What is The Central Message of The Gita

By

Sri Swami Chidananda

This article is a chapter from the book Insights into the Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

For those who want to attain God, for those who are turning upward, what is the central teaching of the Bhagavad Gita?

You see that the end citation of every chapter always says, “Thus in the Upanishad of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture on Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends such and such discourse, entitled The Yoga of Such and Such…”. You have each chapter ending with reference to the Gita as an Upanishad, as an exposition of Supreme wisdom, as the Science of Yoga and as a personal teaching out of love from Lord Krishna to His friend Arjuna. Each chapter ultimately refers to each of the teachings as Yoga because that teaching will bring man close to God and help to unite the human with the Divine.

Granted that all chapters comprise all these things, but what is the central teaching of the Gita for the seeker who wants to attain God?

The essence of the Gita is that attainment of God is possible through the life that you are living! Within the selfsame pattern of life, you must bring about a spiritual awakening, a cosmic vision, a higher divine understanding. Your daily life is not in any way going to be affected, but it is going to be enriched and reoriented. The central message of the Gita is an inner revolution of the being who has been fortunate enough to come into contact with the living gospel of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. The various views about the Gita have partial truths in them, but they lack the grasp of the central message. Some even say that the Gita is advocating war, because Krishna told Arjuna to fight. But the same Gita abounds with teachings of absolute Ahimsa, forgiveness, kindness, compassion and not hurting a single creature.

The Gita advocates that you should not run away from your duties and obligations. You should be wise, and through your obligations sincerely discharged and done in a worshipful way, in a spiritual manner, you may attain that Being who is at the very heart of your work. He dwells in all obligations that you are discharging seemingly towards those of this earth, He is within the innermost core of all beings to whom you are related. Right at the very heart of all those beings abides that Divinity, that Supreme Reality, whom you want to experience:

Ahamatma gudakesha sarvabhutashayasthitah
Ahamadishcha madhyam cha bhutanamanta eva cha

(B.G. 10/20)

“O Arjuna, I am the Self seated in the hearts of all beings;
I am the beginning, the middle and the very end of all beings.”

Where you are, there He is! As you act, He is in the middle of the activity and with whomsoever you are dealing, He is there. Why don’t you recognise this closeness and act with the awareness of this closeness? This is what He wants you to do. Work, but be aware of His immediate Presence. Then your activity becomes a consecrated offering to His immediate Presence.

The central gospel of the Gita is that everyone can realise God. Everyone: the cobbler, the carpenter, the fisherman and the road mender, the butcher, the baker, the artist, the musician, the businessman, the politician and the diplomat, the doctor and the lawyer, the engineer, the architect, the housewife and the father of the family… all can realise God. Man, woman and child are all entitled to His Vision. Living the life in the same manner, they can attain Him. Doing the activities which they are required to do, they can attain Him. This is what Krishna said when He delivered His eternal message to Arjuna. And through Arjuna to each and everyone of us — today, tomorrow and into the future.

The Gita is a universal scripture. Vedic wisdom is global human heritage, and the Bhagavad Gita is the very heart of the spiritual wisdom of the Vedas that is contained in the Upanishads.

Arjuna is the representative human, and Krishna is the Divine, the Eternal, the Universal Soul. This is the truth. The Gita is a Gospel that comes to your doorstep, enters into your home and works with you when you go to work. It tells you how by the manner of your living your life, by the manner of dying when you are about to depart, you can realise God. It is the gospel of attaining illumination in and through the very worldly activities, which are revealed as not being worldly. It gives out an extraordinary concept: the concept of action in inaction and at the same time inaction in action.

It does not speak to the Yogi, it does not speak to the Jnani, it does not speak to the Bhakta, it does not speak to any particular person, it speaks to you! It speaks to the ‘worldly’ creature caught in the net of so many duties and activities. It is not addressed to the monastic only or to the dedicated all-time seeker, it is meant for everyone. Therein lies its special relevance to people of this age, and to people of the West as well as of the East. If you want to sum up, the most important message of the Gita for modern man is God-realisation through your duties well-done, in the right spirit.

Then does the Gita not have a place for spiritual Sadhana, Yoga? Most certainly it has! All the 18 chapters expound Yoga Shastra, transcendental wisdom, science of Yoga. Then how do you reconcile the statement that the central message of the Gita is God-realisation through your duties well-performed? How do you reconcile this statement with the affirmation that the Gita does speak of spiritual Sadhana? You do not have far to seek. Consider both these things: duties well performed, activities done in a spiritual way, and spiritual Sadhana on the other side.

The first is that one of the most important duties man has to perform is Spiritual Sadhana. God gave you this body not only to work out your previous Karma, by undergoing the fruits of Karma in the form of sweet and bitter experiences, pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, not only for the passing experiences in order to pay the Karmic debt; but it is also given for serving humanity, helping others, benefitting all. What is more, this body is ‘Sadhana-Sharira’. It is an instrument for Spiritual Sadhana. There is a beautiful song of Kabir:

“O Man! Don’t strut about in a vain manner, don’t give yourself airs, but be humble and adore the Lord; for, He has given you hands, feet, eyes, ears, tongue — everything in order to glorify Him, worship Him and attain Him and become blessed and succeed in your life.

‘He has given you eyes to behold His forms, and He has given you ears to listen to His divine names, tongue to chant His divine name. He has given you feet in order to go on pilgrimage and visit His holy shrines; He has given you hands that you may do works of charity. You are set apart in vanity and pride. Be humble and adore the Lord; for, He has given you hands and feet and this whole body in order to worship Him and glorify Him and attain Him and become blessed…”

Once you understand this body to be an instrument for Spiritual Sadhana, not to engage in Spiritual Sadhana would be the greatest failure. In performing your duties for which the human body has been given, this primary duty of Spiritual Sadhana is included. Activity in an ideal manner is possible only if the actor has already a basis of Spiritual Sadhana, love for God and aspiration to attain Him. Then the spirit of this quest, this spiritual living will permeate all branches of his activity upon the outer plane.

The Sadhak of the Gita keeps contact with both the realms, the inner and the outer, the spiritual as well as the gross universe and harmonises them both – he brings God into his everyday life and not the other way around. We usually do it the other way around; we bring the world into God. We bring Bingo into the church. This is not the way; you must get the church into the golf course, into the Bridge party. Bring Jesus into your club. That the Gita asks you to do! It says, all areas of your life belong to GOD. So don’t shut the door upon Him in any area, let Him pervade as it is His right to do!

O Arjuna, engage in action being united with Me within, be established in a state of close association with Me and thus engage in activity. Activity cannot touch you.

Hari Om Tat Sat!