I am not interested in God,” so say many people while
turning away from the Bhagavad-gita. What they don’t understand is that the
Gita is not just a book about God – it is about them and what interests them
the most: the search for lasting love.
No doubt, the Bhagavad-gita is a book of profound theology.
It reveals a majestic conception of God that can charm any open-minded seeker.
Emotional wounds originate not so much from our specific
relationship problems as from the universal problem of the rupture of the human
heart from the divine heart.
But its theologically erudite discussions are framed in the
context of a broken heart that needs urgent healing. The Bhagavad-gita (01.31)
depicts how Arjuna is overwhelmed by the prospect of an emotionally wrenching
fratricidal war that began as a bitter relationship conflict. We all face
relationship conflicts that sometimes leave us heartbroken.
The Gita is a therapeutic message for healing all such
wounds. It explains that these emotional wounds originate not so much from our
specific relationship problems as from the universal problem of the rupture of
the human heart from the divine heart. That rupture subjects us to bhavaroga,
the disease of material existence. We are eternal souls meant to love God,
Krishna, but being ruptured from him, we seek the same love in relationships
formed on the basis of our bodies. However, even the best of such relationships
are thwarted sooner or later by the inevitable perishability of all material
bodies.
The therapy for our ruptured heart is bhakti-yoga, which
redirects our love from the world to Krishna. The Gita’s theology sets the
stage for this therapy. Its revelation of Krishna’s glory convinces us that his
love possesses the omnipotence to heal even the most inconsolably wounded
hearts. No matter how worldly relationships disappoint or devastate us, our
relationship with him always solaces and strengthens, as Arjuna’s restored
morale at the end of the Gita demonstrates.
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