Heartfulness Institute as a part of its ongoing initiative to revive the highly beneficial traditional values & ancient wisdom, hosted Gita Jayanti celebrations on its virtual platform. Almost 15000 people from across the country coming from different walks of life participated in the virtual recital of Gitopdesh and ‘Tales from the Vedas and Upanishads’ book launch. Shri Pavan K Varma, IFS, Author-Diplomat & Former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) graced the occasion with his valuable thoughts on Gita Jayanti. The event received huge participation from various quarters across the whole country.
Gita Jayanti is the day when Lord Krishna delivered his divine discourse to Arjuna on the auspicious day of shukla paksha ekadasi of the Hindu month of Margashira. As the term ‘Gita’ suggests, the song of God was transmitted by Lord Krishna into the heart of Arjuna this very day. As discovered by founder of Heartfulness, Shri Ram Chandra ji of Shahjahanpur also known as Babuji, The Lord Himself spoke 6-10 verses while the rest of the 690 slokas were transmitted using yogic Pranahuti. The transmitted verses were recorded by Sage Veda Vyasa as slokas in 18 chapters.
The Gita is just as relevant today across all age groups as it was when Arjuna required motivation to fight to keep up ‘Dharma’. In a world that is more and more digitally driven, and children have better comforts and luxuries than their previous generations, imparting the knowledge of The Gita has become mandatory to train children to tread the path of righteousness. To further this cause, Daaji also launched his book ‘Tales from the Vedas and Upanishads’ as part of the event wherein his keen curatorial selection brings an array of ancient tales of adventure, quests and wisdom.
Daaji engages with the narratives and simplifies the ancient wisdom to make it understandable and at the same time feed the imagination of children by setting them on a path to self-discovery. Accompanied by Gayatri Panchpade’s charming illustrations, this is an easy-to understand introduction to the otherwise complex world of ancient Hindu scriptures. The book is a fabulous way of introducing the philosophical and spiritual teachings of the rishis to children of the modern world. Daaji’s retelling of the stories through these books make them a treasure-trove of knowledge and virtuousness.
Speaking on the occasion Daaji said, “Book-reading as a hobby is quickly vanishing among children with digitization. Books are perfect tools to enable children grow intellectually, morally, and even spiritually. My intent through this book is to bring children closer to the ancient wisdom through simplistic story-telling and captivating illustrations. In my discovery of our existential truth, I understand children need to see beyond merely being doctors and engineers. They need to find their true purpose of life and their very existence besides following a vocation and work towards bringing peace within and without. Children today need to understand the Vedas and Upanishads more than any other times so that they can spearhead perpetuating the Vedic wisdom to the future generations. I hope this book can help them cultivate the habit of reading as well.”
Shri Pavan K Varma said, “I put both my appreciation and appreciation to Daaji for his attempt to distill some stories, anecdotes, fables, legends which cumulatively amount to comprehensible wisdom for children. Hindus themselves know very little about their religion, spirituality of ancient India perhaps because Hinduism is not a prescriptive field. There is a generational debilitation being passed down. Daaji’s book is very important and thoughtful step in that direction – awakening wisdom in children who would read about our past in a manner that tells why India is great and prompts them to read further and push the horizon of their knowledge. The small anecdotes provide the essential vantage point to the uniqueness of Hinduism’s cerebral processes and are put for consumption of those who want to know more.”
The event also saw participation of children for sloka recitals along with their meaning. Also, an unveiling of Certificates for the first and the second batch students of Gitopadesh took place at the event.
The month of May had also witnessed Heartfulness host a special Gitopdesh coaching for children who benefited from the sessions immensely.
The Heartfulness Institute has also been providing a regular Gitopadesh course to help children value the greatness of the Bhagavat Gita and also remind the busy grown-ups to make the Gita a part of their lives. The unique course is currently being attended by 1500 students from 25 countries. The four course modules are woven with the four objectives of: Values in action, Swadhyaya, Actionable Knowledge and Designing Destiny.
