Skip to main content

Usain Bolt and yaGYa - यज्ञ Gaining this World or the Other

April 8, 2012


Recently, at the Bhagavat Geeta Study group we were discussing the following portion of the Geeta
नायं लोकोऽस्त्ययज्ञस्य कुतोऽन्यः कुरुसत्तम ||४-३१||
naayaM loko.astyayaGYasya kuto.anyaH kurusattama .. 4-31..
O Arjuna (Kurusattama), even this world is not gained by the non-performer of sacrifice; how then the other (world)?

I am struck by how Śri Kŗşņa beautifully connects the spiritual and the secular. For instance, Usain Bolt, featured in the video above, could break six world records because he put in many weeks, days and hours of practice while his classmates were probably out doing what typical teenagers do. While Usain Bolt might be an extreme example, even the simple act of buying a house calls for the homeowner to have saved money by giving up on small pleasures and easy gratifications.

Some might see Mark Zuckerberg and think a 'billionaire brat' but I recall how the movie, The Social Network revealed a very focused, hard working young guy who was constantly thinking about the next big thing on facebook. How often do we hear that a politician 'campaigned tirelessly'? The reality is that if he / she wants to get elected, they have to give up the cosy lifestyle of a 9-5 job and get on the road for months at a time.

So, the insight we get from Geeta 4-31 is very clear. Whether it be in this world or the next, one must give up something to get something bigger. The yaGYa spirit simply is invoking the best in ourselves and performing the actions for a higher cause, be it society, the country or the Lord Himself. The more intense the effort, the bigger the gain. The larger the goal, the more impactful is the change in ourselves. This is the reality in the secular as well as the spiritual plane. Pujya Gurudev encapsulates it beautiful in the Holy Geeta:
Self-development and inner growth cannot be had without investing continuous and sincere self-effort. Inaction can never bring about any profit even in this world, in any field whatsoever. Without self-dedicated and selfless activity, no great and enduring profit can be achieved in this world, and therefore, Krishna exclaims: "How could a seeker hope to achieve the Highest without any conscious effort at gaining it?"
Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 15, 2012 at 8:57 PM

    http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/04/work-life_balance_is_overrated.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Geeta Dhyānaṁ 2 - Vyāsā's Vast Intellect

January 7, 2013 Previously on Geeta Jayanti, I had posted on the eternal debt of gratitude to Mother Geeta that is the basis of Geeta Dhyānaṁ. I love Param Pujya Gurudev 's commentary on the Geeta Dhyānaṁ. Pujya Gurudev's commentary is after the introduction to the Bhagavad Geeta in the commentary on Chapters 1 & 2 published by the the Chinmaya Mission. I personally believe it should be a book by itself. After invoking Mother Geeta, we now pay tribute to the wise Vyāsa Rishi - the Guru whose Jayanti marks Guru Pūrnima every year. Pujya Gurudev starts His tribute to Veda Vyāsā in his commentary on the 1st verse of the Dhyānaṁ. Vyāsa, the father of the Vedās, who, first collected, edited and published the Veda texts and who thereafter, gave us the dialectics of Vedānta in his Brahma Sūtra, himself a great man of realization, was indeed well fitted for the job. The ancient seer had both the mastery of the theoretical science of religion - Hinduism and also the practical expe
Post a Comment
Read more

Geeta in Literature - IF by Rudyard Kipling

September 12, 2011 I came across a nice YouTube video that is an animation of Rudyard Kipling reading his famous poem IF . The full text sourced from wikisource is below: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim, If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same: If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And los
Post a Comment
Read more

In every field, let Dharma flourish - क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रे धर्म कुरु

August 9, 2012 Swamini Vimalanandaji has done a series of talks at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) called "406 SMS – Sure Mantras for Success from Bhagwad Geeta" (item 406 at this AMA link ). In this she has a very interesting take on the 1st line of the Bhagavad Geeta. धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे  १-१ dharmakShetre kurukShetre 1-1 <i> on the holy plain of Kurukshetra... </i> Swamini turns that slightly and says,  क्षेत्रे  क्षेत्रे  धर्म कुरु -   kShetre  kShetre  dharma kuru. Swamini goes on to establish that we can use this mantra to make that: "In every aspect of society,  must be pervaded by Dharma" Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post
Post a Comment
Read more