00:00You come from a place of teaching the concepts of the Gita or the Vedanta.
00:06Because the Gita is not just one particular book.
00:09The Gita actually is an intense commitment towards the truth and nothing but the truth.
00:14They keep the Bhagavad Gita at some holy place in the house
00:19and they worship it daily without ever caring to really read it.
00:23A lot of superstition has been peddled in the name of Bhagavad Gita as well
00:27and that's why a lot of sharp people, intellectual people, honest people,
00:33they shirk away the moment they hear a religious term.
00:37You must understand that.
00:38I was one of them previously.
00:40Yes, and they have a point. They are right.
00:44The Gita is not the names of the various chapters.
00:48The Gita is not the various verses memorized.
00:53Real philosophy is so logical, it questions logic itself.
00:57Yeah.
00:58That's what the Gita is.
01:00Would you name some scholars to whom you would have looked up to
01:03when you were getting acquainted with these texts?
01:07I mean, if it's possible.
01:08I would look at anything said by anybody.
01:11It widened my perspective.
01:13Yeah.
01:13But finally...
01:19Namaste Achareji, it's a privilege to meet you.
01:23I am Nabarun and I am a third year PhD student at the IIT Kanpur.
01:27So, in my circle, I have come across the other kind of people who are so-called scientific tempered.
01:36They want to follow things logically.
01:39And whenever I try to bring up your topic or the teachings that you give to them,
01:47they are automatically drawn away from it because you come from a place of teaching the concepts of the Gita
01:57or the Vedanta.
01:59So, how do I converse regarding these philosophies with them without bringing these texts and how do I gradually introduce
02:09them to these texts?
02:10You know, if there are people who are very stiffly set against the religious texts,
02:25then the religious texts do not say that it is mandatory to quote their name.
02:41Anything that you want to say, if you talk of Gita or Vedanta, as you just did,
02:48anything that you want to say can be said without using any of the specific terminologies of Vedanta or Gita.
02:58Even without using their specific terms and the jargon, you can still communicate what you have to.
03:07I don't think today, in this conversation, we have been speaking for more than an hour now.
03:13For more than an hour now, I don't think I have used any Vedanta specific term till now.
03:20And yet, I have just, what I have delivered to you is the essence of Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.
03:29You don't need to say that this is coming from the Gita.
03:34Because the Gita is not just one particular book.
03:39Broadly speaking, Gita is a commitment towards the truth.
03:48Such a deep commitment that you are prepared to fight your own kit and kin and lay down your life
03:57without worrying for the result.
03:58That's what the Gita is. The Gita is not the names of the various chapters. The Gita is not the
04:09various verses memorized.
04:13The Gita actually is an intense commitment towards the truth and nothing but the truth.
04:26So, there are people who don't want to listen to the Gita or to Vedanta. You don't need to quote
04:32the Gita or Vedanta to them.
04:34You can speak to them in very, very general terms, very general terms and yet say the same thing.
04:43And that's the great characteristic of truth. It does not depend on language.
04:50You can use any language, any kind of terms, any phraseology, you can use very colorful idioms and diverse metaphors
05:00and deliver it as per the need of the hour and the situation.
05:08Right? If I speak for example to a Western audience. Right? And I have to bring something from let's say
05:20the Santra tradition.
05:26I will not necessarily bring in the original verse in Avodhi or the Braj Bhasha. I may quote it as
05:42an academic reference, yes.
05:45But when I am speaking to Westerners, I will speak to them in a way that they can relate to.
05:58Right? So, it's fine. They say they are logical people. Real philosophy is the epitome of logic.
06:10Real philosophy is so logical, it questions logic itself. Real philosophy is so truthful that it questions all the established
06:24truths.
06:25Yeah. But you must also appreciate, by the way, where their indifference or resistance comes from.
06:34Your friends, that is. What they have always seen is religion based on belief.
06:48They have never probably had the experience of seeing religion based on philosophy.
06:56Yeah. Therefore, in their mind, religion, belief, regressiveness and superstition have all become synonymous.
07:09And that's why they shirk away the moment they hear a religious term. You must understand that.
07:19Yeah. I was one of them previously.
07:21Yes. And they have a point. They are right. Because a lot of superstition has been peddled in the name
07:28of Bhagavad Gita as well.
07:29People use Bhagavad Gita to support very hollow theories of personal reincarnation or even caste discrimination.
07:42Yes. So, when the Bhagavad Gita is mischievously associated with very regressive things.
07:56The result will be that a lot of sharp people, intellectual people, honest people will shrink away from the Bhagavad
08:10Gita.
08:12The fact of the matter is that the Bhagavad Gita is one of the strongest statements against caste discrimination and
08:24laughs at the very concept of the personal soul.
08:30Yes. But that is never brought out. It is quoted out of context. It is quoted out of context and
08:37it is misinterpreted in the most blatant fashion possible.
08:43You look at the Sanskrit and then you look at the interpretation and you will be horrified. Such deep disrespect
08:51to the scripture.
08:53What is the author saying? And what kind of brazen mischief you are playing on the author? And the words
09:03are very clear in Sanskrit.
09:05And you look at them translated to Hindi or to English and then you will be flabbergasted.
09:14But then most people don't even bother to look at the Sanskrit. They don't even care to look at the
09:20word by word translation. They just look at the commentary.
09:26In fact, they don't even look at the commentary. They rely on the beliefs floating around.
09:34They keep the Bhagavad Gita at some holy place in the house. The little house temple, in house temple and
09:47they worship it daily without ever caring to really read it.
09:54And therefore, the great Indian philosophies get associated with bigotry and dogma.
10:05The fact is, these are beautiful philosophies and they are unique because they look inward.
10:21Sankhya, Vedant, even Nyaya and Vaisheshik are commendable in their effort to very logically look at the external universe.
10:41The Buddhist philosophy, the sheer details of Jain philosophy, they are also enriching.
10:54Right? But then they get associated with creed, with faith.
11:05With bias and very partisan behavior. And they are possessed by, monopolized by, a small group of people who say,
11:19we own these books and we will be the interpreters.
11:23No, nobody has a monopoly over the great books or the great philosophies. Go to them directly.
11:34The thinkers, philosophers, sages were speaking directly to you.
11:41As an educated person, it is your responsibility and behoves your dignity to approach those texts directly.
11:50Just as you would read a western philosopher on your own, won't you?
11:57Won't you pick up a book by Sartre or Kant or Voltaire and go into it yourself, won't you?
12:05Yeah.
12:06So similarly, you can pick up a book by Indian philosophers and all the sages were first and foremost philosophers.
12:15So you can pick up a book and go into it. Ashtavakra is a great philosopher. So is Dattatre.
12:25So are Kapil and Kanad and even Patanjali.
12:33You go to them. And read. And there is no dogma there. There is such intense questioning.
12:44I mean, you would sit up if you are lying down.
12:49But the first barrier to these, the entry to these books is Sanskrit, which many people don't understand.
12:56And then it becomes difficult to choose an interpretation which actually is unbiased and tries to bring about the real
13:03essence.
13:04See, in general, if you look at the interpretations given by scholars,
13:17they are likely to be more accurate than those given by organized religious groups or cults.
13:31And to be doubly sure, you need not go by any one interpretation.
13:37Keep two or three interpretations with you. That's fine.
13:41That's fine.
13:45And Indian philosophy is not a hidden thing.
13:56Great scholars from India and abroad alike have interpreted and commented.
14:07So you can look at those things and I'll assure you, if you just look at the word by word
14:15translation in 80 to 90% cases, that would suffice.
14:21Okay. As a PhD student, you and your mates, you are very capable of picking up the threads and connecting
14:33the dots and very clearly arriving at the meaning of what is being said.
14:39I am asking you, were the texts written to confuse you?
14:44No.
14:45They were written to clarify things.
14:49Therefore, the Sanskrit there is actually quite simple.
14:58Mostly, it is what is called a Sarala Sanskrit.
15:04So, there cannot be usually a great cause for confusion.
15:11You look at the verse, the shlok and the meaning will just present itself to you, provided you are not
15:22already biased.
15:26However, the meaning can deepen upon iteration.
15:31You go to the same verse again and you will find a deeper layer.
15:35That does not mean that the previous meaning was false.
15:38That simply means that now you have come to a deeper level.
15:44What you can call as higher truth, colloquially.
15:53So, Sanskrit is not that big a problem.
15:56Those who gave us those philosophies in the books, they were very careful.
16:03They knew the pitfalls.
16:05So, they assured in advance that the language is kept very simple and the truths are presented as aphorisms.
16:20Right?
16:21Not as essays.
16:25Why?
16:26Because when there is such a long piece of text in front of you, you take the liberty of going
16:35astray.
16:36Yes.
16:38But when it is a sutra, an aphorisms, then you cannot deviate too much this or that way.
16:50So, you won't go wrong.
16:52And if you think you are going wrong, then consult a few genuine scholars.
17:01Reputed not for their religiousness, but for their commitment to the truth.
17:12In an ideal situation, these two should mean the same thing.
17:15But in the real world, religiousness often means a very shallow commitment to the truth.
17:26So, avoid books coming from the religious side in general.
17:31I am not saying that you should never touch them.
17:34You can consult them, but with a little bit of skepticism.
17:40Like Achari ji, I deeply respect you, but would you name some scholars to whom you would have looked up
17:49to when you were getting acquainted with these texts?
17:53I mean, if it's possible.
17:56I have looked up to many of them.
17:59In fact, it would be easier for me to give you a list of those I rejected at the first
18:15glance and said I won't want to read their interpretations.
18:19Otherwise, I was very open and very liberal and I would look at anything said by anybody.
18:31It widened my perspective.
18:36But finally, it was about widening my perspective.
18:43Not about committing myself to a particular stream of interpretation or to a cult.
18:53I want to understand what is being said here.
18:57Therefore, I am referring to this, this or that.
19:01Not because I want to align myself with this or that or that.
19:06So, you can consult a lot of sources, but ultimately, the light must be your own.
19:18Thank you Achari ji.
19:19Yeah, welcome.
19:20Namaste everybody.
19:22My name is Vinuta.
19:23I am from Bengaluru, Karnataka and I am a classical music trainer as of now and I teach music.
19:32And that has been my learning and passion since my childhood.
19:37And I think Achari ji has clarified that through his teachings that if you follow something, you know, that you
19:44pursue and are indulged with your heart, that gives a lot of happiness and peace.
19:52So, it has been a great journey since then.
19:56His teachings have got me a lot of clarity.
19:59Like, you know, they have crushed all the beliefs that I had namelessly.
20:04Like, I didn't know, like, why they existed.
20:06So, he has challenged them like, you know, somebody who is crushing the stone and, you know, then everything is
20:16gone.
20:16And it has been three years that I have been listening to Achari ji.
20:23And it has been 2.5 years since I have joined his Gita sessions.
20:28And Gita sessions, though a lot of people have been listening to him through YouTube.
20:34But if you are coming and listening to him through his live sessions, that has a very, very different impact.
20:40I would suggest you all take that seriously and please join Gita community.
20:46We have a specific app for that.
20:48And, you know, that can be very, very helpful to guide you in your learning, you know, in a very
20:55detailed and structured manner.
20:57So, please enroll today and get the right teachings from Achari ji.
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