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Introduction
One
of the greatest contributions of India to the world is Holy Gita.
Arjuna got mentally depressed when he saw his relatives with whom he has
to fight. 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.
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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.
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.
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"We're
discovering that what we thought was fine, which was to be more
efficient, harder working and richer, doesn't actually lead to the
Nirvana we hoped for ... those who are making the most money are not
sure it's worth it. Who wants to be rich in the graveyard? And those who
aren't making any money think that the world doesn't make sense, because
money is supposed to be the only thing worth having and they haven't got
any."
“Tomorrow
we are going to wake up in a world in which we all need to realise that
we are condemned to freedom ... There is no escape. Institutions won't
shoulder responsibility because they are in a state of confused flux.
There is no church, no nation state, no market to rely on. There are no
cut and dried values to use as escape tools ... we are faced with the
prospect of taking charge of our own freedom ... responsibility for our
own health, for our own education, for our own careers - responsibility
for our own lives."
"The recent
anti-capitalist protests indicate a growing frustration with the
institutional arrangements currently in place. They also, largely, miss
the point. Global market capitalism is not a political ideology. It is
neither good or bad, right nor wrong - it just is."
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Management guidelines from the Bhagavad Gita |
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There is an
important distinction between effectiveness and efficiency in managing.
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:
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.
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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.
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The source of the problem |
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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.
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Utilization of available resources |
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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. |
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Attitudes towards work |
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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.
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'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.
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'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.
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'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.
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Work commitment |
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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.
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Motivation – self and self-transcendence |
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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.
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Work culture |
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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.
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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.
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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.
The Gita further
explains the theory of “detachment” from the extrinsic rewards of work
in saying:
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If the result of
sincere effort is a success, the entire credit should not be
appropriated by the doer alone.
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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.)
(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.)
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Manager's mental health |
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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:
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Greed - for power,
position, prestige and money.
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Envy - regarding
others' achievements, success, rewards.
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Egotism - about one's
own accomplishments.
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Suspicion, anger and
frustration.
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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.)
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Management needs those who practise what they preach |
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“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. |
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In conclusion |
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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.All
clouds will vanish. Light will fill the heart and mind. I assure him of
this. This is the
message of Holy
Gita.
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.)
M.P.Bhattathiri.
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Let us go
through what scholars say about Holy Gita. |
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"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
"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
"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
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