Everyday Geeta

March 30, 2011 In honor of India's cricket victory over Pakistan on March 30 at the World Cup semi-finals in Chandigarh, I thought I would use songs from the hit movie Lagaan , to illustrate a couple of points about dhṛti which carries flavors of the values of fortitude, tenacity, persistence and courage. What a great movie by Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowariker . The first is simply a quote from the Mitva, Sun Mitva song: Har sant kahe, saadhu kahe Sach aur saahas hai jiske mann mein Ant mein jeet usiki rahe "Every holy man says, The one who displays truth and courage is the only one deserving of victory" (Free translation by me) The other one of course, is the Chale Chalo song. For Hindi lyrics click here and here for transliterated English with meaning (hat tip to the folks who contributed these lyrics - great Yagña spirit). If you're still reading this post after that great song, two comments. Geeta chapter 18, deals with this subject of dhṛti in shloka's ...

March 18, 2011 In the 10th chapter of the Gita, Śri Kṛṣṇa describes a devotee, मच्चित्ता मद्गतप्राणा बोधयन्तः परस्परम् | कथयन्तश्च मां नित्यं तुष्यन्ति च रमन्ति च || १०-९ machchittaa madgatapraaNaa bodhayantaH parasparam.h . kathayantashcha maa.n nitya.n tushhyanti cha ramanti cha .. 10-9.. With their minds wholly resting in Me, with their senses absorbed in Me, enlightening one another, and ever speaking of Me, they are satisfied and delighted. A significant portion of the Geeta is devoted to discussing Bhakti, devotion, the nature of the Lord (Bhagavān) and of course, the nature of the Bhakta, the devotee. For anyone, who wants to understand this topic in its entirety, I recommend a wonderful CD set Bhakta, Bhakti aura Bhagavān that I acquired recently. This is a set of talks in Hindi that Pujya Swami Tejomayanandaji gave at the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in 2009. Titled, भक्ति अौर भगवान, the Devotee, Devotion and The Lord, in his introduction, Pujya Guruji gets down to the essence of...

March 18, 2011 Bhagavad Gita chapter 3, 14th shloka says: अन्नाद्भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यादन्नसम्भवः | यज्ञाद्भवति पर्जन्यो यज्ञः कर्मसमुद्भवः ||३-१४|| annaadbhavanti bhuutaani parjanyaadannasambhavaH . From food come forth beings; from rain food is produced; from Yajña arises rain, and Yajña is born of action. In discussing the 4th quarter, Pujya Gurudev addresses that question directly. He says, “'Yajña karma samudbhavah'is not merely saying in words, ‘Yes, I am with you’, it doesn’t mean just giving a check. Capital is no doubt required. But, you have to get involved in that program by your own efforts.” “The BhagavadGita” is a collection  (Orient Paperbacks, published by the Navjivan Turst) of talks given by Mahatma Gandhi ’s on the Geeta at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad from February to November 1926. Gandhiji says: “Dharma is not to be followed with tender regard to one’s body. .. There is no Yajña for him who is not ready to mortify the body.” The quotes also provide a...

When a Swami speaks to a non-desi audience anywhere in the world, there are a few inevitable questions. Why do you have so many Gods? What is the Hindu scripture? A question that is not asked because it is actually outside the range of comprehension of most non-desis (notice I did not day Westerners) is "Who do we have so many paths in Hinduism?" Lets face it, if your only introduction to religion is one of the semitic religions, then you can't conceive of there being more than one way. Śhri Kṛṣṇa refers to the many paths in Hinduism in the third chapter of the Bhagavad Geeta. लोकेऽस्मिन् द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ | ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् ||३-३|| loke.asmin dvividhaa nishhThaa puraa proktaa mayaanagha . GYaanayogena saaN^khyaanaa.n karmayogena yoginaam.h .. 3\-3.. In this world there is a two-fold path, as I said before, O sinless one; the 'Path-of-Knowledge' of the Sāṁkhyans and the 'Path-of-Action' of the Yogis. In the video ...

March 5, 2011 Champak256 has kindly contributed an updated version of his speech at the Gita Jayanti oratorical competitions held in February 2011 in Singapore. Thank you champak.... Be Like a Lotus Leaf in Water Respected Judges and Friends During a Q&A with Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda, there was a man who was constantly talking, who just would not stop. Later, someone asked Gurudev, “Did that man annoy you?” Smiling, Gurudev answered, “As the man was talking, the oscillations reached my ear, in my ear, they vibrated my timpanum, which sent signals to my brain, my brain, in turn, sent messages to my head to nod up and down. Why should I get annoyed? I stand apart.” This is what it means to be like a lotus leaf in water. Gurudev was in Uttarkashi with his guru, Swami Tapovan Maharaj. The year was 1951. India was newly independent. Gurudev saw India, suffering because it had been led away from its Hindu roots in the Gita and Upanishads. He decided that the Bhagavad Gita’s message sh...

March 1, 2011 Been busy with budgets and forecast at work. Hence the quick post. A couple of years ago, Rajiv Malhotra , founder of the Infinity Foundation , wrote a column on .   The article is thought provoking. From the beginning: Krishna's advice fits neither of the two extremes that are presently dominating the media debate: at one end are the majority of Americans who promote revenge against the terrorists as a notion of justice -- an eye for an eye. At the other end is a minority of anti-war activists who want no violence, and instead advocate that the US should take the blame for having caused hatred against itself. The Gita's message rejects both these. to the concluding quote from the article provide, there is plenty in this piece to mull over in today's world. "'Dharma' is not a prophetic religion, but a spiritual framework and set of tools for personal righteousness and spiritual quest. The Gita calls upon all humanity to truthfully and courageously...