Tuesday 2 December 2014

25 Inspiring Facts about the Bhagavad Geeta

  1. Bhagavad Geeta means the Song of the Lord.
  2. Given in a battle field, the setting is symbolic of the ethical, moral and spiritual struggles of the human life.
  3. Compiled by Sri Veda Vyasa, it is found in the largest poem ever – Mahabharata which has 1 lakh verses
  4. A Holistic book, Geeta covers the topics of JEEVA, JAGAT & ISHWARA – The Individual, The World & God. 
  5. It is a Moksha shaastra- Scripture whose main purpose is Freedom from sorrow and experience of Permanent Happiness. 
  6. It cures the problem by the treatment of the root cause and does not merely provide relief.
  7. First word of Geeta is  dharma and last word of Geeta  is mama. To summarise what the Geeta deals with is – Mama Dharma or  My Dharma.
  8. When one says geeta, geeta, geeta….it becomes taagee or Tyagi. It means one who renounces.  Renunciation of the ego and ego-centric selfishness is the heart of the Geeta and not mere external renunciation.  
  9. It’s a universal scripture.  Not only meant for Hindus.  There is no word Hindu in the whole Geeta. 
  10. Arjuna's delusion was destroyed through the Knowledge of Dedication, Devotion and Discrimination given in the Geeta. A dejected Arjuna transformed into a dynamic man of action through the Geeta way of life. 
  11. The teacher and the student of the Geeta lived a family life and yet discussed about the highest spiritual truth, detachment while loving, inspiration inspite of stress at work, selflessness in serving the society, higher way of living etc. Hence Geeta is relevant to all and not only to renunciates. 
  12. Active Resistance to Evil and Aggressive Goodness form the basis of Sri Krishna’s clarion call to Arjuna to perform his duty. Geeta does not advocate escapism.   
  13. Geeta inspired non-violent Indian freedom fighters like Gandhiji and revolutionaries like Khudiram bose alike. Balgangadhar Tilak, Vinoba Bhave even gave lectures on Geeta when they were in prison to the prisoners and wrote commentaries on it.  
  14. Gandhiji used to say that I open any page of the geeta when I have a problem and I find my solution there.  For him Geeta was his “Spiritual Dictionary”
  15. All the 6 schools of Philosophy accept the Geeta.
  16. It is the essence of the Upanishads
  17. Geeta has 701 verses in 18 chapters.  It is found in the Bhishma Parva of Mahabharata from Chapter 25 to 42.
  18. Geeta is a smriti.  It presents the ancient vedic concepts in the context of modern times. Presents concepts like Yagna in a modern light by interpreting it as team-work for a selfless cause. 
  19. Sri Krishna talks in the Geeta from 5 different standpoints – As Infinite Consciousness, As the Creator Ishwara, As Sri Krishna, As a Teacher, As a friend. 
  20. Geeta is a part of Prasthaana Trayi – The three key texts of Vedanta which a seeker must study and follow- Brahmasutras, Upanishads and Bhagavad Geeta
  21. It is considered as the most popular and followed text of Hinduism
  22. It consists of Both – BrahmaVidya – Pure Science and Yoga-Shastra – Applied Science
  23. The whole Geeta is written in mainly Anushtup Chanda(Meter with 8 syllables in a quarter) and a few verses are in Trishtup Chanda(Meter with 11 syllables in a quarter)
  24. 701 verses of the Geeta are as as follows:  Dhritarashtra -1 verse, Sanjay - 41 verses, Arjuna - 84 Verses & Sri Krishna - 574 verses
  25. Geeta is a synthesis of Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga & Jnana Yoga  which cater to the Action-Emotion-Vision aspects of the personality