II Shree Ganeshay Namah II

Adi Shankaracharya in his famous stotra ‘Bhaj Govindam’ assures

Bhagavad gita kijnchidadhiita

gangaa jalalava kanikaapita

sakridapi yena murari samarcha

kriyate tasya yamena na charcha II

"If one reads a little bit of the Bhagavad Gita (BG) or drinks a drop of Ganga water or worships Krishna even for a moment, he need not be scared of Yama-the lord of death"

To keep Yama away for a while, I have decided to write something about BG. Since I lack spiritual authority and understanding, I have decided to restrict to peripheral topics and not the core of BG. May be it will excite someone to approach a proper Guru to ‘understand’ and own-up the enlightenment. 

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita and Social and Political Leaders of India

At a time when Indian nationalists were seeking an indigenous basis for social and political action against British rule, BG provided them with a rationale and spiritual platform to fight injustice. 

Rammohun Roy (1772-1833) used BG to support his reformist ideas. KT Telang (1850-93), Indian Judge, Indologist and social reformer translated Bhagavad Gita in English for ‘The sacred books of the east’ series’ in 1882. Bankim Chandra's (1838-1894) commentary on the Gita was published eight years after his death and contained his comments up to the 19th Verse of Chapter 4. Bipinchandra Pal also studied Gita extensively. Lala Rajpatrai (1865-1928), an aryasamji, was deported to Mandalay, without trial, in May 1907 and there he wrote an article “The message of the Bhagawad Gita”.  Lokmanya Tilak (1856-1920), known as the “Father of Indian Unrest”, was the very first person to demand full independence from British rule. Tilak wrote his commentary on BG “Shrimadh Bhagvad Gita Rahasya or Karmayoga” while in Mandalay jail during the period 1910–1911 serving a six-year sentence imposed by the British colonial government in India for sedition. While noting that the Gita teaches possible paths to liberation, Tilak’s commentary places emphasis on Karmayoga. He asserted Karmayoga doctrine of BG centred on the ideal of Lokasangraha-the good of the society. Hindu reformation did not remain a religious movement alone but this rediscovery of BG as political and social gospel of Hindu India. He further emphasized that the action of Karmayogi are dedicated to God therefore are above moral laws as the objects were clearly common wellbeing. He defended even violent action including killing, as long as that was selfless and without personal interest or motive. Although a vast majority of the people agreed with Tilak's interpretation of the Gita at the time, there were some, particularly in Pune, who criticized it because they saw views contradictory to those of Shankaracharya. However, the book was immensely popular, and was also translated into English and many other languages. (Pandurang Purushottam Shirodkar, 1916 –2000, a freedom fighter and first speaker of Goa Assembly, translated Gita Rahasya into Portuguese, while serving sentence in Lisbon Jail on similar charges!).

Aurobindo (1872-1950) was close political associate of Tilak, he edited weekly paper ‘Karmoyogin’ advocating religious and spiritual nationalism. He withdrew from politics in 1910. Later he wrote “Essays on the Gita” where emphasis on Lokasangraha seems to persist.

Subhas Chandra Bose(1897-?), greatly influenced by Swami Vivekakananda believed that the BG was a great source of inspiration for the struggle against the British. VD Savarkar(1883-1966) developed the concept of ethical warfare from the BG for his political purposes of contesting colonial power and creating a free nation. He claimed that it ultimately permitted individuals to adopt violence for the creation of free Hindu India.

Damodarpanth Chapekar (executed 1898), Madanlal Dhingra (1887-1909) Khudiram Bose (1889-1906), Hemu Kalani (1923-1943) and so many freedom fighters influenced by these thoughts embraced the gallows with the Bhagavad Gita in their hands.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), the very name invokes images of India’s Independence struggle, wrote the very inspiring lines about the Gita: “When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad-Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there, and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies.” No book was more central to Gandhi's life and thought than the Bhagavad Gita, which he referred to as his "spiritual dictionary". During his stay in Yeravda jail in 1929, Gandhi wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita in Gujarati. It was translated into English by Mahadev Desai, often referred to as Anasakti Yoga-Discipline of non-attachment in human performance. With anasaktiyoga,  Gandhi sought to developed three great virtues; strength of mind-fearlessness, trust and faith in God and faith in humanity and stressed it’s closeness with Ahinsa. Gandhi equated satyagrahi with sthitapradnya i.e. Karmayogin doing ‘nishkama karma’- work with no desire for sefish gains, for Lokasangraha. To Gandhi Ideal achievement of Lokasangraha-‘welfare of all’ was incomplete, without observance of moral laws and ahinsa. Vinoba Bhave made a new application of Gita to the countries land distribution problem through Bhudan-yadnya and Samya-yoga.

One of the Mahatma’s sons, Ramdas Gandhi, sought a meeting (which would never take place) with Nathuram Godse in a letter where he cited a verse from the Bhagavad Gita and pleaded with him to “introspect a little so that at the end of our proposed meeting you will be able to recite this couplet from the Gita along with us”. Godse was delighted with the proposal, for he knew the Gita by heart and would recite all the chapters in prison. In reply, he wrote: “I thank you for having reminded me of the verses, ‘My ignorance has disappeared, I have regained normalcy’ from the Bhagavad Gita… After Arjun had said, ‘I will do as you say’, he directly translated into practice the words of Lord Krishna, ‘Remember me and fight.’” Obviously, Ramdas Gandhi’s conception of the Gita was very different from his own. Godse was sentenced to death along with one of his accomplices, Narayan Apte. Godse and Apte went to the scaffold with a copy of the Bhagavad Gita in hand.

Prominent political leaders like Annie Besant, C.Rajagopalachari, K.M.Munshi, Sri Prakash, MS Golwalkar, NC Kelkar, and many RSS swayamsevaks were known scholars and sought inspiration from BG. Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr S. Radhakrishnan, Dr R. Venkat Raman, Dr Abdul Kalam, Shri LB Shastri, Shri PV Narasimha Rao, Shri AB Bajpai, Shri LK Advani use to refer to BG often.

Many secooler politicians guarded their ignorance about BG meticulously. But political compulsions could not restrain Dr Karan Singh writting ‘The Message of the Upanishads & The Message of the Bhagavad Gita’ former union home minister (& a Lingayat) Shri Shivraj V. Patil authoring “Shrimad Bhagvad Geeta” or Late Dr Shrikant Jichkar organizing ‘Gita Dnyana Yadnyas’.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in news for presenting a copies of translations of BG to the Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Japanese Emperor Akihito and to US president Barak Obama.

When so many politicians showed reverence to BG. Socio-political compulsions automatically generate reactions out of insecurity. Firebrand communists-socialists, pseudo-intellectual, pseudo-seculars, Muslims like Dr Zakir Naik, et al criticize BG for obvious reasons. Likes of Prof MM Ninan see BG as plagiarizing ideas developed in Christianity much later! Needless to say many Islamic, Christian Scholars as well as western intellectuals treated BG with great reverence.

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar wrote a book (unpublished) ‘Revolution and Counter-revolution in Ancient India’. According to him the BG is neither a book of religion nor a treatise on philosophy. What the BG does is to defend ‘Varnashrama Dharma’ on philosophical grounds. It justifies war-counter-revolution to attack of Buddhism. DD Kosambi, EV Ramaswami Naicker and Jyotirao Phule also were very critical of BG.

We also come across books like ‘Shrikrishnani Arjunacha Rath Akher Narakat Nela’ (Krishna Steered Arjuna’s Chariot to Hell) by PB Dingre and ‘The Satanic Verses of Bhagavad Gita’ by Kedar Joshi.

In Russia a trial was initiated to ban “Bhagavad Gita As It Is-commentary on BG by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad”  in June 2011 by the state prosecutor's office in Tomsk, Siberia on charges of religious extremism, based on an assessment of the book by scholars (!!!!) of Tomsk State University, which concluded that it incite religious, social, and racial intolerance. On December 19, 2011, the issue was raised in the Indian Parliament. The display of political unity surprised the media and prompted a Rajya Sabha member to call the December 19 parliamentary session "a golden day in our history when all differences were deleted to express solidarity for BG, the book of India".   On December 28, 2011, the judge dismissed the court case. The Tomsk prosecutor's office filed an appeal against the judge's ruling, but same also was dismissed.

Turkish Ex-prime minister Bulent Ecevit, when asked what had given him the courage to send Turkish troops to Cyprus. His answer was "He was fortified by the BG which taught that if one were morally right, one need not hesitate to fight injustice".

We are ‘Argumentative Indians’. Our tradition permits different interpretations and arguments. It permits validity of multitude of paths, but insists on sustainable and constructive understanding and release from bondage.

Prajapati had three kinds of offspring: gods, men and demons. Gods were addicted to sensual pleasures and enjoyment, humans to greed and hoarding and demons to cruelty and wickedness. They lived with Prajapati, practicing the vows of brahmacharins.

After finishing their term, the gods said to him: "Please instruct us, Sir." To them he uttered the syllable da and asked: "Have you understood?" They replied: "We have. You said to us, ‘damyata-Control yourselves.’ Prajapati agreed "Yes, you have understood."

Then the men said to him: "Please instruct us, Sir" To them he uttered the same syllable da and asked "Have you understood?" They replied "We have. You said to us, ‘Datta-Give.’ He said “Yes, you have understood.”

Then the demons said to him: "Please instruct us, Sir." To them he uttered the same syllable da and asked "Have you understood?" They replied: "We have. You said to us: ‘dayadhvam-Be compassionate.’ He said: "Yes, you have understood."

No wonder BG has been interpreted by so many great souls in different ways. To any devoted soul BG can guide to the path most suitable for his evolution.

Lord Krishna cautioned Arjuna in the 67th verse of 18th Chapter of BG

Idam te natapaskaya
nabhaktaya kadacana
na casusrusave vacyam
na ca mam yo 'bhyasuyati II

“You should never disclose this science to one devoid of austerities, nor to one who is not devoted and not to one adverse to spiritual advancement and never to anyone who is envious of me”.  Lord knew, when BG can generate more heat than light. Moreover if the one who is elaborating has not enough spiritual authority and understanding then it may lead to more confusion and conflict.