The leader of ISKCON, Gauranga Das, in an interview with ITV Gold, emphasized using lessons from ancient wisdom inscribed in texts like the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, and The Mahabharata, to inform lifestyle choices in a modern world.
He also spoke of his life-journey transitioning from a promising engineering career as an IIT graduate, to becoming a “Servant-Leader” whose storied life has taken him around the world teaching about spiritual and practical lifestyle steps to gain calm and peace.
“I wanted to communicate the ancient wisdom to others in a manner which the modern youth can also connect with. I thought that now, let me communicate the engineering of the body and the soul,” after he had studied the ancient texts.
A simple morning routine, he said, should include regulating sleep, waking, eating, recreation, and work. In the Bhagavad Gita, he noted, Krishna says regulating these brings life under a person’s control.
“Today, 70 percent of the world’s leaders cannot sleep at night. That’s a big huge problem. Because the mind is racing at such a high speed, that people have lost control over how to bring their mind to a state of calm and peace,” Das noted.
For a stress-free life, one must pray, meditate, sing bhajans, kirtans, etc. , to reach a state of Sthita Pragya – or Equanimity, Das said. He implores people, “Please – you are managing business great, you are managing family great, you are managing your empire great. Why don’t you begin by managing your lifestyle?”
He points to the “non-communicable diseases of today, noting they are all lifestyle induced. “Twenty million people across the world die because of cardiovascular diseases. Ten million are dying because of cancer. Five million because of obesity. These are all diseases which are caused because of lifestyle disorder,” he said.
To bring one’s life under control is a process and there is no magic pill for it, he added.
He said it was remarkable that ancient literature, in spite of speaking about kings and emperors did not spend more than 4-5 lines on their worth and their kingdoms. They mainly speak about their characters and values, their flexibility and their resilience. Those are the lessons we Indians should learn. He said we seem to have totally forgotten the value of Dharma or those simple spiritual principles which brought out the best within us.
Das explained that one does not have to take out any separate time to pray. He quoted Krishna in the Gita who said that he can be remembered by just thinking of him even while doing one’s daily mundane chores.
Chanting and prayers have a healing quality. Mantras are the medicine for the Mind. Elaborating on the role of temples in India, he said, “There are 2 million temples in India as opposed to 70,000 hospitals, which shows that India as a culture has always thrived on superb mental health,” he said.
He then spoke about how Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON emphasized the important principle of Sadhana, the process which helps you get the wealth of Prema or Love of God.
Explaining the concept in modern context, Gauranga Das said the temple was like a hospital for the mind, with the sanyasis acting like surgeons and the mantras and puja as the surgical instruments to rid the mind of all stressors.
As long as India was focused on the temple culture, the mental health condition was good, he said. What changed now is the migration taking its toll, changing the temple culture and replacing it with economic development, leading to neglecting the personal and spiritual growth. But any small step is not too late to take towards spirituality, he said.
Indian Americans and their younger generation have achieved great success in their professions but they need to understand what Krishna explained to Arjuna, Das said: to do one’s duty or dharma and without focusing on the results, while keeping one’s mind in God. The best lesson of the Gita is to put forth one’s best effort. Doing that which will make a lasting impact on one’s soul and take it forward towards spirituality, Das said.
Earlier, in an event where Gauranga Das addressed a gathering organized jointly by ITV Gold and the Consulate General of India in New York, Padmashri recipient Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Chairman of ITV Gold and Parikh Worldwide Media called him “a great soul of our Mother India”.
Introducing him, Parikh said Das is a visionary and an eloquent speaker, has written books and articles about spirituality, blending spirituality and ancient wisdom with modern practicality.
Das spoke to the gathering about the four principles of dharma to focus on: 1) Dharma, 2)Artha, 3)Kaama, and 4)Moksha.
“The four pillars of Dharma, Artha, Kaama, and Moksha are designed to help us lead a life in such a way that we allow purpose to remain completely in the forefront,” Das said, adding that the purpose is to subdue pleasure so that we come to peace and joy. ‘The four pillars of Dharma help us carry hope, grow that hope and share that hope,” he said.
Explaining Dharma as Stability in one’s Identity, he spoke about our lack of trust in our scriptures. “One of the biggest challenges we face in the Hindu Diaspora is that we do not understand the value of connecting with our own ancient tradition and seeing its practical value and relevance,” Das said.
The Gita, with its message of peace, was spoken on the battlefield of Kurukshetra with Arjun’s identities in conflict, and can help us fight our own battles with our identity conflicts too as each one of us is experiencing conflict and war within, every single day, he said.
“Arjun is used as an instrument by Krishna to demonstrate that if you are not situated in your identity as a soul, anytime any change that happens, can affect you, he explained.
“The biggest mental health medicine is sitting in the hands of the Hindus – the Bhagavad Gita, and we are totally oblivious to this and that is the biggest tragedy,” he further said.
“The relationship of the soul – the Atman with the supersoul – the Parmatma will never change. Atma is Sanatan, Parmatma is Sanatan, and the relationship between Atma and Parmatma is Sanatan. That is called Sanatan Dharma.
Das noted that the 30 million-strong Indian Diaspora around the world, while being successful, had neglected the deep need to connect with our own tradition, our own values and understand the power it brings.
Speaking about today’s social media-driven world where people are affected by comparison, people had multiple identities and are confused, he said.
In the Ramayana, the four brothers represented each of the four principles. Ram represents integrity. “He represents Stability in Identity,” he said. Lakshman exemplifies the principle of Purity in one’s Proclivity or Intention; Bharat is the symbol of Flexibility in one’s Action, “Bharat represents Moksha,” he said. Tolerance stops one from being disoriented and remain determined and dedicated to ultimately reach Moksha or Liberation.
“Shatrughna represents Top of Form, Bottom of Form, Clarity in Communication. He represents Karma with no independent selfish egoistic desire,” Das said.
Concluding his address, Das said, “I stand here as ambassador of the ancient wisdom which has carried with it so much of deep meaning which can transform our lives give us strength, give us resilience to lead our life, transform our lives and give hope to our families.”
(Archana Adalja contributed to this report)
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