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Srimad Bhagavad-gita
The Hidden Treasure
of the
Sweet Absolute
The first Bengali edition of Srimad Bhagavad-gita published by Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math appeared in 1961. The English translation was later prepared and published by Svarupananda Prabhu (Sripad Bhakti Ananda Sagar Maharaj). The latest and current edition that we are presenting here for online reading was published in 2006 by Svarupananda Prabhu and was received very happily by Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.
Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj about Srimad Bhagavad-gita:
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"It is necessary to read Srimad Bhagavad-gita every day and attentively. Day by day I feel more and more enthusiastic to teach the conception in Gita because for general people Gita is essential for primary religious education. Inside the book, many things can be interpreted in different ways, that is why not every Gita is good. Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj's Srimad Bhagavad-gita As It Is is good, and you will find a finer conception in Guru Maharaj's (Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's) Gita, otherwise both books are very good. When Srila Swami Maharaj was translating Gita, he consulted with Guru Maharaj, I was there at that time." ~·~ "I can cook a very nice subji (vegetables), but if I do not know how to balance the salty, sour and sweet tastes, then it will not be palatable. I can do many things, but it is necessary to do it wisely. Knowledge is power, but it should be used wisely. Be always careful with it. When we live amidst fire, we must be careful about the fire. Suppose there is a lit candle—if I put my finger there, my finger will be burnt. So, Srimad Bhagavad-gita always, from top to bottom warns us, makes us careful. It is necessary to read it and study it carefully. If we can study it under the guidance of an expert, that will be fruitful for us." ~·~ "Krishna gave different kinds of knowledge in Bhagavad-gita, but actually finally He showed that devotion can give us a super benefit in our spiritual life. That knowledge is transcendental and it descends through the Guru—this is the advice of Krishna. If we can choose a proper Guru, a proper teacher, then we will understand what is what." ~·~ "Krishna mercifully gave us proper knowledge in this material world through Srimad Bhagavad-gita. We are all conditioned souls suffering in so many ways, and there are so many categories of us, but if we are faithful to the Lord, if we are really sincere seekers, then we must follow advice of Lord Krishna, and that is Srimad Bhagavad-gita." ~·~ "Everyone who has got some faith in Lord Krishna is trying to study it, but if those who are suffering in this material world try to understand what is inside Srimad Bhagavad-gita, if they try to search what Krishna gave us inside it, they will be very benefitted." ~·~ "Oppenheimer, an American scientist quoted once [at an explosion of an atom bomb that he supervised], 'Divi surya-sahasrasya...' from Srimad Bhagavad-gita. The current president of India is Muslim, but he reads Bhagavad-gita every day—he must have much faith. Another scientist, Narlikar (Indian-born) who has got Nobel Prize also spoke some slokas from Gita. When he discovered something, a university student asked him, 'Where did you get that idea?' and he said, 'From Bhagavad-gita.' Then, what is not within the Gita? I heard also from Guru Maharaj that Einstein's wife asked Einstein once, 'What are you trying to discover now?' Einstein said, 'You will be talking to me in five hundred years, and I will be talking to you too—that is the type of thing I am trying to discover!' There are so many scientists, we do not know the names of them all, but those who are the greatest scientists must be theistic and they all read Bhagavad-gita..." ~·~ "Krishna is the cause of all causes. Krishna Himself advises it in Srimad Bhagavad-gita. Then, if we want to get benefit, we must try to follow the advice of Lord Krishna. Religions have so many channels, but actually religion is one, Krishna says it in Srimad Bhagavad-gita. In His final sloka ('Sarva-dharman parityajya...'), He says, 'Merge your account with My account and I shall look after everything for you—you will have no responsibility for anything. Try to open such an account with Me.' This is the final advice in Srimad Bhagavad-gita." ~·~ "In Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Krishna gave karma-yoga advice, jnana-yoga advice, hatha-yoga advice, but finally He gave bhakti-yoga—bhakti-yoga is the easiest process to satisfy the Lord." ~·~ "We always study Srimad Bhagavad-gita in our life. Everyone reads Srimad Bhagavad-gita, no doubt. From top to bottom, there are two things very prminent in Srimad Bhagavad-gita—one is devotion, and one is emotion. Emotion comes from the material world's natural law, it influences us and through that influence we are always intoxicated. That is why we cannot use our mood of devotion properly. This is the main thing." ~·~ "Bhagavad-gita is a small book, but all gist of spiritual knowledge, material knowledge, everything is inside it. All the knowledge, all advice of the scriptures, everything is within Srimad Bhagavad-gita. It is seven hundred slokas only. Our scriptures are so big—four Vedas, six Darsans; eighteen Puranas, Vedanta Darsan, Mahabharata—all are big, big books, but the gist of all these books is within Srimad Bhagavad-gita. Then, just this one book can give us sufficient knowledge, advice, and service to the Lord, and the books of our Guru Maharaj can help us—if we study them, we will have no problem provided we are attached with that conception..." ~·~ "Srimad Bhagavad-gita gave us all knowledge, from deep to deeper to the deepest. It goes in this way: karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, astanga-yoga, and bhakti-yoga—and everywhere, throughout the whole Gita, in every chapter, we can see buddhi-yoga. Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur says that buddhi-yoga and bhakti-yoga are the same (in bhakti-yoga, buddhi-yoga is more complete actually). You can also find in Gita karma-yoga mixed with bhakti-yoga, jnana-yoga mixed with bhakti-yoga, but:
ei saba sadhanera ati tuchchha bala "Without devotional service, all other methods for spiritual self-realization are weak and insignificant. Unless one comes to the devotional service of Lord Krishna, jnana and yoga cannot give the desired results." (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.18) "Srimad Bhagavad-gita also says that whatever kind of sadhana you do, without Krishna-bhakti, without devotion, you not will be successful. But there are so many processes given in Bhagavad-gita because there are so many varieties of kinds of jiva souls, and their mind is attracted to a particular way, so Bhagavad-gita gives a process to bring each of them from their platform to the devotional platform. For example, in karma-yoga, you cannot give bhakti directly, but when karma is dedicated to Krishna, then bhakti will come." ~·~ "Everywhere in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, from the first chapter to the eighteenth chapter, there is Krishna consciousness fully enlightened with devotion, bhakti-yoga. We know that in Gita, this chapter is for bhakti-yoga, that chapter is for jnana-yoga, that chapter is for karma-yoga, etc., it is written there externally, but what is inside it?" ~·~ "In this gathering you are all students and you all wish to know something about religion, specifically something about Krsna consciousness. If you try to read Srimad Bhagavad-gita, you must be benefited. Everyone has the chance to improve his future by reading this book whether he is a fruitive worker who needs to do some work, or a knowledge seeker who always must think and gain knowledge, or a yogi wanting to conquer power from the environment, or a bhakta who is always surrendered and fully dependant upon the knowledge of Krsna consciousness. Everyone can gain some good future prospect from reading Srimad Bhagavad-gita. ~·~ The Wisdom of the Gita is so beautiful. Everything needed to be known, for everyone, is found there. This is why the Gita is preached throughout the world. The elevated saintly persons declare that Sri Gita is the entry standard for spiritual life. If one can first properly appreciate the Gita, then he can aspire for a higher position; it is like passing the entrance examination before entering college. Everybody's primary benefit is to be found, therefore, in the Gita. |
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