WHY GITA ALONE

                                                                                                                 -Bageshwar Jha

Hailing from a pious Brahmin family, even though cursorily, I stand exposed to common household Sanatan Dharm scriptures including the Shrimadbhagvat Gita from my childhood. At that immature stage, to me they were just sacrosanct and nothing beyond. In my daily routine was invariably included recitation from these religious texts as well as several other ‘mantras’. As a gullible lad this brief daily recital convinced me that the Lord would remain kind and shower boons on me.

However, since I had gone across teens, one serious doubt started harassing me as to why all mantras ended with  some demand to be fulfilled by the divinity by virtue of singing the same. Why one should always pray for some material gains? Does not that beget a cult of beggary? Is not the Lord all-knowing and omnipresent? Then why should a true follower remind Him of his each need? You talk about any mythological classic including the Rigveda, they have nothing more than praises of the deity and benefits of their recital. Will only the recital of scriptural texts build a nation? Recently an Indian philosopher deeply lamented that these ‘bhajans’ had hardly any constructive aspect for the solution of people’s problems and nation-building.

In the backdrop of above syndrome, the Gita stands alone because the thrust point dealt in there is allaying of confusion of Arjuna who represents the community as a  whole. This new interpretation dawned at me when in mid-sixties I read Gandhi’s commentary on this masterpiece (in Gujarati), translated into English by his secretary Mahadev Desai. Krishna just advises him to go  for the unattached karma. But he warns that ‘kin karma kin karmeti kaviyopyatra mohitah’ meaning that even the wise are confused about the real colour of karma and akarma. So long the man assumes that he is the doer, he is swayed by its good and bad results. He should think that only action is his right (karmanyevadhikaraste) without any attachment to the result (mafalesukadachana). This great message looks very simple but is very difficult to practise. Obviously in our daily life we just start any work only after foreseeing the result. Gita tells us just to reverse the order. It is difficult but possible through practice.

The scholars say that the Ramcharit Manas starts with ‘bhakti’ and ends with ‘gyan’ (Uttarkand). Quite contrarily, the Gita starts with ‘gyan’ and ends with bhakti viz. total surrender (mamekansharnambrja). Let us not once again get involved in complicated jargons. We have to simply remember to do karma (only which we can do) and remain detached from the result (which is beyond our competence). It will make our life simple and smooth. Gita does not falsely assure that its recital will make you happy. It prescribes no escape from duty. That is why it is emphasized: ‘gitasugitakartavyaih kimnyaishastravistaraih’. Do not go to the details of different shastras, just follow Gita alone! 

WHILE ON MY HOME TURF

                             

                                                -Bageshwar  Jha

Hi, I am back to the national capital after a nearly two-month long sojourn to my native village in Bihar, perhaps the longest stint there since I left the village for studies in a high school in 1954. Believe me, during this period I missed you all, all the time. The purpose was to get constructed my house as after partition with brothers, I was given a vacant piece of land reducing me to the status of a person without a roof on his head. But the stay was eventful in many ways.

In fifties, only a counted few had shoes or woollens. Today you cannot see anybody without a chappal at least. The colourful pullovers put on by males and females of all ages has added colour to the life of the community. Previously every landlord, big or small had bullocks to plough the arable lands. Today, about forty tractors have banished the oxes. Labour being costly and scarce due to their flocking to Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra, the landlords have stopped cultivation. The people of lower rung of the society have adopted the agricultural work on the condition of getting half of the product (bataidari). As a result, the landowners have started disposing of their land to maintain themselves and neglected lot are purchasing them. They call it ditch being higher than the dam. Moreover, the distribution of foodgrains by the government on highly subsidized rates has helped the beneficiaries to avoid hard labour oriented work.

The village has metalled roads and electricity is available for nearly twenty hours a day. The economically stable families are owning TV, fridge and other electronic household gadgets. The most encouraging development from the Sulabh point of view is that the houses being constructed are invariably provided with lavatories. Attendance in schools has unprecedently gone up as the students get bicycles, mid-day meal and cash for dress and study materials. Moreover, provision of toilets in schools has reduced to the minimum the drop out syndrome, particularly of girl students. People of all shades appear trained in parliamentary system and they have become cunning enough to teach a bitter lesson to non-performing politicians. The new crop in politics has realized that they cannot exist without delivering. The erstwhile downtrodden have turned so self-respect minded that even the affluent ones cannot dictate terms. Are not these small things indicative of India having progressed during last over six decades of independence?

Yet there is one more point, I would like to mention here. I have been attending Vidyapati jayanti celebrations in different cities of India either as an audience or an important somebody on the dias. However, I had never an opportunity to attend this function at Darbhanga, the heart of Mithila. Being a small time writer with publications in Maithili, the literary people there know me. So I was invited to attend that 3-day function on the second day, viz Nov.5, 2014. It was a national seminar in which I was to make a presentation on the history of Maithili dramas in and around my native village. Some other forty scholars had also made similar presentations which were all published in book form and released there by Justice Dharni Dhar Jha of Patna High Court. We also spoke on the theme before the august audience.

In hindsight, thus I realize to have missed a lot on account of this disconnection with my birth place. Did I do so deliberately? I would like to quote a sher of a famous Pakistani poet: ‘duniyan ne tere ishk se begana kar diya, tujh se bhi dilphareb hai gam rozgar ke’.