Recently I observed that there are many saffron clads going around doing Geetha Jnaana Yajnaas. I was greatly persuaded by these scenes. I was thrilled by the blank look on the face of listeners, most of which are home makers. When the listeners came out of the halls, I was excited to observe the contented look on their faces, with a deep understanding of the dialect they heard in the hall. I am sure, that those listeners would definitely have started practicing into their life, at least some part of what they learnt. I felt jealous seeing the veneration those preachers were getting.
Geetha is for sure a Hindu book.
Devee Maahatmyam or Lalitaa Sahasra Naamam are also Hindu books. But they are Mantras. Therefore chanting certain parts of Maahatmyam or the full of the 1000 names, repeatedly without knowing the meaning, gives salvation. To my knowledge, Geetha is not a Mantra.
Bhagavatham or Brahmanda Puraanam are also Hindu books. But they are stories which narrates some incidents (sat katha), from which one can get impetus to follow certain ethical practices. To my knowledge, Geetha is not a Puraanam although, is a part of a Puraanam.
Narayaneeyam and Soundarya Lahari are are also Hindu books. They are stotrams which praises the God or Goddess. You go into a trance reading these wonderful narration by the poet about the greatness of the God(dess) which gives a pious texture to your mind. To my knowledge Geetha is not a stotram although certain parts of it could be stotrams.
Nowadays, the Geetha preachers are trying to convert it into a mantra with Rishi, Chandas, Dhyaanam, Shadamgam and Panchopacharam which are not suitable for an intellectual dialogue. And it is obvious that they don't know anything about Namah, Swaahaa, Vashat, Hum, Voushat and Phat. And these sermonizers, keep repeating that, at the temples, asking the God for boons, favors and blessings are meaningless and futile. Instead, should realize that the God and oneself are the same. Now, that is the beauty. Since it is said by a saffron clad, whom they venerate, all the listeners who had been going to temples with a deep bhakthi and hope that the God will remove their hardships and bless with the necessities of life, would lose that hope, and having understood neither the articulation of verses like “thinking of objects, gets attached to them, attachments creates greed, greed creates anger,....” nor the ways and means to practice verses like “do not have attachment or empathy towards your son, wife, home and the like” would become bereft of emotional support (niraadhaaras).
I wanted to become a Geetha sermonizer and make more Hindus not go to temples, or if at all go, don't think that the mantras chanted by the priest there would help them overcome their hardships and get the necessities of life; instead keep on repeating Geetha like a Mantra, without understanding the articulations of the dialogue. But then I realized that it is already crowded with too many suppliers. I felt dissuaded.
Geetha is a dialogue between a curious truth seeker and a knowledgeable friend/relative. Yes, it is a dialogue, fully based on intellectual dialects. So I started wondering why Geetha? Why not some other books for me? And why India, why not Greece?
So I started looking at Dialogues of Plato (DoP), which is a dialogue between some curious truth seekers and a knowledgeable friend. If it was Arjuna and Krishna in Geetha, then it was Plato/Meno and the like, and Socrates in DoP. If Geetha is full of questions and objections of Arjuna and answers and rebuttals of Krishna, then DoP is full of questions and objections of Meno and the like, and answers and rebuttals of Socrates. Ok I selected DoP and Greece instead of Geetha and India. I needed a name like Geetha Jnaana Yajna. So I consecrated it as DoP Knowledge Sacrifice. (All English, because I don't know Greek!). I need to find the dress and its color, since saffron is not proper for Greek teachers. Someone can tell me.
Just as a study of Geetha needs great logical ability (the Geetha I mean, and not any essence summary of Geetha given by a teacher) DoP also needs a lot of logical and articulative ability. We can realize this truth when we read Shankara's commentary.
So once someone tells me the attire for this, then I will book a hall in Greece, invite all home-making women and retired men, and give a sermon on “DoP Knowledge Sacrifice”. During my sermon I will keep asking “Do you understand? Do you understand?” and keep on lecturing with a scant regard to the blunt look on their faces!
Start with Greece, and go all over the world, including India. Hindus are now yearning for new kind of sermons and new God-Men and Women.
Hip Hip Hurray to me!
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