Play to listen.
Perhaps because it is the origin of yogic practices, perhaps because it is the foundation to one of my dear friend’s faith, perhaps because it has appealed to transcendentalists such as Thoreau, Emerson, and Gandhi, or perhaps because I have visited India and Sri Lanka, last year I decided to read a Hindu holy text: the Bhagavad-gita. I found a translated and annotated version called Bhagavad Gita: As It Is. It was interesting to read this ancient text dating back the the second half of the first millennium BCE, and something that was unrelated to my personal Christian spiritual foundation. My insights are likely quite naive and maybe even mistaken (so there’s a disclaimer), but my motives are True.
Yes, I’m going out on a bit of a limb as I share my thoughts and connection-making of a small portion of this 700-verse text with you for the ninth article in my series Riffs on Wisdom Teachings. If you are well-versed in the Bhagavad-gītā, my apologies. I’m sure my unfamiliarity with the text will shine through. If you are new to the text like me, please consider this a possible doorway to your own curiosity about this and other texts, not because you have to “believe” it, but because it allows for greater understanding of yourself and others on this planet. When I opened the book, in part, it was due to such a curiosity. (My soul sister Kali speaks so freely about Karma that I knew I was missing something fundamental to her understanding of life on planet Earth.)
Godly Qualities
Perhaps you are gathering that the Bhagavad-gītā holds the key to understanding sanskrit terms that you might know or have heard such as karma, yoga, pranayama, Brahman, and maya. Of course there is always a caution when reading something in translation: a translation will never truly contain the essence of the original. In this case, I’ve chosen to concentrate on a few of the verses that made the most sense to me even before Swami Praghupada’s extensive annotations.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Fearlessness; purification of one’s existence; cultivation of spiritual knowledge; charity; self-control; performance of sacrifice; study of the Vedas; austerity; simplicity; nonviolence; truthfulness; freedom from anger; renunciation; tranquility; aversion to faultfinding; compassion for all living entities; freedom from covetousness; gentleness; modesty; steady determination; vigor; forgiveness; fortitude; cleanliness; and freedom from envy and from the passion for honor- these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature. (16.3)
Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance - these qualities belong to those of demonaic nature, O son of Prthā. (16.4)
For me, this passage immediately reminded me of the Biblical passage in 1 Corinthians 13 that I wrote about last week (link to “Attuning to Love”). In it Paul is writing about divine love. Similar to my own Christian understanding, the Hindus believe in a triune God; in this passage the Supreme Personality of Godhead is addressing “son of Prthā” and “son of Bharata”. (It reminds me God speaking to Moses or the prophets.) Desirable qualities belonging to “godly men” are listed (verse 3) as well as ungodly ones (verse 4).
Many of the qualities listed ring familiar: charity, self-control, truthfulness, forgiveness, aversion to fault-finding and freedom from envy. Others are less familiar but seem godly enough. Among them: purification of one’s existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, simplicity, non-voilence, freedom from anger, and modesty. Finally, some attributes seem too foreign to me: performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas (I’ve not even attempted to study the vedas), austerity, renunciation.
I’m comforted to know Hindus have received a similar message to that delivered by Paul to the Corinthians. These messages of how to treat one another and how to be in right relationship with God have come through multiple channels. It makes me feel like humanity is more cohesive than I thought, and has been for millennia.
When I was in Kolkata, India, I saw first-hand how “charity” played a role in society. India is a highly populated country with much poverty. In Kolkata poverty is evident on most streets. I witnessed many people in need and others who would give them alms. The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, gathers the poorest of the poor to be charitably taken care of. I was one of those fortunate enough to experience volunteering at Shanti-dan, a home for destitute, disabled, and mentally ill young women and girls. There’s a beautiful intersection between Catholicism and Hinduism when one is volunteering in India at a Catholic charitable organization like Missionaries of Charity.
From “non-violence” in the passage we can see where anti-colonial activist and political ethicist instrumental in India’s independence from Britain, Mahatma Gandhi, lived out this calling, ultimately laying the foundation for Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s non-violent stance in the US Civil Rights Movement and later Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela in South Africa’s apartheid movement.
And, on a lighter note, the phrase “compassion for all living entities” sparks insight into the vegetarian or limited-meat diet of many Hindus. And, yes, there are stray cattle roaming the streets there.
What is True is True
I don’t know about you, but I found striking similarities in verse 4 above with a verse from 1 Corinthians in the Bible. Take a look:
Love is patient and kind; it is does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:13 - The Bible)
Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance - these qualities belong to those of demonaic nature, O son of Prthā. (Baghavad-gita, 16.4)
As I mentioned last week, this might not be so much a laundry list of qualities one should try to be as much as a signal that one is indeed in alignment with one’s own divine nature. The Bhagavad-gītā instructs similarly. To me this overlap in spiritual teachings points to a great, fundamental truth. There’s a sort of certainty that humankind is made to be LIKE THIS. When we are aligned with our true nature, we are good people.
What attributes do you witness in others who you recognize as divine lights for you? For example, are they forgiving, charitable, austere? Have they simplified their life? Do they cultivate spiritual knowledge? Do they demonstrate self-control?
It would be altogether too easy to begin writing about each, individual attribute provided in the Bhagavad-gītā to serve as a guide to “godly men endowed with divine nature.” (I’m especially captured by the phrase “aversion to fault-finding” which is a fresh idea to me but which rings true and “compassion for all living entities” which must have connection to veganism as well as holy cattle.) Instead, I feel it is worth stating that I am grateful to have spent some time studying the Bhagavad-gita. While much of it is still unfamiliar to me and some of it I just don’t get, other passages such as these bring me comfort. I can more easily understand the good heart of my soul sister, and the charity and goodness in the Hindu people in India and Sri Lanka. Finally, I am left feeling a sense of brotherhood/sisterhood with far more people on the planet than ever before.
May you be charitable and forgiving.
May you avoid fault-finding in yourself and others.
May you cultivate spiritual knowledge and practice self-control.
And may you share the love in your heart with others this day and
all days.
Coming up
Shortly, I will be taking a sabbatical from weekly writing for a while. Instead, I will be concentrating on self-publishing many of the series of writings that have unfolded here in Life Cheat Sheets. (I have one more article left to write in this series; I anticipate it will be a good one!)
Wish me luck! I intend to continue learning through yet another new endeavor: self-publishing. This online space in Substack, Life Cheat Sheets, has been my sandbox. I’m so grateful to have acquired readers along the way as I honed my voice, my storytelling, and my writing style. It has been a labor of love to share any wisdom of my own or others with you.
With divine guidance and the help of the right people, I will edit and polish for publication versions of my series
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents
Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly
Reasons for Hope
From Fog to Flow
With a Grateful Heart
Lessons in Life School
Life Cheat Sheets
Riffs on Wisdom Teachings
An updated version of Me-Time: Self-care in the time of Covid is already in print under the revised name Me-Time: Self-care in a Challenging World and is available for purchase as an ebook or in print through Bookemon.com at https://www.bookemon.com/store/987322
Further Reading
Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta, Swami. Bhagavad-gita: As It Is. Second edition. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 2018.
You can find all of my series in the archives:
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents
Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly
Me-Time: Self-care in the time of Covid
Reasons for Hope
From Fog to Flow
With a Grateful Heart
Lessons in Life School
Life Cheat Sheets
Riffs on Wisdom Teachings
Thanks for reading Life Cheat Sheets! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Author of Me Time: Self-care in a Challenging World. Available at https://www.bookemon.com/store/987322
Find more of my writing at GreenBaytoKorea.blogspot.com
Learn about my business at CelestialSoundGB.com
Locate me on Instagram @applebb09
All photos by © Brenda Brayko 2023 unless otherwise credited.
Forwarded this to Jean Thillman, for her son Alex married Tsering last week. The readings included words from the Dahli Lama and Paul's "love chapter" in I Corinthians. . . .thought she and Peter might appreciate the parallels you pointed out.