Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

Yoga and Gita Pratiyogita GiTA STUDY BOOK HINDU SWAYAMSEVAK SANGH

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ...... 2 Introduction to the Bhagavad-Geeta ...... 3 Karma Yog ...... 6 Shri Eknath Ji Ranade...... 9 Guruji Golwalkar ...... 11 Lakshmi Bai Kelkar ...... 14 Dnyan Yog ...... 16 Shri Sant Dnyaneshwar ...... 17 Adi Shankara Acharya ...... 19 Swami Vivekananda ...... 22 Bhakti Yog ...... 26 Guru Nanak Dev Ji ...... 27 Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa ...... 30 Bhakta Prahalad ...... 33 Twelfth Chapter ...... 37 The text ...... 39

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PREFACE

Dear Parents and Children,

This study book is specially prepared for the participants of the Yoga and Geeta Pratiyogita (competition) being held in Tri- State area (MD, DC and VA). Most of the contents of this book are taken from various sources. If you see any discrepancy or incorrect information, let us know and we will take appropriate action.

Although the contents of this book are children friendly, further explanation might be required. Therefore, we encourage you to attend our weekly Balagokulam where it will be further explained and Bhagavad Geeta twelfth chapter recitation will be taught. If you live in remote areas where no Balagokulam activities are being conducted as of now, we may hold special classes in your area provided there is enough participation from those areas.

Happy reading and good luck to the participants!!

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INTRODUCTION TO THE BHAGAVAD-GEETA Bhagavad Geeta is a holy book that teaches us how to live happily in the world. It is an ancient book of Hindu Dharma (also known as Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism). It can be understood and followed by people of any faith.

The Bhagavad-Geeta is a Sanskrit Poem, written in India some 2000 years ago, that has eighteen (18) chapters and a total of only 700 verses. Anyone can be helped by daily practice of only a few of its teachings.

The word ‘Bhagavad’ means God or The Supreme Lord, Bhagavan in Sanskrit. ‘Geeta’ means song. Thus, the Bhagavad-Geeta means the Song of God or the Sacred Song because it was sung by Bhagavan Shri Krishna himself.

A little background…

In ancient times there was a king who had two sons, DhrutaRashtra and Pandu. The former was born blind; therefore, Pandu inherited the kingdom. Pandu had five sons. They were called the Pandavas. DhrutaRashtra had one hundred sons. They were called the Kauravas. Duryodhana was the eldest of the Kauravas.

After the death of king Pandu, his eldest son, Yudhishthira, became the lawful King. Duryodhana was very jealous. He also wanted the kingdom. The kingdom was divided into two halves between the

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Pandavas and the Kauravas. Duryodhana was not satisfied with his share. He wanted the entire kingdom for himself. He tried several evil plots to kill the Pandavas and take away their kingdom. Somehow, he took over the entire kingdom of the Pandavas and refused to give it back without a war. All peace talks by Lord Krishna and others failed, so the big war of Mahabharata could not be avoided.

The Pandavas didn’t want to fight, but they had only two choices: fight for their right because it was their duty or run away from war and accept defeat for the sake of peace and nonviolence. Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers, faced this choice in the battlefield.

He had to choose between fighting the war and killing his most revered guru, who was on the other side; his very dear friends, close relatives, and many innocent warriors; or running away from the battlefield to be peaceful and nonviolent.

The entire eighteen chapters of the Geeta are the talk between confused Arjuna and his best friend, mentor and cousin, Lord Krishna - an incarnation of God - on the battlefield of Kurukshetra near New Delhi, India, about 5,100 years ago. This conversation was reported to the blind king, DhrutaRashtra, by his charioteer, Sanjay. It is recorded in the great epic, Mahabharata.

All lives, human or nonhuman, are sacred, and nonviolence or Ahimsa is one of the most basic principles of Hinduism. So, when Lord Krishna advises

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Arjuna to get up and fight, this may confuse you about the principle of Ahimsa if you don’t keep in mind the background of the war of Mahabharata.

This spiritual talk between the Supreme Lord, Krishna, and His devotee-friend, Arjuna, occurs not in a temple, a lonely forest, or on a mountain top, but on a battlefield on the eve of a war. Geeta and Yog

As mentioned earlier, Bhagvad-Geeta has 18 chapters. Each chapter is called a Yog. Yog is the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the Ultimate Consciousness (GOD). In other words, Yog means connecting or uniting yourself to supreme reality (GOD). So each chapter is a highly specialized yog revealing the path of attaining realization of the supreme reality.

Though each chapter of Bhagvad-Geeta is a Yog in itself, all those chapters are mainly categorized in three paths of Yog – Karma Yog, Dnyan Yog and Bhakti Yog. First six chapters are classified as Karma Yog. Middle six chapters are classified as Dnyan Yog whereas last six chapters are classified as Bhakti Yog. Next pages describe these three paths of Yog in detail…

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KARMA YOG Karma yog is one of the three paths that are described in the Geeta. Karma yog is broadly described from the chapters thirteen to eighteen in the Bhagvad Geeta. It means the selfless action/service performed with right attitude. It is the action that purifies one’s mind. It is the path to feel an existence of GOD (achieve enlightenment) through work. It is the action that is performed without expecting any material gain.

Chapter 2, Verse 47 of the Geeta says -

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते र्ाफलेषु कदाचन ।

र्ा कर्मफलहेतुर्भमर्ाम ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मधि॥

KaRMaNyeVaDhiAaRaSTe Ma PhaLeSHu KaDaCHaNa

Ma KaRMaPHaLaHeTurBHuRMa Te SaNGoSTVaKaRMaNi

Meaning: You have the rights to perform the action, but you are not entitled to it fruits (benefits). In other

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words, perform your action without expecting any fruits/gain.

Those who follow the path of Karma yog are called as Karma yogi. There cannot be any action without motive or purpose. However, the purpose can be higher. Karma yogi always acts with a higher purpose. They act for the betterment of the society. In every stage (childhood, adulthood, retirement) of the life, we do different kinds of actions/things as a part of our routine. As long as one performs them selflessly, he/she can be called Karma yogi. That means, even you, the children can also be Karma yogi.

How can you be a Karma yogi?

Here are a few of things that you can do to follow the path of karma yog. These little things will help you prepare to do something bigger. a Make sure your actions do NOT hurt anybody. Be a people’s person. b After you finish your homework, help others finish their homework. c Do not develop bitterness against anybody and have respect for everyone even though you are not agreeing with them. Ask yourself a question – Have I done anything today that benefits others? After your daily chores including studies, do voluntary work (Seva) that will benefit others. d. Pray GOD and do sadhana (meditation) for few minutes to calm yourself.

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e. Chant at least one shloka from Geeta and understand its meaning. f. Exercise regularly because healthy mind resides only in healthy body and healthy mind helps to become a karma yogi. g. Think – What did I do today that qualifies for Karma yog?

Here are the three examples of the famous personalities who followed the path of Karma yog and became Karma yogi. Their story may inspire you to become like them.

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Shri Eknath Ji Ranade

Do you know, what is the southernmost tip of the main land of India? It is the town of Kanyakumari (read it as KaNYaaKuMaaRi).

Do you know, what is the most famous landmark in the town of Kanyakumari? It is the Swami Vivekananda Memorial (famously known as Vivekananda Rock). It is standing on a small island like statue of liberty in New York and considered as a fine example of Indian architecture.

Do you know who built the Vivekananda memorial? It was Shri (Mr.) Eknath ji Ranade. His story is enthralling. Eknath ji Ranade was born on November 19th, 1914. He was greatly influenced by Swami

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Vivekananda’s teachings, who himself followed a path of Karma yog. He was motivated by two spirits/principles – Nationalism and Spiritualism. He was termed as – One life, one mission. That means he dedicated his entire life and worked tirelessly just for one cause/mission – instill nationalism and spiritualism amongst Indian people. It is not easy to put your entire life just for one mission. It requires lot of commitment, patience and most important confidence which he had.

He conceived the idea of building a Swami Vivekananda memorial in the mid-sea rock because Swami Vivekananda himself was a perfect example of these two spirits.

Eknath ji Ranade was a Karma yogi because….

1) India had just gotten a freedom from British, but the spirit of nationalism was still missing. He dedicated his entire life to instill pride, nationalism and spiritualism amongst Indian people. His work left everlasting positive impact on masses.

2) In the beginning, several community leaders and locals opposed the idea of building Swami Vivekananda memorial. Eknath ji won their hearts and convinced all of them and memorial was built unopposed.

3) He motivated several others to participate in building a memorial.

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4) He served people throughout his life. In addition to building the memorial, he also established an organization – Vivekananda Kendra – for the service of poor and needy.

5) He literally expected nothing while working towards his mission.

Guruji Golwalkar

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A young man, just graduated from college, was surrounded by various questions about his future and career.

“What is the goal of my life?” “Should I do a job and get married just like everyone does, or should I do something different?” Since early years, he was leaned towards spirituality. So, he decided to remain spiritual, give up material life and work for the society. Who was that man? His name was Madhav, alias Guruji, Golwalkar.

Madhav was born on February 19th, 1906. In the beginning of his life, he taught in the University for three years before pursuing for higher purpose. That is why people fondly called him “Guruji” (a teacher). He really wanted to live monastic life (stay away from the society and devout entire time in worshipping God). However, he was convinced his obligation to the society and that one of the ways of worshipping God is the service of the people. He then spent his entire life in the service of the people.

He meticulously propagated the intrinsic Vedic philosophical idea of – Nar Seva, Narayan Seva – (meaning service to the human being is service to the God).

Guruji led the voluntary organization, RSS, for three decades. He made RSS the biggest social, cultural, non- political voluntary organization in the world. RSS itself is termed as selfless-service. Under his guidance, RSS

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took countless initiatives for the social and economic upliftment of the people. There were several critics who did not like RSS. RSS was banned for wrong reasons and Guruji had to go through lot of pain and challenges. However, he never developed any bitterness about anybody. On the contrary, he always had good relationship with everyone. He read tons of books. His reading habit and academic excellence shaped his personality. He was indeed a Nishkaam (desire less) Karma yogi.

Guruji Golwalkar was Karma yogi because…

1. He lived simple life and expected nothing for himself throughout his life. 2. Through RSS, he worked hard for the betterment of people without desiring any benefits (name and fame). 3. He had good relationship with everyone including his critics. 4. He travelled throughout India twice a year for 30 years. Imagine, how much time he must have put for the good cause. 5. He inspired hundreds of individuals to live simple life and work for the society.

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Lakshmi Bai Kelkar

Laxmi Bai Kelkar known popularly as Mausiji was born on 6th July 1905 in Nagpur. She was named 'Kamal' i.e. lotus flower. As a child Kamal was adored by everyone. She loved going to the temples with her auntie popularly known as `Dai'. The bhajans, stories, and the Hindu rituals to which Kamal was exposed at the temples, left an indelible impression on her mind and heart.

Her parents lit the spark of patriotism in her from a young age. Kamal got married to Shri Purushottam Kelkar a well-known advocate, and after her marriage, changed her name to Laxmibai Kelkar as she’s popularly known today as founder of Rashtra Sevika Samiti. Though she was widowed at the tender age of 28, Lakshmi pushed her grief aside and took the management of the family affairs in her own hands. She

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was introduced to Sangh through her sons, who attended RSS shakhas.

She noticed a very remarkable change in her sons, who were more disciplined, patriotic and obedient. In a meeting with Doctorji (Dr. Keshav Hedgewar, founder of RSS), she expressed the importance of organizing the Hindu women on a cultural and national basis.

Doctorji fully agreed and asked her to take responsibility of this great task. With the guidance and support from Param Poojya Dr. Hedgewar, Sar Sanghachalak of R.S.S, Lakshmi Bai Kelkar started Rashtra Sevika Samiti, the largest and the only Hindu women organization.

She then thought "It is essential to create in the heart of every woman, the pride of ancient glorious Hindu culture. “ According to Mausiji, the primary duty of a woman is not only to serve her family, but to serve her society as well. She passed away on November 27, 1978. Her life remains a constant source of inspiration to thousands of women. Lakshmi Bai - an affectionate and warm person became guide and a role model for the Sevikas. All the Sevikas began called her `Mausiji' who was like a mother to them.

She became the most revered figure, due to her selfless service and devotion. Thus, Lakshmi Bai was popularly and respectfully addressed as Vandaneeya Mausiji.

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DNYAN YOG Dnyan Yog is another path described in the Geeta to unite with GOD. It is the path of wisdom or knowledge. “Dnyan” in Sanskrit literally means a “knowledge”. The followers of this path gain knowledge by reading scriptures. They pursue knowledge with questions such as “Who am I? What am I?” They will go all the way to the bottom to understand things. Through knowledge, they try to achieve GOD. Most of the followers usually have a teacher (Guru) to guide them.

Followers of Dnyan yog spend their time to learn, learn and learn different things including academic, intellectual and spiritual. They also help and teach other followers.

Those who follow the path of Dnyan yog are called as Dnyan Yogi. Young age (fresh mind) is the perfect age to gain knowledge.

That means, you have great chances to follow this path and be a Dnyan Yogi. One quick thing you can do is – keep up your grades, achieve academic excellence and be in your teacher’s good books. If that happens, then you are already on this path.

Read the stories of following three intellectuals – Sant Dnyaneshwar, Adi Shankara Acharya and Swami Vivekananda - which may give you further idea of how you can be a Dnyan Yogi. These three intellectuals are some of the finest examples of Dnyan yogi.

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Shri Sant Dnyaneshwar

Dnyaneshwar was born in the small town of Apegaon near Paithan in Maharashtra. Though he lived for only 21 years he had an impact on millions and millions of people. At the age of 16 he wrote the DnyaNeshwari, a commentary of the Bhagwad Geeta, in Marathi. This was very special and important because up until this time all spiritual texts were written in Sanskrit and therefore only a special class people could read them. DnyaNeshwari, is the critical appreciation of Shrimad Bhagvad Geeta, a commentary, narration with explanation on the core concepts of the Geeta, as told by Shri Krishna to Arjuna. It is a detailed explanation that was originally written in Prakrut – a popular

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language of the masses was authored by Dnyaneshwar. The content of Dnyaneshwari reflects a detailed knowledge of kundalini, metaphysics and astrology. The commentary lays importance on God as energy. It emphasizes that although there may be many different living forms, they all breathe oxygen and have the same life force within them, which is a part of God, who is energy and intelligence.

It states that people can use energy and intelligence to connect with the supreme and provides methodologies to achieve the same. He brought this knowledge to the common person. He wrote many songs known as abhangas such as the Haripatha. Abhangas are devotional songs in Marathi meaning “that which contains the indestructible essence.”

He supported his teachings with dnyan and karma yog in everyday life. His teachings transformed the society. His whole life was dedicated to the upliftment of society and he had complete devotion to God/Higher energy. He strongly advocated dnyan yukta bhakti, devotion guided by knowledge, and believed that one cannot be liberated unless one attains the true and divine knowledge of Brahman.

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Adi Shankara Acharya

Adi Shankaracharya was Indian philosopher and thinker. He consolidated and brought forward the doctrine of the “advaita” meaning that God lives in every living being. He was the one, who unified the Hindus convincing the community, that God exists everywhere is one.

Shankara was born at Kaladi in Kerala. His parents were Shiva guru and mother Aryambalwere Nambudiri who led a holy life performing Vedic rituals.

As a child Shankara showed prodigious intelligence and ability to master different subjects, but his real interest was in Advaita. Advaita is a philosophy that teaches that the GOD lives within all living beings. All living beings have the same soul which is a part of the GOD.

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Advaita is oneness of living beings with the Almighty GOD or ISHWAR.

He learned the four Vedas and six Shastras from his Guru very quickly. He learned Yoga philosophy, Samkhya philosophy of Kapila Rishi. However, his real interest was the oneness doctrine of the Upanishads, the philosophy of the Advaita.

At a very early age, Shankara left home in search of GOD. He wanted to travel entire Indian Sub-continent, named as Bharat Varsha. He had a big task to convince his mother that he would be safe in his journey. Comforting his mother, Shankaracharya renounced his home.

Travelling a long distance Shankara came to a gentleman, Govinda Bhagwatpada. He was a great devotee of lord Vishnu and was expecting Shankara to come to him to be his disciple. Not knowing who has come at the doorsteps, Govinda Bhagwatpada who was living a Sanyasi life in a cave, asked him to introduce Shankara, and asked “Who are you?” Shankara replied, "I am neither the earth, nor the water, neither the fire, nor the air, neither the sky, nor the properties of the five elements. I am neither the senses, nor the mind. I am Shiva, the division less, the one soul that cannot be ever divided essence of Chit (चित)् Consciousness". This exactly means the belief we all Hindus have faith in is, our soul is undivided with the Universal God ISHWAR.

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Govinda Bhagwatpada was highly pleased with the depth of Shankara since this is the core of the “Oneness with GOD” philosophy. This incident occurred while Shankara was just 8 years old. Govinda Bhagwatpada accepted him as his disciple. Thereafter Govinda Bhagwatpada taught the Vedanta Sutras of Vyasa to Shankara. Shankara travelled all the East, west North south parts of India, preaching Hinduism. He attained the acharya designation, which is term used for the holy Guru. He was a true Dnyan Yogi, understood the principles of Bhagvad Geeta, and dusted off the Bhagvad Geeta, popularized it amongst the masses, preached it as a way of living life to all the masses.

He was the one, who extracted the Bhagvad Geeta from Geetopanishad from the Bhisma Parva in Mahabharata. He sorted out all the difference of opinions between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu worshippers and united the society teaching the true values of Vedas and Upanishads. Thus, completing his mission in this world at the age of 32, Shankaracharya who was considered as an incarnation of Lord Shiva, went to Kedarnath - the holy place of Lord Shiva and disappeared.

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Swami Vivekananda

There was a Conference of Religions in Chicago on 11th September 1893. Thousands of delegates and scholars belonging to different countries and different religions of the world had gathered at the conference. A young Hindu monk from Bharat (India) was also amongst them. Looking at his age, all other delegates were ignoring him assuming that he was immature and inexperienced. He was not even getting a chance to talk. He himself was little shy as it was his first time and tensed as he was not prepared unlike others. At last, this young fellow Hindu monk got a chance to speak. He prayed fervently to his Guru and stood up to speak. Now he was confident and determined!! He began speaking in his pleasing voice: “Brothers and

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Sisters of America,…” And what a wonder! There was a thunderous applause; it lasted for a full three minutes! With his short speech, he not only won the audience but also the newspapers (media) and common American people.

Who was this young fellow? What was his name? His full name was Narendra Vishwanath Datta, profoundly known as Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Vivekananda was born on 12th January 1863 in Calcutta city of Eastern India. He had a thirst for knowledge since childhood. He would read anything that he found in the library which included history, science, western philosophy, arts and all kinds of religious books. He had an amazing memory! He would remember everything by reading once.

As Narendra (Swami Vivekananda’s childhood name) advanced in his studies, he developed several doubts about God’s creation and His very existence!! He was searching for the Truth.

He placed his doubts before eminent scholars and sought their guidance. These scholars excelled in debate. But their logic and philosophy did not convince him. Their line of thinking was stale. Narendra would ask them only one question: “Have you seen God?” And none of them could firmly say that they had seen the God. Once somebody told Narendra that there was a priest in the temple of Goddess Kali, named Shri. Ramakrishna. He was not a scholar. But he was a great

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devotee of Goddess Kali. It was being said of him that he had realized God. Scholars who went to him became his disciples. Once, Narendra also went there with his friends. He carefully listened to Shri Ramakrishna.

After a couple of meetings, Narendra directly asked Shri Ramakrishna, “Have you seen God!?” Shri. Ramakrishna replied, “Of course I have. I have seen him just as I’m looking at you. I have even talked to Him. I can show Him to you. But who has a desire to see God nowadays?” Narendra was surprised.

He wasn’t expecting this answer from him. He eagerly asked, “Well then! Will you show me?” Shri Ramakrishna said, “Why not? Let the right time come. I will show you the God! To meet the God, you will have to give up all your desires and surrender to Him.”

Narendra accepted Shri Ramakrishna as a Guru. He started visiting the temple regularly to meet Shri. Ramakrishna. He learned a lot from his Guru. Narendra served his Guru in all possible ways.

Shri Ramakrishna transferred all his spiritual knowledge and powers to Narendra. Now Narendra became “Swami Vivekananda”. Ramakrishna advised him, “Naren! I have given you everything what I had and become a pauper. Use his knowledge for the good and service of the mankind.”

At this time, Narendra was only 22 years of age. After a sad demise of Shri Ramakrishna, he took care of all his disciples.

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Vivekananda did many great things in his life. In 1888, he left the monastery wandering mostly on foot, without fixed abode and without ties. He relentlessly travelled the length and breadth of Bharat (India) for five years, visiting important centers of learning, acquainting himself with the diverse religious traditions and different patterns of social life. He visited many spiritual places such as Ayodhya, Kashi, Vrindavan, Himalayas.

He also visited the great places of social and historical importance. He saw that the masses submerged in deep poverty, ignorance, illiteracy, and superstition.

He went to United States of America and England to extend the spiritual knowledge of India to the western countries. He also attended the conference of religions in Chicago where he won audience in his maiden speech.

After the relentless efforts for his mission and goal, on 4th of July 1902, Swami Vivekananda breathed his last and attained eternal bliss. Although Vivekananda is no longer in this world, his words live. His teachings and message have continued to inspire millions of people all over the world!

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BHAKTI YOG Bhakti Yog is broadly described as one of the path that is the simplest path of attainment of God. It is the path of devotion and love. One can feel the existence of GOD (achieve enlightenment) by following this path. In other words, it teaches you that GOD can be realized/achieved by means of selfless and absolute devotion, worship, love and trust towards HIM (GOD). There are several examples of individuals, who did not even go to school or did not even know how to read and write, achieved GOD by following this path of devotion.

Even the uneducated people can also achieve GOD by following the path of devotion

Daily invoking God for a minute, chanting few shloka and understand their meaning is a good way to start following this path. Read the stories of following three individuals (devotee) – Guru Nanak Dev ji, Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Bhakta Prahalad - who followed the path of devotion. After reading stories, it will be more clear to you what this path means.

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Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Guru Nanak is the founder of Sikhism, the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born on April 15th, 1469 at Talwandi Punjab (now in Pakistan). His parents lived in the town called Nankana. Lot of Hindus and Muslims lived together in that little town.

From an early age Nanak was very different from other kids as he had a divine charm on his face. He would often slip into deep spiritual trances. Nanak’s father gave him the responsibility of watching the cattle when he was old enough. Nanak loved animals, so he took the job happily. However, he would often fall into his meditative trances. One day when his cattle were grazing in the field, Nanak fell asleep under a tree.

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A man was passing by and suddenly noticed that a cobra was sitting by Nanak. He immediately ran to protect Nanak but he realized that the Cobra was actually trying to protect Nanak from the direct sun rays falling on his face.

The man was convinced that Nanak was no ordinary child and persuaded Nanak’s father to put him in a class where Nanak could receive an education in religious studies. Nanak learned so quickly that his teachers were astounded by the spiritual nature of his work. He was already writing divine compositions.

As Nanak became older, he got married to a girl named Sulakhani and had two sons. Nanak started working in a granary to support his family. Nanak had a Muslim friend named Mardana. Nanak and Mardana would meet every morning at a local river to meditate before going to work. The entire community would be astonished to see men of different faith worshipping together. One morning, Nanak went to meditate by the river and to take a bath in the river. He walked into the river but did not come up. Everyone assumed that he drowned. Three days later, he emerged from the river saying, “Na koe Hindu, na koe Musalmaan.” Everyone in the town realized Nanak was an enlightened being and started calling him “Guru”.

Guru Nanak Ji soon made arrangements for his family and left town with his spiritual companion Mardana. He traveled to different places and taught his message that every human being can reach God through meditation

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and pious practices. He also taught that one should escape the clutches of “Five Thieves” such as lust, rage, greed, attachment and conceit. He believed that “Sat Naam” (Divine name) is the solution to every problem and to reach the destination of “salvation”. His teachings were similar to the teachings of Lord Krishna in Geeta chapter twelve. For example, in verse eight Lord says, “Fix thy mind on Me only, place thy intellect in Me; then you shall, no doubt, live in Me alone.”

Toward the end of his life, Guru Nanak returned to the Punjab region and continued his teachings and worship. Most of the region came to follow his ideas during his lifetime, and began to practice as a community in many different ways. Specifically, the community under Nanak ate together at a community kitchen - called a langar - that was open to all people regardless of caste. The langar, or communal meal, remains a dominant practice in Sikhism today.

Guru Nanak died on 22 September 1539 in Kartarpur, at the age of 70

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Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa

The meaning of “Bhakti” is to adore God with body, mind and words. ‘With body’ means to serve and worship God with one’s hands, go to holy places with one’s feet, hear the chanting of name and glories of God with one’s ears, and behold the divine image with one’s eyes. ‘With mind’ means to contemplate and meditate on God constantly and to remember and think of his ‘Lila’. ‘With words’ means to sing hymns to Him and chant His name and glories.

Above is the explanation of ‘Bhakti’ given by Ramakrishna Paramhansa to his devotees as mentioned in chapter twelve of ‘Bhagwat Geeta’. Ramakrishna Paramhansa was a great yogi of the 19th century and the spiritual guru of Swami Vivekananda. He did not form any cult, nor did he show a new path

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to salvation. His message was his God-consciousness. At a time when the very foundation of religion and faith in God was shaken due to materialism and skepticism, shri Ramakrishna because of his deep spiritual realization demonstrated the reality of God to the people. Shri Ramakrishna faithfully practiced the disciplines of different religions, for example, he converted into

Islam and later into Christianity and came to the realization that all of them lead to the same goal.

He declared, “As many faiths, so many paths.” To Shri Ramakrishna, all religions are the revelation of God in His diverse aspects. Shri Ramakrishna’s message of harmony of religions provides hope to the present-day world which is torn by religious intolerance.

Shri Ramakrishna was born in a rural village of West Bengal on February 18th, 1836. His parents were simple but traditional devoted priests at a temple. As a child, he began to demonstrate spiritual qualities well beyond his age. Ramakrishna resisted the traditional priestly studies, but he had to assist his older brother who was serving as a priest for many families in Kolkata. Ramakrishna did not like the inhumanity of the city life. However, when his brother got a job at large temple complex at Dakshineswar near Ganga river outside Kolkata, Ramakrishna found a new environment for his spiritual growth.

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Ramakrishna was selected to serve as a priest in the Kali temple, and it was here that he had a series of important religious experiences. He would meditate for long periods of time seeking a vision of the goddess Kali. He explained how Maa Kali did appear to him as an ocean of light. He describes how he felt the presence of the Divine Mother and his surrounding was filled with undiluted bliss. He felt that Maa Kali was calling him to universal spiritual mission for India and all mankind. He began to study a wide variety of traditional religious teachings. It is during this time he studied Islam and Christianity and realized that all the religions are not contradictory but complementary. In 1868, Ramakrishna undertook an extensive journey traveled to a lot of places and was saddened by the extreme poverty of the people. He encouraged his rich patrons to help improve their condition. His message to all the people was, “Service to man, knowing him to be the manifestation of God, purifies the heart and in no time such an aspirant realizes himself as the part and parcel of God-Existence-Knowledge-Bliss- Absolute.”

Ramakrishna started having lot of followers including the Europeans like Dr. William Hastie who was the principal of the Scottish Church College Calcutta. This prompted some of his students, including Narendranath Dutta who took the name later as Swami Vivekananda to visit Ramakrishna. Vivekananda eventually became Ramakrishna’s most influential disciple and popularized the modern interpretations of Indian traditions, Yog and

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Advaita Vedanta. Vivekananda established Ramakrishna order which spread its mission posts throughout the world. On August 16th, 1886, Ramakrishna Paramhansa passed away. His message, “Jive daya noy, Shiv gyan jiv seba” meaning not kindness to living beings, but serving the living being as Shiva Himself was an inspiration for all the work carried out by his chief disciple Vivekananda.

Bhakta Prahalad

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Hiranyakashyapu was the king of demons. He performed very difficult spiritual practice and earned a boon from Lord Brahma that he (Hiranyakashyapu) could not be slain by man or beast. The boon made him arrogant, and he terrorized all the three worlds, saying that there were no gods other than himself and everybody must worship him.

He had a son named Prahalad, a religious child who always worshipped Lord Vishnu. This angered his father greatly; he wanted to drive the thought of Vishnu from his son’s mind, so he turned him to a strict teacher to train him to worship only Hiranyakashyapu as God and not Vishnu.

Prahalad not only refused to listen to the teacher but started teaching the other students to worship Vishnu. The teacher was very angry and reported this to the king.

The King burst into his son’s room, and shouted, “I hear you have been worshiping Vishnu!” Trembling, Prahalad said softly, “Yes father, I have”

“Promise me that you will not do that again!” demanded the king.

“I cannot promise”, Prahalad immediately answered. “Then I will have you killed!” shouted the King. “Not unless it is the wish of Lord Vishnu”, replied the child. The king tried his best to get Prahalad to change his mind, but nothing worked.

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He then ordered his guards to throw Prahalad into the ocean, hoping that would frighten Prahalad into promising not to worship Vishnu anymore. But Prahalad remained royal to Vishnu and kept praying to him in his heart with love and devotion. Guards tied him to a huge rock and threw him into the ocean. By God’s grace, the rock fell away and Prahalad floated safely to the surface of the water. He was surprised to see Vishnu on the shore.

Vishnu smiled at him and said, “Ask me anything you want.” Prahalad replied, “I don’t want kingdom, wealth, heaven or a long life. I just want the strength to always love You and never turn my mind away from you.

Lord Vishnu granted Prahalad’s wishes. When Prahalad returned to his father’s palace, the King was stunned to see him alive.

“Who brought you out of the sea?” he demanded. “Lord Vishnu”, said the child simply. Do not say that name before me,” shouted his father.

“Where is your Vishnu? Show him to me,” he challenged. “HE is everywhere,” replied the child. “Even in this pillar?” asked the king. “Yes, even in this pillar!” replied Prahalad confidently. “Then let him appear before me in whatever form he wants,” cried Hiranyakashyapu and broke the pillar with hi iron club.

Out from within the pillar jumped a being called Narasimha, who was half man and half lion. Hiranyakashyapu stood helplessly before him.

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Frightened, he called out for help, but no one came. Narasimha picked up Hiranyakashyapu and placed him on his lap, where he mauled his body and tore it apart. Thus, Hiranyakashyapu met his end.

God blessed Prahalad for deep faith he placed in Him. After the death of Hiranyakashyapu, demons were crushed, and devas took over world once again from demons. To this day, name of Prahalad is counted among the great devotees.

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TWELFTH CHAPTER

Gita has 18 chapters and 700 verses. However, verses (shlokas) of only twelfth chapter are given in this study book. All other verses are out of scope and will not be considered for the examination.

However, you may want to study them from other external sources.

Twelfth chapter of Bhagavad Geeta talks about ‘Bhakti Yog’ - The path of devotional love.

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In this chapter, Krishna clears Arjuna’s confusion about formless God and God with a form. He tells that it is not easy for a common person to see and feel connected with a formless God. Rather, it is far easier to look for and find God in his many forms that can be seen, touched and heard around us. The one, who can do that - treat every man, woman and child the same, seeing God in them; treat every creature with love, since God is in each of them; treat the earth with respect, feeling God’s presence in her, is the greater yogi. And this can be achieved through regular practice of meditation, worship. If one finds it difficult to find time for long meditation every day, at least a brief one can be done. If that is also too difficult, then simply offer each action that you do to the God, remember God before you do any action and that is a way of worship. If that is also too hard, then at least carry out your actions selflessly, without any desire of reward, with no expectations of any specific result. Krishna then describes virtues of a devotee and tells that such a true devotee, one who has complete faith in the God are dear to the God.

With all of this background information and interesting stories to understand the concepts of Geeta, it is now time for the actual text and meaning of twelfth chapter shlokas –

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The text

||अथ द्वादशोऽ鵍यायः||

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ॐ त配सदददत श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपदिष配स ु ब्रह्मदवद्यायाां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृ �णा셍ुुिसांवादे भदियोगो िाम द्वादशोऽ鵍यायः ॥ १२ ॥

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Additional resources: Here are some reference books that are good reads. Please note that these books are not part of the syllabus or study material for the competition. Nonetheless, they will capture the reader!

The Geeta: For Children: By ROOPA PAI

Bhagavad-Geeta for beginners and children in English Hindi