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Dear Raj Kumar,
It is very nice to see your genuine inquiries regarding the teachings of
Bhagavad-gita. Everyone should take some time to study this great
scripture. Sri Gandhiji, the father of the nation, has said:
"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face,
and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and
find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst
of overwhelming sorrow."
Thus with that in mind, I offer you the following verse for meditation and
contemplation. Awake, arise, and realize! These are the words of a great
soul.
amaanitvam adambhitvam
ahimsaa kshaantir aarjavam
aacaaryopaasanam saucam
sthairyam aatma-vinigrahah
etaj jnaanam iti proktam
ajnanam yad ato 'nyatha
"Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence, tolerance; simplicity; approaching
a bonafide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; and renunciation of
the objects of the senses - all these I declare to be knowledge, and
besides this whatever there may be is ignorance."
In the begining of the 13th chapter, Lord Krishna presents the twenty
points of knowledge (which I have only given a few above) by which one can
become free from entanglement in this material world. We should
particularly take notice of the word "ahimsaa". The word ahimsaa refers to
nonviolence, violence being the causing of distress to other living
entities.
And in the sixteenth chapter, Krishna defines the qualities of the godly
and the qualities of the demoniac. There he says:
ahimsaa satyam akrodhas
tyaagah saantir apaisunam
...
bhavanti sampadam daivim
abhijaatasya bhaarata
"Nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, tranquility,
and aversion to fault finding - these transcendental qualities belong to
godly men endowed with divine nature."
Again this word ahimsaa is brought up by Krishna. In the same chapter
Krishna says that a godly man must possess dayaa, or mercy to al living
entities. One can not kill animals and at the same time show his mercy to
them.
Later int he seventeenth chapter Krishna again stress the importance of
nonviolence when explaining austerities of the body in sattva guna.
The vedic injunction is maa himsaat sarvaa bhutaani, "never comit violence
to any living entity."
Please meditate on these divine gems of the Bhagavad-gita. It is
understandable that one may have missed these simple points when studying
the gita, therefore Sri Gandhiji has said:
"Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new
meanings from it every day."
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