Being, Gita and therefore

Gita is the most translated and interpreted book in the world. The beauty of Gita is that everybody gets his pie of thoughts in it. Further analysis reveals that Gita is the most misinterpreted book, too, and most of the time, religious leaders or influencers have done that. There are tons of religious societies across the world chanting Bhagavat Gita with no clue why they are doing it and how they will benefit from it. Chanting the names of Krishna may soothe one for a while, but without the proper knowledge of the purpose, it cannot do any good further. One’s confusions, one’s problems, one’s conflicts, one doubts will remain there, unopposed and unsolved.

Millions of people read the Gita and leave it by saying that they find no solutions to their problems, yet they continue to follow it because it is believed that it was told by God and they must follow it, following without understanding, following because it is considered as a sacred book and following because one must not question the sacred texts and scriptures. Instead of a journal or an encyclopaedia of solutions, Gita is kept as a coffee-table book as any other book, which we love to keep to keep up the glamour of our knowledge (rather perceived knowledge) in front of others.

We have to accept that the world has changed a lot and is changing every moment. With the introduction of science and technology, many myths and beliefs have changed; people are changing, new generations believe in facts and science, and unknown phenomena are getting known. Time has changed and so do the meaning of everything, like relations, personality, attitudes, and rationalism; everything is changing. So how can we accept that the new generation will learn and understand things the same way our ancestors have understood? It is our duty to change the learning process. Imagine we are working towards implementing technology in our new education system. Facts and figures have changed a lot. We have introduced smart education and intelligent machines and upgraded every aspect of life, but when it comes to understanding and learning concepts and philosophies associated with sacred text, our approach is just orthodox. We are forcing everybody to believe blindly; we are stopping them from questioning; we are trying to teach them the same stories and characters which are thousands of years old.

Let’s come out of our nostalgia and understand the need for an hour. The interpretations and translations we have today are too old to be continued. The world is integrating, technology is integrating, nationalities and different religions are communicating, geography has changed, and we are global citizens. So, it is our duty to re-write these interpretations and update them according to the present times. If we believe in the theory of Gita, then we have to change; this is in accordance with the philosophy of Gita that the social rules, morals, ethics and self-conducts must be changed according to the times, and Gita is the only philosophy that allows one to change and remain unorthodox. If we believe Mahabharata is a true story, then we have to admit that the reasons for war were the orthodox beliefs, rituals, and practices which needed to be altered at that time.

Gita is a journey of finding self, eliminating our rotten beliefs and starting with a fresh thinking process. It is a journey to be aware of self and fight with self. Before analysing or becoming critical towards others, we need to accept them as they are and then introspect our actions and decisions in a way that protects our self. Gita creates a lot of turbulence in our minds; many of our facts will change, our beliefs will remould and our philosophies will shatter. Gita will never tell you to accept anything blindly; it will teach you to analyse first and then apply it.

Welcome to this exciting and wonderful journey of Gita.