Find Your Inner Hero: Soul of the Bhagavad Gita

Invoking Auspiciousness

Let me begin the story of the longest epic known to humanity by singing a hymn to Ganesh, the original scribe:

om gam ganapataye namah

For thousands of years my ancestors have uttered this hymn before they began anything, so I do the same in their memory. They have told stories to each other and to their next generations about how Ganesh's memory and imagination was as large as an elephant's and he could write as much as four hands could possibly write within a mortal lifespan. Ganesh was shy, loved eating sweets, looked very large, and was always surrounded by wealth and beauty. Whatever endeavor he blessed would be completed to perfection and attain success, by the grace of his creator. Everyone loved him, and his wit.

May Ganesh make me a conduit in retelling the story of Krishna he heard from Vyas, the composer, that he was said to write for mere mortals like me. My grandparents took turns raising me and told all these stories at bedtimes and siestas, and for their sake I must retell these stories for all my friends and the little ones who keep coming into my life, including my daughter Rai.

This is the story about war and peace, love and hate, about why humans behave how they behave and what we can do to avoid disastrous wars that destroy lives, and the world. It is about how we can live our lives more meaningfully, be honest, clean, kind, and endure under all circumstances. It tells us who no human being is fully good, or bad, and how logic doesn't necessarily lead us to what is good, and emotions are an important part of who we are as humans, and must be nurtured, not sacrificed for anything's sake - it is the story behind the book that almost every seventh person on this planet holds sacred to their heart today, and has shaped the world as much as the Bible, or the Quran. And thus begins the most of exciting and heart-wrenching scene of this epic story:

Krishna slowly observed his armies led by his loyal commanders across enemy lines as he narrowed his eyelids and saw the lay of the land. The battle wouldn't start before at least another hour or so, for it was still a sacred morning time, a time of calm before the storm. It was still early in when the birds chirped celebrating a new day. The night before had been tense, as armies from both sides began to march towards no man's land, deemed holy for everyone, the vast alluvial plains of Kuruksherta, and came within sight of their enemy forces. And they began the story of the Bhagavad Gita, the key to the treasure chest known as the Mahābhārata.