Gita relevant in all ages: Avdheshanand

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, Decemebr 19

As part of Gita Jayanti, a special function, Gita Mahotsava, was organised here today under the aegis of the Adhyatm Chetna Sangh.

Spiritual guru Juna Akhada Peethadeeshwar Maha Mandaleshwar Acharya Swami Avdheshanand Giri Maharaj in his address termed the Gita relevant in all ages.

Swami Avdheshanand said the Gita teaches human beings how to live life in right way, particularly during distress and challenges.

“The Gita is a philosophy which has shaped the destiny of billions of people, who followed the teachings. It’s an amalgamation of spiritual and secular teachings which shows the middle path to attain salvation yet focusing on karma through interaction between Lord Krishna and his disciple warrior Arjuna during the battle of Mahabharat in Kurukshetra,” said Swami Avdheshanand Maharaj.

He added that achievers like Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi got the inner strength from the Gita only, which showed the world the path of spirituality, peace, harmony and nationalism.

Parmarth Niketan ashram spiritual ideologue Swami Chidanand Muni Saraswati said the Gita always shows true path and everyone needs to read or know about it to know the reality of this universe and life. On the demonetisation by the Union Government, the spiritual guru said its posing some difficulty today but would be good for the country.

Uttarakhand Sanskrit University vice-chancellor Dr Piyush Kant Dixit remarked that the Gita infuses spirituality and self-belief.

He added that Haridwar is city of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva and holding Gita Mahotsava in this holy land would give the world the message about the significance of the epic.

Acharya Karunesh Mishra emphasised on the need of taking the Gita to common man so that the maximum number of people could avail benefit from this vast treasure of knowledge.

A competition based on knowledge about the Gita was also organised in which about 2,500 school students participated.

Noted literati and former principal of Shravan Nath Math Jawaharlal Nehru College professor Padmendra Singh Chauhan said inculcating moral values among the younger generation was the need of the hour for which the Gita teaching was the best way.

Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy vice-chairperson Dr Nand Kishore Purohit, Shri Panchayat Akhada Bada Udasin Kothari Mahant Mohan Das, Swami Guru Maharaj, Acharya Ravi Dev Shastri, Yogacharya Rajneesh, Swami Kameshwar Puri, industrialist UC Jain, Harendra Garg, former women state commission chairperson Dr Santosh Chauhan, Satish Jain, Dr Sarita Aggarwal, Kamani Sadana, Pramod Sharma, Ashok Sardar, Yogacharya Vishal Sharma and principals of several schools were present.

Class V Delhi Public School, Ranipur, student Eklavya Haritoh was given special prize for his ability to recite all shlokas of the epic by the organising committee.