Why I have chosen this book---Bhagavad Gita As it is?

I learnt in my course soft skills Training workshop, the importance of communicati on and that attitude which determines ones altitude. I was looking for a book throu gh which I can go to the core of the aspects of how to imbibe these teachings in ones core personality the self. I went through Bhagavad Gita and understood it t o be one of the best ones dealing with this phenomenon of change in attitude and importance of communication. The basic setting of Bhagvad Gita is Arjuna becoming stressed out, low in his sp irits desperately needing a change in his attitude and it is through the powerfu l communication that Lord Krishna convinces him of the same. While I read the bo ok the teachings of the book made me understand that it is only by managing the self can we manage the world around. Before managing the self we need to know who the self is! This is how Lord Krish na communicates to Arjuna and with the sound logic convinces Arjuna. The book al so has emotional and devotional exchanges between the two. The aspects of the book you liked are The Knowledge about the Self (Bg 2nd Chapter) The Knowledge about 3 Modes of Material Nature (Bg 14th chapter) The Knowledge about the Divine and Demoniac Natures (Bg 16th chapter) The Emotional exchanges happened between Lord and his Devotee Arjuna and the Eff ective communication done by the Lord. The Effective communication of Message of Gita by the Author. How do these aspects relate to what we discussed in the class? Knowledge of 3 modes, Self, Divine and Demoniac Natures can bring us to proactiv e Behaviour! Lord Krishna has solved the stress undergone by the Arjuna(Self) under the influ ence of Material Nature by giving the knowledge of the self . The degree of infl uence of material nature is categorised as modes of material Nature. The knowledge of the three modes of material nature helps one to increase self a wareness, take a closer look at oneself, ones intentions, motives and behaviour t hat need to be rectified in order to lead a life of sensitivity to others feelin gs. Modern day companies are looking for people with high EQ (Emotional Quotient ) than high IQ (Intelligence Quotient). But one with the understanding of three modes working along with knowledge of self and God, can have high SQ (Spiritual Quotient) that is superior to even EQ. In the modern times, one who becomes educ ated in a college on mundane subjects, gets into business field and is put in a situation of managing thousands of men as he climbs up the ladder in corporate c ircle. Yet as the saying goes, modern men are nuclear giants, but emotional infan ts, one is often emotionally immature and incompetent to manage ones own life and emotions, what then to speak of managing others Leaders or Managers functioning in three modes When a leader is situated in Ignorance (BG 18.28) He feels tired all over. He feels negative thoughts and dysfunctional behaviour and takes drug or alcohol to alter mood. When a leader is situated in Passion (BG 18.27) He has a stress-driven mood characterised by almost pleasant sense of excitement and power He can suddenly wake up to find himself at the edge of burnout and ex haustion When a leader is situated in Goodness feels low tension and high energy; feels remarkably serene and under control; fe els a state of relaxed alertness. How Lord Communicated with Arjuna : Lord has done Elicit Action i.e., concluded the communication with a call for act ion to meet the Objective (18.65-66) Communication is an ongoing process and not a transaction

After lord communicated he has taken feedback loop to ensure whether it is clear ly communicated to Arjuna so he asked: Bg 18.72 - O son of Pth, O conqueror of wealth, have you heard this with an attentive mind? And are your ignorance and illusions now dispelled? Bg 18.73 - Arjuna said: My dear Ka, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by your mercy. I am now firm and Free from doubt and am prepared to act according to your instructions After call for action Lord ensured that Arjuna has followed through on whatever needs to be done and Arjuna has done what exactly Lord wants him to do!

The Author His Divine Grace A.C.BhaktiVedanta Swami has communicated the same me ssage as what Arjuna understood by minimising the root causes in Distortion. Dis tortion in original understanding of the sender and the distortion in the medium by giving knowledge as Arjuna understood through Disciplic succession coming fr om God Himself. Bg 4.2 and also author reduced the distortion possible by Inacc urate expression through reinforcing the message by multiple media writing the B hagavad Gita, and gave many Oral lectures throughout the world and most importan t way he reinforced is he lived and practised what he has preached and transfor med the lives of many ! What points mentioned in the book would you start practicing the right away? 1. Cultivation of Knowledge of soul by studying Bhagavad Gita half an hour every day because it drives away lamentation, Fear, illusion. 2. Developing Faith on the almighty and Supreme by giving time and money in Charity to Temple as the book says Lord Krishna, he is fine speech himself ( BG 10.34) , if I have faith in God then I will be able to confidently speak a nd present. 3. By practising verse below, I may develop interdependent behaviour, be cause it helps in success of relationship building in the Environment I live in. anudvega-kara vkya satya priya-hita ca yat svdhyybhyasana caiva v-maya tapa ucyate Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature. 4. Problem solving through mode of goodness behaviour Fatigued people make errors, work slowly and less effectively and do things the long and routine way and fail to see efficient short cuts. Without alertness, th ere is no attentiveness. Without attentiveness, there is no performance. A leade r who desires smooth and creative functioning has to cultivate mode of goodness behaviour. Such qualities mentioned above are desirable for efficiency and perfo rmance. Everyone in this world is subjected to some stimulus or the other at dif ferent times. Between stimulus and response is a human beings greatest power the freedom to choose. We may feel like responding in a certain way but when we live our lives, close to our values, we can subordinate our feelings to values. This will make us act responsibly. Look at the word response-ability the ability to cho ose your response. A God conscious person never blames anything circumstances, c onditions or other people for his actions. He is aware that he has chosen to res pond pro-actively (based on chosen values) rather than re-actively (allowing the stimulus to dictate his response). It is not what happens to us, but our respon se to what happens to us that hurts us. When we study the behaviour of leaders i n different modes, we can easily see the behaviour in mode of goodness is desira ble to be successful in the long run. Mode of passion is good to begin or create , but in the long run one who lacks mode of goodness, leads himself to burnout a

nd concomitant failure. Now, is it in our hands whether we want to be leaders in any one of these modes ? Or every one of us is like a programmed robot who functions according to our p ast life conditionings, upbringing in childhood, our past good or bad associatio n etc? Do we have freedom to decide how we want to act? This question is the ver y essence of proactive behaviour. Lord Sri Krishna addresses this question in Bh agavad gita. One who is used to behaving in passion or ignorance may ask, If my power of condi tioning is tremendous, do I have any control over it? Do I have a chance to beco me better? The answer according to Bhagavad gita is fortunately yes. rga-dvea-vimuktais tu viayn indriyai caran tma-vayair vidheytm prasdam adhigacchati TRANSLATION But a person free from all attachment and aversion and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord. [BG 2.64] In order to be successful, one should give up all attachment to wrong things and aversion to the right things. I will try to implement in my life giving up some of the wrong things that peopl e develop attachment are. Laziness, irresponsible behaviour, unpunctuality, impoliteness, deception, etc Meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sexual relations that lead one t o degradation Watching Horror movies, seeing Pornographic pictures Following favourable things that are aiding supports to internal maturity and pe ace of mind, those that enhance the mode of goodness: Diet - fruits, milk, grains, cereals, vegetables, natural products, sanctified k arma-free diet Dress - simple dress that does not provoke passion Regularly performing Yoga asanas like Surya namaskar and Pranayama for calming t he mind, to have a healthy body and mind which can be then focused in understand ing and attaining God. Elevating Mind through Mantra meditation - taking out time half an hour in the d ay to meditate on God by chanting His holy names. Learning from wisdom literatures like Bhagavad gita, Bible, Quran, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Srimad Bhagavatam etc, how to act wisely to bring happiness to oneself and others Association of saintly people who spread qualities like humility, tolerance, pat ience, simplicity, non-duplicity, freedom from anger and greed, freedom from pri de and envy, genuine devotion to God etc. Lord Krishna says that one should give up aversion for this type of right things that bring one to mode of goodness. It is possible for every serious human bein g to elevate himself by his will power and by taking shelter of God to come to t he point of mode of goodness. This will make one very efficient in day to day fu nctioning as well as give opportunity for understanding the higher sublime spiri tual truths easily. What aspects of the book you didnt like? Since book Bhagavada Gita As it is so voluminous, it could have been presented i n 2 volumes then it would be easy for the reader to go through the book. Overall rating on a scale 1-5? Not only me I think anyone who reads this book carefully and trying to understan d it from different points of view will conclude about the authenticity of the a uthor and the marvellous nature of Lord Krishnas teachings. It is definitely a m ust read for people from different walks of life whether scientist, philosopher, student, teacher, ... anyone who wants to live a happy and peaceful life. As I rate it 5 on 5.