Thus Spake Krishna - by Prof. V.Krishnamurthy.
Kuntimaddi Sadananda
By Prof. V. Krishnamurthy (Prof. VK)
“Is Bhagavat Geeta difficult to understand? Take any verse and this book gives, simultaneously, a simple introduction to the novice, a philosophical understanding for the initiated, and plenty of cross-references for the nuanced reader. This writing is mathematically precise in unravelling the jargon, making Krishna’s teachings accessible and relevant for you today. You may feel that Krishna Himself is talking to you in an intimate way, motivating into working towards your own spiritual evolution.” Says on the cover.
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It is a blessing indeed to write this foreword to Prof. V. Krishnamurty’s book, ‘Thus Spake Krisha.’ I have known him, popularly known as Prof. VK, first through Advaitin online discussion group. Personally, later, when I was doing my Sabbatical at IIT, Madras, in 1999, he was also kind enough to arrange my talk on ‘The Logic of Spirituality’ at the Sanskrit College in Chennai. He transcribed the talk and posted on the Advaitin list resulting in many discussions by various seekers. Prof. VK is an authority in Mathematics and retired as the Director of the great Pilani Institute of Engineering and Technology. Needless to say that the current work is mathematically precise and embedded with the technology of application of Geeta’s teaching for many earnest seekers of the truth.
I find this book as an encyclopedia of Sri Krishna’s teachings in Geeta. Every chapter deals first with the summary of its essence, identification of very important slokas with five stars, and extended discussion on these important slokas with the needed application by a seeker in his daily life. I am amazed at the extensive discussions of some of the important slokas, starting with his own father’s work on Gitamrutamahodadhi, which, as the title itself indicates, is the ocean of nectar of Geeta and which was published by Prof. VK himself with his father’s extended commentary. Prof. VK discusses some of the important topics of Geeta, from point of stalwarts like, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Sri Arabindo, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, Shree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Dr. Mahadevan, Shree Kanchi Kamakoti Swamigal, Shree Satya Saayi Baaba, the great musician Shree Tyagarajan, etc. He quotes appropriate slokas from many texts, some I have not even heard of. These include Mahopanishat, Adi Shankara’s Swatmanirupanam, Baadaayana Dharma Sutras, Samanyopanishat, Yogavaashishta, Narada Bhakti Sutras, Bhagavatam, Ramana Geeta, Soundaryalahari, and his own book, Thoughts of Spiritual Wisdom, etc.
Introducing his text, Prof. VK says, ‘Reading and learning it is itself a Spiritual Ascent which could be steep and hard for those who have had no exposure to the Gita so far. So this preview aims to tell the reader about the Bhagavad-Gita in a most elementary way.’ – He starts with the statements, “The Gita is the Upanishad of Upanishads because Krishna has extracted the milk of the Upanishads and given it to us in the form of the Gita…Gita is not just a compendium of disconnected verses of information and advice. The verses have to be taken all together.”
There are many eye-opening statements, some clarifying the meaning, some propelling one to think deeper, some contemplative or meditative statements, some for constant reflection for one’s own evolution, and the list can go on. I am providing a few examples that made me stop and think deeper and use it for my own sadhana.
“Pleasure and pain, like and dislike, happiness and misery, heat and cold, friend and foe, honour and dishonour– all these dualities are only for (and of) the outer self. Your Inner Self, namely, the Atman, is never affected by these dualities of life or of the world.”..
“If you just make a show of physical renunciation, but keep on mentally dwelling on everything of the world, then you would only be a hypocrite. What is wanted is mental renunciation. Though you are involved in all actions of the world, you should be mentally away from them. This means you should not attach yourself to any of your thoughts or actions. This is the great yoga of action. Yoga means the most efficient way of doing things”…
“Be in oneness with your Inner Self and do all of your duties; nothing will touch you or pollute you. This living in identity with your Inner Self will give you the attitude of equanimity. An equanimous view of everything that you come across, whether it is men or material, is the ultimate goal of life.”
“Nothing in the world takes place without the Will of the Lord, and so if we think that we are the ones who are doing the action, we are only going down the spiritual ladder.”
“These are the arguments which Krishna uses to convince Arjuna to go back to his normal role in the war. But in the process of all this dialogue the Lord covers a large ground of Hindu philosophy and thus leaves a legacy of a great teaching for the entire humanity. This becomes relevant in a modern context. And this is what makes the Gita a scripture even for our daily living. Krishna’s teaching to us may be classified under the same five headings but in a different backdrop.”
Here are some startling advice to the earnest seekers.
“To remember the Lord at all times and be continuously aware of His omnipresence is what constitutes the deepest devotion to God. This path of devotion to the One Supreme Almighty who is also indwelling in every being is the second major teaching of the Gita to humanity.”
“So the discharge of one’s duties without any attachment is the obligation of every one…. The methodology of dedication is technically called yajna, by Krishna.”… “Surrender even your will to God in the sense that thereafter you are nothing but an instrument in the hands of God. It is self-effacement, no doubt, but that is exactly what is meant by a total devotion to the Absolute.”
“When we are carried away sky-high by our own plans for the future or by our achievements in the past... Never forget the Almighty. Have an undivided faith in the non-dual Absolute.”
“By thought the ego was made and so by thought the power of the ego can be unmade. But the thought must now be directed toward a higher entity, for the ego would never allow itself to be attacked.”
“Do not ever expect anything as a result or reward in return.”
“Renunciation is meaningful only when you don’t miss what you have renounced.”
“Doing something for the sake of some noble cause or someone whom you revere, is tapas.”
Ram Chandran
Foreword to the book, “Thus Spake Krishna,” by Prof. V. Krishnamurthy (by Ram Chandran)
It is my pleasure to write this Foreword to the book, “Thus Spake Krishna,” by Prof. V. Krishnamurthy (ProfVK) on the subject of Bhagavad Gita. This is not his first book and he has written several books focusing on the spiritual aspects of Hinduism. My first acquaintance with ProfVK was through my nephew, Late Dr. S. Venkateswaran, former Director and Vice-Chancellor of BITS, Pilani. All three of us are mathematicians and that was the common thread for our friendship. Our friendship grew we started discussing Vedanta through the Yahoogroup forum, ‘advaitin.’ The Advaitin Vedanta Forum was initiated by me along with stalwart scholars that include ProfVK, Acharya Sadananda, Dr. Sunder Hattangadi and several others.
One of the favorite topics for discussion at that Forum was Bhagavad Gita and ProfVK took the leading role of Gita Satsangh with assistance from me, Dr. Sadananda, Dr. Hattangadi and others. ProfVK’s presence at advaitin inspired all the members and they considered him as a role model for dedication, devotion, scholarship with humility and service. ProfVK though settled in Bangalore used to visit USA with his wife Kamala and I and my wife Shanthi had several occasions to meet. Our family friendship became stronger and we became part of a big family which allowed us to meet whenever we got opportunities. When ProfVK requested me to write a review of this book, I consider this as a great honor and also an expression of his unconditional love and friendship.
I had the opportunity to attend several of his spiritual discourses at Durga Temple, Virginia, Siva Vishun Temple, Maryland and Lakshmi Temple, Delaware. Whenever he takes up a subject matter for discourse, he was very thorough and always makes sure that the audience is well informed. In his lifetime, ProfVK has invested lots of time in reading and listening to the discourses of Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Paramathmananda Saraswati and others. Many of his books are on religion that include: Essentials of Hinduism (1989) (with a Foreword by Swami Chinmayananda); Hinduism for the Next Generation (1992); The Ten Commandments of Hinduism (with a Foreword by Swami Paramarthananda) (1994); Science and Spirituality - A Vedanta Perception (2002); and Live Happily the Gita Way (2008). The title of the book, Live Happily the Gita Way’ provides the evidence for his life style fully coherent to what he has learnt from Gita and from his father. His continued interest to conduct Gita classes to friends and students who live in and around his residence at Purvankara Apartments in Bangalore is quite remarkable.
ProfVK was an active participant of Cyber Gita Satsangh from years 2000 to 2006 and was very keen to provide the guidance and solutions to questions raised by the members. It was my great fortune to have known this scholar, teacher and friend. While reading this book anyone will be to understand his in depth knowledge of Gita and his enthusiasm to inject new insights. This book will certain to inspire the reader to understand and follow the words of Lord Krishna.
The book starts with an invocation with details of the methods of presentation clearly and unambiguously. Chapter 0 provides the entire theme of the book with a systematic framework. The essence of the Gita is spelled out to get the readers’ attention. After completing the reading of this chapter, the reader gets addicted and will continue to read the entire book. ProfVK explains the symbols and abbreviations in the beginning of the book to help the reader to comprehend Krishna’s message to Arjuna. Between the starting of page 5 to page 10, ProfVK depicts the innovative approach of resolving Arjuna’s misery without using any Sanskrit terms.
The rest of chapters 1 to 18 follow the traditional textbook approach of presentation but with simple English with full of insights that he recalled from the books that he has read. ProfVK as always is very honest and humble which is reflected through this statement: “Let me crave the pardon of Gita-stalwarts like, Sri Aurobindo, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Swami Dayananda, Swami ChinmAyAnanda, Swami Paramarthananda, Swami Tapasyananda and a few others, whose words I might have carried verbatim at several places, without even mentioning their names, mostly because of my continued familiarity with their invaluable writings.” This statement is an assurance to the readers that this book contains most of what they would get by reading the books he mentioned.
The Appendixes of this book contain useful supporting materials and articles which I consider it as a bonus to the book buyers. Appendixes A1 to A6 provide the guideline for understanding Gita with illustrations of his innovative approach as outlined in Chapter 0. Appendix B contains eighteen supplementary articles on various spiritual aspects of Sanatana Dharma and spiritual life. Appendix B17 is a quick handbook to practice the teachings by paying attention to the 27 key verses of Gita.
In conclusion, I am quite impressed by the insights that I gained while reading this book and once again let me thank ProfVK for this opportunity to read and enrich my thirst for spiritual knowledge.
With my warm regards,
Ram Chandran
Personal Note to ProfVK: The words of Hitopadesh seem to explain the reasons for your happiness!
“vidyA
dadAti vinayaM, vinayAdyAti pAtratAM |
pAtratvAddhanamApnoti, dhanAddharmaM tataH
sukhaM |
True knowledge disciplines the mind, from discipline we develop our character, from character we get prosperity, with prosperity we are able to do good deeds and from that we attain happiness.