It is a well known fact that Hindus all over the world revere the book Bhagawat Gita as Sacred. The fact that this book contains the words of Lord Krishna, spoken by him just before the start of the great battle of Kurukshetra, as written in the great epic Mahabharata, makes it the most authoritative work. The words contained therein is the "Word of the God", Lord Krishna being the "Supreme Personality of Godhead".

So, it would be right to say and conclude that each and every devout Hindu should read atleast once the "Word of the God", and understand what Lord Krishna has to say about various topics, as contained in this wonderful book "Bhagawat Gita".

Essentially, this book which contains the "Word of the God", helps us Humans to understand the "Position" we are in, in relation to the other living entities, and helps us to realise that we are Souls in this Human Body. Bhagawat Gita is meant for us Human Beings to understand this fact that we are souls in the body. We the Souls, have been given this Human Body, so that we Humans aided by our Brains and Intellect realize what a wonderful creater God is, and attain Salvation or Moksha by making Lord Krishna happy.

So, one would be naturally inclined to revere this wonderful Book Bhagawat Gita, and would keep this in the Puja Room, near the statue of his/her God/Goddess. Now, to remind the reader, each and every individual is an independent Soul and has his/her own nature and personality. So, based on this, he/she may choose his/her own god. So, we see different Gods/Goddesses in the Puja Room of a Hindu Home, like the statues/pictures of Krishna, Ram, Hanuman, Shiva, Murugan, Dattatreya, Lakshmi, Ganapati, Durga etc.

But, the fact that Lord Krishna is the "Supreme Personality of Godhead" makes his words as contained in Bhagawat Gita, the "Word of the God". Hence we see this wonderful book Bhagawat Gita in every Hindu Home, irrespective of which Gods/Goddesses that Hindu Home worships. Essentially, all these Gods/Goddesses are parts of Lord Krishna, as he is the "Supreme Personality of Godhead", as discussed in one of my blogpost "Understanding Hindu Gods and Goddesses".

Having said that, it must be remembered that this wonderful book is just a "Material Thing". Although it contains the beautiful words of Lord Krishna, still it is Material in nature. It consists of Pages, Cardboard, Ink, Thread, etc. So, that makes it a "Material Thing".

Since, we living entities are on this "Material Earth", we have to use "Material Things", to understand the "Eternal Truth" contained in the "Word of the God", in this "Material Book" called "Bhagawat Gita". Since, this "Material Thing" ... "Bhagawat Gita" contains the "Eternal Truth" ... so obviously Hindus consider this "Material Thing" as Sacred.

To just make the reader understand what i would want to convey through this blogpost, i would want to take a fiction scenario.

Lets say that one person is very devout and wants to understand each and every word contained in Bhagawat Gita. Since, he has the blessings of Shirdi Sai Samarth, he thinks it wise to go to the Shirdi Saibaba Temple near his home every day and spend some time in the temple reading this wonderful book, Bhagawat Gita.

One such day, while he was returning after having a blissful time reading this book, in the presence of that great saint, suddenly as he was crossing a small "Coconut Stem Bridge" on a Sewerage Drain, the book falls in the drain.

Since, he revers "Bhagawat Gita" as Sacred, he is obviously dissappointed by him not being careful enough to hold the book tightly. But, since he realises that the book which he was carrying in his hand is a "Material Thing", he just does a "namaskaar" or "pranaam" to the book. And straightly heads to the store nearby and buys a new book, and carries on with his daily chores.

He does so, because he realises that the "Words in the book" are much valuable than the "Material Book" itself. So, he buys a new "Bhagawat Gita" book.

He does not keep on repenting about his carelessness, of not holding the book properly, because he realises that his goal is to understand the "Word of the God" and "not to get attached" by the "Material Thing"
that the book was.

He also realises that he is just a "nimitra matra" or "incidental" in the "Play of God", and whatever happens in this world is by the wish and permission of the "Supreme Personality of Godhead". When even a leaf of a big tree cannot move without the permission of the "Supreme personality of Godhead", is it not this book has fallen into the drain, with the permission/awareness of the Lord. He realises that the "Passtimes" or "Play of Lord Krishna" are very many, and "nothing in this world happens without a reason".

I would say, that our ancestors are the most brightest, hansome, intelligent and wonderful people of all time in the history of the world. They are brilliant because they realised that a "Material Thing" would make them attached "Materially" in this "Material World". That is the reason why we see from the vedic times, Great Teachers made every effort to give the teachings of Vedas to their students through Mouth/Speech. They did not make an effort to Document all their learning in the form of Books, which are material.

You see, when a person gives importance to the content or words in the book, then he will not care about the Material Aspects of the book. So, when he gives importance to the words, obviously he is making a conscious effort to understand inner meanings of those words, and his "memory" is bound to increase phenomenally ! That is what our ancestors were. They had very good memory, and they could tell each and every word of vedas ? Why ? Because they made every effort to understand what the inner meanings of those words were, aided by their wonderful Teachers or Gurus.

So, it would be right to say, that the Words contained in Bhagawat Gita are much Greater and Valuable, than the book Bhagawat Gita itself !

Vamsi Krishna Karra
http://vamsikarra.wordpress.com