Gita Jayanti - The Advent of Srimad Bhagavat Gita

Gita Jayanti is the auspicious day of the advent of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. This is the day on which Lord Krishna imparted the essence of Vedic knowledge to Arjuna over 5000 years ago and enlightened him about the ultimate goal of life. This day is also called Mokshada Ekadashi. It generally comes in the month of December.

As stated in the Gita-mahatmya, if one properly follows the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, one can be freed from all miseries and anxieties in this life, and one’s next life will be spiritual.

In present days, the word “jayanti” is loosely used for someone’s birthday. However, this word is not meant for mortal beings. What most people don’t know about Gita jayanti is, when Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, it was not the first time that He spoke it. Gita jayanti is not the birthday of Bhagavad Gita. It is the day when Bhagavad Gita was spoken the first time on this planet during this particular yuga cycle.

This is clearly mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita itself when Lord Krishna says:

imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam  
vivasvan manave praha manur iksvakave ‘bravit

Translation: The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣhvaku. (B.G. 4.1)

In the very next verse Lord Krishna says that the knowledge he imparted to King

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 Ikshvaku through parampara, or disciplic succession, got gradually lost. “This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” (B.G. 4.2)

This shows the message of Bhagavad Gita is eternally present and Lord Krishna delivers it in its original form as and when it needs to be revived.

In recent days, after the revolutionary preaching on the teachings of Bhagavad Gita by ISKCON’s founder-acharya Srila Prabhupada, Gita Jayanti has become one of the most important festivals across the world.

Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, which is Srila Prabhupada’s translation of the original Sanskrit text along with purports, has been translated in practically every language of the world and millions of copies have been distributed.

On Gita Jayanti day, especially in India, people spare a few hours to read all 18 chapters of Bhagavad Gita. Devotees also offer oblations in fire sacrifices (yajna) and distribute prasad to devotees.

There are some mental speculators who try to define Gita in their own ways by comparing it with human body saying the battlefield of Kurukshetra actually refers to our body, five Pandavas are five senses of the body, and so on. This less intelligent people forget that the place where Lord Sri Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to His dear devotee Arjuna, Kurukshetra, is still present in North India and millions of people visit this holy place in memory of that historical event and offer their homages.

What are the key learnings from Gita?

• Gita is “Sensitivity to Reality” – visible and invisible
• Gita is dialogue between two willing people – one “eager to learn” and the other, “caring to teach”
• Gita sensitizes one to the surroundings without forcing any poetic idealist thoughts
• Gita impels us to “know one’s field (Kshetra)” and thereupon, “function with stability”
• Gita integrates cooperation with society, Devatas and Supreme Brahma
• Gita focuses on the vision of “passion for life” instead of “withdrawal from life”
• Gita teaches us “harmonization of opposites & extremes”:
  • War with outside, peace within
  • Self growth and selfless service
  • Fierce action but less obsession with outcomes
• Gita teaches us to respect eternal time but additionally it makes us thoughtful even for the insignificant movement of time
• Gita teaches us to see “divinity everywhere and everything in divinity”
• Gita inspires us to “teach but never force” another party to follow and execute
• Gita teaches us to love Sri Krishna and also the ones who cannot accept Him or His divinity, to serve for a good cause
• Gita teaches us to see multiple infinite aspects of Supreme Brahman
• Gita teaches us to raise one’s bow (know one’s duties) and shoot (act)
• Gita teaches us to harmonise between “smaran” and “sangharsh”
• Gita teaches us to “read and practice while living” instead of reading in the presence of a dead body
• Gita teaches us to “accept duality because that is a reality”
• Gita teaches us to “surrender one’s self but not one’s duty”
• Gita does not define itself to be a simple “Rule Book” rather, it is profound “Wisdom for Life”
• Gita teaches us to be smart, tough and soft simultaneously
• Gita is the essence of Mahabharata and Mahabharata is a commentary of Gita.

Gita is the essence of all vedic knowledge and its teachings are infinite. So our insignificant brain can grasp just a fraction of this endless ocean.

“Anyway, print books, distribute profusely, and that will be the best preaching work. What will your three minutes’ preaching do? —but if they buy one book, it may turn their life. So, make this your important task, to print our books…and distribute widely, and that will please my Guru Maharaja. Never mind it takes little time to make progress, our process is slow but sure, and we are confident that if we continue in this way, we shall go one day back to home, back to Godhead.” ~ Srila Prabhupada in a letter to Bhagavan das, Vrindaban, 5 November, 1972

Festival Schedule

• 08:00 AM to 10:00 AM - Srimad Bhagavatam Class
• 10:00 AM to 02:00 PM - Homa and Arati
• 10:00 AM to 02:00 PM - Bhagavad-gita recitation of 18 chapters
• 02:00 PM - Maha Prasadam

For the donation please check here.  
For the scheduled event date please check the Vaishnava calendar.