Gita (Janmashtami)

Gita

The most powerful message for mankind from Lord Krishna

On the auspicious occasion of Shri Krishna Janmashtami, let us re-look at some of the important messages of Lord Krishna.

Let us first understand the meaning of Gita. The word Gita is made up of four letters namely G (GA), I (EE), T(TA) and A(AA). Letters written in brackets are the proper pronunciations in Hindi text.

To begin with A (AA) means come. The ultimate purpose of human being is to seek and merge with Supreme being. Lord Krishna said that you must come to Me. Seek refuge in Me. Surrender yourself to Me. Be my total devotee. We all want to be total devotee of our Lord. But how can we do it? Well the answer is in the third letter which is T.

T(TA) meaning Tapa. Lord Krishna said that if you want to be my total devotee then you have to do Tapa (penance). Tapa of your body, mind and speech. 

One needs to keep one's body healthy and free from diseases as long as one lives. This can be achieved by controlling diet, and avoiding toxic food and drinks. 

One needs to keep mind healthy. This can be achieved by avoiding all negative thoughts in life and harbouring positive thoughts. This can be done by avoiding gossips. Reading good holy scriptures and by attending lectures, seminar, katha, narration of holy text etc. 

One needs to keep one's speech healthy. Simply say good and welcoming words. Few words of appreciation can do wonders in life. Do not get upset or angry and utter such words that will tarnish relationship forever.

Now this sounds pretty simple. Isn't it? But wait check the first two letters. G(GA) is the third consonant in Hindi alphabets and I (EE) is the fourth vowels in Hindi alphabets. When you add them together you get total of seven. This represent seven obstacles in the path of devotions. 

These obstacles are desire, anger, greed, attachment, ego, jealousy and enmity. 

It may be difficult for human being to totally get rid of these obstacles but certainly it is not difficult to control them. If one remains continuous alert about these obstacles then it will become easier to do Tapa (penance) and through Tapa it will be easier to attain salvation.

We will look at some more simplified verses of Gita in next post.

Happy Krishna Janmashtami

- Manhar Narsey