The Gita Conundrum

If it’s wrong to ban the Gita in Russia, why is it wrong to teach it in Karnataka?

When a moffusil town in Siberia considered banning the Bhagvad Gita as ‘extremist literature’, there was no decibel limit to India’s outrage. The ‘anguish’ exhibited by Parliamentarians led to External Affairs Minister SM Krishna issuing a statement on what he was doing about it. He warned, “We have treated this matter seriously and the Embassy of India is closely monitoring this legal case.” The Russians dropped the idea. Or perhaps it was because of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s statement, as reported in a news item, that it was a “conspiracy against Krishna” and Lalu meant the deity, not SM Krishna. 

India has little moral right to pontificate on bans, but discount that. There is a bigger paradox. Last Sunday, Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda reignited a controversy about the Gita. Six months ago, there had been a move by the state’s education minister to teach it in school. An absolute secular storm had followed and the issue was thought to have been dropped. Gowda said on Sunday that they would still try to teach the Gita after discussions with “sections of society”. It is now again being said that this is a conspiracy to communalise education.

This is the conundrum: if, as SM Krishna put in his statement— “…the Bhagwad Gita is not simply a religious text; it is one of the defining treatises of Indian thought and describes the very soul of our great civilisation”—why is it not okay to teach it in school? How do you get angry when others ban it, and then also get angry when we teach it?

SM Krishna is, however, wrong. The Gita does not describe the soul of our great civilisation. The Gita, like all epics written by several people over several eras, is a bundle of contradictory ideas. It can be interpreted in whatever way suits you. The Iskcon interpretation that Russians wanted to ban is a brain dead version that takes all the miracles in the book literally. The Chinmaya Mission interprets it as a pseudo-intellectual guide to life. Mahatma Gandhi must definitely have used it to explain his absurd experiments with celibacy in old age. That does not mean the Gita is not a work of poetic genius. Eighteen chapters devoted to brainwashing a warrior who has lost his nerve at the last minute—it takes imagination to come up with something like that.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

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