For human beings, the Ramayana, Shrimadbhagwadgeeta, Qur’an, Guru Grantha Sahib and the holy Bible, are such sacred and religious books, following the didactic preachings of which, they may be able to follow the right path. Millions and millions of people in the world read these sacred books in their own ways, but when it comes down to bringing into real practice the didactic teachings, there are very few who could be considered followers in the truest sense.
Here, only the Geeta is being mentioned as a special case, because these days, Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who is a renowned scientist and engineer, who is known as ‘missile-man’ and, who is the twelfth President of India, is being criticized for the reason that he, despite being from a Muslim community, has faith in the Geeta and quotes the hymns of the Geeta during his speeches.
The ignorance of such people is pitiable because they do not know that, in the past, people from Hindu and Muslim communities, both, used to participate in debates and discussions during religious gatherings; and there were some scholars like Ramachandra Dehalavi and Pandit Lekhram who had learnt the Qur’an by heart. And from the Muslim community, Maulana Ahmad Madani and the renowned Urdu poet, Ravish Siddiqui, were great scholars of Hindi and Sanskrit languages who came from Jwalapur, Haridwar. They, too, had learnt the Qur’an by heart. These scholars used to participate in the annual meetings arranged by the Gurukul Kangaree of Haridwar and thousands and thousands of people in the audience used to enjoy each and every word spoken by them during their participation in the debate.
Having knowledge of the treatises and religious books of other religions adds to one’s scholarliness. It is great of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam that he possesses the knowledge of the Geeta also.
While talking about the Geeta it would be important to mention that whenever a defendant or a plaintiff stands in a witness box in the court of justice to testify something, he is made to take an oath by putting his hand on the sacred book, the Geeta, that he will speak the truth only. And this he does keeping in view the sacredness of this religious book.
Now a mention will be made in brief about Lord Krishna who enlightened the Arjuna, on the battlefield, who had turned his back on his genuine duties of a warrior and had become frustrated.
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna—‘I am making you aware of the Supreme Truth because you are my devotee and my friend.’ This means that the Bhagwadgeeta is a book which is meant specially for devotees only. The spiritualists may be classified into three classes—Jnani (one possessing religious wisdom), Yogin (an ascetic, or a person, who practises Yoga), and Bhakta (a devotee). Here Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in very clear words—‘I am making you worthy of ‘new tradition’ (mentor and protege tradition), because the old traditions have come to an end.’ Thus, it is God who willed that His teachings be imparted in a new manner. He wanted that Arjuna became a genuine scholar of the true knowledge of the Bhagwadgeeta. Lord Krishna preached the knowledge (which is contained in the Bhagwadgeeta) specially to Arjuna, only because Arjuna was a devotee, disciple and a close friend of Lord Krishna. In short it can be said that a person, who possesses the attributes of Arjuna, is the fittest person to understand the Geeta in its truest sense.
In this context it can be said without a tinge of doubt that our hero, Professor Dr. Abdul Kalam is a renowned and dutiful missile-man, and is a great nationalist. It is in his principle that this country should become the most powerful country in the world, and the safety and security of this country is his main concern. In fact, he wants to bring this country, the population of which is enormous, in the first row with other developed countries from the point of view of security and technical, scientific and economic development. Unless this country becomes powerful and strong, talking of adjustment, mercy and forgiveness will bear no meaning. The great poet of India, Dinkar, has given description of the Kurukshetra in which the great warrior, Bheeshma, while preaching Yudhishthira, says—
Kshama Usi Ko Shobha Deti Jismein Apana Bal HaiÐ
Kshama Shobhati Hai Bhujang Ko Jisake Paas Garal HaiH
i.e. only he has a right to forgive who has power; like, it would be admirable if a snake forgives someone despite having venom (which can easily kill someone).
In the thirteenth chapter of the Geeta, Lord Krishna, while addressing Arjuna, says about the consciousness of the Prakriti and Purusha that a person who understands the difference between God, the body and the soul and, beyond this, who understands the difference between God and these two, attains salvation and frees himself from the bindings of this corporeal world.
Lord Krishna, in the fourteenth chapter of the Geeta, explains the three attributes of the Prakriti (Nature) to Arjuna and says—‘all living beings are subject to the attributes and laws of the corporeal Nature. These are Satoguna (the quality of goodness), Rajoguna (one of the three constituent qualities of living beings which is the cause of vice), and Tamoguna (the third of the four qualities incident to humanity—the property of darkness)’. Lord Krishna explains what these Gunas (attributes) are, and how they act on us. How one can achieve these and also what the characteristic marks are of a person who has reached the divine status.
As a matter of fact the Shrimadbhagwadgeeta is a storehouse of true knowledge imparted to the great archer, Arjuna, on the battlefield of the Mahabharata. And, through this great scholarly work, those, who have hunger for knowledge, have been assuaging their hunger for knowledge and shall continue to do so in the future also. In the Geeta, the primacy of the Karma has been established and stressed upon. And Dr. Kalam’s unprecedented performance in the field of Karma makes it self-evident. If the Geeta talks of dutifulness, we also find Dr. Kalam standing in the front row among those who are carrying out their duties dutifully in favour of the country. Apart from these, Dr. Kalam has led a very pious life from the beginning and believes in ‘simple living and high thinking’. He has great regards for all religions and believes strongly in adopting anything from any religion which may be useful in the development of human beings and their level of consciousness. On being selected as a candidate for the post of the President of India, he said—one has to be more committed in order to have concrete achievements.
1. It would shed some light on the greatness and great inquisitiveness of Dr. Kalam to mention that along with the Geeta he has studied the entire Mahabharata also. He says that among the characters of the Mahabharata it is Mahatma Vidur who has impressed him most. He is impressed by him because Mahatma Vidur spoke and stood up against the unethical acts of the ruling authorities; that, too, when everyone else had surrendered before the might of the oppressors.
2. Dr. Kalam is of the opinion that it is necessary to combine spirituality with education. Dr. Kalam has also read the famous book, the ‘Siddhanta Shiromani’ of the great scholar, Bhaskaracharya.
In addition to the above, Dr. Kalam keeps repeating the important piece of didactic teachings of the holy Qur’an—
‘The fruits of thy deeds are with thee,
and the consequences of my deeds are with me.’
Why talk of this only! Dr. Kalam has a scholarly knowledge of the Vedas also. This is why he says—‘Aano Bhadra Kritva Yentu Vishwatma’, i.e. ‘let the great thoughts enter your mind from all directions.’
The effect of the Geeta
Swamy Sivananda’s words had magical effect on him. There were no doubts left in his mind any more. He had become a self-confident person, and with the blessings of Swamy Ji he had achieved mental peace. He had left himself entirely to what was predetermined. And it was this confidence which led him to design and develop an indigenous hovercraft prototype as a ground equipment machine (GEM). The hovercraft, which came into existence with one year’s untiring efforts, was christened ‘Nandi’. Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon flew in the Nandi hovercraft with Dr. Abdul Kalam as its pilot. This was another great example of his self-confidence which he exhibited in the presence of a Group Captain who had an experience of many thousands of flying hours. This gave Dr. Kalam a new identity.
Another very important person, with whom he took a ride in the hovercraft, was Prof. M.G.K. Menon who was Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). But, this time this ride opened new doors of fortunes for him. He was called in for an interview by the Indian Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) for the post of Rocket Engineer.
Dr. Kalam proceeded to Bombay (now Mumbai) to attend the interview. He had hardly any idea of the type of questions that he would be asked by his interviewers, and hardly any time to read up or talk to any experienced person to make things easy for himself. Again, this time, Lakshmana Sastry’s voice, quoting from the Bhagawadgeeta, began reverberating—
‘All beings are born to delusion…overcome by the dualities which arise from wish and hate…But those men of virtuous deeds in whom sin has came to an end, freed from the delusion of dualities, worship me steadfast in their vows.’
This came like a great mental support to him and he was at once relaxed and free of doubt. He decided to take things as they came, as, according to Swamy Sivananda everything was predetermined. He was interviewed by Dr. Vikram Sarabhai along with Prof. M.G.K. Menon and Mr. Saraf, then the Deputy Secretary of the Atomic Energy commission. There was no shower of questions on him; instead there was an atmosphere of warmth and friendliness during the interview. The questions asked by Dr. Vikram Sarabhai were not to probe his existing knowledge or skills; the questions were aimed at exploring the possibilities he was filled with.
The result of the interview was positive; he was selected and absorbed as a Rocket Engineer at INCOSPAR. This was a great achievement which came in the form of fulfilment of dreams to him. His work began at INCOSPAR with a familiarization course at TIFR Computer Centre. The first thing he noticed was that the working atmosphere there was entirely different from that at DTD & P (AIR). Here he could work freely without being at the receiving end of the hostility of others.
Dr. Abdul Kalam was fully satisfied.
Truly, the Geeta holds a very special place for the reason that it provides supreme knwoledge and fills a person with self-confidence, fearlessness, dutifulness and with a sense of equanimity. A person gets proper guidance in life from the Geeta—be it normal life or a battlefield; it fills a person with a confidence of victory over adverse circumstances.
The great personages who add to the elegance of the world
Laozi (or Lao-tzu) (c.6th—c B.C.)—A sage and recluse, the reputed founder of Taoism, probably a legendary figure. He is represented as the older contemporary of Confucious, against whom most of his teaching is directed.
Here goes the short and didactic story—
Once Sage Laozi, while wandering about with his disciples, happened to reach an isolated ruined palace which had remained in a dilapidated condition for a very long time. This ruined palace, at one time, belonged to a king of ancient times, the broken domes of which were at such height from the ground that they seemed almost touching the sky. Sage Laozi glanced cursorily at the ruined palace and said to his disciples—‘How frightening is this ruined palace! It is only because it is not inhabited by human beings. Without the existence of human beings an entire storehouse of pleasures becomes as frightening as a cemetery (or a crematorium). The moment human beings ceased to exist in this palace, it lost all its glory and magnificence. Does this ruined palace not give a message that the moment this world becomes devoid of human existence, it, too, will become as frightening as this ruined palace?’
One of his disciples looked wide-eyed at him and asked—‘Lord! Do you mean to say that this world will, one day, become devoid of human existence? The very presumption to believe that there will come a day when there will be no human beings left in this world is extremely frightening.’
Sage Laozi cast a sharp look on his disciple and, looking at the ruined palace without blinking his eyes, said—‘Dear disciple! There was a time when this palace witnessed existence of thousands of people engaged in all sorts of pleasures of life, but, one day, its owner (the king) died and this palace became devoid of human existence. And it is no more than a ruined building now. In the absence of the king, the existence or non-existence of the human beings in this palace became meaningless. In the same manner, when those, whose existence in this world brings glory to it, will cease to exist, this world will become a haunted place like this ruined palace.
‘Dear disciple! The world that you see is magnificent and glorious, but not because of the ordinary people who inhabit this world; it is only because of those great personages around whom all activities of creation take place and who can provide consciousness even to the most inert things. The moment such a great personage leaves this world, all such activities come to a dead stop. Now…who is the controlling authority who is instrumental in this kind of change? Again, the same human beings! And ultimately what we see as a result is that the entire world is gradually transforming into a ruin of lifeless humanity; a cremation ground where we see only ghosts wandering about.’
(courtesy : Shri Hari Katha)
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