The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna. It is one of the most popular books in the field of spirituality. There are a lot of things that people take away from it. Like many say, ‘Whenever I have a problem, I look into the Gita and I get my answers to it. That is the message of the Gita.
Others say Gita speaks about fulfilling one’s duties and hence it is a dharma shastra. Maybe. Others say that Gita helps me to handle my stress and challenges in life. Maybe. Others say that the Gita helps me to successful in life. Like this, there are very many opinions of the user and many people take away different messages from it. This only goes to show that 1. The Gita can deal with a wide variety of subjects. 2. People have not got the central message of the Gita.
If one studies the Bhagavad Gita traditionally and holistically, it is very clear that the central message of the Gita is none of the above. The central message is that the Gita deals with the fundamental identity of a human being and the person's existential issues of finitude, limitations, isolation and loneliness in spite of having friends and family around you. Basically, the Gita addresses these questions – Who am I as an individual? Who am I at the core? How real are my existential issues and how does one deal with them? What is moksha? What is the world made up of? What is my purpose? The core message of the Gita is to help me manage my life happily. This frees up my mind from its many concerns so that it can focus on and understand the answer to ‘Who am I’? The answer is that you are the changeless, limitless one. Unless you get this message, any other understanding will be incomplete and probably confused as well.
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
