Digest Number 357

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/Om namO nArAyaNaya |

 

The /gItA and the /AZvArs: Remark of Shri Venkatesan.

 

 

On the lack of ubiquity of the /gItA in the works of /AZvArs, I would like to

add a statement.

 

The /AzvArs were missionaries. That is, they had a message which they wanted to

take to the people --- that is, all the people. In particular, they were sending

their call to the man (woman) on the street and at homes.

 

The /gItA is not for the common man. The war scene in the /mahA/bhArata is

exciting for children, but hardly a tool to learn. The /gIta is for people in

crisis. It takes a crisis in life to appreciate the full import of the /gItA.

Sure all of us have crisis. But one has to accept /krushNa as an /avatAr with

supreme authority and wisdom. This is not possible unless one knows about the

early childhood of /krushNa. There He shines as a Master of His environment,

capable of any and every thing. And he does them as child's play. This is truly

captivating children. They get excited and then they also have absorbed a

message. That of /krushNa as an /avatAr. With this absorption, they really do

not need anything more other than an /AcArya or a friend, a teacher to tell them

about life in moments of crisis. Without the groundwork done in childhood, this

is harder. They do not need an /AzvAr for this.

 

Notice also that the /gItA needs maturity. There is the question which a novice

is likely to post: Why does not /krushNA, the a/vatAr take care of the

resolution of the dispute? Why so much destruction and carnage? Thus introducing

/gIta as a missionary is not prudent. That is reserved for students to learn

under some guidance.

 

Take for example, the work of /Jeeyar (/aZakiya/singer) of /ahObilam. The

/AcAryA not only takes a message, but also takes /maNolan with him. It is the

personal element involved that brings the transformation. Thus it is not the

message that is important, but the manner it is brought. Here the /AzvArs and in

general the /nAyanmArs are also without equal. They appeal to the common man.

There is joy, not just problem solving.

 

Look at /harE/krushNa. After all they have volumes of books on the /gITA; but

their following shows up only when they pull the chariot for example!

 

Secondly, it seems that by the time of /AzvArs (excepting /nammAZvAr) the

message of the /gIta was already a part of the Indian fabric.

 

/nalan/taru collai nAn kaNtu/koNtEn, nArAyaNa ennum nAmam.

 

/vantanam.

 

Visu