CHANDIGARH: Odisha Governor Prof. Ganeshi Lal released the Odia version of the book – “Gita Acharan - a practitioner's perspective” -- at the Raj Bhawan in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The book has been written by senior Punjab IAS officer K Siva Prasad who is presently posted as the Additional Chief Secretary to Punjab Governor.
Speaking on the occasion after the release of “Gita Acharan - Eka sadhakara dristi konaru”, Prof. Lal said that Gita helped to take everyone to the state of realisation by removing the identity crisis. Though many paths were prescribed in the Gita, he said he considered Karma Yoga to be the best path to attain it.
It may be mentioned that Prof Lal himself has deep insight into the Bhagavad Gita and has authored a book called “Non-attached Attachment” – a book on Karma Yoga of Bhagavad Gita.
The Odisha Governor said that Bhagavad Gita was the unique gift given by India to the world. “It laid the foundations for the independent living based on contentment and joy from within and these teachings are more relevant today as everyone needs guidance in this fast changing world, ”he says.
Talking about the book, Mr Siva Prasad said the book was an attempt to elaborate the concepts of Bhagavad Gita in a simple way in the form of short essays. The complex issues presented in the Gita were simplified through these articles using contemporary scientific understanding. This will help even a beginner and especially youth to under Gita to make their lives joyful and they will be able to handle the stress and tension they face in daily lives, he added.
He further said the quest for contentment led him to the Bhagavad Gita as he realised that contentment was nowhere outside. “Using the knowledge of the Gita, we can find it in ourselves, ” he added. The book, he said, was the result of more than 30 years of his work in this area and the experience gained in these years has helped him to understand the preachings of Gita. Besides this, Shri Siva Prasad said he studied western thinking processes and behavioural sciences to supplement his daily experience.
He hoped that this translated work on Bhagavad Gita in Odia would help the Odia readers from all over the world as they would get benefit of reading the Gita Acharan in their mother tongue for better understanding.
Gita Acharan is already available in English, Hindi and Telugu and the work is on to bring the Punjabi and Bengali editions of the book, the senior IAS officer informed.