ye yatha mam prapadyante
tam stathaiva bhajamyaham
mama vartmanuvartante
manusyah partha sarvasah - Bhagvadgita 4-11

‘Oh Arjuna! Whosoever comes to me in whatsoever path, I bless them in the same way’.
The ways and means of reaching may be different but ultimately all lead to the salvation or the blessings of god.

How deep is the meaning of these two small lines! Arjuna at the verge of warfare was not willing to fight with his kith and kin. Krishna had to remind him of his duty ‘kartrutvam’. That gave rise to our ancient scripture ‘Bhagavad-Gita ’. It is the quintessence of Vedas and Upanishads too.
What is the central idea of Bhagavad-Gita? We go back to the first line ‘Ye yadamam prapadyante’. In whatever angle you look at it, you feel that it advocates

Bhakti yoga.
Jnana yoga.
Karma yoga.
Sahaja Raja yoga.

It has been a guideline for Mahatma Gandhi in times of distress. It has been a text book of personality development for Vivekananda.

‘Ugadi’ our telugu new year day means Yuga+adi= Yugadi-Ugadi. It refers to the First Ayana, first Ritu, first month, first fortnight, first Tidhi, first day, first Muhurat of Brahma’s sristi which ranges back to 86,40,000 years. Leaving aside our age old New Year’s day, we give utmost importance to western culture and their new year’s day.

The same way Bhagwad Gita is an age-old guideline for personality development handed down to us through our fore fathers. But today we undergo artificial training to develop our personality. If we go through Bhagwad Gita carefully, most of the slokas guide us in many ways. 

They teach us -
the principles to follow
the approach to life
the attitude to fellow human beings
the religious tolerance

We have endeavored to bring out such personality tips raised in our scriptures. This is a humble attempt to portray Gita as a catalyst for personality development. So we would like to present a series of articles, which depict a behavioral pattern, a thought flow, an action plan, a good gesture or a spiritual inclination. Our very first article is on the same sloka again.

Madduri Rajya Sri
For Bhakti Pages