VOL. 95, No. 12 ISSN 0042-2983 Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in the year 1895 as Brahmavâdin, it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesari in 1914. For free edition on the Web, please visit: www.sriramakrishnamath.org December 2008 Meditation on the Bhagavad Gita 445 Editorial Gita Today 457 Articles Getting Introduced to Bhagavad Gita—Swami Sridharananda 465 Gita’s Way of Right Activity—Swami Smaranananda 472 Gita’s Message for Self-Transformation—Swami Prabuddhananda 476 Bhagavad Gita for the Commoners—Swami Gautamananda 489 True Happiness: Gita’s Counsel—Swami Bhaskarananda 494 ‘I Take Care of Their Yogakshema’—C S Ramakrishnan 499 Meditating on the Message of the Gita—Swami Dayatmananda 501 The Bhagavad Gita: its Relevance to Teachers—Swami Atmaramananda 505 Keeping Calm: the Gita Way—Swami Nityasthananda 513 The Spot Where the Gita was Delivered 517 ‘Grieve not—the Lord is with Us’—Prema Nandakumar 518 Ten Principles of Work Ethic in the Bhagavad Gita—Swami Abhiramananda 522 Gita’s Way to Self-Fulfilment—Swami Atmarupananda 543 Gita’s View on Ecology and its Maintenance—N V C Swamy 549 Sri Krishna’s Remedy for the Arjuna Syndrome—Swami Atmapriyananda 553 Management Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita—B. Mahadevan 558 Living the Gita Way—Pravrajika Brahmaprana 562 Work As Worship: Guidelines from the Bhagavad Gita—Swami Yuktatmananda 566 Teachers as Mentors: Lessons from Gita—M. Sivaramkrishna 570 Countering Stress and Lack of Motivation—Swami Bodhamayananda 574 Bhagavad Gita: Song of Culture—K. Subrahmanyam 577 Values in the Bhagavad Gita—Swami Vireshananda 585 Gita’s Ideal of Emotional Stability—Swami Sarvapriyananda 589 Gita for Housewives—Sumita Roy 593 Bhagavad Gita and the Ideal of Service—Swami Vedapurushananda 597 Compilations ❖ Gita: ‘The Essence of All Scriptures’—446 ❖ Bhagavad Gita: ‘The Best Authority on Vedanta’—Swami Vivekananda—448 ❖ Sri Krishna, the Teacher of the Gita—Swami Vivekananda—454 ❖ Universal Message of the Bhagavad Gita—Swami Ranganatha- nanda—461 ❖ Gita’s Description of Integrated Personality—Swami Adiswarananda—497 ❖ Bhagavad Gita for Everyday Living—527 ❖ ‘What is in a Name?’—582❖ What They Say: Some Eminent Persons on the Bhagavad Gita—601 Question & Answer Frequently Asked Questions About Gita—Swami Harshananda 483 Annual Index—606 4 Cover Story Arjuna Listening to Sri Krishna The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Sri Krishna, the Divinity Incarnate, and Arjuna, the representative of mankind. Though Arjuna was eager to fight in the battle, when he saw that he had to fight with his dear ones, he became nervous and began arguing against war. Finally Arjuna confessed to Sri Krishna his weakness and lack of mental preparedness. Thus begins the dia- logue and the Gita is the result. The painting featured on the cover page portrays the attentiveness with which Arjuna listens to Krishna’s words of wisdom. Not only does Sri Krishna counsel and encourage Arjuna to fight the righteous war, he also out- lines, through his Gita-discourse, a whole philosophy of life—dealing with work ethics, education, service, stress, charity and so on, and how to reach ultimate freedom. Painting courtesy: Maniyam Selvam, Chennai. The Vedanta Kesari Patrons’ Scheme We invite our readers to join as patrons of the magazine. They can do so by sending Rs.1500/- or more. Names of the patrons will be announced in the journal under the Patrons' Scheme and they will receive the magazine for 20 years. Please send your contribution to The Manager, The Vedanta Kesari by DD/MO drawn in favour of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai with a note that it is for the Patrons' Scheme. DONORS Mr. D.G. Rao, Bangalore Rs. 5000 A Devotee of Sri Ramakrishna Rs. 50000 PATRON 547. Mr. Mihir Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Jharkhand The Vedanta Kesari Library Scheme SL.NO. NAMES OF SPONSORS AWARDEE INSTITUTIONS 3818. Mr. Om Prakash, Bangalore Canara Bank Relief and Welfare Society, Bangalore - 560 070 3819. -do- R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore - 560 059 3820. Mr. Ravi Dixit, Chennai National Institute of Technology, M.G. Avenue, Durgapur - 713 209 3821. -do- Kotpad College, Dist. Koraput, Orissa - 764 058 3822. -do- Prarara Rural College of Engineering, Maharashtra - 413 709 3823. -do- Sri Ram Engineering College, Tiruvallur District. - 602 024 3824. Dr. Rathindra Narayan Pal, Assam Government English High School, Bargang, Assam - 784 167 3825. -do- Government High Secondary School, Dist. Sonitpur, Assam - 784 166 To be continued . VOL. 95, No. 12, DECEMBER 2008 ISSN 0042-2983 EACH SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE. THE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN. Meditation on the Bhagavad Gita õ nmWm©` ‡{V~mo{YVmß ^JdVm Zmam`UoZ Òd`ß Ï`mgoZ J´{WVmß nwamU_w{ZZm _‹`o _hm^maV_≤ü& A¤°Vm_•Vd{f©Ut ^JdVr_ÓQ>mXem‹`m{`Zr- _Â~ Àdm_Zwg›XYm{_ ^JdX≤JrVo ^d¤o{fUr_≤ü&& õ Om ^JdVm by the Lord Zmam`UoZ (the one Refuge of all beings) Narayana Òd`ß Himself nmWm©` ‡{V~mo{YVmß with which Partha was enlightened nwamU_w{ZZm by (through the lips of) the ancient sage Ï`mgoZ Vyasa _hm^maV_≤ _‹`o in the Mahabharata J´{WVmß incorporated ^JdVr_≤ the blessed Mother A¤°Vm_•Vd{f©Ut showering the nectar of Advaita (the philosophy of non- duality) AÔ>mXem‹`m{`Zr_≤ in the form of eighteen chapters ^d¤o{fUr_≤ de- stroyer of rebirth AÂ~ loving Mother ^JdX≤JrVo (the Lord’s song) Bhagavad- Gita Àdm_≤ Thee AZwg›XYm{_ I meditate upon. Om! O Bhagavad Gita—with which Partha was enlightened by the Lord Narayana Himself and which was incorporated in the Mahabharata by the ancient sage Vyasa—the blessed Mother, the Destroyer of rebirth, showering down the nectar of Advaita, and consisting of eighteen chap- ters—upon Thee O Bhagavad Gita! O loving Mother! I meditate. gdm}n{ZfXmo Jmdmo XmoΩYm JmonmbZ›XZÖü& nmWm} dÀgÖ gwYr^m}∫$m XwΩYß JrVm_•Vß _hV≤ü&& gdm}n{ZfXÖ All the Upanishads JmdÖ the cows JmonmbZ›XZÖ Son of the cowherd (Krishna) XmoΩYm the milker nmW©Ö Partha (Arjuna) dÀgÖ the calf gwYrÖ (men) of purified intellect ^mo∫$m the drink- ers _hV≤ the supreme A_•Vß nectar JrVm Gita XwΩYß the milk. All the Upanishads are the cows, the Son of the cowherd is the milker, Partha is the calf, men of purified intellect are the drinkers and the supreme nectar Gita is the milk. Gita—‘The Essence of All Scriptures’ Compiled from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna You see, there is no need to read too One must surrender the result to God. much of the scriptures. If you read too much That is the view of the Gita.6 you will be inclined to reason and argue. How long should a man perform his Nangta used to teach me thus: What you get duties? As long as he identifies himself with by repeating the word ‘Gita’ ten times is the the body, in other words, as long as he thinks essence of the book. In other words, if you he is the body. That is what the Gita says. repeat ‘Gita’ ten times it is reversed To think of the body as the Atman is into ‘tagi’, which indicates ajnana, ignorance.7 renunciation.1 You no doubt need The essence of the Gita money for your worldly life; is: ‘O man, renounce every- but don’t worry too much thing and practise spiritual about it. The wise course is discipline for the realization to accept what comes of its of God.’2 own accord. Don’t take too An aspirant entitled to much trouble to save money. the Knowledge of God is Those who surrender their very rare. It is said in the Gita hearts and souls to God, those that one in thousands desires who are devoted to Him and to know God, and again, that have taken refuge in Him, do not among thousands who have such a worry much about money. As they desire, only one is able to know Him.3 earn, so they spend. The money comes It is said in the Gita that if a man is in one way and goes out the other. This is respected and honoured by many, whether it what the Gita describes as ‘accepting what be for his scholarship or his music or his comes of its own accord’.8 oratory or anything else, then you may know [Referring to a Bengali play, M said] for certain that he is endowed with a special ‘Quoting from the Gita, Bhavani said: “He who divine power.4 sees Me in all things and all things in Me, It is said in the Gita that whatever one never becomes separated from Me, nor do I thinks in the hour of death, one becomes in become separated from him. That yogi who, the after-life. King Bharata gave up his body established in unity, worships Me dwelling in exclaiming, ‘Deer! Deer!’ and was born as a all beings, abides in Me, whatever his mode deer in his next life. But if a man dies think- of life. O Arjuna, that yogi is regarded as the ing of God, then he attains God, and he highest who judges the pleasure and pain of does not have to come back to the life of this all beings by the same standard that he applies world.5 to himself.”’ Sri Ramakrishna responded by The V edanta K esari ~ 446 ~ DECEMBER 2008 7 saying, ‘These are the characteristics of the such a mind as this? Can one pour four seers highest bhakta.’9 of milk into a one-seer pot? Can we ever know The Gita speaks of temperance in eating. God unless He lets us know Him? Therefore I Sattvic food, rajasic food, tamasic food; sattvic say, take shelter in God.