Jewels from the Gita
— V. Ananda Reddy
| Price: Rs 280 Pages: 198 Dimensions (in cms): 14x22 ISBN: 978-93-85391-09-5 | Soft Cover |
| Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research Trust, Pondicherry | |
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About Jewels from the Gita
This volume contains a transcription of short, informal talks by Dr Ananda Reddy on Sri Aurobindo’s thoughts on Sri Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita. The book is divided into three sections, each one dealing with Sri Aurobindo’s reading of a facet of Sri Krishna’s personality or his philosophy: Vasudeva Krishna, Jnaneshwara Krishna, and Yogeshwara Krishna. The author picks out for discussion Sri Aurobindo’s reading of Krishna’s personality as Vasudeva (Section One), the latter’s Yoga of Knowledge (Section Two), and the concluding section on Krishna as the archetypal Yogi (Section Three).
Specifically, Section One has mostly to do with the epiphany as recounted in the Gita; the chapters in Section Two deal with the mysteries of birth, death, rebirth and the nature of the soul, and karma. The concluding section orients the reader to the significance of this text for modern times.
Specifically, Section One has mostly to do with the epiphany as recounted in the Gita; the chapters in Section Two deal with the mysteries of birth, death, rebirth and the nature of the soul, and karma. The concluding section orients the reader to the significance of this text for modern times.
REVIEW
This slim book by Dr Ananda Reddy comprises transcriptions of several of his short, informal talks that expatiate on Sri Aurobindo’s insights on Sri Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita. This being a collection of transcribed talks rather than an originally written work, it is necessary to view it more as a sympathetic listener would, as if one were hearing the speaker, than as a reader of a book.
In this volume, three personalities of Sri Krishna the Avatar are elaborated upon in three sections, viz.,Vasudeva Krishna, Jnaneshwara Krishna, and Yogeshwara Krishna. Section One is primarily focused on the epiphany as recounted in the Gita, with the key takeaway hidden in the fourth and last chapter in this section, “Three Doors to Hell”, where we are warned not to give way to desire, anger or greed. This comes after Dr Reddy dwells on the Love that Sri Krishna has for Arjuna. What follows are a few words from the author about the epiphany that Arjuna witnesses upon his request to Sri Krishna to see his divine form in its full glory.
The chapters in Section Two deal with the mysteries of the soul, birth, death, and rebirth, leading up to Sri Aurobindo’s explications of the true nature of karma. Dr Reddy stresses Sri Aurobindo’s point that karma is not an escapist’s attempt to avoid physical rebirth, but a warrior’s effort to achieve constant union with Sri Krishna.
The bulk of the final section focuses on the author’s understanding of Sri Aurobindo’s views on the Gita, concluding with a note to the reader on the significance of the Gita for modern times. We are asked to live a more soul-centred life, and Dr Reddy loosely delineates a possible path based on his reading of Sri Aurobindo’s insights. The first step, Dr Reddy suggests, is consecration, and he quotes this passage from Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on the Gita:
There will be needed a complete consecration of your self and your nature and your life to the Highest and to nothing else but the Highest; for all must be held only for the sake of the Highest, nothing accepted except as it is in God and a form of God and for the sake of the Divine. There will be needed an admission of new truth, an entire turn and giving of your mind to a new knowledge of self and others and world and God and soul and Nature, a knowledge of oneness, a knowledge of universal Divinity, which will be at first an acceptance by the understanding but must become in the end a vision, a consciousness, a permanent state of the soul and the frame of its movements. (CWSA 19: 575)
Care has to be taken not to look for strong connecting threads between the sections and the chapters that comprise them; one has to remember that each chapter is an informal talk standing by itself and that the transcriptions have been put together in the best possible sequence. If this is kept in mind, one comes to enjoy the book more fully. One may also note that though the transcriptions have been edited, here and there pieces of text indicate that their source was obviously the spoken word. The reader is asked to lend his sympathetic understanding at these points in the text.
The volume is especially valuable because the author is an avid scholar of Sri Aurobindo, and the result of his many years spent steeped in Aurobindonian thought will be in evidence throughout. The views that he expresses are therefore faithful to the original texts and in addition feature the author’s reflections on these. One must note that though it is Sri Aurobindo’s interpretation of the Gita and its message that the author expounds, it is not a mere summary that he reproduces. The talks transcribed here clearly show the author’s own thoughts on the Aurobindonian views that he expounds, as the very last chapter in the book clearly demonstrates.
Here and there in the text, the reader is treated to tidbits such as a little known story from the Mahabharata about Bheem’s grandson Balarsen (sometimes known as Baliyadav or Barbarik). By Lord Shiva’s grace, Balarsen wins three arrows that can destroy entire armies and comes to fight on the weaker side at Kurukshetra where the Pandavas and Kauravas are set to join battle. It is not Sri Krishna’s intention to destroy whole armies, however, but only individuals who have failed to uphold dharma. Therefore, Sri Krishna stops and outwits Balarsen, preventing him from taking part in the war—how he does this is described in detail in this volume. Stories such as this find more room for play in informal talks than in written works; consequently, their transcriptions are delightful reads.
Jewels from the Gita is one in a series of many by Dr Ananda Reddy that form a part of his offering on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo. Almost all of these volumes are transcriptions of informal talks given by the author on various occasions.
—Sivakumar Elambooranan
Sivakumar was an academic philosopher who has now turned to writing. After living abroad for some years, he is now settled in his native Pondicherry, where he is associated with the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Reviewed in February, 2024
In this volume, three personalities of Sri Krishna the Avatar are elaborated upon in three sections, viz.,Vasudeva Krishna, Jnaneshwara Krishna, and Yogeshwara Krishna. Section One is primarily focused on the epiphany as recounted in the Gita, with the key takeaway hidden in the fourth and last chapter in this section, “Three Doors to Hell”, where we are warned not to give way to desire, anger or greed. This comes after Dr Reddy dwells on the Love that Sri Krishna has for Arjuna. What follows are a few words from the author about the epiphany that Arjuna witnesses upon his request to Sri Krishna to see his divine form in its full glory.
The chapters in Section Two deal with the mysteries of the soul, birth, death, and rebirth, leading up to Sri Aurobindo’s explications of the true nature of karma. Dr Reddy stresses Sri Aurobindo’s point that karma is not an escapist’s attempt to avoid physical rebirth, but a warrior’s effort to achieve constant union with Sri Krishna.
The bulk of the final section focuses on the author’s understanding of Sri Aurobindo’s views on the Gita, concluding with a note to the reader on the significance of the Gita for modern times. We are asked to live a more soul-centred life, and Dr Reddy loosely delineates a possible path based on his reading of Sri Aurobindo’s insights. The first step, Dr Reddy suggests, is consecration, and he quotes this passage from Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on the Gita:
There will be needed a complete consecration of your self and your nature and your life to the Highest and to nothing else but the Highest; for all must be held only for the sake of the Highest, nothing accepted except as it is in God and a form of God and for the sake of the Divine. There will be needed an admission of new truth, an entire turn and giving of your mind to a new knowledge of self and others and world and God and soul and Nature, a knowledge of oneness, a knowledge of universal Divinity, which will be at first an acceptance by the understanding but must become in the end a vision, a consciousness, a permanent state of the soul and the frame of its movements. (CWSA 19: 575)
Care has to be taken not to look for strong connecting threads between the sections and the chapters that comprise them; one has to remember that each chapter is an informal talk standing by itself and that the transcriptions have been put together in the best possible sequence. If this is kept in mind, one comes to enjoy the book more fully. One may also note that though the transcriptions have been edited, here and there pieces of text indicate that their source was obviously the spoken word. The reader is asked to lend his sympathetic understanding at these points in the text.
The volume is especially valuable because the author is an avid scholar of Sri Aurobindo, and the result of his many years spent steeped in Aurobindonian thought will be in evidence throughout. The views that he expresses are therefore faithful to the original texts and in addition feature the author’s reflections on these. One must note that though it is Sri Aurobindo’s interpretation of the Gita and its message that the author expounds, it is not a mere summary that he reproduces. The talks transcribed here clearly show the author’s own thoughts on the Aurobindonian views that he expounds, as the very last chapter in the book clearly demonstrates.
Here and there in the text, the reader is treated to tidbits such as a little known story from the Mahabharata about Bheem’s grandson Balarsen (sometimes known as Baliyadav or Barbarik). By Lord Shiva’s grace, Balarsen wins three arrows that can destroy entire armies and comes to fight on the weaker side at Kurukshetra where the Pandavas and Kauravas are set to join battle. It is not Sri Krishna’s intention to destroy whole armies, however, but only individuals who have failed to uphold dharma. Therefore, Sri Krishna stops and outwits Balarsen, preventing him from taking part in the war—how he does this is described in detail in this volume. Stories such as this find more room for play in informal talks than in written works; consequently, their transcriptions are delightful reads.
Jewels from the Gita is one in a series of many by Dr Ananda Reddy that form a part of his offering on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo. Almost all of these volumes are transcriptions of informal talks given by the author on various occasions.
—Sivakumar Elambooranan
Sivakumar was an academic philosopher who has now turned to writing. After living abroad for some years, he is now settled in his native Pondicherry, where he is associated with the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Reviewed in February, 2024
