*Devotees Undertake “Shastra Daan” by gifting Free Copies of Bhagwat Gita*
Mumbai – 18th December 2018 – Devotees at ISKCON’s Radha Gopinath Temple at Girgaon Chowpatty is celebrating the Gita Jayanti last Sunday with festive fervours. As a part of celebrations, a grand yajna was organised at the temple, which saw the participation of devotees from across various sectors like corporate sector, professionals, cine artists and intellectual circuit.
On this auspicious days, ISKCON’s spiritual guru Radhanath Swami said, “Bhagwat Gita is 51 centuries old knowledge that was delivered by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, in a battlefield continues to remain relevant even today as a guiding spiritual force. It was God speaking to his devotee 5100 years ago, in about Himself, the Material Nature, Time, Karma and Spirit and that remains alive and inspirational today in almost every life situation.”
It was the holy land of Kurukshetra, where the world’s greatest warriors assembled to participate in a fratricidal war 5100 years ago. Gita Jayanti is the celebration of the auspicious day when Lord Krishna revealed his transcendental instructions to his devotee and friend – Arjuna.
“If you look at today’s situation, with the growth of humanity across the world, we have created states, nationalities, tribes, casts, religions, factions, beliefs and started fighting with our own brothers and sisters. Gita’s knowledge applies well to today’s scenario also, where we have to conquer these enemies created by humanity itself for the benefit, survival and growth of the humanity in the future,” added Radhanath Swami.
The Gita, originally written in Sanskrit, was first rendered in English by Charles Wilkins in 1785. Over the centuries, many great scholars have written commentaries on it. Devotees are also undertaking the pious activity of “Shastra Daan”, by gifting and reaching out thousands of copies of Bhagwat Gita to people across various villages and towns in India apart from distributing in foreign countries.
The ‘Bhagavad Gita As It Is,’ a translation and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder Acharya of ISKCON today stands out as a uniquely qualified proponent of the teachings of the Gita coming from an unbroken line of teachers going back to Lord Krishna himself.
This edition has been translated in over fifty-nine languages and distributed even as far as Russia, Slovakia, Croatia, France, Germany, Japan, UAE, United States of America and of course India.
Various ISKCON temples, all over the world are celebrating this auspicious day of Gita Jayanti by initiating various spiritual, and social activities of public good.