Thoughts and Quotations by Jayaram V Part Seven

The Bhagavadgita does not promote violence as some people are arguing in Russia. They are saying so because of their ignorance or their own violent nature. The scripture encourages the cultivation of sattva, which promotes divinity and which is responsible for peace, light, equanimity, wisdom, sameness and such other divine qualities. They can be cultivated only through self-purification and the practice of yamas and niyamas.

I do not see much difference between the Russian attitude towards the Bhagavadgita and the Delhi Court's attitude towards Facebook, Google and YouTube. Both smack of authoritarianism and intolerance. In any case government, (which is nothing but a bunch of bureaucrats and power hungry politicians) have no business to act as moral police or decide what is good for society or individuals.

In a distributive system, the ultimate beneficiaries are neither the poor nor the rich but those who have the power to distribute.

How can one voice be heard in a sea of voices? Either it has to shout louder or sound different.

I am watching this movie South Bounders and came across this statement: if you want to sound wise go to school; if you want to be wise go to Nature.

From the earliest times, human nature has always been the same. We have now more gadgets, and better technology to make it more obvious and louder.

The rate of abortion in India is very high. The secular elites argue that the child belongs to its mother and the mother has a right over its life. How untrue. No one belongs to no one.

Men and women have a right over their own bodies. Some countries limit that right also by enacting laws. However, neither parent can extend that right to the children born to them or yet to be born. If you believe in karma and rebirth, you will understand why it is important.

If you believe in soul, you have to believe in its individuality and its own destiny. Parents have only obligations towards their children. They have no right to kill them even when they are in fetus form. Your child is an eternal soul. It may be exiting upon earth much longer than you. Let us pause and think about this today.

On the edge of a cliff, you cannot argue that going forward is an option.

The misconception is democracy is for the people, by the people and with the people. That is as far as you can stretch your idealism. The truth is in practice democracy is sustained and controlled for the groups, by the groups and with the groups.

Selected Upanishads is currently under final review before publication. Should be ready for publication by the end of January 2012. It contains translations of 14 Upanishads with Devanagary text, their English translation and explanatory notes. It will be followed by essays on the Upanishads. This has been a demanding work so far.

People give up their freedom for the sake of comforts. The Bhagavadgita says give up your comforts for the sake of freedom.

Everyone aims for the same goal, to be free from worries and anxieties and live without a care. The question is how you reach there. The Bhagavadgita says that you can do it by changing the way you think and live.

Bhagavadgita means the song of God. It is especially meant as guidance for those who want to become the bhāgavatas or the servants of God, by rendering devotional and selfless service to His devotees as an obligatory duty without entertaining any desire or expectation in their minds for such actions.

According to the Varahapurana, wherever the Bhagavadgita is recited regularly, help comes swiftly from God. Wherever the scripture is discussed, recited, studied or taught, there God resides doubtlessly. Whoever studies the scripture gains perfect wisdom. Whoever practices it teachings attains liberation.

A saintly person may have disciples, rivals, critics, enemies, friends and relations. He may be understood or misunderstood. His teachings may be followed or misinterpreted. People may dig out unsavory events from his past to defame him. If he is a self-realized yogi (yukta), he remains equal to them, without showing anxiety or concern to defend himself or strike against his opponents. The attitude of equanimity in a saintly person is not an affected trait, but the spontaneous outcome of his natural state of detachment, inner stability, and union with his inner Self. - the Bhagavadgita Complete Translation

know that the purpose of sorrow is to carve a better person out of you. It is a chiseling and refining mechanism used often by God, the Supreme Sculptor of things and beings. When He loves you, sometimes He takes you to the woodshed. - From the Essays on the Bhagavadgtia