (passion) and Tamas (ignorance) are the qualities arising out of Prakriti. They bind the soul with the body, O mighty armed.

Of them Sattva is of the purest nature, illuminating and without any debility. Through attachment with happiness and knowledge it binds , O sinless one.

Know that Rajas is full of passion born out of attachment with thirst (insatiable desire). It binds the embodied, O son of Kunti, through attachment with works.

But know that Tamas is born out of ignorance, deludes all embodied beings. Through recklessness, laziness and sleep, it binds (the soul), O Bharata.

The Yoga Of The Supreme Being:

Description of the three Gunas which has its roots in the heaven and foliage on the Earth.

Without pride and illusion, free from the impurities of attachment, always turned inwardly, freed from lust, and the sense of duality like happiness or sorrow, the undeluded attain the inexhaustible eternal position.

The Opposite Qualities:

The two opposite qualities of human being are explained. Intelligence, forgiving nature, fortitude, cleanliness, without envy, without egoistic pride- these O Bharata are the riches (virtues) of those born with divine nature.

Pomposity, exaggerated self-importance, pride in one self, anger, rudeness and ignorance, are the property (vices ) of the those born with undivine nature.

The Division Of Qualities:

Thought, deed and ingestion, corresponding to three Gunas, are answered. Austerity that is performed for gaining popularity and honor and also for display is regarded in this world as rajasic, which is also unstable and distracted (or without concentration).

The austerity that is performed out of foolishness, struggle and by self torture, with an intention to harm others, this is referred as tamasic in nature.

The charity that is worth giving, given without any expectation, according to the time and place and to the deserving person, is remembered as sattvic.

The charity which is given for the sake of a reciprocal advantage or with the expectation of a result, or given in return (for some advantage or gain), or given grudgingly or with difficulty, that charity is to be remembered as rajasic.

Liberation By Renunciation:

Arjuna came to knew that one must follow his Dharma or his duty in renunciation. He joined battle.

Renunciation of action due to unhappiness and the fear that they cause physical discomfort is called rajasic renunciation and he will not gain the fruit of renunciation.

He who performs the prescribed actions considering them as obligatory duty and renounces all attachment to the fruit of his actions, such renunciation in my opinion is sattvic in nature.

Without aversion to unpleasant work and without attachment to pleasant work, the renouncer is well entrenched in sattva. He is intelligent and free from all doubts.

Translated Texts Taken From :http://www.hinduwebsite.com/chapters.asp Other Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita
http://vedabase.net/bg/en

Kanquona Bhattacharjee is a freelance writer and blogger. She has completed her post graduation in English from the University of Calcutta. She has some deep insight into social problems and often present these in front of the most strongest medium. Her personal blog is http://journeytolearning.blogspot.com/ She can be contacted at kanquona@gmail.com

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Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life

Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life

By Gene Griessman, PhD

Many of us have an image of personal balance as a set of scales in perfect balance every day. But thats an unrealistic goal. You are in for a lot of frustration if you try to allocate within every day a predetermined portion of time for work, family and your social life. An illness may upset all your plans. A business project may demand peaks of intense work, followed by valleys of slow time.

Balance requires continual adjustments, like an acrobat on a high wire who constantly shifts his weight to the right and to the left. By focusing on four main areas of your life emotional/spiritual needs, relationships, intellectual needs and physical needs at work and away from work, you can begin to walk the high wire safely.

Here, drawn from my conversations with many high successful Americans, are ten ideas for balancing all aspects of your life:

1. Make an appointment with yourself. Banish from your mind the idea that everyone takes precedence over you. Dont use your organizer or calendar just for appointments with others. Give yourself some prime time. Regularly do something you enjoy. It will recharge your batteries. Once youve put yourself on your calendar, guard those appointments. Kay Koplovitz founder of the USA cable television network, which is on the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Koplovitz ran the daily operations of the network for 21 years. For more than two decades, there was always some potential claim on her time. Therefore she vigilantly protected a scheduled tennis match just as she would a business appointment.

2. Care for your body. Having a high energy level is a trait held by many highly successful people. No matter what your present level of energy, you can increase it by following these steps:

Eat. Dont skip meals. Your physical and mental energy depend upon nourishment. Irregular eating patterns can cause a frayed temper, depression, lack of creativity and a nervous stomach.

Exercise. Over and over again, highly successful people mention the benefit of exercise routines. Johnetta Cole, president of Bennett College for Women and former president of Spelman College, does a four-mile walk each morning. She calls it her mobile meditation. The benefits of exercise are mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. If you are healthier and have more stamina, you can work better and longer.

Rest. A psychologist who has studied creative people reports that they rest often and sleep a lot.

3. Cut some slack. You do not have to do everything. Just the right things. Publisher Steve Forbes taught me a lesson: Dont be a slave to your in-box. Just because theres something there doesnt mean you have to do it. As a result, every evening, I extract from my long list to-do list just a few musts for the following day. If, but three oclock the next day, Ive crossed off all the musts, I know that everything else I do that day will be icing on the cake. It is a great psychological plus for me.

There is nothing wrong with pushing yourself hard, disciplining yourself to

do what needs to be done when you hold yourself to the highest standards. That builds up stamina and turns you into a pro. At time, though, you must forgive yourself. You will never become 100 percent efficient, nor should you expect to be. After something does not work, ask yourself, Did I do my best? If you did, accept the outcome. All you can do is all you can do.

4. Blur the boundaries. Some very successful people achieve balance by setting aside times or days for family, recreation, hobbies or the like. They create boundaries around certain activities and protect them. Other individuals who are just as successful do just the opposite. They blur the boundaries. Says consultant Alan Weiss, I work out of my home. In the afternoon, I might be watching my kids play at the pool or be out with my wife. On Saturday, or at ten oclock on a weeknight, I might be working. I do things when the spirit moves me, and when theyre appropriate.

Some jobs dont lend themselves to this strategy. But blurring the boundaries is possible more often than you may think. One way is to involve people you care about in what you do. For example, many companies encourage employees to bring their spouses to conferences and annual meetings. Its a good idea. If people who mean a great deal to you understand what you do, they can share more fully in your successes and failures. They also are more likely to be a good sounding board for your ideas.

5. Take a break. Many therapists believe that taking a break from a work routine can have major benefits for mental and physical health. Professional speaker and executive coach Barbara Pagano practices a kind of quick charge, by scheduling a day every few months with no agenda. For her, that means staying in her pajamas, unplugging the phone, watching old movie or reading a novel in bed. For that one day, nothing happens, except what she decides from hour to hour. Adds singer and composer Billy Joel, There are times when you need to let the field lie fallow. Joel is describing what farmers often do: let a plot rest so the soil can replenish itself.

6. Take the road less traveled. Occasionally, get off the expressway and take a side road, literally and figuratively. That road may take you to the library or to the golf course. Do something out of the ordinary to avoid the well-worn grooves of your life. Try a new route to work, a different radio station or a different cereal. Break out of your old mold occasionally, with a new way to dress or a different hobby. The road less traveled can be a reward after a demanding event, a carrot that you reward your self with or it can be a good way to loosen up before a big event. Bobby Dodd, the legendary football coach at Georgia Tech, knew the power of this concept. While other coaches were putting their teams through brutal twice-a-day practices, Dodds team did their drills and practices, but then took time to relax, play touch football and enjoy the bowl sites. Did the idea work? In six straight championships games!

7. Be still. Susan Taylor, editorial director of Essence, sees to it that she has quiet time every morning. She regards it as a time for centering for being still and listening. She keeps a paper and pen with her to jot down ideas that come to her. The way you use solitary time should match your values, beliefs and temperament. Some individuals devote a regular time each day to visualize themselves attaining their goals and dreams. Others read, pray, meditate, do yoga or just contemplate a sunrise or sunset. Whatever form it takes, time spent alone can have an enormous payoff. Achievers talk about an inner strength they find and how it helps them put competing demands into perspective. They feel more confident about their choices and more self-reliant. They discover a sense of balance, a centeredness.

8. Be a peacetime patriot. Joe Posner has achieved wealth and recognition selling life insurance. Several years ago, Posner helped form an organization in his hometown of Rochester, NY to prepare underprivileged children for school and life and, he hopes, break the poverty cycle. You may find some equally worthy way to give something back through your church, hospital, civic club, alumni association or by doing some pro bono work. Or you may help individuals privately, even anonymously. There are powerful rewards for balancing personal interests with the needs of the common good. One of the most wonderful is the sheer joy that can come from giving. Another reward is the better world that you help create.

9. Do what you love to do. As a boy, Aaron Copeland spent hours listening to his sister practice the piano because he loved music. By following that love, he became Americas most famous composer of classical must. When I asked him years later if he had even been disappointed by that choice Copeland replied, My life has been enchanting. What a word to sum up a life. By itself, loving what you do does not ensure success. You need to be good at what you love. But if you love what you do, the time you spend becoming competent is less likely to be drudgery.

10. Focus on strategy. As important as it is, how to save time for balancing your life is not the ultimate question. That question is, What am I saving time for? Strategy has to do with being successful but successful at what? If others pay your salary, being strategic generally means convincing them that you are spending your time in a way that benefits them. If there is a dispute over how you should use your time, either convince the people who can reward or punish you that your idea about using time is appropriate, or look for another job. The what for? question should also be asked about the life you live. It is truly a comprehensive question and gets at the question of wholeness.

So what makes for a successful balance life? I can think of no better definition than the one given by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because I have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Gene Griessman, PhD, is an Atlanta-based author, workshop leader and speaker. His books include Time Tactics of Very Successful People and The Words Lincoln Lived By. To learn more about Dr. Griessmans products and speaking engagements, visit him online at www.presidentlincoln.com.

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