Reading the Bhagavad Gita: What You Need to Know || Acharya Prashant, NIT-Trichy (2024)

Acharya Prashant

Video Information: NIT-Trichy, 06.04.2024, Greater Noida  Context: ~ What things we should keep in mind before reading Bhagavad Gita? ~ Should we follow any rituals before reading the Gita? ~ How can we know whether we are meant for spirituality or normal life? ~ What is the difference between normal life and spiritual life? ~ Should I find my own path in life?   Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Transcript

00:00Namaste Acharya ji. I am Krishna Goyal and I am currently studying in NIT 3G in EC branch

00:10second year. I have two questions. My first question is what things we should keep in

00:16mind before reading Bhagavad Gita? Like many people said we should wash hands, take bath

00:21and all this. So what rituals we should follow? And my second question is how can we know

00:27whether we are meant for spirituality or leading the normal life? You are Krishna Goyal. You

00:46get access to the foundations Gita course. Somebody please note and provide him the access.

00:57That is probably the only legitimate answer to your question. You are asking what should

01:04one keep in mind while going to the Gita. That's like asking what kind of rubbish should

01:10I carry before entering the bath. Gita is so that whatever you carry in your mind can

01:20be washed away. Why do you want to keep something in mind before coming to the Gita? Whatever

01:26you have in mind, is that bigger than the Gita? So why should that be preserved while

01:31coming to the Gita? Whatever you have in mind, tell it. You are subordinate to the Gita.

01:39So be prepared to be washed away. I am going to the Gita now. You will be attacked and

01:47annihilated. Should I clean my hands before going to the Gita? Cleaning is something that

02:00Gita will tell you. The very definition of cleaning will come from the Gita. How do you

02:06know what cleaning means? If you are thinking of cleaning your hands, it means you are the

02:10body. The Gita will tell you what the act of cleaning really means. Or are you superior

02:17to the Gita that you will do the cleaning first and then go to the Gita and if you are

02:21already clean, why are you going to the Gita? The Gita exists to clean you, but you say

02:27you are already clean. Today I am able to teach Gita to so many of you because when

02:39I was young, when I was not even a teenager, in so many days it happened, I would be sleeping

02:45with the Gita on my chest. Sometimes the pages would get distorted. I would get scolded and

02:57even I would not like that the page has become twisted or dog-eared. But that happened. I

03:11would be in love. I am eating, having my meals and the Gita is here. I am not advising that.

03:19I am just truthfully telling you what happened. In the copy of the Gita that I had, some of

03:28the pages would be marked with turmeric or some other spices. You see I was a kid. So

03:38some dal is there on the fingers and it was left behind on the pages of the book. Not

03:43that this is something advisable. Not that this is what you are supposed to do. But it

03:47used to happen. I was in love and I didn't know any rituals or rules and that was not

03:56just with the Gita. To me Gita is not a book. It is a genre. Any book that teaches me is

04:03the Gita. You are talking of the Bhagwat Gita here. Even in the Hindu way, there are dozens

04:17of Gitas and worldwide from the antiquity till today, there are even greater number

04:32of Gitas. There has to be love. I don't mean to say that great books, you know I have taken

04:47them with me even to the commode. I am not recommending that please. But that's what

04:55has happened. So why should I hide? Even today, the 10-15 minutes I spend there, I cannot

05:03bear to just waste away that time. The body is doing something. What am I doing? Just

05:08waiting. So I keep reading from my mobile phone. I cannot enter the washroom without

05:15my mobile phone. And I don't read trash. I read something that uplifts me. What ritual

05:27am I following? I loved wisdom too much to let any rituals come in the way. Love is not

05:49about following certain regulations. And I just didn't bow my head down. I actually

05:58quarrelled with Krishna. Because I was young and I couldn't reconcile one shloka with the

06:04other. And I was not prepared to just bow down to someone on the basis of his proclaimed

06:13authority. If the book is indeed great, then I should be able to see a harmony. Things

06:25must agree with each other and come to a composite whole. One verse in one chapter cannot contradict

06:33another one elsewhere. And it took me time to come to that reconciliation. What rituals?

06:51Even today, it does happen that when I am with a particular verse of some religious

06:56scripture and if I cannot see that it agrees with the whole of the scripture, I honestly

07:02tell that to my people. I say I do not know how this verse made its way to this book because

07:10the rest of the book does not seem to agree with this particular verse. Go to the Gita.

07:34It is the Gita that will tell you how to approach the Gita. You cannot be bigger than

07:41the Gita. So what does cleanliness mean? What does obedience mean? What does purity mean?

07:50What does loyalty mean? All these things will be taught to you by the Gita itself. You say

08:00I must be pure before I touch the Gita. But without touching the Gita, how do you know

08:05what purity means? How do you know? So go to the Gita as you are. Like a little naked

08:18kid goes to the mother. The mother will decide whether to dress up the kid. The kid cannot

08:25say unless and until I dress up and that too formally, necktie and cufflinks and everything,

08:36I will not go to the mother. He does not know even how to put on a chaddi. How will he wear

08:45formal clothes? Go to the Gita as you are in your animalistic nakedness. Just go. Go

08:58as you are. Let the Gita be your mother. She will teach you how to eat, how to wash your

09:08hands, how to dress up, how to go through the business of life. But we want to be special.

09:23We say I will decide these things on my own and then I will go to the Gita. What are you

09:29going to the Gita for then, if you have already decided the important things on your own?

09:44No it is not yet my time to go to the Gita. How do you know whether or not it is your

09:52time? Even that is something that the Gita will tell you. First go to her. She is the

10:03father and the mother. Give yourself fully to learn from what Shri Krishna is saying

10:15and then if you find that that is not of much value to it, then you go your own way. That's

10:20fine. Nobody is supposed to follow anything. If those words do not really appeal to you,

10:29go your own way. At what time should I read the Gita? Are there certain inauspicious times?

10:50When one should not touch the Gita? The only inauspicious time is when you are not touching

10:56the Gita. But there are Gurus who will tell you the right time to read the Gita. When you read

11:03the Gita that is the right time. You must be pure when you go to the Gita. When you go to the Gita,

11:21then you are pure. Thank you, sir.

11:51you

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