ONE BOOK, TWO MEN, DIFFERING PERCEPTIONS & ACTIONS WHICH were POLAR OPPOSITES !!!!

“So the debate on the interpretation  of the Bhagavad Gita – whether it was concerned with the actual war on the plain of Kurukshetra or an imaginary battle  taking place in the human soul – continued to the end.  Godse believed that Krishna commanded Arjuna to engage in mortal combat with his enemies, while Ramdas

Gandhi, like his father, believed that the struggle was to be fought in the human heart.

When Godse wrote from prison: “And Arjuna actually performed what Krishna commanded,”  he was triumphantly expressing his belief  that he had acted in full conformity with the Bhagavad Gita." – excerpts from The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi by Robert Payne p. 644

One is a Chitpavan Brahmin, other is a Baniya. But whose perception of the Gita is in conformity or in tandem  with  the primary message of its author Vyasa, as given in the greater work Mahabharatha.  The primary message in the MBh  is ‘Ahimsa  paramo dharma.” Rough translation,-“ Non-violence ultimate religion.”  The MBh at its ending tries to impress upon the human mind the futility of war. Since the MBH story spans  many births of an individual, its proper understanding individually differs from person to person depending on his KARMA (To be exact, karama-vasana, which determines ones  Karma.) Sin(papa) or sinning and its extent/intensity   depends on ones negative karma-vasanas. A individual with solidified/stubborn/sticky  negative karma-vasanas carried over from many previous births is more likely to interpret the message of

Mbh/Gita, as advocating and justifying   the use of violent means even to tackle ,dharmic/righteous issues.

Gandhiji & Godse represented the top echelon of Indian society  during that particular period of time of Indian history. Their differing understanding of the essence of the Gita, represent its two limits, and is representative of the understating of the people of India, who constituted the social segment to which they belonged. But can there be any comparison between Gandhiji & Godse with respect to Indian religious/philosophical tenets !??. As a individual evolves higher and higher his “Purushaparadhams” slowly will melt away. There are as many as twenty-two purushaparadhams  such as  ones that

infuses  identity/self-consiousness  like son, husband,father, caste, social status, religion, nationality etc etc. The person for whom all this shows signs of melting is on the way to becoming a Universal soul, Mahatma. He is then likely to be misunderstood as interested ONLY in the welfare of the opponent. “About this very time he resorted to his fast unto death. Every condition given by him for giving up the fast is in favour of Muslims and against the Hinds” – Godse’s statement given to the trial court.(p.342, The Men who Killed Gandhi, Manohar Malgonkar). The insistence  by Gandhiji  to pay Rs 55 Crs

to Pakistan  withheld by the Indian Govt, proved to be the final straw  for Godse. On his part Gandhiji would have felt - Should we deny the way-ward son his share of the family property !!???

Now imagine the game of snake & ladder. Spiritual evolution & liberation is guaranteed for all who takes embodiment,  but unfortunately here Godse who had been  progressing   in this climb, had stepped off from the ladder into the mouth of the snake. His  intense karma-vasanas had made him commit a political murder. An Upanishad reminds us that spiritual journey is like walking on the razors edge.

Though we believe that the Mahatma  according to his own interpretation of the Gita, proved its efficacy, by winning freedom non-violently for India,(the amplitude of this important event in history, is getting  amplified  itself with the passage of time) which in-turn inspired Martin Luther King  & Nelson Mandela, it is Godse’s path that majority of the world follows.  Gandhiji having properly understood the Gita, had urged

the masses to reduce their karma-vasanas by engaging in hand-spinning and other kinds of manual labour. This is one way for ordinary folks, who constitute the majority to reduce their karma-vasanas. But unwittingly, the modern world and its people went in the opposite direction behind machinery, which had the effect of increasing and making stubborn   the population’s vasanas.  The result,  the increase in violence in Geometric Progression !!!!!