The Lord's Sacred Song - a Bhagavad Gita Presentation

Hari OM

Story-day is for cultural exploration, puraanas and parables and finding out about leading lights in spiritual philosophy.

Story-telling is probably the oldest and most established method of conveying life-lessons and wisdom from one generation to the next. Sometimes, in order to capture the attention of otherwise uninterested listeners, imaginary figures and allegory are used to convey the message. All spiritual traditions have their stories and legends which are brought out to share with the wider 'audience'; all the very best stories stand being retold throughout the centuries. The beauty of story-telling is that each member of the audience will get only as much benefit from it as they are prepared to hear, accept, remember. Also, the same story might be told in different styles so that different personalities can respond to it.

This is particularly true when it comes to the stories within our scriptures. How many different versions of the Nativity of Yeshu have you seen? Or of the Buddha's enlightenment?

Within Sanskrit culture, the tradition is very strong indeed. The telling of the Mahabhaarata or the Ramaayana are almost constantly going on somewhere around India and within the Indian diaspora. It is a little less common to see a telling of the Bhagavad Gita - which is itself a chapter within the Mahabhaarata.

Just three weeks ago, the Mumbai Yuva Kendra (Chinmaya youth wing), put on a major production highlighting key messages of the Lord's Sacred Song, and it was recorded. Not at the best quality video, but still, for the keen, very worth viewing! As this was presented in a public hall in Mumbai, there is a swath of informational stuff to begin with… by all means watch this if you can, for it nicely summarises what the Mission is about and what its outreach is. However, if you prefer to get to the business, then move to point 24 minutes and find the introduction given by Swami Svatmananda, then the play itself.

It is an amateur production, using modern times to bring forth the teachings of the Gita. Do give it a go - don't worry about the bits of Hindi here and there, majority is in English.