SHE Asked Podcast

The Text That Changed My Life: The Bhagavad Gita Part One

• Anna McBride

Share episode

THE BHAGAVAD GITA : PART 1


Welcome to SHE Asked - Tools for Practical Hope

Today, Anna briefly introduces an ancient text that has made a profound impact on her life. The Bhagavad Gita - a Hindu Scripture that dates back to 2nd Century BCE has influenced a countless scholars around the world, and cultural leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Carl Jung, and J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The story centers on a conversation between the warrior Arjuna and Krishna (representing God). Through Arjuna's questions arise four key lessons:

- Know who you are to understand your purpose
- Know whatever you're facing right now IS your purpose
- Dutifully fulfill this purpose and let go of the outcome
- Dutifully serve in devotion of your community and higher power

These are four of several interpretations of this sacred script. Subscribe and follow along to learn more about the highly adored and venerated Bhagavad Gita.


Coach with Anna at annamcbride.com

Speaker 1:

Hi everyone. It's Anna McBride. Welcome back to. She Asks the tools of practical hope. In this show, we explore topics of growth, healing and recovery, offering you tips and guidelines to help you along your personal journey. Today I want to share with you about a story that shaped my life, has impacted it in so many ways and continues to. It actually is one of my favorite things to talk about.

Speaker 1:

The story is called the Bhagavad Gita. It's an ancient text that comes from India and it's a story that I was first introduced to when I was a freshman in college back in 1981. I was a literature major and we had to read several different types of literature, but this was one and I didn't get it. I didn't understand it. The translation that we were offered seemed a little dry and a little bit didactic. And yet I did what every student did I read as best as I could. I got all the spark notes and the cheat sheets and the things to help me get through the exams on it, and then I put it away. I let it go and went on with my life. At a certain point I got into yoga and meditation. This was probably another 12 years later. I was already a mother and married. And as a part of my meditation, yoga studies, I came back to this story and I kept saying to myself this seems so familiar. And then I remembered about it, and yet I still didn't fully appreciate the impact it would have on my life. But at this time I was ready to better understand it. And yet I still didn't fully appreciate the impact it would have on my life, but at this time I was ready to better understand it. So I actually started collecting translations of it. To date I have over 15 translations of the story and I've studied it with meditation teachers and over in India. I even went to the origin town where this major war that the story is about took place. The war was called the Mahabharata and the town is called Kshetru, which is in a part of India near New Delhi. So what is the story about?

Speaker 1:

The story is about a conversation that happens between a man, a character that's portrayed as a man, and God. Or, in the case of that story, the man was an archer named Arjuna and the God was represented by a charioteer character named Krishna. And in the Indian culture, in Hindi especially, they have many names for God, 108 to be exact, maybe more than that. And yet, for the purposes of this text, when God is represented as a man, he is always called Krishna, and so in this story, krishna opens up on the eve of a great battle that was about to take place, and Arjuna is having what's known as a crisis of faith. He is known as being one of the best, if not the best, archer of all time, and this was the way that wars happened back then. They used bow and arrows and not guns, and the way transportation happened back then it was with a chariot and horses. So Arjuna was about to go to battle and lead his side of the battle for sake of land, and he knew that to fight over land meant that he was really fighting family relatives, however stretched apart they were. They were fighting over land and he did not want to participate in that. He did not want to kill one more person for land. For sake of not really describing it perfectly, I just want you to know that he was having this crisis and he was really hoping somebody could help him with that answer.

Speaker 1:

In walks Krishna, and he shows up as this charioteer that's going to help lead him into battle, and he begins this conversation with Arjuna and he asks Arjuna, what do you really need to know? And Arjuna says I don't know why I'm here. I don't know why I'm always being called to this service. Why is it that I have to kill one more person for land? And Krishna, in his wisdom, replied to him of course you don't know who you are or why you're here, because you don't really know who you truly are at your essence. You don't know who you are, and if you don't know who you are, you don't know why you have to do what you do.

Speaker 1:

Another thing that's important to know about the Indian culture is that they have what's known as a caste system. That means is that you were born to your purpose. You were born to what you are meant to be, and at the time that Arjuna was alive, it was this practice, which is somewhat disassembled now, as I understand it, but back then you were definitely born to a certain role, and there was no getting out of that role. Arjuna was born to be a warrior, so, for all extents and purposes, that's all he was supposed to be doing. He couldn't go off and do something else. Well, this conversation that he had with God was all about understanding. Why is it that he needs to do what he's doing? And so they got into this conversation, which speaks to one of the main themes of this story, and that is it is important to know why you're here. It's important to know who you are, so that if you know who you are, you'll know what to do.

Speaker 1:

And I find that in my life experience, this is one question that I contemplate, not only for myself, but that I get to have with many people who get discouraged that they're not quite achieving what they think they're supposed to achieve. They haven't found their purpose in life. I certainly was someone like that. Now I've come to appreciate, having read this story over and over and talked about it so many times, that the purpose is actually a lot simpler than you think. Often we mistake what's right in front of us as being just a problem, when really it could have a lot of meaning and be very purposeful Right now. Whatever you're facing is your purpose. Right now, whatever challenge you are dealing with is your purpose. The story teaches us that right here, right now, whatever is going on is the only thing we're supposed to be focusing on. So for you, if that is, let's say, marriage, or if that is parenthood, or if that is working as a volunteer in some capacity, or teaching, or being a sister or a brother or a cousin, or dealing with death, or dealing with financial challenges or dealing with any kind of situation. That is your purpose, because all we have is what's happening right now.

Speaker 1:

In back to the story of Arjuna, krishna said you are a warrior. That is why you are here at this moment facing this battle, and for you to think that that's not a good enough calling for you is to question what's happening right now. And since that's all we have, you need to accept that that's why you're here. As the conversation continued, krishna was able to explain to Arjuna that he may think that it's over land that they're fighting about, that all they're doing is fighting over dirt, when really he said that what they were fighting over was their right to be there, the right to hold space on that land, to be alive, to be connected. And Krishna said to him this is worth fighting for. You have to be present, completely present, to know the meaning of that and often, as you might know, I certainly aim to appreciate is most of us are worried about where we were yesterday or where we're headed tomorrow. So few of us really stay that present to really understand the purpose of this moment, big theme in that story. Then he said to Arjuna not only is it important that you know why you're here, it's important that you just do just that, that one thing. Whatever. That one thing or that two things or those three things are no more than that. That's what you're meant to do.

Speaker 1:

So many of us think like I'm supposed to be doing everything, tons of things. I certainly was one of those. I thought I was supposed to be a writer, an athlete, a mother, a wife, a sister, a student, and, yes, these are different roles that I was playing, but essentially there was only really one thing that I'm here to do, and that is to be Anna Anna at her core, and Anna has to really know who Anna is, to know what my real purpose in this life is about. It can go deep, but this is part of why it's such an amazing story, because it really asks us to go deep within and understand that we have deeper meanings within us and we have to stop looking outside of us in order to find the answers.

Speaker 1:

The third thing that comes from this story is this idea of having an outlook that lets go of the outcome. Most people think that I've got to do something to be successful and then make a lot of money, and then I make people happy and I get married and I have children, and then I live happily ever after. Well, maybe. However, the story of Arjuna and what Krishna was leading him to, or guiding him to be, is know your duty, do it full out and let go of the outcome. You don't know if you're going to win. You don't know if you're going to lose. Yet if you are present for the process, that's what matters. Be present, be connected to what's going on and let go of where you may end up, because where you may end up may be different than what you think. It actually might be better.

Speaker 1:

The fourth lesson from this story is that we are all meant to be of service, and so the way that Krishna described that to Arjuna is that everything that man is doing is meant to be in devotion devotion to God, be in devotion to higher power, to spirit, to life. We're meant to be here to help add value, to take care of each other, to be of service. I love this theme the most because it's what's guided me in my life. I was raised by a mother who was always guided to service, and it's been a main theme in my family of origin and in my life how can I be of service to others? And it's a really great lesson to take from this story, because if we can be of service, we can aim for higher things, and as I get older, it's really the only thing I want to do is to find ways to be of service. Certainly, I have to take care of myself. Certainly, I have to find a way to have an income, yet for me, the true income comes out of me being of service. And when I'm of service and I'm able to help people connect with stories that lead to healing, then that's me doing my part on this earth. At this time. It's the best I can do.

Speaker 1:

Now here's another thing about the story that I think is pretty great. It's influenced a lot of people. Some of the people you'll know, and then some that you might not think of Henry David Thoreau, walt Whitman, mahatma Gandhi, joseph Campbell, to name four big hitters all were Bhagavad Gita carriers and they embodied it and lived it in their life. In fact, the hero's journey is supposedly based on that story. There's so many writings by Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman that are all based on that story. They changed the trajectory of their lives all these people I've mentioned because of the Bhagavad Gita the idea of knowing what your purpose is, living it full out, letting go of the outcome and doing it in service and making that the cornerstone of their life. This is why we keep talking about these people, because they're living a life of integrity, finding a way to be of service and bringing those themes alive. So I told you that I have 15 translations of this story.

Speaker 1:

My favorite one is one that was written by a man named Stephen Cope, c-o-p-e, and his book is called the Great Work of your Life and it has a collection of modern-day protagonists. Henry David Thoreau, mahatma Gandhi, walt Whitman and even Viktor Frankl are mentioned in that book as people who were influenced and based their lives on that great story. And I think that when I hear a story of how somebody can really live a life of integrity, really live a life of meaning, of the life of meaning, it inspires me to want to do better. And that story, the Bhagavad Gita, has guided me from age 18 to where I am now, some four decades later, where I can really embody it. Now I understand it.

Speaker 1:

It took this long for me to really really get it, talking about it, finding ways to bring it alive in my life and share it with friends and family and students and clients Wherever I can. I talk about the story because I think there's no greater purpose than to know who you are and then to find a way to be of service. And when you can do those two things, you will be successful, you will find your way and, more importantly, you will add to the healing on this planet. Being of service is one of my hot buttons and one of the things that I love to talk about, and I hope that this is giving you some information about a great story that could hopefully inspire you and help you to think about who you are, why you're here and how is it that you can be of more service. So thank you for letting me share that with you. This is Anna McBride, with she Asked, and until soon, be well.