Bhagawan is in Every Line of the Gita

Dr Vaidyanathan just now quoted Sri Ramakrishna as saying that the best summary of the teachings of the Gita can be got by repeating it quick, as Gitagitagita… and arriving at the expression Tyagi. But, 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, or not mainly tyaga, but all aspects of Dharma, both secular and spiritual.

The Gita was occasioned because Arjuna was overcome by illusory attachment or Vyamoha, and his illusion had to be destroyed. After the Gita was fully spoken, Arjuna declared that his Vyamoha had disappeared, and so, he decided to do his 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, but the fact is, 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; Ajnana or Ignorance is the blind monarch Dhritarashtra; he has a hundred progeny, viz., all the evil propensities of man that proliferate from Ajnana; Sujnana or Right Knowledge is Pandumaharaja, and he has five sons, Dharma, Sathya, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa. All these children, remember, 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.’ Sujnana or Right Understanding is also present there, as Sanjaya and he can see and hear the Lord, the unknown motive force of all that the body does, feels and acts, the Charioteer! The Mahabharata war is being waged continuously in everyone, and so everyone 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 in the centre of the ocean; learning it by heart or repeating it scores of times or acquiring mastery in interpreting it or expounding it are of no value.

In Bhojaraja’s court, a Pandit was once explaining the inner meaning of the Gita, with a great deal of skilful 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 towards Arjuna, all the 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 not Arjuna realise this and come more to the front?

That peasant has dived deep. He has secured the priceless pearl of Prema. It was this Prema that Krishna taught to Arjuna. It was for instilling this Prema that the Lord vouchsafed the Virat Swarupa (Cosmic Form) to Arjuna. Arjuna knew that there is nothing beside or beyond the Lord.

Arjuna’s delusion was destroyed the moment he realised that God exist 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 element, savouring of samsara. 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, the ‘breadth’, by which alone it can be perceived.

Prema (Love), Bhakti (Devotion), all are based on Faith. The Gita instils this Faith by various means – Jnanayoga, Vibhutiyoga, Dhyanayoga, Rajayoga, etc. It teaches the essence of all Dharma and exhorts man to engage himself in Karma of an elevating and cleansing character. It tells us that Krishna is the reality within each and prescribes constant exercise in prayerful action, to cognise 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, selfishness that gather and disperse, but can never sully the effulgence of the Atman.

God is Love, Prema. Just as we see the cool moon only with the help of the cool rays of the moon itself, so too God can be realised only through the Prema, which meditation on Him alone can develop.

With this in view, read the Gita everyday not at a scheduled rate of so many slokas per day, as a vratha or as some call it a yajna (a word which is not quite appropriate, since it brings to mind fire, sacrificial oblation etc.) but carefully, contemplating on the meaning of the slokas read, taking if need be ten days, if you must, to have it soaked it in your consciousness. In Telugu, the word Gita means ‘a line’, and in this Bhagavad-Gita, the Bhagavan is in every line. In fact, as I mentioned already, He is the imminent sustaining force, He is the ‘breadth’ of every line, by which alone it is cognised, by whose presence alone anything can exist.

Remember the ancient prayer: Asato ma sadgamaya,Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, Mrityor ma amrutam gamaya (Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality). The Gita helps you to achieve all three goals. Have faith in this and study it, in order 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 that represents the essence of the Gita, meditate on this:

Manmana bhava  madbhaktho madyaji mam namaskuru
Mamevaishyasi sathyam the prathijane priyosi me. (Ch 18, Sl 65)

(Always think of Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, and offer obeisance to Me. 
Doing so, you will certainly come to Me. This is My pledge to you, for you are very dear to Me.)

You have heard that those who read the Ramayana keep an empty seat near by, for Hanuman who invariably comes to hear it read. Now, let me tell you this. From this day I advice you to read the Gita with a seat kept by for Sri Krishna. Read the Gita during the early hours of the day, the Brahmamuhratha, meditate on the Divine form of Krishna and allow the meaning to saturate into the consciousness. Do thus and I assure you, you will, within 300 days feel the presence of Krishna on that pitha. For, the Lord’s name is His rupa itself. It has the mystic power. If during the meditation and the reading and the dhyana, 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 Sankalpa, the Grace of the Lord.

(A short report of a discourse by Bhagawan at Shanti Kutir, Royapuram, Madras, on March 26, 1958. From Sanathana Sarathi, April 1958 issue)