Mind is very restless, forceful and strong, O Krishna, it is more difficult to
control the mind than to control the wind ~ Arjuna to Sri Krishna
Introduction
One of the greatest contributions of India to the world is Holy Gita
which is considered to be the first revelations from God. The managent lessons
in this holy book were brought in to light of the world by divine
Maharshi Mahesh Yogi and the spiritual philosophy by Sr. Srila Prabhupada
Swami and humanism by Sai Baba. Maharishi calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence
of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical life. It provides “all
that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible
level.” Maharishi reveals the deep, universal truths of life that speak to
the needs and aspirations of everyone. Arjuna got mentally depressed when he
saw his relatives with whom he has to fight.( Mental health has become a major
international public health concern now). To motivate him the Bhagavad Gita is
preached in the battle field Kurukshetra by Lord Krishna to Arjuna as a
counseling to do his duty while multitudes of men stood by waiting . It has
got all the management tactics to achieve the mental equilibrium and to
overcome any crisis situation. The Bhagavad Gita can be experienced as a
powerful catalyst for transformation. Bhagavad gita means song of the Spirit,
song of the Lord. The Holy Gita has become a secret driving force behind
the unfoldment of one's life. In the days of doubt this divine book will
support all spiritual search.This divine book will contribute to
self reflection, finer feeling and deepen one's inner process. Then life in
the world can become a real education—dynamic, full and joyful—no matter
what the circumstance. May the wisdom of loving consciousness ever guide us on
our journey. What makes the Holy Gita a practical psychology of transformation
is that it offers us the tools to connect with our deepest intangible essence
and we must learn to participate in the battle of life with right knowledge.
The Holy Gita is the essence of the Vedas, Upanishads. It is a universal
scripture applicable to people of all temperaments and for all times. It is a
book with sublime thoughts and practical instructions on Yoga, Devotion,
Vedanta and Action. It is profound in thought and sublime in heights of
vision. It brings peace and solace to souls that are afflicted by the three
fires of mortal existence, namely, afflictions caused by one’s own body
(disease etc), those caused by beings around one (e.g. wild animals, snakes
etc.), and those caused by the gods (natural disasters, earth-quakes, floods
etc).
Mind can be one's friend or enemy. Mind is the cause for both bondage and
liberation. The word mind is derived from man to think and the word man
derived from manu (sanskrit word for man).
"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is
directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a
machine, made of the material energy."
There is no theory to be internalized and applied in this psychology. Ancient
practices spontaneously induce what each person needs as the individual and
the universal coincide. The work proceeds through intellectual knowledge of
the playing field(jnana yoga), emotional devotion to the ideal(bhakti yoga)
and right action that includes both feeling and knowledge(karma yoga). With
ongoing purification we approach wisdom. The Bhagavad Gita is a message
addressed to each and every human individual to help him or her to solve the
vexing problem of overcoming the present and progressing towards a bright
future. Within its eighteen chapters is revealed a human drama. This is the
experience of everyone in this world, the drama of the ascent of man from a
state of utter dejection, sorrow and total breakdown and hopelessness to a
state of perfect understanding, clarity, renewed strength and triumph.
Introduction
Management has become a part and parcel of everyday life, be it at home, in
the office or factory and in Government. In all organizations, where a group
of human beings assemble for a common purpose, management principles come into
play through the management of resources, finance and planning, priorities,
policies and practice. Management is a systematic way of carrying out
activities in any field of human effort.
Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their
weaknesses irrelevant, says the Management Guru Peter Drucker. It creates
harmony in working together - equilibrium in thoughts and actions, goals and
achievements, plans and performance, products and markets. It resolves
situations of scarcity, be they in the physical, technical or human fields,
through maximum utilization with the minimum available processes to achieve
the goal. Lack of management causes disorder, confusion, wastage, delay,
destruction and even depression. Managing men, money and materials in the best
possible way, according to circumstances and environment, is the most
important and essential factor for a successful management.
Management guidelines from the Bhagavad Gita
There is an important distinction between effectiveness and efficiency in
managing.
· Effectiveness is doing the
right things.
· Efficiency is doing things
right.
The general principles of effective management can be applied in every field,
the differences being more in application than in principle. The Manager's
functions can be summed up as:
· Forming a vision
· Planning the strategy to
realise the vision.
· Cultivating the art of
leadership.
· Establishing institutional
excellence.
· Building an innovative
organisation.
· Developing human resources.
· Building teams and
teamwork.
· Delegation, motivation, and
communication.
· Reviewing performance and
taking corrective steps when called for.
Thus, management is a process of aligning people and getting them committed to
work for a common goal to the maximum social benefit - in search of
excellence.
The critical question in all managers’ minds is how to be effective in their
job. The answer to this fundamental question is found in the Bhagavad Gita,
which repeatedly proclaims that “you must try to manage yourself.” The
reason is that unless a manager reaches a level of excellence and
effectiveness, he or she will be merely a face in the crowd.
Old truths in a new context
The Bhagavad Gita, written thousands of years ago, enlightens us on all
managerial techniques leading us towards a harmonious and blissful state of
affairs in place of the conflict, tensions, poor productivity, absence of
motivation and so on, common in most of Indian enterprises today – and
probably in enterprises in many other countries.
The modern (Western) management concepts of vision, leadership, motivation,
excellence in work, achieving goals, giving work meaning, decision making and
planning, are all discussed in the Bhagavad Gita. There is one major
difference. While Western management thought too often deals with problems at
material, external and peripheral levels, the Bhagavad Gita tackles the issues
from the grass roots level of human thinking. Once the basic thinking of man
is improved, it will automatically enhance the quality of his actions and
their results.
The management philosophy emanating from the West, is based on the lure of
materialism and on a perennial thirst for profit, irrespective of the quality
of the means adopted to achieve that goal. This phenomenon has its source in
the abundant wealth of the West and so 'management by materialism' has caught
the fancy of all the countries the world over, India being no exception to
this trend. My country, India, has been in the forefront in importing these
ideas mainly because of its centuries old indoctrination by colonial rulers,
which has inculcated in us a feeling that anything Western is good and
anything Indian is inferior.
The result is that, while huge funds have been invested in building temples of
modem management education, no perceptible changes are visible in the
improvement of the general quality of life - although the standards of living
of a few has gone up. The same old struggles in almost all sectors of the
economy, criminalisation of institutions, social violence, exploitation and
other vices are seen deep in the body politic.
The source of the problem
The reasons for this sorry state of affairs are not far to seek. The Western
idea of management centres on making the worker (and the manager) more
efficient and more productive. Companies offer workers more to work more,
produce more, sell more and to stick to the organisation without looking for
alternatives. The sole aim of extracting better and more work from the worker
is to improve the bottom-line of the enterprise. The worker has become a
hireable commodity, which can be used, replaced and discarded at will.
Thus, workers have been reduced to the state of a mercantile product. In such
a state, it should come as no surprise to us that workers start using strikes
(gheraos) sit-ins, (dharnas) go-slows, work-to-rule etc. to get maximum
benefit for themselves from the organisations. Society-at-large is damaged.
Thus we reach a situation in which management and workers become separate and
contradictory entities with conflicting interests. There is no common goal or
understanding. This, predictably, leads to suspicion, friction, disillusion
and mistrust, with managers and workers at cross purposes. The absence of
human values and erosion of human touch in the organisational structure has
resulted in a crisis of confidence.
Western management philosophy may have created prosperity – for some people
some of the time at least - but it has failed in the aim of ensuring
betterment of individual life and social welfare. It has remained by and large
a soulless edifice and an oasis of plenty for a few in the midst of poor
quality of life for many.
Hence, there is an urgent need to re-examine prevailing management disciplines
- their objectives, scope and content. Management should be redefined to
underline the development of the worker as a person, as a human being, and not
as a mere wage-earner. With this changed perspective, management can become an
instrument in the process of social, and indeed national, development.
Now let us re-examine some of the modern management concepts in the light of
the Bhagavad Gita which is a primer of management-by-values.
Utilisation of available resources
The first lesson of management science is to choose wisely and utilise scarce
resources optimally. During the curtain raiser before the Mahabharata War,
Duryodhana chose Sri Krishna's large army for his help while Arjuna selected
Sri Krishna's wisdom for his support. This episode gives us a clue as to the
nature of the effective manager - the former chose numbers, the latter,
wisdom.
Attitudes towards work
Three stone-cutters were engaged in erecting a temple. An HRD Consultant asked
them what they were doing. The response of the three workers to this
innocent-looking question is illuminating.
· 'I am a poor man. I have to
maintain my family. I am making a living here,' said the first stone-cutter
with a dejected face.
· 'Well, I work because I
want to show that I am the best stone-cutter in the country,' said the second
one with a sense of pride.
· 'Oh, I want to build the
most beautiful temple in the country,' said the third one with a visionary
gleam.
Their jobs were identical but their perspectives were different. What the Gita
tells us is to develop the visionary perspective in the work we do. It tells
us to develop a sense of larger vision in our work for the common good.
Work commitment
A popular verse of the Gita advises “detachment” from the fruits or
results of actions performed in the course of one's duty. Being dedicated work
has to mean “working for the sake of work, generating excellence for its own
sake.” If we are always calculating the date of promotion or the rate of
commission before putting in our efforts, then such work is not detached. It
is not “generating excellence for its own sake” but working only for the
extrinsic reward that may (or may not) result.
Working only with an eye to the anticipated benefits, means that the quality
of performance of the current job or duty suffers - through mental agitation
of anxiety for the future. In fact, the way the world works means that events
do not always respond positively to our calculations and hence expected fruits
may not always be forthcoming. So, the Gita tells us not to mortgage present
commitment to an uncertain future.
Some people might argue that not seeking the business result of work and
actions, makes one unaccountable. In fact, the Bhagavad Gita is full of advice
on the theory of cause and effect, making the doer responsible for the
consequences of his deeds. While advising detachment from the avarice of
selfish gains in discharging one's accepted duty, the Gita does not absolve
anybody of the consequences arising from discharge of his or her
responsibilities.
Thus the best means of effective performance management is the work itself.
Attaining this state of mind (called “nishkama karma”) is the right
attitude to work because it prevents the ego, the mind, from dissipation of
attention through speculation on future gains or losses.
Motivation – self and self-transcendence
It has been presumed for many years that satisfying lower order needs of
workers - adequate food, clothing and shelter, etc. are key factors in
motivation. However, it is a common experience that the dissatisfaction of the
clerk and of the Director is identical - only their scales and composition
vary. It should be true that once the lower-order needs are more than
satisfied, the Director should have little problem in optimising his
contribution to the organisation and society. But more often than not, it does
not happen like that. (“The eagle soars high but keeps its eyes firmly fixed
on the dead animal below.”) On the contrary, a lowly paid schoolteacher, or
a self-employed artisan, may well demonstrate higher levels of self-actualisation
despite poorer satisfaction of their lower-order needs.
This situation is explained by the theory of self-transcendence propounded in
the Gita. Self-transcendence involves renouncing egoism, putting others before
oneself, emphasising team work, dignity, co-operation, harmony and trust –
and, indeed potentially sacrificing lower needs for higher goals, the opposite
of Maslow.
“Work must be done with detachment.” It is the ego that spoils work and
the ego is the centrepiece of most theories of motivation. We need not merely
a theory of motivation but a theory of inspiration.
The Great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941, known as "Gurudev")
says working for love is freedom in action. A concept which is described as
“disinterested work" in the Gita where Sri Krishna says,
“He who shares the wealth generated only after serving the people, through
work done as a sacrifice for them, is freed from all sins. On the contrary
those who earn wealth only for themselves, eat sins that lead to frustration
and failure.”
Disinterested work finds expression in devotion, surrender and equipoise. The
former two are psychological while the third is determination to keep the mind
free of the dualistic (usually taken to mean "materialistic") pulls
of daily experiences. Detached involvement in work is the key to mental
equanimity or the state of “nirdwanda.” This attitude leads to a stage
where the worker begins to feel the presence of the Supreme Intelligence
guiding the embodied individual intelligence. Such de-personified intelligence
is best suited for those who sincerely believe in the supremacy of
organisational goals as compared to narrow personal success and achievement.
Work culture
An effective work culture is about vigorous and arduous efforts in pursuit of
given or chosen tasks. Sri Krishna elaborates on two types of work culture –
“daivi sampat” or divine work culture and “asuri sampat” or demonic
work culture.
· Daivi work culture -
involves fearlessness, purity, self-control, sacrifice, straightforwardness,
self-denial, calmness, absence of fault-finding, absence of greed, gentleness,
modesty, absence of envy and pride.
· Asuri work culture -
involves egoism, delusion, personal desires, improper performance, work not
oriented towards service.
Mere work ethic is not enough. The hardened criminal exhibits an excellent
work ethic. What is needed is a work ethic conditioned by ethics in work.
It is in this light that the counsel, “yogah karmasu kausalam” should be
understood. “Kausalam” means skill or technique of work which is an
indispensable component of a work ethic. “Yogah” is defined in the Gita
itself as “samatvam yogah uchyate” meaning an unchanging equipoise of mind
(detachment.) Tilak tells us that acting with an equable mind is Yoga. (Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, 1856-1920, the precursor of Gandhiji, hailed by the people of
India as "Lokmanya," probably the most learned among the country's
political leaders. For a description of the meanings of the word
"Yoga", see foot of this page.)
By making the equable mind the bed-rock of all actions, the Gita evolved the
goal of unification of work ethic with ethics in work, for without ethical
process no mind can attain an equipoise. The guru, Adi Sankara (born circa 800
AD), says that the skill necessary in the performance of one's duty is that of
maintaining an evenness of mind in face of success and failure. The calm mind
in the face of failure will lead to deeper introspection and see clearly where
the process went wrong so that corrective steps could be taken to avoid
shortcomings in future.
The principle of reducing our attachment to personal gains from the work done
is the Gita’s prescription for attaining equanimity. It has been held that
this principle leads to lack of incentive for effort, striking at the very
root of work ethic. To the contrary, concentration on the task for its own
sake leads to the achievement of excellence – and indeed to the true mental
happiness of the worker. Thus, while commonplace theories of motivation may be
said to lead us to the bondage or extrinsic rewards, the Gita’s principle
leads us to the intrinsic rewards of mental, and indeed moral, satisfaction.
Work results
The Gita further explains the theory of “detachment” from the extrinsic
rewards of work in saying:
· If the result of sincere
effort is a success, the entire credit should not be appropriated by the doer
alone.
· If the result of sincere
effort is a failure, then too the entire blame does not accrue to the doer.
The former attitude mollifies arrogance and conceit while the latter prevents
excessive despondency, de-motivation and self-pity. Thus both these
dispositions safeguard the doer against psychological vulnerability, the cause
of the modem managers' companions of diabetes, high blood pressure and ulcers.
Assimilation of the ideas of the Gita leads us to the wider spectrum of
“lokasamgraha” (general welfare) but there is also another dimension to
the work ethic - if the “karmayoga” (service) is blended with
“bhaktiyoga” (devotion), then the work itself becomes worship, a
“sevayoga" (service for its own sake.)
Along with bhakti yoga as a means of liberation, the Gita espouses the
doctrine of nishkamya karma or pure action untainted by hankering after the
fruits resulting from that action. Modern scientists have now understood the
intuitive wisdom of that action in a new light.
Scientists at the US National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, found
that laboratory monkeys that started out as procrastinators, became efficient
workers after they received brain injections that suppressed a gene linked to
their ability to anticipate a reward.The scientists reported that the work
ethic of rhesus macaques wasn't all that different from that of many people:
"If the reward is not immediate, you procrastinate", Dr Richmond
told LA Times. (This may sound a peculiarly religious idea but it has a wider
application. It could be taken to mean doing something because it is
worthwhile, to serve others, to make the world a better place – ed.)
Manager's mental health
Sound mental health is the very goal of any human activity - more so
management. Sound mental health is that state of mind which can maintain a
calm, positive poise, or regain it when unsettled, in the midst of all the
external vagaries of work life and social existence. Internal constancy and
peace are the pre-requisites for a healthy stress-free mind.
Some of the impediments to sound mental health are:
· Greed - for power,
position, prestige and money.
· Envy - regarding others'
achievements, success, rewards.
· Egotism - about one's own
accomplishments.
· Suspicion, anger and
frustration.
· Anguish through
comparisons.
The driving forces in today's businesses are speed and competition. There is a
distinct danger that these forces cause erosion of the moral fibre, that in
seeking the end, one permits oneself immoral means - tax evasion, illegitimate
financial holdings, being “economical with the truth”, deliberate
oversight in the audit, too-clever financial reporting and so on. This
phenomenon may be called as “yayati syndrome”.
In the book, the Mahabharata, we come across a king by the name of Yayati who,
in order to revel in the endless enjoyment of flesh exchanged his old age with
the youth of his obliging youngest son for a thousand years. However, he found
the pursuit of sensual enjoyments ultimately unsatisfying and came back to his
son pleading him to take back his youth. This “yayati syndrome” shows the
conflict between externally directed acquisitions (extrinsic motivation) and
inner value and conscience (intrinsic motivation.)
Management needs those who practise what they preach
“Whatever the excellent and best ones do, the commoners follow,” says Sri
Krishna in the Gita. The visionary leader must be a missionary, extremely
practical, intensively dynamic and capable of translating dreams into reality.
This dynamism and strength of a true leader flows from an inspired and
spontaneous motivation to help others. "I am the strength of those who
are devoid of personal desire and attachment. O Arjuna, I am the legitimate
desire in those, who are not opposed to righteousness," says Sri Krishna
in the 10th Chapter of the Gita.
In conclusion
The despondency of Arjuna in the first chapter of the Gita is typically human.
Sri Krishna, by sheer power of his inspiring words, changes Arjuna's mind from
a state of inertia to one of righteous action, from the state of what the
French philosophers call “anomie” or even alienation, to a state of
self-confidence in the ultimate victory of “dharma” (ethical action.)
When Arjuna got over his despondency and stood ready to fight, Sri Krishna
reminded him of the purpose of his new-found spirit of intense action - not
for his own benefit, not for satisfying his own greed and desire, but for the
good of many, with faith in the ultimate victory of ethics over unethical
actions and of truth over untruth.
Sri Krishna's advice with regard to temporary failures is, “No doer of good
ever ends in misery.” Every action should produce results. Good action
produces good results and evil begets nothing but evil. Therefore, always act
well and be rewarded.
My purport is not to suggest discarding of the Western model of efficiency,
dynamism and striving for excellence but to tune these ideals to India's
holistic attitude of “lokasangraha” - for the welfare of many, for the
good of many. There is indeed a moral dimension to business life. What we do
in business is no different, in this regard, to what we do in our personal
lives. The means do not justify the ends. Pursuit of results for their own
sake, is ultimately self-defeating. (“Profit,” said Matsushita-san in
another tradition, “is the reward of correct behaviour.” – ed.)
A note on the word "yoga".
Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning and a technical meaning.
The general meaning is the joining together or union of any two or more
things. The technical meaning is “a state of stability and peace and the
means or practices which lead to that state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the
word with both meanings.
M.P.Bhattathiri.
Article by M.P. Bhattathiri, Retired Chief Technical Examiner ,
Govt. of Kerala,
Let us go through what scholars say about Holy Gita.
"No work in all Indian literature is more quoted, because none is better
loved, in the West, than the Bhagavad-gita. Translation of such a work demands
not only knowledge of Sanskrit, but an inward sympathy with the theme and a
verbal artistry. For the poem is a symphony in which God is seen in all
things. . . . The Swami does a real service for students by investing the
beloved Indian epic with fresh meaning. Whatever our outlook may be, we should
all be grateful for the labor that has lead to this illuminating work."
Dr. Geddes MacGregor, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
University of Southern California
"The Gita can be seen as the main literary support for the great
religious civilization of India , the oldest surviving culture in the world.
The present translation and commentary is another manifestation of the
permanent living importance of the Gita."
Thomas Merton, Theologian
"I am most impressed with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's scholarly
and authoritative edition of Bhagavad-gita. It is a most valuable work for the
scholar as well as the layman and is of great utility as a reference book as
well as a textbook. I promptly recommend this edition to my students. It is a
beautifully done book."
Dr. Samuel D. Atkins Professor of Sanskrit, Princeton University
"As a successor in direct line from Caitanya, the author of Bhagavad-gita
As It Is is entitled, according to Indian custom, to the majestic title of His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The great interest that his
reading of the Bhagavad-gita holds for us is that it offers us an authorized
interpretation according to the principles of the Caitanya tradition."
Olivier Lacombe Professor of Sanskrit and Indology, Sorbonne University ,
Paris
"I have had the opportunity of examining several volumes published by the
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and have found them to be of excellent quality and of
great value for use in college classes on Indian religions. This is
particularly true of the BBT edition and translation of the Bhagavad-gita."
Dr. Frederick B. Underwood Professor of Religion, Columbia University
"If truth is what works, as Pierce and the pragmatists insist, there must
be a kind of truth in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, since those who follow its
teachings display a joyous serenity usually missing in the bleak and strident
lives of contemporary people."
Dr. Elwin H. Powell Professor of Sociology State University of New York,
Buffalo
"There is little question that this edition is one of the best books
available on the Gita and devotion. Prabhupada's translation is an ideal blend
of literal accuracy and religious insight."
Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins Professor of Religion, Franklin and Marshall College
"The Bhagavad-gita, one of the great spiritual texts, is not as yet a
common part of our cultural milieu. This is probably less because it is alien
per se than because we have lacked just the kind of close interpretative
commentary upon it that Swami Bhaktivedanta has here provided, a commentary
written from not only a scholar's but a practitioner's, a dedicated lifelong
devotee's point of view."
Denise Levertov, Poet
"The increasing numbers of Western readers interested in classical Vedic
thought have been done a service by Swami Bhaktivedanta. By bringing us a new
and living interpretation of a text already known to many, he has increased
our understanding manyfold."
Dr. Edward C Dimock, Jr. Department of South Asian Languages and Civilization
University of Chicago
"The scholarly world is again indebted to A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada. Although Bhagavad-gita has been translated many times, Prabhupada
adds a translation of singular importance with his commentary."
Dr. J. Stillson Judah, Professor of the History of Religions and Director of
Libraries Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California
"Srila Prabhupada's edition thus fills a sensitive gap in France, where
many hope to become familiar with traditional Indian thought, beyond the
commercial East-West hodgepodge that has arisen since the time Europeans first
penetrated India.
"Whether the reader be an adept of Indian spiritualism or not, a reading
of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is will be extremely profitable. For many this will
be the first contact with the true India , the ancient India , the eternal
India ."
Francois Chenique, Professor of Religious Sciences Institute of Political
Studies, Paris , France
"It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but
large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another
age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which
exercise us"
Emerson's reaction to the Gita
"As a native of India now living in the West, it has given me much grief
to see so many of my fellow countrymen coming to the West in the role of gurus
and spiritual leaders. For this reason, I am very excited to see the
publication of Bhagavad-gita As It Is by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada. It will help to stop the terrible cheating of false and
unauthorized 'gurus' and 'yogis' and will give an opportunity to all people to
understand the actual meaning of Oriental culture."
Dr. Kailash Vajpeye, Director of Indian Studies Center for Oriental Studies,
The University of Mexico
"The Gita is one of the clearest and most comprehensive one, of the
summaries and systematic spiritual statements
of the perennial philosophy ever to have been done"
__________________________________________Aldous Huxley
"It is a deeply felt, powerfully conceived and beautifully explained
work. I don't know whether to praise more this translation of the
Bhagavad-gita, its daring method of explanation, or the endless fertility of
its ideas. I have never seen any other work on the Gita with such an important
voice and style. . . . It will occupy a significant place in the intellectual
and ethical life of modern man for a long time to come."
Dr. Shaligram Shukla Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University
"I can say that in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is I have found explanations
and answers to questions I had always posed regarding the interpretations of
this sacred work, whose spiritual discipline I greatly admire. If the
aesceticism and ideal of the apostles which form the message of the
Bhagavad-gita As It Is were more widespread and more respected, the world in
which we live would be transformed into a better, more fraternal place."
Dr. Paul Lesourd, Author Professeur Honoraire, Catholic University of Paris
"When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this
universe everything else seems so superfluous."
Albert Einstein
"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I
see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a
verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of
overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and
new meanings from it every day."
Mahatma Gandhi
"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal
philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita, in comparison with which our modern world and
its literature seem puny and trivial."
Henry David Thoreau
"The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by
its devotion to God which is manifested by actions."
Dr. Albert Schweitzer
"The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living
creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new
meaning for every civilization."
Sri Aurobindo
"The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been
current in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato
in his Timaeus in which it states 'behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly
plant.' This correlation can be discerned by what Krishna expresses in chapter
15 of Bhagavad-Gita."
Carl Jung
"The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of
human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of
life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the
universe."
Prime Minister Nehru
"The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of
life's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion."
Herman Hesse
"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-gita. It was the first of
books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but
large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another
age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which
exercise us."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with
full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it."
Rudolph Steiner
"From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human
existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all
the teachings of the Vedic scriptures."
Adi Shankara
"The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual
evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and
comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its
enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity."
Aldous Huxley
"The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of
devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The Supreme
Lord Krishna's primary purpose for descending and incarnating is relieve the
world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed to
spiritual development, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable intention to
be perpetually within reach of all humanity."
Ramanuja
The Bhagavad-Gita is not seperate from the Vaishnava philosophy and the Srimad
Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrine which is
transmigation of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita
one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare. When the second
chapter has been read it can be clearly understood that knowledge and the soul
is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studying the third chapter it is
apparent that acts of righteousness are also of high priority. If we continue
and patiently take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and try to ascertain
the truth of its closing chapter we can see that the ultimate conclusion is to
relinquish all the conceptualized ideas of religion which we possess and fully
surrender directly unto the Supreme Lord.
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati
"The Mahabharata has all the essential ingredients necessary to evolve
and protect humanity and that within it the Bhagavad-Gita is the epitome of
the Mahabharata just as ghee is the essence of milk and pollen is the essence
of flowers."
Madhvacarya
Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning and a technical meaning.
The general meaning is the joining together or union of any two or more
things. The technical meaning is “a state of stability and peace and the
means or practices which lead to that state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the
word with both meanings. Lord Krishna is real Yogi who can
maintain a peaceful mind in the midst of any crisis."
Mata Amritanandamayi Devi.
Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana are but three paths to this end. And common to all
the three is renunciation. Renounce the desires, even of going to heaven, for
every desire related with body and mind creates bondage. Our focus of action
is neither to save the humanity nor to engage in social reforms, not to seek
personal gains, but to realize the indwelling Self itself.
Swami Vivekananda (England, London; 1895-96 )
"Science describes the structures and processess; philosophy attempts at
their explaination.-----
When such a perfect combination of both science and philosophy is sung to
perfection that Krishna was,
we have in this piece of work an appeal both to the head annd heart. "
____________Swamy Chinmayanand on Gita
I seek that Divine Knowledge by knowing which nothing remains to be known!'
For such a person knowledge and ignorance has only one meaning: Have you
knowledge of God? If yes, you a Jnani! If not, you are ignorant.As said in the
Gita, chapter XIII/11, knowledge of Self, observing everywhere the
object of true Knowledge i.e. God, all this is declared to be true Knowledge
(wisdom); what is contrary to this is ignorance."
Sri Ramakrishna .
Maharishi calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a
complete guide to practical life. It provides “all that is needed to raise
the consciousness of man to the highest possible level.” Maharishi reveals
the deep, universal truths of life that speak to the needs and aspirations of
everyone.
Maharshi Mahesh Yogi
The Gita was preached as a preparatory lesson for living worldly life with an
eye to Release, Nirvana. My last prayer to everyone, therefore, is that one
should not fail to thoroughly understand this ancient science of worldly life
as early as possible in one’s life.
--- Lokmanya Tilak
I believe that in all the living languages of the world, there is no book so
full of true knowledge, and yet so handy. It teaches self-control, austerity,
non-violence, compassion, obedience to the call of duty for the sake of duty,
and putting up a fight against unrighteousness (Adharma). To my
knowledge, there is no book in the whole range of the world’s literature so
high above as the Bhagavad-Gita, which is the treasure-house of Dharma nor
only for the Hindus but for all mankind.
--- M. M. Malaviya