The Bhagavad Gita

It is good to start the thread on Gita. I read a few pages of Gita and Ramcharitmanas as a daily routine in the morning. I call it daily puja. Chapter 3 is the best guidance for us humans.

In 2017 I posted this snippet:-


MY INTRODUCTION TO GEETA
I belong to a religious-minded family as my parents believed in God and Goddesses. Every year ‘Durga’ (Goddess of Power) was worshipped on Asthami, the 8th day of navaratras, during October-November. They were not ritualistic but as tradition would have it almost all festivals were celebrated with sincerity. There were no regular visits to temples or daily recitation of Ramayana or Geeta. Being raised in such an environment, we naturally did all these rituals as grownups.

My official trip to Tamilnadu (then Madras) became a turning point in my life if I may say so. I was sent to Trichy to attend to some official work with BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited). If I remember correctly I reached Madras (now Chennai) by GT Express from Delhi. Next, I took the train to Trichy and stayed there for two days and took a train back to Madras in the afternoon. We were allowed to travel in Second Class (called Intermediate- as it was between Third class and First Class). The Seating arrangement was like two long benches facing each other as far as I can remember now.

Two other gentlemen were sitting on the opposite bench. One of them was a white person maybe from the USA or the UK and the other seemed to be a South Indian. They were talking in English. We had those customary hi hellos and then I started leafing through the pulp fiction I had purchased from the Wheelers book stall on the platform. I think it was by Parry Masson. I was in no hurry to read this and so tried to keep myself busy watching those paddy fields. I then overheard the white reciting some verses in chaste Sanskrit. My curiosity got wings and I tuned my ears to what they were discussing, still keeping my face towards the paddy fields. Quite obviously they were talking about the message of Geeta. I had heard about this book but never had the opportunity to own it and worse to read it.

I had Sanskrit as a third language in my High School but my knowledge of the language was just enough to pass the exams. then. I was pleasantly surprised by the way both of them were reciting the Sanskrit verses, interpreting them and exchanging notes.

I felt so small. Born in a Brahmin family belonging to the lands of the Himalayas also called ‘Tapo Bhumi’, a land of saints and sages, I had no knowledge of God’s language and worse still no idea about our scriptures. And here was a foreigner, a white Christian (most probably), who was reciting the Sanskrit verses as if it were his mother tongue. Here was a foreigner interpreting Geeta as if he were a devoted Hindu scholar.

The first thing that I did after reaching Delhi was to buy two copies of Geeta one with Hindi and the other with English translation. I finished the Hindi version in one night and the English version the second night but could not make any head and tail of it. I persisted with my efforts, attended a few talks on the subject, and read more interpretations. Even after some 40 years of effort, I cannot claim I have understood even one per cent of it. Today I have Ramcharitmanas, Valmiki Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Bhagwat and many other such scriptures. A few pages from Geeta and Manas form part of my daily worshipping ritual.

Thank you, Mr. White, if I may call you by that name!!!!!

 

. Lucid. Thanks.
2. I enjoyed FB here by my brother @HariLakhera .
3. It is said that understanding meaning of the same or particular stanza in BG varies with age of the reader. As a boy when I recited in chorus with the others, for me it had no big meaning. But ages 40, 50 & beyond I understood it differently.
4. I remember my boss in 1970s before commencing his task, would pull the huge-table drawer on his right and take out a hand book of BG & Study a couple of stanzas .