Needed; a unique perspective rooted in creativity, productivity and enrichment

KOCHI: The festival of Navarathri with nine-nights divided into three days each dedicated to Goddess Durga, Lakshmi, and Sarasvati signifies a process of inner transformation of an individual. The reduction of negative thoughts and focusing on positivity is the significance of Durga Puja. Thereafter, the stage is set for the refinement of our being, through the acquisition of divine wealth of skills, capabilities, and thought power.

This divine wealth is bestowed on us by Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. Knowledge fortifies this wealth, to use them for higher goals. The worship of Goddess Saraswati signifies this final step in the process of transformation. These three steps are highlighted as the process of Self-transformation through the three yogas of Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana.   

Many have dived deep into the Bhagavad Gita scriptures to get solutions to life’s problems. Commentaries have been written across the ages to meet the demands of the times. Such is the versatility of the wisdom contained therein.

Swami Vivekananda brought out the message of Gita to tackle the issues of dogmas and superstitions that plagued the masses in India. Humanism was the perspective that he brought in. That was the need of the time, during the turn of the 18th century and the early 20th. Around the 1920s onwards for the next 30 years of pre-independence and soon after, the next generation needed Nationalism. Several nationalist leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, S. Radhakrishnan, Bal Gangadhar Tilak etc. inspired the masses through the message of nationalism. 

The generation soon after Independence had a different necessity. Prominent among those who shaped the message of Gita for that time was Swami Chinmayananda, who dwelt on the perspective of Man making. Independent India needed the attitudes and motivations that could build a strong nation through its diverse population.

At the turn of the 21st century, we are in need of a unique perspective that is rooted in creativity, productivity, and enrichment. We are in an era of knowledge transformations, globalisation of societies, and the virtualisation of relationships. We need our youngsters to be inspired by the needs of the times, as well as the values that provide sustainability, inclusiveness, and expansion.

Patterns of creativity, productivity, and enrichment, rooted in sustainability, inclusiveness, and expansion are evident in various 21st-century strategies. And, they have been researched into and found to be effective for sustained success and fulfilment, in the globalized economies. It propounds the patterns in action, devotion, and knowledge on the basis of three Yogas through the scripture elaborates through the 700 verses of the 18 chapters. 

We have to correlate these patterns with the 21st-century themes for success and fulfilment at work and in life. Not only will this help in formulating robust values-based strategies, but also put the heritage of our eternal wisdom in true perspective. We need to look at it as a process of Self-Analytics, rooted in Gita Intelligence. 

It is all about analytically looking at the power of self, and applying it to revitalise the body-mind-intellect (BMI), through reducing fissiparous thoughts, refining the thoughts, and redirecting it to higher goals. 
Satish Menon is the founder of  VijnAnVikAs, the pattern Institute of Bhagavad Gita. (The views expressed by the author are his own)