“As long as I read the Bhagavad-gita, I simply see the Lord’s beautiful features. It is for this reason that I am reading the Bhagavad-gita, and my mind cannot be distracted from this.” (Brahmana speaking to Lord Chaitanya, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 9.101)

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यावत् पडोङ्, तावत् पाङ ताङ्र दरशन
एइ लागि’ गीता-पाठ ना छाडे मोर मन

yāvat paḍoṅ, tāvat pāṅa tāṅra daraśana
ei lāgi’ gītā-pāṭha nā chāḍe mora mana

1. In two words

“Really? You will sum up everything in only two words? That is cute. I will give you credit for trying to appeal to the lazy, to the dumb, to the disinterested, to the distracted, and the like. They might decide to take a seat at the table of discussion, to hear what you have to say.

“Something tells me that you might need more than two words. You can try nirguna and saguna. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is both without distinguishing qualities and also with transcendental glories. He is simultaneously personal and impersonal. Since one is a negation of the other, the anchor, if you will, is the personal side.”

2. In fifteen minutes

“What is the rush? Why will you only speak for fifteen minutes? This is supposed to be life-changing information. It is Krishna speaking to Arjuna. The precise moment immediately preceded a grand military conflict. It had taken years for the Pandavas to reach that point. There was an excruciating level of suffering. The punishments they had to tolerate were too much.

“And now you want to reduce that sacred conversation to so little a frame of time? What purpose will that serve? What better work do you have to get to? To what superior destination are you so eager to reach? Is not constant remembrance of Krishna as the chariot driver to Arjuna the best kind of meditation?”

3. For beginners

“Is not the translation and commentary provided by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada sufficient? What level below the average person can you reach? Who exactly are these beginners you are trying to appeal to?

“Don’t get me wrong. I applaud the effort. We should try to teach bhagavata-dharma. We should spread the teachings of Krishna far and wide, but I am puzzled as to the need to specifically name someone in the beginning stages. I have read the work several times and I still would not consider myself to be an expert. The relevancy, the value, the appeal, the appropriateness to the situations faced – these are all as infinite as the one who displayed the cosmic manifestation to Arjuna, after being requested to do so.”

मन्यसे यदि तच् छक्यं
मया द्रष्टुम् इति प्रभो
योगेश्वर ततो मे त्वं
दर्शयात्मानम् अव्ययम्

manyase yadi tac chakyaṁ
mayā draṣṭum iti prabho
yogeśvara tato me tvaṁ
darśayātmānam avyayam

“If You think that I am able to behold Your cosmic form, O my Lord, O master of all mystic power, then kindly show me that universal self.” (Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.4)

4. For leadership

“Okay, Krishna is the greatest leader. He is the adi-guru, after all. Everything He does is a kind of instruction. Not that we have to necessarily imitate. We could never marry over sixteen thousand queens, for instance. But if there is any person to learn from, it is the son of Devaki.

यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः
स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते

yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas
tat tad evetaro janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute
lokas tad anuvartate

“Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.21)

“At the same time, why are you advertising Bhagavad-gita as something it is not intended to be? No honest person would ever call it a treatise on leadership. Perhaps leadership is one of the lessons to derive, but you cannot get stuck on that point. It should not be a gimmick, either, because the people in attendance, the target audience, will eventually realize that you have deceived them.”

5. For any other purpose

“I don’t want to read Bhagavad-gita to learn how to focus, how to meditate, how to tolerate difficulties, how to reach peace, how to find happiness, or how to deal with enemies. I am not after satisfying any purpose of temporary significance. Such appeals do not resonate with me. I think it is a kind of cheating, if you ask me. You are taking something so valuable and reducing it to nothing, all to serve your own objectives.

यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः
वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः
कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम्
क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्वर्यगतिं प्रति

yām imāṁ puṣpitāṁ vācaṁ
pravadanty avipaścitaḥ
veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha
nānyad astīti vādinaḥ

kāmātmānaḥ svarga-parā
janma-karma-phala-pradām
kriyā-viśeṣa-bahulāṁ
bhogaiśvarya-gatiṁ prati

“Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.42-43)

“It is like the explanation from Krishna describing the flowery language of the Vedas. I am not going to be fooled into following that direction. My objective is one. I aim to have the same understanding of Bhagavad-gita as the brahmana who was blessed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Though practically illiterate, that great soul always remembered the inconceivable mercy of Krishna upon Arjuna. That was how he understood Bhagavad-gita, and Lord Chaitanya confirmed that such an understanding was correct.”

In Closing:

Perhaps suitable to you,
That only in words two.

That entire treatise explaining,
For some tactical edge gaining.

But a different route for me,
As my entire life to be.

Bhagavad-gita viewpoint my own,
That as most merciful Krishna is known.

Categories: discussing bhagavad gita, the five

Tags: bhagavad-gita, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, vedas