Over the last month or so, I have been fortunate to devote some time to read this wonderful work: “Universal Message of Bhagavad Gita” by late Swami Ranganathananda, of Ramakrishna mission. It is a huge three volume work, actually a compilation of lectures delivered by swamiji on this subject at the mission (ofcourse, with necessary edition for readability). Because these are originally lectures, the tone of the work has a personal touch to it, which i liked very much. The swamiji focused on the practical aspects of the Gita, with an outlook on the modern world situation, rather than esoteric aspects that i have seen in some other works. Another notable aspect of this work is the breadth of sources from which swamiji draws insight — from modern physicists, biologists, neurologists, poets, to philosophers, from across the world.
I certainly won’t try to summarize the message of Gita here, but there is one phrase that swamiji used, that i think represents the message of Gita, and more broadly the Indian advaita philosophy. “The science of human possibilities”. What a beautiful expression ! Human possibilities. Where do we go from here ? Nature has evolved the thinking instrument, the human brain, which is marvelous as it is, with its achievements in arts, sciences etc. On the other hand, if we look around the world today, we certainly seem to be having difficulty solving critical issues collectively. Is this the best we can do ? To put it plainly, Gita answers this question by saying that a better state of consciousness is indeed possible, and that involves having a more universal outlook on things rather than a narrow perspective most of us have today. For detailed answer, one needs to study the Gita 
. (Interestingly, swamiji borrows this phrase “science of human possibilities” from evolutionary biologist Julian Huxley, with whom swamiji apparently had a series of exchanges, the transcripts of which are present in the book “Message of the Upanishads”. I haven’t read this book through.)
One might wonder why this is prefixed “science”. Isn’t this all religious mumbo jumbo, not open to “scientific” verification ? Well, according to sages of the past, this is perfect science too, but for the verification of which one has to deploy ones life / body / mind as the laboratory. Everyone has to work for themselves. That got me thinking, why do we so readily believe the claims of regular physical sciences ? After all, how many of us have worked out the math of E=M*C-squared ? How about space-time curvature ? Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle ? We perhaps tend to believe because we see the applications of some of these principles in our daily lives. “aah.. we have nuclear power plants.. so E=M*C-squared must be right”. But alas, the results and applications of the science of human possibilities are too subjective perhaps. Even if there are demonstrable “proofs”, not many yogi’s are forthcoming, for reasons only they know of.
Another wonderful concept that is explained with great clarity, is the discussion around “Pravritti” and “Nivritti”. Swamiji quoted Adi Shankaracharya who brought up these two concepts in his commentary of Gita.
“The dharma or philosophy taught in the vedas is of two-fold nature, characterized by pravritti, outward action, and nivritti, inward contemplation, meant for the even stability of the world, which are meant to ensure the true abhyudaya, socio-economic welfare, and nihsreyasa, spiritual freedom, of all beings”. (Adi shankaracharya).
Expanding on this quote, swamiji writes:
“Both action and meditation are needed for human well-being; if only one or the other is there, there will be no health, individual or social. See the wonderful insight, the comprehensive wisdom of the ancient Indian sages! Through pravritti you establish a welfare society through the improvement of your economy and the political system. Through nivritti you achieve, what we call today, a value-oriented life that comes from humanity’s inner spiritual dimension. Otherwise, plenty of wealth, power and everything else you may have through pravritti, but with only pravritti and no nivritti, society will be alright in the short run, but in the long run, it will be in trouble. The whole of modern western civilization today is in trouble because there is no emphasis on nivritti, there is emphasis only on pravritti — work, work and work; earn more and more money, but remain inwardly poorer and poorer, until one becomes a nervous wreck. Many people are suffering thus in the modern world. I often quote the German philosopher Schopenhauer from his book, ‘The world as Will and Idea’; mind you, he told this about 130 years ago and what he said then is absolutely true today. He said: ‘When men achieve security and welfare, now that they have solved all other problems, they become a problem to themselves.’ How literally true is this for men and women in this modern age! ….” (Swami Ranganathananda)
I can’t but agree that modern world has lost all sense of proportion and balance, between pravritti and nivritti, with excessive emphasis on economic growth and technological progress at all costs. And, most of the so called “religious life” today, Iam afraid, is a barter system of seeking personal favors. There is very little introspection involved, which i think makes for true nivritti.
The Gita itself perfectly embodies this balance, as it (a spiritual message) has been delivered amidst a scene of intense activity — a battlefield !
