The book that inspired me

Ravi Pandit,
Chairman & Group CEO,
KPIT Cummins

I find the Bhagavad Gita truly inspiring. The setting of the book is dramatic "" a grand battleground of an epic battle. The scenario is poignant "" venerable people on both sides. You have the unconquerable warrior Arjuna in a dejected mood.

And Lord Krishna gives him reason after reason as to why he should do his duty "" that is, fight. This is persuasion at its best. Lord Krishna cajoles, threatens, gives inducements, shows disdain "" everything to make the great warrior perform his duty.

While this great drama, superficially, relates only to the fight at Kurukshetra, the teaching applies to our day-to-day lives. The books says "have no personal interest in the event; carry out the duty imposed by the position of life; realise that Ishvara, at once Lord and Law, is the doer, be identified with Him by devotion, and then perform duty as duty, fighting without passion or desire, without anger or hatred; thus activity forges no bonds, Yoga is accomplished, and the soul is free."

I read the Gita, especially the second Adhyaya, time and again and am inspired everytime. If I were to be stranded on a desert island, and could keep just one book, this would be it.

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The Bhagavad Gita

Interpreted by: Annie Besant
Hardcover: 260 pages
Publisher: Quest Books
ISBN: 8170591740