Universal Message Of The Bhagavad G T

This is the first volume of a three-volume work, Universal Message of the Bhagavad Gita -- a verse by verse exposition of the Gita by Swami Ranganathananda, President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. This commentary was originally given as a series of Sunday discourses, from 1988 to 1990, at the 1200-capacity Vivekananda Hall of the Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad, and it regularly drew an overflow audience consisting of a cross-section of the city population, including many youths. These lectures, delivered extempore, were recorded, and the audio and video cassettes have reached many homes in various parts of India and abroad. Packed with many stimulating and delightfully refreshing ideas, and drawing upon the works of eminent national and international poets, scientists, authors, and historians, this commentary explains the universal and humanistic teachings of The Song Celestial, as Edwin Arnold called the Gita, in the context of modern thought and modern needs.

In thirteenth-century Maharashtra, a new vernacular literature emerged to challenge the hegemony of Sanskrit, a language largely restricted to men of high caste. In a vivid and accessible idiom, this new Marathi literature inaugurated a public debate over the ethics of social difference grounded in the idiom of everyday life. The arguments of vernacular intellectuals pushed the question of social inclusion into ever-wider social realms, spearheading the development of a nascent premodern public sphere that valorized the quotidian world in sociopolitical terms. The Quotidian Revolution examines this pivotal moment of vernacularization in Indian literature, religion, and public life by investigating courtly donative Marathi inscriptions alongside the first extant texts of Marathi literature: the Lilacaritra (1278) and the Jñanesvari (1290). Novetzke revisits the influence of Chakradhar (c. 1194), the founder of the Mahanubhav religion, and Jnandev (c. 1271), who became a major figure of the Varkari religion, to observe how these avant-garde and worldly elites pursued a radical intervention into the social questions and ethics of the age. Drawing on political anthropology and contemporary theories of social justice, religion, and the public sphere, The Quotidian Revolution explores the specific circumstances of this new discourse oriented around everyday life and its lasting legacy: widening the space of public debate in a way that presages key aspects of Indian modernity and democracy.

Introduction 5 The Scene, Theme, and Character 10 Part I 16 The Gloom of Arjuna Part II 24 The Inner Doctrine Part III 42 The Secret of Work Part IV 52 Spiritual Knowledge Part V 62 Renunciation Part VI 70 Self Mastery Part VII 81 Spiritual Discernment Part VIII 89 The Mystery of Omnipresence Part IX 95 The Kingly Knowledge Part X 103 Universal Perfection Part XI 111 The Universal Manifestation Part XII 124 The Yoga of Devotion Part XIII 129 The Knower and the Known Part XIV 138 The Three Gunas or Qualities Part XV 144 Consciousness of the Supreme Part XVI 149 The Good and Evil Natures Part XVII 157 The Threefold Faith Part XVIII 164 Renunciation and Freedom

The Bhagavad Gita or the Divine Message of Lord Krishna, Incarnation of God, is one of the ancient scriptures of India. This message was delivered to a warrior-prince in a battlefield about five thousand years back. This message is universal and relevant to all ages and all countries. It gives a complete philosophy of life reconciling the secular and sacred, work and worship, matter and spirit. It represents a synthetic approach to the final goal of life, namely, liberation (salvation) or perfection. The Gita has fascinated the minds of men and women of both East and West, including Mahatma Gandhi, Charles Wilkins, Edwin Arnold, Emerson, Carlyle, Walt Whitman, David Thoreau and Robert Oppenheimer. Its message inspires stress-free, peaceful and useful life.

Two friends have a conversation at the outset of an epic war. One of them, Arjuna, is sad and confused in the face of imminent doom; the other, Krishna, decides to cheer him up and clear his doubts. Through the course of their battlefield dialogue Krishna assumes the role of a mentor teaching Arjuna the timeless wisdom of the 'Bhagavad-Gita'.Krishna's universal message applies to the whole of human life since it is an extension of his colorful, multi-dimensional personality: god, king, warrior, strategist, statesman, philosopher, charmer, and above all a joyful participant in the game of life.The Bhagavad-Gita is a great place to start if one wants to know about India's grand heritage, religion, art, culture, lifestyle, philosophy, and spirituality. The Complete Bhagavad-Gita explores the ancient text verse-by-verse, word-by-word and takes the reader on a journey of the Gita like never before.