It was a committed gathering of over 50 students that came together on Friday 7th February at 11am at Maker Towers, Cuffe Parade for a talk by Swami Bodhatmananda on the topic, “ The Essence of each chapter of the Bhagwad Geeta and the thought flow connecting the 18 chapters.”
This special session was coordinated by Mrs Manju Malkani for the benefit of the students from all her 5 study groups, each of which is studying a different chapter of the Bhagwad Geeta at this point in time.
Manju ji welcomed Swamiji with the Poorna kumbha and after a brief introduction, Swami Bodhatmananda started with the theme of the Bhagwad Geeta, which, he explained is the same as the Upanishads, and it is that I AM THE INFINITE REALITY.
As an overview he explained that this message is covered in 18 chapters thus :
The first 6 chapters talk about the individual - their problems and their essential nature,
The next 6 chapters talk about Jagat (creation) and God (creator), and the relationship between both,
Chap 13,14,15 speak about the oneness of the Jiva with the Infinite Reality, and
Chap 16,17,18 cover miscellaneous topics not elaborated on earlier.
Following this Swamiji launched into the essence of each chapter though briefly. For the students gathered here between Cuffe Parade to Worli, it was a highly informative and enlightening morning, since all are at different stages of the study and this put the entire Geeta into perspective for everyone.
We are deeply indebted to Swami Bodhatmananda for his invaluable time and for rendering the timeless message of the Bhagwad Geeta, into simple language with the examples that brought humour and conveyed messages we would not forget.
