Bhagvad Geeta – A vortex of contradictions, yet all answers lie in the correct interpretation

I have always been intrigued by the Bhagvad Geeta, and more importantly various stories that impart strong messages. I have read the Ramanyana & Mahabharat as a child with my grandma and Geeta was inevitable part of the Mahabharata. Then there was this epic serial Mahabharata on the television which covered around 15-20 episodes of the Bhagvad Geeta. As a child I was always more interested in the stories and not the preaching or the interpretation of the Bhagvad Geeta, but somehow it always stayed with me…the urge to find out more.

 

Then again, when I was expecting I read the Bhagvad Geeta, as people around me said that you should read such texts so that it passes on to the child. That was when I looked at it from a different perspective, the child in me could recall all the stories and actually make connections to the world around me.

 

Geeta is a lengthy and complex text, and as Guruji says it is open to interpretation, and hence it is important that we understand and read in the correct context. What I had been reading earlier, were the Gujarati and English translations of the original Gita. Hence this was  a wonderful opportunity to understand more about it from someone who has actually spent time to understand and interpret  the whole text.

 

The first misconception that got cleared through the Gita classes was about ‘karm kiye ja, fal ki chinta mat rakh’ which I widely propagated as one of Gita’s sayings. It is not humane to not desire. It is alright to desire, but expecting the outcome of the action should be as per the desire is not the right approach. This was so profound. We cannot control the outcomes but we can surely control our reactions to the outcomes. And this happens with us everyday…India loses a match, how my son scored in a test, how did the movie or the long awaited weekend turn out to be, share prices etc etc etc. This is one thing I definitely want to work on…control my reactions; irrespective of the outcome or the result.

 

Also the path towards how to achieve this was very interesting. As explained in the Geeta, results get taken care of by the laws of the world. We are responsible for the action, not for the result hence we should not take the burden of the same. If we accept the results or the outcomes as a ‘prasad’ from the Ishwara, then it becomes easy for us to accept the reality.

 

Some of the commonly misinterpreted terms in our day to day vocabulary have a much deeper and a rational meaning, such as ‘samskara’ and ‘dharma’.  “Samskara’ are not values or principles but the patterns or grooves that is in our mind and which we want the coming generations of the family to adopt. ‘Dharma’ has nothing to do with the religion; it is the sense of what is right and what is wrong OR duty.  A ‘karmayogi’ is not just one who performs the action, but also has the expertise to interpret appropriateness or inappropriateness of action. This is what differentiates human beings from other animals. The animals do not have a set of values or feel guilty for their actions. All living beings have a love to survive, don’t want to be hurt. Human beings also have this knowledge that they do not want to be hurt, at the same they also know that even the others do not want to be hurt…physically, emotionally, socially, culturally or professionally. This bit of knowledge separates human beings from other living organisms and and helps them create a set of values. That is why morality need not be taught, it is inherently there in all human beings. In critical situations, we struggle to choose between the two alternatives, but inherently we know what is dharma but taking the difficult path is where we struggle. This also holds true when we end up giving suggestions or advice to others. It is an insult to other person’s intelligence, they already know what needs to be done, it is more about listening and being there for the person.

 

The imagery of the war of the Mahabharata, between the pandavas and the kauravas, interpreted as ‘raga’ and ‘dwesha’ tells it all. We need to work towards managing the ‘raga’ and ‘dwesha’ rather than they dictating the way we deal with our lives. That’s the battle, the inner conflicts that we struggle with everyday and the way forward is to develop the expertise to choose appropriate action in a given situation.

 

Bhagvad Geeta may look like a quagmire and causes initial turmoil and distress but the more you understand the verses, elucidate the meaning and connect with the reality of your lives….it illuminates you and helps discover yourself in the process.