A PROFOUND IMPACT OF GITA

Recently, Mr Yazdi Palia posted  a news piece on facebook, where  Karnantaka 's education minister is encouraging/forcing students to study Bhagwad Gita. I am for it and argued with him in this context. But they are fearing that it may be the way of taking control like Taliban and it obstructs the fundamental right of freedom to choose. Anyway, while these discussions, what intrigued me was his commentary on the similarities between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism.  It is worth noting that both these religions are Aryan ones - both originated in central Asia. The language Pahlavi is very similar to Sanskrit. The hymns of Zoroastrians are called gathas, which mean tales in sanskrit.  In Hinduism, there are the Vedas. In the Gathas and the Vedas, the Sun is worshipped not only as the primordial source of life but as spiritual light, standing for Wisdom, Order, and Truth. Fire, its emblem, is sacred witness at ritual ceremonies. The Cow, too, is holy in both cultures, though it has a wider significance in Zoroastrianism, representing cattle in general and all living, suffering things, the poor and the downtrodden, who Zarathushtra alone, according to the legend, can save. In one passage Creation itself is symbolised by "the joy-giving Cow." I will emphasize now on "why this similarity."

If you go back in history, you will find that every time India was invaded, invaders were always impressed with our sages and scholars. Even Alexander took a few sages back to Persia; these sages brought with them the Indian scriptures and wisdom. That is why, you will find so much of similarities between Kabbalah, Hinduism and even Zoroastrianism. You should also know that Ramayana was translated into Persian at the behest of Emperor Akbar. Long after Akbar, the Mughal court continued the tradition of cultural blending. Ramayana is not the only book that was translated to Persian. Akbar ordered several Sanskrit classics like Atharva veda - Lord Krishna's biography. Mahabharata (titled as Razm Namah), Singhasan Battisi, Panchtantra, etc., to be translated.. Akbar found the morals of the stories inspiring.

Famous Sanskrit work Padmavat was rendered into Persian in 1617. Chitravalli, the Hindi poetry collection by poet Usman is creation of Jehangir’s age. It was during Shah Jehan’s tenure that Maulana Abdur Rahman Chishti penned the dialogue between Mahadev and Parvathi and built up an analogy with Adam and Eve, the first ancestors of human beings according to the Islamic and Christian theology. He made a poetic translation of 'Geeta' into Persian. 

Dara Shikoh was appointed heir apparent by Shah Jahan, who had learnt Sanskrit and studied the original Hindu scripture. He translated Upanishads into Persian directly from Sanskrit and called it SIRRE-e_Akabar(The great Mystery).

If you happen to hear or read the philosophy of Kabbalah, you will feel like you are listening to the Gita. Here you can get a glimpse of the concept of reincarnation, the soul as the divine spark, the manifest and the unmanifest divine and the harmony of the physical and the spiritual worlds. You will be  surprised that esoteric Judaism is so similar to the teaching of esoteric Hinduism like the levels of divine manifestation from the spirit to matter.

People can say that it is all bullshit or imagination of the historians. No, it is not. It is because our sages had been taken to Persia to translate the work of wisdom and all the other translations done by Akbar, Dara Shikoh and several others actually became a resource centre for people to come to, study, interpret, and reinterpret the same philosophy in their own way. This is why we find so many similarities between these philosophies.

Here are a few quotes of people from different parts of the world. If the Gita can impact people, foreign to the Gita in such  a profound way, then one can imagine what crime we are doing by depriving our children from not learning it. No one yet has taken it as a philosophy, it is mostly read in a religious context. I have seen when people read it for religious purposes most of them just want to finish it as soon as possible because of its complex nature and language. It's greater value has to be realized, rather than its association with religion. Only then will the vast population be benefitted by its essence. 

"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial." ~ Henry David Thoreau

"The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity." ~ Aldous Huxley

Wilhelm von Humboldt said: "The deepest and highest the world can show us. I thank God that He permitted me to live as much time as so that I could read the Bhagavad Gita".

"The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race, a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization." ~ Rishi Aurobindo

What more one can say about the profound teachings of the Bhagwad Gita. God will make sure the right thing happens.