Handbook for a balanced approach to life
C.L. RAMAKRISHNAN
BHAGAVAD-GITA FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: Navin Nunkoo; pub. by Dev Books, 11-B, Court Road, Delhi-110054.
This publication gives the Bhagavad Gita text in English and a simple English translation. A brief summary of the text has been given at the beginning.
It is not clear what the reader is to benefit from this publication with reference to the captivating title. One would expect the various tenets of good living for one's own improvement and be an exemplar for others.
There are many principles of modern management embedded in the Bhagavad Gita, which could have been highlighted to justify the title.
It is curious that the cover page shows Arjuna holding the quiver of arrows with his bow on the ground. This runs counter to the concluding verse of the opening chapter, which says that Arjuna went into despondency, after casting away his bow with the arrows.
Interpretation
In the preface the author mentions Lord Krishna's advent into the human world as the 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to popular belief, Lord Krishna is the 9th incarnation in the Hindu pantheon.
There are some verses (for example 7, 10 and 46 of chapter two), for which the translation could have been more faithful, as this chapter is the essence of the Gita.
In respect of verses 2-46 and 2-52, there appears to be contradiction in their import regarding the theme developed in this chapter (the yoga of knowledge).
Bhagavad Gita is a guidebook for leading a purposeful life. It makes for a balanced approach to life by cultivating desirable qualities, practising austerities relating to thought, word and deed, annihilation of the ego, and ultimately qualifying oneself for liberation from worldly suffering.
Suitable quotations from the scripture as answers for the present-day physical and mental stress would befit the title and prove useful in the workaday world. This is because the scripture commences with the state of delusion and despondency, and closes with clarity and cognition of reality.
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