Gita for Daily enrichment

Gita for Daily Enrichment provides condensed nuggets of insight gleaned from the Vedic wisdom-tradition and re-presented in an idiom and style that resonates with contemporary needs, interests and concerns. The Vedic (Indian) wisdom-tradition has provided some of the loftiest philosophical insights in the world, yet most contemporary people – both Indians and non-Indians – find it difficult to see the relevance of those insights to their daily lives and contexts. This difficulty is caused not by the irrelevance of those insights, but by their inaccessibility: they are generally written in Sanskrit, often using words that have multiple meanings embedded in them. Moreover, they frequently presume familiarity with the subtle nuances of the thought systems within which they developed. Making the totality of Vedic thought accessible to the modern mind requires comprehensive research and exhaustive writing, a massive task upon which many scholars worldwide are working vigorously. Even if this thought becomes accessible, not many people have the time – or, more importantly, the interest – to access this giant body of wisdom. Gita-Daily makes the humble attempt to stimulate interest in Vedic thought by mining and bringing forth small nuggets of wisdom that the contemporary mind can find accessible, relevant and illuminating. Within the Vedic tradition, I have chosen to focus on the Bhagavad-gita because it is simultaneously profoundly philosophical, unendingly inspirational and eminently practical. Over the last 15 years I have studied the Gita dozens of times and have spoken on it hundreds of times. I have also taught the full Gita as a systematic course several times and have written scores of articles on it. Despite this repeated contact with the Gita, I am even now amazed by its unfading freshness: contemplation on its verses brings rejuvenation, illumination and determination. I feel deeply indebted to the Bhagavad-gita for the sanity, clarity, gravity, tenacity and velocity that it has brought to my life. As an expression of my gratitude to the Gita, I feel impelled to do whatever I can to make its inspiration available as much as possible. But I also realize that most people in today’s culture will not have the time or the facility to carry out an intensive or extensive study of the Gita. So the Gita-daily is my humble attempt to repay my debt to the Gita by making its wisdom comprehensible and accessible through daily nuggets of contemplation on one or more of its verses. As I am focussing on the inspirational potency of the Gita and not on its semantic intricacies, I generally don’t quote either the Sanskrit verse or its English translation verbatim, but present the relevant import of the verse, rendered according to the theme under discussion. Nonetheless, I have provided the translation of these verses at the bottom of each article. To ensure that these articles don’t become too technical or academic, I also don’t quote too frequently from the various Gita commentaries by erudite and saintly teachers. I hope that you find Gita-Daily helpful in your spiritual journey in coming closer to the Gita and to its speaker, Lord Krishna, who is forever waiting for us in our own hearts.