Antidote to terrorism
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar | Jan 2, 2012, 12.26PM IST
Antidote to terrorism
The Bhagwad Gita encourages reasoning while terrorists are blind to any reasoning. The Russians need to study the mind of a terrorist as much as they need to study the Gita before calling it a terrorist scripture, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Terrorists are cowards. Whenever terror has struck in any part of the world, we have heard people say it is an act of cowardice. A coward runs away from action but harbours all negative feelings and does it surreptitiously.
This is exactly what happened to Arjuna. Arjunawas angry, upset and sad and wanted to run away. In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna says, 'Don't be a coward'. Hence the Gita is an antidote to terrorism. Krishna says bravery is the way: Face the war when it is inevitable and do your duty.
A terrorist is stuck in his identity; he hides it, has no rationale and inflicts pain. Whereas the Bhagwad Gita helps you transcend your identity. It encourages reason and infuses wisdom. Therefore, it could be called the antidote to terrorism.
Medicine of righteousness
The duty of a policeman, soldier or king is to be impartial for the sake of the nation, whether it is their mentors or relatives. Terrorists are never impartial. A soldier is brave; a terrorist is a coward. A soldier protects and prevents violence and a terrorist inflicts pain and suffering. The Gita is the scripture of bravery in both realms - physical and metaphysical.
The Gita wants you to act without hatred. Terrorism is steeped in hatred. It is unfortunate that some people in Russia were thinking of banning Gita. Instead of finding a solution to the disease of terrorism they were trying to destroy the only medicine available - of righteousness, of spiritual uplift and an action or duty that ought to be performed even in the most compelling situation.
Let the judges be assured that in the last 5,149 years of the existence of the Gita, there is no evidence of someone becoming a terrorist after reading it. In fact, M K Gandhi wrote commentaries on the Gita and it was an inspiration for his non-violent movement. The Gita is a unique scripture which caters to the entire range of human evolution, comprising of every level of this vast existence. However, if Russia was thinking of banning the Gita, it amounted to depriving its people of a life-transforming scripture.
High standards
The Gita stands for poise and equanimity and for performing one's designated duty. Krishna does not encourage everyone to take to weapons and fight but a soldier cannot sell bananas in the market. He has to take his weapon to bring security to his people. If the Gita is a terrorist scripture then all military academies in the world are nothing but terrorist organisations. Doesn't this sound strange? Would the courts ban Lenin, Marx and Mao Tse-Tung, who, to stay in power, inflicted terror on millions? A terrorist or a coward hides and inflicts pain on others whereas a soldier sacrifices his own life to bring security and peace to people. They both may take the gun but their intentions are poles apart.
The Bhagwad Gita encourages reasoning and dialogue while terrorists are blind to any reasoning and are closed to any form of dialogue. The Russians need to study the mind of a terrorist as much as they need to study the Gita before calling it a terrorist scripture.
Interestingly, in any military training worldwide, soldiers are asked to view enemies as dangerous objects that need to be eliminated. The psychology behind such indoctrination is that when they think the enemy is a human being, soldiers are unable to raise their arms. There are many such survival tactics where the army is desensitised. Arjuna faced a similar situation. Krishna went step-by-step to deal with Arjuna's emotions, ego, mindset and concepts. He finally touched on the nature of his spiritual being; revealing to him the highest knowledge and his eternal nature. This brought him enormous strength and then propelled him to perform his worldly duties.
Krishna says, no sin accrues to him whose intellect is unattached and free from cravings and aversions, even if he kills the whole world. Now, the condition of an intellect free from cravings and aversions itself counters terrorism. Terrorism exists when the intellect is deeply attached and is hateful. The metaphors and the high standards of humanism exhibited in the Gita are unparalleled.
Metaphysical nature
Jesus said, "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household." In the Quran, there are many verses which talk about striking terror in the hearts of infidels and cutting off their fingers. By these standards, if you still call Gita a terrorist scripture, then you have to precede such statements with those from the Bible and Quran.
The fact is that scriptures do not inflict terrorism; it is the misinterpretation by an ignorant and stressed mind, which justifies their actions quoting scriptures.
The author clarifies that this article is to cater to the common man and to those in Russia to whom metaphysics may appear far-fetched.
Terrorists are cowards. Whenever terror has struck in any part of the world, we have heard people say it is an act of cowardice. A coward runs away from action but harbours all negative feelings and does it surreptitiously.
This is exactly what happened to Arjuna. Arjunawas angry, upset and sad and wanted to run away. In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna says, 'Don't be a coward'. Hence the Gita is an antidote to terrorism. Krishna says bravery is the way: Face the war when it is inevitable and do your duty.
A terrorist is stuck in his identity; he hides it, has no rationale and inflicts pain. Whereas the Bhagwad Gita helps you transcend your identity. It encourages reason and infuses wisdom. Therefore, it could be called the antidote to terrorism.
Medicine of righteousness
The duty of a policeman, soldier or king is to be impartial for the sake of the nation, whether it is their mentors or relatives. Terrorists are never impartial. A soldier is brave; a terrorist is a coward. A soldier protects and prevents violence and a terrorist inflicts pain and suffering. The Gita is the scripture of bravery in both realms - physical and metaphysical.
The Gita wants you to act without hatred. Terrorism is steeped in hatred. It is unfortunate that some people in Russia were thinking of banning Gita. Instead of finding a solution to the disease of terrorism they were trying to destroy the only medicine available - of righteousness, of spiritual uplift and an action or duty that ought to be performed even in the most compelling situation.
Let the judges be assured that in the last 5,149 years of the existence of the Gita, there is no evidence of someone becoming a terrorist after reading it. In fact, M K Gandhi wrote commentaries on the Gita and it was an inspiration for his non-violent movement. The Gita is a unique scripture which caters to the entire range of human evolution, comprising of every level of this vast existence. However, if Russia was thinking of banning the Gita, it amounted to depriving its people of a life-transforming scripture.
High standards
The Gita stands for poise and equanimity and for performing one's designated duty. Krishna does not encourage everyone to take to weapons and fight but a soldier cannot sell bananas in the market. He has to take his weapon to bring security to his people. If the Gita is a terrorist scripture then all military academies in the world are nothing but terrorist organisations. Doesn't this sound strange? Would the courts ban Lenin, Marx and Mao Tse-Tung, who, to stay in power, inflicted terror on millions? A terrorist or a coward hides and inflicts pain on others whereas a soldier sacrifices his own life to bring security and peace to people. They both may take the gun but their intentions are poles apart.
The Bhagwad Gita encourages reasoning and dialogue while terrorists are blind to any reasoning and are closed to any form of dialogue. The Russians need to study the mind of a terrorist as much as they need to study the Gita before calling it a terrorist scripture.
Interestingly, in any military training worldwide, soldiers are asked to view enemies as dangerous objects that need to be eliminated. The psychology behind such indoctrination is that when they think the enemy is a human being, soldiers are unable to raise their arms. There are many such survival tactics where the army is desensitised. Arjuna faced a similar situation. Krishna went step-by-step to deal with Arjuna's emotions, ego, mindset and concepts. He finally touched on the nature of his spiritual being; revealing to him the highest knowledge and his eternal nature. This brought him enormous strength and then propelled him to perform his worldly duties.
Krishna says, no sin accrues to him whose intellect is unattached and free from cravings and aversions, even if he kills the whole world. Now, the condition of an intellect free from cravings and aversions itself counters terrorism. Terrorism exists when the intellect is deeply attached and is hateful. The metaphors and the high standards of humanism exhibited in the Gita are unparalleled.
Metaphysical nature
Jesus said, "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household." In the Quran, there are many verses which talk about striking terror in the hearts of infidels and cutting off their fingers. By these standards, if you still call Gita a terrorist scripture, then you have to precede such statements with those from the Bible and Quran.
The fact is that scriptures do not inflict terrorism; it is the misinterpretation by an ignorant and stressed mind, which justifies their actions quoting scriptures.
The author clarifies that this article is to cater to the common man and to those in Russia to whom metaphysics may appear far-fetched.
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