Bhagavad Gita lectures start tomorrow

PUNE: “Vedanta helps one discover purpose in life which is to realize one’s essential nature,” Sunanda Leelaram, the daughter-disciple of eminent philosopher Swami Parthasarathy, said on Monday.
Sunanda, who has studied and researched Vedanta for almost four decades, is in Pune for a discourse on Bhagavad Gita from November 23 to 27.
The lectures, open to all for free, have been organized by Vedanta Cultural Foundation and are held annually in Pune and other metros in India, and all over the world.
Vedanta is a combination of two words. Veda meaning knowledge and anta, meaning the end of. Vedanta literally means the ‘end of knowledge’, which is the highest knowledge. Once you get to that, there is nothing more to know, Sunanda said.
“The lectures aim to educate people about the essence of Bhagavad Gita. My father and guru is 90 years old, but has dedicated his entire life to the study, research and propagation of the essence of Bhagavad Gita. The ancient text is indeed important, because it contains a philosophy called Vedanta, which is the science of life and living,” said Sunanda, who is also a senior trustee of the Vedanta Cultural Foundation.
She said there is an urgent need for the thinkers to delve into the study of Vedanta, especially because moral values are fast disappearing in today’s day and age.
“India was once a great and peace-loving nation, because everyone lived the ancient values taught in the Upanishads. Today, an average Indian has no idea about these values. The paradox is that while we say we have progressed so much, one cannot even trust another human,” Sunanda said.
Imbibing the essence of Vedanta is essential if one is to live life joyfully. “The technique expounded in Vedanta makes one learn the right way to live life, without the extra baggage that most people carry in the form of sorrows and attachments. This is a technique which needs to be learned and practised. Vedanta gives you ways and means to master this technique,” she said.
Sunanda said the study of Vedanta helps one discover purpose in life, which is to realize one’s essential nature—given the universal name ‘God’.
“The last book my father wrote is called the Thesis on God. It took him conscious writing for three years to bring the book to a close. He can be best described as a scientific philosopher and goes point by point, taking the reader slowly through the concept of who we really are. That is the essence of Bhagavad Gita and Vedanta,” she said.
(The Bhagavad Gita Chapter IV discourses will be held from November 23 to 27 at Nehru Memorial Hall in Camp, between 6.45pm and 8pm)