The Bhagavad Gita perhaps has answers for most of the problems we face today
We celebrated Janmashtami, the day lord Krishna descended on the earth, a little less than two weeks ago. Given that all is not well in the country today, we need him and his ideals more than ever before. The Bhagavad Gita perhaps has answers for most of the problems of the day. The modern-day life is like the Kurukshetra war. And the youth is waiting for the lord to fulfill that promise as given in verse seven of the Gita. He says, “Whenever there is decay of righteousness and rise of unrighteousness, I manifest myself to protect the good and destroy the wicked, and establish a righteous order in every age.”
So we are waiting for Krishna to descend, again. But the lord’s message has to be understood in a broader perspective. Krishna is within us and that is why he says: “That thou art.” That means you and the lord are one and the same. Thus, Krishna in the Mahabharata war acts as a charioteer, a friend, a philosopher and a guide. He does not fight the battle. He only guides Arjun. Yes, he does motivate Arjun to fight but that is all. One needs to realise that one has to fight his/her own battle. But, one must dedicate it to the God. Without God’s wish nothing can be achieved. Krishna has quite categorically stated in the Gita, while explaining the philosophy of karma yoga to Arjun, that one has the right to action and not result. Therefore, the result should never be the motive of an action. This, however, is not to suggest that an action will not bear the right result. After all, the lord categorically guarantees in the Gita: “Yogakshemam vahamyaham” (I will take care of my devotees).
The confusion in today’s generation is due to the fact that the yogeshwara in them is made to remain dormant, neglected and uninvoked. The material has taken over the spiritual. The Gita suggests a judicious blending of the sacred and the secular. Arjun, like today’s man, represents “the confused, limited, ordinary mortal having all his innumerable weaknesses, agitations and fears”. When Arjun throws down his bow and reclines to impotent idleness, there is no hope for success or prosperity. We need to understand this.
Krishna in the Gita stands for the marriage of the secular and the sacred. When a community or a nation gets its masses awakened, and when that generation is conscious of and has firm belief in the spiritual purity of head and heart, it achieves prosperity, success and tranquility of mind. The Gita inculcates the virtue of perseverance in the face of lurking failures. It makes us realise that we have a right to action alone, and that success and failure are two sides of the same coin. It tells us to dedicate ourselves to duty, and duty per se.
The writer is professor, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad
(Jharkhand). He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com