WDT#12: What life lessons do you get from Bhagavad Gita? - Page 2

At the Age of 16 I started  reading Geeta  at first  I did not understand  it as Shudh hindi  Translations i,t took me at least  5 years to understand   Geeta  and I use to listen  Cd  also 

Beautiful topic as always 

Starting with the one you mentioned in post 

Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata |

Abhythanamadharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham ||

Paritranaya sadhunang vinashay cha dushkritam 

Dharmasangsthapanarthay sambhabami yuge yuge ||

This is such a comfort shloka, the first shloka I heard from bhagwat Geeta, in short bhagwan is just saying that I am here, I was there, and I will always be here for you.

Just be on the right path, be merciful towards other, keep your heart in good place and follow dharma always 

Everyone says bhagwat Geeta is the answer key to all your questions, I totally agree 

jatasya hi dhruvo mrutyurdhruvam janm mrutasya ch। tasmadapariharyeऽrthe na tvam shochitumarhasi

For death is certain for the born and birth is certain for the dead. Therefore you should not grieve over the inevitable

Have a bittersweet relationship with this shloka. I went through the same loss mentioned in above Line previous year  and when someone said this very line to me I burst into tears. How to not grieve over inevitable, how to deal with the loss when you know many people older than the person you lost are still living a healthy happy life and you lost a family member forever, how to come in terms with this unfair feeling.

When the thoughts turned dark, truth pulled me in the light 

na jayate mriyate va kadachin nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah। ajo nityah shashvatoऽyam purano na hanyate hanyamane sharire

The soul is never born, it never dies having come into being once, it never ceases to be.

Unborn, eternal, abiding and primeval, it is not slain when the body is slain.

We all have our life set --- true but not true 

Its like a self paced learning course, you learn something then there's a test for you, pass it by learning something, fail it and learn something 

Only you're responsible for your decisions but you can't choose the outcome just keep following your dharma.

He's the origin of creation, from him everything is originated and everything will get vanish in him only. We have given a chance to learn, explore and observe something unique and wonderful.

Will post more of shlokas afterwards 

Amazing ....I Love Bhagavad Gita.....started learning the Shlokas recently..... 

My Favourite is Bhakti Yoga the 12th chapter where the slokas starting from the 15th to 20th say who are all the dear ones to lord Krishna...... 

यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च य: |

हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो य: स च मे प्रिय: || 15||

Those who are not a source of annoyance to anyone and who in turn are not agitated by anyone, who are equal in pleasure and pain, and free from fear and anxiety, such devotees of Mine are very dear to Me.

अनपेक्ष: शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथ: |

सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी यो मद्भक्त: स मे प्रिय: || 16||

Those who are indifferent to worldly gains, externally and internally pure, skillful, without cares, untroubled, and free from selfishness in all undertakings, such devotees of Mine are very dear to Me.

यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ् क्षति |

शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्य: स मे प्रिय: || 17||

Those who neither rejoice in mundane pleasures nor despair in worldly sorrows, who neither lament for any loss nor hanker for any gain, who renounce both good and evil deeds, such persons who are full of devotion are very dear to Me.

सम: शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयो: |

शीतोष्णसुखदु:खेषु सम: सङ्गविवर्जित: || 18||

तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् |

अनिकेत: स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नर: || 19||

Those, who are alike to friend and foe, equipoised in honor and dishonor, cold and heat, joy and sorrow, and are free from all unfavorable association; those who take praise and reproach alike, who are given to silent contemplation, content with what comes their way, without attachment to the place of residence, whose intellect is firmly fixed in Me, and who are full of devotion to Me, such persons are very dear to Me.

ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते |

श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रिया: || 20||

Those who honor this nectar of wisdom declared here, have faith in Me, and are devoted and intent on Me as the supreme goal, they are exceedingly dear to Me.

Here Krishna clearly says what makes a devotee so dear to him .... मे प्रियः। This state is highly difficult to reach though it sounds simple..... Everything is entangled to the single thing called अचञ्चल निष्कपट भक्ति ( unwavering Devotion without any expectation from him) When try to slowly follow all thats mentioned in the 6 slokas above we might reach this state of undivided faith..... 

Bhagavad Gita cannot be understood fully to the point is what my teacher says....how much ever u try next time you get a different perspective of things... So he advices everyone to read one chapter per day with meaning .... Revisit the chapter after 18 days , thats one full round of Gita and you end up reading something new each time....

Thanks for this thread... shall try to add in more .....

Hare Krishna 

Shreemad Bhagvad Geeta is the Manual of Life.

When in life did Geeta not give lessons about how to live to each and everybody? 

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् 

Remember your school days, studying history or watching historical entertainment? I saw Ram and Krishna taking birth again and again proving the promise of Geeta to be true. 

Let's start from the ancient....... Adi Shankaracharya! When humanity was intoxicated with Karmkaand...... Taking wrong inspirations from Vedas and Upanishads... Adi Shankaracharya emerged from a poor family and rose to establish Hindu Dharma! The term 'Hindu' that each one of us relates so easily with was coined by Shree  Adi Shankaracharya!

Time passed and Dharma was once again downtrodden under wrong, unrighteous principles. Again from a poor family emerged Sant Dyaneshwar who narrated Geeta once again, this time for common people and created Bhagwat Dharma giving the right of devotion to each and every being irrespective of cast and dharma.

Time passed again and another young hero saw injustice happening with common people. He took those very common people, his friends, along and fought against tyranny to establish Swaraajya. He called himself Shivba, his friends called him Raje Shivaji and today we know him as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The true Shrimant Yogi as Sant Ramdas correctly described him. In spite of being the king of Maratha Swaraj, he lived his life like a Yogi, following Geeta's karm-yog stringently, reiterating to himself and his people again and again..... He Swarajya Vhaave hee tar Shreenchi Ichcha!

The Kaalchakra moved further and India was captured by Britishers. The tyranny prevailed again and then Narayan took Tridev roop of Laal, Baal and Paal. ....... Lala Lajapatray, Baal Gangadhar Tilak, Surendranath Pal....... the demand for Swarajya came roaring back when Lokmaanya claimed, "Swarajya ha maajha janmasiddh adhikar aahe aani mee toh Milavanaarach" ( Self rule is my birthright and I WILL get it) He sparked discontent in every downtrodden heart. When jailed in Mandalay, he wrote GeetaRahasya! 

This chain can continue on and on..... Be it Medha Patkar revolting for tribes suffering due to Narmada dam or be it baba Amte to start working for leprotic patients to create Aanandvan.........

If we believe that Paramatma Narayan is restricted to idols of Rama and Krishna, then we are not understanding their divinity at all....... Every time a selfless act occurs for the benefit of the downtrodden, to establish righteous Dharma and resist unrighteous ways, it's Narayana emerging again.

He resides in all of us equally but unfortunately under his Mayanidra...... when we renounce our selfish goals and rise above ourselves, he will awaken inside our soul ....... as our own Ram ! as our own Shyam! As our own Narayan.....that's his promise! Tat Atmanam Srujami Aham!

Amen!!

p.s. My apology for late comment, hence tagging all. I will come back with more experiences of Geeta as and when time permits..... hope there's no time restriction on thought-sharing here.

That was really informative , thank you for tagging me and please keep tagging me in more posts like this

Originally posted by: Pete15rogmourey

That was really informative , thank you for tagging me and please keep tagging me in more posts like this

Thank you, Pete. Yes, I shall tag you in next posts. 

Originally posted by: RamAayeHain

Have a bittersweet relationship with this shloka. I went through the same loss mentioned in above Line previous year  and when someone said this very line to me I burst into tears. How to not grieve over inevitable, how to deal with the loss when you know many people older than the person you lost are still living a healthy happy life and you lost a family member forever, how to come in terms with this unfair feeling.

My hugs to you, Shruti!, embracing your pain....... your pure heart......your pain is my pain, too! Because the same pain resides in my heart, too!.....

It hurts because we want to hold on to it; on to that loving support we could always trust; on to that love which would never ever fade......  that most hurting phase....... which we could not imagine living through......yet, we did...... we did; because........... while we were trying to hold onto that known support, that love......we were already supported by a larger everlasting love.....love that instils hope.........hope for life..........The Jijivisha!........Even though we were unaware......Krishna was our life charioteer in that phase and then always! 

Hugs once again ........ with genuine love for you in my heart!

Originally posted by: Loving2Missing2

My hugs to you, Shruti!, embracing your pain....... your pure heart......your pain is my pain, too! Because the same pain resides in my heart, too!.....

It hurts because we want to hold on to it; on to that loving support we could always trust; on to that love which would never ever fade......  that most hurting phase....... which we could not imagine living through......yet, we did...... we did; because........... while we were trying to hold onto that known support, that love......we were already supported by a larger everlasting love.....love that instils hope.........hope for life..........The Jijivisha!........Even though we were unaware......Krishna was our life charioteer in that phase and then always! 

Hugs once again ........ with genuine love for you in my heart!

Thank you Neha 

I still can't talk about the feelings I develop on the daily basis of grief and then laugh out loud with evryone else to suppress or seperate it from me 

But I know one day I will get better 

Thanks a lot for this though, means a lot 

Geeta taught me, I a human is but a tiny speck in the universe, I have no power over others, I have power only over myself, I can choose to give up my efforts and accept defeat or I can choose to give up my ego and work hard and try to win. 

If I try I may win or I may lose, But if I don't try I will definitely lose

Karmanye Vadhikaraste Maphaleshu Kadachanah

Ma Karmaphala Hetuh, Bhurmahte Sangostva Akarmaney 

In all honesty it has changed my perspective on a lot of things that I took for granted for majority of my life.

To simply state,

1. To not give in to vices

2. To appreciate the conscious 

3. To realise that there is always a greater purpose to everything