Gita Bodh: Understanding Life and Beyond

by Uday Karanjkar

Living through the thick and thin of modern life, human mind faces lot of fundamental questions like 'What is the purpose of my life?' 'Where do I find lasting peace and happiness?' 'Who am I?' 'Is there God really?' 'And if yes, why can't he set everything right?' 'What is right and wrong?' And many more. Uday Karanjkar, started his journey with similar questions and realized that the Bhagwat Gītā reveals answers to all these questions. The Gītā reveals the ultimate Truth and also the way of living life meaningfully, in order to realize the goal of human life. The universal knowledge and teachings of the Gītā are equally relevant and useful to everyone, irrespective of religious, socio-cultural, professional, personal background or age; as it addresses the fundamental human problem and quest. Unlike the verse by verse explanation available on the Gītā, this book gives readers the entire knowledge from the Gītā in a ready-to-assimilate form through its topic-wise, concept by concept approach, perhaps first of its kind. It presents all the concepts covered by the Gītā arranged in a logical sequence to build up the total picture, supported by beautiful illustrations, simple stories and examples. Uday is an Electronics and Telecom engineer and a post graduate in Industrial Engineering with highly successful corporate career of 37 years in management as well as specialist roles across industries. He studied the Gītā and Vedānta in depth under Pūjya Swami SatSwarupananda. Living a vibrant, worldly life while pursuing his spiritual quest, he could find a sound synthesis between the two, which is the very vision of the Gītā. He believes that his insight in this wisdom has a lot to do with his success and happiness. This book is for anybody who desires to know the real meaning of life and the Ultimate Truth as revealed in the Gītā.

544 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Ashok Deobhakta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a wonderful book, particularly for those who seek spiritual inquiry. Several books have been written on the sacred book, The Gita. However, this book differs most, in the approach of understanding the message of The Gita. The author has partitioned the book in two parts. The first part deals with the concepts of 'Brahma Vidya'; while part two explains the methodology of 'Yog Shastra, as technique to achieve the 'Moksha'.
In part 1, the author has arranged chapters, according to the concepts-like 'Self', 'Jiva and Jivdasha', Creation, 'Ishwara', 'Brahma'. Similarly, in part 2, the concepts of 'Dharmacharan', 'Vairagya by Vivek', 'Gyan yog', 'Bhakti yog' have been dealt in different chapters, for reaching 'Jivanmuktah' state.
The book has excellent graphics, charts and paintings to explain the subject matter. Another important feature of the book is, that it is written from the prospective of a 'student', trying to understand the message of The Gita!
The book has been well researched, with references to the scriptures and other Commentaries and Works on The Gita.
It is interesting to come across a very innovative statement, by the author, who says, that in the end, lord Krishna confirmed from Arjuna, that he (Arjuna) understood his message. But, surprisingly, lord Krishna, did not 'Cross-Question', Arjuna: what he had understood?

[Satya Kalyanpur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful examples and metaphors to explain the literature. A lot of definitions though, which get to you. It's really something to understand Gita and present it as such.