The Language of the Bhagavadgita: 6. Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Tuesday 04, February 2025, 08:30.

Article

Srimad Bhagavad Gita

The Language of the Bhagavadgita: 6. 

Swami Krishnananda.

(Gita Jayanti Message spoken on December 26, 1982)

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The culture of Bharatavarsha does not recognise any object as being purely material, and more so is the case with divine embodiments such as the scriptures. The Veda, the Upanishad, the Bhagavadgita are sacred. The Veda mantras are not some printed characters on pieces of paper, though when we lift the Veda and carry it from one place to another we seem to be carrying only paper and ink. The Veda is not paper and ink. It is something more than what we can touch with our hand or feel as a weight thereof. It is a power, it is a force, it is a vibration, it is an energy, it is a solution, it is a succour, it is divinity that somehow or other has been implanted within this range of linguistic style, whether of the Veda mantras or the verses of the Bhagavadgita.

I began by saying that the word is power, and it is not merely some sound that we are making. What I speak is an emanation of what I am, and naturally what I am is something difficult to understand. It is an energy, it is a force, it is a power, it is a purpose, it is an intention, it is an aspiration, it is a longing, it is a strength. Everything can be said about what one is. That pours itself forth when language is spoken, unless of course language is misused in order to not reveal the ideas but to conceal them.

Oftentimes words are spoken to hide the ideas inside, not to express the ideas, but this is not a proper utilisation of language. It is an insult to the style. When you speak, you speak yourself, and this is essentially and especially the case with integrated Masters, spiritualised souls, divine seers such as the mantradrishtas of the Vedas and here, in this instance, the Bhagavadgita. So is the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana. “When I am not visible physically, you shall see me embodied in the Srimad Bhagavata,” said the great Lord.

So when you recite the Bhagavadgita, even when you touch the book, you are, if you are honest to yourself, in a divine communion. The vibrations of Vyasa, Krishna and Ganesha are all trying to enter you. When you read a textbook, you are in an internal communion with the author’s ideas. You think like the author himself when you read a book. You are emotionally set in a proportion commensurate with the powerful ideas expressed by the poet or the author. Read Shakespeare, for instance. Your whole emotion will be turning upside down when you read through the plays because of the force of language, the power that is injected into the words by the immensely potent thoughts of the author.

People say the Mahabharata should not be read in the house because conflict or friction will manifest itself in the family. The idea is, the whole of the Mahabharata is a terrible vibration. Vyasa spoke not merely a language, but he was in tune with what he saw. Divine seers, divine masters are always in tune with what they think. They are not outside their thought contents. So as the Mahabharata is a description of a battle, a narration of events connected with intense friction among people that has been expressed by a powerful mind, the belief is that it will have some impact upon the whole area in which it is recited. The Mahabharata is not read in the house. People go to into the forest or to a temple to read it, and they read only the Shanti Parva and especially avoid the Yuddha Parvas. The point is that language is a force, and in the case of the Bhagavadgita or the Veda mantras, it is not ordinary language; it is divinity poured forth upon us.

This gives some idea about the importance of the Bhagavadgita, a great gospel for all humble seekers on the path of divinity. This is not the time for me to go into details of what the Bhagavadgita teaches. Since you are all acquainted to some extent with the contents of this great teaching, I do not propose to go into these details at present. Suffice it to say that we are mightily blessed to be graced with this immense kindness and compassion of God through Arjuna, the instrumentality of the representative of man. Arjuna was blessed, and we are all equally blessed. May our prayers be to this Great Being.

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The Concept of God in Hinduism - Swami Krishnananda

Continued

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