The Gita on the Battlefield

The Gita on the Battlefield - Really!

September 22, 2012

I am very excited by a recent post from the Hindu Press International. Capt Rajiv Srinivasan, of the US Army, recently addressed a Hindu American Foundation (HAF) fund raiser in Sugarland, TX on September 7, 2012. One quote caught my attention:

Srinivasan, who is from Roanoke, Virginia, found the military life ethically challenging to his beliefs, which he had suppressed. He found that he could not really answer questions about his religion. So he turned to the Bhagvad Gita and the sermon that Krishna gives Arjun on the battlefield resonated with him. Krishna's admonishment to stand up and fight for what is right gave Srinivasan a realization. "All of a sudden, my views about the pacifist nature of Hinduism went out of the window," he told the audience of about 150 people, "and I understood that you have to fight for what you believe in."

I then followed up and came across this HAF entry by Capt Rajiv Srinivasan as well as his blog. It is clear that this young man is going places. Outside India, we are very used to public figures discuss their Christian, Islamic and Buddhist beliefs, here is one who is proud of his Hindu heritage. I am sure his thatha (grandfather) will be very happy. If that inspires more Hindu Americans to feel comfortable in the US military, more power to him. Biased as I am, I love that he continues to maintain his commitment to a vegetarian diet even in the army.

Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

Comments

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

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

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

Everyday Geeta

Search This Blog