BHAGAVAD GITA SHOULD BE MADE NATIONAL SCRIPTURE

INDIAN MINISTER ASKS GITA BE MADE 
NATIONAL BOOK, TRIGGERS DEBATE

www.digitaljournal.com - India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked the Indian government to declare the scripture Bhagavad Gita, India's "Rashtriya Granth" or national book, triggering a debate among media and intellectuals. Swaraj was speaking at the" Gita Prerna Mahotsav" at the Red Fort in New Delhi, organized to celebrate the book. She said that the declaration would only be a formality since a large number of Indians already saw the scripture as a national book. 
Swaraj said that her role as External Affairs Minister brought many challenges, which she had faced only because of the teachings of Bhagavad Gita. “Everyone should read two shlokas of Gita everyday ... it is a scripture of 700 shlokas and it can be finished in a year,” she said, addressing the audience at the event.

“Read it again and continue this till the end. After reading it three to four times, you will discover a path to lead a life, the way I discovered,” Swara added. The Gita has been in the limelight since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India in May 2014, as he gifted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the book during his visit to Japan, and also to Barack Obama during his visit to the US. The Bhagavad Gita in its extant form is a part of the ancient Indian epic Mahabharat, and records the conversation of Krishna with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. 
The book is only one of many Hindu scriptures, and declaring it the national book in secular India with its multiple faiths and belief systems may not become a reality soon, according to several media pundits.

External Affairs Minister of India, Sushma Swaraj, recently said that the Bhagavad Gita should be made the national scripture, adding that the Hindu sacred writ should be read for guidance throughout one's life. "The Bhagavad Gita teaches us the way to lead life in a happy and stress free manner. It shouldn't be left for old age; it is something that one should read for guidance throughout your life," Swaraj said, while addressing the Gita Prerna Utsav, held in the national capital. "I have said in Parliament that the Bhagavad Gita should be declared as our 'Rashtriya Granth'. No official announcement has been made in this regard. However, by offering the 'Bhagavad Gita' as a gift to US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already given that honour to Bhagavad Gita," she added. In spite of her good and laudable intentions, Swaraj's claims that the Bhagavad Gita should be recognised as India's national scripture, has triggered a massive row in India. For example, under the headline "Why ‘Gita’ as Rashtriya Granth is problematic" The Hindu newspaper says that "in a secular polity ... any attempt to declare the ‘Gita’ a ‘Rashtriya Granth’ ... needlessly ruffle the feathers of Hinduism’s closer cousins like Sikhism for which the teachings of its first five Gurus constitute its principal ‘Guru Granth’." Our spiritual masters have taught us that beyond the opinions and beliefs, we must be respectful of the different holy religious scriptures, but no other scripture is necessary if one take shelter of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita because it was directly spoken by Sri Krishna and it is one with Him. (Editor's note).

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Sree Geeta is not a material sound. In material sound, you will find that the thing referred to by a sound is different from the sound itself. If you utter: 'water, water, water,' the water word is not the water-thing. The word 'water' refers to a thing understood to be water. In this world you will find a difference between the word 'water' and the object referred to by the word 'water.' But Krishna and the Name of Krishna are one and the same. Sri Geeta and Sri Krishna are identical. So, by taking shelter of the Geeta we can come in contact with Sri Krishna. We have gone through the contents of the Geeta, we have read the Geeta, but despite this, we still have no devotion to Sri Krishna. This is not actual reading. If we actually read the Geeta, we will obtain devotion to Sri Krishna.

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāja :
"How to Read Sri Gita"
Speaking Tree - Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj's Blogs
http://www.filmyboxoffice.com/news/how-to-read-sri-gita.html
Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math (SCGM)

Published by dasavatara das - “Vedic Views on World News”
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US CONGRESSWOMAN TAKES OATH ON BHAGAVAD GITA

FIRST US CONGRESSIONAL LEADER
TAKES OATH ON BHAGAVAD GITA

www.chakranews.com - Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), the first Hindu elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, was sworn in yesterday. Gabbard took her oath on the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text, as she joined the 113th Congressional class. The oath was administrated by House Speaker John Boehner, who held the Gita for Gabbard. Gabbard said the copy she chose for her swearing in ceremony was one which she read nearly every day while serving as an officer in the Hawaii National Guard during the Iraq War as well as during her tenure as a State Representative and Honolulu City Councilwoman. 
“I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad-Gita because its teachings have inspired me to strive to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country. My Gita has been a tremendous source of inner peace and strength through many tough challenges in life, including being in the midst of death and turmoil while serving our country in the Middle East,” explains Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. 

Although Hinduism has many sacred texts, the Bhagavad Gita is amongst its most well-known and widely read. Framed as a dialog between Lord Krishna, an incarnation of God, and the warrior prince Arjuna, the Gita is a 700 verse treatise on the nature of both the Divine and man, selfless service, and duty. Over the course of 18 chapters, Lord Krishna expounds the concepts of dharma (righteousness), moksha (liberation), and the four yogas, or paths to spiritual life and liberation, including karma yoga (righteous action), jnana yoga (knowledge), raja yoga (meditation and austerity), and bhakti yoga (loving devotion to God).
The Bhagavad Gita is part of a larger Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, which at over 100,000 slokas, or verses, is about ten times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined, according to some counts. “It’s exciting that this session we will have the opportunity to work with the first and only Hindu in Congress,” said Jay Kansara, HAF (Hindu American Foundation) Associate Director of Government Affairs.

Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu ever elected to the US Congress, took her oath of office on the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita. “I asked Gabbard how this teaching might apply to politics. She replied that the Gita teaches her to try ‘to maintain my equilibrium in either success or failure’,” says Stephen Prothero, professor in Boston University’s religion department. “She then turned to Mahatma Gandhi: ‘The world’s most famous Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi ... worked tirelessly for the welfare of his country and all of humanity without any thought of personal gain, leaving his ultimate success or failure in God’s hands.’ She said that the central topics of the Gita are enlightenment, love for God, selfless service, and how each of us can succeed in our struggle on the ‘battlefields’ of life,” explains professor Prothero. The Mahabharata is one of the world’s great epics and the Bhagavad-gita is one of its chapters.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The Bhagavad-gita, which means the song of Bhagavan, or God, is a part of the Mahabharata, appearing in the middle of it. Many consider the Bhagavad-gita as the most important of the Vedic scriptures and the essence of the Upanishads and Vedic knowledge. Anyone interested in the most important of the Eastern philosophy should read the Bhagavad-gita. If all the Upanishads can be considered as cows, then the Bhagavad-gita can be considered as milk. ... The Gita has an answer to every problem a man may face in his life. It never commands anyone what to do. Instead it discusses pros and cons of every action and thought. Throughout the Gita you will not come across any line starting or ending with “Thou Shalt Not”. That is the reason why the Gita is the darling of millions of seekers of truth throughout the world.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Vedic Culture
Hinduism: A Short Introduction”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/vedic_culture_hinduism_a_short_introduction.htm

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
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VAISHNAVA CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD

FIRST HINDU ELECTED TO US CONGRESS
WILL SWEAR IN ON BHAGAVAD GITA

www.huffingtonpost.com - When Tulsi Gabbard, 31, a Hawaii resident who made history last month as the first Hindu elected to the US Congress, attends her swearing in ceremony in January, she's poised to mark another first in American politics: Gabbard will take her oath over the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text. 
While no religious ceremony is legally required for those elected to Congress and the Senate, many choose to take oaths of office over Christian and Jewish texts, and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, took his oath over a Quran. But Gabbard's use of a non-Abrahamic text will be unique and is symbolic of the growing religious diversity of Congress. 
“For the Hindu Americans it is a historic moment ... It is a matter of pride that finally someone not only from our own faith, but someone who is a practicing Hindu, will be sworn in the Congress on one of our most sacred books,” said Anju Bhargava, founder of Hindu American Seva Charities and a former member of the White House's Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. 

“It is my hope is that this swearing in will be another learning opportunity for our country about Hindus and Gita. Another step towards bringing the knowledge and values of Gita even more prominently to the American political landscape so that it becomes part of the everyday vocabulary in applying the moral principles in our political arena,” said Bhargava, whose organization works to promote Hindu participation in civic life. 
In interviews, Gabbard has pointed to two verses of the Gita as being particularly important to her. Both are from chapter two, which is called “Sankhya yoga,” and which discusses the soul. The chapter is often seen as a summary of the Gita's spiritual instruction. 
Gabbard's first favourite part, from verse 17, defines the soul as “that which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.” The other, from verse 23, expands on the idea: “The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.”

Tulsi Gabbard has been a practicing Hindu since her teens. “She is a Vaishnava, who follows the path of Bhakti yoga, or loving devotion to God. She is a student of Sidhasvarupananda, who was himself initiated into the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya by ISKCON Founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,” explains Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News. “It is also important for the USA that it will eventually have the representation from all the religions, and Tulsi taking the oath on the Gita is another step in that direction,” said Siva Subramanian, member of the Council on Hindu Temples of the USA.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The Lord left behind Him the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā not for the benefit of Arjuna alone, but also for all time and in all lands. The Bhagavad-gītā, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the essence of all Vedic wisdom. It is nicely presented by the Lord Himself for all who have very little time to go through the vast Vedic literatures like the Upaniṣads, Purāṇas and Vedānta-sūtras. ... The faithful human being who is desirous of being liberated from the clutches of material existence can very easily take advantage of the Bhagavad-gītā, and with this in view, the Lord instructed Arjuna as if Arjuna were in need of it. In the Bhagavad-gītā, five important factors of knowledge have been delineated pertaining to (1) the Supreme Lord, (2) the living being, (3) nature, (4) time and space and (5) the process of activity.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) SB 1.15.27
Canto 1: “Creation” - Chapter 15: “The Pāṇḍavas Retire Timely”
Verse 27 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase
http://vedabase.com/en/sb/1/15/27

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
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