Everyday Geeta

February 23, 2011 From the fond father department.... It was 2006 and my father-in-law had just passed away. My 8-year old son J and I were return home after dropping my wife at the aiport. To serive some solace, I had loaded up the car CD player with Pujya Gurudev 's talks on Bhagavad Geeta chapter 13. The 18th shloka: ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमसः परमुच्यते | jyotishhaamapi tajjyotistamasaH paramuchyate . "That (BRAHMAN) , the Light-of-all lights, is said to be beyond darkness;" Gurudev goes on to explain that the known sources of light in the world include, the sun, the moon, the stars, fire and lightning. While any of these can illumine external objects, any or all of them are incapable of illuminating the consciousness within us. In fact, it is through the consciousness that shines through my eyes that I know of the different sources of light. Hence, Śri Kṛṣhṇa refers to the consciousness (or more correctly the क्षेत्रज्ञ - kShetraGYa - the knower of the field of expe

February 21, 2011 Recently, I had posted this on the contrast between the contemporary and Vedantic view of freedom. Here I bring you two of my favorite perspctives, one by the Indian Nobel Prize winner, Shri Rabindranat h Tagore , the other by the American poet, Maya Angelou . I am fascinated by how the struggle for freedom is universal. This struggle is always about transcending limitations, the ultimate culmination of which is the Vedantic ideal of moksha - absolute and unconditional freedom from all bondage, whether of the body, mind or intellect. First "Where the head is held high", a video I came across on YouTube. The poem spontaneously invokes a yearning for the ideal that the poet prays for India to awake to. In the video below, the cadences and beauty of Maya Angelou's expressions shine through as she narrates her own poem, "And Still I Rise". Enjoy. Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

February 18, 2011 I have discussed Geeta in Bollywood through the movie Sanyasi before. Today, I'll look at the Dev Anand's movie 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna' . The hit movie released in 1971 had many popular songs. I'll focus on one in particular "Dekho O Deewanon...". The YouTube version can be seen below (thanks to my buddy Sree from the US for this tip). The lyrics below are sourced from here (the link also contains an audio version by the blogger himself) Dekho O Deewano Tum Ye kaam Na Karo Ram ka naam badnaam na karo.....2 Hare Krishna hare ram Ram ko samjho Krishna ko jaano Nend se jaago O mastano…..2 Jeet lo man ko padkar geeta Man hi haara to kya jeeta, to kya jeeta Jeevan ko nashe ka tum ghulam na karo Ram ka naam badnaam na karoo…2 Hare Krishna hare ram Ram ne hanskar sab sukh tyaage Tum sab dukh se dar ke bhage...2 Krishna ne karm ki rit sikhayi Tum ne farz se aankh churayi O ram duhaayi Hare Krishna hare ram Jeevan naam hai kaam ka Aaram na

February 10, 2011 I have discussed the uniqueness of the Gita Jayanti celebrations in Singapore. For last few weeks, Singapore has been buzzing with the competitions conducted by the Gita Jayanti committee. First the Gita chanting competitions where xx children aged 4 to 15 and 4 adults chanted various portions of Bhagavad Geeta chapter 5. Then several children competed in the Gita championship which required them to chant all 47 shlokas of Gita chapter 6 and 30 shlokas of Gita chapter 7. Finally, we had the Geeta essay and oratory competitions.  Click for the names of the Gita competition winners . It is very heartening to see the extent of interest in these competitions. Parents often make the mistake in assuming that Samskritam is difficult to learn, chanting is difficult to learn, the meaning of the Geeta is difficult to learn. Every one of these children and the adults proved it wrong. We think our children are not ready to absorb philosophical concepts. Wrong again. The best pa

February 2, 2011 My friend Sanjay brought up an interesting point at the study class, he can't recall where he heard it.  In the contemporary idiom (we really need to resist calling it the Western mindset since this is pretty much the view in most societies today): Being free implies that I can do what I want within legal and ethical boundaries, if I can't I am bound (by my mother, by social convention, by my own inhibitions or through lack of democracy). The Vedantic vision (or Buddhist and Jain, if you want to get picky) differs in a small but significant way:  If I can control WHAT I want, I am free else I am bound. If one asks "Bound by what?" that becomes a topical problem for which I can look for a topical solution.   In the Bhagavad Geeta, Śri Krishna fills in this picture in Chapter 2, shloka 55. प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् | आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते ||२-५५|| prajahaati yadaa kaamaan-sarvaanpaartha manogataan.h . aatmanyevaatma

January 31, 2011 The founder and the workers of the Gita Press, Gorakhpur in India deserve the gratitude of every spiritual seeker for their wonderful, accurate and incredibly affordable publications of a great many Hindu texts - most notably, the Bhagavad Geeta, the Ramayana and Srimad Bhagavatam, all in  numerous languages and editions. I have always been in love with the Geeta Aarti as printed in their Geeta books.  I translated the Gita Aarti with significant help from Swamini Vimalanandaji of the Chinmaya Mission . Here it is - enjoy! गीता आरति - Gīta Ārati जय भगवद्गीते, ॐ जय भगवद्गीते हरि-हिय-कमल-विहारिणि सुन्दर सुपुनीते ।। ॐ जय Jaya bhagavad gīté, OM Jaya bhagavad gīté hari-hiya-kamal-vihārini sundar supunīté . OM Jaya ... O Mother Bhagavad Gita! Victory to thee! You are beautiful and purifying, Residing in the Śri Hari's lotus heart. Victory to thee, O Mother Bhagavad Gita! कर्म-सुमर्म-प्रकाशिनि कामासक्ति हरा । तत्वज्ञान-विकाशिनि विद्या ब्रह्म परा ।। ॐ जय karma-sumarma-pra