By Vaisesika Dasa
For those whose lives have been forever improved by meeting Lord Krishna personally in the pages of the Gita, Gita Jayanti is not only a day of celebration but also a chance to express their gratitude. And the best way to do so is to share the Gita with others. Krishna Himself says, “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Bg. 18.69)
The Gita teaches the essence of spiritual knowledge, purely and succinctly, in a way that anyone – in any situation of life – can practically apply its instruction and wisdom. And since Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, resides within the heart of every living being, He is always there to help the reader understand the Gita’s profound message.
Many people in the world are innocent; and when they hear the message of the Gita from a devotee, they at once embrace it and attain perfection.
Krishna says, “Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death.” (Bg. 13.26)
More than ever before, people need the common sense and elegance of the Gita. Why? The modern media daily brings us foul rumors, incendiary disputes, and scenes of massacre. And a popular scientist has proclaimed, “The human race is just chemical scum on a moderate sized planet . . .” (Stephen Hawking, interview 1994).
It seems that the public demands these things—at least some studies suggest that they do. And news anchors across the world have come to count on the fact that people have developed an insatiable appetite for calumny and the gory details of tragic events.
As people disclose the acrimony and conflict that trouble their hearts in tens of millions of daily blogs, YouTube clips, Facebook postings, and interviews in the 24-hour news cycle, the resultant din is a toxic outpouring of malignant sound that flows into the ears of the innocent masses, leading the world’s population into anxiety, despair, and mental illness.
The delicate human ear requires Krishna’s soothing voice in the Gita to clarify the heart and fortify the intellect.
Even five thousand years after Lord Krishna’s departure from this world, “the Bhagavad-gita can be consulted in all critical times, not only for solace from all kinds of mental agonies, but also for the way out of great entanglements which may embarrass one in some critical hour.” (SB 1.15.27, purport)
Lord Caitanya exalts the Gita to Srila Sanatana Gosvami: “Kåñëa is so merciful that simply by aiming His instructions at Arjuna, He has given protection to the whole world.” (Cc Madhya 22.56)
The Gita issues from the beautiful lotus mouth of Lord Sri Krishna, our best friend and eternal benefactor. And as that message passes through the pen of Krsna’s empowered representative, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Bhagavad-gita “As It Is” becomes all the more relishable.
As Gita Jayanti approaches, please read the Gita, remember the Gita, give the Gita.
Humbly in service,
Vaisesika Dasa
1 Comment to “ Celebrate Krishna’s Eternal Song”
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Vaisesika das Prabhu is an empowered and ‘consistently consistent’ bhakta. I once read something that Confucius said, paraphrasing, ‘the worst thing about a man is to be inconsistent or unpredictable”. Vaisesika Prabhu is definitely predictable. Even in the confusing years of the 1980s when ISKCON had undergone many a crisis in leadership, Vaisesika Prabhu remained a dedicated distributor of Srila Prabhupad’s books, even when living as a householder in a community some distance away from any formal temple. What better way to introduce someone to Krishna than through a pure devotee directly, a transparent link to Krishna, ie the translations and purports that have been offered to the world by Srila Prabhupad.
na ca mat-sthani bhutani, pasya me yogam aisvaram
bhuta-bhrn na ca bhuta-stho, mamatma bhuta-bhavanah (BG 9.5)
“And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everywhere, I am not part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation.”
God, the Creator, does exist, beyond His creation which is also dependent upon and within Him. It is the highest arrogance, and the dead-end of terminal illusion when jiva souls declare their identity as God…mayayapahrta-jnana (7.15). We can only know these things because Krishna has revealed them to us through His mercy, and the Bhagavad Gita is His lifeboat for the thoughtful conditioned souls.
So, all glories to Sri Krishna. All Glories to His Bhagavad GIta. All glories to the dedicated distributors of Srila Prabhupad’s Bhagavad Gita for they are very, very dear to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga!! Pusta Krishna das