Bhagavad Gita for Global Peace and Harmony

abracad, December 28, 2014 · Categories: externally authored, spirituality

By LT Col R KÂ Langar

Introduction

Bhagavad Gita is rightly called the scripture of mankind since whatever it teaches has universal appeal. Bhagavad Gita guides, encourages, protects, elevates, cautions but does not order you to do this and that. The person who studies Bhagavad Gita is drawn to act righteously but not driven to do so. At the end of the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to reflect on what has been told to him and act as he likes.Â There is a choice to act and yet there is no compulsion to act on what has been taught. Bhagavad Gita gives a free will to man to act on its teachings as per his own understanding. That is why Bhagavad Gita is called manâ€™s best friend. Friends never order you to do something. They only suggest or give their opinions when asked. All cultures of the world are based on some philosophy of life. Indian culture is based on spiritual philosophy. As there is no better book on spiritually than Bhagavad Gita, Indian culture is deeply influenced by Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita underscores that there is unity amongst all living beings as God resides in all. The essence of manâ€™s nature or our core nature or SUBHAVA is divine which is same in all. Difference between one man and the other is only due to our acquired nature or Samskaras which are different in each person. As our core nature is same in all, India stands for unity in diversity which paves the way for global peace and harmony.

Peace

Peace is our natural state. Man is essentially soul or Atma which has three inherent qualities which are SAT, CHIT, ANANDA or Truth, knowledge and Bliss. Â Truth and knowledge give us peace of mind which results in unending happiness or Bliss which has no opposite like opposite of heat is cold. We are peaceful when there is no turmoil inside us. And unless we are peaceful, we cannot be happy. Bhagavad Gita clearly states that when there is no peace, there can be no happiness. Peace is not silence. One can remain in silence and yet be not peaceful. Peace in not a passive state. Peace gives clarity of thoughts stability of mind detachment, maturity and right understanding. Selfishness disturbs peace of mind so one has to be completely unselfish to remain peaceful. A light mind with fewer positive and elevated thoughts gives peace of mind. Your mind becomes peaceful when the mind is pure and mind becomes pure when you do not talk ill of others, when you are unselfish, when you have no ego and last but not the least when you have complete faith in God. When you love God you do not expect anything from any one else as you are totally dependent on God. When you expect from others you are on a wanting mode which disturbs peace of mind. Peace also means freedom from anxiety. Doing good to others, dedicating yourself to a higher cause, serving others considering them as your own self gives you an elevated feeling which results in peace of mind.

Harmony

Harmony means that when things are arranged together, they are in agreement with each other. Like your thoughts, speech and actions should be in harmony with each other. What you think so should be your speech and likewise your actions are related to your speech and thoughts. Bhagavad Gita wonderfully harmonizes the philosophy of action, devotion and knowledge. For attainment of perfection all three yogas, that is Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga and Gyan yoga must be harmoniously blended.

Global peace and harmony

Bhagavad Gita if righteously understood and acted upon is a potent tool to bring about global peace and harmony. Bhagavad Gita teaches oneness, universal outlook, unity, equality equal mindedness and sameness which when followed can bring about world solidarity. In the world today a big cause of violence and disharmony is due to the fact that people belonging to a particular Religion or sect consider themselves superior to people belonging to other religion or sect. People donâ€™t realize that all religions come out from one God only even though the names of religions are different. As there is only one Head of any organization (there cannot be two) similarly there is only God of the entire universe. This is very clearly brought out in verse 11 of chapter 4 of Bhagavad Gita where Lord Krishna emphatically states that whichever way men approach Me, I accept and reward them as men on all sides follow My path or that all paths or religions lead to one God without a second. As in the case of a mountain, the top of the mountain is only one even though there may be many tracks to reach the top. People traversing different tracks will ultimately reach only top of the mountain. Whichever God or deity you pray, your prayers will reach the one Supreme God and all the rewards of prayers shall also come from the same God where your prayers had reached earlier. Same God is worshipped by all as all manifestations belong to the same Supreme God. Presence of your God in other Religions does not devalue your God as one light manifests itself in various forms. In other words what is here (God of one religion) is what is there (God of other religion). Those who see the difference revolve around the cycle of birth and death. Shri Rama Krishna had given a beautiful example to establish unity and oneness of God head. He said that from a pond when people take out the same water, they call of differently like WATER, JAL, PANI as per the language they speak. By calling the same water by different names, the water does not change its colour or taste. Similarly when one Supreme is called by different names, the Supreme does not change but remains the same. Oneness of God head is again underscored in chapter 15 of Bhagavad Gita where it is said that the world tree or cosmic tree has roots above and branches below. As the tree originates from one Supreme, it is said to have the roots above. When the source of the tree is only one, it is quite obvious that all Religions, sects and their founders come out from the same God, who is one without a second. All religions are equal and there is essential unity of all religions.

Conclusion

In the whole world literature there is no book so elevating and inspiring as Bhagavad Gita. It is a book which should not only be studies but acted upon and you obtain inner growth which gives newness and interest in life. The study of Bhagavad Gita gives peace and harmony which enables the reader to live dynamically while facing the problems of life. Bhagavad Gita teaches us that a better way of living the life is in our own hands and we are the makers of our own fate. Bhagavad Gita tells you that all problems erupt from inside a man and all solutions to the problems are also inside a man. It teaches you to live in the highest self and continue to be active in the worldly life. Gita says that there is no opposition between worldly and spiritual life. When you grow inwardly and spiritually, your worldly achievements are not retarded.