The True Essence of The Gitas

The Gitas are texts that are found in 2 Vedic texts, namely: Valmiki’s Ramayana and Vyasa’s Mahabharata. They appear at different times under different circumstances where one individual is suffering dilemma, pain, and emotional breakdown and the other individual, a sage Rishi or Yogi, is counselling them and bringing them out of the emotional chaos by presenting timeless knowledge and wisdom.

There are 7 Gitas in total, while 2 appear in Valmiki’s Ramayana the other 5 appear in Vyasa’s Mahabharata. The 2 texts appearing in Valmiki’s Ramayana are Vashistha Gita a.k.a. Yoga Vashistha and Ashtavakra Gita. ?The 5 Gitas appearing in Vyasa’s Mahabharata are Vidura Gita a.k.a. Vidura Neeti, Krishna Gita or “Bhagavad Gita,” Bhisma Gita, Vyadha Gita and Avadhoota Gita.

Every Gita is distinct and has been recorded by the authors Valmiki and Vyasa to help people in specific situations or at specific points in life. Yet there is a unitary knowledge in all of them and it is the knowledge of Yoga. This Yoga has little to nothing to do with anything that is taught in modern-day Yoga Studios. This Yoga has more to do with your Mind than with your Body. This Yoga is also the foundation of almost all critical teachings of original Vedic Sanskrit texts, including Jyotish (Vedic Astronomy not Astrology), Ayurveda, Neeti, Rajaneeti and Kootaneeti. So, unless a person has a strong understanding of Yoga, he can never understand the Vedic knowledge and wisdom fully.

Difference between Sadhak & Yogi

The word Yoga comes from the root word Yuj which means – The Path. Since Yoga is the pinnacle of Vedic knowledge and Vedas comes from the root word Vid which means Wisdom – we can effortlessly understand Yoga as The Path of Wisdom. A person yearning for or learning Yoga is called Sadhak or Seeker, whereas a person established in Yoga is called a Yogi. It is important to know here that Yogi, just like the word Guru, is a gender-neutral word. A male, female or even a transgender person is called Yogi. Yogini is a much later invented word, during the Bhakti era. Yogini is essentially a “goddess” who makes the expectations of humans praying to her become a reality. ?Yogeshwara is better translated as Grandmaster of Yoga.

Krishna of Vyasa’s Mahabharata is defined as Yogeshwara. Whereas Rama of Valmiki’s Ramayana is called Purushottama or Finest Among Men and a Yogi. For Valmiki and Vyasa, Rama and Krishna were someone we were supposed to emulate – not someone to “pray” for. They were Great men – but men – whose mistakes, struggles and learning could offer guiding light unto all men beyond the limitations of space and time.

Why Gitas Are Timeless

Now you may ask what would someone who lived thousands of years before teaching us today? Such questions are based on the idea that times have changed and the situations so challenges of the past can make no case study for today. Times have changed. The way we communicate, travel and work have all changed beyond recognition – yet there is something that is still the same. The nature of the human mind. The Vedic understanding of the human mind continues to be beyond any modern understanding. Today’s academicians, psychologists or even psychiatrists cannot even distinguish between mind and brain. As a result, they seek to solve all the problems with medications and money. This is one of the reasons why the United States is facing pandemics such as the fentanyl crisis, failures in wars since World War II and even depleting economic power.

Mind is Never Menial

At the outset, it may seem ludicrous and even overwhelming to some that a “menial” mind can have so many diverse impacts on the very existence of humanity. But that’s the very reason for the pain of humanity today, that mind we believe to be “menial” is how everything that humanity has ever achieved has happened. Think again, would there be an economy without transactions, and would there be transactions without need and will there be need without the mind?

We are in the age of lifestyle diseases diabetes and hypertension the global killers today are owing to the stress – where do you think the stress stems from? Mind. War is for seeking material desires – directly or indirectly – and would there be desires without the Mind? If you understand the mind, you cannot just lead a peaceful and prosperous life but also find solutions to the problems ailing humanity. This is also the message of the Gitas. As Krishna says to Arjuna “A calm Mind is your best friend, an unsteady mind is your own worst enemy.”

Everything we touch, feel and experience is a result of the human mind. So, the mind can never be menial. Those who think their mind is menial or irrelevant are often those who deprive themselves of the opportunity to shape humanity. The mind that knows its strength but uses it to seek its own desires is a mind that is suffering an ailment.

Mind is Never the Self

When a mind thinks that it is the self, it becomes the problem. We are neither this body nor the mind. When we ask people who they are, they often tell us their names. But was that name of their own choice? Of course not! So how can they be their name? Then they point to their body. The body they have now is not the body they had when they were toddlers, infants, or teens. The cells in the body change all the time, and hence we can never be the body. Most philosophers, particularly in the West, are stuck in the rut that they are the mind. It is no wonder that their morality, principles, and logic are those which appeal to their minds. But the mind is never the same. When you are born, you want your mother all the time; without your mother, you have no sense of security. But when you grew a bit older, you made friends, and then playing with them became your choicest pastime – so much so that when your mother asked you to stop playing and called you home, you'd hate your mother. Then you became a teenager, and you had less interest in friends, and your parents were even less important. It was boring for you to be with your parents or friends. Then you got married and had children. Then they took greater precedence, and life moved on. All through your life, the mind has changed its interests and focus; its likes and dislikes were never the same. Your mind's likes, dislikes, and interests change all the time. Your mind itself changes faster than your body. So how can you be the mind?

Yet, the mind is important, and it is crucial to achieve a state of mind that is not swayed easily, to make sure it doesn't give in to its natural tendencies. It doesn't become thankless, egoistic, narcissistic, and self-centered. It is when the mind is too self-centered, driven by its inherent fears and fixation on specific objects, that it becomes ill. And this is how all the ailments of mind and body are born.

This is an essential summary of all the Gitas. They, however, do not teach you to move away from them but continue to accept them with a certain amount of detachment.

Thanks to Bhakti cults and religions, detachment or Nirmoha or Vairagya is converted into some sort of aversion where love is shunned. And although nobody seems to accept it or follow it, they all seem to romanticize it in some ways. It is therefore important to have the right understanding of Nirmoha or Vairagya from the right perspective – the Vedic perspective.

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