Influence of Bhagavad Gita: Difference between revisions

Alongside its importance in the [[Hindu]] faith, the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' has influenced many thinkers, musicians including [[Sri Aurobindo]], [[Swami Vivekananda]], [[Mahatma Gandhi]], [[Aldous Huxley]], [[Henry David Thoreau]], [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]], [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], [[Carl Jung]], [[Bulent Ecevit]], [[Hermann Hesse]], [[Heinrich Himmler]], [[George Harrison]], [[Nikola Tesla]] among others.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hijiya |first=James A. |date=2000 |title=The "Gita" of J. Robert Oppenheimer |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=144 |number=2 |pages=123–167 |jstor=1515629 |url=https://savy-international.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Gita-of-J-Robert-Oppenheimer.pdf |access-date=2020-01-16 |archive-date=2013-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515224154/http://www.amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/Hijiya.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="bansi">{{Citation|last=Pandit|first=Bansi |title=Explore Hinduism|page=27}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Hume|first=Robert Ernest |title=The world's living religions|year=1959|page=29}}</ref> The main source of the doctrine of Karma Yoga in its present form is ''Bhagavad Gita''.

This is what he thought of the Bhagavad Gita:

''The Supreme Lord Krishna's primary purpose for descending and incarnating is to relieve the world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed to spiritual development, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable intention to be perpetually within reach of all humanity."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Srivastava|first=Om Prie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dFVDwAAQBAJ&dq=From+a+clear+knowledge+of+the+Bhagavad-Gita+all+the+goals+of+human+existence+become+fulfilled.+Bhagavad-Gita+is+the+manifest+quintessence+of+all+the+teachings+of+the+Vedic+scriptures.&pg=PA10|title=BHAGAVAD GITA: The Art and Science of Management for the 21st Century|date=20 March 2018|publisher=Zorba Books|isbn=9789387456198|language=en}}</ref>}}

Our only purpose is to present this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is in order to guide the conditioned student to the same purpose for which Kṛṣṇa descends to this planet once in a day of Brahmā, or every 8,600,000,000 years. This purpose is stated in Bhagavad-gītā, and we have to accept it as it is; otherwise there is no point in trying to understand the Bhagavad-gītā and its speaker, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa first spoke Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god some hundreds of millions of years ago. We have to accept this fact and thus understand the historical significance of Bhagavad-gītā, without misinterpretation, on the authority of Kṛṣṇa. To interpret Bhagavad-gītā without any reference to the will of Kṛṣṇa is the greatest offense. In order to save oneself from this offense, one has to understand the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He was directly understood by Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa's first disciple. Such understanding of Bhagavad-gītā is really profitable and authorized for the welfare of human society in fulfilling the mission of life.<ref name="Preface to the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is">{{cite web|title=Preface to the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is|url=https://vanisource.org/wiki/BG_(1972)_Preface|access-date=27 February 2020}}</ref>

[[Swami Vivekananda]] evinced much interest in ''Bhagavad Gita''. It is said, ''Bhagavad Gita'' was one of his two most favourite books (another one was ''[[The Imitation of Christ]]''). In 1888-1893 when Vivekananda was travelling all over India as a wandering monk, he kept only two books with him&nbsp;— Gita and Imitation of Christ.<ref name="Self-Control, the Key to Self-Realisation">{{cite web|title=Self-Control, the Key to Self-Realisation|url=http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/gokulananda/self-control_the_key_to_self_realization.php|publisher=www.eng.vedanta.ru/|access-date=11 April 2012}}</ref>

The ''Bhagavad Gita''{{'}}s emphasis on selfless service was a prime source of inspiration for [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. Gandhi told: "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to ''Bhagavad-Gita'' and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."<ref name="Famous Reflections on the Bhagavad Gita US">{{cite web|title=Famous Reflections on the Bhagavad Gita|url=http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/articles/662/1/Famous-Reflections-on-the-Bhagavad-Gita/Page1.html|publisher=www.bhagavad-gita.us|access-date=11 April 2012}}</ref>

According to [[Sri Aurobindo]], 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."<ref name="Famous Reflections on the Bhagavad Gita US" />

[[Aldous Huxley]], the English writer found Gita "the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind.", He also felt, Gita 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."<ref name="Famous Reflections on the Bhagavad Gita US"/>

[[Jawaharlal Nehru]], the first prime minister of India found that "The ''Bhagavad Gita'' deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe."<ref>{{cite book|title=A Tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and Wisdom Spanning Continents and Time about India and Her Culture|author=Sushama Londhe|publisher=Pragun Publications|page=191}}</ref>

[[File:Trinity Detonation T&B.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The [[Trinity (nuclear test)|Trinity test]] of the [[Manhattan Project]] was the first detonation of a [[nuclear weapon]], which lead Oppenheimer to recall verses from the ''Bhagavad Gita'', notably: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".]]

{{blockquote|दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता। यदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद्भासस्तस्य महात्मनः।।११-१२।।<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/srimad?httyn=1&etpurohit=1&&language=dv&field_chapter_value=11&field_nsutra_value=12 |title=श्रीमद् भगवद्गीता अध्याय ११ श्लोक १२}}</ref>

{{blockquote|We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the ''Bhagavad Gita''; [[Vishnu]] is trying to persuade the [[Arjuna|Prince]] that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on [[Vishvarupa|his multi-armed form]] and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.<ref name="The Decision to Drop the Bomb" />{{efn|1=Oppenheimer spoke these words in the television documentary ''[http://www.atomicarchive.com/Movies/Movie8.shtml The Decision to Drop the Bomb]'' (1965).<ref name="The Decision to Drop the Bomb">{{cite web | url = http://www.atomicarchive.com/Movies/Movie8.shtml | title = J. Robert Oppenheimer on the Trinity test (1965) |access-date=May 23, 2008 | publisher = Atomic Archive}}</ref> Oppenheimer read the original text in [[Sanskrit]],『{{IAST|kālo'smi lokakṣayakṛtpravṛddho lokānsamāhartumiha pravṛttaḥ}}』(XI,32),<ref>{{cite web |access-date=24 October 2012 |url=http://www.asitis.com/11/32.html |title=Chapter 11. The Universal Form, text 32|publisher=Bhagavad As It Is}}</ref> which he translated as "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds". In the literature, the quote usually appears in the form ''shatterer'' of worlds, because this was the form in which it first appeared in print, in [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] on November 8, 1948.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=November 8, 1948 |title=The Eternal Apprentice |volume=52 |number=19 |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853367,00.html}}</ref> It later appeared in Robert Jungk's ''Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists'' (1958),<ref>{{cite book |last=Jungk |date=1958 |title=Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists |page=201 }}</ref> which was based on an interview with Oppenheimer.{{sfn|Hijiya|2000|pp=123–124}}}}}}

[[Hermann Graf Keyserling]], German Philosopher regarded ''[[Bhagavad Gita|Bhagavad-Gita]]'' as "Perhaps the most beautiful work of the literature of the world."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Huston Smith Reader |page=122}}</ref>

[[Hermann Hesse]] felt that "the marvel of the ''Bhagavad-Gita'' is its truly beautiful revelation of life's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion."<ref name="Famous Reflections on the Bhagavad Gita US"/>

[[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] said this about the ''Bhagavad Gita'': "I owed a magnificent day to the ''Bhagavad-Gita''. It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent,the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Gothic Sublime|page=249|publisher=SUNY Press|author=Vijay Mishra|year=1994}}</ref>

[[Wilhelm von Humboldt]] pronounced the Gita as: "The most beautiful, perhaps the only true philosophical song existing in any known tongue ... perhaps the deepest and loftiest thing the world has to show."<ref>{{cite book|title=But Not Philosophy: Seven Introductions to Non-Western Thought|author=George Anastaplo|publisher=Lexington|page=85|year=2002}}</ref>

Turkish Ex prime minister [[Bulent Ecevit]], when asked what had given him the courage to send Turkish troops to [[Cyprus]] . His answer was "He was fortified by the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' which taught that if one were morally right, one need not hesitate to fight injustice".<ref name=telegraphindia.com >{{cite web |title=The Telegraph - Calcutta : Opinion |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021114/asp/opinion/story_1363040.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021123210030/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021114/asp/opinion/story_1363040.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 23, 2002 |website=www.telegraphindia.com |access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref>

[[Warren Hastings|Lord Warren Hastings]], the first governor general of British India wrote: "I hesitate not to pronounce the Gita a performance of great originality, of sublimity of conception, reasoning and diction almost unequalled; and a single exception, amongst all the known religions of mankind."<ref>as cited in {{cite book|last=Keay|first=John|title=India discovered|year=1988|publisher=Collins|isbn=978-0-00-217859-4|page=25}}</ref>

[[Sunita Williams]], an American astronaut who holds the record for longest single space flight by a woman carried a copy of ''Bhagavad Gita'' and Upanishads with her to space, said "Those are spiritual things to reflect upon yourself,life, world around you and see things other way, I thought it was quite appropriate" while talking about her time in space.<ref>{{cite web |title=I had samosas in space with me, says astronaut Sunita Williams |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdd_UYpsU_E&t=1m15s |website=www.youtube.com |access-date=17 August 2018 |date=2 April 2013}}</ref>

"That the spiritual man need not be a recluse, that union with the divine Life may be achieved and maintained in the midst of worldly affairs, that the obstacles to that union lie not outside us but within us—such is the central lesson of the Bhagavad-Gītā." - [[Annie Besant]]<ref>{{cite book |title=The Bhagavad Gita: The Lord's Song |publisher=The Theosophical Publishing House |location=Adyar |chapter=Preface}}</ref>

"If we want to approach such a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-gita with full understanding it is necessary for us to attune our souls to it. "- [[Rudolf Steiner]]<ref>From his Lectures: {{cite book|last=Steiner|first=Rudolf|title=The Bhagavad Gita and the West: The Esoteric Significance of the Bhagavad Gita and Its Relation to the Epistles of Paul|date=September 2009|publisher=SteinerBooks|isbn=978-0-88010-961-1|pages=317–}}</ref>

"You see, spirituality has no religious overtones. The essence of spirituality is to make a person pure in his mind and his thoughts. When I started reading our old scriptures, like the “Baghavad Gita,” I found it was useful for day-to-day life, so I started practicing it. I consider it an administrative gospel, one that will help you in doing things like running an organization". - [[E. Sreedharan]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=TIMMONS|first1=HEATHER|last2=RAINA|first2=PAMPOSH|title=A Conversation With: E. Sreedharan|url=https://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/a-conversation-with-e-sreedharan/|website=The New York Times|date=5 October 2011|access-date=30 July 2017}}</ref>

Prime Minister of India, [[Narendra Modi]] has strongly pitched the ''Bhagavad Gita'' as "India's biggest gift to the world".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gita-is-Indias-biggest-gift-to-the-world-Modi/articleshow/41530350.cms|title=Gita is India's biggest gift to the world: Modi|website=[[The Times of India]]|date=2 September 2014 }}</ref> Shri Modi gifted the ''Bhagavad Gita'' according to Gandhi to the then President of the United States [[Barack Obama]] in 2014 during his US visit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quignog.com/bhagavad-gita-gandhi/|title=Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/narendra-modi-gifts-bhagavad-gita-to-obama/|title=Narendra Modi gifts Bhagavad Gita to Obama|date=30 September 2014}}</ref>

Hollywood actor [[Will Smith]] said "I am 90% through the Bhagavad Gita... My inner [[Arjuna]] is being channelled.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/will-smith-i-am-90-through-the-bhagavad-gita-my-inner-arjuna-is-being-channelled/articleshow/62121234.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309063338/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/will-smith-i-am-90-through-the-bhagavad-gita-my-inner-arjuna-is-being-channelled/articleshow/62121234.cms|archive-date = 2021-03-09|title=Will Smith: I am 90 % through the Bhagavad Gita... My inner Arjuna is being channelled - Times of India|website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>