Should we differentiate between pre-Gita leadership and post-Gita leadership?
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Should we differentiate between Should we differentiate between pre-Bhagavad Gita leadership and post-Bhagavad Gita leadership? Yes and no. No in the sense that the Bhagavad Gita itself states that it is repeating the knowledge that has been given in the past. In 4.3 the Bhagavad Gita Krishna tells Arjuna that this knowledge that was spoken in the past long ago, I am repeating this to you.
So in that sense the Bhagavad Gita’s knowledge is itself not new. Normally, nowadays we give a lot of emphasis on originality. Now what is your original contribution? Somebody said as a PhD that we should add to the existing body of knowledge.
So what is the original? Now we use the word original in the sense that something new is to be added. What is the new thing coming from you? So when we use the word original we use it with ourselves as a reference point. The Bhagavad Gita talks about originality in a different sense where it talks about originality in the sense of origin.
What was it meant to be originally? So for example if I am going on a road and say if I am in a say I am in Greece or somewhere where the road signs I am not able to figure out. Now if I want to figure out the road signs I need originality not in the sense of coming up with some new meaning for the road signs. I need originality in the sense that what was the original meaning of those who put that road sign over there.
Go left, go right, go this way, go that way. So the Bhagavad Gita’s originality is in this sense that life is a journey and there are some timeless principles that can guide us in our life journey but because life itself is never static. Circumstances change and in circumstances change the same principles need to be re-understood and re-applied.
The principles remain the same but they cannot be applied literalistically in the same way. So what the Bhagavad Gita gives us is a new vision of the old. So in that sense the post-Bhagavad Gita leadership is a growth from the pre-Bhagavad Gita leadership but it is also a development.
It is a new application. Although the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita was given earlier, Arjuna starts with a dialectic. He talks about either I have two options, action, I act in this world or pronunciation.
These are the two options for Arjuna, action or pronunciation. The Bhagavad Gita gives a third option, not renunciation of action but renunciation in action. It acts with selflessness.
So in that sense the Bhagavad Gita gives a new vision of the perennial and that pragmatic approach to being in the world without being attached to the world. Highlighting that is the distinctive contribution of the Bhagavad Gita. Any other questions?