Verse-70-71
Chapter 18 — Moksha Sanyasa Yoga
Verse 70-71
🕉 Original Sanskrit Shloka
adhyeṣyate ch ya imam dharmyam saṁvādamāvayoḥ
jñānayajñena tenāhamiṣṭaḥ syāmiti me matiḥ
śraddhāvānanasūyaśca śṛṇyādapi yo naraḥ
so'pi muktaḥ śubhāllokān prāpnuyātpuṇyakarmaṇām
🕉 English Translation
Dharmaya yeh samvaad dono ka,
Kare jo purush path inka sadaa.
Matt mere mein path uska yehi,
Hai gyan yagya se hee puja meri.
Sune Gita updesh shraddha se jo,
Sunte huey dosh dhristi na ho.
Mukt hoke papon se jaye vahan,
Shubh loko mein karma punya jayein jahan.
📜 Translation
English
The person who studies this sacred dialogue of ours, by him I shall be worshipped by the sacrifice of knowledge, so I hold–the one who full of faith and reverence and free from fault-finding, listens to the scripture of the Gita, he too being liberated from sins, shall attain the highest worlds of the virtuous.
Spreading the message of the Gita is a significant act but the basis of preaching should be strong. First of all, one should have the knowledge of the Gita. For acquiring that knowledge it is essential that the Gita should be read and heard. Both listening and studying are useful aids on the path of spirituality and have an important role to play. For this reason, before the systematic conclusion of the sermon the Blessed Lord has presented the significance of both these aspects in an inspirational manner.
The style of the Gita's sermon is in the form of dialogue and is not in the form of commandments. Extremely inspirational dialogue between Arjun and Shri Krishna is to be found here. Arjun has a right to express his view. He desires to present whatever in his mind openly; he puts forward the questions which arise in his mind and the Lord giving due respect to all his queries delivers his sermon. The war is between righteousness and unrighteousness. Arjun is on the side of righteousness but is refusing to engage in warfare. Wavering from the path of his duty he is dejected. The Lord gives the inspiration to Arjun and to the entire mankind making Arjun as the representative to dedicate themselves on the path of their respective duties without desiring reward and to be devoid of egoism and attachment. This is the means of getting freedom from dejection. In this is inherent the purposefulness of life and this is the duty as described by the Gita. For this reason this indication is given 'dharmyam samvadamavayoh'–what type of dialogue is this? It is totally righteous.
When this is studied, then undoubtedly the spirit of unrighteousness will disappear and the inspiration for righteousness will awaken. Unrighteousness is ignorance and righteousness is knowledge. One will gain knowledge of the Reality. One will acquire knowledge to decide what ought and what ought not to be done; one will get the inspiration for leading life on the righteous path and also to make life progress towards its goal. This in itself is the sacrifice of knowledge. The oblations of ignorance should be offered; the light of knowledge should spread; the rest is left to the divinity and generosity of the Lord.
The Gita is the guiding light of the life par excellence. For the being it is a superb gift. That none should remain deprived of it is the desire of the Lord. In whatever way it may be, either by spreading the message amongst the masses, reading and teaching, hearing or speaking, he should associate his mind with the Gita. The inspiration has been provided that even mere listening to the Gita is so fruitful, along with this caution has been given that hearing should not be a mere formality or for passing time. It should be done in the spirit of reverence and faith. With faith a special mention is made of 'anusuya' (free from caviling). There could be something lacking in my understanding but there could be no question of any deficiency in any manner in the Lord or in His words. When one listens to the Gita in such a spirit, its mere listening will bring about the extinction of all sinful impressions accumulated birth after birth.