Gita Jayanti

May you have an auspicious Gita Jayanti. May you study the Gita from a qualified Guru and enjoy the benefits of success, happiness, and fulfillment.

Sanatana dharma has produced thousands of texts to study from; you will not be able to study or master all of them in one lifetime. However, if you were to choose one out of those many texts, it would be wise to choose the Bhagavad Gita.

Today, the Gita is the most famous Hindu text and has been translated into every major language.

Bhagavad Gita has influenced many thinkers, including Mahatma Gandhi, Aldous Huxley, Henry David Thoreau, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Jung, Bulent Ecevit, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Himmler, Nikola Tesla, and many others.

When the first atomic bomb was successfully detonated on July 16, 1945 in the Trinity test in New Mexico, Robert Oppenheimer, "the father of the atomic bomb," quoted verses from the Bhagavad Gita (this can be found on YouTube).

Sunita Williams, the American astronaut who holds the record for longest single space flight by a woman, carried a copy of the Bhagavad Gita with her during her space flight.

The verse below is found in the Gita dhyAnam, the introduction of the Bhagavad Gita.

sarvopaniṣado gāvo dogdhā gopāla nandanaḥ

pārtho vatsaḥ sudhirbhoktā dugdhaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ mahat

Meaning:

The Upanishads are like the cows; the milker is Krishna (the cowherd boy). Partha (Arjuna) is the calf; people of purified intellect are the drinkers and the milk is the great nectar of life found in the Gita.

This verse describes the benefits that we get when we receive the wonderful teachings of the Gita. The Gita wonderfully provides solutions to all of the problems and challenges we face in our lives. Take a dip in the glorious river of the Gita to cleanse yourself of life’s obstacles and challenges, then drink its nectar to enjoy the sweetness of life.

The Gita is also one of the "Triple Canons of Vedanta"; Upanishads, Gita & Brahma Sutras. It was the great Adi Shankara in the 8th century who wrote extensive commentaries on the Upanishads, Gita & Brahma Sutras. Since that time, many Acharyas have followed in his footsteps by writing commentaries, translating, and teaching the Gita to their disciples. Today, people from all walks of life, all over the world, theists and athiests, philosophers, scientists, scholars, and the average person, study and benefit from the Gita in many languages.

May you receive the "nectar of life" from the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita!

Om shāntiḥ shāntiḥ shāntiḥ

~ Sri Rajaji

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