Tuesday, December 09, 2014

037 Should Bhagavad Gita be declared as India's National Scripture / Sacred Book?



On the 7th Dec. 2014, Ms. Sushma Swaraj, the Union Minister for External Affairs, was reported to have said at Gita PreraN mahOtsav (approx. Engl:  Gita's Inspiration Festival), 5151st Anniversary of Gita, as under:

“When I read Gita for the first time, I did not agree with the concept of whatever happens, happens for the best and whatever happens in future, will be for good. But when I read it for the third and fourth time, I understood its meaning. This has helped me all through my life. Even now, when I am handling the External Affairs and the challenges related to it,”

"I am able to face the challenges as External Affairs Minister only because of the teachings of Gita."

     "...Only a formal announcement to this effect is pending. ... “The Prime Minister has already given it the stature of national granth by gifting it to US President Barack Obama.  ...”

"...psychiatrists should  read and prescribe the Gita to patients suffering from depression. ..."

Hariyana Chief Minister, Manoharlal Khattar is reported to have said:

“Gita ke sandesh ko jab hum dhyan se padhte hain , to jaisa kaha hai hamare desh ka samvidhan hi Gita hai. Gita ko samvidhaan se upar maan liya gaya hai. Kisi bhi desh ka samvidhan kaal aur paristhithi ke hisab se badalta rehta hai, lekin Gita aisa saar hai jo sahasvat hai (When we read the Gita carefully, as has been said, our Constitution is the Gita itself. In fact, the Gita is considered above the Constitution. Any country’s constitution changes with time and circumstances, but the Gita is eternal.)  ...”

Person views of ybrao a donkey, which I do not wish to impose on others:

1. What is the definition of a sacred scripture?
2. What is the definition of a National scripture?
3. Does a country require a National scripture?

The objects of Bhagavad Gita as per verses 18/42 to 44 (May be insertions by preachers), are very clear:

Gita imposes servility on SUdras (4th caste persons). What it imposes on 5th caste persons (today's word: dalits), is not clear.

Why Lord Krishna, divided only Indians into four castes?  Why did he leave the remain world untouched? 

Why did Lord Krishna take up the task of dividing Indians only into four castes?   Today , there are thousands of castes; it is a different thing.

cAtur-varNyam maya srishTam
guNa-karma-vibhAgaSah
tasya kartAram api mAm
viddhi akartAram avyayam.

It is very clear that priests and preachers have tried to legitimize their own creation of caste divisions, by attributing to Lord Krishna.

Mahatma Gandhi, Lok Manya Bala Gangadhara Tilak, and many others have used the meaning of 'karma' in Gita, to mean 'duty' and, of course, society has benefited from their getting inspired by Gita.

But, the real meaning of 'karma', as per Gita, is not a simple straight "one's own duty".  It is one's own duty as imposed by his caste.   Fortunately or unfortunately, in independent India, people are giving greater importance to wealth in the place of caste of a person.   People are accepting marital relationships with rich persons, ignoring their castes.  It is good that they are ignoring the caste element, gradually.  But they are substituting it with a bigger mill-stone, 'wealth'.  Cure should not be worse than disease.

The reason for Mahabharata war was internecine disputes.  It has nothing to do with religion or defending a Nation. The dispute arose because of presumed insult suffered by Duryodhana, and gambling disputes between Pandavas and Kauravas.

Indians seem to have learnt this predisposition to gambling 24 x 7 x 365 from Pandavas, Kauravas , Yadavas (Balarama was a gambler), Vidarbha (Rukmini's brother Rukmi was a gambler.   Balarama killed him in a gambling dispute), Nala et al.  Gambling is a trait of Aryans.  We find mantras in Atharvana Veda, praying Gods for success in gambling.   21st Century Indian gambling does not leave out anything.  Stock exchanges, cricket, weather, elections, car numbers, matka-bracket, horse-races, card-games, what not.

Indians have to find out a solution for these evils of alcoholism, prostitution, unofficial wives, gambling and wife-beating (wife-betting?) etc.   Without solutions for these evils, having a National Scripture will be like adorning a skeleton with silk cloth.


India's priority today is not getting a National scripture.  Its priorities should be:

1. Population control.

2. Removal of inequalities of income and wealth.  For this probably Right of property will have be removed. Democratic Marxism can help in this respect.

3. Producing food, clothing, shelter, skill generation, indigenously, on a large scale.

4. Solar energy, sea-wave energy, wind energy, probably hydrogen fuel.

5. Confining religion to individual and family level, within the boundaries of home.  For this we have to remove priests of all religions and close down prayer houses.  Of course, Marxism can use their services for some other productive purposes, and provide them greater intrinsic job satisfaction, than what they are getting now.  Pl. see point No. 7 below.

6. Reduce dependence of agriculture on monsoons, by bringing every inch of cultivable land under drip irrigation.

7. Develop a culture of 'dignity of physical work'.  Every individual from top industrialist to the bottom laborer should have a combination of physical work for 4 hours, mental work 3 hours, and intellectual work 1 hour.  This is possible only by implementing Marxism.

8. India is very fast in learning habits which ought not to be learnt from the West.  Example pubs, cricket, films, porno, excess alcohol and non-veg. consumption.

9. The institution of family has become a bondage, to all the three-- husbands, wives and children.  The institution of family and marriage is to be substituted by better designed community families.  Modified Marxism can help in this.  Society and Govt. can take care of all children, and relieve parents from the burden of raring children.

10. Better care of aged persons, physically challenged persons, by the society and Government, as a legal duty, instead of leaving it to charitable institutions and so called philanthropists who are nothing but vultures.

It may not be correct to say that Constitution of a country is superior to Gita, or that Gita is superior to Constitution.  Reason:  Constitutions too are made by political parties.  Today, Mr. Narendra Modi and BJP have become virtual dictators with a sweeping majority.  Once they get appropriate majority in the Upper House (Rajya Sabha), they are capable of writing a new Constitution.  Indian Constitution, in particular, is vulnerable to frequent amendments, at the whims and fancies of the parties in power.

Ms. Sushma Swaraj has unnecessarily opened up a pandora box.  BJP leaders have a tendency of raking up non-issues in the guise of Indian culture.  Of course, Congress was worse in this respect, in the guise of minority protection.

Thus Indians are left between devil and the deep sea.



(To continue.)

2 comments:

Unknown said...


Hi guys,
Thank you so much for this wonderful article! Here we all can learn a lot of useful things and this is not only my opinion!
Even BLNCK corp. and http://3ank.in confirmed it!

LogicalHindu said...

Excellent opinion! Well said. I agree that making Bhagavad Gita "national scripture" will not change anything. However, many practical things for leading a good life can be be learned from the Bhagavad Gita. You should also write some good things from the Gita...