Growing Up With Bhagavad-Gita.

Gopi-manjari devi dasi wrote this piece. Gopi grew up in England and actually met Srila Prabhupada when she was a baby. Although she went through turbulent times as a teenager, she landed on her feet as a very fine devotee and served in the Belfast Temple for several years. A power-house of energy, she pulled off quite amazing feats for the pleasure of Radha-Madhava, including Their beautiful new altar, and new kitchen. It was a sad day for Belfast when she left with her American husband to live in America...

Photos show Gopi's son Madhava das enjoying the pictures in Bhagavad-Gita.

My mother's words echoed within my mind, as the kids in school bulled and teased me for being Indian. The timeless teaching from the Bhagavad-Gita, spoken through my mother gave me solace, “you are not this body’ she said, “you are an eternal spirit soul, no one can hurt you within”. I remember repeating those same words when my brother and sisters would pick on me at home, “I don’t care, you can’t hurt me,” I would shout back, “I am not this body”!

As teenage years crept up, the suffering I faced either it be due to hormones, taking drugs, or sheer loneliness became thick. I would question, why is there so much suffering, what is the purpose of life, why is there so much external show and falseness in this world. Again the ancient teaching from the Bhagavad-Gita that my mother taught me surfaced to my consciousness. Karma—every action has an equal and opposite reaction, if you cause pain to another then it will come back to you, and vice versa if you do good, it will also come back in a reward. One's suffering is a reaction to ones past activities, if not in this life then in one's next life.

Reincarnation—Knowing that there was life after death, and that the activities that I carried out in this life, would predestine my next life as well as the happiness and distress I would face. Having this knowledge empowered me to take responsibility for my present life, instead of trying to escape my suffering through intoxication and other external means, I discovered that the Bhagavad- Gita became a source of great comfort and solace for me. It's contents being one of deep philosophy and theology satisfied my questions and search for the truth. It's literal meaning, “the song of God”, is a conversation between Lord Krishna (God), and Arjuna (his devotee), it takes place by a battlefield on the onset of a fratricidal war. The challenges and dilemmas that Arjuna faces is similar to the challenges we face in our lives. I like to see that the Bhagavad-Gita is a song of God sung to me, to help me through my difficulties and struggles.

The Bhagavad-Gita is a book of theology; it discusses God and our relationship with Him. The different processes of connecting with God are delineated in different paths of yoga which conclude in bhakti or love and devotion to the Divine. That pure spiritual love gives one peace and satisfaction and is the love that we all seek in life. In this journey of life I have become a seeker of that Pure Love, I would like to end by sharing one of my favorite verses from the BG. “ To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with Love, I give them the understanding by which they can come to Me”. (BG 10.10)"