Sharing spiritual knowledge is about not just delivery but also discovery

If we are told to deliver something to someone, we may feel belittled: “I have better things to do than act as a deliveryman.” We may feel similarly belittled when told to share the Bhagavad-gita by simply delivering to our audience Krishna’s message as heard in the bhakti tradition. But such negativity is unfounded because, as regards spiritual knowledge, delivery is not demeaning; it is illuminating. Delivery stimulates discovery – this is demonstrated in Sanjaya’s testimony after repeating the Gita to Dhritarashtra. Sanjay feels ecstatic by meditating on the message itself (18.76) and on the goal of that message: Krishna (18.77). Extending the delivery metaphor, the Gita is like a feast that is inexhaustible – the Gita-feast can be relished by not just those who receive it, but also those who deliver it. Like Sanjaya, we too can make illuminating spiritual discoveries while delivering the Gita. To share the Gita properly, we need to take intellectual responsibility for it, learning to present it intelligibly, appealingly and relevantly for our audience. And the more we strive to explain its relevance to others, the more we appreciate its relevance for ourselves. Moreover, as the Gita’s relevance registers within us, we see this time-honored classic not so much as an abstract metaphysical treatise as a practical guide for living. Accordingly, when we share the Gita with this applicational thrust, we understand that our responsibility is not just to present it, but also to represent it – we need to live according to its teachings. When we embrace this responsibility to walk our talk, we start applying diligently the Gita’s central recommendation to practice bhakti-yoga. By the steady cultivation of bhakti, we make life’s ultimate discovery: we realize and relish Krishna as the embodiment and fulfillment of all our aspirations for eternal love and unending bliss.