Podmasana Preview | Making the Gita Accessible

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I actually came across this book little later, after I had already started compiling various Shlokas verses from different chapters and putting them together. And when I was doing that then I happened to come across this book. So I was quite pleased to see that it was not something very, very wrong that I was doing. There was a precedent and a very highly reputed scholar had done it earlier. So that gave me courage that what I was doing was not wrong. And I proceeded further and completed my book. [00:00:43] Speaker B: And so some of your chapter titles are traditional, such as Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, but others seem to be strikingly contemporary. For example Happiness and Sorrow, Mental Equanimity, and what makes one an ideal human being? How did you decide which topics a modern reader most needed to understand? [00:01:08] Speaker A: Dr. Jayaday, let's think about the present day generation. Is common knowledge that the present day generation is much better off economically? It leads a comparatively more comfortable life than the earlier generations. But can we say that this generation is happier than the previous generations? The answer is a big no. This generation has its own share of serious problems. The severe and often unhealthy competition that they face in their professional life is driving them to desperation. Also their lifestyle, which is quite reckless and mixed with uncontrolled greed, unhealthy food and drinks, immoral relationships and gambling. All these are resulting in physical health issues and also serious psychological disorders. Cases of anxiety, depression, suicidal tendency and insomnia are are rising at an alarming rate. The Gita shows the path to come out of this labyrinth and also guides those who do not wish to fall into it. Therefore, I thought of writing the two chapters, one on happiness and sorrow and the other one on how to attain mental balance. Because a picture of an ideal person would be a role model for others to emulate, I included the chapter on the characteristics of ideal persons as enumerated in the Gita. I hope that answers your question. [00:02:49] Speaker B: Yes, thank you.