A Bhagwad Gita morning

Mixed feeling ran rampant in our household - this morning, and for the past week. A certain nine-year-old is happy to have made it to the next round of the battle of the books, but sad that the next battle is against a team comprising her friends and classmates.

“I wish it weren’t their team,” she said for the 100^th time. And for the 100^th time, I didn’t say much. She stared glumly at her breakfast and sighed deep-nine-year-old-dramatic sighs. I felt sorry for her, but also thought it was tad funny and somewhat sweet.

But when she still looked a little worried as she wore her shoes (the battle is today), I finally offered some empathy for the rough spot they had found themselves in. For even if they won, seeing their friends’ sad or disappointed faces would make them feel… “mean,” she quickly filled in. I looked at her and bit my tongue as I almost mentioned being defeated by their friends.

And then I remembered the red Mahabharat book lying on our coffee table – its dog-eared pages and well-worn countenance, a testament of a nine-year-old’s love for it. “This is the advice Krishna gave to Arjun in the Bhagwad Gita”, I said. “Does your book have anything about the Bhagwad Gita?” “Kind of – isn’t it about the past, present and future, and after-life, and energy and darkness and all that?”

Hmm… sounded like what little she knew about the Bhagwad Gita, had been metamorphosed into a Harry Potter-ish/Star Wars-ish understanding. Given that I’m no expert on the Bhagwad Gita myself, and that she may actually know more, I didn’t delve further. But I did ask her about the part I knew. 
About how it all started and how crushed the warrior, Arjun was at the thought of battling his teachers and family. “Oh yeah, his great uncles and cousins were on the battlefield, and Arjun just didn’t want to fight them anymore. But Krishna told him that the battle had started and explained he had to continue.”

I didn’t need to say anymore. She looked at me and grinned. The big Mahabharat battle made the book battle look so much easier and she knew the “battle” would be brief and the friendship would still survive.

As I watched her walk to the bus stop, I smiled to think of our “saved by the Mahabharat moment”. The Bhagwad Gita had crossed the frontiers of popular fiction and reached fourth grade.

I felt appreciative of how much richness there is in our lives, in the things we know; in the things we don’t know - about the things we know (like all the knowledge and wisdom, which I know, exists in the Bhagwad Gita – of which I know only a smidgen), of the things we draw inspiration from, of the stories we hear, of experiences, of mythology…

Of the continuum of experiences, history, of things that actually happened… to the mythical, that no one can vouch for, but which have a sea of wisdom and inspiration.

I smiled as I closed the door, and thought how strange and lovely it was that a not-so-religious-even mother would draw wisdom from the deepest, wisest scriptures. I thought with appreciation of all the scriptures and teachings in all the different religions, of mythology in different cultures, of the stories and parables they tell, of the characters they bring to life, of the wisdom and magic they contain…

I smiled as I appreciated the rationality of modern generations, for our ability and potential, to take the wisdom from the ancient, without feeling the need to conform to the dogmas that no longer fit with our current thinking.

Opinions may differ if it is a case of plain arrogance and disrespect, or a thing of beauty. I want to believe it is a thing of beauty, and our way of keeping the ancient wisdom alive…