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32: śramana, Vol 63, No. 3, July-Sep. 2012 believe in the existence of some supreme authority which monitors and decides our destiny as well as those like Jains, Buddhists and Kapila's Sāṁkhya, who totally rule out any such supreme authority and completely rely upon the development of soul's power, would get inspiration and guidance from Gītā.
More important is the fact that Gītā's teachings are not confined only to spiritual seekers because these teachings are useful in dayto-day problems of our practical existence also. This is because Gītā's teachings have holistic and universal appeal. Thus those who treat Gītā as merely a Hindu scripture do so perhaps because they have not read its verses and have formed their belief from the fact that the followers of Gītā are mostly Hindus.
Setting symbolic While appreciating and understanding the teachings of Gītā in their proper context it should be born in mind the setting of the occasion of preaching contained in Gītā just when the large armies of both the sides were ready to fight in the battle field of Kurksetra seems to be only a poetic innovation to provide proper background as it is not possible to believe that such highly saturated philosophical teachings were conveyed for such long period of time in the battle field. Vyāsa, the author wanted to convey the message as to how the life should be lived in the midst of the dust and the din of our usual conflicts of day to day existence. He has therefore selected a situation in which each one of us is often placed. When a serious problem confronts in life, we are, many a time undergoing a trauma experienced by Arjuna. Through the verses of Gītā, Vyāsa teaches us the importance of mental equilibrium and how to achieve it. It is therefore understood by many learned commentators on Gītā that “war” and “Krsņa” referred to in Gītā are not the same as those involved in the battle field of Kuruksetra where thousands of warriors had gathered from all over the known world to kill each other. In other words, these expressions are symbolic and represent the mental struggle, which we experience daily and the spiritual guidance which we have to receive from the Supreme Soul called “Paramātman”. This view
