The Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba gave a discourse on the Gita on March 23rd 1958 and assured the listeners that if every morning a verse from the Gita was read and contemplated upon, then the presence of the Lord could be felt undoubtedly.
Dr. Vaidyanathan [the person who spoke before Baba’s discourse] just now quoted Sri Ramakrishna as saying that the best summary of the teachings of the Gita can be got by repeating the word quickly, as in Gitagitagita, and arriving at the expression ‘tyagi’ [one who sacrifices]. But actually we get the word ‘tagi’ when we do so. The Telugu word ‘tagi’ means ‘drink;’ so drink the Gita, assimilate it, and then it will be found that it teaches not only tyaga [sacrifice], or not mainly tyaga, but all aspects of dharma [right action], both secular and spiritual.
The Gita was given because Arjuna was overcome by illusory attachment, and his illusion had to be destroyed. After the Gita was fully spoken, Arjuna declared that his illusory attachment had disappeared, and so he decided to follow the path right for his soul [swadharma]. He took up the arms that he had laid down and engaged himself in battle. It is said that this battle took place in the Dwapara Yuga [the age in which Lord Krishna incarnated], but the fact is that the Kurukshetra battle is a continuing battle. It is being fought every day in every human being.
Let me explain how. The body is Hastinapura [the city of the battle]; ignorance is the blind monarch Dhritarashtra; he has a hundred progeny, viz., all the evil propensities of man that proliferate from ignorance. Right knowledge is Pandu Maharaja, and he has five sons: right action, truth, peace, love, and non-violence. Remember, all these children have their games and gambols, their upbringing and their schooling, their joys and sorrows in the same Hastinapura, the body. The numerous delusions and doubts that infest the mind are the ‘subjects’. Right understanding is also present there, as Sanjaya, he can see and hear the Lord, the unknown motivating force of all that the body does, feels, and acts is the Charioteer! The Mahabharata war is being waged continuously in everyone, and so every one should study the Gita for guidance and strength.
The Gita is an ocean full of pearls of priceless value for all who seek. These pearls can be won only by diving deep into the center of the ocean. Learning it by heart, repeating it scores of times, or acquiring mastery in interpreting it or expounding it is of no value.
In Bhojaraja’s [a king in ancient India] court, a pundit was once explaining the inner meaning of the Gita with a great deal of skillful casuistry. Among the thousands who nodded their heads in appreciation, there was an illiterate peasant who was shedding tears throughout. When he was accosted, he gave his explanation thus: I can neither appreciate your scholarship nor understand your argument. But I see in the picture of Gitopadesam there that Sri Krishna is seated in front and turning His head back toward Arjuna the entire time He is relating the Gita to him. I weep because Sri Krishna’s neck is bound to be paining on account of this strain. Why does Arjuna not realize this and come more to the front?
That peasant has dived deep. He has secured the priceless pearl of prema [love]. It was this love that Krishna taught to Arjuna. It was for instilling this love that the Lord vouchsafed the cosmic form to Arjuna. Arjuna knew that there is nothing beside or beyond the Lord.
Arjuna’s delusion was destroyed the moment he realized that God exists in and through this entire created world, that He is the basic reality of the atom as well as the universe. The Gita is the Lord’s teaching of this knowledge to man, with Arjuna as the disciple. It is free of all story elements savoring of the world. It is saturated with His message only. From it one can understand that He is the ‘breadth’ of every line, however narrow it may be, whatever the line’s length, it’s the ‘breadth’ by which alone it can be perceived.
Love and devotion are based on faith. The Gita instills this faith by various means—the path of wisdom, the yoga of meditation, the path of divine communion etc. It teaches the essence of all righteousness and exhorts man to engage himself in activity of an elevating and cleansing character. It tells us that Krishna is the reality within each and prescribes constant exercise in prayerful action to cognize this fact.
The sun is not worried by the many passing clouds that intercept its rays for some little time. So, too, there is no need to worry about the clouds of envy, greed, and selfishness that gather and disperse, but can never sully the effulgence of the atman [individual soul]. God is love. Just as we see the cool moon only with the help of the cool rays of the moon itself, so too God can be realized only through the love which meditation on Him alone can develop.
With this in view, read the Gita everyday, not at a scheduled rate of so many verses per day, or as a vow, or as a ritual; but, carefully contemplating on the meaning of the verses, read it to have it soaked in your consciousness, taking ten days if you need to. In Telugu the word Gita means ‘a line,’ and in this Bhagavad Gita, the bhagavan (God) is in every line. In fact, He is the imminent sustaining force by whose presence alone anything can exist.
Remember the ancient prayer: Asatho ma sadgamaya, Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, Mrithyor ma amruthamgamaya [Lord, lead me from untruth to truth, lead me from darkness to light, and lead me from death to immortality]. The Gita tells you to achieve all three goals. Have faith in this and study it to apply it to daily life.
By persistent study, awareness of the Lord in and through all creation comes upon a person and it becomes easy to follow the Lord’s advice. If you desire to select the sloka [verse] that represents the essence of the Gita, meditate on this:
Manmana bhava madbhaktho
madyaji mam namaskuru
Mam evai syasi sathyam te
pratijane priyo si me
[Fix your heart on Me, give your love to Me, sacrifice unto Me, ever worship Me, so you shall come to Me. This is My promised pledge to you, for you are dear to Me.]
You have heard that those who read the Ramayana keep an empty seat nearby for Hanuman, who invariably comes to hear it read. Now let me tell you this. From this day I advise you to read the Gita with a seat kept nearby for Sri Krishna. Read the Gita during the early hours of the day—Brahmamuhratha [4 A.M. to 8 A.M.]—meditate on the divine form of Krishna and allow the meaning to saturate into the consciousness. Do thus and I assure you that within 300 days you will feel the presence of Krishna on that seat.
For, the Lord’s name is His form itself. It has mystic power. If during meditation, reading, and contemplation you are able to concentrate on His name and form for even ten minutes each day, surely the power that will thus be generated can win the grace of the Lord.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, April 1958
