๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ.ย
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง-๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต; ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง-๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.ย
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ; ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ช ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช.ย
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข.”
One might wonder why there is such a contradiction between these two ideas, both spoken to members of the same family.
Arjuna, the great Pandava, heard the Gita, while Parikshit listened to the Bhagavatam. Arjuna rose from his dead consciousness and fought the war. In contrast, Parikshit, the great warrior, renounced everything, immersing himself in the Bhagavatam, and gave up his life, being fully absorbed in his constitutional identity as a servant of Sri Hari. One Pandava took up weapons, while the other gave up his entire kingdom and departed from this world.ย
The dharmik traditions and shastras are like an ideal home, where grandparents are detached, journeying toward philosophical depth and spirituality, while in the same home, the kids prepare for life, overflowing with ambitions, merry-making, boasting, and vibrant colors. Both the contradictory family members coexist without conflict. In fact, the grandchildren are mesmerized by their mature grandparents. Similarly, the detached grandparents do not speak ill of life; instead, they encourage great growth and exploration.
A dying lady, suffering from cancer and surrounded by tubes in a hospital gown, was meant to speak to her granddaughter, who was soon to be married. Despite her condition, she showed remarkable sensitivity and determination to uplift her granddaughter. She dressed herself nicely in a beautiful silk saree and some jewelry, then had a video call to inspire and congratulate her granddaughter. Once the call ended, she returned to her hospital attire. The old lady harmonized celebration and sobriety. The contrasting flavors of joy and sorrow were blended by the maturity caused by the wisdom of living life naturally.ย
The Gita and Bhagavatam are two of the most important mellows in life. They are not contradictory but complementary. One teaches how to live externallyโambitiously, joyously, helpfully, and hopefullyโwhile the other teaches how to minimize external distractions and grow deeper in affection for Sri Hari, beyond worldly attachments. Both flavors are essential in the ideal home of life.ย
Therefore, the Gita teaches one to be active like a king, while the Bhagavatam teaches how to be a sage or Rishi, or even better, a lover of Sri Hari. The Rajarshiโor a king without and sage withinโrepresents the harmony of action and absorption.ย
The Pandavas, the Gopis, and the Brahmana wives exemplify complete indifference to life while fulfilling all their responsibilities of life.ย
Affection for Sri Krishna is enhanced through the Bhagavatam, while submission to the laws of life is encouraged through the Gita. One teaches the laws of life, and the other imparts the love for the life-giverโSri Krishna.
Trying to undo one against the other is impossible and artificial. They are integrated forever in the reality of creation and in the reality of oneโs life. Parikshit and Arjuna are not in conflict; they are our role models for life and beyond life.
– Govinda Das (ISKCON Member)
