The Bhagavad Gita (23 page)

An even greater gift: Louise was in the exact same place! Her version of the Zone was to be absolutely sure that all was well and not to worry one iota about herself or her body. Although tethered to the machinery of modern medicine — tubes, monitors, injections, CT scans, and such — she spent no energy or attention on her physical health. She watched with detached interest and participated as necessary, but was totally unfazed. No fretting, no fears; she was in constantly good spirits, possessing the openness and easiness of mind necessary for the healing energy in her body to carry out its work.

It was as though the
Gita’s
teachings had come alive, as though Krishna Himself had come up out of the book to take care of us — reminding us in chapter 2 to “be unperturbed by sorrow and adversity.” Or it was as if our own swami, Sathya Sai Baba (whom millions believe to be the avatar of this age, the modern incarnation of Krishna) had reached out to touch our hearts and remove our pain and worry. Or perhaps we had actually been transported, as the
Gita
teaches, into Serenity itself, which we now know is no less than Brahman, the Godhead.

Looking back, we see now that it was our total absorption
in the
Gita
’s teachings that really counted, not just the
Gita
itself. The
Gita
was the vehicle, the guide, but it is our fusion with it that brought the spiritual power. Our extraordinary strength flowed from actually living the messages and literally being these wondrous teachings for a while.

We remained in that curious zone for several months as Louise pulled through her crisis and began to recover. I learned to be a passable care provider and chief cook and bottle washer. My
pièce de résistance:
great toast and tea.

During that time we lived so close to Divinity that we all but became It. Some people misread my serenity and assumed I was in shock or in denial, or they would comment that I was “taking it well.” Everybody was surprised that Louise seemed so well. (The old joke comes to mind: “You look terrific, you must have been sick.”) We knew, privately, that it was due to our being so immersed in the
Gita,
but we seldom said anything. It’s hard to explain acceptance this high.

Even now, a year later, with Louise almost fully recovered (“miraculously” people tell us), the Zone is still with us. It’s not as intense, but surely present. Maybe the
Gita
’s teachings, once imbibed, do indeed last forever.

Krishna’s final message comes to mind:
“Now listen . . . to the most profound secret,”
He said,
“listen to the highest of all truths. . . . Fix your mind on Me [Divinity]. Give Me your whole heart. Revere Me always … [Make Me your very own, and you shall] merge with Me. … ”

At the end of this sacred text the ever-honest Sanjaya finishes his narration of this God-to-human dialogue and is clear that he will continue his own immersion in it. He reminds himself (and us) to return often to this Divine Song, this
Bhagavad Gita,
and rejoice again and again.

The Bhagavad Gita
is universal knowledge passed down through the ages by countless hands and minds. This particular version of it is my work and my responsibility. In the course of this writing I drew from over thirty insightful explanations of the
Gita
(see the Bibliography). Certain of them were especially helpful.

The Penguin Classics
Bhagavad Gita
by Juan Mascaro was my introduction to the
Gita
in 1975. A few years later I also came to read
Geetha Vahini: The Divine Gospel
(spelling variations are common in India) by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, which to my hungry soul was like eating food, and remains my principal inspiration.

Then, a few years later, the Ramakrishna organization’s fine 1,008-page commentary by Swami Chidbhavananda entitled simply
The Bhagavad Gita
came into my possession and sat on my shelf for years, quietly beckoning but only occasionally being opened until it later became a main resource.

Some years after that, when I made the final decision to write this book, providence moved too. In quick succession I was gifted several books:
M. K. Gandhi Interprets the Bhagavadgita
(especially moving because he so openly lived these principles in the public eye); a pure pocket version of the
Gita,
published privately (and anonymously) in New Zealand, called
Bhagavad Gita;
and a small, well-written
Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God,
translated by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood (introduction by Aldous Huxley).

And finally, appearing at just the right moment were four positive heavyweights: a 736-page commentary
Srimad Bhagavadgita Tattvavivecani
by Jayadayal Goyandka, an eighteen-volume set of commentaries on the
Gita
by Swami Chinmayananda, a three-volume set of clear teachings,
The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living,
published in the United States by Eknath Easwaran, and a new 685-page commentary on the pocket
Gita
mentioned above entitled
Message of the Lord,
also published anonymously in New Zealand.

There are other wonderful
Gita
books that contributed at just the right times, but the reason I single out this stack is that these are the ones I juggled on my lap and sideboard for over a year, from which my own notes and therefore this book emerged. One grows fond of something that sits on one’s lap for so long.

In addition to those books, certain individuals graciously served as advisers and sounding boards during the development of this book. I wish to thank the distinguished members of my impromptu panel both in the United States and India for their many helpful suggestions and editing ideas: Robert Ahern, Steve Hawley, Glenn Hovemann, M. Nanjundaiya, Jagdish Narain, V. K. Narasimhan, V. Pandit, S. Raghavan, K. V. Sundar Rajan, N. S. Venkatesh Varan, Laurie Viera, and G. Venkataraman.

I extend my sincere appreciation to New World Library Publisher Marc Allen, not only for this new version of the
book but for his continuing love for the
Gita
; and to Georgia Hughes, editorial director; Kristen Cashman, managing editor; and the other talented pros at New World Library who again helped make this book better.

I also owe my everlasting love and gratitude to my grown offspring: Kathy, Alec, Owen, Shane, and Julie — all of whom continue to be my teachers.

I am, as always, indebted to Louise, my adoring wife who was given to me to teach me love during this lifetime; we have shared the joys of the
Gita
from the day we discovered it together on the mountaintop at Ootacamund in southwestern India.
“Sisyas te ‘ham. . . . ”

I am grateful to Sathya Sai Baba, who not only wrote the inspiring
Geetha Vahini
mentioned above, but also inspired the original
Bhagavad Gita
— and to this day lives it with perfection as he relentlessly teaches through example and direct experience these same secrets daily to the thousands of “Arjunas” who journey to his ashram Prasanthi Nilayam (“Abode of the Highest Peace”). Without Him within me not one word would have been written.

Anonymous. 1997.
Bhagavad Gita.
Auckland: Sai Publications Trust.

Anonymous. 1998.
Message of the Lord: As a Practical Philosophy.
Auckland: Sai Publications Trust.

Arnold, E. 1975.
The Song Celestial: A Poetic Version of the Bhagavad Gita.
Wheaton, Ill.: The Theosophical Publishing House.

Chakraborty, S. K. 1992.
Management by Values.
Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Chakravarty, A. E. 1995.
The Geeta and the Art of Successful Management.
New Delhi: HarperCollins.

Chidbhavananda, Swami. 1986.
The Bhagavad Gita.
Tirupparaitturai (India): Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam.

Chinmayananda, Swami. 1996.
The Bhagavad Gita.
Bombay: Central Chinmaya Mission Trust.

Cicogna, C. R. 1990.
The Solar Way: A Reading of the Bhagavad Gita.
Varallo Pombia (Italy): Omina Press.

Davidson, D., and J. Thomas. 1994.
Geetha Vahini: An American Translation.
Cherry Valley (Calif.): privately published (with permission).

Davies, J. 1994.
Bhagwad Gita.
New Delhi: Beacon Books.

Dayananda, Swami. 1995.
The Teaching of the Bhagavad Gita.
New Delhi: Vision Books.

Drucker, A. (Ed.). 1994.
Sai Baba Gita: The Way to Self-Realization and Liberation in This Age.
Prasanthinilayam (India): Sai Towers.

Easwaran, E. 1975.
The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living
Petaluma (Calif.): Nilgiri Press.

Easwaran, E. 1996.
The Dhammapada.
New Delhi: Penguin.

Gandhi, M. K. 1993.
The Bhagavadgita.
Delhi: Orient Paperbacks.

Gotshalk, R. 1985.
Bhagavad Gita: Translation and Commentary.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Goyandka, J. 1996.
Srimad Bhagavadgita Tattvavivecani.
Gorakhpur (India): Gita Press.

Hawley, J. A., 1993.
Reawakening the Spirit in Work: The Power of Dharmic Management.
San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Huxley, A. 1944.
The Perennial Philosophy.
New York: Harper & Row.

Iyer, R. 1985.
The Bhagavad Gita: With the Uttara Gita.
London: Concord Grove Press.

Kasturi, N. 1968.
Sathya Sai Geeta.
Poona: Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Seva Samithi.

Krishnananda, Swami. 1991.
The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita.
Shivanandanagar (India): The Divine Life Society.

Lal, P. 1993.
The Bhagavadgita.
New Delhi: Orient Books.

Mascaro, J. 1962.
The Bhagavad Gita.
London: Penguin Classics.

Mascaro, J. 1965.
The Upanishads.
London: Penguin Classics.

Miller, B. S. 1986.
The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna’s Counsel in Time of War.
New York: Bantam.

Munshi, K. M. 1959.
Krishnavatara.
Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Munshi, K. M. 1988.
Bhagavad Gita and Modern Life.
Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Prabhavananda, Swami, and C. Isherwood. 1944.
Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God.
Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math.

Prasad, R. 1996.
The Bhagavad-Gita.
Fremont (Calif.): The American Gita Society.

Rajagopalachari, C. 1993.
Bhagavad Gita.
Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Sargeant, W. 1994.
The Bhagavad Gita
(Rev. Ed.). Albany: State University of New York Press.

Sathya Sai Baba. 1966.
Geethavahini (The Divine Gospel).
Prasanthi Nilayam (India): Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust.

Sathya Sai Baba. 1974.
Bhagavatha Vahini.
Prasanthi Nilayam (India): Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust.

Sharpe, E. J. 1985.
The Universal Gita.
La Salle (Ill.): Open Court.

Sivananda, Swami. 1983.
The Principal Upanishads.
Shivanandagar (India): The Divine Life Society.

Subramaniam, K. 1987.
Srimad Bhagavatam.
Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Subramaniam, K. 1989.
Mahabharata.
Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Svensson, C. 1985.
Bhagavad Gita or The Divine Song.
Tustin, Calif.: Sathya Sai Baba Society.

Vireswarananda, Swami. 1997.
Srimad Bhagavad-Gita.
Mylapore, Madras (India): Sri Ramakrishna Math.

Zaehner, R. C. 1973.
The Bhagavad-Gita: With a Commentary Based on the Original Sources.
London: Oxford University Press.

Each reference, instead of simply consiting of page numbers, includes the following:

• The first number or number range refers to the page number(s);

• The next two numbers are the chapter number and the paragraph number(s) separated by a colon;

• Each set of numbers (page, chapter, and paragraph) is separated by a comma, while each subentry is separated by a semicolon.

abhyasa (constant practice),
62
6:35,
78
8:8,
111
12:9,
158
18:37

Absolute Highest Consciousness,
30–31
3:14–15

Absolute Reality,
70
7:13,
104
11:36–37.
See also
Godhead