Mahatma Gandhi and the Bhagavad Gita

Read Mahatma Gandhi and the Bhagavad Gita

http://americanvedantist.org/2014/articles/mahatma-gandhi-and-the-bhagavad-gita/

Watch Eckhart Tolle, “The Bhagavad Gita”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPDeZEaIGPY

What is the key message from the Bhagavad Gita? What influence has it had on 20th and 21st century people? In what way could the message be applied to your life today?

Solution

The Bhagavad Gita is part of the epic religious poem, the Mahabharata, and comprises of 700 verses (in the Sanskrit language). It is, in fact, the dialogue between Arjun (Pandava Prince) and Lord Krishna, which identified or recognized as sacred wisdom. The essence of the Bhagavad Gita is self-exploration, and its focus is present. As Lord Krishna says that you cannot accomplish anything in some future moment, only in the present moment you can hammer out true achievements. Therefore, the key message of Bhagavad Gita is soul-searching, identifying objectives, and taking action in the present to achieve these objectives. The future is a produced by the actions that we take in the present.

It had a very profound and positive impact on the people of the 20th and 21st century. It compelled them to look inwards when the tendency of looking-outwards was prevalent (objective approach). Also, it compelled people to give great importance to the present time, as the past cannot be altered and future is the product of the present. Therefore, by only emphasizing on the present, an individual can realize all its objectives and goal of the future. Also, this sacred passage, of Mahabharata, also suggested that future is not an absolute reality, which may occur only in a particular manner, but rather it is a subjective reality.

I can apply this message to my life in numerous ways. It is a very relevant and profound message, that makes enormous sense, For instance, it has made think of my objectives that I believe are of great importance of living a successful life. Also, it has pushed me to think that what I can do today (in the present) so that I can accomplish my goals in the future. However, I believe that a message has several layers, and it requires a particular level of awareness to identify and understand a certain layer.