Editor  – ‘At eSamskriti our slogan is ‘The more we share the more we grow’. So when  respected and regular contributor to the site, Shri Sethumadhavan told me that  his series of articles on the Holy Gita would be uploaded first on www.medhajournal.com and then on  esamskriti I readily agreed. Sharing of knowledge on the Holy Gita is more  important than on which site article appears first’.

I  am deeply indebted to Shri Partha Desikanji and Shri Rudraji for locating me in  the maze of Websites and encouraging me to become a part of the Medhavi  community - a medhavi in Sanskrit means an intellectual, a man of  wisdom, a person possessing understanding. Although I have my own misgivings  about my eligibility to come under this category, I feel greatly honored by  their generous gesture.

I  am grateful to them for allotting me a separate column under the title “Vedanta  Jyoti” in the intellectual stimulant -‘Medha Journal’- and initiating my  association with it by re-publishing my article ‘Ganapati Atharvasirsha’ on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi (11-09-2010). After  devoting considerable thought I felt that the obvious way to light the Vedanta  Jyoti (The Light of Vedanta) is through the Jyotisham Jyoti (The  Light of all Lights), the Bhagavad Gita. I am sure that the luminous glow  of the Gita will not only promote an enduring bond between me and the Medhavis  but will also add a bright feather in the shining cap of the Medha Journal.

The  radiance of the Bhagavad Gita is being brought to the Medhavis under this  column through the means of easy to handle tools. This arrangement consists of a  series of essays covering the entire Gita in a simple, direct and interactive style  employing the technique of a Distance Education Programme.

The  presentation of each Chapter of the Gita will have
1.All transliterated Sanskrit Verses with a lucid  translation and explanatory notes divided into different topics for a clear-cut  grasp of the subject
2.A brief account of the issues and concepts involved
3.Strategies to put the ideas discussed into practice and
4.A questionnaire for self-assessment by the reader

The  periodicity of posting these essays would be about once in a fortnight barring  unforeseen circumstances.  As a companion  to this endeavor, a Power Point Presentation on the entire Gita is offered  separately.

In  preparing these essays I have steered clear off all the scholastic debates and  controversies with a view to reach out to the  average modern educated young people who require the strength of the Gita to  wade through the current day troubled waters. My purpose is just to help them  to understand the essential message of the Gita so that they will blossom into  integrated persons full of equanimity of mind, speech and action. Their needs  in the context of our present habits of study were fully kept in view in this  process.  

If  this effort ignites the minds of the readers and prepares them to take a dip in  the Gita Ganga on their own, the objective of my mission would be accomplished.   May Ganesha, The Lord of Wisdom, shower  His grace on all of us in our voyage from darkness to light with the help of the Bhagavad Gita, the Essence of Knowledge itself?

Om asatoma satgamaya, tamasoma jyotirgamaya, mrityorma  amritam gamaya
    om shantih, shantih, shantih ||

First  published www.medhajournal.com

Also read:
1. Perennial Psychology of the  Holy Gita by Swami Rama2. The Holy Geeta is a guide  to one’s life3. War and Non Violence in the  Holy Gita