The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita

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Chapter 1: The Universal Scope of the Bhagavadgita 

 Part (d)

 Yes; the problems of life are not merely religious problems, and we should not be under the impression that we can be happy merely by a so-called religious message. If by religion we understand what is in our minds usually – and we know very well what we understand by religion – a scripture which has to be carried on the head and worshipped with a tremendous piety and fear in an atmosphere which has to be uncontaminated by secularity of any kind, cut off from the atmosphere of the give-and-take attitude of people, of shops and streets and the thoroughfares; a temple, a church, a priest, a ritual, we have to study the Gita a little differently. 

 We have our own notions of religion. And religions there are and have been many and we are practicing them, yet grief-stricken. We are sorry people, indeed, with all our religion. We are weeping everyday, either openly or secretly, and the religion that we have been hugging as our dear child has not brought any consolation to us. We run to other sources of protection and solace when we are in need of support, and we do not run to religion under every circumstance. We have difficulties of various types, which are not necessarily those which can be solved by the religion that is in our heads today, and this does not require any explanation, further. We run about in ten directions everyday for solution of our problems, and we do not always go to a church or a temple if we have some difficulties. 

 This means that our life is something which is not always capable of being confined to the religion of the church or the religion of the temple. We have not been satisfied with the God that we worship, with the religion we practice; with the scripture we read and the message we have received. We are always unhappy for some reason or the other; and man has been always unhappy and he is unhappy today; and we do not know how long he will continue to be such. Is there a solution for this unhappiness of people? Is it possible for us to be really happy? If this is a possibility, it is worthwhile investigating. And the Bhagavadgita takes up this task of tackling the problems of life in general and not just any one side of our nature.

 Swami Krishnananda

 To be continued ...

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