Srimad Bhagavad Gita: It’s More Than A Scripture! It’s Realization Simplified!!
Srimad Bhagavad-Gita: It’s Realization Simplified!
You rarely get a chance to listen about glories of Lord in Kaliyuga. It’s manifestation of grace, sign of good fortune, and blessings of great souls that you come to hear about tales of Lord from people dealing in supreme knowledge found In Indian scriptures. That’s how I felt while attending a seminar held at Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, which dealt with discussion pertaining to Srimad Bhagvad Gita in light of human values, spiritual values and equality among all religions.
Many distinguished speakers expressed their views which included Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, Honourable Governor of West Bengal; Vibhav Bhushan Tripathi, former Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh; Justice Rajesh Tandon, Chairman, Human Rights Commission, Uttarakhand; Justice Sakharam (retd); Dr Devendra Kumar Tiwari, Advocate, Allahabad High Court, Allahabad, and Shri Rishikant Pandey, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Allahabad. The event was held under aegis of “Gita Mission For Cosmic Well-Being” which is being run by Shri Satish Chandra Upadhyay, Advocate, Allahabad High Court. The event was also attended by Shri Janak Pandey, former Vice Chancellor, Bihar Central University and Shri R K Ojha, President, Allahabad High Court Bar Association, Allahabad. However, it was pretty unfortunate that constraints of time did not allow Janak Pandey to express his views. Mr. R S Verma ( retd IAS ) presented the vote of thanks on this occasion in a heartfelt way.
Pandit Keshari Nath Tripathi: A profound and influential speaker on matters pertaining to Indian scriptures!
I had never heard Mr Keshari Nath Tripathi before but I have been quiet aware of his oratory skills. He is a profound and influential speaker on matters pertaining to Indian scriptures besides, of course, being legal expert of great stature. His keynote address did not disappoint us. It was an engrossing talk related with significance of Bhagavad Gita in modern times. He hailed it as scripture that in essence dealt with significance of knowledge from various level of thoughts. He referred to fact that knowledge of cosmic affairs is better than earthly knowledge pertaining to life sciences. In other words, he was referring to supremacy of metaphysics over physics! That’s not surprising since ancient Hindu scriptures like Upanishads have talked about distinction between Para Vidya ( Higher Knowledge ) and Apara Vidya ( Lower Knowledge). It’s not inappropriate if one excels in earthly knowledge but it’s better that if having attained human life one devotes it to study of higher knowledge.
In regard to supremacy of this higher knowledge one needs to recollect words of Swami Vivekanand: ” Western Scholars are now striving to understand this ideal which is enshrined in our Sanskrit literature and philosophy, and which has been the characteristic of India all through the ages.” I must say this term “knowledge”, especially “Higher Knowledge” is not interchangeable with term “education”. Education nowadays is a medium to generate money than imparting refined knowledge which draws you towards your “real self”
Mr Keshari Nath emphasized upon the fact that had life ended on what we treat as “death” the terms like “Moksha” ( liberation ) would have sounded defunct. However, that’s not the case. There is life after death and if that’s the case one is bound to find meaning in Srimad Bhagvad Gita. In his eyes, it’s quite striking about Srimad Bhagavad Gita that it does not try to disown antithetical views. It tries to assimilate views contradictory to the views expressed by Lord Krishna. That’s the supreme beauty of Srimad Bhagvad Gita which with Upanishads and Brahma Sutras constitute Prasthanatrayi Texts in Hindu Philosophy. He gave example of Mahabharata Age that each day at the end of war fought at Kurukshetra, the army heads belonging to Pandvas and Kuaravas visited camps of each other. Mr Keshari Nath sounds well that relevance of this scripture is not limited to mere troubled times but it’s also a scripture meant to improve the affairs of life in stable period. He ended his speech on this thought-provoking idea that one needs to ascertain what really Parabrhman is all about whenever Lord highlight his supremacy by hailing himself or his “I” as Parabhrahman?
Assistant Professor Rishikant Pandey: He finds its amazing that Srimad Bhagvad Gita got portrayed as ultimate treatise of different branches of Indian philosophy!
Professor Rishikant Pandey referred to the philosophical dimensions present in Srimad Bhagvad Gita. He finds its amazing that same scripture got portrayed as ultimate treatise of different branches of Indian philosophy! Sri Adi Sankara treated it as epitome of Advaita ( Non-dualism ). Sri Ramanujacharya perceived it to be the ideal scripture for followers of Bhakti Marga ( path of devotion ). In modern times, thinkers like Bal Gangdhar Tilak and Swami Vivekananda popularized it as scripture hinting at supremacy of Karma ( action ). Quoting an episode from the life of Swami Vivekananda he said it was a scripture which is associated with deeper realization than mere academic interception. Swami Vivekananda once met a person whom he noticed was reading Gita holding it upside down. When he inquired about it, the man gave a wonderful answer: “It’s a scripture not meant for casual reading! It’s only about intense realization.” Professor Pandey referring to religious tolerance said that all religions need to seen as various routes to reach the same destination. He appreciated the insights of Lord Krishna by stating that Krishna never asks anybody to discard his/her style of worshiping, but, on the contrary, He strengthens faith of devotees in whatever path they select!! However, it’s better if the seekers learn to appreciate the “Will of Lord” instead of acting on par with their whims and fancies.
Vibhav Mani Tripathi, constitutional expert and former advocate general, said that whether one chooses Bhakti Marga or Nishkama Karma Marga ( Selfless Action ) the final resting point gets revealed with dawn of Higher knowledge.
Vibhav Mani Tripathi, constitutional expert and former advocate general, reiterated precepts shared by Professor Pandey in a finer way. He said that whether one chooses Bhakti Marga or Nishkama Karma Marga ( Selfless Action ) the final resting point gets revealed with dawn of Higher knowledge. In other words, there is no liberation or realization without one embracing Higher knowledge. No wonder in eyes of Lord Krishna a “Gyani Bhakta” ( a knowledge-oriented devotee ) is most dear to Him! “Nahi Jnanena sadrusham pavitram iha vidyate-certainly, there is no purifier in this world like Knowledge” ( Bhagvad Gita 4.38 )
Justice Rajesh Tandon talked about the relevance of this scripture in light of his experiences. He said that increasing cases of violation of human rights could be curbed if one gets in tune with human values highlighted in Srimad Bhagvad Gita! We need better human values since their absence has ensured that poor people reel under unspeakable issues!! Justice Sakharam also referred to increasing relevance of this scripture by drawing parallel to verses found in Mundaka Upanishad! Dr Devendra Kumar Tiwari while speaking about objectives and mission of “Gita Mission For Cosmic Well-Being” informed that real inspiration came from Swami Harihar Ji Maharaj. He informed us that besides creating awareness about this Holy Text at worldwide level, the Gita Mission was also involved in public welfare schemes like planting saplings!
Sawmi Hari Har Maharaj Ji: Spreading the message of Lord Krishna is the ultimate goal of life! He is known for establishing Geeta Centers across the globe!
I can’t end this write-up without sharing with readers interesting insights shared by Satish Chandra Upadhyay, President, Gita Mission For Cosmic Well-Being. He informed that during one of his conversations with Swami Harihar Ji Maharaj he was surprised to know that Srimad Bhagvad Gita had something to offer about state of mind of judge! That sounds interesting since right now Supreme Court is very seriously involved in improving its collegium system. Srimad Bhagavd Gita states that a person interested in emerging as perfect justice should be owner of detached mind, ferociously concerned with nothing else other than cause of justice. We all know that Srimad Bhagvad Gita has laid great emphasis on equanimity! Gautam Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as “abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will.” That’s what we need in an ideal judge!!
Mr Upadhyay said that Srimad Bhagvad Gita has given birth to psychological theories prevailing in our times. It provided inspiration to great souls like Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo. In fact, one can’t achieve the “supramental consciousness” mentioned by Sri Aurobindo if one has no clue about ideas expressed in Srimad Bhagvad Gita! Mr Upahdyay rightly stated that ultimate meaning of “Adhyatma” or spirituality is to get situated in one’s “Great Self” lying in our inner being. That would make us “Sthitpragya” ( attainment of equanimity when one gets in tune with Higher Self ). Let’s hope all seekers attain this state as early as possible to make journey of life a fruitful affair!
Writer of this post, Advocate Arvind K. Pandey, with Advocate Satish Chandra Upadhyay, President, Gita Mission For Cosmic Well-Being.
Reference:
Pics Credit:
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More pics related with the event:
The event was organized at Mehta Auditorium , Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad.
Justice Rajesh Tandon, Chairman, Human Rights Commission, Uttarakhand, delivering his lecture.
Justice Sakharam addressing the audience.
Dr Devendra Kumar Tiwari with Advocate Satish Chandra Upadhyay, President, Gita Mission For Cosmic Well- Being!
Writer of this post with his long time friend Advocate Shashikant Kushwaha. He is known for spreading Hindi at Allahabad High Court. I must say he is a selfless worker- a genuine follower of Nishkama Karma Yoga. This time too I found his name was missing from the card of the programme even as he was one of the key persons involved with this event. And I noticed that he did not create ruckus about it!!
Words Of Aurobindo Ghosh And Poetry Of Neeraj Besides Sanskrit Verses On India’s Glory!
Sri Aurobindo: His Birth Anniversary Falls On Day When India Got Independence!
The views expressed herein unfold Sri Aurobindo’s methadology to deal with huge challenges India was going to face in post-Independence era. Sri aurobindo conveyed these views between 1910-1922 in Arya- an English monthly published by Sri Aurobindo.
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“How shall we recover our lost intellectual freedom and elasticity? By reversing, for a time at least, the process by which we lost it, by liberating our minds in all subjects from the thraldom to authority. That is not what reformers and the Anglicised require of us. They ask us, indeed, to abandon authority, to revolt against custom and superstition, to have free and enlightened minds. But they mean by these sounding recommendations that we should renounce the authority of Sayana for the authority of Max Muller, the Monism of Shankara for the Monism of Haeckel, the written Shastra for the unwritten law of European social opinion, the dogmatism of Brahmin Pandits for the dogmatism of European scientists, thinkers and scholars. Such a foolish exchange of servitude can receive the assent of no self-respecting mind. Let us break our chains, venerable as they are, but let it be in order to be free, in the name of truth, not in the name of Europe. It would be a poor bargain to exchange our old Indian illuminations, however dark they may have grown to us, for a derivative European enlightenment or replace the superstitions of popular Hinduism by the superstitions of materialistic Science.”
“Our first necessity, if India is to survive and do her appointed work in the world, is that the youth of India should learn to think, to think on all subjects, to think independently, fruitfully, going to the heart of things, not stopped by their surface, free of prejudgments, shearing sophism and prejudice asunder as with a sharp sword, smiting down obscurantism of all kinds as with the mace of Bhima….”
“Let us not, either, select at random, make a nameless hotchpotch and then triumphantly call it the assimilation of East and West. We must begin by accepting nothing on trust from any source whatsoever, by questioning everything and forming our own conclusions. We need not fear that we shall by that process cease to be Indians or fall into the danger of abandoning Hinduism. India can never cease to be India or Hinduism to be Hinduism, if we really think for ourselves. It is only if we allow Europe to think for us that India is in danger of becoming an ill-executed and foolish copy of Europe…. We must … take our stand on that which is true and lasting. But in order to find out what in our conceptions is true and lasting, we must question all alike rigorously and impartially. The necessity of such a process not for India, but for all humanity has been recognised by leading European thinkers. It was what Carlyle meant when he spoke of swallowing all formulas. It was the process by which Goethe helped to reinvigorate European thinking. But … Europe has for some time ceased to produce original thinkers, though it still produces original mechanicians…. China, Japan and the Mussulman states are sliding into a blind European imitativeness. In India alone there is self-contained, dormant, the energy and the invincible spiritual individuality which can yet arise and break her own and the world’s fetters.”
Source: Bharat Vani
He Was The Most Perfect Manifestation Of Absolute!
His Writings Soaked In Divinity Impressed Everybody!
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These beautiful verses in Sanskrit unfold glory of India’s past. They make you aware of great souls who made their presence felt on this great divine land. The verses also let you know about beautiful places, rivers and mountains which make this part of the world a poetry carved on planet earth. I first noticed these verses on page of Sri Vijay Krishna Pandey.
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ॐ नमः सच्चिदानंदरूपाय परमात्मने
ज्योतिर्मयस्वरूपाय विश्वमांगल्यमूर्तये॥१॥
प्रकृतिः पंचभूतानि ग्रहलोकस्वरास्तथा
दिशः कालश्च सर्वेषां सदा कुर्वंतु मंगलम्॥२॥
रत्नाकराधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम्
ब्रह्मराजर्षिरत्नाढ्याम् वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥३॥
महेंद्रो मलयः सह्यो देवतात्मा हिमालयः
ध्येयो रैवतको विन्ध्यो गिरिश्चारावलिस्तथा ॥४॥
गंगा सरस्वती सिंधु ब्रह्मपुत्राश्च गंदकी
कावेरी यमुना रेवा कृष्णा गोदा महानदी ॥५॥
अयोध्या मथुरा माया काशी कांची अवंतिका
वैशाली द्वारका ध्येया पुरी तक्शशिला गया ॥६॥
प्रयागः पाटलीपुत्रं विजयानगरं महत्
इंद्रप्रस्थं सोमनाथस्तथामृतसरः प्रियम्॥७॥
चतुर्वेदाः पुराणानि सर्वोपनिषदस्तथा
रामायणं भारतं च गीता षड्दर्शनानि च ॥८॥
जैनागमास्त्रिपिटकः गुरुग्रन्थः सतां गिरः
एष ज्ञाननिधिः श्रेष्ठः श्रद्धेयो हृदि सर्वदा॥९॥
अरुन्धत्यनसूय च सावित्री जानकी सती
द्रौपदी कन्नगे गार्गी मीरा दुर्गावती तथा ॥१०॥
लक्ष्मी अहल्या चन्नम्मा रुद्रमाम्बा सुविक्रमा
निवेदिता सारदा च प्रणम्य मातृ देवताः ॥११॥
श्री रामो भरतः कृष्णो भीष्मो धर्मस्तथार्जुनः
मार्कंडेयो हरिश्चन्द्र प्रह्लादो नारदो ध्रुवः ॥१२॥
हनुमान् जनको व्यासो वसिष्ठश्च शुको बलिः
दधीचि विश्वकर्माणौ पृथु वाल्मीकि भार्गवः ॥१३॥
भगीरथश्चैकलव्यो मनुर्धन्वन्तरिस्तथा
शिबिश्च रन्तिदेवश्च पुराणोद्गीतकीर्तयः ॥१४॥
बुद्ध जिनेन्द्र गोरक्शः पाणिनिश्च पतंजलिः
शंकरो मध्व निंबार्कौ श्री रामानुज वल्लभौ ॥१५॥
झूलेलालोथ चैतन्यः तिरुवल्लुवरस्तथा
नायन्मारालवाराश्च कंबश्च बसवेश्वरः ॥१६॥
देवलो रविदासश्च कबीरो गुरु नानकः
नरसी तुलसीदासो दशमेषो दृढव्रतः ॥१७॥
श्रीमच्छङ्करदेवश्च बंधू सायन माधवौ
ज्ञानेश्वरस्तुकाराम रामदासः पुरन्दरः ॥१८॥
बिरसा सहजानन्दो रमानन्दस्तथा महान्
वितरन्तु सदैवैते दैवीं षड्गुणसंपदम् ॥१९॥
रविवर्मा भातखंडे भाग्यचन्द्रः स भोपतिः
कलावंतश्च विख्याताः स्मरणीया निरंतरम् ॥२०॥
भरतर्षिः कालिदासः श्रीभोजो जनकस्तथा
सूरदासस्त्यागराजो रसखानश्च सत्कविः ॥२१॥
अगस्त्यः कंबु कौन्डिण्यौ राजेन्द्रश्चोल वंशजः
अशोकः पुश्य मित्रश्च खारवेलः सुनीतिमान् ॥२२॥
चाणक्य चन्द्रगुप्तौ च विक्रमः शालिवाहनः
समुद्रगुप्तः श्रीहर्षः शैलेंद्रो बप्परावलः ॥२३॥
लाचिद्भास्कर वर्मा च यशोधर्मा च हूणजित्
श्रीकृष्णदेवरायश्च ललितादित्य उद्बलः ॥२४॥
मुसुनूरिनायकौ तौ प्रतापः शिव भूपतिः
रणजितसिंह इत्येते वीरा विख्यात विक्रमाः ॥२५॥
वैज्ञानिकाश्च कपिलः कणादः शुश्रुतस्तथा
चरको भास्कराचार्यो वराहमिहिर सुधीः ॥२६॥
नागार्जुन भरद्वाज आर्यभट्टो वसुर्बुधः
ध्येयो वेंकट रामश्च विज्ञा रामानुजायः ॥२७॥
रामकृष्णो दयानंदो रवींद्रो राममोहनः
रामतीर्थोऽरविंदश्च विवेकानंद उद्यशः ॥२८॥
दादाभाई गोपबंधुः टिळको गांधी रादृताः
रमणो मालवीयश्च श्री सुब्रमण्य भारती ॥२९॥
सुभाषः प्रणवानंदः क्रांतिवीरो विनायकः
ठक्करो भीमरावश्च फुले नारायणो गुरुः ॥३०॥
संघशक्ति प्रणेतारौ केशवो माधवस्तथा
स्मरणीय सदैवैते नवचैतन्यदायकाः ॥३१॥
अनुक्ता ये भक्ताः प्रभुचरण संसक्तहृदयाः
अविज्ञाता वीरा अधिसमरमुद्ध्वस्तरि पवः
समाजोद्धर्तारः सुहितकर विज्ञान निपुणाः
नमस्तेभ्यो भूयात्सकल सुजनेभ्यः प्रतिदिनम् ॥ ३२॥
इदमेकात्मता स्तोत्रं श्रद्धया यः सदा पठेत्
स राष्ट्रधर्म निष्ठावानखंडं भारतं स्मरेत् ॥३३॥
जयति पुण्य सनातन संस्कृति…जयति पुण्य भूमि भारत…
सदा सुमंगल…वंदेमातरम…..
जय श्री राम
Source: Vijay Krishna Pandey
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These verses in Hindi written by famous poet Neearj unfold the charishma of feeling called love!
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जब तक आँसू साथ रहेंगे,
मुझको याद किया जायेगा;
जहाँ प्रेम की चर्चा होगी,
मेरा नाम लिया जायेगा ।
जब भी कोई सपना टूटा,
मेरी आँख वहाँ बरसी है;
तड़पा हूँ मैं जब भी कोई,
मछ्ली पानी को तरसी है ।
गीत दर्द का पहला बेटा,
दुःख है उसका खेल खिलौना
कविता तब मीरा होगी,
जब हँस कर ज़हर पिया जायेगा ।
जहाँ प्रेम की चर्चा होगी,
मेरा नाम लिया जायेगा ।
-By Neeraj
Neeraj: The Poet Who Talks About Love In Impressive Way!
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