It was 5000 years ago that Lord Krishna revealed the most confidential and topmost knowledge of devotional service in the form of the Bhagavad-gita to His dear most devotee Arjuna, and to humanity at large so that everyone can realize that the ultimate goal of life is to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning here that the real meaning of Jayanti should be clearly understood. Srila Prabhupada in his purport (SB 1.9.45), mentions that according to authorized scriptures, ‘a Jayanti ceremony for an ordinary man, however, exalted he may be materially, is an offense to the Lord because Jayanti is reserved for the day when the Lord appears on the earth.’ Gita Jayanti thus marks the advent of the instructions of the Lord which is actually non-different from the Lord Himself.

It should also be noted that this was not the first time Lord Krishna revealed the Bhagavad Gita.

imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam

vivasvan manave praha manur iksvakave ‘bravit

Translation: The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu, in turn, instructed it to Ikṣhvaku. (B.G. 4.1)

The Lord revived this knowledge on Gita Jayanti since it had gradually gotten lost. “This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time, the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it appears to be lost.” (B.G. 4.2)

The message of Bhagavad Gita was revealed by the Lord and is therefore eternal. It is ‘apaurusheya’ ( BG 4.1) or not made by man and therefore does need any human interpretation.

Five thousand years ago it was detected by the Lord Himself that the disciplic succession was broken. In the same way, in contemporary times there was an urgency of an edition of the Gita owing to so many misinterpretations. Srila Prabhupada’s translation of the original Sanskrit text along with purports made a revolution of saving modern human civilization from once again losing the rich legacy of the disciplic succession.

It is for this reason that on Gita Jayanti all disciples and grand disciples of Srila Prabhupada globally distribute his Bhagavad Gita As It Is which is translated into almost every language of the world.

 Here are some of the things you can do to commemorate this divine occasion:

1. You can join groups of devotees and read the 18 chapters of Bhagavad Gita As It Is.

2. Kurukshetra is the place where Lord Sri Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. It is still present in North India and devotees perform fire sacrifices on this auspicious day. You can virtually participate in this ceremony from any part of the world.

3. You can hit the streets and go distribute at least a few copies of ‘Bhagavad Gita As It Is’ to the vast number of people still unaware of this treasure. If this is not possible then you can sponsor any number of copies.

4. You can also decide to gift one or many to your loved ones on this auspicious day.

5. Since New Year’s ahead you can mark this as a resolution to commence reading Bhagavad Gita As It Is on a daily basis either individually or collectively.

We here at ISKCON News wish you all a very Happy Gita Jayanti.