Our society has started to forget what real human values are, what is natural for people and how we should act as a society. Daily problems, big and smalls torture our minds. We are searching to resolve them here and there. But actually if we look inward, we see that we are the source of all our problems. In the present environment, we engage in activities for external purposes and thus we forget about our inner values. One reason for this ignorance is a lack of transcendental knowledge of the soul. We are exposed only to literature and beliefs based upon scientific investigations and proofs. But our modern scientists observe and measure only the matter, dead cells of living creatures, not the soul that is the life within them. This is why our present society needs a positive alternative knowledge, which brings a message beyond this material world and which can guide us to the path of self realization. But where can we find such knowledge? The most important wisdom I have learned from the subject of anthropology is that if we want to resolve the present problems, we should analyze and observe the past. Such a transcendental truth dealing with the material world, the nature of the living entities and our connection with the universe is hidden in the most ancient scriptures. These are the Vedic texts, which modern scientists unfortunately define as mythology. But the latest archeological excavations give us confidence about the existence of Vedic culture. With its religion and philosophy, it is the oldest living culture in the world.
The essence of Vedic knowledge is called Bhagavad Gita. Together with the Upanishads and the Vedanta-sutra, it is one of the three main sources of the Vedanta philosophy. Bhagavad Gita is an episode in Mahabharata, considered as the greatеst literary work of India and the world’s longest poem with 110,000 four-line stanzas. Many people perceive the story of Mahabharata as myth, and according to them mythology means something imaginary. But they can be misled by the Western scientific approach of manufacturing a methodology of understanding history through an observation of only the physical aspect of phenomenon . Actually, very few modern scholars and scientists have made the attempt to search for truth in the Vedic myths. “Consequently the history of Vedic India continues to reign as the biggest enigma of myth versus fact.” Every paradigm is changing and with new discoveries many of today’s myths become tomorrow’s history. But the Vedic knowledge itself is not affected by any superficial changes. It is a heritage of profound wisdom, which has been transmitted orally for millennia, generation after generation in a line of disciplic succession of bona fide spiritual masters to their students. At the down of the present age these scriptures were written down in Sanskrit, which many modern scholars consider as the world’s most ancient language. In the Vedas we find a different view of this world and the universe, as well as a completely different way of relating to them. Vedic literature, and especially Bhagavad Gita, presents information about a variety of issues such as ontology, ethics, theology and sociology. The Gita’s purpose is the deliverance of mankind from the material miseries and dualities, and to enlighten humanity with the transcendental science of self-realization. “Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in having to fight the Battle of Kurukshetra.” But Arjuna was fortunate to receive the message of Bhagavad Gita directly from Krishna, Who is mentioned on every page of Bhagavad Gita as Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. “He is the deliverer of all and the Supreme Father of all.” According to the Gita itself (BG 4.7), He appears in this material world to liberate every living entity, and His message, the Bhagavad Gita, is therefore applicable to everyone, and to all people. Krishna revealed to Arjuna the ultimate aim of the quest, which is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in eternal intimate love relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord. This ultimate transcendental purpose is called sanatana-dharma and it is beyond the preview of any sectarian process of religion. The whole purpose of Bhagavad Gita is to revive our sanatana occupation, or sanatana-dharma, which is the eternal occupation of all living beings. We are temporarily engaged in different material activities, but all of these activities can be purified if we take the journey of self realization. This means sacrifice to render service to the Supreme Lord and ultimately to society as a whole. Of course this transcendental journey can be achieved and experienced only through devotional service and practice, called bhakti yoga. Regardless, this is the Vedic science. It is not mythology. The efficacy of this knowledge is demonstrated by the performance of duty and devotion. “Sacrificial ethics of rendering service makes Vedic culture a giving culture.”
The dictionary definition of myth is “traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event”. The etymology is from the Greek “mythos”, which means “underlying system of beliefs, especially those dealing with supernatural forces, characteristic of a particular cultural group” . Because the origin is in supernatural forces, and is based on legend or oral tradition, the meaning has been changed into something akin to fairy tales. But this is not the original meaning. It was tradition. For example, the Christians say that Jesus walked on water and healed the sick. That is supernatural.The Bible also was not written down for generations. So it is also an oral tradition. But it could be said by this definition that Chritianity is a myth. After all, it was the Christians in their eagerness to stomp out ancient European traditions, creating the myth about paganism. Similarly, in India the British colonialists popularized this newer concept of myth when applying the same to Vedic culture. In the same way we may say Mahabharata is a myth, but it is due to our misunderstanding of the definition of mythology. Actually, many of the considered myths are becoming history with new archaeological discoveries. “In 1973 the Troy of Agamemnon, though previously deemed myth, entered the pages of acceptable history. Schliemann fulfills his childhood ambition by unearthing the city’s ruins, proving beyond a doubt that the Homeric epics had historical basis.” Joseph Campbell, the most famous American mythologist and Giorgio de Santillana, authority on the history of science, consider that myth legacy is even beyond science. It is dealing with the universal nature and our connection and place in the cosmos. The language describing these events is a very sophisticated science. The authors believe that there is a common primordial myth, a source of all sources. “What we call now myth could be the legacy and journals of ancient history of the highly advanced civilizations.” But none of the authors as well as none of the modern scientists has tackled the Vedic literature. No one has undertaken a holistic approach, covering all the Vedic literature.
One reason for this vague approach by the scholars and scientists towards the Vedic culture is the mentality of division between West and East. Of course, the Western civilization is thought to be superior. In spite of all the problems, it is considered a better place to live. “In actual practice there have always been and there are still civilizations. A Western civilization, with its special features, is simply one civilization among others, and what is so pompously called “the evolution of civilization” is nothing more than the development of that particular civilization from its comparatively recent origins.” Westerners consider Vedic pastimes as too mysterious and very difficult to analyze. For that reason very few academics have decided to take the quest of searching for Vedic India, and consequently its history is still unrevealed. “The Vedic period’s actual history is still to a great extent wrapped in darkness and unexplored. Above all, the chronology of the history of the Indian literature is shrouded in truly terrifying darkness and most of the riddles still remain to be solved by research.” It is very hard to give any specific data, because “even today the most significant researches differ about the age of the most important Indian literary works, not by about few years or decades, but even by about few centuries, if not by one to two millennia.” But the Vedic civilization had a different perception of history. They understood life’s cyclical nature. Many other civilizations as the Maya and the Greek also shared the same perception. They considered the content of philosophy as more important than the written history. The planetary and cosmic accounts were their historical guideline. Their way of historical record was an oral transmission of philosophical wisdom from bona fide priests to students of next generation. This way of oral transmission was used by other ancient epochs as the Iliad and the Odyssey. “There can be no doubt that this kind of oral transmission gives a greater guarantee for the preservation of the original text than copying and recopying of manuscripts.” “It is certainly true that intellectual activity in India has always strongly favored oral over written means of expression.” “Even today, when India knows the art of writing for centuries, where they have innumerable manuscripts ... when the most important texts are accessible even in India in cheap prints, even today the whole literary and scientific activity in India is based on the spoken language.” These evidence points out that in ancient Vedic India there were not any written scripts. The oldest known writing materials used in India were palm leaves and birch bark. Both materials are fragile and easily perish in the Indian climate. Therefore, “Vedic texts and culture is normally dated roughly from 4000 B.C to 900 A.D” . The Vedas are written in Sanskrit, which is the most ancient language. Before the first successful archaeological excavations concerning Vedic India, Sanskrit was the only Vedic cultural link for Europeans. Most of the contemporary Indian languages have their Sanskrit origin such as Hindi, Bengali, Dogri, Kashmiri, Nepali, Oriya, Sindhi, and Tamil. It is also used by Buddhist and Jaina scholars. The earliest varieties of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages are also forms of Sanskrit. My impression is that Sanskrit appears to be this common original Proto-Indi-European language, on which scientists agreed that existed somewhere. “Sanskrit is elegantly described in one of the finest grammars ever produced.” Of course Mahabharata and all the Vedic texts are also composed in Sanskrit. But apparently, the most important factor for the proof of the existence of Vedic India is archeology. It is a prime tool for revealing the secrets of past civilizations. The different excavations in India find very few skeleton remains. This is due to the cremation of dead bodies, which is still practiced by most Indians today. It is one of the many rituals, which contemporary India inherited from the Vedic past. However, the excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro cities proved the existence of Indian prehistoric civilization, dating back to at least 4,500 years. “Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa is…not an incipient civilization, but one already age-old and stereotyped on Indian soil, with many millenniums of human endeavor behind it.” What is more, modern technology contributes to the discovery of an ancient river, called Sarasvati. It is the principal river of the Rig Veda. This river was one of the myths, proven to be fact. After all these discoveries many archaeologists complain that their hard work is diminished by “still prevailing 18th century European interpretations of ethnocentrism, colonialism, racism, and anti-Semitism that continue to be imposed on South Asian cultural history.” These are all prejudices based on our material desire to lord over nature and over others. But the Vedas give us knowledge and wisdom beyond this visible plain of material existence. They teach us how to live peacefully in this material world, how to deal with fulfilling the requirements of everyday life. The Vedas also teach us how to elevate our consciousness to a spiritual platform of enlightenment and self-realization. They help us take our inner journey of transformation. “It is a liberating experience to study an entire culture that thrives upon realities our mainstream culture never sees.” Why then should we not take a deeper look into the Vedas and especially the essence of Vedic knowledge, Bhagavad Gita?
Bhagavad Gita is one of the most translated works in the world. It is widely published and especially popular throughout the world, although most Vedic texts are commonly read in the West. It is an interesting question why it is so appealing to the Western people. According to Stefan Cholakov, Bulgarian author on ancient Indian culture, “Bhagavad Gita contains the highest level of experience of Hindu thought to understand human nature and its place in the universe. Of all the great texts of Indian religious literature, it is perhaps the most popular, while the deepest. As we work to develop such a doctrine, describing all possible ways to achieve liberation, Bhagavad Gita reaches such a universality that has puzzled some researchers.” Every prominent authority on Hinduism makes a comment or speaks on the issues addressed in the work. It brings together different religious and philosophical trends, but it also presents transcendental knowledge, which is not to be found elsewhere. Bhagavad Gita is recognized by the spiritual circles throughout the world as a preeminent spiritual classic. The philosophy of Bhagavad Gita is dealing with four main branches: epistemology, logic, metaphysics and ethics. This means two perspectives: knowledge related to the material world and transcendental knowledge. “Complete knowledge includes knowledge of the phenomenal world and the spirit behind it. The source of both of them is transcendental knowledge.” Bhagavad Gita is the ultimate guide for self realization. It teaches us how to live a pure lifestyle under any circumstances and social status, and also teaches service of society. It gives us the methodology to live peacefully in this material world, and how to uplift our spiritual platform of realization. It teaches us the cultivation of good qualities such as humility, pridelessness, tolerance, simplicity, cleanliness, steadiness, self-control, renunciation of the objects of the sense gratification, absence of false ego, accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical research for the Absolute Truth. Somehow we have forgotten these natural characteristics and have developed only negative ones such as lust, depravity, and desire for sense gratification. As a result we are entangled in the bondage of material illusion and ignorance, living in complexity and confusion. This is why the path of enlightenment and self-realization is a long and winding one. To this end, Bhagavad Gita is designed for everyone, despite of his social position, gender and nationality.
In the Bhagavad Gita, the warrior Arjuna was also confused about his duty at the start of the Kurukshetra war. He was full of anxieties as every one of us, due to our material existence and sinful activities. Arjuna was hesitating whether or not to fulfill his prescribed duty as kshatria (Sanskrit for “warrior”). This happened “just before the onset of a war, a great fratricidal conflict between the hundred sons of Dhratarashtra and on the opposing side their cousins the Pandavas, or sons of Pandu.” Among supporters of the five Pandavas was Krishna, who was their friend and cousin. On the day of the battle, he drove the chariot of Prince Arjuna, one of Pandavas. Before the beginning of the battle, Arjuna wished to see his enemies, standing on the side of injustice, and to look into their eyes. Krishna drove his chariot into the middle of the Battlefield of Kurukshetra. Then came the moment of catharsis as a young prince saw the faces of his relatives, teachers and friends. Trembling and overcome by despair, Arjuna through down his bow and refused to fight. He expressed that it would be better to die than to enter into this fratricidal war. Krishna began to convince that he should fight. Explaining that weakness will not solve anything, Krishna told his worrier disciple to defend righteousness. Now, Lord Krishna revealed to Arjuna His real identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He Himself had descendent to earth and was playing the role of a prince in a contemporary dynasty. Arjuna accepted Krishna as the Supreme Lord and became a soul committed to Him. He surrendered to the Supreme One, Who then spoke Bhagavad Gita. “Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me” .
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is very merciful upon the human beings. He came down to earth specifically to deliver the real purpose of life that we have forgotten. He also reestablished the line of disciplic succession of spiritual masters, through which the supreme transcendental knowledge is transmitted. “Here the Lord informs Arjuna that this system of yoga, the Bhagavad Gita, was first spoken to the sun-god, and the sun-god explained it to Manu, and Manu explained it to Ikshvaku, and in that way, by disciplic succession, one speaker after another, this yoga system has been coming down. But in the course of time it has become lost. Consequently the Lord has to speak it again, this time to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra.” This means that Bhagavad Gita is the supreme transcendental knowledge spoken directly by the Supreme Lord Himself. He is the supreme authority and the Supreme spiritual master. He is the cause of all causes and the source of all sources. This fact is “confirmed by all great acharyas (spiritual masters) like Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarka Swami, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and many other authorities of Vedic knowledge in India.” Therefore we should take Bhagavad Gita directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself. The reason why Bhagavad Gita is so popular and appealing throughout the world is because the Supreme Lord Krishna is the source of knowledge. In Sanskrit Krishna means “the all attractive reservoir of transcendental pleasure”.
Arjuna accepted everything from Lord Krishna without contradicting Him. In this way he became ready to perceive the supreme pure transcendental knowledge, which is beyond any type of designation. Krishna instructed Arjuna "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me." This means that we should realize that the material world we are living in is temporary. History shows us how many great civilizations have reigned over huge territories, but they have all disappeared. This is the law of the material nature, there is nothing permanent here. But beyond the visible plane of this material world, there is an eternal nature, called sanatana-dharma. Sanatana-dharma means devotional service. The word sanatana refers to that which is eternal, which does not change but continues in all circumstances. “We have an intimate relationship with the Lord, and because we are all qualitatively one--the sanatana-dharma … the sanatana Supreme Personality and the sanatana living entities--the whole purpose of Bhagavad Gita is to revive our sanatana occupation, or sanatana-dharma, which is the eternal occupation of the living entity.” The duty is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even if we deviate from this principle, we remain servants because that is our eternal position. But in this case we will have to serve the illusion of the material world. That is why Bhagavad Gita is beyond even religion, because it is the eternal connection with the Supreme Lord. He is the source of all sources, which means He is beyond everything. Therefore, sanatana-dharma does not refer to any sect, group, nationality or religion. Faith is the main idea in religion, but faith can be changed. A Muslim can become a Christian and vice verse. On the other hand, sanatana-dharma refers to something that cannot be changed. Eternity is a dimension from here and now, which has nothing to do with time. It has neither beginning nor end, which means we must take it for granted as Arjuna did. We should realize that sanatana-dharma is the real nature and real business of all the people of the world, of all the living entities of the universe.
We are currently entangled in the illusionary energy of the material world. As a result our consciousness is very contaminated due to many sinful activities. But we can purify our consciousness when we reject all ideas of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation, and take up the activities which are prescribed by the Supreme Lord. This means purity in life. But the supreme purity is love of the Supreme Lord. Our loving connection with the Godhead is the original function of the spirit soul, and it is as eternal as the soul and the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. When we revive this initial state of loving service unto the Supreme Lord, it can be said we have successfully achieved the desired goal of our lives. Regretfully this original loving occupation with the Lord has been in a serious decline. The duty of saintly persons, therefore, is to take up seriously the cause of sanatana-dharma and try to reestablish it for the benefit of the entire human society. “The essential message of Bhagavad Gita is that Krishna taught Arjuna how to perform his duty in the same transcendental manner as the Lord performs His.” From the Vedic perspective duty means sacrifice. We should stop thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, but think in terms of rendering service to the Supreme Lord and to society. This is the main difference between this temporary material and the eternal spiritual world. Here we are striving to take and there the living beings are striving to give. The highest sacrifice is the level of loving devotion to the Supreme Lord. Krishna says to Arjuna, “One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service.”
Mundane philosophers and scientists cannot attain real knowledge of the Supreme Lord by logical reasoning and arguments. At least we should accept theoretically Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to Whom we should render service. As Lord Krishna confirms in Bhagavad Gita, (BG 6.1), “He who performs his prescribed sacrifices as a duty to the Lord is the real transcendentalist, not he who lights no fire and performs no work.” Therefore we can attain the highest aim of sanatana-dharma only through practice, or devotional service. This methodology is even adopted and accepted by many modern scientists as the best way of testing and research. This method is called participant observation. “It is a research method involving direct participation of the researcher in the events being studied.” Benjamin Zablocki, an American professor of sociology admits that this scientific method is one of the best ways for observing the sacredness of the different societies. “I have spent a time of my professional life as a participant-observer of the sacred in communal contexts. As a result of these adventures, my respect for the power of this methodological technique for understanding religious social experience has grown steadily over the years. Therefore, if we want to understand the Supreme Lord and achieve our original eternal loving occupation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead we should adopt this method of participant observation, or yoga of practice. In Bhagavad Gita this practice is described as bhakti yoga, which is the spiritual discipline for self-realization. The purpose of bhakti yoga is to restore our sanatana-dharma. This means that we should know our constitutional position as parts and parcels of God, and act accordingly. The first and the most important aspect of devotional service in bhakti yoga is called shravanam. In Sanskrit, shravanam means “listening”. In Bhagavad Gita the Lord says to Arjuna “Hear from Me”. This is why we should take up Bhagavad Gita in a spirit of devotion and perceive this transcendental knowledge directly from the Supreme source through the practice of listening. The second most important practice of bhakti yoga is to associate with devotees of the Lord. “Such association is spiritual and puts one directly in touch with the Supreme Lord, and by His grace, one can understand Krishna to be the Supreme God.” The third process is called kirtanam, or glorifying the names of the Supreme Lord. When we reach a full perception of the Absolute Truth, we see everything in connection with the Supreme Lord, since He is the cause of all causes and the source of all sources. Therefore, there is no difference in quality between the names of the Lord and He Himself. The best method for sacrificial service and worship of the Supreme Lord is chanting and glorifying the holy names of the Lord. “One who does so is certainly very intelligent, and he attains shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord.”
Intelligence also means the realization of how important our human life is. Regretfully we have been diminished in our activities to those of the animals: sleeping, eating, defending, and breeding. We should have a higher consciousness than the animals and higher aims. We need activities and practices that will uplift our contaminated consciousness to the spiritual platform. These directions are given in all the Vedic literatures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad Gita. Although our contemporary civilization has reached a focal point of human and social regress, there are positive signs towards auspicious changes in the global consciousness. But these changes must be approached from within. We need to take our inner journey and cleanse our hearts. This is a very difficult and long process that cannot be accomplished through purely external methods as political, economical or social adjustments. The aim is to offer our intimate loving feelings unto the Supreme Lord, Who is within each of our hearts. We should revive the lost consciousness of our eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Of course, it is the duty of every devotee of the Lord to revive this consciousness among members of the society through delivering the supreme transcendental message. The essence of this message is Bhagavad Gita.
Bhagavad Gita presents the world as it is, in the clarity of its actual purpose. It delivers us the transcendental knowledge of the divine nature of our real eternal position as parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. It is a very authoritative source, because it is spoken directly by the Supreme Bhagavan, Lord Krishna, the cause of all causes and the source of all sources. In chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna speaks about the importance of receiving the transcendental knowledge of the Gita in the proper disciplic succession of spiritual masters, which He Himself reestablished through Arjuna. This line of disciplic succession has reached our contemporary world through the Gaudiya Vaishnava succession of teachers. It is represented by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to whom we owe our humble obeisances for presenting Bhagavad Gita to the Western world in a spirit of devotion. None of the previous commentaries and translations of the book have successfully delivered the transcendental message of the Supreme Lord. Only Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translated and commented by Shrila Bhaktivedanta Swami has reached the hearts of millions throughout the world. “This book is then a welcome addition from many points of view. It can serve as a valuable textbook for the college student. It allows us to listen to a skilled interpreter explicating a text which has profound religious meaning. It gives us insight into the original and highly convincing ideas of the Gaudiya Vaishnava school.” The transcendental message of Bhagavad Gita As It Is is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. So developing a taste for hearing and discussing that message means entering deeper and deeper into a personal intimate relationship with Krishna entirely within our hearts.
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